May 25, 2013
"Rather than fighting for every woman’s right to feel beautiful, I would like to see the return of a kind of feminism that tells women and girls everywhere that maybe it’s all right not to be pretty and perfectly well behaved. That maybe women who are plain, or large, or old, or differently abled, or who simply don’t give a damn what they look like because they’re too busy saving the world or rearranging their sock drawer, have as much right to take up space as anyone else.

I think if we want to take care of the next generation of girls we should reassure them that power, strength and character are more important than beauty and always will be, and that even if they aren’t thin and pretty, they are still worthy of respect. That feeling is the birthright of men everywhere. It’s about time we claimed it for ourselves."

— I don’t want to be told I’m pretty as I am - I want to live in a world where that’s irrelevant (via brute-reason)

(via sexymodesttotalscreaminggenius)

10:34pm
May 25, 2013

pettyartist:

sleepingwithpiercethemice:

serotonical:

How to break out of a zip-tie- potentially life-saving information

You guys, please share it. You never know when someone is going to need this information.

PLEASE reblog this— zipties are one of the most common ways of binding a person upon kidnapping because they are cheap and hard to break.

Knowing things like this puts you one step closer to freedom if, heaven forbid, you fall into a situation where you need to use this information.

(via audienceandaudio)

10:32pm
May 23, 2013
fandomsandfeminism: winchester-booty: fandomsandfeminism: winchester-booty: fandomsandfeminism: winchester-booty: fandomsandfeminism: [[cut for space]] Oh yeah, because THAT makes the complete erasure of the LGBTQ+ community within the novels LESS shitty? No. It is an embarrassment that in a series that proclaims to be about LOVE and TOLERANCE to not have a single god damn LGBTQ+ character in the novels. It is a failure. It’s shitty and problematic and marginalizing to LGBTQ+ fans.  And for the record: We DO know about the love lives of the professors. -points to Snape, Hagrid, and Madame Maxine- Your heteronormative queer-erasure apologetics are paper thin and shitty.  God damnit give me a fucking example, because I’m reading these arguments both ways and I’m not convinced either is right. Honestly, if my principal was gay, I wouldn’t know about it unless he was in an openly gay relationship, and even then, it would never be explicitly stated. On the other hand, yes, I do want proof in the text. An example of what exactly? An example of Harry Potter knowing about the love life of his teachers? -points aggressively to Snape and Hagrid-  Even that fact that the ONLY LGBTQ+ we get is Dumbledore, even without considering the horribly shitty way his story was fumbled, is just stupid. Hundreds of Hogwarts students, and ALL of them are straight? Fuckin-heteronormative-bullshit.  An example of ho he could be shown gay. I’m being perfectly fucking reasonable, don’t be an asshole in response, it makes for bad rhetoric. I’m “being an asshole” because I’ve talked about this before. At length. And shitty straight HP fans keep on telling me that it doesn’t matter.  It does matter. I swear to god it matters. And it is EXHAUSTING to have people continuously tell you that the forces of marginalization in your life don’t matter for YEARS.  To answer your question though: There are two incredibly obvious and easy ways for Dumbledore’s sexuality to be discussed in the novel without changing anything at all.  1. Rita Skeeter’s book. She talked extensively about his FRIENDSHIP with Gellert in the book. It seems pretty freakin’ weird that she didn’t make the actual connection there. Frame it in a way that draws attention to homophobia and make that a further extension of the tolerance theme that HP preaches.  2. King’s Cross. Harry and Dumbledore have a VERY personal discussion in King’s Cross. They discuss Dumbledore’s past, his family, his dead sister. In fact, when Harry MENTIONS Gellert in the book, talking about how Gellert died to protect his grave from Voldy, Dumbledore actually WIPES AWAY A TEAR. Dumbledore speaks at LENGTH about Gellert and their “friendship.” That omission of the depth of those feelings feels deliberate and awkward in hindsight. Bring it up and use it to underscore the themes of LOVE that HP has running throughout.  See, now I can’t even take you seriously because of how unnecessarily nasty you were to me and every one else. You’re basically just screaming I’m right and only people who have the exact same opinion as me can even be decent human beings.’ That is how the other side argues. The people who would rather people like you and me not exist. You are not helping this cause by arguing this way, you are hurting it, because as much as I hate it, people stereotype. It is a thing that happens in reality, whether you’re a good person or bad. Stereotypes root back to survival instincts —‘things with this kind of teeth hurt me’— and it carries over to modern life. People will stereotype one worked up and angry person, someone pushed to their breaking point, as the sum of the whole. And none of us will be taken seriously. I’m saying this because I want our movement to get stronger. We all need to know how to effectively argue and get our point across without looking mean and vicious if we want people as a whole to take us seriously. And honestly, Rita Skeeter in all likelihood, probably was a homophobe. It fits her nature. And I suppose in King’s Cross, it may have fit there, but Rowling had to be conscious of the demographic she was selling to and the press’s reaction. Because we live in the real world where fundamentalists would have protested, would have spammed every medium they had access to with ‘Dumbledore is a faggot and Rowling is a whore.’ And I agree that that is bullshit, but we both know it probably would have happened, and it would have devastated young LGBTQ+ readers. ‘This character is gay and for that soul reason everyone should hate him.’ I feel with it having just the slightest hints combined with Rowling’s word was about as explicitly stated as it could have gotten without riots of homophobes in the streets. And that is bullshit. But just one more thing— neither Snape nor Hagrid were very professional in their dealings— especially concerning Harry, but Dumbledore always composed himself in a very professional manner.  Thank you for that nasty little tone argument. Good to see the silencing tactics are still going strong.  Am I angry about the way that Harry Potter and the fandom have treated the LGBTQ+ community, treated me? Fuck yeah I’m angry. My anger is valid. My feelings are valid. You think that me being personally marginalized and impacted by this means I am “hurting our cause”? Hah. Nice try.  Also, I truly do not care that bigots would have been upset.  Let the bigots be upset. Bigots are ALWAYS upset. I know because I’ve worked with them, gone to school with them, been surrounded by them my whole life. They freak out when Target released an ad with a gay couple in it, they freak out when an LGBTQ+ individual runs for office, they freak out when they realize that I exist. I was more upset to realize that in a story I love more than any other series in the world, I wasn’t given a place. People like me weren’t allowed to exist. And then to have the fandom re-assert that? Continuously? For years? That hurt way more than anything a bigot could ever say and has ever said.  Dumbledore should have been canonly gay in the text, and there should have been more LGBTQ+ characters in the series as well. The fact that there isn’t is an embarrassment and a contradiction of theme and message. 

fandomsandfeminism:

winchester-booty:

fandomsandfeminism:

winchester-booty:

fandomsandfeminism:

winchester-booty:

fandomsandfeminism:

[[cut for space]]

Oh yeah, because THAT makes the complete erasure of the LGBTQ+ community within the novels LESS shitty? No.

It is an embarrassment that in a series that proclaims to be about LOVE and TOLERANCE to not have a single god damn LGBTQ+ character in the novels. It is a failure. It’s shitty and problematic and marginalizing to LGBTQ+ fans. 

And for the record: We DO know about the love lives of the professors. -points to Snape, Hagrid, and Madame Maxine- Your heteronormative queer-erasure apologetics are paper thin and shitty. 

God damnit give me a fucking example, because I’m reading these arguments both ways and I’m not convinced either is right.

Honestly, if my principal was gay, I wouldn’t know about it unless he was in an openly gay relationship, and even then, it would never be explicitly stated. On the other hand, yes, I do want proof in the text.

An example of what exactly? An example of Harry Potter knowing about the love life of his teachers? -points aggressively to Snape and Hagrid- 

Even that fact that the ONLY LGBTQ+ we get is Dumbledore, even without considering the horribly shitty way his story was fumbled, is just stupid. Hundreds of Hogwarts students, and ALL of them are straight? Fuckin-heteronormative-bullshit. 

An example of ho he could be shown gay. I’m being perfectly fucking reasonable, don’t be an asshole in response, it makes for bad rhetoric.

I’m “being an asshole” because I’ve talked about this before. At length. And shitty straight HP fans keep on telling me that it doesn’t matter. 

It does matter. I swear to god it matters. And it is EXHAUSTING to have people continuously tell you that the forces of marginalization in your life don’t matter for YEARS. 

To answer your question though:

There are two incredibly obvious and easy ways for Dumbledore’s sexuality to be discussed in the novel without changing anything at all. 

1. Rita Skeeter’s book. She talked extensively about his FRIENDSHIP with Gellert in the book. It seems pretty freakin’ weird that she didn’t make the actual connection there. Frame it in a way that draws attention to homophobia and make that a further extension of the tolerance theme that HP preaches. 

2. King’s Cross. Harry and Dumbledore have a VERY personal discussion in King’s Cross. They discuss Dumbledore’s past, his family, his dead sister. In fact, when Harry MENTIONS Gellert in the book, talking about how Gellert died to protect his grave from Voldy, Dumbledore actually WIPES AWAY A TEAR. Dumbledore speaks at LENGTH about Gellert and their “friendship.” That omission of the depth of those feelings feels deliberate and awkward in hindsight. Bring it up and use it to underscore the themes of LOVE that HP has running throughout. 

See, now I can’t even take you seriously because of how unnecessarily nasty you were to me and every one else. You’re basically just screaming I’m right and only people who have the exact same opinion as me can even be decent human beings.’ That is how the other side argues. The people who would rather people like you and me not exist. You are not helping this cause by arguing this way, you are hurting it, because as much as I hate it, people stereotype. It is a thing that happens in reality, whether you’re a good person or bad. Stereotypes root back to survival instincts —‘things with this kind of teeth hurt me’— and it carries over to modern life. People will stereotype one worked up and angry person, someone pushed to their breaking point, as the sum of the whole. And none of us will be taken seriously. I’m saying this because I want our movement to get stronger. We all need to know how to effectively argue and get our point across without looking mean and vicious if we want people as a whole to take us seriously.

And honestly, Rita Skeeter in all likelihood, probably was a homophobe. It fits her nature.

And I suppose in King’s Cross, it may have fit there, but Rowling had to be conscious of the demographic she was selling to and the press’s reaction. Because we live in the real world where fundamentalists would have protested, would have spammed every medium they had access to with ‘Dumbledore is a faggot and Rowling is a whore.’ And I agree that that is bullshit, but we both know it probably would have happened, and it would have devastated young LGBTQ+ readers. ‘This character is gay and for that soul reason everyone should hate him.’ I feel with it having just the slightest hints combined with Rowling’s word was about as explicitly stated as it could have gotten without riots of homophobes in the streets. And that is bullshit.

But just one more thing— neither Snape nor Hagrid were very professional in their dealings— especially concerning Harry, but Dumbledore always composed himself in a very professional manner. 

Thank you for that nasty little tone argument. Good to see the silencing tactics are still going strong. 

Am I angry about the way that Harry Potter and the fandom have treated the LGBTQ+ community, treated me? Fuck yeah I’m angry. My anger is valid. My feelings are valid. You think that me being personally marginalized and impacted by this means I am “hurting our cause”? Hah. Nice try. 

Also, I truly do not care that bigots would have been upset. 

Let the bigots be upset.

Bigots are ALWAYS upset. I know because I’ve worked with them, gone to school with them, been surrounded by them my whole life. They freak out when Target released an ad with a gay couple in it, they freak out when an LGBTQ+ individual runs for office, they freak out when they realize that I exist.

I was more upset to realize that in a story I love more than any other series in the world, I wasn’t given a place. People like me weren’t allowed to exist. And then to have the fandom re-assert that? Continuously? For years? That hurt way more than anything a bigot could ever say and has ever said. 

Dumbledore should have been canonly gay in the text, and there should have been more LGBTQ+ characters in the series as well. The fact that there isn’t is an embarrassment and a contradiction of theme and message. 

(Source: harrypotterconfessions)

3:54am
May 23, 2013
NYPD data: Whites much more likely to be carrying drugs and guns than minorities | The Raw Story

ikenbot:

woops

(Source: anarchistpeopleofcolor)

3:50am
May 23, 2013

ejacutastic:

when guys talk about how gross periods are i just laugh because guys have a floppy piece of flesh that gets hard and that’s pretty fuckin weird, bucko

(via nevertrustahappybl0g)

3:48am
May 23, 2013

(Source: politics-war, via life-makes-echoes)

3:47am
May 23, 2013

ididthatonce:

stumblingphrases:

you were really cute until that offensive joke spewed out of your mouth: a guide to how to not be my future lover by me.

If you wanna be my lover
You gotta get with my sociopolitical blogosphere

(via life-makes-echoes)

3:46am
May 23, 2013
sinidentidades: CeCe McDonald TW: Racism, Violence, Transphobia, Murder  Around 12:30 am on June 5, 2011, CeCe was walking to the grocery store with some friends, all of them young, African American, and LGBTIQ or allied. As they passed a local bar, the Schooner Tavern, a group of older, white people who were standing outside the bar’s side door began hurling racist and transphobic slurs at them, without provocation.  They called CeCe and her friends ‘faggots,’ ‘niggers,’ and ‘chicks with dicks,’ and suggested that CeCe was ‘dressed as a woman’ in order to ‘rape’ Dean Schmitz, one of the attackers. When CeCe approached the group and told them that her crew would not tolerate hate speech, one of the women said, “I’ll take you bitches on,” and then smashed her glass into CeCe’s face. She punctured CeCe’s cheek all the way through, lacerating her salivary gland. A fight ensued, during which one of the attackers, Dean Schmitz, was fatally stabbed. The only person arrested that night was CeCe.  She was briefly taken to the hospital where she received 11 stitches in her cheek. While she was still suffering both physically and mentally from this traumatic incident, she was left alone in a room for three hours and then interrogated, and then placed in solitary confinement at the Hennepin County men’s jail. She spent the next several months in jail and had to wait almost two months between her initial doctors’ visit and a much-needed follow-up appointment. After her arrest, CeCe was quickly charged with second-degree murder. In short, she was prosecuted for surviving a violent, racist, transphobic attack.  Read more Read her blog Get involved

sinidentidades:

CeCe McDonald

TW: Racism, Violence, Transphobia, Murder 

Around 12:30 am on June 5, 2011, CeCe was walking to the grocery store with some friends, all of them young, African American, and LGBTIQ or allied. As they passed a local bar, the Schooner Tavern, a group of older, white people who were standing outside the bar’s side door began hurling racist and transphobic slurs at them, without provocation.  They called CeCe and her friends ‘faggots,’ ‘niggers,’ and ‘chicks with dicks,’ and suggested that CeCe was ‘dressed as a woman’ in order to ‘rape’ Dean Schmitz, one of the attackers. When CeCe approached the group and told them that her crew would not tolerate hate speech, one of the women said, “I’ll take you bitches on,” and then smashed her glass into CeCe’s face. She punctured CeCe’s cheek all the way through, lacerating her salivary gland. A fight ensued, during which one of the attackers, Dean Schmitz, was fatally stabbed.

The only person arrested that night was CeCe.  She was briefly taken to the hospital where she received 11 stitches in her cheek. While she was still suffering both physically and mentally from this traumatic incident, she was left alone in a room for three hours and then interrogated, and then placed in solitary confinement at the Hennepin County men’s jail. She spent the next several months in jail and had to wait almost two months between her initial doctors’ visit and a much-needed follow-up appointment.

After her arrest, CeCe was quickly charged with second-degree murder. In short, she was prosecuted for surviving a violent, racist, transphobic attack. 

(via ikenbot)

3:37am
May 23, 2013
proud-atheist: Reverend Lovejoy on biblical literalismhttp://proud-atheist.tumblr.com

proud-atheist:

Reverend Lovejoy on biblical literalism
http://proud-atheist.tumblr.com

(via nevertrustahappybl0g)

3:33am
May 23, 2013

iheartchaos:

Wolf Blitzer would like to take a moment to tell you about our lord and savior Jesus Christ.

3:19am