Fashion

Monki's Latest Campaign Is Super Feminist

by Teresa Newsome

What exactly is the #monkifesto? Well, it's a lot of things. It's the brainchild of a clothing company putting their values up front. It's a movement to empower women-identified people to end period shame, love out loud, grow their hair if they what to, masturbate with purpose, and help each other — but mostly, it's a pleading cry for women and girls to be themselves, to do what they want to do, to use their voices, to look how they want, and to make waves in the world without shame or apology. The #monkifesto doesn't want women to conform to beauty standards just to fit in. It doesn't want women to feel like they can't go all-in, then celebrate their own successes. It doesn't want women to harbor body shame and ignorance that robs them of sexual pleasure or freedom of expression. I mean, the whole campaign is pretty freaking rad.

Each of the #monkifesto's points of action has an essay that features an empowering activist, and solid information about the ways our culture robs women of their power and their magic. Most importantly, it contains the inspiration and knowledge to help you get some of that power back. It's the kind of lunch-break reading that will make your feminist heart happy. Here are the goals of the #monkifesto.

1. Please Yo'self

Please Yo'self is all about normalizing masturbation.It's how we learn about our bodies and understand what makes our engines purr.

2. Periods Are Cool. Period.

Because it's time to end shame and stigma around such a normal bodily function, and being grown-ass people who understand that periods are a part of life.

3. Cut The Norm

Because body hair is just body hair. If you want to shave you should, but do you want to, or have you just been trained to? Either way, it's about respecting women's choices about body hair and expressing ourselves how we want to. "The norm doesn't matter."

4. Let Love Loose

Because love is love, gender is a construct, and we should be free to be who we are and love who we love.

5. Salute Sisterhood

The #monkifesto believes that when women stand together and support each other (instead of taking each other down), we are all stronger.

6. Multi Is The New Regular

Prejudice, racism, and judgement in general, is out. Diversity, respecting differences, and celebrating all identities and ethnicities is in (and essential).

7. Knowledge Is Queen

The #monkifesto wants women to learn, to experiment, to create, and to understand that being a woman-identified person is no reason to not go after what it is you love.

8. Be A Drama Queen

You don't have to be quiet. You don't have to suppress your emotions. You can take up space, be loud, have opinions, get angry, cry, be proud, and most importantly, be heard.

9. Sharing Is Caring

"Sharing is caring" is a movement to reclaim the Internet from bullies, and to stop using it as a weapon to shame each other.

10. Dance, Eat, Party, Repeat

Sometimes women do that thing where they downplay their achievements, or gloss over their accomplishments. The #mokifesto wants that to stop. They want you to own your awesome, and the awesomeness of others. They want you to shout it from the mountain tops!

Hell freaking yas.

There's a #monkifesto collection, sporting rad period panties and other goodies, but unfortunately, it's not available in the US at this time. Still, the campaign is more than worth checking out and sharing.

Images: Snask creative agency for Monki (10)