scegliere

Conversation in a local Facebook group.

Red is the photographer wanting to shoot the concept, blue is me, pink is a local model, green is the name of one of the proposed models for the shoot.

I’m glad my comment didn’t start a raging shitstorm of racephailing angry white people, but lack of hostility aside, I don’t feel this outcome was much better; showing cultural stereotypes through people of a given ethnicity participating as the subject isn’t exactly “capturing the beauty of native culture” (singular, ffs).

However, I don’t want to make it into a huge argument, so I’m going to leave well enough alone. I can only hope that the reading has planted the seed. :/

UPDATE: Proposed model says: “I just would like to say that I am a first nations ojiwibwe lady, and I am very aware of my own culture thanks. I am excited for this shoot and I thank everyone for there imput.”

Oh sure, prancing around in what will presumably be a headdress you’re not entitled to wear while perpetuating stereotypical Native imagery is being super aware of your culture.

But hey, what do I know. So my mouth stays shut. 

The issue of cultural appropriation images on DeviantArt

naked-asteroids:

After seeing one of these images featured as a Daily Deviation, I thought it was about time this issue was discussed.

I wrote a deviant article about it, with expected backlash.

Some of the backlash surprisingly (or not surprisingly?) came from the mod who featured the image. Here’s a cap of what was said (read bottom to top):



I can only face palm.

innatelymagical:

We are nothing less than human.

I actually enjoyed science class today. We didn’t do much, but my teacher Mr. Stewart was talking about his daughter. Her name is Emily and she is 4 years old. Ever since she was born, my teacher had decided he wanted to let his daughter do anything the way she wanted, as long as she wouldn’t get hurt. He wanted to keep her away from believing she couldn’t do something. One day, Mr. Stewart took Emily to go buy some shoes. He thought the High-Top Converse would look extremely cute on her, but Emily wanted the light-up Spiderman sneakers. He said that they were her shoes, so she could pick out whatever she liked. They went up to the cashier and you know what she said? “Oh, are these for your little brother?” Mr. Stewart realized that the cashier had just planted a seed in Emily’s mind. He is now afraid that she might start thinking, Maybe I shouldn’t get the Spiderman shoes, they’re only for boys. Maybe I can’t do math, because I’m not math smart. Maybe I should stick to playing with barbies, because that’s what girls are supposed to do. You see? He’s afraid that she will one day believe that she is less than human. That she’s only supposed to do this, because that’s what society says she’s supposed to do. Mr. Stewart didn’t want that for his daughter. He continues to let her play with monster trucks while wearing a princess gown and her Spiderman sneakers. He told her she can be anything she wants to be. But before they left the store, you know what Mr. Stewart said to the cashier? Thank you for your ignorance.

This.

THIS. SO MUCH THIS.

(Source: thecatnamedmaggie)

Hipster Racism and Liberal Sexism

shonagon-chan:

I find this problem actually in a lot of people. I realize we all fall short sometimes, as much as we try not to. But there is a certain contingent of people who think they are so obviously liberal and, hey, some of their best friends are black etc. that it’s so obviously just a joke when they use derogatory terms. The same thing goes for sexism. “I can’t be sexist because I’m so obviously a liberal!”

Guess what? You can.

Liberal sexism.

Many liberals seem to believe that a voter registration card with a D stamp is like a get out of jail free card, that acts which appear to be sexist in nature aren’t really sexist when you’re liberal, because it’s physically impossible to be sexist when you’re liberal. …Sexism doesn’t just happen in liberal communities, though, it actually runs rampant, and is every bit as offensive as the sexism among conservatives, because, guess what, sexism is disgusting no matter what the politics behind it are.

Then we get to Hipster Racism.

Hipster racism involves making derogatory comments with a racial basis in an attempt to seem witty and above it all. Specifically, the idea is to sound ironic, as in “I’m allowed to say this because of course I’m not racist, so it’s funny.” It’s an aspect of a larger part of the hipster culture, which wants to seem jaded and urbane and oh-so-witty. Using language which is viewed as inflammatory or not appropriate is supposed to push the boundaries and make someone look edgy, but it only really comes across that way to people who buy into that system. To everyone else, it’s just racist.

…Hipster racism often hides under the unassailable guise of satire. People who suggest that something is racist, and not actually funny, are told that they obviously just don’t get it, and that the whole point of humour is to push boundaries. They are told that the racism is so obvious and overstated that it’s meant to be laughed at, and that people are laughing at the racism and the racists, not supporting the ideas which are supposedly being mocked. But, oddly enough, a lot of racist satire doesn’t read that way, and it ends up just being racist, full stop.

Much as people seem to think that having gay friends makes it ok to make homophobic comments, or that having female friends makes it ok to be sexist, hipster racists often draw upon their anti-racist credentials such as “having black friends,” “dated an Asian girl once,” or “really liking Mexican food” to fight accusations of racism. If they even bother fighting the accusations, that is, because most live in an insular world where they will not be challenged.

The reason this is tagged with MCR and MSI is because I think these are two of the worst offenders in music when it comes to these issues. You have Frank Iero using the N word on Twitter, Gerard Way proudly stating that he’s “not afraid to call a 16 year old girl a c*nt,” threatening to smash their faces in, and telling the young girls in his audience “I want you to actually f*ck yourselves for me, moan for me, make it convincing. JUST the ladies.”

Then of course, you have the lyrics of MSI: 

Never wanted to dance with nobody but you-

wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, you fucking bitch!

…

5 Year Old Mother Fuckin Pantyshot Cant Complain

I Didnt Even Touch Her So I Cant Be Blamed

5 Year Old Pantyshot In My Brain

My Life Has Meaning When She Spreads Her Legs

…

Back off you little whores

Get ‘em on all fours”

…

I’m telling you every single one of you goddamn bitches

ain’t never gonna give me no love

Every little thing you do - fucking hole

Little teenage bitch 

…

Now tell me the truth.

Be honest with me. Be honest with me.

Do I look gay inthis outfit? Ok, fff.

Thank God. I thought I looked like a faggot.”

…

“This one goes out to my whores

Niggers and negros…”

 

And then you have “bassist” Lindsey talking about how she is “doing this for all the girls,” and “to inspire women” etc. REALLY?

People who defend this tend to flail at my inbox with hate mail, threats, and “YOU JUST DON’T GET IT, IT’S A JOKE, LIGHTEN UP, SATIRE,” and of course “UR TOO SENSITIVE.” 

Happily, this post addresses that, too:

The other favourite hipster defense is, of course, to claim that people are being “too politically correct” or “too sensitive.” This is supposed to be a pithy insult which indicates that the person pointing out offensive behavior is too uptight, and not really part of the freewheeling hipster movement, but in fact, it’s just silencing. Saying that people deserve to be treated like human beings and that discourse should be respectful has nothing to do with being too sensitive, and everything to do with genuinely believing that people should be treated equally.

I’m prepared for the influx of hate mail and death threats, as with any post that calls out these two bands. But people, be warned: When you start threatening me (which the MCRmy is known for,) I’m really not thinking twice about reporting you.

And for the record, I’m not even saying “CENSOR THIS” or “omg stop singing about that stuff” or “don’t listen to that music / those people!” Listen to whatever you want. Just admit that you’re a universe-sized racist / misogynist, ffs.

(Source: la-belle-laide)

prolifehypocrisy:

bebinn:

b-dog:

http://bound4life.com/blog/2011/08/18/is-organ-donation-a-pro-life-act-probably-not

Oh my god.

So, sacrificing so others may live is only “pro-life” when it applies to pregnant people, and not to brain-dead people? Iiiiiiinteresting. I can think of a lot of things pro-lifers say about pro-choicers that would apply in this situation.

“Brain death” is a possible diagnosis only because of the technology we have today to keep your organs functioning long after your brain ceases to be able to do so. If these people are so concerned about when God wants them to die, maybe they should avoid these measures that interfere with their natural, God-intended death, eh? Or does it only count as “interference” if someone dies?

“Brain death” is an essential part of organ donation because a brain-dead person’s organs can be kept in their final condition by machines, meaning there is a longer window of time for transplanting (“harvesting?” Seriously?). Without that technology, organs quickly deteriorate once the brain is dead. So, yeah, that’s kind of a no-brainer.

Ahahaha.

Anyway.

The article left out a fucking huge part of end-of-life decisions, and that is a living will. Seriously. That’s it. Write out your living will, specify you don’t want to be an organ donor if you’re only brain-dead and that you want everything possible done to keep you alive, regardless of quality of life (after all, it’s only the quantity of life that matters to pro-lifers, right?), and you’re done. All the people who could have used your eyes, your heart, your lungs, your liver, your kidneys and your pancreas can go fuck themselves, because god damn it, if machines can pump blood through your veins and oxygen into your lungs, that’s the only criteria for life you need.

I swear, these people must have some sort of mental filter while they do research for their articles.

A pro-lifer who opposes organ donation. At least this is one I haven’t heard before.

It’s pretty rich, too:

…but on Monday, I whipped out my iPhone and searched “Organ donor pro-life….

Really? You can’t decide this for yourself and you haven’t done any research beforehand? Having to do an internet search to find out of random things agree with your philosophy is really pathetic. It suggests that you’ve dedicated yourself to something you don’t really know anything about.

…the literal industry of death (which we wrote about last year in this series) thrives on making money off partial death.

You can’t make this stuff up, folks. XD

“The only thing harder and colder that the cash, is the hearts of the surgeons and staff who, having come to the knowledge that they must kill a living donor in order to retrieve a healthy organ for a recipient fellow human being, continue to engage in this medical butchery, and rationalize said killing as justifiable on the grounds that that the excised organ will be used to save the life of another living human being.”

Well, there’s that and the fact that the person volunteered to have their organs donated. Because they feel that they have no need for them because their consciousness is gone and their body is an empty shell being kept alive by a machine. And because they want someone else to be able to live. But whatever.

Oh, and how exactly does one make money off of doing organ transplants? I mean, differently from every other kind of doctor?

Perhaps I am more clueless than I ought to be as an active part of the pro-life community.

You’re about average, actually.

No you may not remove my organs as long as my heart beats. God gave me life and God will take away my life when that time has come.

I feel like this whole “God’s will” argument goes right out the window when it comes to the unnatural life support machines she’d be hooked to.

This whole article is just ridiculous. Of course, being pro-choice I understand that it’s up to the person themself whether they want to donate their organs, but the author of this blog post has absolutely no problem volunteering other people’s organs regardless of whether they consent or not.

(Source: shudderingwords)

lostgrrrls:

sickochick:

nunmoreblack:

thelefthandedwife:

nemene:

nom-chompsky:

curiousmeans:

escarpinsdiamant:

call911noww:

iliterallydontsmokeanyweed:

ozonschicht:

penisqueef:

tampons? 

 bitching

I can’t think of anything

me neither

Bra, chocolate-chip cookies, White-Out, dishwasher, rolling pin, electric hot water heater, fire escape, circular saw, Kevlar, rotary engine, medical syringe, ironing board, engine muffler, glucose…should I go on?

ROSALIND MOTHER FUCKING FRANKLIN 

a women

Ignorance regarding what women have invented = women have never invented anything? Nope, sorry!

Radioactivity. the windshield wiper. Monopoly. Roombas. the first computers. The compiler. Cobol. Submarine telescopes. A frequency-hopping system that allowed for guidance of torpedoes without interference from enemy ships (invented by Hedy Lamarr, no less).etc etc etc

in other words, fuck this graphic and fuck you, OP and first three or four responses.

Hedy Lamarr!!! 

Also I kinda like the username penisqueef.

the flattening iron by Madam C.J. Walker

yes i knew this, but not less than 10 seconds. it took more like 20, because I sort of panicked for the first 5.

The fact that people can’t think of things easily just speaks to the fact that women get erased from history so often, more than to the idea that women haven’t invented anything.

stfufauxminists:

feministsaresexist:

It’s a disproportionate amount because there are more white men in history, because this country was founded by mostly white men (OMG I’m so racist/sexist for making a rational observation). That doesn’t mean that other races and women didn’t have any part of it, that just means there aren’t as many of them. As for teaching about LGBT people, I’m all for that, I realize they aren’t widely represented.

If you would read would I said instead of trying to appeal to your followers, then maybe we could have a real debate. But unfortunately, you either have no reading comprehension skills, or you purposely go off topic just so you can get the message you want across, instead of actually trying to fix the problem, if there even is one.

I also love how all of you feminists like to tell people that they should take “insert-the-current-topic” class just to belittle your opponent, though you know nothing about my education or lack thereof.

If you would like to actually respond to what I say instead of whatever it is you want to talk about, then I will gladly carry on the debate, but by now I seriously doubt that that is possible for you, since this seems to be a recurring problem with you.

[Bolded parts are my emphasis]

It’s not rational to forget that 50% of the population existed and did things. What you are doing is placing more value on what men did while forgetting that those men would be in no position to found anything if they were doing their own menial labor - labor that they mostly relegated to the female and non-white folks that they oppressed. Seriously, that bolded part is one of the most ridiculous phrases ever. There weren’t simply more men in history, but they did things that are seen as “more important” because they weren’t too busy having babies and taking care of them, or being enslaved. Well golly, that’s convenient. Build history on the backs of female and non-white folks and get all the glory. Awesome. 

And if you really think that there were just “more men” back in them thar days, then you need a history course that will actually give you insight into what non-white-dudely folks were doing around them times, and that it wasn’t as insignificant as you seem to think. You legitimately just said that there were just more men in history. That is about as ignorant as you can get, and the only way to combat ignorance is education. It wasn’t meant to belittle. It’s a serious suggestion. 

PS - Don’t pretend like I didn’t address what you said just because you didn’t like my response. Also, this isn’t a debate, this is Tumblr. 

(Source: leatherandcopper)