Wednesday 21 March 2012

Don't worry, be happy.

I need to write a blog post. That's what I keep telling myself when I'm at school, when I'm in the shower, when I'm eating my dinner. Yeah, you get the picture, it's all the time. And every time I think about it I cringe internally already feeling tired at the thought of trying to think of a topic to write about. Which is weird because when I start writing I enjoy it. Suddenly I have plenty of things to write about but it's the prospect of actually doing it that makes me want to curl up in the foetal position and cry about how if I don't write now I'll never write professionally and I'll just die alone with no money, in a cardboard box for a house.

Ok, so maybe a bit dramatic but that's how I feel and I can't get that niggling thought to go away. Until I actually achieve my own success it will get farther and farther away. Bearing all this in mind, I am still only 14 and should therefore have nothing to worry about other than GCSEs and spots. But I don't just have that, my mind is a little basket full of worries that creep up on me from time to time, reminding me there is somewhere I need to get to and every decision I make will effect that. It's tiring! Most of my friends haven't really given a thought as to which university they would like to study at but I have already made up my mind!

I'm probably not the only one who feels like this or has ever felt like this as I'm sure every other human being on the planet has, but it feels like I'm just one huge failure who will get no where in life. Depressing, I know. Sometimes I just want to forget about doing anything, marry an immensely rich man, hire a cleaner and having to do absolutely bugger all but to be quite honest I see myself finding that incredibly tedious. Not the rich man, the doing bugger all, rich man would be quite nice... *cough* hint *cough* hint.

I guess I shall just carry on with what I'm doing, writing a blog and as much as I can else where and enjoy being a teenager. Because I realise I won't be for long and soon I'll have a hell of a lot more to worry about so I should be counting my every blessing. Smile and do what you love then you'll have the best life in the whole world!


Friday 16 March 2012

Pardon My Thoughts


I'm never afraid of saying what I think but I always worry whether people think I'm opinionated and if I am, whether that makes me not a nice person. Is being opinionated wrong? Is being opinionated just having, well, an opinion on something or does it mean something more? Is expressing what I think wrong or do I just need to reevaluate how I convey it to people?

What I worry about is whether I'm too aggressive when an un-witty comment is made about a subject I feel passionate about. This happens more often than it should as many of my fellow pupils seem to find it amusing when they wind me up. I should know that they say what they do to make a joke or to get me to react and to just ignore them, but I can't. I want them to know that their so called jokes they make aren't particularly funny and are without an ounce of wit about them but it seems to make them laugh all the same. My friends all feel the same way about topics such as feminism as I do but manage to know when to save their rants for someone who will actually listen. But that's the thing that gets me, that they don't listen and they don't care.

My generation are so boring compared to the past few decades of young people. We all dress conventionally, we all listen to the same processed crap and call it music, we all just live our lives and put up with the problems the world presents to us. Yes, we had the riots recently about education fees but it only lasted a couple of months and then we all went back to just accepting the ridiculous cost of university. In the sixties we had hippies who totally revolutionised the way the world saw things, why don't we have them anymore! There's nothing like a few radical protestors in long skirts who are completely off their face with drugs!
 In the eighties it was all about power with shoulder pads and cone bras and humungous hair and Band Aid. But now, we just have Justin Bieber and jeggings.

Maybe I should be proud that I care enough about things to want to make a difference and don't care what people think. I should be proud that I'm one of the very few people who are prepared to shout out at the world and demand equal rights for all and world peace, because although our predecessors did a great job in getting us to where we are we're still not quite there yet, not quite free. Let's not just give up because we have a lot of equal rights, let's push it until every man and woman with every sexuality, skin tone, financial position and religion has every right equal to everyone else.

Be opinionated if that's what it takes and never bat an eyelid at someone who tells you otherwise.


Monday 12 March 2012

And They Said Romance was Dead.



What really annoys me about my generation is the lack of respect for each other. The words that boys in particular use to describe girls is appalling and the general acceptance of this use of language is just as bad.
Gash is a new favourite of the lads, used frequently and without thought this rather revolting reference to a woman's genitals has become a daily remark. I'm constantly told that "I get all the Gash, I do." so confidently said however, I think not young man, not with that language you certainly do not. At least you would think they wouldn't have any girls more than half a mile near them, and yet they do. 

More than half the people I know who are my age have "got off" with somebody else, a phrase I despise as it lacks any sense of respect or care. Most common at parties, this term describes plunging your tongue deep into somebody's throat in the usual hope that you will end up more popular than before exchanging saliva with a fellow spotty teen. Someone whom you most probably have no intention of having a relationship with nor whom you like particularly. Don't get me wrong, sharing the contents of your mouth with a near stranger is fine as long as you play it safe but it's just the whole absence of any feelings whatsoever. Kissing somebody is supposed to mean more of a declaration of love than sex according to recent research, so why is used in such a disregarding manner? Why is there a race to get as far as you can regarding sexual intimacy no matter who with?

So many teenagers lie about what they have and haven't done as if they're showing off how many expensive items they own. Where is the love? As vomit inducing as that may sound I really mean it. Does no one value themselves anymore? An increasing amount of girls are willing to give their bodies away to the first male who shows interest as if they really are pieces of meat. No one falls in love with a steak so why should anyone love 'Gash'? If you're ok with being referred to as an object then why should you mean anything more? 

I personally have never had any kind of relationship other than friendship with the opposite sex because I've never felt the need. If I'm honest I've never had the chance as almost every single boy I've met has talked about a girl as a piece of meat at least once and quickly been put off by my lecture on why you should respect females as your equals. I'm not afraid to say what I think and I don't care if I put any boys off me because if they are intimidated by my views they're most likely not my type. I'm saving myself for someone special, someone who I care about, for romance. They probably won't be the love of my life but they won't be some greasy lad who just wants to look hard and has little respect for himself let alone me. 

I'm so frustrated with girls just accepting the referal to their privates as a way of life. They're willingness to not savour their bodies, precious as they all are.  But I'm also fed up with boys having no respect for any of us. What do mothers and fathers teach their sons nowadays? It's something that's looked over far too much. Let's bring back romance and treat our bodies like temples as Buddhists might say. For we all matter and all deserve to be loved. Don't look at a girl's body and drool, appreciate it for how beautiful it is and think about the girl behind the boobs for you may just find you like more than you can see. 



Saturday 10 March 2012

Beauty or the Beast


How different is the way we see ourselves from the way other people see us? Do we look prettier? Uglier? Or do people just not really notice anything at all? I always ask myself these questions when I look in the mirror or catch my reflection in a shop window and I always go with the most pessimistic.

I have awful self-image and very rarely feel pretty and if I do I'm always put down when I see someone dressed better or with nicer hair. This may be because I'm an adolescent and we are notoriously known for bad body image but that doesn't make me feel any better about myself.

I don't think I'm alone here, or at least, I hope not. Almost every friend I have dislikes something about themselves whether it's their hair, face, bum, legs or weight you name it. No matter how many times I watch Gok Wan telling the nation to strip naked and love their bodies, I will almost never look at myself and think 'Yeah, I do look pretty today'.  I don't even know why I care! It's not like every time I go out into the world I have a very high chance of meeting the love of my life! I'm 14 for crying out loud, and yet I do care, I care a lot.

I don't know if I can blame the images I see every day of women wearing gorgeous clothes with pretty smiles and perfect hair. Or the message they send that everyone looks amazing ALL of the time. Except for you, Mollie, they say, except for you. Do I need acceptance? Is that what I seek? Or for someone to acknowledge me, to say that I look exceptionally well today or they like my hair. Which they do, I know they do, my friends say it my mum's friends say it my friend's mums even say it! So why do I still feel down about my looks? Maybe it's the gender of the people who compliment me. Maybe we need, as a nation, to be told my men that we look nice, and not in the degrading, leering way that it so common nowadays. Because, as lovely as he is, Gok is not enough and women being sexualised in almost everything we do especially in the media is not ok.

Don't let sex sell let beauty for what beauty is sell instead. Then maybe the people and I would feel a hell of a lot better about ourselves.


Thursday 8 March 2012

A little more Kony 2012


Having posted about Kony 2012 I have since then been enlightened to further information and criticism about the charity.  Many others have blogged about the charity's misleading tendencies to exaggerate on statistics for strategic purposes. Others have also pointed out that stopping this one guy isn't going to stop war crime nor be the end of the children's suffering as all of Kony's bodyguards are children so, how are they going to get to him without causing anymore violence?

Another sore point has also been repeated in quite a few blogs and that is the controversy of where the money we are so rapidly donating is going. Many are complaining that very little of the profit is going to the children's well fare and more towards the production of films and products.

The unconventional documentary type video has also been widely criticised for its over the top Hollywood style. But, why not? Then again it may be hyped up to make you feel empowered by the end of the 29 minutes but that's the whole point of the video, right?

 However, this is my view, the charity's main reason is to raise awareness of Kony and as they pointed out this is to stop the American government losing interest and pulling their troops out of Uganda. The charity is therefore attempting to get as many people as they can to show that the population demands for action to be done about Joseph Kony. Yes, there are the children that we still need to think about afterwards because of course nothing will just fall nicely into place as soon as the bad guy's gone and maybe they're slightly afraid to admit that the power of the people may be outdone by the power of using brute force. Let Kony 2012 get the man who's caused so many young people hell to be known by the world and educate us about war criminals. It's teaching us to reevaluate how the government, of any country, deals with this type of situation and that we as the public need have a say in what our country does as it is after all OUR country and OUR world.

And if you don't want to do it for the charity do it to help get the world's worst war criminal arrested for good.


Wednesday 7 March 2012

Kony 2012


Today I watched a video that inspired me, made me cry, made me think and made feel both proud and angry with the human race. I watched the Kony 2012 video, a video aimed to raise awareness of Joseph Kony and the charity that are trying to catch him.

Joseph Kony is based in Uganda where he has conducted a rebel army consisting of children. These children did not choose to join his army but instead were kidnapped from their families and forced to kill and injure. The girls are used as sex slaves and the boys as child soldiers.

This disgusting crime is only made worse by the fact that these children, the world's future, are forced to mutate innocent people and kill their own parents. You would have also thought that by now Kony would be world famous with all the main headlines screaming his name, right? Wrong. Until recently very few people had actually heard of him and very little was being done to stop him.

That's where the charity comes in. They're attempting to make Kony famous. Not to celebrate him but to make his crime acknowledged by everyone and stopped by the people's demand. This is needed because if government start to lose interest the USA will remove their troops from Uganda and the inhumane crime will continue to be committed. Uganda need their help desperately to help find and catch Kony so he can be arrested. He's the world's most wanted war criminal right now.

So please, if you feel this cause needs all the help it can get like I do then watch this video. Be inspired and help as much as you can. Change history for the good. Give my generation of people a chance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc&feature=g-all&context=G285fa8fFAAAAAAAABAA


Why Hello There!

Oh hai there! It's nice to meet you!
 I've made this blog to write about issues I believe to be important and my views on the world and its current happenings. I also intend to write about me, growing up and being a teenager. To hopefully encourage or amuse those who choose to read my blogs posts. I love to write so this should be more than a delight to keep up and should hopefully help me develop my skills as a writer and help me become the writer and desire to be. To sum it up I want to share with the world what I think and my life and my interests and dislikes to be a part of this fast growing culture we have created on our friend the internet. 
So there it was my first blog post on my first ever blog! Don't worry they won't always be as short or as boring as this but we all have to start somewhere, right?