“We do not realize what tremendous power the structure of an habitual language has. It is not an exaggeration to say that it enslaves us through the mechanism of [semantic reaction] and that the structure which a language exhibits, and impresses upon us unconsciously, is automatically projected upon the world around us.”
Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity
Public Service Announcement: For some of us, racism, sexism, and homophobia in media are not just interesting things to talk about but experiences that affect us daily in every aspect of our lives.
So while you may be privileged enough to be able to ignore the bullshit that gets peddled to us in the stories people tell, many of us do not have that luxury. We have to unpack and challenge that shit every step of the way if we don’t want to internalize that bullshit.
When you minimize that by reframing our critique and analysis as simply being “different opinions” and “alternative perspectives,” you are doing a disservice to acts of resistance to dominant paradigms.
Whether that’s your intent or not is irrelevant. Just don’t fucking do it.
"You guys know about vampires? … You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like, “Yo, is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don’t exist? And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it."
- Junot Diaz (via Tatiana Richards)
oh my goodness this is beautifully relevant. humongously sad and inspiring at the same time, too
(via fuatino)
Wanting to reclaim the word “slut” is such a white feminist thing
WoC have no choice in the matter, we’re seen as sluts from the moment we hit puberty
We are never pure, never virgins
not even by the time we hit puberty
since fucking before then
there is nothing like the stress of showing someone a song that you like
what do you mean you dont believe in abortion and gay marriage they clearly exist
Hardest question to answer:
- Describe yourself:
"I am so beautiful, sometimes people weep when they see me. And it has nothing to do with what I look like really, it is just that I gave myself the power to say that I am beautiful, and if I could do that, maybe there is hope for them too. And the great divide between the beautiful and the ugly will cease to be. Because we are all what we choose."
"Corporations are people to be protected. One-celled human zygotes are people to be protected. But when it comes to the already born, flesh-and-blood people of this country, reeling from a massive recession, they would shred the social safety net. Sink or swim is not a plan."
it is never just a show.
it is never just a book.
it is never just a movie.
it is never just a comic.
The way we treat characters in media reflects the ideas we have about real people, and then our media goes on to enforce how we treat those real people.
I am all for enjoying the media I consume (and contrary to how it must look, I do enjoy a lot of media) but I am critical of everything I enjoy. No media exists in a vacuum. No media does not shadow the social system that constructed it.
To celebrate International Women’s Day, we asked 11 women from different countries to choose one reason we should celebrate this year.
• From the US: Jessica Valenti - let’s celebrate the backlash against sexism
• From Egypt: Adhaf Souef - let’s celebrate the women of Egypt’s revolution
• From India: Mari Marcel Thekaekara - let’s celebrate Indian women being more visible than ever
• From Sudan: Lubna Hussein - let’s celebrate the women of Sudan’s Nuba mountains
• From China: Lijia Zhan - let’s celebrate China leading the world in wealthy self-made women
• From Afghanistan: Orzala Ashraf Nemat - let’s celebrate Afghanistan’s grassroots activists
• From Norway: Maria Reinertsen - let’s celebrate more dad time for kids in Norway
• From Chile: Catalina May - let’s celebrate a belated discission about women’s rights in Chile
• From the UK: Anna Bird - let’s celebrate a new energy among UK feminist activists
• From Russia: Natalia Antonova - let’s celebrate women taking on the government
• From Saudi Arabia: Eman Al Nafjan - let’s celebrate the Saudi women’s driving campaign
Photographs: Reuters; Phil Moore for the Guardian; Manish Swarup/AP; AP; Janine Wiedel/Alam; AFP/Getty Images; David Wong/AP; AP
This is amazing. Kudos to the beautiful soul that owns this shop.
I think I like people today.
From the brilliant minds of Sarah Enni, Tracey Neithercott, and Erin Bowman, colorful and funny book jackets that tell people your true feelings when reading: GO AWAY. :)
Designed by Erin Bowman (her Tumblr is here)
These are brilliant!
‘Specially the “At Hogwarts, BRB” and the “In the Arena, BRB” ones!
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