Harnaam Kaur, a Body Positive Campaigner, Activist and Speaker is on tour, in association with Lush, to ignite discussion around the important issues of body shaming and bullying.
Join Harnaam Kaur on her “My Body My Rules” campaign to become more body confident, embark upon the journey of self love and to embrace yourself.
The event will consist of panel discussions, acoustic music, live performances and a change to mingle with important activists and influencers who are making a change within society and adding value to the lives of others. To aid Harnaam on her journey she will be inviting local influencers to join her in sharing their stories, ideas, views and to help drive the conversation.
Panelists (in alphabetical order)
Alice & Maxi are the producers of Feuer & Brot podcasts, which are broadcasted since two years every month. Feuer & Brot is a modern, feminist, fresh and authentic podcast. In this side project the two long time friends discuss and analyse socially or culturally relevant topics that they deal with e.g. "slutshaming", age discrimination in women, menstruation or even the story of female lust. Alice works full-time as a journalist in Hamburg, Maxi lives and works as a (voice actor) spokeswoman in Berlin.
Candy Crash became the biggest Drag Queen in just two years on YouTube Germany. She focusses on beauty related content and speaks about LGBTQIS* issues on her channel. Being a male in female clothing, her body is very political.
Hengameh Yaghoobifarah is a Berlin-based journalist, blogger, speaker, DJ and editor for the German feminist publication Missy Magazine. Most of her work evolves around popular culture, fashion, gender and queerness, social media, body politics, post-colonial and post-migrant realities, hybrid identities, visual culture, and the aesthetic of the Other.
Jen Martens from Frolicious is convinced: If you believe in yourself – everything will possible. Her blog https://www.frolicious.de/ an Instagram Channel @befrolicious is all about Urban African Lifestyle and Women Empowerment.
Jessica from LunarJess is creating content on YouTube and Instagram since 2013 to educate about vegan food, cruelty-free cosmetics and speaking about personal topics like mental health (e.g. depression), self-love and sexuality.
Lisa Sophie Laurent combines serious topics and entertainment on her YouTube channel, reaching over 300,000 subscribers. She regularly talks about body positivity in her own videos and in the talk show "Auf Klo", which she moderates for the young online offer of ARD and ZDF.
Maria from Body Mary defines herself as a Queer Fat Femme of Color. Her motto is “love your body, live your life!” She blogs about body positivity and day to day experience on http://bodymary.de/ and on Instagram @body_mary
Zerrin Cicek lives in Essen and after completing her studies of history and Protestant theology she absolves an training as an educator. In addition, she is part of the queer feminist collective Feminismus im Pott. Her topics are Body positivity, anti-racism, intersectional feminism and queer feminism.
More background information
#MyBodyMyRules is Harnaam’s first self-titled campaign and initiative to help push society to realise and understand that the body you have is yours to own, embrace and celebrate regardless of the way it looks or is formed. It is also a motto that Harnaam herself lives by.
Throughout history, manmade rules have created a society that dictates a certain definition of what’s considered ‘normal’. This has been amplified with the rise of social media forums, where everyone puts themselves under global scrutiny on a daily basis. Harnaam Kaur’s campaign will empower everyone to revolt against unattainable beauty standards, and to take control of our own body image, self esteem and embark upon the road to self love.
The phrase stands for the ownership of one’s body, to feel liberation and freedom within your own spiritual self; and to take back control of how you represent it too. The #mybodymyrules campaign promotes possession of one’s body regardless of people’s judgement and opinion. Upon drawing from her own experience of being bullied and body shamed by her peers, and from much of society, Harnaam Kaur will now spread the knowledge of self acceptance and help people embrace what society has deemed “flaws.”
Bullying and body shaming are universal issues we can all connect on in some way, shape or form. The effects of going through such atrocities can stay with us throughout our whole lives, which can result in confidence issues, damaging self-esteem and altering how we see ourselves as adults. Harnaam aims to help people move on from their trauma, and heal from previous issues that may have had a lasting impact, by creating a safe space for open and honest conversations and the sharing of experiences.
