Shel Bouse, Blogger and Writer Posted on March 31, 2023 by planirl

Shel Bouse, 28, is a blogger and writer. Her loves and passions include PR, New Media, her dog and cat (Pippa and Babes), Cheese, wine, fashion, Cork, mid-night phone calls, morning coffee, Edna O’Brien and Beyoncé.  She says she is equally as happy in a pair of pink wellies up in a tractor as she is all glammed up. She is a feminist and has no qualms in saying it. She admits to being addicted to twitter and believes Girls can, and do, run the world. She loves nothing more than sharing a bottle of wine with a friend or two at the end of the week. She admires women who run their own businesses and one day hopes to do the same. She thinks every girl should have a male best friend for their raw honesty. After visiting the Plan Ireland photo exhibition she has become more passionate in believing every girl deserves an education, a childhood and control over her own body and is proud to associate herself with Plan Ireland.

• Because I am a girl I ask I ask…..hundreds of questions, I ask why can’t we women do it all?  Why can’t we own our own business? Why can’t we be seen to be ambitious? Why can’t we earn the same amount of money as men? Why can’t we break those glass ceilings? Why is it that by the age of three the only story we know is that of the princess being a damsel in distress waiting for a prince to save her? I will keep asking why until the time comes when I, and women everywhere won’t need to ask why anymore

• Because I am a girl I believe…in the importance of friendship. A lot of emphasis in life is put on finding ‘the one’ in the romantic sense but I believe finding ‘the one’ or ‘the two’ when it comes to your friends is equally as important especially when it’s a superficial age where people count their friends as those who they are connected with on Facebook. As you grow into your late twenties and beyond I find friendships change just because life gets in the way and time spent together is less frequent and that’s just life. I have two close friends who I don’t see every day but I do talk to them all the time, I tell them everything and they know every side of me, the good, the bad and the ugly. Friendship isn’t all about having someone to go for cocktails with, although that’s great too but to me friendship is about platonic unconditional love, a listening ear and having someone who will give you a kick in the a** when it’s needed.

• Because I am a girl I hope…that in a fast paced ever changing technological world that we never lose sight of the things that really matter like real love, friendship and family. I hope we look beyond selfies and instead look at such things like the Plan Ireland photo exhibition and realise what daily life is like for our fellow females in other parts of the world and never lose sight of this. We women, have a lot of freedom in the western world which not all women have unfortunately. We women need to stand together and fight for gender equality for every woman in the world and to never lose sight of the fight. I also hope that the generation after me will grow up knowing their worth,  that they will know that they don’t need to abuse their sexuality to be accepted or lose any aspect of themselves to ‘fit in’.

• Because I am a girl I wonder….can I really do it all? To have a successful career, be a good friend, built my dream home (it’s worth noting that I think every girl should read fairy-tales where the princess can built her own castle instead of waiting for her prince to do it for her), be happy and content in life and to one day do all of this while being a good mother and be fortunate enough to marry my best friend ( when I find him)

• Because I am a girl I dream….of fulfilling all my ambitions and for always having the confidence to stand up for what I believe in. I dream that I will always have my closest friends and family around me and quite honestly, my ultimate dream is to be happy.

• Because I am a girl I remember…attending mass with my parents in a church that wasn’t our local one, I was seven and it must have been around the time of an abortion referendum because the priest was urging people not to support it in his sermon. I don’t remember the exact wording he used but even as a seven year old child believed he was wrong especially as it was mostly the ‘X’ case he was discussing. Now as a 28 year old woman, not much has changed in the country surrounding the topic of abortion. I am ashamed that Savita Halappanavar lost her life in 2012 in University Hospital Galway because the Government choose to ignore the legislation surrounding abortion for many years.  I give credit for the government in amending the legislation after her death but don’t think they went far enough. This is an issue we have been exporting for many years because we have been afraid to face it but the time is now. This issue is just one of many why we need more women in government.

• Because I am a girl I like…… Beyoncé. I’m not one for following celebrities, I may read an odd celebrity article here and there but I love Beyoncé. She is a lot more than a singer, she is a business woman. I was watching her at the directors screening of her visual album where she said “ but more than the music I’m proud of myself as a woman for taking the risks and the biggest message is owning your imperfections and all the things that make you make you interesting because I refuse to allow someone to put me in anyone’s box……..I found a team of underdogs, a team of women, a team of people that no one believed in and we worked together and we stayed up all night….and we said why can’t we do it? And we did it and not only did we do it but it’s my company” and I fell more in love with her.  She merges being an independent woman with a woman that is madly in love with her best friend. I love her and think she’s a fantastic role model for any young girl who chooses her role models from pop culture.

• Because I am a girl I dislike…rudeness. It just boils my blood when someone is rude for no apparent reason, be it someone who doesn’t say thanks or please when you hold a door open for them or a member of staff in an establishment that is plain rude. I also dislike when people show little consideration to those who were nice to them when they needed it, people who are full of their own importance and those who are constantly bitter and jealous.

• Because I am a girl I celebrate…..my education, my talent, the woman I have become and the woman I have yet to become, I celebrate my freedom and the wealth I have in my life and I’m not talking about the materialistic stuff.