When I first moved back home to SFC after a hard period in my life, I began picking up the pieces and finding myself again. In this transition period, it was pointed out to me that I had a pattern of wearing lipstick on thursdays. I guess it happened to be a day of the week I generally felt good about myself, and would post selfies on my social media with the hashtag #becauasethursday. I have never been a girly girl, and honestly hated getting dressed up, but wearing lipstick gave me a sense of confidence.
This confidence was met with a post on social media that struck me as rude, demeaning and really brought out some anger in me. The post could have been innocent, as a joke, but it caused me to think about how often women are met with hate when they express themselves.
The post was from a male stating that women should not be posting photographs of themselves like we are still having school pictures done (or something like that). I thought, why should we be ashamed to post a photo of ourselves especially photos in raw moments of life, or when we feel really good about ourselves?? I stewed on this post for days. Instead of meeting his post with hate or backlash, I decided to start a photo campaign.
In 2018, I photographed 33 women for my #BecauseThursday Campaign.
These sessions were meant to empower women to be just who they are, unapologetic, showing that we do not have to conform to what society says we should. I had the women write a story about who they were and why they felt empowered to be a woman.
The first photo I took was of my Grandmother. She was in chemo therapy for Lymphoma and had lost all her hair. She came from a time where being put together was a must, so the thought of her being bald and walking around without a wig was unfathomable. On the day I took this photo she had embraced her peach fuzz hair and in my eyes this was the best look she had every rocked! For the next few months I reached out to women, some on the streets, and asked if they would like to be part of this campaign.
I made each lady their own blog (on my old website which has since been deleted, and I'm sad!) and they all went live on Thursday May 17, 2018 (my birthday). For these women, I believe these photos meant something more than just a photo. It was a kick to the balls, an 'In your face!', GIRL POWER project they could get behind. So I'm bringing it back!
#BecauseThursday campaign 2023 will showcase women, empower them to forget society, and embrace ourselves just as we are.
That post still angers me to this day. Now that I'm a mother, I find myself sometimes regretting having a photo with my daughter because I look less than perfect, am at the heaviest I have weighed in my life, and often look like I crawled out of a dumpster. But you know what??!! That's ME! That's who I am 98% of the day, and I DO NOT want my daughter to ever feel shame for her appearance or look back and wonder why there aren't many photos of me.
If you would like to join me this year in the campaign, send me a message. These photo sessions are NO CHARGE, all I ask is that you participate in posting your photos and blog on the same day as all the others and show our future women that we are unapologetically proud to us.
