We Hit 2.5K!
This week has been a lot.
Chats with Temple Cycles about a bike for my trip. Getting into medical school. Volunteering with BEAT as a mentor. And we hit the 2.5k target for Rape Crisis!
With all this brilliance in one week, I had to do something to celebrate. Shaving my head for Little Princess Trust seemed apt.
As a charity, they make wigs for young people undergoing cancer treatment and help fund cancer research. I’ve friends who they’ve helped, and I had plenty of hair to donate.
So we gathered in my kitchen with scissors, clippers, and phones at the ready - everyone with one braid each to cut. Then from fluffy to buzzed.
So we gathered in my kitchen with scissors, clippers, and phones at the ready - everyone with one braid each to cut. Then from fluffy to buzzed. I’m so grateful for having friends to keep me laughing through the anxiety. It’s scary to cut off waist-length hair - especially when it’s a conventional symbol of attractiveness in a society that values beauty in women so highly.
But that’s part of why I wanted to do this. Not just for wigs, but to take something that signifies beauty and excise it. As women, we often have little choice in being sexualised. This is made clear by the catcalling I experienced in my early teens, the endless objectification of female bodies in the media, and the ubiquity of sexual assault and rape in society. While going bald doesn’t stop this, it does let me push the norms of a society which objectifies women and over-values their beauty.
While individual actions like this feel empowering, and do create good, they aren’t enough to tackle the problem our society has with rape and sexual assault. With thousands currently waiting for psychological support and access to justice, we need prevention and a cure. Rape Crisis is tackling both - with education and policy action in combination with local Crisis Centers.
We’ve managed to raise 2.5k for them already. But let’s try to double that before I leave in May. Click the donate button below to donate! If you can’t donate right now, please share this page on your social media or chat to someone about what we’re trying to achieve :)
