8th of March 2016
Since it is International Women’s Day and I am a woman myself, a blog just had to be written. Today, everything is dedicated to women, but why?It might feel like we, as women have gotten far already to become equal to men, which is true, but we still have a long way to go. International Women’s Day already exists since 1909 and it’s a day to celebrate women’s achievements while calling for gender equality, as well as bringing out women’s struggles and discussing them.The United Nations decided in 1996 to link a specific theme to ever IWD, this year it’s “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”.  A very nice initiative I think to put something else in the picture too. You might think that we don’t need this day anymore, because we have already got so far. Well you are actually wrong. There is still a gender pay gap across the whole world and women are still not equally presented in business or politics. Think about all the CEO’s of companies and presidents: most of them are male. Education, health and violence towards women are also still a big issue in a lot of countries. As this is a personal blog, I’d like to share my experiences with you when it comes to equality. Although I know that gender equality in Belgium is way better than a lot of other countries, there are still things that are just not done.  I have experienced them personally and  many -actually most- of my female friends have experienced them as well -and worse.I have been scared when I walked home, I have been followed, I have had my bum slapped many times as if it’s an OK thing to do, I have been called inferior to men, I have been called many names that I’m not going to say out loud, by men I didn’t even know. Maybe I will be called whiny and a feminist for saying the latter, but so be it.But here is the thing, although I got raised equally, I got a really good education, I have everything I want and can do everything I want, some things are considered ‘normal’ and ‘not worth mentioning’, while they actually are not. And why? Because we are used to it, not only men, but women too.For example, take the fact that if you say something about gender equality, many people will simply laugh it off and make jokes about it. Or ask you if you're 'one of those feminists'. Is it really something to have a laugh about then?  Is being a feminist wrong?Whenever I say that I think I’m beautiful, I feel weird because I’m not supposed to say that since I don’t look like a standard model. Whenever I speak up for myself, I feel weird because people might think I’m just bad-tempered. Whenever I wish to take leadership, I feel awkward when men are in the same team. Whenever I talk about ‘manly’ things, I feel weird because people would joke about it, as ' it’s not done'. Whenever I say I don’t really like to wear heels and dresses, I’m not a ‘real’ girl. Whenever I talk about all these kind of things, I feel moany because a lot of people experience a lot worse. And yes, that is absolutely true and I feel very lucky, but that doesn’t mean that the fight for equal rights should stop. Not only for women, but also for men. Every person should be able to stand up for him- or  herself, no matter the gender. Everyone has a voice, so use it! 
7th of March 2016
I’ve been here for a month now, can you believe it? The duration of my internship is 8 weeks and I’m starting my 5th week now. Basically that is only 20 days left. I get scared of thinking how fast it went and certainly if I imagine how fast those final 20 days will go by.  On the one hand I feel like I have only been here for a few days, one the other hand I feel like I’ve been here for ages because I feel so comfortable here.  I have learned a lot, a lot more than you learn in school. Don’t get me wrong- I’m absolutely pro education. What I am trying to clarify is the fact that you can learn so many theoretical things, but you’ll still have to be able to put them into practice. Which is why you need to do an internship, either if it’s obligated via your school or just voluntarily, it is always a good idea. It’s the best way to find out what you are good at, what you want, what you don’t want and to learn so much more than you already know of course. When I was younger, the thought of doing an internship really scared me, actually it did until the day before I started here at Designers Against Aids.  I can’t speak for other companies, organization or internships, but I really don’t have to be afraid here. I get a lot of responsibility, which is –in my opinion- the best way to learn as much as possible in this short amount of time.  Some exciting things have been happening here and I got to be a part of it and do something good for humanity. I wanted to directly do something for a good cause rather than giving money and not knowing what is exactly done with it.  What makes me the happiest is the fact that my personal blogs have been read a lot and the fact that they maybe made someone think about life in a new way. Even if it’s only one person you can help, it still means the world.  I definitely believe I made the right decision to choose Designers Against Aids as my first internship and I’d recommend everyone to do it.  You get to learn a lot, you are not sitting behind a boring desk all day, the people here are fun, you get to work for a good cause, you get to do what you like, you get all the guidance you need, you get free cuddles from the cats, the DAA headquarters is an amazing place, you get to write in English, … Shall I keep on going?  To put it bluntly- if you work at DAA, you won’t just have an educational internship; you’ll have a lot of fun as well!   
4th of March 2016
Today’s blog is all about women, all women everywhere, from every age. Well it’s not only about women; it’s actually about women and the use of condoms. When you think about condoms, you think about the barrier device for guys, made from latex. But did you actually know about the existence of female condoms? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But to be fair: I don’t have any close friends that use female condoms. Which brought me to the following simple question: why? Is it because it is inconvenient, because it’s expensive, because it’s not comfy, because you can’t find them in regular drugstores? Or is it just because we don’t know a lot, let’s even say, nothing about it? I started wondering what the reason could be and decided to do a little research to get a few facts straight.   Before we can even start talking about the technical details, we need to know what it looks like. Thank heavens for Google images! Basically it just looks like a large male condom, but with a flexible inner ring that will be inserted into the vagina and an outer ring that will hang out of the vagina for about an inch or 2,5 cm.  Now on to the technical side of this little thing with a big importance. In America it's apparently pretty easy to find a female condom in drugstores. However, in Europe you have to go pharmacist and most of the time you have to order it before you can buy it. That is definitely pretty inconvenient. And I haven’t even said something about the price yet; apparently it’s around 2 euros or more for one female condom. Seriously?! If you know that a package of 12 Durex condoms costs around 8 to 9 euro, then yes, that is expensive. Okay so far, so… not good. But how do you use that thing exactly? Is it as hard as finding one? The answer is no, apparently (‘cause I am not speaking from personal experience) it's very easy to use and basically almost the same procedure as inserting a tampon. You have to hold the flexible ring between your fingers and insert it in the vagina and then you put your finger into the condom and just push it further in, like you would do with a tampon. All done! The female condom has a lot more benefits than the easy use though: besides giving women an opportunity to share responsibility for preventing infections and unwanted pregnancies, they can be used by people who are allergic to latex since it is made from Polyurethane. The external genitals are also more protected, since the outside ring covers them. The female condom can also be brought in hours before sexual intercourse, so it doesn’t interrupt any pleasure. Well, it seems like the female condom is definitely underrated -and still way to expensive! I also think that they should discuss these condoms a lot more during sex education, because to my experience, I never even got any information about the female versions of condoms during sex ed. Shouldn’t female and male condoms be given the same attention? I vote YES! What do you think?
2nd of March 2016
Remember I wrote a blog two days ago about the fact that more and more people from the LGBT community are represented in television shows and films? Well, I recently discovered it’s not only happening in other countries but also in Belgium, where the headquarters of DAA are located.When I was younger my family and me used to watch this television soap opera called ‘At Home' ('Thuis' in Dutch). It’s about families that live in the same village and practically everyone knows each other. It’s a typical soap opera where it seems like everyone had been in a relationship with each other at least once, and had a baby, married, got divorced and married again. The most unreal things happen in" At Home", going from murders, doppelgangers, trying to kill someone but afterwards just hanging out with each other again, dating your own father but only knowing that afterwards, to adopting the child of your brother. I guess I can just keep on going writing down all those unbelievable events, but it works as the series is very popular. Recently I discovered that they are trying to represent something very important in the television soap opera genre, something very 'now' and meaningful: Franky is a character in the series who has admitted he is gay years ago and who married another guy and went to live in America. Now, after a few years of living there, he came back to his family and told them he got divorced and, here it comes, he wants to change into a woman since he has been feeling more like a woman  than a man. The series is portraying an actual theme of society  this way. The person that is being replaced is a woman and Franky’s name is now Kaat. Even if the producers couldn’t find any real transgender actors for this role -or at least none of them applied- I think that the message they try to give is still clear and good!After a bit of research I found out that the characters also had to do research their roles, so they went to Flemish transgender organisations and talked to several transgenders, to make the story even more credible. Another good thing is that it’s just one of the many storylines, so the characters don’t really make a big deal out of it. Which is how it should be, since everyone is entitled to feel however she or he wants to feel and make decisions without being rejected by their family or friends. I’m so happy that ‘At Home’ finally made this good storyline besides all the others and that they decided to help bring the LGBT community to the attention without making a big deal out of it. Because that’s how it should be: a normal thing, in order to make people feel comfortable. Especially our family or friends should be our 'home', the place where you can be yourself without worrying and where you can say whatever your heart desires. Home is where the heart is, at least that’s how it should be!Excuse me while I go watch the next episode of ‘At Home’ now.
1st of March 2016
This year’s Oscars are over again and oh boy, it was a memorable one! Not only did the shiny dresses and the lovely couples impress us, there's also the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar: a moment we’ve all been waiting for. I haven’t seen The Revenant yet, but I think he definitely deserves it for all his other great performances!   And there was another amazing winner: Sam Smith won an Oscar for his song in the latest James Bond film ‘Writing’s On The Wall’. We are very happy for him and he is a great singer, but he made a bit of a mistake during his speech, when he said that he read an article saying that not one openly homosexual person has ever won an Oscar before he did. Therefore he wanted to dedicate his win to the LGBT community and that he hoped that one day we could all live together as equals. What he didn’t know is that many openly gay people DID win an Oscar before him -and the article was only talking about actors, not other categories. For example the legendary Elton John, Stephen Sondheim and Ahnoni, the second openly transgender nominee. Sam’s mistake already got a lot of feedback, saying that he should’ve done more research  before giving an improvised speech. Luckily other people have put that 'detail' aside and said that his message still was very strong and important for society. I’m on ‘Team Sam’. However, I do believe that you should do some research before saying something important, although the message he wanted to give didn’t lose any power through that one mistake. Living all together, no matter what race, gender, age, culture is what we should set as our goal. I hope you agree!
29th of February 2016
I don’t know if you have noticed it lately, but a lot of Television shows and films are making a big change. They introduced a lot more LGBT characters and they’re not about to stop that. A change that we love! Back in the days we saw gays and lesbians portrayed on screen, however it was a good thing, in society there was a lot more taboo around it then now. LGBT people were often not a main character as well, so you probably won’t even remember them most of the times. However today, a lot has changed; gay marriage has been legalised in a lot of countries and a lot more people accept them. Since films and certainly TV-shows are still a big influence, it wasn’t a bad idea to enhance the visibility of the LGBT community.   Think about Gossip Girl where Serena’s brother is gay, 90210 in which Ted struggles for years with the fact that he’s gay but comes out of the closet eventually, Pretty Little Liars badass A, who turns out to be a transgender girl. And the one that is probably the most popular right now: Orange is the New black. Which is a women-in-prison narrative that includes a real transgender woman, and that’s a first! In this series LGBT and their sex life is openly discussed and shown, but also the struggle that comes with it is visible. The show has had a lot of critical acclaim for humanizing prisoners and for its depiction of the LGBT community without making it seem unreal. I highly recommend this TV-show to everyone, it’s fun, it’s corresponds more to reality and it can change your perspective on a lot of things.   I’d say, “we want more”, so keep up the good work TV-shows and films!  
25th of February 2016
I never really watch television, since I don’t have one. But yesterday I kind of felt the need to see Temptation Island, a Belgian reality TV program where it’s all about…well yeah, temptation. Since everyone is completely under the spell of this TV-show, I just had to see it! The intention of this program is testing four couples' relationships by separating them and putting all of them on an island. The women are staying together with 10 single males and the men are staying at a different place with 10 female singles. They stay in Thailand for 9 days and the couples can’t contact each other.   Wait...what, 9 days? Yes, only 9 days. Now you must know that the single boys and girls are doing everything they can to seduce the people that are in a relationship. And according to what I’ve seen, it’s apparently not easy to be faithful. Girls and boys sway around in their almost naked bodies, hormones all over the place, with only one thing on their mind -trying everything they can to break up the couples. As I watched the show, I couldn’t help but wonder; what happened to society and its constant balancing between brainless sexuality and intellectuality?   However everything doesn’t always have to be serious, I thought this television program was a bit too brainless for me. Is it really only about sex these days and resisting temptation? If it is so hard to be faithful in a relationship when you are apart for 9 days, then a lot of couples should start getting worried I guess. Is it only about getting to know single people and figuring out if you want to stick with your original love, or upgrade to a better “catch”? I might be sounding like a pessimist now, but I really hope that people see through these kinds of television programs and realise that a relationship is more than just physical attraction and the idea that it is okay to just give in to every sexual temptation when you are together with someone. To me, a relationship is about commitment, and for that commitment you have to work, really hard. And however I do like brainless television sometimes, I still can’t help but thinking about how superficial life can be. Well, as long as we see through it and understand the difference between reality television and reality without the television, I guess it’s okay, right? What do you think about these kinds of programs?
15th of February 2016
My first week as an intern at Designers against AIDS is already over and I can’t believe how fast it went. They say time flies when you are having fun, well... I completely agree. After one week I already learned a lot about the ‘real’ world. The first day I came here I was quite nervous, to say the least. I didn’t really know what to expect since this is my first internship ever. However, as my day went by and all of sudden it was time to go home, I felt ridiculous for being so nervous since there was absolutely no need to be stressed out. Ninette -the founder and creative director of DAA- and her husband Peke are lovely people and after a week I feel comfortable being here. At noon, we lunch together and talk about work and of course also about less serious things. I have my own desk in an awesome space, but it still feels like being in a home. I wish I lived here in the education centre; this house is seriously one of a kind! And then I haven’t even said anything about the windows and the view. Through big round windows I can see a basketball field where teenagers often play and come together, absolutely lovely to see. Behind the field you can see Rivierenhof, which is the biggest park in Antwerp, where you can walk around and relax. This is absolutely a must-see when you get the chance to visit Antwerp. You know what’s an even better idea? Come work here as a volunteer too and enjoy all the perks of that! Volunteering for a good cause is the most amazing you can do: you can help people and create campaigns to raise awareness while building up work experience. I got to write several articles in English, assisted a photo-shoot, washed and folded hundreds of DAA t-shirts (more about that very soon!) and got to know amazing people. Besides amazing people, there are also five amazing cats. And yes I have one favourite: Ziggy! Whenever I’m sitting somewhere, he always looks at me and asks to be petted; I really wish I could take this cutie home with me, since I really am a cat lover. Thank heavens I still have 7 weeks to pet him a bit more and to learn and experience new things. I’m really looking forward to the next few weeks!
11th of February 2016
Yesterday we had a wonderful and exciting day at the Designers Against Aids office: we did a photo & video shoot with our DAA tees and the results are absolutely dazzling. For the location we only had to take the staircase to go one level up, since the windows at DAA HQ are marvellous and gave us the perfect light. Daili Perez Lopez and Matti Ceulemans from Dominique Models were our stunning stars for the day - and they are now our two latest DAA ambassadors as well! Thanks to the Above and Beyond Group London we had an amazing photographer and a videomaker, who also did a little interview with our brand-new ambassadors and our founder/creative director Ninette. Daili and Matti also wore samples of a new exciting collaboration, which you will see more of very soon, so keep checking in here for the latest updates.         A very big thank you to Dominique Models for sending us the nicest models ever and to The Above and Beyond Group London for giving us the chance to work with two young talented image makers. Are you as excited as we are to see the results? Then make sure to follow us on Facebook to see the pictures, the video and some more news about our upcoming collections!If you already want a little sneak peek and some funny behind-the-scenes photos, click on the link below and like our Facebook page.https://www.facebook.com/DesignersagainstAIDS 
9th of February 2016
When it comes to having sex -and certainly if it’s the first time- talking with someone about it is vital. Even if a lot of people still see sex as a taboo, Flemish sexual health organization Sensoa says that parents, teachers and others are more likely to talk about it with teenagers these days. Which could be a result of recent campaigns that draw attention to sex- including many that were created by Designers against AIDS. By talking about sex more openly, youngsters are less afraid to say ‘no’ when they feel like they’re not ready for their first time.   Besides the fact that sex is more easy to talk about now, lately there are more young students with a conservative background, which is another reason that fewer young people have sex before the age of 15. Research of UGent and Agentschap Zorg&Gezondheid indicates that only 2.8% of girls and 5.6% of boys have sex before turning 15, which is almost half of the percentage of four years ago. Furthermore, around 75% uses a condom the first time they're having sex. Since we feel that talking about sex is more than OK, we are very delighted to hear all of this!
8th of February 2016
Hello everyone! I would like to introduce myself as the new intern of Designers Against Aids. On a scale of 1 to 10 on how I excited I am to work here, I would say it’s a 10. DAA is a project I have always admired, since it is such an important message they try to send out to young people. Having sex is something everyone does, having safe sex on the other hand, is something everyone should do.  A lot of people know that it’s essential to be safe, but they often have no idea why it is so important and what the effects of not being safe could be. Certainly in the western world, which is why I would love to help raise awareness for this good cause. I’m really looking forward to my time here and I expect to learn the many things you cannot learn behind the school desk. Ninette already gave me some sneak peeks of what's about to come, and I must say it all sounds very pleasant!   This morning I already started unpacking T-shirts from Vive la Fête, that will be sold in an Antwerp store very soon.  Hopefully I can be an asset to DAA and help them reach their goal to raise awareness amongst youngsters, while learning a lot myself. I also already love the view from ‘my office’ and the cats are all so fluffy I’m going to die! I love cats and hopefully they’ll love me too. You will hear (or rather, read) again from me a lot in the next few months.  Cheers -and always keep in mind: safety first!  Evelien  
15th of September 2015
Brianna Popour, a high school student in South Carolina, has been suspended after she refused to take off her 'Nobody Knows I'm a Lesbian' T-shirt.
 Brianna said that she wore it to reach out to other students who may have been struggling to come to terms with their own sexuality. But when she arrived to Chesnee High School, she claims that she was told to change the tee or go home. After she refused, arguing that there was nothing in the school's dress code against clothes depicting a student's sexuality, she was suspended.
 Brianna's mother Barbara Popour said that her daughter's T-shirt did not breach any of the school policy's rules and hit back at the move, branding it discriminatory.While her daughter -who is openly gay- has been left upset by decision, for her mother it was about more than a T-shirt: it was about her identity. 
“Isn't that what school is supposed to teach you? To be happy with who you are? Maybe people will be more comfortable showing who they are, because you should be able to wear what you want to wear,” Barbara said.We couldn't agree more with what Brianna's mom said. Because there's nothing better than to be who we really are- and to be proud of that!
48 | 679
Student blog

Enter the student's territory and follow the days of their lives at DAA's Youth For A Better World Education Center.
On this page the students of the Education Center will tell you everything about their stay at DAA, from the things they learn and the campaigns they create to what they have for breakfast, this blog will be their online diary: an opportunity for them to share their experiences and to give you a sneak peak into the life at DAA, where they learn to use their creativity for the good of society. Enjoy the ride!

 

 

 

 

 

Bookmark and Share



Guests online:    1
Members online: 0
© designersagainstaids.com 2024 - design and development: www.sailboardsrotterdam.com - web design • cms • applications