FOREST 19-year-old Asha Faria-Vare is on a blogging mission to change how people approach gender related issues.

She has started a blog to raise awareness of issues surrounding gender equality which she hopes will open a wide discussion and she says she's been wowed by the positive response so far.

'I prepared myself for all kinds of negativity when I started writing my blog, but I received none. It was my aim from the start to provide an unbiased explanation of gender related issues, which could appeal to both men and women. I'm pleased to say I think I've succeeded!"

Although her new blog has been running for just one week, she has already reached a global audience, with views increasing by the hundred each day. To begin with, Asha was concerned that no-one would be interested in a gender equality blog; now her only concern is that she can't reach out to enough people.

So far, most of the blog content addresses popular mainstream views on gender, and assesses how valid and well-researched these views really are. Scientific studies that circulate mainstream media are viewed critically, with alternative studies provided to level the playing field.

"It seems to me that people are only interested in finding gender differences, and the multitudes of scientific research that fails to find any is just ignored. I'm not saying gender differences don't exist, just that we need to critically assess how significant they are," she said.

"We need to stop categorising our behaviour as male or female. So maybe there are a few more men at one end of the spectrum and more females at the other, but they are the anomalies not the norm. In between we have a complex mix of both men and women that we just don't cater for in our society. If we can replace our gender specific attitude towards human beings, with something that reflects a real human spectrum, then we can create a society that appreciates just how varied and fantastically unique we human beings really are."