The ever wonderful Sophie from Two Cakes On A Plate is also supporting us in our Modelled by Role Models campaign, see her nomination here; –
It was quite hard for me to pick just one role model – I could think of many women who have inspired me in my blogging and personal life, from bloggers like Cora Harrington and Anna from Bras and Body Image to woman entrepreneurs like Laura Byrnes and Micheline Pitt. In addition to lingerie blogging, one of my favourite hobbies is to be involved in the pinup scene and through that community I have found and ”met” women who have inspired me to be myself – one of them being the ever-so-lovely Cherry Dollface.
Cherry ie Cherokee is an American beauty/lifestyle blogger/vlogger and an established pinup model who I encountered on Youtube over a year ago. I fell head over heels in love with her makeup and hair tutorials, but there was even more to her – a sweet personality who actually cared for other women and tried to build bridges between her and her followers. I was in a rather grey place when I first found the pinup scene and thought that I was too big and non-graceful to enter that wonderful world of wiggle dresses and badass high heels. Cherry made me realize that this world was for everyone and every body – she had and has an honest yet kind voice which I really appreciate in a community where things can get a bit catty quite easily.
All communities have their problems and Cherry Dollface has been one of the brave women to stand up for all women, regardless of their body type or size. She has been brave enough to say women are women – no matter whether you are skinny or fat, curvy or straight-figured. There is no such thing as real women. She also stands up for women when it comes to eg sexual abuse on internet – recently, she wrote a blog post on her ”the Real Cherry Dollface” blog project about women being judged and commented on because of their looks, even in professional settings. Unfortunately, so many women encounter these issues in real life and now on internet and too many of these women feel forced to be silent – just for avoiding more rape threats and sexual abuse.
Why I really appreciate Cherry is the fact that you can see that she cares; she knows her media presence in the pinup and rockabilly world and knows that she can make a change in people’s attitudes and views on important issues. What really makes a great role model for me, is the ability to take responsibility and make a difference. As I recently learned from a video put up by the Guardian, being non-racist, non-sexist and a non-bully does not mean you are anti. Anti means making a difference and that is what Cherry Dollface is doing.