Laura
“I love being a queer woman, but I would enjoy being able to walk around without getting stared at, yelled at or harassed. I love being a woman, but I hate being “less than”. This is why my work is so important to me: everything I do, is out of the absolute need of equality. Not only for white women like myself, but especially for marginalized people.”
Laura has a soft spirit but a fiery drive. A passionate feminist, she uses her Instagram account @fmnstplatform to educate individuals on a range of intersectional issues - from body positivity, to rape culture, to white privilege - in an accessible way. Her posts detail her own experiences living under the patriarchy; they also feature quick facts which not only inform but encourage collective action against pressing issues. A toxic relationship led her to lose herself, but now that she has left she is stronger than ever and she focuses her energy on fighting to make this world a more inclusive and accepting place. Meet Laura. This is her story.
Laura, learning more about feminism (her happy place)
P: Please introduce yourself!
L: I am Laura. I am 26 years old and live in my favorite city: Amsterdam. I am an online creator and I run an intersectional feminist platform called @fmnstplatform. I love what I do and I am constantly thinking of new concepts or ways I can merge my creativity into important issues to educate people online and offline.
P: Describe or define yourself in your own words.
L: I am a multifaceted woman with a lot of different passions. I am a positive person and I feel strongly. Inside my brain it’s like a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs, but this is all part of what keeps me creative, empathetic and humble. I am a social person who needs a lot of me-time in order to stay social. I can be by myself very well and I’ve learned to really enjoy my own company. I take myself on coffeedates, strolls around the city and dinners.
P: What is your favorite thing about yourself?
L: That I am very strong, but I have a kind and soft spirit. I have a gentle personality, even though life occasionally kicks me in the clit. I had to overcome quite some difficult things, but it has only made me stronger and more empathetic towards other people.
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that’s defined you or made you stronger?
L: I think every struggle can define you and make you stronger in it’s own way. But something that really helped me grow, was leaving a toxic relationship. I was emotionally and mentally drained and I had completely lost who I was. When I was strong enough to leave my toxic ex, I really came in to who I am right now. And I’m so thankful for that. I had to lose everything and build myself back up from the ground, but now I feel like I am better, kinder, and know myself better than I ever did.
P: What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self?
L: Stop. Worrying. About. What. Other. People. Think. It’s so irrelevant. The people you will worry about when you’re 10 or 15 or 20, will probably not be in your life forever. And even if they will: you owe it to yourself to be yourself. If someone can’t accept that, they are not your kind of people. And that’s fine.
You also don’t have to have everything figured out when you become an “adult”. Even grownups don’t know what they’re doing. Trust me. Everyone is faking their way through life, pretending they know what they’re doing. Newsflash: they don’t. And you don’t have to either. Just do you and everything will fall into place.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
L: Being a woman could mean anything to me. I love being a woman, but I also try to not let gender roles or stereotypes define who I am. Everything I do, I do because I can and want to, not because I am a woman. The downside of being a woman, or a queer person for that matter, for me is the harassment. I love being a queer woman, but I would enjoy being able to walk around without getting stared at, yelled at or harassed. I love being a woman, but I hate being “less than”. This is why my work is so important to me: everything I do, is out of the absolute need of equality. Not only for white women like myself, but especially for marginalized people.
P: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say to here if she were here now?
L: Jameela Jamil. God, I LOVE her. She is a great inclusive feminist that I’ve learned a lot from. She is everything I want to be. I strive to have her vocabulary, knowledge, sense of humor (and stunning looks, tbh). She doesn’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks of her. If she would be here now, I would tell her: please be my friend.