Female Empowerment: the power of a positive role model

International Women's Day poses a wonderful opportunity for women to reflect on their journeys of living in the female body and determine how they want to forge ahead into the future. There may be numerous external inequalities and injustices yet to be remedied, but the truth remains that we can…

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Why Valentine’s Day May Smell of Roses but is Full of Thorns

The Valentine’s Day tradition forces us to look at love whether we like it or not, and whether we’re in an amorous relationship or not. The Greeks identified  seven different types of love – philia, storge, eros, ludus, philautia, pragma and agape. Yet there is a modern pre-occupation with eros…

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Fixating on Fairytales

"For a celebrity to be alone seems a grave injustice to the fans because we want their lives to be a fairytale - scripted like a hallmark romance. ..For actors and performers in general, we forget that they only play fictional roles but that most of their lives are lived off camera where they too must wrestle with demons, overcome heartache and heartbreak and deal with all the challenges of being a human being."[Culture Detox 2: Celebrating Self Not Celebrity, p. 52]

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Fixating on Fairytales
"the look of love"

Why Certain Celebrity Couples Captivate our hearts

Everybody goes weak at the knees for a heart-warming romance. At the very least stories of a genuine romance can warm the coldest and most cynical of hearts. We all yearn for a 'hapy ever after' ending. We seem to think we can will into existence a real connection from…

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When Icons Die

We live in a strange world where we form strong emotional connections with people we have never met in person. These notables are tagged with the label of ‘celebrities’ and the media puts them on pedestals. They become part of the cultural ‘furniture' such that when they are gone, the…

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When Icons Die
"icons are idols"

A Timely Fathers Day Reminder

A Timely Fathers Day Reminder The newest billionaire to be trumpeted by Ford magazine is Jay-Z, the rapper whose wealth has been generated from many creative ventures and prudent investments. The vast majority will gladly join the bandwagon to sing his praises and applaud this rare achievement. But there are…

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A Timely Fathers Day Reminder
Dad is the best playmate!

The Best Use of the Human Body

Mental Health Awareness Week in UK ran from 13 – 19 May this year, and the focus was on body image [https://inews.co.uk/news/health/mental-health-awareness-week-2019-what-when-body-image-uk-theme-may-dates/]. According to research by the Mental Health Foundation which spearheaded this awareness-raising initiative in 2001, “one in five of the 4,505 adults surveyed (20 per cent) felt shame…

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The Best Use of the Human Body
To be alive is to create

Surviving Our Image Obsessed Culture: how body shaming affects us all

Accusations or self-appraisals of having the wrong body type or shape are becoming an increasing feature of life in the western media. In the relatively liberal western democracies, it is now the norm to display all or large areas of the human body as an expression of being confident or…

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Surviving Our Image Obsessed Culture: how body shaming affects us all
"scars are trophies of survival!"

Nudity in the Public Domain

The American actress, Jessica Biel, gave voice to a view which many women probably wish they had the courage to share. Speaking of her fashion choices when she was younger, she stated, “I wish I would’ve explored some different shapes, and not gone sexy all the time…I think if you…

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