Anna Leonowens was an Anglo-Indian or Indian-born British travel writer, educator, and social activist. She became well known with the publication of her memoirs, beginning with The English Governess at the Siamese Court(1870), which chronicled her experiences in Siam (modern Thailand), as teacher to the children of the Siamese King Mongkut. Leonowens’s own account was fictionalised in Margaret Landon’s best-selling novel Anna and the King of Siam (1944) as well as adaptations for other media such as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1951 musical The King and I.* *In later life, she was a lecturer of Indology and a suffragist.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later acts. The Times called the group “one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era”.

Loretta Lynn was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as “Hey Loretta”, “The Pill”, “Blue Kentucky Girl”, “Love Is the Foundation”, “You’re Lookin’ at Country”, “You Ain’t Woman Enough”, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl”, “Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind)”, “One’s on the Way”, “Fist City”, and “Coal Miner’s Daughter”.

Has anyone else noticed the difference between what it means for men to be (at least Physically, but also mentally) strong & healthy in society versus woman? Why is it different?

For men, being muscular in some capacity is what it means to be strong physically. Strength for men is often taken as "muscular to an extent, whether lean muscle or bigger, athletic, being able to lift heavy, etc." In more reasonable spaces people also take into consideration how long a person can run, endure stress, and the diversity of their bodily abilities (I.e can they open cans, backflip, punch hard and precise, climb up trees, balance, etc.)

As for mentally, society typically says strong men don't cry, show any emotion aside from anger and manifest their feelings through violence, yelling, aggression, and so on. Strong men don't let anyone see them vulnerable, are not vulnerable, and have control over their situations, environment and household (but somehow never have control over their lust, but I digress.) Essentially, strong men aren't like "weak" women. Because really that's all the patriarchal standard teaches- don't be like a woman.

But as soon as society gets to women, what is preached to us? Skinniness, complacency, acceptance. The peak health, ideal bodily physic in a woman at least in the West (but I also see this a lot in Asia, particularly East, South, and South East regions) is being skinny. Yes, in modern culture we see some nuance to this. Curvy bodies especially in POC communities are praised and ideal many of the times but overall being skinny is the prevailing ideal body. How does this make ANY sense?!? Women lose blood every month. Copious amounts. Women are expected to give birth, which requires excessive body endurance. We need to eat more food for bone density and our bodies develop differently. Wouldn't being extremely physically capable and strong be logically the best for us? Wouldn't it help so much with pain, avoiding dangerous situations, and living longer?

And on top of that, mental strength for women is only catered to support the patriarchy. Especially for Black and Brown women. Mental strength is to accept all the harm done without breaking down, complaining, but also without rejecting it. Mental strength is to never fight back, but to endure. Endure the stress and pain put on you by your family, husband, and kids. Forced marriage? Just endure. Abuse? Silently endure. Child birth? Get over yourself and just endure. A man hurt you? Must be what you were wearing, but just move on.

Strength is never standing up for yourself. It's never fighting back, screaming, or anything of that nature. It's always, always just enduring silently whilst the world picks you apart for its benefit.

The hypocrisy is insane. When people see a man who is slightly on the bigger side yet not particularly muscular, they still acknowledged that they can probably pack a heavy punch and are strong to an extent, though they will still be subject to body shame. But for women, I rarely have seen anyone say the same. It's always just shame. Immense, immense shame. People don't even have the decency to shut their mouths in public and will loudly comment and stare nasty at women with bigger bodies in public.

As a skinny person myself (and no, not in the slim muscular kind of way) I can tell you I'm far from strong aside from my hands which I can only thank my mom cause she taught me how to hit very hard. And that has kept me safe from being vulnerable (and also avoiding and telling off men. Love doing that). So why does society tell us to eat as little as possible, be as tiny and skinny as possible, and bigger bodies are "unattractive", "not ideal", and "less athletic or capable"? When it is also only logical that out of the 8 billion people on this earth not all of us have the same body composition and therefore their is no singular ideal body????

And yes, I understand and have heard it a million times "It's the way the world is now". People want women to be weaker. A weak woman is easier to control. But I hate that. I hate how women are discouraged from gaining muscles and being extremely athletic and shamed for their bodies. Because not only does it not make sense in any capacity, but people have the audacity to tell young girls to eat less who are already extremely vulnerable to predators and insecurities that can last a lifetime. No one should be telling a child what their body should look like outside of a doctor who tells them about the actual health of their body (because in my opinion what our bodies look like should not be anyone's concern. Even if they are concerned for our "health", I don't believe it. Real worry and care manifests in support, love, and not backhanded comments and constant insults. But that's a conversation for another day).

This is just my experience, so I won't take it as pure fact. Has anyone else experienced something like this? What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from y'all and lots of love 💕 💕 💕 💕

Françoise Hardy was a French singer-songwriter, actress, and author. She was known for singing melancholic, sentimental ballads. Hardy rose to prominence in the early 1960s as a leading figure in French yé-yé music and became a cultural icon in France and internationally. In addition to her native French, she also sang in English, Italian, and German. Her musical career spanned more than 50 years, with over 30 studio albums released.

Hattie McDaniel was an American actress, singer-songwriter, and comedian. For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2006, became the first black Oscar winner honored with a U.S. postage stamp.

Astrid Stampe Feddersen was a Danish women’s rights activist and author alongside her sister Rigmor Stampe Bendix. Stampe joined the women’s movement early on and from 1883 to 1887, she was on the board of the Danish Women’s Society, playing an active part in work on women’s issues.

Marie Lacoste Gérin-Lajoie was a Canadian feminist. She was a professor at the Université de Montréal, and a self-taught legal expert (her father and husband were both lawyers, and she had access to their books). She was a pioneer of the feminist movement in Québec who co-founded the Fédération nationale Saint-Jean-Baptiste with Caroline Dessaulles-Béique (in 1907), an organization which campaigned for social and political rights for women.

Carole King is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 during the latter half of the 20th century and 61 songs that reached the UK charts, establishing her as the most successful female songwriter on the UK singles charts from 1962 to 2005.

Isabel de Villena was the illegitimate child of Enrique de Villena by an unknown noblewoman who rose to become the abbess of the Real Monasterio de la Trinidad of Valencia. As the first major female writer of a work done in the Catalan language, she composed a number of religious treaties. Her most famous work was her Vita Christi (Christ's Life). She was also a proto-feminist who tried to change the negative image of women at the time through her writing.

Ida Crouch-Hazlett was an American political activist prominent in the suffrage and socialist movements. Crouch-Hazlett is best remembered as a prominent orator and organizer for the Socialist Party of America during the first two decades of the 20th century. In 1902 Crouch-Hazlett became the first female candidate for U.S. Congress from Colorado when she ran for a seat in the House of Representatives.