LINDIWE

TW: Rape and Sexual Assault Why don’t people care about women? The safety of women and the wellbeing of women. Nobody cares. Why do people only care when it’s about the length of our skirts, the amount of make-up we’re wearing, whether we’re “asking for it”, or when it’s too late. I’m well aware violence against women and girls has always been very present in society but holy shit man. We can’t walk even in broad daylight without the fear of being followed, harassed, and or sexually assaulted. How many women have to experience trauma, abuse, and heartache before enough is enough. People shouldn’t be trying to inject girls with unknown substances with intention to harm because girls/women are trying to have safe nights by covering their drinks. Unsure if anyone has seen that video of a man following a woman to her apartment in New York and she manages to close and lock the door before he could get in, but he had EIGHTY FUCKING SEVEN priors and was still walking the streets. That’s 13 aw

  With the season of wearing less and going out more fast approaching, I feel it’s important to acknowledge the ever-expanding beauty standard which I personally think does not need to exist. Why are we being held to a ‘standard’ which not even the people who have infiltrated them can meet? Take the Kardashians/Jenners for example. Some would say they’re the ‘blueprint’ (LOOL), or in other words they are what a lot of people aspire to look like. Small waist, slim legs, big butt, flat stomach blah blah blah. However, like many other people in the public eye, the Kardashians/Jenners also do not meet the 'standards' they are now infamous for. Khloe Kardashian released a statement not too long ago about having to be in the public eye and the pressure she has to deal with due to this, and also due to constantly being compared to her sisters and ultimately what that does for her self-esteem. Whilst I can empathise with her on feeling insecure in regard to her body etc, I think cele

 I’ve been trying to refrain from writing anything for the best part of this lockdown due to my mental health being in the gutter, but with lockdown easing in a few days, I think it might induce high serotonin levels of the entirety of the UK. I can only speak for myself, but this lockdown has truly been the toughest one of them all. I feel like with the other two it was just all up in the air; the first one was completely unknown to us, the second one was like ok no direction just vibes, but THIS ONE has been a true testament to the attachment I have to planet earth. I think sometimes when the tough times LAST, you begin to question yourself and your feelings and for me it only makes things worse. Pre-covid if we were having bad days we could take ourselves on dates, go for dinner with a friend, literally everything we have currently not been permitted to do and tbh not being able to cheer yourself up sucks. Ordering clothes ain't doing it for me like it used to (hasn't stop

  2020 tried but we bad, you can’t kill us. If this year has taught me anything it’s that we must really appreciate everything we have regardless of where we wish we were or where we wish we could be. The way life has been life’ing this year has really highlighted my personal growth and cemented more of what I want to aspire to in this life. We have loved and lost. We have mourned. We have grown. We wish things could have happened differently but despite all of this, we are still alive. The little things really go a long way and we are so so blessed to be in the positions we are in; food on the table, a roof over our heads and loved ones around us. I know this isn’t the same for everyone and I hope and pray God shields and guides those who have been hit with hardship this year. I remember before I graduated, I was like yep, I’m gonna move here, gonna get a job here, gonna do this and this, but they say when you make plans God laughs and that could not have been any more applicabl

It’s a shame that society has – in some ways – taught us that men can’t show emotion; socialisation has taught men that bottling everything up is essentially the only way to keep it moving, which in turn has led to men and boys finding other, unhealthy forms of therapy.   As I’ve mentioned before, African households are not, (generally speaking), households which are open to conversations surrounding mental health and most definitely not open to conversations surrounding the mental health of black men and boys. From experience and observation, this dismissal of discussion can very often mean that men don’t feel it safe for them to express their feelings towards something or someone without the fear of being judged or criticised for being too ‘sensitive’. I feel as though the Black community are often very quick to dismiss any real conversation about Black men and mental health and a lot of the time I find that incorrect assumptions are made before any progression for conceptualisatio

  It is what it is. Shit happens and then you die, but what matters is how you live your live in between. Sometimes shit hurts, sometimes we lose people, sometimes we can smile about the small things in life. It hurts to lose friends, break up with your significant other or coming to terms with things you thought you’d never have to deal with. In some ways what’s most painful is that it’s inevitable; it’s part of growing pains. Eventually we all learn to live without the people we thought we could never live without. We meet new people who make up for the pain we once felt. I try and find lessons in everything that happens to me because as I've learnt in this life, I can't come and kill myself for things I can't change. I know sometimes nature just naturally runs its course and you grow out of doing certain things and or people and eventually God will put new things and new people in place of the past, but it doesn’t mean it’s any less painful or difficult to move on fr