Are you naked under those clothes?

For a while now (at least the last 3 years...) I have considered writing a feminist blog. And today Emma Watson has inspired me to do so.

For those of you who don't know, Emma Watson (UN Good Will Ambassador) gave a speech at the UN Headquarters for a new campaign called 'He for She' designed to 'galvanise' boys and men to join the fight for gender equality.

But here's the thing...following the speech Emma was threatened with the possibility of people leaking naked pictures of her (this later turned out to be a hoax, but the threat was still very much there).  Moreover, in this day and age these sorts of threats are not unusual, nor do they only happen to 'Celebrities'.  There are websites where people can upload intimate videos/pictures of sexual partners (without their knowledge or consent), known as 'revenge porn' in an attempt to 'shame' them, and more recently in a bout of leaked photos of hacked celebrity phones, more women have been 'shamed' for daring to have a private sexual life.

So, how is this linked to me writing (or more to the point putting off writing) a feminist blog...? You guessed it!  I too, like many people have taken intimate photos with intimate partners.  I have recorded intimate material in my private sexual life for my own, and my partners' (plural) enjoyment, and as such it was put 'out there' in the 'virtual sphere'.  As I have developed as a person and more specifically as a feminist, I have let the knowledge that this material has (or perhaps still does) existed, stop me from writing about the things that I am passionate about.

BUT...NOT any more!  The response from people around the world to those who have threatened Emma Watson has been overwhelmingly positive, seeming to have had the opposite effect of its probable intention, only serving to make stronger and louder her message.

And so, what to do? Are women simply at the mercy of those who choose to threaten and in some execute their threats to 'shame' women through leaking private and intimate material? Or is there another way?

More recently I have been thinking that perhaps there is.  Perhaps by embracing our sexuality, rather than hiding and feeling ashamed of it, we might begin to change attitudes towards women's sexuality, whereby leaked sex tapes and images are no longer able to shame women, just in the same way that leaked sex tapes don't seem to shame men.  After all, nobody named and shamed the 24 men who engaged in sexual acts in Magaluf, and nobody even batted an eyelid at the men involved in #SlaneGirl....whereas the women involved in these videos were internationally vilified!

This naming and shaming of women who engage in naked and/or sexual acts in photos or on film (often with men FYI) is designed firstly to silence.  It silences them by making them feel ashamed to be sexual beings in a way that men are not.  And this is the second aim; to shame.

So perhaps (perhaps?), one way to stop being silenced and feeling ashamed when somebody attempts to shame us is to instead say, 'YES I'm a woman', 'YES I'm sexual' and 'YES I'm naked under these clothes!'

And maybe also write that blog you always wanted to.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog!

I am a feminist and a psychologist, which are obviously both massive influences in my life. 

This blog is really for me to write my musings about feminism and psychology (hence the name feminologist...?!).  I hope that people will find it interesting and that it may create some debate/ encourage wider perspectives for viewing the world. 

Any questions...? No? 

Blogs to follow...