i know how impressionable a young girl can be. i was one myself after all. i'd grown up watching disney princesses but my favourites were always the more 'unconventional' ones like pocahontas or mulan. they didn't wait for a prince to save the day. aurora and snow white were left helpless in comas and the only thing that could awaken either of them were kisses from princes. there are AT LEAST two easily identifiable issues with this particular scenario. i'm not saying that we should disregard the classics. rather, we've got to relay the opposite message to our youth. you don't have to wait on someone to save you when you can save yourself.

in an effort to awkwardly tie this together, i'm proud to announce that i had been named 'most influential celebrity' among teens in the uk via the national citizen service about a fortnight ago. the respondents spoke about how i've used my voice to speak out against sexism, racism, homophobia, and the like. they see the work that i have done, and have been doing to promote equality and they are influenced by that. i feel as though i'm beginning to make a difference, and there is truly no better feeling than that.

in order to make the future a better place, we've got to build that foundation now. those who admire you most will listen and aim to follow in your footsteps. by influencing our youth, equality for all may actually be within reach and i'd love for it to fruition within my lifetime. i think we can all agree with that.

p.s.: i apologise if this is illegible. i've got the most godawful handwriting. D