If you’re a woman you’ve likely been told at least once in your life, “that’s not very ladylike” or “you should act more like a lady”. Be it because you’ve been caught swigging straight from the wine bottle, your sailor’s mouth has run rampant, you didn’t smile politely enough, wore a skirt a little too short or you just simply chose not to conform to the dainty stereotypes of women that society projects on all of us.

I had never been to blatantly sexually assaulted until my 27th birthday and I didn’t know how to talk about it, so I’ll write about it.

Feminism is not a shiny toy that you pick up and play with when you want to it should be the food you eat, the air you breathe and the words you speak.

I started prepping this blog before hand because I knew that I would want to share my thoughts on it. However, I've erased almost every word because today was so much more than I expected.

I went out last Friday (June 17, 2016) with my friends and my younger sister to a local pub for a few drinks, celebrating summer and the end of the week.

This case has been popping up everywhere and I've felt so many different emotions reading everything thus far and I needed to vent. I hadn't clicked on anything when I first started seeing it because things like this give me such a heavy heart but it needs to be read, and it needs to be talked about.

I don't want flowers, I don't need flowers, but I deserve those flowers. I have always had an incredible example of love to look up to my entire life. My parents still act like they fell in love yesterday.

skin·ny /ˈskinē/ adjective 1. (of a person or part of their body) very thin. "her skinny arms" synonyms: thin, scrawny, scraggy, bony, angular, rawboned, hollow-cheeked, gaunt, as thin as a rake, skin-and-bones, sticklike, emaciated, waiflike, skeletal, pinched, undernourished, underfed;

The highly acclaimed, provocative New York Times bestseller—a personal, eloquently-argued essay, adapted from the much-admired TEDx talk of the same name—from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, award-winning author of Americanah. 

A smart, pointed, and ultimately inspirational read from one of our most beloved funny folk. In a perfect world... We’d get to hang out with Amy Poehler, watching dumb movies, listening to music, and swapping tales about our coworkers and difficult childhoods.

Firstly I have to say that this book should be read in every elementary school, it teaches such incredible lessons. It was a completely eye-opening book for a white woman like myself.

Over the last year I've tried add books to my shelves that will better educate me on social issues. I found knowledge in self-help books, poetry books, essay books and most surprisingly a teen novel. Below are just five of those books that I think everyone should have on their shelves.