amber can walk

TW - mentions of rape and sexual assault With the world being as divided and seemingly bleak as it is right now, I thought it was best to delve deeper into cynicism and delight in the complicated and often controversial world of gender politics and feminism. There have been very few books which have fed my morbid curiosity surrounding inevitable downfall of society as we know it whilst at the same time illustrate gender in such a literal way: by grouping women according to their uses. The Handmaid's Tale is unavoidable as a novel when you study feminist critique as a part of an English Literature module so I was aware of this book well before I read. However, I didn't buy until this year which was probably somehow linked to the release of the TV series adaptation. As a lover of books, I do feel slightly shameful for waiting this long to read such an important one but at the same time, now is when I needed to read this book. My brain is the most critical and the most aware of...

My body has never been what I wanted it to be. There was always something to change about it but no matter how hard I tried, whether it was secretly exercising or changing my diet so that it included significantly less cheesecake, it always seemed to look disgusting to me. As a fat woman, I always feel less attractive than my thinner friends. No matter what I wore, I felt too big. It never seemed to be enough that the people who were important to me liked me as a person and how I looked. I didn't like me. Not one bit. I would love to say that I have had a drastic turn around and love every inch of my body no matter how wobbly it is. It is an aspiration of mine to have some days where I feel insecure but most of the time, I am confident in my abilities and this is reflected in my outer appearance. That it is okay to look pretty if you want to and that it is okay to not look pretty if don't want to. Then again, I don't really think of myself as a very good liar and writing a...