June Book Club Read - The Choice: Embrace the Possible

Live Your Truth Book Club supports women authors. Our next read will be this powerful, moving memoir by Holocaust survivor, Dr Edith Enger. ⁠

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Years after she was liberated from the concentration camps, Edie went back to college to study psychology. She combines her clinical knowledge and her own experiences with trauma to help others choose to forgive, find resilience, and move forward. She lectures frequently on the power of love and healing.⁠

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Our zoom book club meeting will be Tuesday, June 29. ⁠

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If you want to be a part of our book club, please go to the Live Your Truth Online Book Club and request to join. All women welcome!⁠

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We meet appreciate approximately every 6 weeks to allow time to vote on our next book and plenty of time to read. 📚

Change the World, not Her Shirt

The only thing worse than telling girls to cover up in order to be respected, is telling them to cover up in order to be protected.

A Florida school is under fire this week for altering at least 80 female students’ yearbook photos to appear more ‘modest’. Hints of cleavage were blurred or erased, and shirts were poorly-photoshopped to cover more skin. A Bartram Trail High School representative told The New York Times that the girls’ pictures would have normally been omitted from the yearbook altogether for violating their dress code, and the alterations were “a solution to make sure all students were included.” How magnanimous!

Tellingly, a picture of the boys swim team in Speedos went untouched.

Girls and women are harassed and assaulted in everything from skirts and heels to sweatpants and sneakers. They are raped in army fatigues and school uniforms, pajamas, and even—I’m horrified to say—diapers. There is nothing a person can wear that will provoke sexual violence.

The truth is that clothes don’t sexualize or endanger girls, adults do. If a school official looks at a teenager in a tank top and sees something sexual, the problem is not the student.

In Virginia, for example, a teenager was kicked out of her prom because her classmates’ fathers complained she was inspiring “impure thoughts.” Why should girls be punished for adult men’s fucked up brains?

The issue isn't just why girls are disciplined, but how. At a school in North Dakota, for example, administrators banned girls from wearing leggings and had them watch clips from Pretty Woman to prove that only sex workers wore tight pants. And in Florida, a high school dean made a teenager “move around” to gauge how inappropriate her breasts looked. The girl, who wasn’t wearing a bra because she was recovering from a severe sunburn, was then forced to put bandaids over her nipples.

All of this is far more sexualizing than a bare shoulder in science class.

It’s not a coincidence that the students most likely to be dress coded are those with curvier bodies—a shirt that adults deem ‘appropriate’ on one girl will be banned on another. Dress codes also disproportionately target and punish Black girls, who are more likely to be hyper-sexualized. And that’s the rub: It’s never really been the clothes that schools are taking issue with, but the bodies they deem dangerous.

With every detention given, every sweatshirt forced onto a student, schools are teaching girls that there is something bad and shameful about their natural development. Even worse, these children are learning that the adults meant to care for them look at their bodies and see sex. Imagine being 13 years-old and putting on leggings because they’re comfortable, only to find out a teacher sees something verydifferent.

That’s why dress codes aren’t just sexist; they’re sexual harassment. What else would you call adults systematically singling out girls, publicly shaming them, and interrupting their education?

Let girls live in their bodies. Let them go to class, play sports, eat lunch, hang out with their friends and experiment with fashion. And if you’re worried that someone will get the wrong idea by their outfit—change the world, not their shirt.

This article was written by Jessica Valenti.

Live Your Truth Women - Now on Clubhouse!

Clubhouse is a free audio-only social media platform that is sweeping the world. This social networking app that lets people gather in audio chat rooms to discuss various topics such as health & wellness, politics, art, or my favorite - women's issues such as midlife pivots, motherhood, relationships, and empowerment.

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Rooms are usually divided into two groups: those who are talking and those who are listening. But, unlike a podcast, Clubhouse is interactive! You can raise your hand and be invited to ask questions, give advice, or just share thoughts on the topic at hand.

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Like anything, there's a bit of a learning curve but you can cultivate your experience by following people and clubs that align with your interests. And that's today's BIG ANNOUNCEMENT... We have opened our very own club called Live Your Truth Women.

. Our clubhouse mission is as always, to inspire, empower, elevate & celebrate women.

Together we talk about how to:

• Practice self compassion

• Build colossal confidence

• Embrace radical self love

• Incorporate healthy life habits

• Set & achieve meaningful goals

• Celebrate feminine energy

• Collaborate & grow our network

• Live authentically

• And much much more!

To join Clubhouse, use the chat box or comment below saying "invite me please". Or you can DM me via Instagram or Facebook. I will happily help you set up your account to maximize your experience.