Women Making an Impact

I found a fabulous site for women who want to change the world.  Vivanista is a social network set up to empower Philanthropic Women.

If you're looking for fundraising ideas for your favourite charity, school or community group than all the information you need is here.  There is a fantastic library of fundraising resources - and a great community of women all willing to share their fundraising experience with you.

If living an altruistic lifestyle is important to you, then Vivanista is a great place to go for inspiration, to help you take effective action and to make a real impact on the world!  Make sure you look me up when you get there :)

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Love Your Body!

I decided a long time ago not to purchase "women's magazines" after it dawned on me one day that they made me feel terrible about myself.  It seemed that everything - from the editorial to the ads was telling me that I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't thin enough, pretty enough, well dressed enough, adequately coiffed, shod or made up.  It struck me as incongruous that they would throw in the odd "accept yourself for who you are" or "love your body just the way it is" article in between ads of gorgeous models airbrushed to perfection.

Unfortunately though, its not just these magazines telling women and girls their bodies are not acceptable - movies, tv, music lyrics, billboards . . . they are all reducing us to body parts, reinforcing gender stereotypes and portraying us as sexual 'objects'.

As a mother of two young girls, it angers me more than I can adequately express that they are growing up in a world that still undervalues women and actively seeks to undermine their self-esteem in order to turn a profit.

What can we do to ensure our girls grow up to value themselves in the face of such pervasive negative messages?

• We can stop buying women's magazines!  
• We can stop buying from companies that use unhealthy and unhelpful images of women to sell their products - and we can TELL THEM what we are doing and why.
• We can be healthy role models for our daughters (and our sons!) - lets not focus on how much we eat, how much we weigh, how many wrinkles we have.  Lets show our daughters what REAL BEAUTY is all about.
• We can donate to organisations like the NOW Foundation.  Check out their website for more fantastic ideas to help promote healthy body image to women and girls.
• Share this great presentation from the NOW Foundation with as many people as possible: Sex, Stereotypes and Beauty: The ABCs and Ds of Commercial Images of Women

Image by angela7dreams via Flickr

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Find Your Way Home

Magdalene is a two-year residential and support community for women coming out of correctional facilities or of the streets who have survived lives of abuse, prostitution, and drug addiction. Begun in 1997 in Nashville, Tennessee, Magdalene offers women at no cost a safe, disciplined and compassionate community in which to recover and rebuild their lives.

They have recently produced a beautiful book 'Find Your Way Home: Words from the Street, Wisdom from the Heart'. It is a small and simple book of hope and courage written collectively by the residents, staff and volunteers at Magdalene.

It is an inspiring read. I think the main lesson that I derived from it is that love - true, unconditional, non-judgemental, love - is a truly powerful force for change in ourselves, in our communities and in the world at large.

All the profits from the sale of this book go to Magdalene. You can purchase a copy from Amazon.

Thistle Farms is a non-profit business set up by Becca Stevens, Founder of Magdalene. The women of Magdalene create by hand natural bath and body products. Through Thistle Farms they gain job-skills and learn responsibility and cooperation. All proceeds go back into supporting the residents of Magdalene. You can purchase their beautiful products online.

This week Thistle Farms and Magdalene have launched a wonderful new blog - The Voices of Thistle Farm. Be sure to visit and show your support. They are a fantastic organisation that offer women a chance to heal from lives that many of us can barely imagine. Not only this they are helping to change the culture that allows these things to happen to so many women.