Boldy Soft: Creating A Women’s Month Magazine Cover

lizhavesomefun (63)in Ladies of Hive • 7 days ago

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Hello, Hive friends! It's @lizhavesomefun once again, and today I'll be sharing a core memory that happened last year. As we all know, March is a month of celebration and empowerment for women. Last year, as part of a partial requirement for our subject—Gender, Society, and Peace Studies (GSPS)—our instructor told us to work on a project to commemorate Women’s Month and do a photo shoot for a magazine cover. Our group decided to create a photo that exudes femininity and strength in one frame. From brainstorming to the final design, our journey was as transformative as the message we wanted to convey.

The Vision: Embracing Hyper-Femininity

As we brainstormed our concept, we considered the fact that other groups might choose a “girl-crush” concept, or roles of women in today's society, or highlight the unfair treatment and domestic abuse that most women endure just because society sees them as weak. Instead, we decided to embrace hyper-femininity—to show that softness and strength coexist. Our tagline, “boldly soft,” aimed to challenge the notion that power must always be associated with masculinity. We wanted to convey that being a woman, in all its forms, is enough.

The brainstorming sessions were both exhilarating and challenging. Ideas flowed freely, and with the eight of us in the group, it’s a lot of ideas to deal with. Hanna ( @nanaspeaks ) then suggested that we should go for soft pastels—pinks, lavenders, soft greens, and blues-- and dresses so we could achieve the soft aesthetics. We all agreed since isn’t it every little girl’s dream to wear pretty dresses and pretend to be a princess for a day? We certainly are no princesses, but we’re glad to portray and highlight the beauty of traditional femininity while challenging stereotypes about its negative connotation. And even if we had one guy in our group, he was very supportive of the idea since we dare say that softness and gentleness aren’t just found in women. Feminism is all about gender equality and inclusivity by all means.

The Day of the Shoot

Our group decided to shoot our photos at Collegio de San Antonio de Padua— Main Campus at Guinsay, Danao City—hoping that the place would suffice our need for our desired aesthetic. With our dresses, makeup, and accessories, we traveled all the way there, and what happened next warms my heart. It was all sisterhood. Two friends and groupmates, Shasly ( @shassays ) and Hanna, bought their makeup kit and accessories and helped us prepare for our DIY shoot. They helped us (me, @marieyanlab , @fevyulous , and @milesinverse ) with our makeup and accessories. We helped make this project work and even borrowed each other’s dresses.

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We then asked for help from our other friend—who was a big help—to take our pictures. We spent some time there and had some shots but felt that we still needed something more, so we returned to our campus (CTU-Danao) and continued our work. We did a little retouch since we traveled in the jeep, and the school air did a number on our faces, hahaha. After trying it out inside the classroom, we decided to try it on the staircase, and it all came out perfectly! It even coincided with the ongoing trend when students would take a picture on a staircase.

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_{First location at CSAP, under the shade of a flowering tree}

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_{Who are these divas?💅 hahahaha-- still at CSAP}

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_{Third location inside our classroom-- we didn't like the lighting (we're just using our phone's camera because we have no dslr camera)}

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_{Fourth location at the staircase just beside our room-- these shots are my personal favorite <33}

Editing

Creating the cover was a collective effort, with each member bringing their unique personality and aura. A quick disclaimer: We only know how to use Canva and nothing about layout and designs, so our cover might not impress you. We just added some text (our taglines) and enhanced the ambiance of our photo, as we aim for a minimalistic design (if possible, says my groupmate hahaha).

Here are our final design:

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_{The second one (the one in the staircase) was accepted as the final project}

Reflection

This project was more than just an assignment. It was a journey of self-discovery and sisterhood, like creating a piece of art together—and every moment was beautiful. Our magazine cover is a statement—a reminder that Women’s Month is not just about celebrating achievements but also about challenging societal norms and embracing the multifaceted nature of femininity.

We received compliments and support as we submitted our creations to our instructor. The statements and the bold title, Boldly Soft, encapsulated our goal to redefine power and femininity. There’s strength in gentleness, and power doesn’t have to be masculine in connotation. Being a woman is enough, and being a woman with a caring heart is more than enough since there’s no greater power than kindness.

#women #feminine #feminism #woman #friends #collegestudent #philippines #cebu #hiveph #hivecommunity

7 days ago in Ladies of Hive by lizhavesomefun (63)

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taketrish (57) 6 days ago

you all slayed this photoshoot! And you are right! We must embraced our kindness and gentleness because that's one of our strengths women have. I really feel sad that some women mask it thinking it is their weakness.

Boldy Soft: Creating A Women’s Month Magazine Cover

The Vision: Embracing Hyper-Femininity

The Day of the Shoot

Reflection

!LADY