In a world today where feminists all over the globe are collectively fighting against the patriarchy and the systemic flaws that follow it, there are an increasing number of advocates using their social media platforms to aid in this fight. One in particular that I find to be very inspiring, strong, bold and a downright bad-ass woman is Florence Given.
With around 280,000 followers on Instagram, Florence has grown exponentially within such a short amount of time, and for a very good reason. Despite the fact that she has only recently turned 21 years-old, she has already made such a large impact on the lives of many people, including mine. While she doesn’t refer to herself as an “activist” per se, I think that what she’s doing is powerful.
Let’s start with social media. Florence’s posts range from addressing a wide variety of modern feminist issues such as the objectification of women, the typical female stereotype that is pushed, as well as freely exploring individual identities; she also touches on issues involving privilege, politics, and the LGBT+ community. Not only does she speak on these important topics, but she also posts empowering body and identity positive pictures and videos that promote the idea of self love and confidence, which is something everyone should feel. Overall, she uses her social media platform to aid to fight these issues that exist today within feminism.
In addition to being an active influencer on social media, Florence is a talented artist and writer, and uses these avenues to promote feminism as well.
Being an artist, Florence has designed inspiring T-shirts, bags, and art prints flaunting some of her catchphrases like, “Looking Good For My Goddamn Self” and “Life’s Short, Dump Them” which showcase the powerful aura that Florence radiates. Her artwork often embraces bright colors, groovy fonts, and images of totally fierce (and often naked) women. In addition, her fashion is also an extension of her art. Florence has such a 70s chic, sexy, bad-ass woman vibe when it comes to her style and it is iconic. I love her bold use of cheetah print, blazers, oversized sunglasses, and vibrant prints.
Florence is also a writer and has been working on her first book Women Don’t Owe you Pretty, which comes out in June 2020, and will highlight various aspects of the discussion surrounding the topic of feminism today. According to goodreads, Florence’s book will discuss issues varying from, “insecurity projection and refusing to find comfort in other women’s flaws, to deciding whether to date or dump them, all the way through to unpacking the male gaze and how it shapes our identity,” and I cannot wait to read it.
Aside from her artistic and literary accomplishments, Florence has also been the face of Tinder campaigns and has recently won Cosmopolitan’s Influencer of the Year 2019; and she did all of this before her 21st birthday.
I first discovered Florence’s work this year when coming across someone’s post on their instagram story. The post featured a beautiful and confident woman standing tall in a sheer white lace bralette and matching undies set. With her hands held over her head, flaunting her armpit hair, Florence exuded an energy that I was immediately intrigued by. I admired her instantly, and so I rapidly clicked to her profile to see what she was all about. It was clear to me that Florence stands for independence, destroying the “classic” expectations of what it is to be a woman, escaping male toxicity, pushing for a better system for everyone, and doing whatever the hell makes you happy.
At the time when I found her, Florence was 20 years old. She had left school to pursue art and writing full time, as well as recently ended a toxic relationship to which she references often. In merch and posts on social media she boasts her catchphrases, “Stop Raising Him He’s Not Your Son” and “Dump Him”, and talks about her everlasting “single glow”. She heavily promotes the idea that you don’t need a significant other to be happy in life, something that unfortunately many people flock to solely out of the need for comfort and stability. Hearing her stories of dating a man child, and getting out of a relationship where she was being treated like shit, is something that a lot of women and people in general can recognize and learn from.
Florence also speaks on her personal experiences of being cat called, groped, and just overall being objectified and disrespected by men – issues that are unfortunately very common and relatable for women today. She exposes these issues as they stem from the system of patriarchy and publicizes them in order to aid in the fight to resolve them.
Another issue that Florence touches on revolves around the LGBT+ community. As a bisexual woman, she often finds herself constantly being invisible as the world is quick to label her as “straight”. People love to put others in boxes, but this labelling issue is one that is critical to change. In an instagram post she comments, “…a bisexual femme SO invisible that I made a queer necklace…”, which is yet another societal issue apparent today; to have to wear a necklace just so people don’t assume your sexuality speaks for itself, and issues like these surrounding LGBT+ folks are ones that Florence pays attention to as well, as a queer woman herself.
Florence’s overall energy and powerful demeanor is a force to be reckoned with, and she is without a doubt someone to look up to. She addresses many critical issues within feminism today, calls for a drastic change, and is breaking the mold that women are “supposed to fit in” every day. At the age of 21, she already has so much influence and I am excited to see where she takes her career in the future.
It is important to recognize your self worth, and not succumb to the poisonous norms that are apparent today. Be who you want to be, do what you want to do, and most importantly be happy and confident doing it. Be an ally, accept people for who they are, recognize privilege, and fight to change the flawed system that exists today; these are just some of the lessons that I personally have learned from Florence. To be just one year older than I am right now, and to be accomplishing so much and providing such a good message to people everywhere, Florence is truly beyond me. I love her passion, drive, art, as well as her undeniable beauty and confidence. She radiates feminism and serves as an inspiration for people everywhere; she is definitely someone that everybody should acquaint themselves with on social media.