1st part sums up why trying to have a discussion about privilege is exhausting. Cannot imagine the 1000x hell that WoC deal with.

(via wandercrazy)

feministpunkrockers:

Evening Iggy.

:)

(via stfuconservatives)

nova-bright:

yellowcars:

Men Can Stop Rape’s new College Bystander Intervention campaign.

Actual good anti rape campaign posters! They don’t shame victims, they ask people to examine their own actions and inactions and protect their friends. And not in a gross excuse for chivalry either, just as people keeping people safe.

I like this. 

(via stfuconservatives)

glamaphonic:

fuckyeahfeminists:

Each one of these women is an Olympic athlete. Let’s challenge the notion that thinness is the only indicator of health and fitness.

I have this entire feature downloaded to my computer. It’s fantastic.

(via aetheria)

letthetruthlaugh:

How media clearly reflects the sexism and the racism we cannot see in ourselves.

I wanted my first-year film students to understand what happens to a story when actual human beings inhabit your characters, and the way they can inspire storytelling. And I wanted to teach them how to look at headshots and what you might be able to tell from a headshot. So for the past few years I’ve done a small experiment with them.

Some troubling shit always occurs.

It works like this: I bring in my giant file of head shots, which include actors of all races, sizes, shapes, ages, and experience levels. Each student picks a head shot from the stack and gets a few minutes to sit with the person’s face and then make up a little story about them. 

Namely, for white men, they have no trouble coming up with an entire history, job, role, genre, time, place, and costume. They will often identify him without prompting as “the main character.” The only exception? “He would play the gay guy.” For white women, they mostly do not come up with a job (even though it was specifically asked for), and they will identify her by her relationships. “She would play the mom/wife/love interest/best friend.” I’ve heard “She would play the slut” or “She would play the hot girl.” A lot more than once.

For nonwhite men, it can be equally depressing. “He’s in a buddy cop movie, but he’s not the main guy, he’s the partner.” “He’d play a terrorist.” “He’d play a drug dealer.” “A thug.” “A hustler.” “Homeless guy.” One Asian actor was promoted to “villain.”

For nonwhite women (grab onto something sturdy, like a big glass of strong liquor), sometimes they are “lucky” enough to be classified as the girlfriend/love interest/mom, but I have also heard things like “Well, she’d be in a romantic comedy, but as the friend, you know?” “Maid.” “Prostitute.” “Drug addict.”

I should point out that the responses are similar whether the group is all or mostly-white or extremely racially mixed, and all the groups I’ve tried this with have been about equally balanced between men and women, though individual responses vary. Women do a little better with women, and people of color do a little better with people of color, but female students sometimes forget to come up with a job for female actors and black male students sometimes tell the class that their black male actor wouldn’t be the main guy.

Once the students have made their pitches, we interrogate their opinions. “You seem really sure that he’s not the main character – why? What made you automatically say that?” “You said she was a mom. Was she born a mom, or did she maybe do something else with her life before her magic womb opened up and gave her an identity? Who is she as a person?” In the case of the “thug“, it turns out that the student was just reading off his film resume. This brilliant African American actor who regularly brings houses down doing Shakespeare on the stage and more than once made me weep at the beauty and subtlety of his performances, had a list of film credits that just said “Thug #4.” “Gang member.” “Muscle.” Because that’s the film work he can get. Because it puts food on his table.

So, the first time I did this exercise, I didn’t know that it would turn into a lesson on racism, sexism, and every other kind of -ism. I thought it was just about casting. But now I know that casting is never just about casting, and this day is a real teachable opportunity. Because if we do this right, we get to the really awkward silence, where the (now mortified) students try to sink into their chairs. Because, hey, most of them are proud Obama voters! They have been raised by feminist moms! They don’t want to be or see themselves as being racist or sexist. But their own racism and sexism is running amok in the room, and it’s awkward.

something you should reblog as text

schoolsforbabelfish:

I’m sorry, I’m getting really tired of these posts. Let’s address the reasons, hmm?

ONE: The use of the word “slut” as an insult. Words like “slut” and “whore” when used as insults always make me angry. You are judging someone just because they may or may not be a virgin? How is that a) ever relevant and b) any of your business?

TWO: You’re right, being independent about love and sex does make you a slut, which means you’re disreputable and I hate you shut up.

WHAT THE FUCK NO IT MEANS YOU’RE INDEPENDENT AND IT’S THEIR BODY AND THEIR LIFE NOT YOURS. 

ugh this shit sometimes STOP SLUT SHAMING IT’S NOT NICE OR APPROPRIATE.

yay finally someone replied to this unoffensively

(Source: modelcity, via elementeary)

cityofbridges:

I wasn’t “asking for it.” I was five.

Short Shorts. A Hello Kitty T-Shirt. Cork Wedges. Pigtails.

Stop holding victims accountable for their wardrobes.

Start holding rapists accountable for raping.

A response to the wave of victim blaming on Tumblr today. Feel free to share.

(via bleerios)

Misogyny in Fandom

nightswatch:

owlonthesill:

Interested in fandom? Interested in discussing misogyny? Check out LOL Misogyny by the wonderful Igpy.

MISOGYNY IN FANDOM/FANDOM IN MISOGYNY, I am so there.

Come ladies, let us swing the sacred sickle over the harvest and separate the wheat from the chaff. Can I include “threshing floor” in that metaphor? I just like that word. Or maybe we should just trample out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. ANYWAY.

Wasn’t there some hot lesbian Bible action on a threshing floor?

BACK TO MISOGYNY IN FANDOM.

Followed.

signal boost! —> LOL Misogyny

(via knightsofsummer)

kavalierism:

“Women who feel no compunction to improve what nature bestowed upon them are, in my experience, arrogant, lazy or deluded, and frequently all three. This is especially true in the service industry, where a bare face is no more acceptable than a dentist with halitosis. It tells me that a woman doesn’t really care what others think of her. Wearing even a little make-up shows respect to others, demonstrating on the outside that you are professional, a stickler for detail, someone who doesn’t cut corners.”

—

Liz Jones of the Daily Mail is kind enough to point out a woman’s self-worth and professional capability should be rooted entirely in how much lipstick she’s wearing. 

(via regularpersonlemon)

(Source: jawdust, via kavalierism-deactivated20111117)

pierianspring:

The following day, I attended a workshop about preventing gender violence, facilitated by Katz. There, he posed a question to all of the men in the room: “Men, what things do you do to protect yourself from being raped or sexually assaulted?”

Not one man, including myself, could quickly answer the question. Finally, one man raised his hand and said, “Nothing.” Then Katz asked the women, “What things do you do to protect yourself from being raped or sexually assaulted?” Nearly all of the women in the room raised their hand. One by one, each woman testified:

“I don’t make eye contact with men when I walk down the street,” said one.

“I don’t put my drink down at parties,” said another. “I use the buddy system when I go to parties.”

“I cross the street when I see a group of guys walking in my direction.”

“I use my keys as a potential weapon.”

The women went on for several minutes, until their side of the blackboard was completely filled with responses. The men’s side of the blackboard was blank. I was stunned. I had never heard a group of women say these things before. I thought about all of the women in my life — including my mother, sister and girlfriend — and realized that I had a lot to learn about gender.

—

Why I Am A Male Feminist (via newwavefeminism)

pierianspring:

Dressed to Kill- Another Installment

rosalarian:

Whenever I complain about how females are portrayed in mainstream superhero comics, inevitably half a dozen people pop up to tell me this:

“Men are idealized in comics, too.”

Yes. Yes they are. I am aware of this. While I think the idealism is harmful, that isn’t actually what I have a problem with. (Well, not the main thing.) Because while the men are impossibly muscular and the women are impossibly skinny/boobular, the men aren’t being sexualized out the wazoo.

It’s not the characters’ bodies themselves that are the biggest problem, but how they are dressed and posed. Tits out, ass out, lips pouty, legs spread, hips cocked, eyelids at half mast. Outfits that make Wonder Woman’s star spangled panties look fit for a Mormon picnic. Short skirts, cutouts, stilettos, fishnets, thigh-highs. I’m not describing Playboy here.

You don’t see male heroes wearing these costumes or posing like this. Outside of statistical outliers like Namor, their costumes tend to have full coverage, and when they pose, it’s to inspire fear, not boners.

To prove my point, I spent yesterday morning creating this:

Looks pretty ridiculous. You would never see this as a serious illustration. Comic fans would be in an uproar. Way too much man-ass. And you know he’s not going to be graceful on those heels. And why is he looking back with a come-hither look?

You might be thinking that I drew him extra sexy, just to prove my point. Well, perhaps you’d like to see the source image:

Yeah, I literally drew Man Canary right on top of her. (*snicker*) I drew Black Canary’s skeletal position, then added the idealized male superhero physique over top. See, it really isn’t his muscles that are freaking you out. It’s the fishnets doing their best to contain those man cheeks.

And it’s not just heroines who deal with this:

(Compare to original)

I feel uncomfortable looking at this. And also, perplexed. How is that costume staying on? I know most comic artists don’t have much experience with real-world fashion, but let me tell you, double sided tape does not work all that well in combat situations.

I get that some of these characters are “using their sexuality to blind men so they can attack them,” and I bet that could be an effective attack. But there are so many chicks doing this that even the dumbest, most weak-willed superhero/villain is going to catch on eventually.

And lest you think DC is all alone in this, I present you with this little gem:

(Compare to source)

SO MUCH BULGING MAN PELVIS!!! For everyone!

I actually had a lot of fun with this one. Most of the characters are actually pretty covered up. But between Black Cat’s absurd front zipper and her pose, yeah, it’s ridiculous.

There were so many more images I could have parodied, but I got tired of spending so much time rendering man ass.

Dudes, I want you to imagine a world where most of the portrayals of your gender in comics look like the above. Are you going to think “Well, I really like the stories so I’ll just suck it up and read this anyway”? Or are you going to be alienated from reading most comics? Be honest. Are you willing to stare at that much thrusting crotch just to find out if Spiderman is gonna win?

Lots of people in the comics business look at their demographic breakdown and think women don’t like superheroes. The creator of DC Women Kicking Assmade a very apt point when she said, “Let me put it this way, if you keep keeping putting food on a kid’s plate and they don’t eat you do you assume they don’t like to eat or they don’t like the food? Right.”

Women like comics. And not just flowery manga and autobio stuff. We like superheroes.

I don’t have a problem with cheesecake, and I don’t have a problem with lady-flesh. (I make a fair amount of money drawing lesbian porn.) But there’s a time and a place for it. Unless you are specifically going out of your way to create porn comics, stop putting porn in comics. Stop using Playboy for anatomy references! (I wish I was kidding about that.)

Now, there will still be many of you who are unconvinced, who think us ladies are making a big deal out of nothing, that this is trivial. Many of you will bring up examples of female superheroes who are covered up, non-sexualized, and non-idealized. I’m not denying that those characters exist, and that there are several. But there are still far too many female characters more concerned with showing- off ass, rather than kicking it.

this made me nod but laugh so hard because i want a comic book with bulges everywhere now. I LOVE THE BULGE WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME. ps yay feminist comic discussion