Why are black female celebrities joining the #ChallengeAccepted craze on Instagram? - Face2Face Africa
Why are black female celebrities joining the #ChallengeAccepted craze on Instagram? - Face2Face Africa |
- Why are black female celebrities joining the #ChallengeAccepted craze on Instagram? - Face2Face Africa
- All the celebrities sharing photos for women supporting women - Now To Love
- Celebrities are trying to help a woman find the stolen teddy bear that contained a recording of her dying mother - WJW FOX 8 News Cleveland
- Kanye West and the stigma of severe mental illness - Business Insider
| Posted: 27 Jul 2020 09:42 AM PDT Just in case you haven't noticed, Instagram has been flooded with a thread of black-and-white selfies purported to promote female empowerment. Famous faces, including Kerry Washington, Vanessa Bryant, Ava DuVernay, Taraji P. Henson have uploaded stunning photos with the hashtag #ChallengeAccepted. The craze, or if you wish movement, is increasingly gaining momentum with participants who upload their black-and-white images nominating others to do the same. Photographs are often posed and filtered with accompanying captions like "supporting women." For many, the rationale behind the idea of the "challenge accepted" craze is to use photos to promote female empowerment, and nominating friends to take part in the campaign. It has become an innovative way for women to support each other. This #ChallengeAccepted trend, which is the latest of viral Instagram "challenges" originally started to raise awareness about cancer. But today, the #challengeAccepted hashtag has morphed in different communities into something different. People of every age, nationality, and situation are posting selfie photos on Instagram in black and white. So far, more than four million photos have been uploaded with the #ChallengeAccepted hashtag while others appeared without it. "Based on the posts, we're seeing that most of the participants are posting with notes relating to strength and support for their communities," an Instagram spokeswoman said.  Although the portraits have spread widely, the participants say very little in their posts. It is as though the black-and-white selfie allows users to feel as if they're taking a stand while saying little or nothing. #ChallengeAccepted is basically women worldwide participating to show their appreciation for fellow women who have inspired them. Observing from many posts, participants take the opportunity to celebrate female friends who have stood by their side or been a support to them. Despite the fun side of it, other women are against the craze. "Currently getting hate mail on Instagram from complete strangers because I said black and white selfies aren't a cause," tweeted the podcast host Ali Segel. "Apparently I hate women and don't love myself!!!!!! I'm minding my own business for the rest of my life!!!!!!"
According to Segel, if this movement featured trans women or differently-abled women, or showcased female businesses or accomplishments or women in history, it would make more sense. "But the idea of this as a challenge or cause is really lost on me." Although the origin is unclear, whether or not the #ChallengeAccepted makes sense to you, it does make sense to the over four million and counting women across the globe who are posting black and white photos of themselves.  |
| All the celebrities sharing photos for women supporting women - Now To Love Posted: 27 Jul 2020 06:09 PM PDT  If you've woken up this morning and found your Instagram feed is awash with your favourite celebs sharing black-and-white selfies, you're not alone. The social movement has women, both famous and not, posting photos in solidarity and support of one another. At the heart of the campaign is a simple notion about women supporting women. The viral trend works by sharing a black-and-white image of yourself and nominating others to join in. In the hope of promoting positivity and female empowerment, women everywhere are sharing not only photos of themselves but uplifting messages to one another. Often starting with the words "challenge accepted", these women write about "supporting women today, tomorrow and always." In times like these (read: 2020, the year that never ends), when isolation can become crippling, a simple selfie and message from a close girlfriend can go a long way. Women tearing down other women has long been a problem in society, and while the movement is a breath of fresh air there's still a long way to go. But, with the hashtag quickly gaining traction, amassing over 6 million images and counting, it's inspiring to see the support and power women can create, particularly for one another. Leading the movement are some of the country's most notable celebs. We've rounded up their best snaps.  |
| Posted: 27 Jul 2020 12:26 AM PDT 
VANCOUVER, Canada (CNN) — The teddy bear wore a red and white dress with a white jean jacket. Like other stuffed animals, it was a relic of its owner Mara Soriano's past. But for the 28-year-old Vancouver resident, the bear wasn't just a forgotten object. It carried a message: Her dying mother's final voice recording to her. Last week, amid a hectic move, the bear — packed in a bag with other valuables — was stolen from outside of the U-Haul Soriano and her fiance had rented to pack their belongings. "It was so important to me because she had a recording on it that was specifically just for me that said she loved me, she was proud of me, and she'll always be with me," Soriano told CNN. "I hugged it every time I missed her." Now, Soriano is searching for the bear — and others, including a handful of celebrities, are trying to help. The bear's last whereaboutsSoriano's mom, Marilyn Soriano, died on June 29, 2019, after battling cancer. She was 53. Soriano said her mom gifted her the bear, which includes a voice recorded message, shortly before her passing. The bear is also wearing black frame glasses just like her mom did. "It was her signature look," Soriano said. The bear was in a bag with other important items, including passports, citizenship paperwork, insurance cards, an iPad and a Nintendo Switch. On Friday, as Soriano was moving into a new place with her fiance in Vancouver, she set the bag down in a hurry. One of her friends who was en route to help them unload the truck had been in a biking accident. "I dropped everything next to the U-Haul and just tried to make my way to my friend as quickly as possible," Soriano said. "In my rush, I neglected to tell my fiance that I put the bag by the front of the U-Haul, he immediately started unloading the back of it so he didn't even know it was at the front." Thankfully, Soriano said her friend was able to get to the hospital and is doing OK. But back at the new apartment, her bag was nowhere in sight. After reviewing security footage, she said, they saw someone had grabbed the bag and walked away in a matter of minutes. The search effortsThe search for the stolen bear spread on social media after CNN news partner CBC reported the story. It even caught the attention of actor Ryan Reynolds, who offered a reward of $5,000 for the return of the bear. "Vancouver: $5,000 to anyone who returns this bear to Mara," Reynolds tweeted Saturday. "Zero questions asked. I think we all need this bear to come home." Other celebrities including Dan Levy and Zach Braff tweeted their sentiments in hopes of reuniting Soriano with the bear. On Sunday, Soriano walked up and down the streets in the area posting posters featured the bear in hopes someone will come forward with information. Vancouver Police tweeted that anyone who has seen the bear to call the at 604-717-3321. Soriano even set up an email account for anyone with information. She said she received some leads, but the bear still hasn't been found as of Sunday morning. *The latest headlines from FOX8.com here: Suggest a Correction |
| Kanye West and the stigma of severe mental illness - Business Insider Posted: 28 Jul 2020 07:44 AM PDT
In recent years, iconic rapper Kanye West, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 39, has attracted a lot of attention and fierce criticism for his erratic behavior — particularly his abrupt shift towards conservative politics, including embracing Donald Trump (although he no longer supports the current occupant of the White House). Some of West's offensive statements — like "slavery was a choice" — were made during what appeared to be severe manic episodes. However, criticism of Kanye has often been fierce and unforgiving, claiming that he is nothing more than a bigot or that his manic episodes are mere marketing ploys. Kanye's statements and behavior has unquestionably been offensive and hurtful — but cleaving Kanye's behavior from the reality of his condition perpetuates rampant ableism against people with severe mental illness. As a bipolar woman, this ableism is something I see clearly.It's distressing to witness, especially in a social environment that claims to be so invested in destigmatizing mental illness. In theory, combating the stigma against mental illness is supposed to include all mental health conditions. But in practice, destigmatizing has often focused on more moderate illnesses — and more severe ones like bipolar are still widely misunderstood and mocked. Destigmatizing mental health too often intersects with the self-care industry, which has become one of the main ways that people seek to destigmatize mental health. Self-care culture usually gets watered down to material things like face masks or bath bombs. Sometimes these are genuinely healthy and helpful practices, like journaling or art or hanging out with friends. However, as self-care takes up more of the discourse around mental health, people like me are pushed further and further to the margins. Because what we experience definitely can't be cured by a luxurious bath or taking a week off work. Put simply: It's far easier to accept that people cry at work than it is to accept that sometimes people have hallucinations at work.This isn't just a quippy line — it's something that actually happened to me during my internship freshman year of college. But I had no roadmap, no way of knowing how to address what was happening to me. People around me discussed depression and anxiety, but no one told me what to do if I started hearing voices. While experts have stressed the importance of educating the public comprehensively about mental health, most people's knowledge and care remains limited to fairly mild depression, anxiety, and burnout. That's partly why it's so difficult for people to understand what's going on with Kanye West; they simply don't know enough about bipolar disorder or any other severe mental health condition. While mild to moderate depression and anxiety are painful, severe mental illnesses often cause hallucinations, mania, suicide attempts, delusions, incoherent and rapid speech, and other behaviors that people don't just see as socially unacceptable, but as sometimes dangerous — or even immoral. When people are introduced to those behaviors, it's usually through mocking or reveling in a celebrity's strange behavior — like Kanye's current struggle, Britney Spears' experience with bipolar, or the continued idolization of deceased bipolar artists like Jimi Hendrix and Sylvia Plath. And with conditions like schizophrenia or dissociative identity disorder (DID), movies — think Norman Bates from "Psycho" — and discrimination against those experiencing homelessness or addiction teach people to be fearful or disgusted. Mild depression and anxiety are much less stigmatized than they were before. People talk openly about having bad days or feeling stressed out by tumultuous life events, like losing their job, breakups, and uncertainty about the future. But these are things many people experience. The symptoms of mild depression and anxiety — which are much different than chronic and severe depression and anxiety — are more socially acceptable than the symptoms of bipolar disorder, major depression, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and dissociative identity disorder. For instance, obsessive compulsive disorder can cause things distressing and unwanted thoughts about hurting other people, and dissociative identity disorder is the presence of multiple personality states within one person. These are conditions that people have been taught to fear, erase, and ignore. In an October 2019 essay I wrote for Zora Magazine, I explored how a white woman with bipolar disorder was depicted on the Amazon series "Modern Love," compared to how Black women with severe mental illness are usually depicted. I wrote, "Black mentally ill women like me are often shown in human cages, in deep poverty, discarded by society. They're not shown as highly intelligent and beautifully manic, as Anne Hathaway's character is depicted. They don't get to dance through grocery store aisles in high fashion, catching the eye of successful Black men who want to marry them because of their joie de vivre. They're not called Rita Hayworths, they're called crackheads." Not only does race and gender play a role in this stigma, but the type of diagnosis can also be a huge barrier. For some Cluster B illnesses, like narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality, symptoms can include manipulation, trouble discerning from right and wrong, or problems feeling empathy, the stigma is so great that many — including other severely mentally ill people — may not include them in our mental health advocacy. One often overlooked example of this exclusion is the insistence that mental illness doesn't make people exhibit abusive behaviors or say bigoted things, something that was stressed continually on social media after Kanye West's offensive comments. It's a well-intentioned and mostly true argument, the core of which demands that people understand severe mental illness doesn't make you a bad person. And that's true and incredibly important, given how demonized, criminalized, and pathologized we are in this society. But true destigmatization of mental illness would mean holding space for the fact that sometimes, mentally ill people can harm those around them as a symptom of their illness.For instance, if your illness makes it difficult for you to discern right from wrong, you may end up exhibiting behaviors or echoing statements that are hurtful and even rooted in bigotry. But this doesn't necessarily make you a bad person, and it absolutely doesn't mean you don't have a path towards healing and accountability. Even with these behaviors, your illness does not have to define you. As a bipolar woman, it's also my responsibility to continuously challenge my own internalized ableism when it comes to these conditions. And it's hard, because I've been hurt and traumatized by people who have symptoms like manipulation, abuse, and violating the rights and privacy of others. But I have to continue to do the work.Because all severely mentally ill people need to know that they are not broken things, that they can seek treatment to put them on a healthier path, that they can have more loving and respectful relationships, and that they are worthy of care. How can we show them that if we insist on excluding and erasing them, or flattening their realities because they are complicated and hurtful? The destigmatization of mental health is crucial, but not if it leaves out the people who suffer most from mental illnesses. It's important to keep in mind — especially when consistently engaging in criticism of public figures like Kanye and Britney Spears, for whom fame seems to be a huge stressor and trigger — that these conditions can be fatal. For instance, up to 20% of people with bipolar disorder (mostly untreated) end their lives by suicide and 20-60% attempt suicide at least once in their lifetimes. Many of these disorders also have comorbidity — multiple diagnoses — with other conditions like substance misuse or cardiovascular disease. In fact, bipolar people have a shortened life expectancy of 10-25 years, mostly due to cardiovascular disease. We've made great strides in addressing the stigma against mental illness in our society, but we have so far to go. Until we're able to truly understand and have empathy for people with severe mental illness, we can't stop fighting for freedom and compassion. Nylah Burton is a Denver-based writer with bylines in New York Magazine, ESSENCE, and British Vogue.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from "female celebrities" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Comments
Post a Comment