MARCH MUSINGS WITH ALICE CLOVER

MARCH MUSINGS WITH THE FARTING FEMINIST

ALICE CLOVER – THE FARTING FEMINIST

Alice is our monthly blogger, an EyeStorm WIZ member
Author, CEO and Founder of Alice Clover Stories

Website: www.instagram.com/alicecloverthefartingfeminist

www.facebook.com/alicecloverthefartingfeminist

Alice shares her thoughts, ideas and quirkiness every month.

World Book Day

On Thursday the sixth of March it was World Book Day and I thoroughly enjoyed doing some lives on Instagram with some authors I know. We discussed the importance of writing authentically about what you love and believe in, and as it is Women’s Herstory month, we spoke a lot about women’s literature too – and the importance of writing books with female protagonists and lead characters.

Literature has always been dominated by male protagonists, so in order to change the current narrative, women who write books need to be celebrating and sharing each other’s stories.

We also chatted about the menopause and highlighted the importance of teaching children, as well as adults, about this, because menopause can happen at any age and will also be happening to someone in a child’s life, so if they can have a better and more informed understanding this will benefit everyone.

I have always found World Book Day is one of the busiest, yet emotionally impactful, times of the year for me, because it is two days before International Women’s Day and also the day before the anniversary of my dads passing.

As a father to four daughters, my dad was a feminist and supported me in my writing journey, although he was not a huge fan of literature himself. My book “Girls Love to Fart” is dedicated to both my parents.

I am always thankful that I can write children’s books and that he got to see and read my best selling book – especially when farting was one of his favourite pastimes!

International Women's Day

For international Women’s Day I had the absolute pleasure of going to two events.

The first was a panel event at the University of Brighton, which was held on World Book Day. This was insightful and informative, yet highlighted the fact that we have so far to go for women and girls to reach equality.

I caught up with some wonderful friends and chatted with some of the panel guests, some of whom I have been connected with on LinkedIn but have never met in person.

I love the fact that, through the internet, I am connected with many incredible women who are working towards the same goal of an equal, safe and flourishing future for all women and girls. It gives me hope because sometimes I get so bogged down by my feelings of helplessness and struggle to see a way forward with the work that I do.

I also went along to the EyeStorm Women‘s International Women’s Day event on the morning of this celebration of women. It was fantastic to catch up with friends, share stories and hug one another. I was thankful for all of their words of wisdom. The two speakers, Joanne Smith and Nilma Dole-Williams, were truly phenomenal, inspirational and full of passion for their role in the fight for women’s rights and equality.

We all also made a pledge about what we will do, in our work, for women and girls and, as always, I promised to continue working towards normalising natural bodily functions, body positivity and full body autonomy for all women and girls.

Catching up with friends

I have also spent a lot of the month of March catching up with friends – having chats over a cup of tea or going to a group meet up.

The power of conversation with other women is a true phenomenon and always makes me leave feeling like my cup is full.

I have many friendships with women, some are virtual friendships, some are women I see on a regular basis and some are friendships where we meet once a year but it never feels like it’s been that long. It might be that we simply send one another a funny meme or a word that is guaranteed to make us laugh, but these messages and conversations are what gives me faith in humanity, especially when the burden of the reality for so many women and girls in this world sits on my shoulders and feels extra heavy

Here’s to strong women, may we know them, may we be them and may we raise them.

With love,

Alice, The Farting Feminist