Ask Haylee!
Ask Haylee is a forum created for the enjoyment of teenage girls, in the hope that the content will be a source of inspiration to you.
Some of what you find here is fun, light-hearted and pretty, while other posts are heavier and more serious - a definite reflection of the emotional capacity of females generally.
Ask Haylee covers a range of important issues, and will hopefully get you thinking about what it is to be a young woman in today's society.
Questions are most welcome, even tricky ones.
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Video reblogged from beau séjour
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As I’ve been trawling through Tumblr posts about body image, healthy bodies etc, I’ve come across an inordinate amount of posts where girls are complaining about their weight, and in specific cases, complaining about the way they hips/stomachs/fat hangs over their jeans/bikini bottoms etc.
Now, I understand many women battle with their weight legitimately. What frustrates me about these posts, is that these issues for complaint are mostly circumstantial. If you bought yourself the correct size clothing for your body, instead of trying to fit your body into a too-small size, then you would not feel crappy when you look in the mirror while wearing those clothes.
Many women forget that the size tag is on the inside of the garment. Not to mention the fact that the clothing industry’s sizing standards are all over the place. If you need to go up the extra size, to get that smooth fit in whatever you’re buying, the only person who will know is the shop assistant.
I am an Australian size 8, so yes, I am slim. At any given time, I have also been as small as a size 6 and can go up to a size 10. I don’t have anything to complain about in terms of how I look, and at my biggest was still completely comfortable with my body. In saying that, due to working in fashion retail, I know how to dress for my body, and not to try and make my body fit around an inappropriately sized or awkwardly fitted garment. I carry my weight in my bum, so I know that, even as a size 8, my jeans and most other pants, will often need to be a size 10.
If I were to stubbornly refuse to purchase any garment beyond a size 8, I would end up looking a lot bigger than I am. This is true of any size or shaped woman.
Work out what sizes fit you, and your body, and your proportions. You may still have times when you don’t like what you see in the mirror, we all do. But if you remember that a size is a number invisible to everyone but you, you will have a lot more freedom to play with your wardrobe and highlight the things you like about your body!
H x
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I still can’t rave about this girl enough.
Robyn Lawley, the 22 year old plus sized (read: size 14 - 16, the standard for Australian women) model, based in New York.
I’ve been stalking her career with fervour. She’s just incredible
H x
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I remember when I was doing Rent and I was too thin, and I was doing that on purpose because, I’m dying, I’m a HIV+ drug addict. I remember having to eat raw food and doing all this work to make sure I could stay thin… And I remember everyone asking me when I was doing press for the movie, “What did you do to get so thin? You looked great!” and I’m like, “I looked emaciated.”
It’s a form of violence in the way that we look at women and how we expect them to look and be, for… what’s sake? Not health, not survival, not enjoyment of life, but just so that you can look ‘pretty’.
I’m constantly telling girls all the time, “Everything’s airbrushed, everything’s retouched, to the point of just that it’s never even asked, and none of us look like that.Rosario Dawson -
It’s not about being skinny, or being curvy! It’s about celebrating all body types!
H x
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I would hope it goes without saying, that teenage girls know that a positive body image is extremely important.
My hopes are probably reaching a bit far though.
With photo-shopped images of celebrities we admire flooding magazine, posters and advertisements, the general idea of a positive body image is just as warped as the ideal of “beautiful” that we see every day.
Don’t let the media tell you how you should look!
You don’t need to be a size 6 - 8 to be beautiful/pretty/hot. You don’t need large boobs to be beautiful/pretty/hot. Your skin doesn’t need to be tanned, blemish free or “perfect” to be beautiful/pretty/hot.
And most importantly; being beautiful, pretty or hot shouldn’t be the most important thing to a girl.
People have different favourite colours, different tastes in music, some like summer and some like winter. Our interests are varied. How we look is varied. AND people’s idea of beauty is varied! Just as it should be!
Don’t let the lovely models you see in magazines dictate your idea of beauty. Yes, these women are beautiful in their own way. But their body-types make up a minuscule percentage of what’s out there!
The best way to ensure you look and feel great is to eat healthily, exercise and take care of your body! I guarantee, so long as you are doing this, no matter what size, shape or colour you are, there is something about you that is amazing.
Don’t focus on your insecurities. Everybody has them, but the most attractive and admirable quality is confidence! So long as you are confident and comfortable with yourself, your inner beauty will shine through and captivate others. That is the best kind of beautiful!
H x
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Link reblogged from Reasons Why I Should Be Happy I Am Fat
reasonswhyishouldbehappyiamfat:
Via Yahoo News:
Dillon tried everything. “I was obsessive-compulsive about eating and weighing and measuring, and very punishing to myself if I ate too much,” she says. “It was bad.” Finally, though, she was flattened by a gruesome, 10-day intestinal bug, which left her almost…
This is an inspirational article, and shows that so long as you are healthy and happy, you are beautiful!
H x
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Video reblogged from they're in my skin and my bones
Ladies, this is an extremely relevant and impressive video that I recommend women of all ages watch!
This ideal of “beauty” through the media’s eyes is a damning one. Life is not a magazine or an advertisement, nor should it be viewed as such.
Please take a moment to watch and then ponder the message behind this video.
H x
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Photo reblogged from i cant think of a cool tumblr name
10 FOODS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GREAT.- BLUEBERRIES The ultimate immune-boosting food. Rich in anti-oxidants.
- BROCCOLI Guards against cancer and is rich in a wide range of anti-oxidants, vitamins C and E, folate and iron.
- CARROTS High in carotenes, known to boost the immune system.
- LETTUCE AND SALAD GREENS Tangy varieties, such as chicory and endive, stimulate the liver, making them great detoxifiers. Most lettuces contain valuable amounts of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants.
- BEETROOT Bursting with minerals and has anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, immune-boosting and detoxifying properties.
- BRAZIL NUTS You only need to eat two or three a day to benefit from their great combination of immune-boosting nutrients: vitamin E, selenium and B vitamins.
- GRAPEFRUIT Has immune-boosting, antiseptic, wound-healing and anti-bacterial properties.
- GARLIC Strengthens the heart and blood, and has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Also thought to help lower blood pressure. A key ingredient is allicin, which has cancer-fighting potential.
- CRANBERRIES Best known for helping to prevent and treat urinary tract infections, especially cystitis, in women. They have both anti-fungal and antiviral properties.
- GINGER Stimulates the immune system and circulation.
H x
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For the people that have already begun sneaking a look, and for the girls who I hope will come to use and enjoy this page in the future, I’d like to explain the motivation behind Ask Haylee, and take this chance to introduce myself.
I’ve set Ask Haylee up, in the hopes of reaching out to girls approaching their teenage years, and those already stuck right in the thick of them. Those years are (emotionally) some of the toughest, and it is also a time in our lives when we are extremely impressionable.
We live in a completely media oriented society, it is 100% image focussed and sexualisation of young women is rapidly becoming widely accepted. I’m seeing fewer positive, healthy role models for girls, in favour of horrendous examples of teen morale & body-image such as this thing..
I’m no angel and as yet, no raging success story - but; I hold my head up high, I feel my morals, ideals and body image are decent, and I try to practice what I preach in that regard. Nothing makes me more proud than to be told I have influenced a young person positively.
Through Ask Haylee I will be posting regularly, anything I feel could motivate, inspire, encourage, comfort, enlighten or cheer up young girls. The content will address issues I feel are relevant to today’s 10 - 16 year old women, with a fairly strict PG rating placed on the site, so nothing explicit or outrageously inappropriate will be posted.
I would encourage people of any age to utilise the Ask Haylee now! option to post queries, concerns, feedback or contributions relevant to the target age-group. Please note the option to post anonymously. I understand it can be tough speaking out about an issue close to your heart so for any girls who are shy, embarrassed or just a little uncertain, don’t feel bad using the anonymous function - that’s what it’s there for!
As far as learning a bit about the person, behind the words and re-blogged, motivational images floating across your screen; I’m a 23 year old female from Melbourne, Australia. I work full-time in Medical Recruitment and live out of home on the Mornington Peninsula. I’m in the initial stages of planning to write my first Science Fiction novel (purely character/plot development at the moment) and you can generally find me gaining solace between the pages of a book (preferably written by someone else, my own book just brings me grief). I have a healthy appreciation for scented candles, an unhealthy obsession with Paris and I have extremely bad circulation so I always need to find the spots on the ground where the sun has been shining so I can stand in them and warm my feet up.
I’m sure you’ll learn more about me as Ask Haylee progresses, just as I hope to learn a bit about all of you.
Parents are more than welcome to contribute, as I understand the desire to want to keep your daughters’ clear of other filthy junk that circulates the net at 100km’s an hour these days.
Peace girls,
H x
