Should teenagers have wider access to the morning after pill?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence today said that teenagers and women under the age of 25 should have easier and wider access to the morning after pill in an attempt to cut the number of unwanted teenage pregnancies in the UK.

They went on to further say that these pills should be available in schools and GP surgeries across the UK and teenagers, including those under the consent age, should be able to have access to contraception more rapidly.

I have to say I am a bit skeptical about the whole idea. The morning after pill shouldn't be hard to get, however it shouldn't be easy to get either. The morning after pill cannot just be deemed as a get out of pregnancy card. First and foremost it is a drug and should not be relied on. What should be relied on is contraception. How will young girls think twice when they know they can get the pill the next day at their very own school?

'Miss, need the pill again'.

Yes let's make contraception widely accessible but let's not treat the morning after pill as the lollipop we get when we see the Doctor otherwise too many young girls will become reliant on this drug.  Let's remember as well the consensual age of sex is 16. Offering this drug to those much younger on such a readily basis is giving off the wrong message.


Rather than promote the use of a drug, why don't we include sex education as part of the syllabus?

If children are educated about sex and the consequences at a young age isn't that more likely to make a difference? Sex education when I was at school was a video of what looked like an alien produce a baby. Nothing about safe sex at all. It focused mainly on reproduction being a part of magical nature assisted with sounds of joyful music rather than high-pitched screams. Clearly the fundamentals of sex education are missing from young teenager's education. I am not saying start at 8 years old, I am talking secondary school where kids suddenly become 'young adults' and kiss chase turns in to a whole lot more.

It is not just the school's responsibility to inform children about safe sex, I strongly believe it is a parent's duty to guide and support their children in to making the right decisions and ensuring they have safe sex.

Children as young as 12 have confessed to having sexual intercourse without knowing any of the consequences or the precautions to take. This shocks and saddens me. To change things we have to start from the beginning-before they make that decision,  not after they have had intercourse and are worrying they are pregnant. This pill does not stop STI's either, it is purely to stop pregnancy so it is critical the correct message is given before girls see this as their get out of jail card.

If the morning after pill becomes available at schools there has to be a process in how 'accessible' it actually is including having an in depth conversation with a nurse about how they have got into this situation and what the best thing is going forward. The main thing is that those in need of this pill are offered the guidance and support they need.

To the selfie haters

This morning Cancer Research released a lovely little handwritten note to inform the world of social media that the hashtag #nomakeupselfie has raised a staggering £8 million pounds. Surely this should be enough for the ‘selfie haters’ out there? Well apparently not. Apparently it just shows what a self-aware group of vain bimbos we all are. The recent tweets and Facebook statuses questioning what our bare, intrusive and pale faces will actually achieve has shocked me. Why should we take a picture when we can just donate? As if your face could cure cancer?

That’s the problem with social media. It gives many the opportunity to have their say, even when it is not warranted.

Many of the tweets I witnessed were not only in need of a spell check, but more importantly in need of a quick google search in to what the ‘nomakeupselfie’ is trying to achieve. Incase you don’t have a computer right now, let me tell you. Awareness. One simple word, one very big effect. What is awareness? The Oxford dictionary states awareness as a ‘concern about a well-informed interest in a particular situation or development’ and a ‘knowledge or perception of a situation or fact’.  In layman’s terms, informing others. It really is that simple.

So to the idiot who said ‘your face won’t cure cancer’, no my face alone isn’t going to cure cancer. But the other million selfies that have been uploaded in the last six days since Cancer Research started their campaign could. Most importantly my selfie is raising awareness. I am inviting my fellow followers to join me through the use of a special nomination to wipe away their safety net and to take a picture of what lies beneath. I hope I made that sound scary because for some women it is. I know many women who use makeup as a mask, to cover their insecurities and to present a more acceptable image of themselves. My friend has been with her boyfriend for 7 months and he still has not seen her without makeup. She wakes up at 7am just to fill her brows and bronze her face because she is worried he may see the ‘real’ her which is nowhere near as attractive as the made-up her. We are a vain generation. We want to look good constantly. Why do you think Instagram has 20 filters? Just to make us feel that little bit better about ourselves. 

It is hardly unexpected that we are like this when all we see is beautiful, surgically enhanced celebs in every magazine or blog we read. As soon as Kim Kardashian is seen sans makeup, her face is zoomed in on and blown up so we can all have a giggle at that one tiny spot on her left cheek. ‘Oh she’s human. She has dark circles, bags and spots. Hallelujah’. We take pleasure in seeing a celebrity looking bad because finally they are one of us. The ‘nomakeupselfie’ puts us on par with every other woman regardless of their celebrity status. Now people can see us for what we really are. Beautiful and courageous individuals.

Obviously there is always going to be someone who cannot for the life of them understand this concept and this has been well documented on my timeline full of twits. Look we all love a moan. I am not a saint. I hate it when people ‘like’ their own pictures. We know you bloody like it, you put it up! I also hate the ‘like this and you will receive good luck in half an hour’ pictures. Never works. However, it is not feasible to moan when people are coming together to raise awareness for a disease that continues to rise and devastate lives. I am not one to stop a creative and engaging campaign that has captured a generation of selfie takers. I am all for originality and if this gets people talking, good or bad then Cancer Research’s PR team is having a field day. Most importantly, if this campaign allows women to say we are beautiful with or without makeup, with or without breasts, with or without hair then why shouldn't we take part? It's time us women unite and appreciate the one thing we all have – beauty.

So let us unite in the hope that the £8 million both us women and men have raised will help find a cure. I have inner beauty, so do all the women who have been brave enough to face the cruel judgement from social media sites to support such an important cause.  So yes this selfie is a big ask for certain women and if it continues to raise money then yes I will continue to promote it. 

A question- would you men like to take a picture of your winkle before you have ‘warmed’ it up? No I didn’t think so.

  Text BEAT to 70099.

Has Anna Wintour tarnished Vogue's reputation?

Did Anna Wintour finally succumb to the 'begging' of 'Kimye' to be featured on Aprils cover of Vogue?

Not long ago there were reports that Kanye was begging Anna Wintour to feature his wife on the cover, a claim she has now disputed yet coincidentally a couple of months later both are featured on the front cover with Kim dressed in a Vera Wang wedding dress (what else).

There is no disputing the fact it is a beautiful cover with two people who seem ever so in love but is it what Vogue would call high fashion? For a start, Kim Kardashian is only famous for one reason. I don't need to get in to that but what is it about Kim that would make Anna, a woman who apparently despises the Kartrashians to give her a complete cover? I must remind you this is the woman who once said Kim was the 'worst thing since socks and sandals'.

A lot of people have their theories, was Anna paid? Is Kanye doing Anna a favour in return? Whatever the reason it's done. Anna has gone back on her word and clearly felt the need to justify it with a recent statement on her website:

'Part of the pleasure of editing Vogue, one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it. I think we can all agree on the fact that that role is currently being played by Kim and Kanye to a T. (Or perhaps that should be to a K?) 

As for the cover, my opinion is that it is both charming and touching, and it was, I should add, entirely our idea to do it; you may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancée on Vogue’s cover. He did nothing of the sort. The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn’t true. 'There’s barely a strand of the modern media that the Kardashian Wests haven’t been able to master, and for good reason: Kanye is an amazing performer and cultural provocateur, while Kim, through her strength of character, has created a place for herself in the glare of the world’s spotlight, and it takes real guts to do that.'

A slightly backhanded compliment to Kim but is Anna sending the wrong message to her young readers? Shouldn't cover girls be people we look up to? People we aspire to be? Kim, someone who is famous for a promiscuous video tape, famous for her surgically enhanced assets, famous for a sham of a marriage on her reality TV show is now suddenly 'charming and touching'. I am being harsh, I cannot take away from the fact that Kim is stunning and so is her daughter North but Anna has taken a risk. A risk that has perhaps backfired already with Vogue's twitter account losing many followers and even subscribers cancelling their subscriptions.  The fact Anna has felt the need to justify her actions sends a clear message. 

I am personally not that fussed. Perhaps Vogue are trying to take a different angle with their readership and attempting to capture the youth of today who are obsessed with reality TV and their appearance. However, to me this is not Vogue. Vogue has always been a bible of fashion, a center of creativity and ingenuity and unfortunately I cannot associate Kim Kardashian or Kanye West with these words.  Yes they are relevant but are they relevant to Vogue's readership? I would have to say no. 

Paddy Power bring back Sir Alex Ferguson

Paddy Power's latest PR stunt is brilliant. Although the wax work wasn't so much....

Betting company Paddy Power brought a model of Alex Ferguson and stood him outside Manchester United's football ground with the message 'In case of emergency break glass'.

Very comical considering David Moyes' recent form. Looks like the glass might have to be broken sooner than thought with Man United trailing 4th spot by 12 points.

Norwegian fever

Went for a run - my leg went numb!

Norwegian Cinema

Chocolate Strawberry Crunch- so good

Apparently the best burger in Tromso

Sunny dog walks

Turkish dinner

Went to an amazing Turkish restaurant called Havet the other week in Bromley. Never really had Turkish before so was pleasantly surprised as just how good the food was.

I had a chicken andana which comes with spicy rice and a lovely salad all for £9. Really good value and the food tasted amazing. Definitely would recommend.