Another week, another blog!

Hope everyone is doing well and recovering from these past crazy weeks. I know I could use some extra hours of sleep but, nevertheless, we are pushing through!

It is currently so gloomy and rainy outside, and honestly, I love it! It is total fall vibes and such a nice escape from the humidity and perpetual heat lingering from summer. So, when you get a chance, make sure you take advantage of appreciating this amazing fall weather– Let the ~sweater weather~ commence!

Alright! So this week, I was tasked once again to choose who I will talk about. After much consideration, and constant back-and-forth, a good hit of nostalgia really narrowed my decision down. This past Sunday, my friend and I were hanging out in her dorm and decided to watch re-runs of Zoey101 (a classic!) which led us to talk about all of our favorite 2000s movies and TV shows. There was a plethora of shows and movies that were excitably escaping from our lips as we passionately recalled all of our favorite 2000s content. But, one movie just really brought back all the flashbacks. That movie was: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2)

Ok, I know this is not a movie review blog, but I could go on and on about how much I love that movie. From the cast (from Blake Lively to America Ferrera) to the iconic 2000s fashion, this movie is jammed packed with so many good feels. I specifically remember watching this movie with my cousins when I really young and watching it with my best friends in High School just about a year ago. This timeless movie is a favorite of mine which reminded me of one of my all time favorite actresses: Blake Lively.

Beyond Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Lively has also starred in Gossip Girl, which although I only seen some of it, it didn’t fail to make me think that Blake Lively’s character, Serena van der Woodsen, is the coolest girl out there- living it up in New York City.

For a long time, Blake Lively, in my mind, was only defined by her work in the entertainment industry. It was not until later that I stumbled upon this video of her speaking as an honoree of Variety’s Power of Women, that I really respected her ability to use her privilege, or in other words her platform, to give a voice to a highly disturbing issue.

Using the opportunity granted to Lively, she chose to give a speech about the prevalence of Child Pornography. The speech in itself is intense and is extremely uncomfortable for the listener due to the chilling details that Lively presents. Lively recognizes this but emphasizes the need to understand the magnitude of this issue. While she is talking, she has a live stream of current viewers of child pornography which just adds another layer of disgust to the topic. I really recommend watching the video, but just remember that the details could be very triggering or sensitive so just watch with your own discretion.

It brings me no joy to see that we have to have a celebrity using their ethos to implore their audience to support a cause to criminalize people who take part in sharing or creating child pornographic material, but I have so much respect towards Lively, who is a mother, showing giving a spotlight on the Child Rescue Coalition. I am no means a parent and this was very difficult to listen to, so I cannot imagine the pain she feels talking about this issue. She represents all parents’ feelings of lack of control when it comes with their children’s safety. You can only do so much to guarantee that your child will remain untouched by the cruelties of this world, but, Lively points out that you can support organizations who are devoting their time to lessen that fear.

Beyond this, I was looking at the comments of this video, and where most people were praising Lively’s eloquence at handling this difficult subject matter, some pointed out something that I find incredibly interesting. I saw a comment that said something like ‘How come I am just seeing this now when this happened 2 years ago’. This lead me to look up Blake Lively on the internet, and all the top searches were about her husband and her kids. Without the random stumbling on this video, most people would not know that she gave this speech. It is really telling about how information is filtered surrounding a female celebrity. Media outlets are more likely to report on a woman’s role of her love life or how she is being as a mother rather than her career or how she is contributing to the social sphere. This is incredibly disappointing because instead of encouraging women for being ambitious and speaking out on issues that need more awareness, they are commended for fulfilling their role as a maternal figure (which is an incredibly hard job, but not the sole defining characteristic of a woman!!!)

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I highly encourage you to check out the Child Rescue Coalition to see their incredible work and learn more about their mission!

And with that, I will leave you with this!!

Have a great rest of your week!! 🙂

-Brianna Mitchell