A lot has happened since I last blogged...I graduated from Canterbury Christ Church University with a First Class Degree in Early Childhood Studies with Film, Radio and TV Studies....
I moved to Nottingham to start a Masters degree in Person-Centred Experiential Counselling & Psychotherapy....
AND I posted a photo of myself in a bikini to Instagram and Twitter for a competition for SimplyBe (a plus size fashion line), which then got featured in an online article for the magazine Cosmopolitan.
Although I am much prouder of the prior accomplishments I mentioned, it's this final one that inspired me to begin blogging again! I always loved blogging, but just through a lack of time/energy/seemingly lack of people interested in my ramblings...I stopped.
But since this article was posted on Cosmopolitan's website, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of new followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, comments/likes etc etc. and so I realised that I could actually reach a few more people than I could have before so HELLO BEAUTIFUL NEW FRIENDS! :D
For those of you who haven't seen the article, here's is the link: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a39560/anyone-can-look-hot-in-a-bikini/?src=spr_FBPAGE&spr_id=1440_173010938
The concept of fat or skinny shaming has been pretty active in the media recently. If the media comment on how there are too many skinny models and not enough 'normal' (notice my quotation marks around this term because I DO NOT agree with using that to describe people's bodies with) or curvy or plus size models around, people comment things like:
'What about those of us who are naturally skinny. We can't help how we look...'
Or when the media say this is a slim girl- This is what a bikini body is, people comment things such as:
'Slim doesn't equate a bikini body. If you have a body, and put on a bikini, then you have a bikini body!'
In fact... both of these comments are correct and ENTIRELY justifiable. Neither skinny or fat shaming is acceptable or kind for any woman (or man) to hear, and to be honest it seems totally unnecessary to me.
The comments I read based on my bikini photo varied from 'You're Beautiful. Your confidence radiates, work that bikini you can wear what ever you want!'.... to... 'Keep clogging up your arteries fatty'. *And yes, the last one did hurt*. Yes...I'm overweight. No I don't eat 12 meals a day which consist of fried chicken and pizza. Yes I exercise 2-3 times a week and eat healthy meals.
The point is.... Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is responsible for their own body and doesn't need or deserve for someone else to tell them how to live their lives. Alongside that, everyone is completely justified to have their own opinion on whether they think someone of my size looks beautiful. I didn't post my photo because I think I'm beautiful. I posted the photo because I wanted to show other women that you don't have to be a size 6 like we see in many (not all!) magazines to wear what your heart desires.
Whether you're a size 4 and have no boobs or butt, or whether you're a size 22 with love handles and cellulite, you don't deserve to have people telling you that you're ugly and shouldn't be allowed to post photos of your own will, or not be allowed to wear what you want.
There are always going to be people that don't like how you look even if you think you look great. Hey! That's life! It's something that I struggle with on a regular basis. But I'm on a journey of accepting and understanding the way my body is. That doesn't mean I'm not trying to lose weight and tone up my body (because I am), but I'm doing it for me. Not for other people's perceptions of me. Just me. Little ol' Danielle.
So I just want to reiterate that this blog post isn't about asking people to love my body for being fat. I'm asking you to applaud and celebrate each other for being who you are. Trolls will try and put you down (I've sat and read all of the comments from strangers on the cosmo article...ouchie)...but as long as you
And anyway...I think you're beautiful! And here is my bikini photo I've been talking about the whole time!
Your challenge for tomorrow: Go and give two people a compliment. It doesn't matter what it's relating to. Just do it. You could make someone's day.
Have a good rest of your Sunday friends! Speak Soon!
Danielle xx
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