What is beauty to you?

Often, the media seems to try to define what beauty is.
One day it proclaims, 'curves are in,’ and the next it declares a woman who is of a healthy weight 'frumpy.' Sometimes, it attacks thinner women and tells them to gain weight.
 A lot of a time 'beauty' seems to change on a minute to minute basis. So much emphasis is put on being 'pretty' today that sadly, some go to huge extremes to change themselves but what is pretty? I'm not sure if I'm the only one who finds the idea of 'perfection' a little scary. 
Honestly, I don't think prettiness is something which you can follow a guide to, as my mother sometimes says, 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.'

Some people have tried to set standards for beauty but in my opinion; this is impossible. Beauty isn't really something you can define and beauty isn't always appearance. To me, to be beautiful you have to have a beautiful personality and this is what really matters the most.
What is beauty to you? Is it important?

What is life like for a gay teenager?

As I sat on the bus the other day, I heard a disturbing message on the radio: a large amount of teenagers aren’t accepting of those who are gay and even go so far as to bully and attack them.

Of course, I didn’t really need to be told this. I go to school. I know how some people act.

I guess it was sadness which has made me think of it as I write. I’m sad that many people of my age can’t accept their gay peers. I’m sad that in 2011, gays can’t marry. I’m sad that almost every gay person experiences or has experienced homophobia. I’m sad about the lack of equality.

In 2010, one of my good friends, Lee* came out as lesbian. She pulled me aside and told me one day and though I’d only really just got to know her, we were beginning to form a good friendship. I was touched that she trusted me; I knew that it was something that Lee had to tell others herself – when she was ready and from the minute she told me, my lips were sealed.

She told some people, little by little and soon it was out: there was a lesbian in our year.

It spread like wildfire. Strangers began to hiss, ‘dyke,’ at Lee when she walked through the corridors.

Soon, girls were rushing out of the change rooms when Lee walked in, assuming that because she was gay, she was also a pervert.

Here are some American statistics:

- 80% of gay, lesbian and bisexual young people said that they have felt severely isolated.

- A study found that gay young people are 2 – 3 times more likely to commit suicide in comparison to other youth.

- 53% of gay students have heard homophobic comments made by members of staff.

During part of this time, Lee fell into a deep depression – which unfortunately is the reality for many teens that identify as GLBTIQ. She faced nasty comments from members of the class and for months, people talked about, ‘that lesbian chick,’ when they obviously had nothing more interesting to discuss.

Luckily, the situation has calmed down a lot. It is almost normal at school for Lee now but had she not had the support which she received at that time, things could have ended in a much, much worse way. 

I urge you to be kind and accepting of gay teens as this is often a really difficult time for them.

I’d be grateful to hear your thoughts on the matter and whether you'd like to read a post from Lee...

* Name was changed for security reasons.

Thank you to http://www.gayfamilysupport.com/gay-statistics.html for the statistics.

A sweet treat leaves a sour taste

I think it would be fair to say that most people love chocolate.
But many do not know the sickening truth behind cocoa production...

The leading countries for the cocoa bean industry are in West Africa. In Côte d’Ivoire alone, there are more than half a million cocoa farms.

This country along with Ghana provides 

about 60 - 80% of cocoa beans in the 

world industry.

Cocoa beans

However, on each farm, it is estimated that there are around 12-15 thousand children working as slaves in dreadful conditions. But how did they get there?
Although child slavery is illegal in both Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, a study shows that each year 200,000 children are trafficked
in these countries.

Slave traffickers look for boys who are by themselves and take them in, only to sell them to Cocoa farmers who need cheap workers. Sometimes they look for families with boys in them and collaborate with a family member to force the job of a cocoa bean picker on a poor child.

Often, a child slave is paid nothing for their work. The money instead goes to those involved in trafficking the child and the boss of the farm on which the child works. 
These children cannot get to school.
These poor children not only are not paid but also are often not fed properly. 
It seems almost impossible to escape from this exploitative trade.

So what can be done?
Please let others know the truth of what is behind the chocolate industry. Buying Fair Trade chocolate brands such as: Green & Blacks (which is also organic), Cadbury Milk Chocolate (please note: only the plain dairy milk is Fair trade) and Whittakers Creamy Milk Block. Buying Fair Trade and not supporting child slave labour may force farmers to change the way they act.  


Thank you to all the websites which provided helpful information and pictures for this article.

Why pro eating disorder websites should be banned

Unfortunately, a sad trend is becoming more prevalent: websites encouraging eating disorders.
The sites first appear as a place were people with eating disorders come together, but the truth about these sites is a lot more sinister. 

Often on the websites, eating disorders are normalised and sometimes defended as being a lifestyle choice or accomplishing self control. Sometimes they describe people as an 'ana' or a 'mia'.

The online communities share techniques like how to disguise an eating disorder, how to hide weight loss, how to best prompt vomiting and how to ignore hunger.
These dangerous websites also post 'thinspiration' which is often pictures of thin celebrities or of other thin women to inspire further weight loss.

Members of these communities sometimes compete to loose weight and post pictures of themselves, showing the effects of excessive weight loss, many with visible bones.
They not only attract people suffering from eating disorders but those who are looking for tips to loose weight.

A 2009 survey of young women and girls who had visited pro eating disorder websites found that they had greater dissatisfaction with their body shape and had a more negative body image.

In 2008, France passed a bill to make it illegal to promote anorexia. If found to promote the disease; you face two years in prison or a fine of €30,000. Surely Australia could do something like this?  

These websites encourage a disease which kills many beautiful, smart women each year and they need to be stopped. 

Why pushing children into fame is wrong

How old were you when you got your first set of acrylic nails glued on?

What about hair extensions or a fake tan?

As a teen, I’ve never actually had any of these but this is quite different for a number of girls involved in beauty pageants.

                               Sasha Bennington

Recently, I read a disturbing article on the Daily Mail news website, which unveiled the tale of Sasha Bennington, a then eleven year old girl from England who was starting to compete in American beauty pageants.  Her mother; keen for her daughter to achieve and had Sasha’s first fake nails glued on at eight, now pays for more beauty treatments for Sasha, which amount to around £300 in a month and include fake tan, hair extensions and pedicures.   

Her mother, Jayne, has wanted Sasha to be the next Jordan (porn star who has had various plastic surgeries) since they first started in the beauty pageants.  She also says that her daughter always wanted to be a model.

But I can’t help but wonder if she aspired to be like her mother, who had a career in glamour modelling…

When asked how Sasha sees herself she said, ‘Blonde, pretty, dumb – I don’t need brains.’

At eleven, I liked to write stories and draw and I thought education was vital if I wanted to get the job I wished for.  It seems that appearance holds the most importance to Sasha.  

Shouldn’t we encourage girls that being smart is a good thing?

I think children should be allowed to be children; it seems so many are pushed into an overly sexualized world.  

A 2005 study compared eleven women which hadn’t been in child beauty competitions to eleven which had. The study found that the women who had competed generally had more impulse deregulation, were less comfortable with their bodies and had more issues in trust than the women who hadn’t. Some thought that this study wasn’t conclusive due to the small numbers of women compared.

So much importance is placed on being ‘pretty’ today. Sasha was asked what it would be like if she wasn’t ‘pretty’, and she said, ‘My mum would just call me ugly. Everyone would call me ugly. I wouldn’t like it at all.’

Is Jayne just helping Sasha to achieve her dreams? Or is this just another case of forced fame?

  

A thought on Fair Trade

A few thoughts on Fair Trade:

What is Fair Trade and why is it important to buy Fair Trade?

Fair Trade aims for fair treatment of workers such as giving them a higher wage, getting better access to the market and helping workers get the opportunity to education to improve existing and learn new skills.  They label Fair Trade items (in accordance to fair trade specifications) and promote buying fairly to developed countries. As well as moral social behaviour, they advocate sustainable environmental standards.  Ultimately, Fair Trade helps the community which were often (and a lot still are) discriminated against and left poor by the normal trading process.

How can I tell if something is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade items are labeled by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International.

Foods that can be labeled include:  chocolate, nuts, cotton, coffee, tea and rice.

They check many items to see if they are Fair Trade and if they are they are labeled with this:

Other Fair Trade items can be bought from shops like Oxfam which sell other Fair Trade items like Jams, Chutneys, Noodles, Spices, Quinoa, Oils, Mints and Coffee. 

Recently, Cadbury has brought in a Fair Trade chocolate bar (the plain dairy milk) and also Whittakers (the creamy milk bar).

Do you buy Fair Trade? Do you think Fair Trade is important?