Bullies are beaten by Natasha
Good luck to 20-year-old Miss England Natasha Hemmings, who has been bullied because of how she looks. Bullies pick on any perceived difference: shyness, plumpness, being ‘too clever’, too attractive or the ‘wrong colour’. It’s victimisation and can lead to long-term loss of confidence and depression.
I hope Natasha goes on to be crowned Miss World – and force those bullies to eat humble pie.
D.F. Courtney,
Weston-super-Mare
Even though it would appear that my background is quite different from Miss England’s, I know how isolating it is to be bullied for wanting to follow your own path.
I am from a Muslim family and my parents tried to force me into a marriage as a teenager. I was determined to live my own life and ended up running away from home.
Natasha is right when she says that people like to pick on your differences. I never had the same priorities as my sisters – to be good wives and mothers. I wanted to have options, and that caused problems.
Now I do have children but I am an artist too. And like Natasha, I have used my looks to my advantage, doing modelling work, something my parents would not have approved of. Everybody should be able to do want they want in life, as long as they are not harming others. If we don’t have free will, what is
the point of being human?
Tasleem Mulhall,
London