Why should you watch the movie Pride

The movie Pride is a British historical comedy-drama released in 2014, directed by Matthew Warchus. I discovered this film through the Erasmus project concerning the LGBT community. Starring noticeable British actors such as Andrew Scott ( Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes ), Imelda Staunton ( Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ) and Paddy Considine ( Father Hughes in Peaky Blinders ), the story depicts a group of gay and lesbian activists forming an alliance with miners following the British miners' strike in 1984. During that period, miners were treated with hostility by the public and government and clashed violently with the police, something the LGBT activists related to. The activists decided to raise money for the miners, thus creating the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners campaign, an unlikely but successful campaign. Based on a true story, this film was rather well received by the British audience even though certain scenes of sexual nature or with strong language caused some contreversy. Matthew Warchus manages to give this movie a fun and comedic aspect whilst staying in the seriousness of the subject, making it an entertaining yet enlightening film. I do not want to give too much away, but I strongly suggest that you watch it. I thought it was a great movie and that it could not be more British. There is a great combination of actors, this film shedding a whole new light on some of them (Imelda Staunton going from the MOST HATED character of all time Professor Umbridge to a sweet and fun old lady called Hefina). I hope you watch this film and enjoy it as much as I did.
Dorian

How cutting my hair changed my life

Some of you might know that I used to have very very long hair in secondary school and I cut it shoulder-length before entering high school. But for some mysterious reason it became very curly and very messy...
I always had this passion and this admiration for girls who cut their hair extremely short because I’ve always felt that it gives so much charisma and confidence to someone. So when I decided that I couldn’t continue to wear the same horrible haircut (because let’s be honest it was ugly and nobody had the courage to tell me) I looked on the internet for some ideas of short haircuts. I hesitated for weeks because I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it or not and my mum feared that I was going to have some regrets. I finally scheduled an appointment without really knowing if I was going to do it and I went to the hairdresser. I told her my ideas aaaaand it took me a while to take the ultimate decision.
Ok, you might think I’m over the top and you’re probably right but it really did change a lot of things for me. Most girls with long hair might not consider it but it does take some courage to do it. When you are not extremely confident you might have the tendency to “hide” behind your hair, which is totally normal ; but once you don’t have hair anymore you really have to face -basically what you look like- and to accept yourself. The hair is one of the main things you focus on when you look at someone so when there’s not a lot of it people won’t look at you the same way. I feel very free with short hair ironically maybe lighter, I gained way more confidence and I realized that there are a lot of advantages : you need less water and less time to shampoo and your hair dries quickly ; you don’t need to brush it AT ALL in the morning ; and you’re not too hot in summer (well...*wink wink*).
I’m not here to do some propaganda and I do still enjoy long hair but just so you know if you are hesitating to cut it, you might fall in love with the result (I hope that Mrs Chavel would agree with me) ! I would particularly like to thanks Charles who was the first to criticize my new hair, and Marie-Lou who gave me the idea to write this post.
PS : I also particularly wanted to dedicate this post to my mum and her short hair. Jacinthe xx

Hi, get prepared to discover the unbelievable actor Benedict Cumberbatch.

He first performed with The New Shakespeare Comapany and played in well known plays such as "Romeo and Juliet" in 2002 or more recently in "Hamlet" in 2015. I won't quote all his series or movies but I discovered him with "Sherlock". He plays the eponymous character of S.Holmes who helps the police to solve crimes; after this I looked for all of his movies because I had a very strong first impression of him.

I then learned to love him with "The Imitation Game", "The Hobbit" (yes he does the voice of Smaug the dragon), "Doctor Strange", and "The Avengers". Moreover he gave his voice in many video-games and cartoons like "The Simpsons".

He won a few awards for his acting but I think that the big part of his career is coming soon. If you don't know him yet definitely go check out his work, you won't be disappointed.

Thomas

Many recent studies have proved that the economy seems to grow stronger and stronger as women enter the world of high positions in organisations. In fact, it has been proved that firms tend to gain around 15% of productivity when the percentage of women occupying important positions grows from 0% to 30%. However, equality between men and woman at work and more precisely in politics is still way too challenged.

First of all, we can still observe a significant gap between men's and women's wages today, which is one of my biggest concerns as a feminist. This difference in salaries actually rises 24%, every kind and time of work combined. What actually struck me the most was the fact that in 2017, only 13% of professions were declared truly mixed, and only 17% of firms were employing in an equal way both men and women. Men are truly used to occupying high offices, and seem to struggle a bit in letting women in… To give an idea, only 13.4% of women are today able to be part of the executive committee (referring to the central position and the power in a firm) of their company! Recent studies showed that when women are given key positions in a company, strategy, management and even atmosphere seem to  improve.

To me, the first thing we should work on to correct these inequalities would be to focus more on girls' educational guidance, and to convince them that they can become everything they want. Many people made me believe that as a woman, I would never be able to build a decent political career, and that women in general would never be able to be completely part of this world. I want men and women to be respected and treated as equals, and I truly think that it’s time for society to let women enter the world of higher functions, because I’m definitely convinced that we are as appropriate as men to run companies and high positions in politics. It is time for women to empower their skills and to make their voices louder! 

Alice

Why you should shop at thrift stores more

As you may or may not know I’m a big fan of thrifting. My mother handed me down the love of going into a shop and not knowing what great piece I may find when I was young and it still thrills me everytime I go in my local second-hand clothing store.

Indeed not only it is more sustainable for your bank account as you can find great items for way cheaper than if you went to the shopping centre but it is also a way to find some clothes that you wouldn’t find anymore in regular fast fashion shops. Thrift stores are perfect for those who look for a more vintage style and struggle to find it anywhere else; you can find clothes dating 20 years back or even more. Depending on the place you go to and what is there at that moment, it is ever changing !

Only there is a certain mentality that you have to adopt when you decide to go into a thrift shop. If you come in with a specific idea of what you want you’ll have to accept that you may not find it there on the first time in the first store you go to. Moreover to enjoy your experience there it is better to go with an open mind - it is a thrift store, try what you want to try, dare trying on something that you think is out of your comfort zone and even buying it if you love it but are unsure of if you’re going to rock it ! It doesn’t cost much, you will be able to try some new styles and realise that you can wear things that you never thought you could before.

In a nutshell thrift stores are a great way of getting great unique vintage pieces (you’ll never have someone with the same clothes as you), trying new styles for cheap, shopping on a budget (as students we know the struggle), getting rid of old clothing that you don’t wear anymore that will most likely make someone else happy, and last but not least reducing your participation in the fast fashion industry thus being more ethical in your shopping !

Indeed fast fashion (which describes inexpensive designs that move quickly from the catwalk to stores to meet new trends cheaply) has a montruous impact on our world, from contributing to global pollution to modern slavery. Thus changing our shopping habits to more sustainable ones is not only agreeable but more humane. Yes, you cannot change these habits in the blink of an eye but being aware of the choices you make is important and knowing what’s behind the brands you see everyday enables you to have a more critical view of the industry. Yes, you may not be able to go full thrift, local and ethical brands etc, however the most important is reducing your consumption of fast fashion. I believe the human contact made through thrifting whatever your reasons may be to chose that kind of shopping is something very unique and enables clothes to have another life.

In short thrifting is also to me an easy and affordable way to make an impact and shop ethically !

(To get a summary on the impact of fast fashion and the ways in which you can limit your fast fashion consumption you can check out a video from HautLeMode called Fast Fashion is Disgusting ( https://youtu.be/8ox72V4DM2w ), it is actually how I discovered this aspect of the stores that I used to go to without really thinking about the process behind the clothes. Netflix has also a great documentary called The True Cost if you want to get more in depth.)