Dear Lazies,
Welcome to the July edition of our newsletter! As we bask in the warmth and joy of the summer season, we take a moment to reflect on the people and relationships that truly enrich our lives. This month, we celebrate the profound power and timeless beauty of female friendships and explore alternative forms of belonging that go beyond traditional nuclear family structures.
Are you ready for an exciting lineup of fresh Lazy Women content? Explore new articles, and a podcast episode, and join us for a deep exploration of friendship, selflessness, and empathy. From navigating beauty standards to examining the connection between government rule and abortion, we delve into intimate and engaging topics that will spark your curiosity. By the way, we have some big news coming up but more about that in our next issue *wink *wink
Enjoy your reading and don’t forget to freshen up with our latest Paris Mule recipe!
Your Lazies
Fresh on Lazy Women!
Pretty hurts: Navigating beauty standards in Thailand
How does growing up in a culture that promotes extreme thinness and pale skin affect your body image? Read Nicole Ogden’s personal testimony to find out! We appreciate her honesty in writing down these difficult experiences.
The German law forced me to think about it. I did it anyway.
As a so-called “grown woman”, I found myself unintentionally pregnant at the age of 33. Even under the best circumstances imaginable (with a supporting partner and living in a European country considered liberal), my experience in the process of getting an abortion was alienating, as well as physically and mentally challenging. This made one thing painfully clear: we need to talk more about abortions. In person. In public. In general. Read Lazy Johanna's intimate testimony about getting an abortion in Germany and all of its difficult steps!
Lazy recipe
The Paris Mule
Summer screams for cocktails. For those vacation vibes, here’s a recipe for a Moscow Mule with a tropical twist. It’s refreshing, fruity, and delicious.
Tip: This cocktail can be easily made as a mocktail; just skip the vodka and there you have it.
You’ll need:
Vodka (Preferably good quality, I like to use Grey Goose or Absolut.)
Ginger beer (Fever Tree or Schweppes work the best)
Lime (or lemon)
Fresh passion fruit
Optional: passion fruit juice
Ice
How to make it (1 cocktail):
Add some ice into a glass.
Start by pouring a shot of vodka.
Cut your passion fruit into quarters. Scoop out one-quarter into the vodka and mix well.
Cut your lime into 8 squares. Squeeze one square into your cup and drop it into your glass.
Fill 3/4 of the glass with ginger beer.
Pour in an equivalent amount of a shot of passion fruit juice (optional, but accentuates the passion fruit taste).
Finally, mix well, and enjoy!
Shout out to Lili Hák for her first publication on Lazy Women! And if you crave more recipe inspiration, check out her full article here!
Female friendship in literature: an analysis of “My Brilliant Friend”
In popular culture, relationship discussions are often focused on heterosexual romance. Friendships, however, might be the most underestimated of all human connections. Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels series offer an insight into the joys and complexities of female friendship, resulting in a painfully relatable and relevant read. As Lazy Elena argues: “It is not just a novel about two little girls who happen to be friends. It uses friendship as a background to other themes including politics, society and women/feminism, set against the backdrop of a poverty-stricken Naples.”
Put On Your Own Mask First Before Helping Others: the real meaning of selflessness
Is selflessness the same as self-sacrifice? As women, we often find ourselves in situations in which 'putting others first' or 'giving up your own needs' is perceived as desirable and necessary. But is this truly the way forward? Is it sustainable to only give, but never give to yourself? In this thought-provoking piece, Lilla Varga tackles all these questions (and more).
Talking to a Grieving Friend: the dos and don’ts
The holiday season, be it Christmas or the summer period, can be challenging, especially for those who have recently lost a loved one. Without the daily noise and to-dos, stuck in the physical closeness of your family home, the feelings of emptiness and the imminent lack of the person you’re missing are not that easy to avoid. In the midst of summer jolliness, don’t forget to look out for those who might be needing a little bit of extra support right now. Lazy Zsofi put together her personal list of do’s and don’ts for consoling your grieving friends.
👯♀️ We are friends, not nemeses!
If you are in the mood for a mostly light and funny series that occasionally presents serious themes, then The Bold Type on Netflix is for you! The three main characters are trying to find a way of life in a hustling world of a fashion magazine while navigating their friendships. This series shows maturity when it comes to solving conflicts and sometimes surprises you with how timely it is. Some of the Lazies really loved the bluntness in this show and hope you’ll also enjoy it. Perhaps while drinking a glass of Paris Mule by the poolside or in your dark living room escaping the heat? And if you feel like diving into something ‘more serious,’ we highly recommend checking out Close, a coming-of-age drama about a close friendship between two adolescent boys that has just won the European Parliament’s LUX Audience Award!
💥Friendships in danger
In this month’s reading suggestions, we got captivated (and slightly heartbroken) by Maria Popova’s article on the changing nature of friendships. With all of us struggling to somehow ‘make it in life’, many of our genuine friendships get replaced with a more transactional approach: using social connections for personal gain and success. Don’t worry though, Popova also offers some valuable suggestions for nurturing and maintaining meaningful friendships in today's society, which we highly recommend.
On a similar note, this article shows how our society’s glorification of business and productivity leads to a culture of overworking and the inevitable negligence of personal relationships. The remedy? You guessed it! We need to prioritize our friendships to combat loneliness and improve our overall well-being. And if you wonder how to become a ‘super friend,’ then this article from the Atlantic or Charlotte Wood’s book The Weekend might be of help.
💪Challenging conventions
Our community favourite Alice Cappelle strikes again, this time with a deep dive into the downfall of traditional relationships. More and more people are challenging the idea that nuclear families are the only desired way of living, preferring relationships rooted in friendships and close communities. Instead of obeying traditional norms and societal conventions, we need to find what works best for us: because there isn’t just one right way to form a relationship.
Btw, if you look closely, you might spot Alice in one of our picnic pics below - we still can’t believe we got the chance to meet her in person. Such a pinch-me moment, not gonna lie!
🖊️Collective reflection
What are your best tips on nourishing (female) friendships? Please send them our way so that we can share them with the community!
Love, companionship, and belonging: How can we nurture our female friendships?
What do belonging and companionship mean to you? Do you feel pressure to ‘couple up’ to meet societal norms? How do you take care of your female friendships? Explore all these and more with Lazy Aizada and Lazy Dinara in the latest episode of the Lazy Women podcast!
The Lazies spent a beautiful summer weekend together in Paris, working hard on our upcoming crowdfunding campaign (details soon!), but also sharing and reflecting (essential for a team that normally only meets online). We also held a Lazy Picnic in an amazing park on a sunny Saturday afternoon, meeting the most wonderful people from all around the world! We got to know each other better over some drinks & snacks and shared our experiences with burnout, womanhood, or what it’s like to be an immigrant in a foreign country. We are so happy that so many of you managed to join us there!
Upcoming meet-ups
If you missed our Paris meet-up, don’t worry. We are organising additional pop-up events in other European cities as well, starting with Budapest Pride & Picnic on July 15th, so stay tuned for updates! Let us know below that you’re coming so we can prepare small Lazy goodies for you.💖
Too far for you? Use the button below if you are based somewhere else and would like to connect with other Lazies in your own city. We would love to hear from you!
Lazy Women is one of the 66 organisations fighting for cultural independence in Europe as a member of the Reset! European network. Reset! federates independent cultural and media structures and the members wish to declare their need to advocate and support their shared values of pluralism, diversity, equality and sustainability on the road to the European Elections 2024.
Originally from Eastern Europe, for the founders of Lazy Women, the disappearance of independent media and the rise of extreme-right authoritarian regimes in the region are issues we care about deeply. This is why we joined Reset! in 2022, with the goal to support and learn from each other, and to be able to ACT on a European level.
Below you can read a part of the network’s manifesto urging Europe to act to preserve independence:
This newsletter is the result of 3 people’s work and took 20 hours to create.
Created by Lazy Lucie & Lazy Dorina
Edited by Lazy Zsofi