Mollie’s International Women’s Day Blog
I can remember sitting outside of a coffee shop in a small seaside town, reading Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell. I was a few weeks from turning 16 and fast becoming obsessed with the idea of writing about fashion. I told my mum “this is what I want to do, I want to write. I want to be like Carrie Bradshaw.” My mum believed I could do it and has cheered me on and supported me throughout everything.
I dreamed of living in a big city, hailing taxis, having a big walk-in wardrobe like Carrie, and attending fashion shows FROW, parties and events. Flash forward to today, I’m now 23, living in London (albeit stuck indoors during a global pandemic), and I’ve just had my first byline with Cosmopolitan. I guess you could say with a little determination and fervour, you can achieve your wildest dreams…
Being a woman in 2021 isn’t easy, but it definitely isn’t as hard as it once was either. In 2021, women can vote in general elections, start their own businesses and pursue any dream they desire. Although women’s rights are undoubtedly better than they were 50 years ago, women are still shackled by something else – society’s opinions.
Starting her own blog
When I found my love for fashion writing, I feared something — the way in which I looked. Having always been bigger than my female counterparts, I knew that my weight would be seen as a negative when stepping into the world of fashion. In 2013 at just 16, I started my own fashion and lifestyle blog, www.theperksofmolliequirk.co.uk, but shied away from talking about issues such as beauty ideals, weight and the way in which women are perceived. I played it safe and spoke about beauty products and £1 lipsticks. Soon after turning 18, I discovered the body positivity community and this is when I started to combine my love of fashion with my own self-love journey.
Since the age of 18, I have been combining fashion with fatness and style with self-love. As somebody who went through a tough time at school and has encountered multiple body image issues, I decided to campaign for a positive body image while showing the world that you can be stylish and curvy. I believe that societal norms, beauty ideals and the way in which we all judge each other is the biggest constraint women face today, and my goal is to loosen this constraint a little.
We all deserve to feel worthy and this is exactly why I post empowering content on Instagram and write articles surrounding these topics for publications like Stylist, Bustle and Cosmopolitan. We are constantly judged for what we do, wear and for how we look too. Society tells us that we should be a size 6, blonde, round bum, big boobs, small waist and perfect skin, but forcing women to change into something other than their natural, beautiful selves is toxic, damaging and suffocating.
International Women’s Day is so important
International Women’s Day is so important because it’s a day where we can unite and support each other, but it shouldn’t only apply to this one day each year.
To any woman reading this right now: you are beautiful and worthy as you are right now. You don’t need to change to fit a specific ideal and you don’t need to alter your appearance in any way, shape or form. You are strong, determined and capable of amazing things — you can achieve anything you set your mind to. Remember to cheer on your friends too. Just because their light is shining bright, doesn’t mean yours is getting any dimmer. So please, cheer each other on, raise each other up, and believe in yourself and your beauty, both internal and external.
Read more from Mollie
To read more from Mollie, check out her recent blog about our Swan Retro Pump Espresso Coffee Machine
