What You Need To Know About Therapy – By Niamh

Having recently attended my first personal therapy session, I wanted to share with all you lovely ladies and let anyone know who is struggling that it’s ok not to be ok (cliché) and that reaching out for help is really brave! This post isn’t going to be about me and my first therapy session. It’s

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Ambidexterity – By Emer

Back in May, we ran a writing competition where we asked secondary school girls across Ireland to submit a piece on either: A lived experience they have overcome, and what they learned. A profile of a woman they admire. An opinion piece with a positive and empowering message.   Here at SHONA, we believe in

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A Chat Through Transition With Alexandra

A large part of the LGBTQ* community but one that is often silenced is the ever-growing transgender community or trans for short. Trans people often face more oppression than other members of the community with threats of sexual assault and physical violence looming over the very existence of these people. The often unaccepting social atmosphere

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The Queer of The Castle – By Alana

When we are small, our parents read us fairytales. Stories about people from faraway lands, living in kingdoms dominated by dragons, unicorns, witches, warlocks, giants and fairies, just to name a few. A common trope in a fairy story is the romance between a prince and a princess. Perhaps he’s a tall, dark, handsome stranger

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Look How Far I’ve Come – By Libby

Dear Reader, I don’t care who you are. For all I know, you’re a 44-year-old man trying to figure out what’s going on in his daughter’s head. Or perhaps you’ve just finished an exam and you’re anxious about your results. As I said before, I don’t care. Because that’s not what’s important. What’s important, is

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The Power of the Word NO – By Amelia

Back in May, we ran a writing competition where we asked secondary school girls across Ireland to submit a piece on either: A lived experience they have overcome, and what they learned. A profile of a woman they admire. An opinion piece with a positive and empowering message.   Here at SHONA, we believe in

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We Need To Talk About Disordered Eating – By A

When I first started skipping meals, I thought it was what you were supposed to do to lose weight. I wasn’t the only person I knew doing it, so naturally, I didn’t see a problem. When I stopped eating completely for days at a time, excuses were given and the ‘oh I ate earlier’ line

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Celebrating Hijabi Women In Sport – By Eiman

Inspired by a post on social media, Eiman decided to write this article for us, highlight some of the unsung heroes, paving the way for the younger generation of hijabi women in sport.    For every well-known woman fighting to break barriers every day, there are about 10 quiet heroes, who don’t even know they’re

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Active* Consent – An Ambassador’s POV

Consent culture is developing at a rapid pace in Ireland, but what is it like to be a consent workshop facilitator? Amy, Naomi, Caoimhe, and Saorla tell us about their experiences of recently acting as consent ambassadors at The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin. Caoimhe is the Vice President for Welfare

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The Sport That I Love by Amy

Back in May, we ran a writing competition where we asked secondary school girls across Ireland to submit a piece on either: A lived experience they have overcome, and what they learned. A profile of a woman they admire. An opinion piece with a positive and empowering message.   Here at SHONA, we believe in

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Making Your Instagram Casual by Izzy

In the gladiator arena of judgment and narcissism that is social media, it is hard to enjoy platforms for what they were initially intended to be; a place to share cool pictures, quotes and to connect with friends. Over the years, Instagram has morphed into a business place; somewhere that companies pin ads to encourage you

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Covid-9-Teen – By Holly

Back in May, we ran a writing competition where we asked secondary school girls across Ireland to submit a piece on either: A lived experience they have overcome, and what they learned. A profile of a woman they admire. An opinion piece with a positive and empowering message.   Here at SHONA, we believe in

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#ThisLittleGirlIsMe

Close your eyes and think back to when you were little. Now we mean playschool little. What was she like? Who did she want to become? What were her hopes and dreams? Well, these are the exact questions being answered by the #ThisLittleGirlIsMe movement currently flooding social media. Started by Inspiring Girls International, in honour

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My Love For Poetry – By Destiny

I write poetry as a way for my mind to communicate with itself. Poetry to me is a gift, a voice, a drive, and a passion that is either present or absent in my life. Poetry has helped me during my battle with PTSD. Writing my struggle with PTSD down has given me the confidence

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Love like in a Disney Movie – But Not Really!

We love our Shona Community! It’s full of incredible, powerful and authentic women. Every now and again, we have girls and women reach out to us with some advice about an experience they have overcome. They share their stories so you don’t feel alone. Today, Natalia wanted to share her experience with love, finding it

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Shona Meets – Tara Rafter

Our SHINE Festival in March 2021 was a roaring success, smashing all of our targets with 40,000 girls attending. Over 80 incredible, authentic and badass women joined us to celebrate being a girl for 3 whole days! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be catching up with some of the speakers to share why we

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How to be an Active Bystander

USE YOUR VOICE. If we had a euro for every time we said that phrase, we’d be living in the Bahamas and our only worry would be what pair of sunglasses would we wear to the beach today. We can dream, right?  Anyways, back to the important stuff. Our voices are our biggest gift and

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“Why It’s Okay To Fail” by Libby

When we are little, we think we are going to change the world. I still wish to change the world or even just make it slightly better. My whole life, I have always had rather insane goals. My bucket list includes climbing Mount Everest and winning a Pulitzer Prize. You would think that a Type A

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