Are girls allowed to like things?

If we ask this question to anybody in a general context, people will say that girls can obviously like whatever they want to. However, there are many situations in our society in which we can see young girls and women’s interests being invalidated and mocked.

The most common examples are situations related to music taste.

As there are different women all around the world, their music tastes differ greatly. Still, some of them share a particular interest in boy bands. They can usually be connected to young girls in the majority of cases.

One Direction

BTS

Therefore, this music format is frequently criticised by the music industry and the public in general. They state and generalize that this kind of music has no meaning or good lyrics.  As a result, their fans, many of them being young girls, are labelled as crazy and ignorant for showing their passion towards boy bands.

Ironically, this ill-treatment never falls upon male football fans when they freely show their “support” for their favourite team by causing riots or fights. 

England fans during 2016 European Cup.

 Derby between Galatasaray and Besiktas.

Consequently, people may think that if a girl or a woman has the same interest or pastime as a man, she can be safe from criticism and she can peacefully enjoy it. Nevertheless, reality shows that it does not happen like that. If a woman publicly says that she likes something that is particularly enjoyed by men, they will interrogate her to determinate her knowledge on the matter. By doing this, they are trying to decide if she is worthy of being a fan of that specific thing or good enough to practice that particular hobby.

This mistreatment that women suffer regarding their interests and hobbies has nothing to do with the quality of that particular activity or thing. It is entirely related to the fact that is liked by young girls and women.

A clear proof of this statement is what happened in The Beatles fan base. At first, they were a band mostly liked by young girls and they were ridiculed for it. Nowadays, as they are liked by both grown men and women, they have become a cult band and they have been recognised as one of the best bands ever.

The Beatles.

What to say when you don't know what to say

I've been thinking for a week about what to say to you today.

I've thought about everything, from why I love bread to talking about my cat. But I don't want to make it too personal either. 

Besides, if I post pictures of my cat and you tell me he's ugly I'm going to cry. So you won't see my son. 

Back to the subject, I don't know what to talk about.

You've given me so much freedom that any topic I can think of bores me or doesn't have the deepness I'd like. 

I've read all your posts, but I don't have a specific hobby, I don't practice any sport...

Basically I am like this:

I could talk to you about so many things, but I don't feel motivated to talk about any of them. And I think this is also important.

I've been worrying for days, going round and round in my head telling myself that I have to find something to say.  

I'm overwhelmed. 

But I don't want to force myself to do something that I won't be proud of. So I came to tell you that I don't know what to write about and that's exactly what I'm writing about. 

I think we are too used to producing. No matter what is asked of us, we have to deliver a product. 

But a lot of times we don't feel capable of doing that. There is no motivation. And I don't want to give you just another product. I want to produce more substance.

I think it's more important to transmit emotions. To transmit an explanation.

To work on myself and be able to say "I've been asked to do this, but I need more time, I'm not capable to do it now".

I don't want to be a machine that you ask to give you a summary of whatever it is and it gives it to you without hesitation.

I want that hesitation, I want it to be mine.

What I produce is a part of me. My opinions, my experiences and above all my mood, how I feel at that moment.

I think it's very important to be able to say this to yourself. If you need more time take it and if you can't get more time, be honest with your result. 

We need to know how to take care of ourselves, it's something that as future teachers we have to know how to transmit. 

You have to work, to make an effort, to give your best when you are asked to do so.

But don't run out of things to give to yourself. 

I needed more time and I couldn't get it, so I'm giving you my sincerity. 

If you ask the Andrea of another time, she will probably give you something more than the Andrea of right now. But those two Andreas are part of me and, especially this one, needs to be shown as well.

I didn't know what to say to you and saying it is also saying something.

Swimming

Swimming is a sport that consist of moving forward, using the arms and legs, over and under water. It can be done as a recreational activity or as competitive sport.

*Swimming styles*

• Crawl or Freestyle.
• Backstroke.
• Breaststroke.
• Butterfly.

    In the following video, the four swimming styles mentioned above are briefly explained:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAPI9lWjgL8

The technique of the swimming styles are improved until reaching the best technique as possible. Turns are used when swimmer reaches the wall and needs to do a change direction. They are done by doing a roll under water just before reaching the wall and pushing off with your feet.

*Swimming benefits*

Swimming is a useful and recreational activity for people, it is beneficial for health both physically and mentally, it is one of the most complete exercises to work the mind and body, so it is recommended at any age.

As a physical routine, swimming has a number of advantages for the body, among which are it: improves memory, improves respiratory capacity, helps to strengthen body tissues, improves the cardiovascular system, prevents and alleviates diseases such as asthma, relaxes the muscles, and improves the quality of life of people, since all muscle groups move in a coordinated way.

Swimming is also recommended for injury rehabilitation and during pregnancy, as the ligaments and joints are strengthened. Being in the water, the body weighs less, although it exerts more resistance in the movements.

As for infant swimming, babies show diving reflexes as soon as they are born, so in this activity, they work on motor coordination, contributing to the development of independence and self-confidence.

Swimming is an activity that provides security and is of low complexity. Swimming acts beneficially as long as the technique used is correct.

*Swimming accessories*

• Swimsuit. There are many fabrics, lycra, pbt, polyester, nylon, polyamide... In competitions, it is used for greater buoyancy and cannot go down from the knee or go up from the navel (except for women, which covers up to the neck).
• Cap: protects the hair, it can be made of fabric or silicone.
• Goggles: protect the eyes from chlorinated water and improve visibility under water. The most recommended are dark and / or polarized.
• Ear plugs: they can prevent water from entering the ears.
• Noseclips: they can prevent water from entering the nose.
• Table. It is used to keep the part of the body with which you hold it afloat.
• Pull buoy. It is generally used to put between the legs and keep the lower body afloat.
• Fins. They are used to lengthen the swim and improve technique and speed.
• Shovels. They are used to increase resistance during arm movements, in order to improve technique.

*The best swimmers*

• Michael Phelps. American champion and Olympic athlete who holds records for the most Olympic gold medals. He first performed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics at the age of fiveteen. 
  
• Mireia Belmonte. Spanish Olympic champion (with four medals), world (with sixteen medals) and European (with 24 medals). It has two distinctions: “AS Award” and “Sports World” for the “Best Spanish Athlete”.
  

I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know in the comments 😍

International Dance Day and Jean-Georges Noverre

    April 29th is coming, so I have decided to talk about the International Dance Day, an annual celebration to allow the world to recognize dance as a professional art form.

    April 29th is the day chosen to celebrate such an important and outstanding art in our society as dance, so this day is all about celebrating the history of dance and recognizing its place across all cultures. 

    Do you want to know more about this day?

    We can enjoy this day since 1982 and The Dance Committee of the International Dance chose April 29th because on this day was born one of the most important dancers and choreographers named Jean-Georges Noverre. 

    Jean-Georges Noverre is renowned as the creator of modern ballet, because he left a great legacy in the world of dance, since he published different studies on ballet theory. 

    Each year, a guest speaker who is involved with the world of dancing is chosen to deliver the message of this important day. 

    International Dance Day is a tribute to the millions of people who have dedicated their lives to dance which gives us the ability to communicate emotions deeper than our language. 

My biggest hobby

 From a very young age, music has been part of my family and my life. My grandmother, my aunt and my father play the piano since they were very young, my vis-grandmother and my mother sing and my father also plays the guitar. What started as a hobby has become my future, the profession I want to dedicate myself to in my day to day life.

    Since I can remember, I have been playing the piano and singing. At the age of 10, I decided to enroll in the conservatory of my municipality to train professionally, and I am currently finishing one of the longest-lived careers that exist. The piano, the violin, the guitar and the voice have become fundamental elements to which I dedicate hours and hours. From a very young age, my main vision was music, and I am very proud of the steps I have taken so far.

When I finished selective, I decided to study Primary Education to be able to choose the branch of music in the third year. Unfortunately, it has not been possible due to lack of vacancies, but in the not too distant future, when I finish my degree I will spend half a year in Pontevedra to be able to carry it out.

Music fulfills various functions, it helps us dream, keeps us company, relieves our worries, brightens our spirits, allows us to feel part of a social group and frees us.

    

Chess is the greatest sport

"Intellectual activity is perhaps the greatest pleasure of life; chess is one of the forms of intellectual activity."

Siegbert Tarrasch 

A hobby that can turn into a job

Throughout my life I have played many sports, such as football, swimming, kickboxing, athletics, canoeing and acrobatic gymnastics among others.

At the age of 14 I started my career in the world of refereeing. At the beginning I took it as a hobby, a way of not getting bored at weekends, but the truth is that I liked it more and more.

Refereeing has not only helped me to do sport and not get bored at weekends. I've made friends, I've gone out partying, I've travelled all over Galicia and it has made me improve as person. Best of all, I get paid for it.

In order to be promoted, not only do you have to take exams and physical tests, but also the way you referee is taken into account.

And the hardest thing of all is that you compete against people who also want to be promoted.

At the moment I referee in the Preferente Galicia category and who knows if I'll be in the Tercera División category next year, it will all depend on my desire and effort.

THE IMPORTANCE OF VIDEO GAMES

 THE IMPORTANCE OF VIDEO GAMES

Video games, as many people know, are a type of game that can be seen on a screen, but nowadays they continue to suffer from a great deal of prejudices due to the fact that they have been winning fame and, thanks to them, many famous people have appeared, new figures like elrubius, Willyrex or DjMaRiio among others.

In truth, video games today allow many people to escape from the reality of their day to day to be able to disconnect from it, video games also give the possibility of meeting new and wonderful people that otherwise would be impossible for us to meet, in addition, although many people think not, help us learn many things, such as other languages ​​or cultures, mythological or even historical elements.

Of all the aforementioned, I’m Pablo and in my case, being a usual player of this medium since before even having the use of reason, I want to emphasize that they helped me to disconnect from bad days or to chat with those online friends that I mentioned that I can be done and I consider these types of friends closer than other people in my day to day, despite being hundreds of km away from me.

 Also, video games give us so many good things, it should be noted that like everything in life has its bad things, such as getting angry with something or someone, moments of tension when playing for the first time with unknown people, etc. And even if you spend too much time playing with them, you can confuse reality with fiction.

In short, video games open the doors to the world, meeting people, teaching us new things daily and giving us thousands and thousands of hours of fun, as a regular video game player I invite everyone to try the experience of playing video games, despite the cons they have and thus experience new sensations.

Videogames are also a girl's thing

 It is generally believed that video games are only played by some weird men and children but this is actually not true. My name is Marta and I'm 20. I've been playing video games since I'm five years old and my parents bought me my first Nintendo console. From my point of view, it has always been normal but when I grew up a bit I started noticing that some people didn't thought the same.

Of course, this is a way of sexism. Most people get surprised by the fact that you are a "gamer girl" and have a great amount of prejudices about it such as you only play "girly-looking" games like Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley. As a matter of fact, this also happens inside of the gamer's community throughout insults and sexist comments in the voice chat. Nowadays, it is also common to classify every woman that shares her gaming experience in social media as a "fake gamer girl".

However, not everything are bad news, the girl's presence in video games is increasing exponentially every year and owing to platforms such as Twitch they are starting to be recognized. Undoubtedly, creating woman references in every topic has an extreme importance for every girl to be whatever she wants to achieve, including gaming.
Well, talking about my personal feelings about games, this are my way of spending my spare time and also I've met some of my friends by this kind of community.

During quarantine, they helpped me to "escape" of they anxiety that being isolated can create and I really enjoy them. I want to encourage every girl that reads this to try them and to not let society tell you what you must like to do for being a woman.

ResponderReenviar

 

The ease of being happy

What is happiness? how do you get to it?  Of course, these are questions that many people ask themselves almost every day. Is it really so complex to understand this emotion?

In my humble opinion, I think that all people are different. Yet, we should all have several things in common. One of these things should clearly be to appreciate the little things. That is, to know what is really important.

From a personal point of view, for me happiness is everything that fills you up inside. It is that which brings a smile to your face when you least expect it. Or as simple as being at ease with yourself. It is values, friendships, moments, facts, looks or smiles. Simple things like these are what make me happy.

However, there is one thing that has made me who I am at present. Sport. Sport has given me everything I know and am, which is why I would like to talk a little bit about it and my experience.

Triathlon is a multi-sport that includes swimming, cycling and running.It is such a dynamic sport that there isn't reason for boring. So much that I have been doing it for 15 years now. So much that I want to dedicate my life to it. I want to have the possibility as a personal trainer to transmit the happiness that this magnificent sport can bring you.  From friendships, new places, or values such as sacrifice, solidarity, companionship, equality, perseverance or responsibility.

A little more than 2 years ago I got to know another sport. Unlike triathlon, this one is collective and not so popular. But that doesn't mean it can't bring you even more. I am talking about canicross, a sport in which you team up with your most faithful companion. It consists of completing a foot race with your dog pulling you in the shortest possible time. On the other hand, I think it is so special because the bond that is created with this animal is totally indescribable. It is a source of motivation to stand at the start line and see your dog barking, jumping and bursting with energy as you share the effort that you both want to agonise over. Clearly, and I say this loud, I am going to try my best to popularise this sport. I would like people to be able to feel this sensation.

So, without further ado, here are a couple of pictures to show you what I'm talking about. I don't exaggerate. 

A little video doing bikejoring

 

This my friends, is the purity of happiness. It is the simplest things that sometimes become the most complex. Happiness does not depend on anything or anyone, but on the way you look at things.

Thank you very much for reading this article and, as you know, let's be happy! it doesn't cost that much!😁

 

Antoni.