Posts tagged Important.
An open letter to the feminist movement. →
An open letter to the feminist movement.
I am a FAAB, femme-presenting genderqueer person. This means that I rarely, if ever, pass as anything other than female. And since I am almost always read as female by strangers, they treat me as if I were a woman.
This means that I, too, get catcalls and wolf whistles.
I, too, cannot walk down the street by myself without someone beeping their horn or yelling out their window at me.
I, too, have to be ever aware of my surroundings.
I, too, have to walk to my car with my keys in my hand.
I, too, cannot go out alone at night.
I, too, am affected by misogyny, patriarchy, and rape culture. I, too, see my body distorted, objectified, and idealized in the media. I, too, am constantly made to feel ashamed of my body. I, too, have to fight the notion that my body is inherently sexual and not my property. I, too, have to hear almost daily about how my body or genitalia is bad, weak, wrong, undesirable, or disgusting. I, too, have my opinion belittled or dismissed. I, too, am made to feel ashamed for my intelligence.
I’m tired of trying to make myself fit in the feminist movement. I love feminism, I love the movement, and I think it has a lot of important criticisms of our society. For so long, I have been trying to find my place in feminism. I am not a woman, and yet feminism speaks for issues that I have battled my entire life. I do not benefit from male privilege, but I am not a woman either. I want what feminism has to offer. I want the strength, the empowerment, the support. Feminism stands up for me in so many ways that the LGBT movement does not, and I want to feel like I actually am a part of it. I want to be recognized. I want feminists to acknowledge that patriarchy, misogyny, and rape culture affect other people the exact same waythey affect women.
So I am writing this letter to all feminists, of all gender identities, to begin reconsidering how they talk about feminist issues. To realize that not only women are affected in the way that they are by misogyny. I want the feminist movement to be a place where I feel safe, represented, and visible. I want to have a voice to fight the oppression I face, the same oppression that women face.
Please help me by reblogging this so we can begin a discussion about this. I am but one voice and I cannot speak for anyone’s experiences but my own. Spread the word, share your story, show this to your genderqueer friends - let’s start a discussion.
Thank you.
(via riley-ferretboy-konor)
Doesn’t this entire concept completely devalue lesbians. From the moment I saw this, I felt offended. And I’m not just being sensitive here, though I may be instilling more intelligence than this person possesses. But this is the same backwards thinking that calls lesbianism a phase, or non-existent, or just something you do while you’re waiting for the right guy. To say that men are the reason lesbians exist is ludicrous to say the least.
Sure, there’s man-haters, sure there are countless women scarred, beaten, abused, and broken because of men. And yes, this an argument that plays into nature vs. nurture. But. I personally don’t think men’s treatment of women drives them to become lesbians. And remarks like this just perpetuates that people choose to be like this. I think, there has always, and will always be a part of them that were attracted to women a little bit in the first place.
(via cont4gious-chemistry)
Brief Thoughts on Take Back the Night and SlutWalks →
I’ve read some pieces pro-SlutWalk online and in several, I find I’m being erased. There is talk of sexual assault survivors and their families—“mothers, husbands, boyfriends, siblings”—but find that queer visibility is exactly none. You make it very clear to me when you use such words that your movement is really only for heterosexuals.
Additionally, the movement is catered to individuals who are considered “attractive” by society’s standards; for example, if a group of fat individuals were to march in a SlutWalk, more than likely, the response would be something like “but you can’t be sluts; no one wants to have sex with you.” Fitting into the narrative of what being a “slut” means is difficult for those who are not able-bodied, cisgender, and white. Specifically for certain non-white individuals, their bodies are automatically coded as “sexual” and sometimes, no matter what they wear makes them a “slut.” Reclaiming the word “slut” only works if you have had the term applied to you, if you’re considered attractive enough by society’s standards to sleep with, and can get lots of people to sleep with you. (And, really, let’s be honest—they’re not talking about people here. They’re talking about cisgender, heterosexual men.)
Others have spoken about how the word “slut” does not transcend cultural boundaries, but few have talked about the privilege that sometimes exists when a word is reclaimed.
I agree whole-heartedly with all the problems that this person brought up with SlutWalk and Take Back The Night. Honestly, some people cannot grasp the full ideas of rape culture. Unless they are spoon-fed why it’s wrong point by point. It’s not that a woman even has to dress sexual OR look sexually enticing. I have seen some horrific cases of men brutally raping disabled women, and elderly women.
And sometimes it’s not even a sexual thing for the rapist, it’s a power thing, they just want to be able to over-power the woman. And make her feel worthless and weak. I mean, I could in all honestly type up a huge piece on my opinions on the matter, but this person states a lot of my opinions very well.
(via thatfuckinghippy)
It’s important to attend funerals. It is important to view the body, they say, and to see it committed to earth or fire because unless you do that, the loved one dies for you again and again.
Ann-Marie MacDonald (Fall on Your Knees)
95% of drugs passed by animal tests are immediately discarded as useless or dangerous to humans. →
This just further confirms one of my ideas that I have thought about since I was a child. I personally think that prison inmates should be tested when trying to create new drugs/new treatments/etc. for all people. If a person is in prison for murder, and they are either in there for life or on death row, why not? What’s stopping us? Their rights? Okay, think about it this way. Bribing them can’t take too much right? I mean they are in there for the murder of another human.
No, I mean think about it. You wouldn’t be infringing on any of their rights as a human. You wouldn’t be testing on them against their will, or taking away anything. If you bribed them they would openly consent to it, which negates any of the arguments that may be brought up about it. And if the tests end up being detrimental to their health, so they take up less space/time/money/etc. in our prisons.
I don’t mean to sound like a heartless bitch here, but say you paid them, or gave them more cigarettes, or gave them booze, or a partner to spend some alone time with. How much could it really take to get them to consent? As if our justice system/police force/government hasn’t done worse things to people. This would be for the greater good, and would actually give us conclusive results.
There are already a lot of human guinea pigs out there I realize. But, if all testing occurred like this, maybe it would accomplish things a hell of a lot faster, and more often. I mean, we wouldn’t have to rely on inconclusive animal testing or a small select few of the human race to actively seek out becoming a guinea pig for the greater good of humanity. Which is actually quite difficult to do if you don’t have every illness known to man. This way, they could make the inmates sick with the illness they need to study if necessary.
(via veganarchismdaybyday)
Technology, childhood and the future generation.
Remember when we still had to rewind video tapes. Remember when going to the video store was an exciting adventure. Remember when getting a stereo or walkman to listen to your cassette tapes was epic. Hell, remember when you got to listen your grandparents old records. I’ll be the first to admit I wanted to be able to skip to scenes and tracks in movies and albums. I’ll be the first to admit I hated having to rewind and fast forward things. I remember how excited I was when they invented CDs.
Somehow along the way we’ve lost touch with reality. Between instant contact with people via the internet and cell phones. Not writing, drawing, or reading anything on actual paper. Designs for everything have become digital. I remember in school I was the only one that refused to use the computers, and I was allowed to request paper tests. Now I can’t even walk into a store and get a paper application to apply for a job. Yet along with everyone else I’ve been forced to conform to using computers for most things out of sheer convenience.
Now computers have taken over animation entirely and Disney movies simply aren’t the same. There were no Shrek movies laced with adult humor masquerading as a children’s film. Now the only place I can turn on the television and see hand drawn animation is sadly cartoon network, on Adult Swim, which is in the poorest of taste. And for all I know styled to look like it’s hand drawn but could still be done with computers. Things like Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Lab, and Family Guy have such thick lines and no talent involved I could copy that style at age nine.
I’m not meaning to bash people, insult their personal drawing style, or today’s movies and cartoons. Well, actually the latter I am intending. The CLASSICS by Disney whether stolen from an originally dark and disturbing adult fantasy story or not, are still better. Even having read the original stories, what Disney did with them, turning them into the movies we know, and love, and grew up on. No matter what flaws you can find and point out, you know you still loved them.
I don’t care if they were done in the 1950s. I don’t care that it took an eternity to make a movie back then doing cel animation by hand, one frame at a time. Take a note from Tim Burton for crying out loud. It takes weeks to film 30 seconds of footage. Why do they take something like seven years to make a film in stop motion style? BECAUSE THEY LOVE WHAT THEY DO. Artists have been known to take decades to finish a particular piece of art. I don’t understand this need for the ability to be lazy and use computers to automate everything. What used to be done with care, love, and their heart piece by piece is now programmed into a script for a machine to do.
No matter what argument you use to condone computer animation and the movies Disney is putting out these days, it’ll never make sense. Whether they are trying to be ahead of the times, look into the future, or just simply be lazy and greedy. They don’t put the same amount of effort. EVEN if you ignore the fact that I loathe computer animation, look at the stories, the plot, the life, the morals, it’s all faulty! Or just completely non-existent. ‘Meet The Robinsons’? I mean what the hell. At least ‘Finding Nemo’ tried to stay more true to Disney’s original intent.
Even the toys suck now. Children are supposed to be taught to use their imagination, to be creative, loving, sharing, giving, happy, playful, outdoorsy, even just ACTUALLY play with toys! Now, everything’s computer games, video games, handheld games, books that talk, etc. etc. etc. Every single god damned toy is electronic. What happened to coloring books and crayons? what happened to reading your children stories instead of letting them watch Family Guy before they go to bed?
I don’t pretend to know how every single person on the planet raises their child. I only know what I notice in trends, in stores, in purchases, in advertisements, in studies and research. And what I observe with other people I know, and their children. And what I see when observing others whilst shopping. The long-winded post’s point is that our next generation is going to be destroyed empty shell versions of what children used to be. Obesity and disease is now common amongst them, so is suicide. All at younger and younger ages. I weep for the next generation. I thought mine was bad. We were told we were the future, and it was a lie.
My thoughts on the present generations overall health.
Anonymous asked: in your opinion, do you believe that the present socio-cultural elements of the modern world both mainstream and underground are positive or negative on individual emotional growth and well being?
must-be-a-lesbian:the what of the what
I’m just gonna hijack your question here, ‘cause I want to answer it. :P
For the most part, I would say it’s definitely an overall positive effect. But, I digress, to answer it completely requires a dissection to address each part. Society versus cultural, mainstream versus underground, and individual versus collective. There’s also the aspect of the unmodern world when it comes to health and well-being.
- Click the jump to read the rest of my immensely detailed answer.
Debaser9779: Fuck heteronormativity. {Important read following} →
This guy really got me thinking. Again. I know. I never stop. This is why I don’t sleep. Anyways. I remember when Brokeback Mountain came out. I remember lesbians saying: “Where’s our dykeback mountain?” I am actively trying to get the point across that minorities within the minority are combating each other and it’s not helping the cause. This isn’t the 60s flower love child revolution where it didn’t matter if you were black, purple, gay, straight, alien. They all banded together to fight for the cause.
When trans* issues became more of a ‘thing’ within the LBGTQ community. And people started getting uppity about how people were referred to. To the point to where you couldn’t even play a drinking game without it becoming a political debate. I feel that is a prime example of things going to far. Honestly. Everyone has a sore spot, a button if you will — that if you press it they are going to be hurt.
We shouldn’t be arguing amongst ourselves making each other look bad to the rest of society that’s already judging us for every flaw they can find. And we shouldn’t require a movie, a book, a song, etc. for each and every label we’ve created out there. If I can read or watch something about a heterosexual man, and still identify with him enough to feel something that should be sufficient.
Of course we all wish there was more LBGTQ culture. More we can easily identify with. More we can compare ourselves to. More that easily makes us feel things. I never even thought about how heterocentric (is that a word?) most songs most people listen to until I came across this dude. We all want to feel like we’re not alone. But. Until we can make things change once and for all. We need to have more imagination. More hope. And more drive.
Honestly. I don’t think there’s enough open discussion between people nowadays. If women of the 70s can all sit in a room eating granola using hand mirrors to look at their wiffwaffs. People should be open enough to discuss the difficult topics. It shouldn’t just be schools at GSAs. It should be everyone, everywhere. Too much is pushed under the rug. Still.
The Endless Debate of What is Taught in Schools.
Story time: my experience with a religious wife of the mayor / political official.
Okay, so this is part story of what actually happened and part update as to what I might say to this woman had I been prepared for a political debate. I was minding my own business buying some Thai food at the local mall — this was quite some time ago. But I think about this often as politics are getting to be a bigger issue every day. I was paying for the food with a rainbow duct tape wallet when a woman with a child approached me and bluntly asked if I was a lesbian.
I was caught so off guard by the question I actually fumbled a bit whilst grabbing my food. Upon finishing the transaction I turned to her and said: “Why yes, yes I am. Why do you ask?” As well as: “Am I that obviously gay?” To which she responded: “No actually, I just thought you were some kind of rocker chick, until I saw your wallet.” Then followed with: “I wanted to ask your opinion about something.” We took a table, and ate our food while we had a debate about what should be taught in schools.
She stated that she was the wife of the mayor, or some sort of political official, and asked if I followed politics. Her stance was that she felt no sexual education should be taught to her kids at their schools — because she wanted to be the one to teach them. I can understand this position, but in this day and age that is rather difficult to avoid unless you’re living in an Amish community. Or living in a convent, simply turning on the TV can and will teach you all about sex.
When I was about nine, I decided to ask my mother the ever popular innocent child question of where do babies come from. I did not get a ridiculous story about storks or cabbage patch kids. I got the real deal, graphic explanation of how to impregnate a woman. Complete with diagrams. This for me was quite scarring, and I don’t feel that a nine year old should have to learn that. However, that being said, how many thirteen year old children get pregnant now-a-days? Same with fifteen, and sixteen. I myself was still very much a child at fifteen, but that’s just not the case anymore.
I told her about all that, and said that in this day and age children need to learn about sex education at a much younger age to prevent unsafe exploration. This isn’t The Blue Lagoon. Playing doctor shouldn’t lead to giving birth to a child you didn’t even know was possible. So, she preceded to ask me how I felt about ‘homosexual sex education’ since her stance was she didn’t want that being taught either. And honestly, not enough parents are well-adjusted enough to teach their children about ‘alternative lifestyles’ — too many teenagers become suicidal because of this fact.
I feel that adjusted sex education should be taught throughout the grades depending on age and maturity level. There are just too many sex-crazed hormone-driven teenagers out there to NOT teach about sex education. As I’ve seen on change.org petitioning schools begging them to not teach abstinence-only sex ed. Alternatively there should be an outlet for LBGTQ sex education. It should be an optional area that questioning individuals can go to when they need help. It shouldn’t be so hush-hush that scared questioning teenagers have to resort to researching it for themselves on the internet.
That’s how I had to learn, granted it was at age seventeen-eighteen that I had the courage to question myself. But that’s just not the case with most people, they are starting to question themselves at a much younger age. As is with the religious zealots that think only teaching evolution is wrong in schools. Only teaching ‘heterosexual sex ed’ is also wrong, as well as abstinence-only. If schools can enforce those teachings despite what the child’s parents say, I don’t see why they can’t teach children about all the possibilities. And that also includes trans* education.
I think this needs to be brought up about Tegan and Sara.
I think it’s important to remember that they are humans too, and not objects to be lusted after 24/7. Just because they’ve uttered dirty words such as cocks and masturbating on stage, and happen to swear a lot — doesn’t mean they want to be objectified. I think people can clearly see that when they talk to each other. And I don’t feel that I need to go hunt down each and every time they’ve mentioned feeling uncomfortable. Any TnS fan on here has probably got them all memorized anyways.
I try my hardest not to be crude about them specifically because of that. Unlike any other actress(es) I may have commented on — they have not taken their clothes off, nor portrayed a sexual scene in a movie. Those women are of course going to be expecting that type of attention, not that I condone purely viewing them as sexual objects either.
Tegan and Sara are singers, who have worn dresses on rare occasions, and I’ve never even seen them in shorts. They look quite embarrassed and pissed off when fans yell awkward/rude things to them on stage. I swear I wanted to bitch-slap somebody because of that. The fact that they even let people read about their personal life, and that they talk about stuff on stage ought to be something to be grateful for.
I probably am not really getting this point across as intelligently and articulately as I’d like to. But I know nobody is actually going to read this or side with me on the matter. However the fact still remains that Tegan uses Twitter and Sara uses Tumblr. So obviously they use the internet enough that they can stumble upon things that could offend or hurt them. I realize they are in their thirties now (still shocked about that) and don’t need to be defended. But I am personally offended and pissed off by a lot of comments I’m seeing now.
I originally started following TnS blogs because I lost all the shit I had saved before. And my copy of their CDs too… son of a bitch. I LOST THE DEMO. Anyways. Certain comments made by certain random people I don’t know offended me personally. Because I found out I had been listening to TnS for years, never saw them until The Con came out. And then embarrassingly enough took me like two minutes into the video to realize it was two people.
I then decided to listen to their other albums, and of course fell in love with their music. Honestly if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have came out successfully. The only reason I even voiced my questioning out loud was because of one friend that simply wouldn’t let me go on living a lie. And coming out nearly killed me. I thought electrocuting myself straight or jumping off a bridge were both more viable options.
But all that’s besides the point. I’ve never once heard either one of them be flattered by that kind of attention. And until I hear otherwise, would like to discourage people from objectifying them. It’s a form of misogyny that certainly shouldn’t be welcomed in the queer community. Especially amongst anyone that considers themselves a feminist. It’d be a different story if we were talking about Jiz Lee for instance, she’s using her sexuality towards positive things.
In conclusion: think to yourself what would jesus do? (lol didn’t quite know how to end this)
Forever in Our Memories. Unsung Gay Americans. →
The “religious right”, the self-righteous, the ignorant, many Americans in general create a hate-filled, intolerant society in which murder is acceptable for sons, daughters, fathers, children, ministers, football players, military service men and the homeless who are gay. Many are suicides caused by the hate crimes against this part of the American society.
If you haven’t read this story already. Please take time to read their brief stories. You might be amazed that a father would kill his own son, that teenagers kill and that the Military cannot protect its soldiers.
Because Brandon Teena and Matthew Shepard unfortunately aren’t the only ones that have been brutally murdered due to being gay.
I linked this in my first “official” blog post. I think it’s just as important today, as it was two years ago when this person wrote about it. When I was trying to research information on not only “gay bashings,” but “gay slaughter” and other malicious crimes and murders. This is a very well documented collection of gay Americans that can now only remain in our memories.
May we keep them in our hearts and be glad that they’re resting in peace.
Are there lesbians in heaven? Homos in the Bible. →
Homo history
Homosexuality wasn’t actually condemned by Christianity until relatively recently. The earliest recorded same sex couple were in 2400 BC in Egypt. Many Greek and Egyptian Gods were homosexual or bisexual.
The word lesbian and its synonym sapphist come from the Greek poet Sappho who was born on the island of Lesbos, and whose poetry describes love and infatuation between females.
Pagan practice also saw love as sacred, regardless of the object of desire. Ancient Roman sculptures show men having sex with other men – though lesbians were viewed negatively, as stories depict them killing their husbands in order to be with a woman. (Not that I blame them.)
It wasn’t until fairly recently, after years of being viewed as nothing out of the ordinary, that homosexuality has been condemned by conservative followers of many religions.
What the Bible really says
The two places in which God seemingly condemns homosexuality are Corinthians:1 and Timothy:1.
The Hebrew words used to describe homosexuality are malakoi and arsenokoitai. More accurate translations of malakoi give meanings such as ‘effeminate’, ‘male prostitute’, ‘catamite’ (a boy kept by a child molester), and less specific translations such as ‘malleable’, ‘cowardly’, ’sickly’, ‘lacking self-control’ or ‘morally weak’.
Literally, arsenokoitai means ’sexual aggressor’ (with the connotations of a rapist or a slave trader). The word, however, is believed to have been originally coined in the Bible.
Tricky translations
The very man who sponsored the printing of the King James Bible in 1611, King James I, was openly gay. Having done much of the translation himself, he would have known if he were sinning.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” --Mahatma Ghandi →
Dannielle Says:
Yesterday Kristin posted a legit and important rant that we decided to post here for all of you gayheads to see. I completely agree with her and also, when will we all stop fighting for different shit and just stand together in the fight for human equality. EQUAL RIGHTS, you guys…HUMANS. EQUAL. simple as that.
…
Kristin Says:
“Gay issues are also women’s issues because homophobia is a form of misogyny.”
-Jennifer Beals, New York Times Talk…
Ahem. Let’s talk about homophobia for a hot minute. The majority of homophobia is targeted at individuals who may or may not identify as homosexual, but whose gender presentation does not align with societal norms. That small-boned man who likes to wear pink shirts? Why did his face get smashed in, you ask? Oh, right…because he wasn’t ‘man enough’ to be accepted.
…
Oh, and that woman who just got thrown out of a bar for using the ‘ladies room’ when the bouncer couldn’t see breasts or earrings or heels or long hair so therefore assumed she was a trespassing man? RIGHT. THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH WOMEN’S ISSUES. NOTHING AT ALL.
Now onto the topic of racism. Bare in mind I grew up in L.A. as a confused and closeted lesbian. So if you’re a gay man or a straight woman you can picture a dude up there if ya like. But upon googling Avatar I came up with a lot of results of people dressed up as Navi at conventions and whatnot. Even a hilarious motivational poster. After having first watched the movie I admittedly did think to myself “I’d probably tap that” — don’t judge as I’m pretty convinced most of the earth’s population would in fact have sex with a Navi. Though knowing Zoe Saldana is under all that makeup sure doesn’t hurt. Which immediately brought to mind the fact that there is still so much racism all over the world. I’m a lover of women, all women, being deliciously dark chocolaty just makes it all the better.
I’ve struggled with grappling my mind around the idea of racism for my entire life. I delved into “black culture” at a later age gathering further research. But as a innocent child especially having been taught to love thy neighbor and all that jazz I couldn’t (still can’t) comprehend how a human being can hate another human based on their skin color alone. Or their creed/religion/etc. etc. It’s all either genetic makeup or what they were brought up with as a kid. I mean what was the ’60s all about people?! Social revolution and loving everyone. Make love, not war. All that good stuff. Whether you’re a loving hippy or one of those good religious folks you should have been taught better with how to regard diversity. It is after all what keeps us from being boring robots.
But here we are in the year 2011 — when some thought we’d have hovercrafts and meals in pills. And we are considering the idea of screwing an alien. Yet still cannot conceive the idea that sleeping with and/or dating a person of color will not kill you. They have tails for crying out loud! Unless of course you’re into that … Anyways. I am now on the east coast, and in North Carolina at that. Of course I had preconceived notions of the south — no help from movies/television or research as to how adept to the times they are over here. Though my first thought about what it would be like was a bit of a nightmare. Hillbillies strumming a banjo on their porch with no teeth, shotgun in hand screaming about black people on their lawn.
So I decided to browse through the personal ads on craigslist out of curiosity. And I was shocked and appalled as to how segregated things are over here. All white and all black schools. Specific areas blacks and whites hang out, shop, and whatnot. And more disgustingly white superiority complexes amongst people. Even in the LBGTQ community — where accepting people should be easiest. Here is an example of what people post. When you’re looking for love (in all the wrong places) I don’t think you should put stipulations on what particular kind of love is acceptable. Types and preferences aside. I myself have a weakness for blue eyes, does that mean green affects me any less? No, quite the opposite I have difficulty settling on any preferences really. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. Now to every racist individual I’ve known or will meet I’m willing to bet I can cite at least ten hot-ass-black-ladies you would probably do.
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