THE MENTAL LOAD OF WOMANHOOD

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 is our EyeStorm Women blog contributor and will share her thoughts, ideas and quirkiness every month.

Let’s talk about overwhelm

Who else is feeling overwhelmed at the moment? I know I certainly am because lots of aspects of my life feel uncertain and I am not able to plan or organise in a way that I would like to.

The mental and emotional load for us women is unreal and trying to juggle motherhood, work, my relationship with my husband and also prioritising myself feels overwhelming to me right now.

Recently I had have a bad cough, which has kept me awake at night, so I have had quite extreme exhaustion, which has made the overwhelm feel more intense. The to do list is never ending but, despite this, I have gradually been ticking some tasks off and feel slightly more organised.

I have found that by doing at least one task a day, like writing this blog for example, I am able to find focus and also peace of mind too. I have also been having extra long baths, which always help me to relax and are a time for me to catch up on tasks and do some writing too. This wasn’t written in the bath though because I never take my laptop into the bath with me!

What do you do to help with overwhelm and the mental and emotional load of being a woman?

Any extra tips and tricks are always welcome.

March is the month for and about Women

As we go into March it is important to remember the need, now more than ever, to celebrate and acknowledge International Women’s Day because equality for women and girls continues to be a a long way from becoming a reality.

I have been to many International Women’s Day events and sometimes the statistics about women and girls access to health, education, politics and opportunities to develop their dreams and passions, can seem absolutely soul destroying but that is why we have these events and why we continue to fight for women’s and girls rights. Sometimes I have feel completely overwhelmed and unsure whether what I am doing is making any difference at all but then I get a message from someone thanking me for writing my books or sharing my knowledge and my drive and desire to create a better and more equal world for girls and women is reignited once again.

I am looking forward to attending the EyeStorm International Women’s Day Brunch and hearing more harrowing statistics but being in a room full of women who are working towards the same goal of changing the world for the better for all women and girls.

Women’s Health

Over the past seven years I have had the opportunity to support women with their feeding journeys as a Peer Supporter for the NHS. I have volunteered at the hospital and also at two different family centres in Brighton and Hove. Recently I was volunteering and I felt an extreme frustration at the lack of funding or consideration that is put into women’s health. Women’s health and wellbeing should be of absolute paramount importance, yet, all over the world, we are seeing women’s rights and access to healthcare is being stripped away at a scarily rapid pace.

Throughout herstory women have always looked after one another and, in some cultures when a woman has a baby the family step up and look after her so that she can rest and look after her baby. In Western society we have this idea that we are the ones who know all of the answers but when it comes to women who are having or have a child we seem to be terribly backwards, leaving women to continually need to fight for fair and paid maternity leave, flexible working hours and affordable childcare. I have heard some women say “well I didn’t get any support when I had a child. I had to manage on my own!” Just because someone was left to manage on their own shouldn’t mean that another person should be expected to do the same.

I want to see a world where women are all given the support, kindness and resources they all need and deserve because every single woman needs to know how valued they are.

The importance of story telling

We achieve what we achieve through the support of each other’s because women have always supported women. The women I know celebrate each other achievements and share in their ups and downs.

We have always been the ones who have passed on stories from one generation to another to educate our daughters. Little Red Riding Hood being one of the main stories teaching girls to keep safe and not to stray off the path because of male predators. The messages in my own books are all about normalising our bodies and bodily functions because sometimes it is difficult to talk about.

I love storytelling and passing on knowledge through books. Children respond well to stories that make them laugh and this is why I enjoy writing about toilet humour because it is funny but also the perfect way to raise awareness and create a better understanding of why our bodies do what they do. I look forward to writing and telling some new stories this year.

With love,

Alice, The Farting Feminist

Hi everyone,

I’m Alice Clover aka The Farting Feminist. I write children’s books about girls, that are all about normalising our natural bodily functions.

My best selling book Girls Love to Fart has sold around 15,000 copies and is why I am now known as The Farting Feminist.

I have always felt that by writing books for children that are fun and make them laugh will encourage them to talk about subjects that are not always so easy to discuss, and for many parents and other grown ups too.

I am a huge advocate for women’s and girls rights and believe that when we can take back ownership and autonomy of our bodies and bodily functions we can then feel more in control in all other aspects of our lives too.

Farts are funny, children love to talk about them but the majority of these types of books are aimed at boys and about boys, so I wanted to shake this up a bit and use the hashtag #rebelliousliterature to promote my work.

I’ve also worked with children for twenty-five years and have two daughters of my own, so have plenty of experience and knowledge when it comes to children’s sense of humour and what brings them joy. I also volunteer at my daughters local Brownies group, which is brilliant fun.

I look forward to working alongside all of the other incredible women who run Eyestorm. I will be in charge of uploading the posts onto the Eyestorm Instagram page and also writing a monthly blog.