Shadowing Practice: The Truth On Modesty, Feminism, and Oppression - Learn English Speaking with Video
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I used to be the biggest man hater, I'm not gonna lie.
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I used to be the feminist chick where I was like hardcore.
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I used to think that hijab was oppressive.
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When I started covering up, I felt as if I stripped my power back.
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A lot of women think that modesty is male-centered because we know that men look at women in a overly sexualized way.
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Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
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Every single one of these scriptures talk about the covering of your hair when you are in worship to God, an act of humility.
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It is more than just about a man.
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Plastic surgery, Botox, lip stun, whatever it might be.
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It's not me saying it's a bad thing, but I think that changing the way that God created you, it's inherently going against what we should be doing as humans.
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God created beauty.
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God loves beauty.
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It's about embracing your beauty in a way that you see it, because why do we need other people to recognize it?
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Don't feel like you need to get work done just because of societal expectations.
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I'm Liana Diem.
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This is Being Human.
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I'm glad you're here.
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Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Being Human podcast.
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I am so excited for today's episode because I feel like this is something
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that I've been wanting to speak about for a little while now.
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So let me just briefly run through some of the things that I'm going to be covering today.
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So God designing us so beautiful and why some of us feel the need to change it.
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I want to talk about feminism and is feminism welcoming of all women?
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We're going to cover is modesty oppressive and living in the US versus a place like Afghanistan, being yourself and being okay with being disliked,
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acceptance that you won't make sense to everyone, why beauty is loved by God and how to be in tune with your feminine,
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and then a couple of habits and practices to do to make you feel in your feminine era.
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What really inspired me to do this episode was really
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because of the trend on social media where people are coming on and talking about the things that are worth their money.
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And one thing that I saw that was reoccurring were women coming on
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and saying that getting plastic surgery was something that was worth their money.
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And, you know, it was kind of apparent in the fitness community of women coming on
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and saying to get a boob job.
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And if you're tuning in and, you know, you have work done or you have a boob job or lips done or Botox, this is not a jab at you at all.
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This is a jab at the women that are projecting themselves onto other people.
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Just like I would never force anyone or tell anyone, be modest because it's better for you.
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I'm going to come at it from an approach of sharing my story, but I'm not going to say like, go and get your boobs done.
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I think it's a bit wild to me that it's become so normalized
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and there's not enough women speaking up about the fact of how damaging it can be to women's perceptions of themselves,
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of what beauty standards are supposed to look like in society nowadays?
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Is it if you don't have big boobs that it's a problem, like you need to get your boobs done and that's like the thing that you should be spending your money on?
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And as we're pushing this to women, do we not understand the implications of what plastic surgery can do to your body long-term in terms of your health?
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Not only that, the money that goes into your surgery could be applied to a side hustle, a business, an investment that is going to bring you
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so much more money rather than caring so much about the fact
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that boobs will what make you look a little bit better
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and you know again this is not a jab at women
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that have these things done it's just why are we pushing it onto other women to make it feel as
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if this is something that is actually worth our money
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and yeah i know there's also going to be women
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that do it after maybe pregnancy because i haven't been through
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that i don't know what it's like to milk a baby like bro Like, yes, maybe it does change the way that your body is, but didn't God design us so beautifully in that way?
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Like, think about it.
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God designed you so uniquely.
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Why do we feel the need to change it?
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Isn't beauty all from God?
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Aren't you designed in a way so perfect the way that God created you?
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So I think that when you are going through life and maybe you want plastic surgery, Botox, lip stun, whatever it might be, it's not me saying it's a bad thing,
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but I think that changing the way that God created you, it's inherently going against what we should be doing as humans.
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You know, it's society projecting that onto women of what beauty is supposed to look like.
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And yeah, I think I just wanted to come on here
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and say that because there's been
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so many times in my life where I would look at my face and pick apart everything that I could potentially change.
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I do the same to my body.
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Even when you have an amazing body, an amazing face, women still do it.
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And sometimes it's never enough because if you don't feel enough inside, you're never going to feel enough externally, even if you get the work done.
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So I think it's really being aware of you have to build the relationship with yourself.
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And then again, if it's something that you want to do with your body, you go and do it.
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That's your choice.
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But understand that your relationship with yourself, the love that you have for yourself is not going to change directly from getting work done.
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And again, it's about who you are inside
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and how much you love yourself as a person
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because then once you start to fully love who you are you don't also feel the need to change yourself
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because there was one point in my life where I actually got my lips done
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when I turned 18 and
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that was the first time I ever got any kind of Botox
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and I liked it I mean I looked good it was cute whatever
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but then I was like later on I was like why
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do I feel the need to keep getting my lips done
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what am I trying to prove here again it was just a consistent cycle of wanting to feel more beautiful.
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But why am I not beautiful just the way that I am?
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Yeah, so I really wanted to cover that point just
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because there needs to be a reminder to women
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that you are uniquely designed in a way that nobody else can compare to.
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And so don't feel like you need to get work done just because of societal expectations.
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And so that's the first thing that I really wanted to cover and just get off of my chest.
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And the second thing is
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when women are pushing this onto other women where are the feminists at
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and when i see feminists what is feminism right it's the ability for women to go out and work
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and have a say for themselves the right to vote all
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of these different things right that's the power of feminism
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but there is subjective feminism there is feminism when it's only catered to one specific type of agenda.
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And for example, the feminist movement where majority women that are thinking that modesty is oppressive,
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some parts of the feminist movement are very rude when it comes to women wanting to practice modesty.
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They think that we're oppressed just because of situations happening in Afghanistan and we're gonna get into that, but I am not oppressed.
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I am so grateful that I'm able to live in the US and make my own decisions, but majority of the Middle East, those women are also able to make their own decisions.
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Just want to throw that out there for people that think that every single Muslim country means forcing women into hijab.
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That is not Islam and that is not our faith.
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I bring this up because the feminist movement want to point to Afghanistan and say that, oh, the women there are being oppressed and whatnot, so why would you still wear a hijab?
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Do you realize that it's taken out of context from extremist groups
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that do not represent islam
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and those women's are not only being forced to cover their eyes
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but they are also not given education
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and what does islam teach for people to be educated the women
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that are ranked some of the highest in our faith were educated they were business women they went out
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and earned their own money why does god say in scripture
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a woman's money is her money it's like why is god mentioning
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that in scripture because a woman can go and make her own money and a man can't touch it.
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Is that not feminism?
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Bro, that is feminism, okay?
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And only that.
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While we can speak about Afghanistan or I would say only Afghanistan, maybe some parts of Iran where women are forced into hijab that don't want to wear it,
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which again, I don't approve of
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because I would never want to be forced into a decision that I didn't fully agree with.
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And so you look at Dubai, you look at the Middle East, you look at Syria, there's churches there.
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It's not all oppressive everywhere.
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Some women are actually choosing to wear the hijab.
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And there's also some women that are born into families where it is forced upon them.
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And so I can acknowledge that as someone who is a practicing Muslim, but also tell the women that are saying that all of us are oppressed that we aren't.
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Some of us choose this because we actually think feeling as
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if you need to show your body to be accepted in society is oppressive in my eyes.
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Why?
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Let me break this down to you.
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We live in a time where a lot of women, rightfully so, say that men overly sexualize them.
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I have lived it firsthand.
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I know the feelings of what it is like to be overly sexualized, but also some women can go to the extent of doing it intentionally,
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like I used to do, okay?
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The items that I wore, I knew what the attention was going to bring.
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Like, I knew what I was wearing. and so
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when we go into this oblivious mindset of like oh he's
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looking at me in this way like obviously he's going to look at you in
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that way that is how men are designed
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and it's like oh well why are they sexualizing our body
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why are we even allowing them to see us in
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that light like you have to think about it you are
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giving the man power by seeing your body your beauty
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and aren't you stripping away the man's power if you don't allow him
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that access to view you like is
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that not feminism bro i used to be the biggest man hater i'm not gonna lie
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and i think when people i don't hate men okay i love god's creation i don't hate men
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but i had a really bad relationship with men
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because i just thought they were all a certain way sometimes
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i still get just like are men all the same i don't think
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that but like i used to be the feminist chick where i was like hardcore okay i used to think
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that hijab was oppressive okay so i was
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that girl i still believe in feminism as a movement i
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don't believe in every single one of like the group
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and the agenda of every it's just like it's been split okay
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so i'm like i don't know subjective feminism i don't know like what's the definition okay
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and then are you going to tell me
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that feminism accepts every single woman with whatever choice she does for her body then i will accept
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that definition of feminism if there is subjective i'm not accepting it hate me
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so now we need to get into um what was i on what point oh men men Yeah, when I started covering up,
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I felt as if I stripped my power back.
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And I think a lot of women think that modesty is male centered
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because we know that men look at women in a overly sexualized way.
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Not all men by the way, but majority of men because of also social media.
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It's just everything has played a role into it over the years, right?
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So understanding the biology of men and the fact that they are going to look at us in that way, I wanna protect myself from it.
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But it's not only for that.
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Like, I think a lot of people think that modesty is only for men.
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Like, for example, if you look at all faiths, okay?
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Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.
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Every single one of these scriptures
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talk about the covering of your hair
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when you are in worship to god an act of humility
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if this is in every single holy book of the religion
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when in terms of talking about modesty
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and the humility of wearing a head covering
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when you are talking to god it is more than just about a man
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and you know i actually get a lot of comments about islam is oppressive whatnot
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and it's people that are practicing christianity
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if i'm being completely honest they're like okay well islam is not like christianity okay it's different there's many similarities
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and one of the similarities is the fact
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that we believe in jesus okay
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and we actually have a whole chapter in the quran about mary peace be upon her jesus's mother
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and she wore a veil in the fact
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that i'm just trying to live in alignment with the women of that time and why they practice something.
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It wasn't just for men.
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It was for humility for God.
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It was for loving herself internally and not relying on the societal expectations.
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All the things that I mentioned, like plastic surgery, changing our beauty, all of these different things.
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It's a covering.
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And so, you know, I bring this up because it's like, you think I'm impressed, but it's majority of faiths.
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And it's like, people need to read their scripture
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because sometimes they are in complete contradiction with what they believe in
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because it's saying the same thing
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and once i started to really dive into religion i love studying all scriptures
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and i look into things i look into quran i look into the bible
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and the old testament i haven't really tapped too much into the torah definitely want to get into it
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but i compare so many different things so many correlations many differences not that many between christianity in Islam, but there are many differences.
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Just the belief in what we think God is in terms of like, a lot of people think that the belief in Christianity is that Jesus is God.
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Well, there's some Christians that believe it's different or it's a triune God, like three persons in one.
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And then in Islam, we believe that God cannot be a human.
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It cannot be a man.
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It's literally just one creation with no partners associated to it.
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So it's like, When I say creative the world, I can't even comprehend what it is, right?
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And so we think Jesus is a prophet of God telling us to worship God.
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And a lot of it comes back to old scripture because in Islam, we believe in some things of the Old Testament, but not everything because it's just essentially in your faith.
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You're going to believe that it's truth, right?
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It's so crazy to me, actually, like talking on this point, every single person that is strongly practicing their faith believes it's the truth.
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Like I believe Islam is the truth.
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even if I have Christians dialing in, which I respect all religions, all faiths, but it's like, you're so firm that it's your truth.
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And when you're telling someone else to practice another faith, it's like, okay, well, I think this is the truth.
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You think it's the truth
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because we're gonna have to wait to the very end of the world to figure out who's got the truth.
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Does that make sense?
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You know, I'm gonna have someone on my podcast soon.
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His name is Bryce Crawford and we're gonna be talking about Christianity, Islam, finding the similarities.
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Maybe there's some differences, but I'm excited to have these conversations.
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It's something that I've really just like been so passionate about.
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But again, in a way where it's like, we can find the similarities, I don't want it to turn into a debate.
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Like that's not what I want this to be but I think
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that having awareness that we both practice similar things
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and I know I'm going off topic here We were talking about like feminism
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and modesty and men and whatnot
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But i'm just showing you who I am as a person as well Like I am a very realist person
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Like I look into everything
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and also i'm not afraid to say bold things anymore Like I used to be
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so afraid of it and worry about the backlash
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and the perception of other people but I just want to fully be myself.
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It's like really living in your truth, like live in your truth.
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And I know that we are kind of going off topic here, but modesty is a beautiful thing.
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And whereas there are some women in Afghanistan that want to wear it, there are also some women that do not want to wear it and that do feel oppressed by it.
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And I don't stand with that.
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I never will.
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But I'm also not going to give into the propaganda of the world of making it feel as
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if all women that wear the hijab are oppressed
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when i am in fact not i actually enjoy my life
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so much more because i am not gosh i'm not i'm not
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so attached to this worldly life bro it's a different kind of feeling
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when you feel so attached to this world oof it's just you get obsessed with outcomes
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and of course i still want to do great in life
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but you get obsessed in a different way where you don't understand the fact
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that this life is literally a test like we're not going to be here forever bro
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and if you don't start living in alignment with god
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and understanding that we are not going to be here forever
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which again you apply yourself to this life you work as hard as possible
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and try to use your time wisely by showing god look i am showing you
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that i'm working on my purpose i'm using my time wisely
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i am being disciplined i'm cutting out all the things i'm giving up
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so much for you because i know
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that you are just going to consistently elevate me
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if i'm living in alignment with you and that's the beauty of faith
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and that's the beauty of recognizing that this world is not forever
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and so the last thing that i want to talk about is beauty
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and i know i touched on it from like modesty
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and covering beauty but we need to recognize
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that god created beauty god loves beauty and i think that
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when you accept that you don't need to cover your beauty
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because of men but it's It's about embracing your beauty in a way that you see it, you recognize it.
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Because why do we need other people to recognize it?
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And this is not me saying you need to wear a hijab and cover your beauty, okay, before people start projecting in the comments.
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I'm saying this of like, if you're on that journey to practicing modesty and humility for the sake of God,
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it's recognizing that you can validate yourself through doing beautiful habits and practices that make you feel feminine.
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And I feel way more feminine than I ever did now versus before because I'm doing it for myself.
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I am not doing it for other people.
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And the things that I do I'm going to share today are a couple of habits
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so you can be in tune with your feminine.
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So the first thing is trying to find your style.
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So this has taken me a little while
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because I'm still trying to figure it out but one thing
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that I am really loving lately is natural fiber fits like I feel like wearing cottons
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and linens and materials that make me feel so good in myself
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that are from God make me feel so much more confident
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and I just feel lighter especially
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when I go out in the heat I'm not overly sweating
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and I don't feel like I'm overheating and it's so crazy
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that like people are like oh aren't you
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so hot I know those clothes like no when I have a linen
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and cotton I don't feel overly hot I was literally in 103 degree weather the other day hiking
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and i wasn't even sweating that bad because i was wearing linen
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and again it's taking it back to what jesus peace be upon him what he wore he wore linen
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and i think it's so beautiful that we can take the practices from prophets
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and people that are very looked up to in the religious times
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and use the natural things
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that we have been given on this earth the second habit is to prioritize your skin care
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and get ready every single morning so that's that's something that I love doing.
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It's just getting ready for myself, not for other people, doing my skincare.
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I wear a touch of makeup and I'll do that every morning, even if I'm just alone with myself.
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And I think that wearing makeup with the right intention is okay
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because it's something that is just making you feel a little bit more put together.
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Maybe it's a little bit more confident in your outfit
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because sometimes it can just bring the whole look together and you feel more presentable.
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But again, your natural self is always going to be presentable, but I personally do it because my acne.
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So if I don't have acne, definitely wouldn't be wearing makeup.
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That's for sure.
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The third thing is being clean.
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So practicing cleanliness.
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And what does that look like?
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It could be making sure you are showering and exfoliating.
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And I know these are simple things, but like even your teeth regimen, like, are you flossing?
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Are you tongue scraping?
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Are you oil pulling?
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Are you brushing your teeth for more than two minutes?
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Like all of these things are to take into account
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because it's the way that we present ourselves in the world and practicing cleanliness through small little habits.
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And again, this is not for a man.
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This is for yourself.
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So doing this for yourself.
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The next thing is being aware of all the foods that you consume.
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So again, if you put foods into your body, it is going to affect the way that you feel, but it's also going to affect the way that you look.
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Your skin, your body, everything.
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It's always being intentional with the foods that you're putting into your body.
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I personally follow the 80-20 rule because I think that we should have a balanced approach.
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It's okay to give into those foods that may not be as healthy, but it's also important to recognize that God gave us food from the earth
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and we should utilize the food and all the things
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that he has given us because it is more natural and what we should be eating as humans.
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And sometimes I am not perfect.
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So that's why 20% is to give into what I feel like eating and 80% is always whole food and clean meals.
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The next thing is taking care of your hair and products that make you feel good.
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So is that a body lotion?
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Is that hair care, hair oils?
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like really being in tune with yourself.
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And when you are putting on these products, it's like being very intentional.
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It's like, okay, I am doing this to take care of my body
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and to make sure I'm upkeeping everything in such a beautiful way for myself.
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It's all about the intention and the mindset that you go into it, create a ritual with it.
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It should feel like something you look forward to.
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And that's something that helps me feel way more in tune with myself and much more feminine.
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Another thing is movement.
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So moving your body, and it doesn't only have to be lifting heavy heavy weights
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it can be pilates it can be yoga it can be any form of movement
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that really feels good but putting yourself through something physically challenging
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because not only is it going to help you with your body
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and the way that you look
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but it's also going to transform your confidence your mindset your strength
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when it comes to your mental so really prioritizing movement
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and taking care of your body last two points lint roll and steam your clothes.
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I know it's simple, but honestly, I don't love wrinkles.
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And every time I say wrinkles, I think that it just doesn't look as neat and organized.
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So lint roll and steam your clothes, especially when it comes to your scarf or your hijab.
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If you are someone that wears one, try to just steam it, even if it's just like the front top part, like take care of it because it's essentially a part of you, right?
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So just as if you would take care of your hair in the morning, take care of your hijab and the clothes that you put on,
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be aware of the colors that also suit you and the shape of your body and what clothes make you look.
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Maybe it's a little bit too overly baggy to the point where you're like, okay, this doesn't fit my body shape, but like practicing and styling yourself in a way where it's like,
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okay, this looks great with my body shape and the structure of my body.
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Again, not about like enhancing your body, but I'm talking about like, you just don't wanna look like a blob, okay?
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And sometimes with modesty, you can look like a blob.
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So it's like being aware of the things that suit you and your body shape.
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The very last point is something that I already touched on, but looking good for yourself.
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Like that's something that I've been starting to do is like I'll wear dresses around the crib
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and like do makeup and just look good for me when nobody's even going to see me.
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And so I think that that's a beautiful thing or even your family members.
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Like if you want to see your friends and your girls and it's like, okay, you look good, but it's not for the validation of them.
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It's just like you're getting ready and feeling confident in yourself and wearing clothes that are not always modest, for example.
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But yeah, these are some things that make me feel feminine.
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And I hope you guys enjoyed this episode.
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I feel like it was a little bit all over the place, but I will see you guys in the next video Make sure you subscribe give this video a thumbs up
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and please please follow on spotify youtube and apple
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because it really helps the podcast I will see you guys in the next episode.
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I love you all so much
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ENGLISH SPEECH | PALKI SHARMA: Voice of Change (English Subtitles)
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Why Practice Speaking with This Video?
This video is a goldmine for English learners looking to practice real, conversational speech. The speaker shares personal stories and debates complex topics—like modesty, feminism, and beauty—using a natural, relatable tone. Practicing with this dialogue helps you master expressive speaking—how to convey passion, nuance, and even gentle disagreement. Plus, the mix of casual phrases ("I'm not gonna lie," "bro") and deeper ideas makes it perfect for the shadowing technique (or "shadowspeak"): repeating lines aloud to mimic rhythm and intonation. You’ll learn to sound confident in both everyday chats and thoughtful discussions.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
- "I used to be the biggest man hater": The phrase "used to" describes past habits that changed. It’s great for sharing personal growth—try saying, "I used to avoid public speaking, but now I love it."
- "It's not a jab at you at all": "Jab" here means a critical comment. This softens a strong opinion—useful for polite debates: "This isn’t a jab at your idea, but have you considered…?"
- "Why do we need other people to recognize it?": The structure "Why do we need [someone] to [verb]?" challenges common assumptions. Practice with: "Why do we need others to validate our choices?"
Common Pronunciation Traps
The speaker’s casual style can trip up learners. Watch out for: "hijab" (pronounced "hee-jab," not "hi-jab"), "Botox" (stress on the first syllable: "BOH-toks"), and "implication" (four syllables: "im-pli-KAY-shun"). Use the shadowing technique to nail these—pause, repeat, and match her pace. Also, notice how she shortens words: "gonna" (going to) and "kind of" (kinda) are key for sounding natural. With shadowspeak practice, you’ll turn these traps into strengths and improve English pronunciation in no time.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| “Used to” used to + verb — a past habit or state that is no longer true | used to be · used to think · used to do |
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been wanting · i've really been enjoying · I've been starting |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | being disliked · is loved · could be applied |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | haven't been · there's been · have lived |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.