So as you guys know from yesterday's video, I went to see Coco, which is the new Disney Pixar movie. That movie's something else.
Please, please just go and see it. Please go and see it.
I can't stop thinking about it, and I need to see it again.
But I'm scared to see it again because of what I went through the first time I saw it. Go and see Coco.
It's out this Friday in cinemas in the UK.
Please go and see it for me. Do it for me, please
Do it for yourselves.
Just go and see it. Then yesterday I was in rehearsals for my concert, going through orchestrations and arrangements and figuring out
what works, what doesn't, and which songs we're gonna sing. It was really fun. It was really cool to
suddenly get a glimpse of what this concert's gonna be like
I'll put the link to tickets below ,if you would like to come and see me.
sing a bunch of songs in a big hall.
I posted a picture the other day on Instagram of a poster
I saw on the underground, in the the London tube. The poster was for a gym. It showed a woman
lifting weights presumably, her hands were out of shot, but she's lifting weights,
she looks like she's in a lot of pain and the caption over the top of it says 'punish yourself buff'. Sometimes
I see things that annoy me and then after a little bit of time and upon reflection,
I kind of realised that they weren't as bad as I thought they were when I first saw them.
But this felt different. The more time that I took to think about it, the more
I realised I was still- I was still really annoyed by it and kind of affected by it.
And I realised it was nothing more than
the words they've used on the advert, because you know the picture when looked out on its own could be hugely empowering,
it's a woman looking strong and fierce and badass, which is amazing. I'm here for that.
I'm all for that. And I know it sounds petty, but
it's the use of the word 'punish', that I just can't get on board with. The definition of the word 'punish' or 'punishment' is a penalty
inflicted as retribution for an offence.
So it's this idea that you have to cause an offense in order to be punished.
So what does this advert
say? What have you done in order to have to 'punish yourself
buff'? And the more I thought about it, the more my own insecurities came into play, because you know I'm not a small girl.
Since the age of 14, I've always been quite buxom, as they would say. I've always been round, I've always been curvy.
I've always been a bit chubby.
But I've always been of the mindset, as you will have seen from past videos, that as long as I'm happy and healthy,
all is good with the world.
But I still have
insecurities about my size, because my apperance, you know, plays a lot in the industry that I'm in. I get judged on how I look
every time I walk into an audition as much as I get judged on my talent.
And so I do have a few insecurities about the way that I look, and this advert really
played on them.
It made me feel like being slightly bigger than those around me or not working out as much as I should,
is a punishable offence.
And I- I don't like that. I'm all for being fit and healthy and getting stronger. Last year
I had a very very unhealthy 2017, and so I've decided in- it's kind of- kind of a New Year's resolution in 2018 I'm gonna
make a point to use the gym that is just downstairs in my building.
I bought some new gym gear, and I'm gonna start working out and exercising more regularly.
But not because I feel like I have to punish myself, or because I've caused some offence
to the world around me by eating unhealthily, and therefore I need to punish myself in the gym for that. The reason
I'm going to the gym is because I care about my body, and I love my body, and I want to nurture my body, and
get stronger. This idea that you have to punish your body sets up a really negative
relationship between your mind and your body.
Which could have
lasting effects on people.
And I hate that. I hate this idea that because you've been eating
unhealthily or because you haven't been working out as much as you should have or you've put on a little bit of weight, that you
need to punish yourself in the gym in order to rectify that mistake.
Now when I posted this picture on Instagram, a lot of people said that the advert was targeted
to people who work out or weight lifters or the people who attend GymBox,
which is the gym that this advert belongs to. Now I understand advertising. I'm a youtuber, every now and again
I get approached by a company to advertise on their behalf.
I understand that adverts are sometimes geared towards certain audiences and target a certain group of people, I get that. But
when those adverts are plastered across the tube and are up publicly for thousands of people to walk past
every single day, I feel like we need to be a bit more careful about
what that advert says.
Despite the fact that it might be geared towards a certain portion of your audience, because it's advertising. The idea of
advertising- the point of advertising is so that you get more business.
Which means you'll need people from outside of your target audience to join your target audience, and I don't agree with making people feel
bad about themselves or making them feel like they have caused an offence, and therefore need to punish
themselves, in order for your advertising to wor,k and in order for people to come to your gym. Now if you are someone who gets
motivation or feels empowered by the use of the word 'punish' or 'punishing yourself in the gym', great, go for it.
You do you. You're not stood on a street corner on a soapbox shouting it to everyone, you're using it for your own personal
motivation, which is fine. If that works for you, go for it.
I don't personally like it, so I'm not going to use it, but you do you, great. But this is a company who is
brandishing this idea
to a lot of people,
and I don't- I don't like this idea that it's-
It could make people feel terrible about themselves in order to use a service.
I don't think that's a good way to advertise. I think that's quite unhealthy and quite damaging.
I was in two minds about posting a video about this and talking about this on YouTube to a wider audience,
ehm,
but I made the news this morning with my Instagram post. The Mirror Online reported
'actress slams gym's advert which says people need to punish themselves to get fit'. Upon reading this article and the
conversation sort of being stirred up again,
I just felt like I had a little bit more to say and a bit more to elaborate than what I could say on Instagram.
I'd love to know your thoughts on this,
let me know how you feel about it.
But I'm going to end this video by
reading to you the caption that went along with the picture that I posted the other day,
and I'm going to link to a bunch of body positivity
people, because I feel like we just need- we need more positivity around the way that we treat our bodies and our relationships with our
bodies, because I don't like that there's
adverts like this that kind of cloud that. Going the gym and working out and exercising should be about
loving our bodies and making them stronger and healthier, not punishing ourselves.
I don't- I don't agree with that. And so I'm going to link to a bunch of people below this video,
who are really good at making you feel good about your bodies, and what they are and
what they could be if you loved them.
So please go and check them out. I've been going to the gym recently,
I had a very unhealthy 2017 in which I drank more alcohol in the space of six months
then I have ever drunk in my entire life.
I ate all the good food to the UK had to offer and I did zero exercise to balance it all out.
Basically Addams Family was the university experience I never had as a young adult.
So now I'm making up for it and exercising properly to balance out the vanilla lattes
I drink, and the Gu pots I eat.
But I am going to the gym because I love my body and the more I love it, the more
it'll love me back, and so
because my reason for going to the gym is because I
heart my body,
I need to talk about this poster that I saw the other day because it's made me quite angry and uncomfortable.
I'm not a small girl. I haven't been since the age of 14.
I've always been buxom, but no matter what size or shape I am,
I should never be made to feel like I have to punish myself into being something different.
Being bigger or less buff than those around me isn't a punishable offence.
It's not an offence, full stop.
Exercising regularly should be something you do because you love
your body, and you want to care for and nurture it. It should be about self care, not punishment.
I do have moments when I look at my body and don't feel satisfied by its appearance,
but I have to remind myself that I am not just my body.
I am not just my appearance, and anyone who judges other people purely based on how they look, isn't worth your time or your
tears. I am not just my body, I am my brain, my voice, my talent.
I am my kindness, my creativity, my big heart. I am my passion, my courage, and my determination.
I am not just my body, and so my worries are often short-lived because I know that I am long loved.
By those I choose to keep close who love all of me, but most importantly I am loved by me.
*click click*