Activism

Menstruation Crusades & Feminism in Fashion – Women’s Day, Our Way!

Cambridge Blue Belles

The Blue Belles came together this month to celebrate International Women’s Day by putting our voices behind our very own menstration crusades and by welcoming model, Rebecca Pearson, to tell us all about being a feminist in an industry that relies so heavily on looks!

Wintercomfort are a charity based in Cambridge that support those in the community whom are homeless or about to face being homeless.

With everything from offering educational classes to gaining practical experience through their social enterprise, through a talk from our friend Sarah, who works at the charity we learned that 16% of those using Wintercomfort’s services are women. That got us Belles thinking. What must it be like for those 16% when it comes to be their time of the month? They can’t afford to simply purchase supplies and support themselves through what can be a tricky few days every calendar month.

Sarah from Wintercomfort explaining how difficult your monthly cycle can be to manage when you are homeless
After hearing all about the women that Sarah has personally encountered who have truly had a heartbreaking and humiliating challenge when having to deal with their periods whilst being homeless, we made a vow to the local homeless women of Cambridge. We would collect sanitary products at every month to donate to Wintercomfort and the Foodbank. We also made a commitment to homeless women of Britain. We would being our own Menstration Crusades helping those on little to no income to gain access to sanitary products on a monthly basis as needed. Watch this space for developments on our campaign and how YOU can get involved!
We ventured next onto the topic of something that is VERY close to many members hearts – Mooncups! Did you know that one single Mooncup can last you up to 60 years, versus using up to 22 disposable sanitary products each time you have your period!? There really are a list of reasons why Mooncups make more sense as a solution to handling your monthly! 
Check out the video below to learn more about the wonder that is, the Mooncup!

Last and certainly not least, we had model, blogger, activist and all in all force of nature, Rebecca Pearson, come to tell us all about what it is like being a feminist in an industry that tends to take more heed on your dress size than your views on the gender gap in Parliament.

Rebecca Pearson talking all about feminism in modeling – whilst Belles knit away in silent respect!

Rebecca’s talk was entirely honest, incredibly engaging and overall, very educational. From telling we Belles about her first experience with feminism and how going to University and meeting open minded people helped to shape her to the confident, happy and altogether more engaged individual that Rebecca is now. Rebecca’s talk was a no hold’s barred account of what being a feminist in the modeling industry is truly like with cold hard facts on encountering people with eating disorders through to the desire for so many photographers to airbrush their work. In fact, Rebecca herself has been so severely suffered the wand of Photoshop that she has come away with copies of magazines baring a face that she didn’t even recognise! Yikes!

Rebecca’s mind was opened to the WI thanks to the Belles – she’s looking to join her local branch!

But alas, Rebecca is determind to unify those who she works with to speak up about what they feel comfortable with and to act as a mentor for new models coming into the business. She’s started writing a fabulous blog, ModelTypeFace, that has been so successful it has already won her video related work as a part of a campaign to save honeybees!

By the end of the meeting, we Belles had even managed to convince Rebecca to join the WI – and guess what? She’s going to! Hooray the sisterhood triumphs with more inspiring women!