Calvin Klein and the glamourisation of sexual harassment

Share

You’ve probably already heard about the new Calvin Klein advertising campaign. It’s worked, that’s for sure, in that Twitter and Facebook can’t get enough of complaining about it. And of course the pro-sexism and creepy factions can’t get enough of defending it and lashing out at people who recognise it for what it is – blatant sexist glamourisation of and dismissal of sexual harassment.

Continue reading

Helping to nurture your teenage daughter’s body image

Share

Do  you suck your tummy in when you think other people are looking at you?

Every day, women (and men) are bombarded by messages on the TV, radio, print media including the internet telling us (and selling us) on how to change how we look. Unless you actually live under an actual rock you are bombarded by change-your-body messages maybe twenty, thirty times a day (?!!). All designed to sell you something. All disguised as “help”.

 

medium_light-yogurt-skinny-small-78283[1]
(That’s an ad for yogurt… ahem and erm…)

Continue reading

Talking to teens about Sexting

A teenage boy asking you to leave
Share

Firstly let’s define sexting:

Sexting is the sending of a sexually revealing image of oneself or an explicit text using a phone, or other device that is connected to the internet. You will have heard about the celebrity photo leaks, most notably the recent Jennifer Lawrence leaks .

And last week we heard about SnapChat pictures being leaked.

Sexting
Sexting – the new first base

Continue reading

Ways to nurture your child’s self esteem.

Awesome Shaped
Share

Yesterday I wrote about my depressing experience in a gym changing room where a little girl sucked in her tummy when she noticed me looking at (admiring) her.

Today, I’ve decided to suggest things we can collectively challenge in our society, things that hurt us and our children. I’m a big believer in taking action!

Here’s a little taster of where I’m going with this one:

Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem

Continue reading

Be careful what you say about yourself – your child is listening.

Self-Esteem
Share

I had an unnerving experience two days ago and haven’t quite yet recovered.

This thing happened in the changing room of my local gym.

Here’s a meme I made for the occasion. It might give you a clue as to where I’m going with this…

Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem

Continue reading

Kim and Kanye are in Ireland!! (And why we give a &^%*…)

Kim and Kanye
Share

We have a lovely little castle with proper history that has been nicely converted into a 5 star hotel and in fairness, many celebrities have indeed stayed there. Disappointingly I missed, by mere minutes, an afternoon with a very sociable Bruce Springsteen last summer. And so when it became clear that the newlyweds, “Kimye”, (we can nickname them now ‘cos they’re practically locals) flew into Cork airport, Castlemartyr was the obvious choice destination. So we all went mad looking to confirm that we were hosting new sparkly guests, albeit briefly. It was most entertaining!

Continue reading

Are older siblings be more accomplished than their siblings?

World's most powerful women
Share

This conversation was sparked by the publication of a new study on sibling configurations and looking at whether aspiration and achievment of children is dependent on ‘order’ in the family. Interestingly, the researchers in this case also found a gender difference – specifically, that eldest girls aspire to, and achieve more academically than eldest boys. Naturally enough this sparked much media debate

Continue reading

Why do we lie about our age?

Aging
Share

SO, Jay-Z lied about his age – why does he care and why do we love that he cares?

This was a piece for which Chrissie Russell, freelance journalist with the Irish Independent interviewed me. She was interested in the revelation that Jay-Z lied about his age and more importantly – why anyone cares! 

Read on the full text of our conversation

Continue reading

Are you in love with your phone?

Social Media in Relationships
Share

This is a conversation with Chrissie Russell, freelance journalist, about some of the positive and negative impacts that technology can have on our relationships. You will notice that I caution strongly against vilifying technology – partially because I have deep love of my own iPhone!!

Continue reading