When Twitter Attacks...

I had quite an eventful couple of days on Twitter last week. I have written my full version of the story over on Freudian Sluts so please go read that - LINK.
I did just want to briefly mention it on here though.

So what happened? Gymnast Louis Smith posted an image onto Instagram which sexualised a woman (who was 16 in the photo) and the woman was a member of the same sport as Smith. He was called out on this by others but I shared screenshots and tweets on Twitter after Smith replied to my on Instagram proving he did not understand why people were complaining about the image.

A day or so later I began getting a lot of tweets. A LOT. Curious, I did a twitter search. The Daily Mail used my tweets to make an article about the situation. And then a lot of other national news and viral sites ran the story. I'm sure you can imagine the type of tweets I was getting. I must have got over 300. It became quite the exhausting day with comments ranging from "lol fucking feminist" right through to actual death threats.

It was SO frustrating that neither Smith nor the people tweeting my just DID NOT UNDERSTAND why the whole thing is a problem.
Everything is in the Freudian Sluts article so please please go read that. It has all the details and screenshots and I'd really appreciate if you would have a read of it.

"Why Are You Wearing Makeup?"

Do you have a really kick ass lipstick? Or have you just used your hard earned money to treat yourself to a new eyeshadow palette?
And then, do you leave them on your dressing table wondering when you will get an opportunity to use them?

I say... WEAR THEM EVERYDAY.

Wear them to work. Wear them to go on a walk. Wear them to pop to the shop for a bottle of milk. Dammit, wear them to just potter about your home!

And when someone, inevitably, questions why you are wearing red lipstick, and/or rocking a smokey eye, here are a list of responses you can give them...

1. I'm fabulous
2. It's -insert day of the week here-
3. It's sunny/rainy/hot/cold (delete/add as appropriate)
4. I got out of bed today
5. I had a good breakfast/I remembered to have breakfast
6. So I can get shit done
7. Why are you NOT wearing -insert makeup item here-?
8. YOLO
9. Because I can
10. Cos I am a strong, confident woman/man/other and I will do what I like!


I remember when I first started reading beauty blogs and noticed that everyone was wearing beautiful lip colours and I wanted  so badly to be able to wear them and wear them confidently. Then I thought... FUCK IT.
I bought a Barry M one (that bright green one that changes colour on the lips), it was quite a bubblegum pink on me. I wore it to work and at first the people I worked with were all "ooh, how come you have lipstick on? You don't usually wear lipstick."
But I carried in wearing it every day. And then slowly started buying more. And more. And even more.
It very quickly turned in to... "WHY HAVE YOU NO LIPSTICK ON?!" on the days when I couldn't be bothered. And my lip product collection is frankly ridiculous. (But that dusky rose lipstick is DEFINITELY a slightly different shade from the other 5 dusky rose lipsticks...)

You look great. You spent your money. Wear it with pride! You ARE confident enough to wear it all the time.
Feel free to comment with additional responses.

I Met Caitlin Moran...

... and she was just as incredible as I had hoped.

People say you shouldn't meet your idols/heroes/role models, but Caitlin (being all these things) proved that statement utter bullshit.

On Tuesday 8th March (aka International Women's Day) I got a 3 and a half hour train to London, met up with my friend Becki and we had a little explore of London before heading down to the Southbank Centre in the evening. About a month or so prior, I saw a link on Twitter that Caitlin Moran was doing a talk/book launch for her new book and you could win tickets to go. I entered the competition and sent the link to Becki to do the same. She responded "Can we go anyway?"
Initially when I went on the site it seemed to be that only members could attend but the following day general sale began... HURRAH!
I messaged Becki... "Tickets are £20. Should we?.... I've found a hotel for £18 each and it's only half an hour away... Train tickets are £20 return. SHOULD WE?!" Within 10 minutes everything was booked and we spent the next month EXTREMELY excited.

So we're in London, we get to the Southbank Centre and go to pick up a copy of the new book where I overhear a member of staff saying Caitlin will do a signing after the talk. CUE FANGIRLING.
We get to our AMAZING seats (7th row and end of the aisle) and we are GIDDY. Becki has written an amazing piece about the whole day. READ HERE.
Caitlin came on stage and read passages from her book and talked to Jude Kelly (Founder of the Women of the World - the festival the event was part of) about feminism and the reason behind writing her book. I could have sat and listened to them talk for days. Almost 2 hours was not long enough. But it was insightful, funny and inspiring. You could hear people in the audience all around us muttering "yes!" and clapping at everything she said. I even cried during one of the readings. It was about what we should say to young girls who are struggling and it hit so hard. I'd have loved someone to have said those things to me as a teenager. Hell, I need to hear those things now! I could see Caitlin herself getting choke up as she read. And on an even more personal note, my medication has stopped me being able to cry. I've had the odd tear fall out of my face but nothing more. But I cried and so many emotions were going round in my head. I think at that point: relief, comfort and belonging. So that is only good, right?

The talk was over and with our amazing seats we managed to get out the room pretty quick and ended up about 4th in the signing queue. There was 2500 people in attendance. Pretty impressed with ourselves. There was a table and chair ready for her and then she came out and stood in front of it. She spent time talking to everyone, one on one. Everyone got a hug. She was so lovely to everyone. She was happy to sign copies of the other books and take selfies. There was no security rushing everyone along. It really felt like you was just catching up with an old friend.
I, however, am rubbish when it comes to meeting people I like so I can't actually remember what I did or said. I know she hugged me, she wore an incredible jacket, we had a selfie and she drew a pair of tits in my book. We also shouted "TITS!" in celebration of International Women's Day.

So delighted we made the spontaneous decision to go and we're already planning on going to the Women of the World Festival next year to get involved with other events and talks they do. But for this year, best way to spent International Women's Day I could think of.