Those of you who have read my blog for a while will know that I feel very strongly about body confidence, being body-positive, building up others instead of knocking them down.
This Social media age is a highly curated one, which can be dangerous if taken out of context we can believe that somebody's social media is an absolute representation of someone's exact life.
It is not real though - it is curated, edited, and because of that we often get a skewed sense of reality. Everyone else is thinner than us, prettier than us, has better behaved children, a nicer home, a better husband, earns more money, has swankier holidays, eats healthier food, works out more than you do..........and so it goes on. As an "influencer" with a following I've built up over the past 6 years, I feel very strongly about showing the "real me" online, as well as the curated 'best bits'. I hope my readers will agree with that - and if you too feel strongly about supporting women to be confidently themselves: warts and all, then this campaign is for you.
About the campaign (from Ceri & Aby)
An insanely well-organised kitchen, a monochrome house complete with bouncing baby and absolutely no aggressively bright plastic toys, snap back bodies that are enough to send you over the edge. That's what makes up a good 80% of my Instagram feed.
An insanely well-organised kitchen, a monochrome house complete with bouncing baby and absolutely no aggressively bright plastic toys, snap back bodies that are enough to send you over the edge. That's what makes up a good 80% of my Instagram feed.
Our personal photo's. Ceri's rough-around-the-edges home, still no pictures up on the walls two years after the renovation. Dinner. Standard. Of course, the odd selfie taken from the best possible angle and our kids. We never could find the right filter for real life.
When we talk to women about social media they tend to fall into two camps. The ones who want to crack it and the ones who want to run from it and the runners are actually a higher number than you would imagine.
In 2017 a report carried out by The Royal Society for Public Health surveyed adults in the UK about the mental and emotional effects of social media. The survey found that Instagram users reported that they often depressed, anxious and struggled with body image.
We don't need Sherlock Holmes on hand to see that the curated feeds that we follow and like on Instagram are affecting the way we look at ourselves and every little facet of our lives but surely social media can't be all bad right?
When Aby & I met in 2016 we chatted, like you do with your good mates, about all things in life. Our families, our mother-struggles, work, you name it. Slowly as our businesses have grown we've tried to show real life. The un-filtered goodness that we all have around us. But at times, you'll know that doesn't come easily. When we use social channels for work it becomes imperative for an image to do well, so we want to make it as good as we can. We want to reach more people with our message so we need to grow and sometimes that can take over. Who wants to see real when flat lays, peonies and the perfect angle can send the numbers skyrocketing?
Well, we do. And we are damn sure other women just like us do too, because we started to ask them and the more real we are with what we do and present online the better it makes the online space for other women just like us and the ones who come after them.
To be involved all you need to do is post a selfie on March 8th and use tag #thisisme - We want to reach as many women as possible and empower them to really embrace their own personality online instead of lusting after the small squares of someone else's feed. We want to drop the clique and encourage people to get online, communicate, make friends but most of all love what they already have. We'd be absolutely honoured if you'd consider spreading our message.
Ceri & Aby Biography
Ceri & Aby run online businesses that empower women, particularly Mothers to build a business online.
Both Award nominated bloggers, Ceri runs www.thiswelshmother.co.uk a parenting blogzine for Welsh Mums with lively online groups and in -person meet ups across Wales. Aby is the creator of the Number 1 family Lifestyle blog in the UK www.youbabymemummy.com and also teaches women how to launch profitable blogs.
Ceri lives in South Wales where she runs three businesses & juggles life with a toddler. Aby relocated to France in 2017 with her husband & daughter and is about to launch her first book ‘Blogs Change Lives’ in March 2018.
THE MISSION!
Our mission is to collaborate with 1000 women online, with the intention of impacting 1 million more women on International Women’s Day Thursday, 8 March 2018.
We want you to post a picture of your face on social media with #ThisIsMe as our stand against a culture of perfection.
Of feelings of inadequacy.
Of stopping ourselves because we feel as if we're not good enough. Slim enough. Pretty enough. Put together enough.
Of feelings that we don’t fit the mould of what female success looks like. It’s our time to rise.
To say that we are enough.
Please add you voice & pledge to add your face on 8th March 2018.
Of stopping ourselves because we feel as if we're not good enough. Slim enough. Pretty enough. Put together enough.
Of feelings that we don’t fit the mould of what female success looks like. It’s our time to rise.
To say that we are enough.
Please add you voice & pledge to add your face on 8th March 2018.
The song was specially recorded for this campaign by me - it is not perfect and polished, it has not been edited...it is as raw as it comes, there are flaws and mistakes, but it is me - doing me, which is all I can do! A beautiful song, perfectly fitting for this amazing campaign.
Please use #ThisIsMe hashtag on all social media and JOIN US on the 8th March.
Authenticity over perfection - this is a call to action for all women, everywhere.
Mrs B
xxx
