Girl Power #1

Since becoming older and becoming more aware of what's going on in the world, especially since going to university, I have noticed that so many girls/women don't believe that they can do what the boys do. I don't only mean in terms of business and work but also in terms of sports etc. Growing up I was never exposed to this idea that girls shouldn't be playing football, rolling in the mud or building dens in the forest. Never had anyone told me that I should wear dresses or play with Barbies and thank God for that because as a child those were the two things I detested the most. Instead my mam would dress me in leopard print leggings, doc martens and my brother's old clothes while I played outside all day with my brother and his friends. I remember spending days and days playing football, rugby, cricket and our own DIY versions of hurling and gallic football and just thinking that this was what every girl did. This belief was probably made stronger by the fact that most of my girl friends at that time were similar to me in that we would all go mountain biking or swim in the river. Best time ever!

Even in secondary school, especially with my close friends, the topic of not doing the same as the boys never came up. Myself and Carwen played rugby and would regularly play with the boys, there was never that conversation of 'is it really our place to play?'. University is where I saw how limiting believing that you shouldn't do what the boys are doing is for the first time. In mixed Lacrosse training girls would be scared to go and tackle the boys or they would giggle and have hardly any confidence in their own abilities when the male sex were within a 100 meter radius which, baffled me to say the least. Even when it comes to lifting weights in the gym I would see girls peering over as if they wished to be able to step into the weights area. 99% of mornings when I hit the gym I would be the only girl in the weights room and it's not something I really thought about until some of my friends were asking if they could join me and lift some weights - a question that made me very confused. Of course they could, there is not a sign in the area that reads 'only boys aloud'. There is no such sign in the majority of society so why then do girls feel like they can't do what the boys can do?

Actually, thinking about it, I really don't think that they don't believe in themselves I genuinely believe that they are just conforming to a social construct that separates what boys should do/wear and what girls should do/wear. A load of bull if you ask me. Maybe it's a result of growing up with strong female figures in my life who do what they want to do and don't let anyone stop them. My grandmother and my mam were the ones that went to watch the rugby every friday night while my dad and granddad would stay at home. Thus, this whole constricting gender ideal is something that I thankfully was not exposed to when I was younger and I truly hope that in the future every girl and boy can choose what they want to do without being told that that's not what they should be doing. 

Here's a video I watched last night which sparked the idea for this post. It's a Ted talk by gnarly female skater Cindy Whitehead who I absolutely look up to and I think you should have a listen to what she has to say. 

SUMMER PLANS & STUDENT WORRIES

My Italy posts will be up as soon as possible. While in Venice we endured a day of torrential rain, so much rain in fact that it broke my camera thus I now have to wait for my friends to sort out their pictures and send them to me before I can actually get to posting them. Ohh the joys of rain and not so waterproof coats! 

After an awesome 2 (very hot) weeks travelling around northern Italy I am home for summer for a few weeks before I am off once more back down to Windsor/Egham with my family for a few days, Reading festival and then to the South of France to surf :D All of these things I am really excited for.

However, I am home and despite sending a gazzilion e-mails searching for work experience I have heard nothing thus far although I only sent some off recently so their is still some hope. Sometimes, actually most of the time, I feel really guilty for not having anything planned in terms of work/experience over the summer but to be honest, neither have my friends. I feel as though I should be doing something productive which will benefit me in the future. Despite this feeling, being at uni is incredibly stressful and tiring. Throughout first and second term which lasts from September to the end of March I had an essay a week to complete as well as seminar work and readings. Even through christmas holidays I was tapping away at my laptop writing essays while all my other friends from home were chilling and enjoying the break. I am not complaining because I love to learn and I like (although not always) being at a hard university because I really think (hope) that it will benefit me in the future but it does sometimes get a bit much.

I can not sit and do nothing and I think this is my biggest downfall. My friend Ruth was amazed by the questions I would randomly ask while we'd just be sitting in a cafe somewhere in Italy. She would say to me "Lisa, you think way too much in depth about everything. Just stop thinking for a bit". When I look into the sky I immediately think about space and planets and where does it all end - does the blackness just go on forever, surly it has to stop somewhere. Even while typing this my mind has drifted into attempting to figure out the unknown.

It's because of this relentless mind spinning that I have been throwing myself into reading a lot over the last week or so while also exercising everyday and working on my fitness blog - theimportanceofbeingstrong.wordpress.com . Working on this blog is something that I am really into at the moment and I hope that it will grow into something bigger in the next month or so. So really I am getting work experience, the experience of writing on a daily basis (with Lisi Loo and Importance of Being Strong) it's just that I am working for myself rather than a magazine or newspaper. Over the next few weeks I have also got to start reading and planning for my final year dissertation which is a bit scary but that's all I can do is my best and if that isn't good enough then I can't do much more than that.

So here's to relaxing, writing, working, exercising and enjoying summer.

BACK FROM ITALY & 21 MILE WALK

I'm back from Italia and back on the grind. I have a few posts to catch up on!

On the 22 of June I walked, along with 8 other people, 21 miles from Carmarthen to a town called Pwll just outside of Llanelli in West Wales. It was all in the name of the National Eisteddfod that is arriving in Llanelli in August.

We set off just after 8am with everyone, especially me, still wearing their rather puffy and confused morning faces. The first three miles flew by as we walked through the centre of town and after a short bus ride across the dual carriage way (it was too unsafe to walk) we joined the Welsh coastal path which follows the whole cost of the country from its most northern point to its most southernly, its most West to its most East and everywhere in between. With great views entertaining us from Ferryside to Kidwely we quickly stopped so more walkers could join us. By now we were at around mile 10/11 and everything was going to plan. My legs felt fine and mentally I wasn't bored - I felt good. 

The 6 miles from Kildwely to Pembrey that were to follow were the hardest few miles of the day. Not only was the sun beaming down on us making us feel as though we were being roasted in preparation for Sunday lunch the next day but it was 6 miles of monotonous trees, long roads and uneven gravelled country tracks. We passed fields of cows and bulls with no fence to protect us and a horse fly decided to sting me on my wrist which almost immediately blew up to twice its size. 

Eventually we arrived at Pembrey where we sat on the grass to eat our lunch and having refuelled, rubbed antihistamine cream into my sting and placed blister plasters under my food I was ready to hit the road once more. The last few miles from Pembrey to Pwll were beautiful with the sun soaked sea keeping us company the whole way. With a mile or so to go my legs began to get very heavy and tiredness kicked in. I'm not sure if this tiredness was a result of walking for eight hours or if it was a result of walking 8 hours under the incredibly hot sun. Either way we were all getting very tired. 

The next day (Sunday) I was off to Italy for 2 weeks and I really wasn't that sore. The only things that were bothering me were my swollen and rather painful ankles. I really need some properly fitted trainers because running is becoming quite painful now. That is on the top of my to-do list - get properly fitted trainers to prevent injury!