We should be celebrating

Hey Crushers,

I woke up with this fabulous quote today:

quote via bustle

I mean, that's all. 

Are we asking too much? Nope, I'm pretty sure we aren't. 

Are we kicking ass most of the time on a professional and personal level? Hell, yes.

It's actually quite simple: we want equality, we want to be appreciated for what we are and we want to be respected. This isn't a women's problem: this is what everyone, everywhere, desires and deserves. So, yes, I want to live in a culture that does all these things, where I can celebrate myself and everyone around me, regardless of their gender, weight, colour, bra size, {insert everything else that we judge and criticize}.

*Oh, yeah, and good coffee would be great too. 

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela

Caitlyn Jenner's story and why all women must love Jon Stewart

Welcome to being a woman
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You know what ladies? Jon Stewart just gets it! Perfectly. 

As we all know Vanity Fair's photos of Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce, hit the media this week and they all had something to say. Although in general everyone seems to be accepting her gender transition, Jon Stewart brilliantly saw something that no one else noticed: media and sexism.

"It's really heartening to see that everyone is willing to not only accept Caitlyn Jenner as a woman, but to waste no time in treating her like a woman."

The way Caitlyn looks was everything they were talking about. Should we take a minute to reflect? I did... And that's it, the moment you become a women, you must be defined by your beauty, your boobs and your ass - and that's really sad.

And then, the worst part comes, comparison, or as Jon says "comparative fuckability": 

"Is she hotter than Kris? Does she have a better body  than Kim?" Wtf people? Hey, where's the message that every woman should focus on herself instead of going crazy comparing her body to the ones they see on the runways? Nowhere.

So, thank you Jon for bringing up the important issues here, it's nice to see someone on TV still has a brain.

You can watch the full video below:

Nailed it, right?

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela

10 reasons why it is awesome to be a woman

Today it is March 8th, the International Women's Day. We have fought hard to be free, to be able to express our opinions, to be taken seriously, to be equal, and we still have a long way to go. Because I am a woman and I believe I am blessed to be one, here are the reasons why being a woman is truly and absolutely awesome:

Fierce
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1. Gentleness. Yes, we are gentle, we are soft, we smell good and we like pretty shiny things. I'm proud to be feminine.
2. Power. Is there a great woman behind every great man? I believe that it might be the opposite. 
3. Taste. We are sweet, we are the sugar spoon in a world full of sour. 
4. Flirt. If you can flirt, you can do pretty much everything and convince everyone. 
5. Children. I haven't figured this one out yet, but my mom tells me we have the fantastic ability to give birth to a human being, so I will believe her. 
6. Beauty. I love the way we embellish the room when we arrive. We add value to the common places. 
7. Free stuff. Paying for my own drinks? I would, but since everyone is offering...
8. Short skirts, high heels. Come on, do I really have to explain this one? Looking in the mirror and loving what you see is such a good feeling.. Every woman deserves that!
9. Other women. Our mothers, our grandmothers, our friends, our sisters: we have to love and appreciate each other. 
10. Society. I believe that society is treating woman better nowadays. Our fight for equality isn't over, but we have to admit that we have conquered a lot, so this day is a great opportunity to sit back and enjoy the outcome. 

Happy Women's Day!

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela 

Girl Talk : Casual Cruelty

Recently, I've come across an interview of Lena Dunham (gotta love her truly-madly-deeply) where she was asked to name one thing that she really didn't like and she only said two words: Casual Cruelty. 

All of the sudden, that stroke a chord with me. You know in cartoons where a lightbulb goes of? It was something like that for me, I really thought "that's it" that's the root of all petty problems amongst women: we operate under this directive for far too long, we are "casually cruel" to each other every day: friends, co workers, best friends, mums, daughters, we are all victims of it and we keep doing that to each other.

See also: 8 things about the Portuguese Woman

This must stop. The need to put the other person (women) down because your hair doesn't look nice today, your dress doesn't quite fit, your heels are hurting or you really mess up with your boss this morning,  you don't get the right to be mean because you are insecure about something. 

Suck it up, we are all angry, yep I'm angry a lot, but don't be the bad bitch you feel the need to be. 

You can take it out on someone who is completely unwarned of whats going on an in that moment that sure is gratifying. but then what? You were a horrible person and that comment will sooner or latter cost you something because karma works around the clock and it ins't in a hurry. 

I'm not taking the moral high ground here, hey I've done it more times that I can remember but hey, you need to stop this. I'm not saying spread the peace and love among women lets all join hand in prays no! no bullshit, just cut it out mean spirited current comments such as this:

"hey, that skirt looks really good on you! it disguises your huge hips, honestly"

"Stop it! You need to grow up and stop being so whinny really, just being honest here"

"Oh common we both know you never be able to pull it off in that situation, to be honest"

Oh it's cool to be honest!But misguided anger it's not! And I'm not saying that you have to smile and be polite and happy all the goddam time. God, I'm not always happy, I'm not always smiling in fact I frown a lot, A LOT! and...I'm not fuking polite all the time. 

The message here is be better. Do not take down other girls on their looks, on their behavior, on their intelligence, just....be better than that.

And so on. Many of you will think that I'm just being sensitive, other will relate, and others...will turn away without acknowledging they have done it but they will know it, every women recognises the moment where she has taken it too far. 

Because, if you all have felt that sting you don't see coming...wouldn't we know that it really really hurts?

Your TopCrusher,
Alex

He For She Freedom

Gender equality is not a women's issue, it's a human rights issue. 

The HeForShe initiative was launched by Emma Watson, Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women (and for people like me, eternal Harry Potter wonder), at the United Nations on September 20th. The truth is that there has been a lot of talk about feminism lately. What it is, what it stands for, what's acceptable or not for a feminist to say or do, etc.

I had some difficulty understanding what feminism is about at first, but then, things just got really simple. It means that I want to be equal, it means that I want to be free to express myself, it means that I won't allow to be treated like less because I am a woman. So yes, I am a feminist. 

The most important and innovative point of her speech, is asking men to join women in this cause, because feminist don't hate men, we just don't want to live trapped by destructive stereotypes, and men are victims of those stereotypes too. Here are my favorite parts of her amazing speech:

Freedom
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"My life is a sheer privilege because my parents didn’t love me less because I was born a daughter. My school did not limit me because I was a girl. My mentors didn't assume that I would go less far because I might give birth to a child one day. These influences were the gender equality ambassadors that made me who I am today. They may not know it, but they are the inadvertent feminists that are changing the world today. We need more of those. (...)

If men don’t have to be aggressive in order to be accepted, women won’t feel compelled to be submissive. If men don’t have to control, women won’t have to be controlled.

Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all perceive gender on a spectrum, instead of two sets of opposing ideals. If we stop defining each other by what we are not, and start defining ourselves by who we are, we can all be freer, and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom.

If you believe in equality, you might be one of those inadvertent feminists that I spoke of earlier, and for this, I applaud you. We are struggling for a uniting word, but the good news is, we have a uniting movement. It is called HeForShe. I invite you to step forward, to be seen and to ask yourself, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

If you are a woman, and you believe you deserve to be treated as equal, there is no way you don't love this speech, even if you don't want to be called a feminist.

Your TopCrusher,
Daniela

When did he stop treating you like a princess?

This is not the first time Saint Hoax uses the Disney princesses to pass a certain message. First, it was about child abuse and now he’s using our most beloved Disney princesses to approach another subject: domestic violence.

Put an end to it
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I believe that this is a really powerful image and that he surely found a way to spread the message against this horrific problem that is still increasing in our society. In Portugal the numbers are still going up every year. This is something very daunting that people shamefully hide in their homes, and sadly pretend it’s not happening.

I won’t even mention the statistics of countries like India, where women are seen like objects and don’t even deserve to be treated like equals in the eyes of most men. It’s disgusting and makes me sick to think that cows are sacred there, but women are rapped, hanged and lead to death by fire, without anyone to protect them. That’s not culture, that’s not mentality, that’s not religion, that’s not politics, that is pure violence and evil.

I think that because I am a woman, this subject is particularly important to me and deeply moves me and that’s why I value all these ways to raise awareness to domestic  - and any other kind of - violence against women. 

Hopefully, campaigns like these will help people, I believe we can change our society for the better and I appreciate artists like Saint Hoax for creating new, clever and productive ways to do it!

Like the princesses we are, we should never stop demanding the treatment we deserve!

Your TopCrusher,

Daniela