When I was growing up, I was a huge reader. I devoured books. I spent years waiting until I could start on my sister’s collection of Babysitter Club books, and distracted myself with Jacqueline Wilson’s heartbreaking tales. I went to my local library, my school library, my brother’s bookshelves, anywhere I might find a new
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These days, Disney is all about diversity, and while their princesses still have waists the size of your wrist, they are getting ballsier and more sassy. You wouldn’t cross Moana when she has an oar in her hand, and Anna from Frozen needs no man, she can build her own ice castle and pay her own
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Today, the Irish examiner released a study of 2,5oo teenagers which found that two thirds of 13-19 year olds say that their mental health state is ‘poor, very poor or average.’ We talk to girls all the time about the pressure they feel to be smart, beautiful and perfect. Caitlin Moran, the amazing author of
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Last year, Nicole lost her younger brother, 18 year old Alex, who took synthetic drugs (SD’S) at a house party. Since then, Nicole has learned as much as she can about SD’s and works really hard to prevent as many of these deaths as she possibly can. Here, she shares what she learned and what
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Some time ago we shared some outdated anti-suffragette posters, that encouraged men to keep their women under control, for fear that society would fall apart if they were granted the vote. We all had a good laugh at the ridiculousness of the attitudes to women, whilst thanking our lucky stars that we weren’t born a
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Artist Lica Brown has written this post for us on body hair. Thanks for sharing Lica! My name is Lica and destiny has given me a symmetric, petite and healthy body. Fate does not care about our pseudo ideas of beauty, so it also made me hairy. I never had an issue with my body
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Question… Why do we emulate celebrities? What is it about Beyonce that makes us love her so much. Shes a trailblazer, she is smart, she is a positive role model, she is a shrewd business woman, she is an innovator. So is Millie Dresselhaus, known as the “queen of carbon science”, the first female Institute Professor and
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Aisling is 18 and lives in Co Waterford. The youngest of 4 sisters, she is well able to stick up for herself. Sporty, sassy and smart, you would never know that Aisling has struggled with depression since she was very young. Aisling writes for us about her depression, hoping to help others, but doesn’t let it
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10 years ago this week, 18 year old Cork girl, Leanne Wolfe took her own life after enduring 3 years of bullying. Leanne’s parents were on holiday in Spain when the phone rang and their son simply said “Leanne is gone”. Leanne’s mother, Colette’s mothering instincts took over and, from all those miles away, she
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Kate Winslet didn’t hold back yesterday at the 2017 WE day in London yesterday when it comes to body shaming. She showed that even Oscar winners have to battle demons, ignore haters and believe in themselves when others think they have no potential. “I was always comparing myself to others, I was bullied at school,”
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1. You ascribe intent. Your friend never texted you back. Someone jumped ahead of you in the queue. You were mistakenly left out of a group chat. You take it very personally. So what caused you to be so offended? You took it as a personal dig, a slap in the face. Happy people do not do
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We don’t let many boys hang out here at shona.ie, but in this case we’re making an exception. Meet your new idol, Kid President. Need a pep talk? KP has possibly the best pep talk ever given. Kid President has interviewed President Obama, kissed Beyoncé, launched his own TV show and his book, Kid President’s Guide to
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North Korea is one of the world’s most repressed countries. Ruled by Kim Jong-Un, all basic freedoms are severely restricted. A 2014 a UN Commission of Inquiry found that abuses in North Korea include extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions, and other sexual violence. North Korea operates secretive prison camps where perceived opponents of
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Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to our new youth council, Ireland’s fabbest young women. Each of our members will tell us about themselves, and share why they decided to join us. This week, meet Clodagh, a 20 year old English and French student, currently in Nantes, France on her year abroad. Clodagh
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There are many types of verbal abuse, trolling, cyber bullying, slut shaming, exclusion, we all know them. But do you think we would be so ready to do it if we could literally see the effects our words have on people faces? Photographer, Richard Jones has joined forces to create a project called ‘Weapon of
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Need some inspiration of a Wednesday? Check out these ladies who gave zero f**ks what society wanted them to be, and danced to their own tune, and then go dance to yours (as long as its Beyonce). Afghan women in a record store in Kabul before the Taliban seized power in the 1950’s. Aviator Amelia
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Tracey Ullman has been making people laugh for decades. But in her new show on BBC, she really highlights how ridiculous and frustrating people’s attitudes to sexual assault victims can be. In the video, she plays a detective who applies the same line of questioning often used for assault victims to a man who has
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Very few people know how to respond when people when they say they struggle with mental illness. Here’s some things that have been said to me that made me irritated/belittled. There’s also a few responses at the end. “Oh that’s shit I get pretty depressed too. Especially when everyone goes out and I don’t and
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