When the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, it can be tempting to just… clock out. To turn off the News at 10 and watch an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians instead. To stop reading the paper entirely, because it leaves you feeling so bleak. To give yourself a mental and emotional time out.
That’s OK, for a while. But once you’ve got your wallowing out of the way, you then have to make the conscious decision to clock back in. Because with Trump in the White House and hate crimes and violence against women on the rise right here on our own shores, there’s never been a more important time to stand up for what you believe in.
And it seems like Cara Delevingne agrees. In a recent interview, the model-turned-actress spoke of the importance of female solidarity during difficult times.
Sticking together: Delevingne with (L-R) American actress Tracee Ellis Ross, British model and mental health advocate Adwoa Aboah and Serbian performance artist Marina Abramović.
“As women, we have to build each other up, not bring each other down,” she told Glamour, explaining that she has realised “how much we still have to do and stick together, especially now.”
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Delevingne added: “Ever since I started my career modelling, a lot has changed, but there's so much that we have to do.”
She’s not wrong. When the majestically-eyebrowed one signed with Storm in 2009, Gordon Brown was Prime Minister of the UK, Barack Obama had been in the White House for just a year, and Brexit was just a maniacal twinkle in Nigel Farage’s eye.
Delevingne went on to speak of her admiration for inspirational women including Nadia Murad – a young Yazidi woman and former Isis captive who has since become a UN Goodwill Ambassador – and US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who has won four Olympic gold medals.
“We all need to be leaders for the future of young girls,” said Delevingne. “It's so important.”
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In recent months, Delevingne has been working with the UN’s Girl Up project, an initiative promoting the health, safety, education and leadership of girls in developing countries. All proceeds from the sale of a t-shirt she designed for the foundation – reading ‘You See A Girl I See The Future’ – go straight to Girl Up’s projects.
“Starting to work with Girl Up with the UN has been amazing,” she said. “I've had all these incredible opportunities, so now that I can give back and start helping in that way is great.”
Delevingne isn’t the only female celebrity to speak out about the importance of staying engaged. On the day after Trump was elected, her fellow posh Brit and UN advocate Emma Watson posted a tweet stating: “I am going to fight even harder for all the things I believe in.”
Images: Rex Features
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