I really wanted to use this blog post to discuss a New Year Resolution of mine, something that I’m absolutely passionate about. Let me assure you now that this post isn’t going to be a list of motivational and typical resolutions most of us set and forgot within a week. 

This is a really different thing for me to do personally, as for the last five years or so I gave up with the entire fad, constantly feeling disheartened after I failed to stick to a diet or writing a diary. Yet, because I felt that  my 2017 was a year of its difficulties and its achievements, why not try to start 2018 right and set myself more to feel proud of?

One of my new years resolution therefore is to get active and use my voice for the causes I believe in.

Although I’ve always held particular beliefs and passions, I’ve never gone out of my way to express them unless in conversation and debate. But what good is that? I’ve found myself with a certain confidence to take them further, an empowerment to express myself better.

The cause of the position in today’s society and feminism is something I often associate myself to, naturally.

Although I feel the title of feminist should be an active one, of someone who goes out of their way to make change happen, rather than expecting it to be done for them. In the year where Hollywood promotes ‘Time Out’ and ‘#MeToo’ following the Weinstein scandal and British women celebrate the centeary of having the right to vote, becoming an active feminist rather than a lazy one takes the basis of my resolution.

Partaking on International Women’s Day on March 8th, signing petitions and supporting protests for free sanitary products for girls on Free School Meals are just some of the ways I hope to express this, as well as just more confidently stating that I am a feminist, something which can hold stigma for the assumption of radical feminism and the cause is merely pro-women rather than equality.

Sharing the message of feminism and what it means to be a woman in this day and age, to join a vast amount of women globally and inspire more to commit to the movement.

After 2016 was dubbed by Donald Trump was being the year of a ‘nasty woman’, 2017 saw a lot of progress, with strong and powerful women speaking for inequalities, leading the way for 2018 to be conspired by many to be the year of the woman. The events of the past year inspired me to follow the cause more loyally. Whilst there were many iconic moments, nationally and globally, here are a few of the ones that I found the best.

1. Women march against Trump

The women’s marches that took place both across America and internationally following the inauguration for Trump became the largest single-day protest in the U.S and feminist history. The sheer amount of women that marched for solidarity amongst one another, against America’s newly elected president who they believed would withold their best interests. The march stood as the beginning of the influencial year, whereby women proved they could come together for support, as was proved as the year progressed.

2. ‘Reclaiming my time’

The slogan ‘reclaiming my time’ soon became viral and a staple for feminism in 2017. The phrase, used by Maxine Waters to address the interruption of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a House committee meeting was used repeatedly to regain the time the House rightly saw as hers. As these meetings are recorded, the large time effect of this meeting meant that Mnuchin’s interruptions were seen as a delay tactic. The phrase was coined as a form of equality, and used as the theme by the Women’s Convention later in the year.

3. #MeToo

The publication by the New York Times of allegations regarding Harvey Weinstein quickly escalated over the following months, as more and more women united in confidence to share stories of how Weinstein’s influence and power concealed the ordeals of sexual abuse these women were forced to experience. The unity of all the women that came forward caused the #MeToo movement, a tweet from over a decade ago, under which women were encouraged to share their stories. Furthermore, Time awareded its annual title of Person of the Year to the women, entitled ‘the Silence Breakers’, for their strength and bravery.