Lesbians are often “defeminized” and “dehumanized” by the criminal justice system, and therefore subjected to considerable abuse by law enforcement agents. Women perceived to be lesbians—often based on gender nonconforming appearance or conduct—are regularly called “dyke,” “bulldagger,” and “wannabe man,” and subject to violence during interactions with law enforcement. For instance, an attorney in Chicago reports that one of her clients, whom she describes as very “butch,” is subjected to constant harassment by police, and is frequently “slammed up against a wall, patted down, and verbally assaulted.” One sixty-five-year-old African American lesbian who lives in senior public housing in San Francisco is so frequently beaten by police officers responding to complaints by homophobic neighbors that she now says, “If I need help, I call the fire department. If they show up, at least it’s not with guns drawn.” One advocate reports knowing an African American lesbian sex worker who is hit and “roughed up” by police officers so frequently that she is inured to the abuse.
I live in Alpine, New Jersey, right. My house cost millions of dollars. In my neighborhood, there are four black people - hundreds of houses, four black people. Who are these black people? Well, there’s me, Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and Eddie Murphy, only black people in the whole neighborhood. So let’s break it down, let’s break it down. Me, I’m a decent comedian, I’m all right. Mary J. Blige, Mary J. Blige one of the greatest R&B singers to ever walk the earth. Jay-Z one of the greatest rappers to ever live. Eddie Murphy one of the funniest actors to ever, ever do it. Do you know what the white man that lives next door to me does for a living? He’s a fucking dentist. He ain’t the best dentist in the world. He ain’t going to the Dental Hall of Fame. He don’t get plaques for getting rid of plaque. He’s just a yank-your-tooth-out dentist. See, the black man got to fly to get something the white man could walk to.
So, because some men have managed to sexualize stretchy yoga pants, that means stretchy yoga pants are now inappropriate/slutty/cause for “alarm.” Because the standards for what it’s okay for women to wear should be dictated by men’s libidos. Nearly every woman I have talked to about this — in the office, on Facebook, on Twitter — has echoed the sentiments of the women commenting on the GMP piece: we wear yoga pants because they are comfortable. Period. The suggestion that we A) wear them because we want sexual attention from men and B) that therefore they shouldn’t be worn in scenarios in which that attention would be “inappropriate” takes all the responsibility for controlling male lust off men and places it on women. And that is some bullshit.
First of all, I would like to point out something I’ve noticed about how we receive Beyonce. It seems like unless she’s singing, dancing, or showing off her outfits, we immediately want to critique whether or not what she is doing is feminist. We don’t hold all artists to this standard, and I think the practice of doing it to Beyonce (and a select few other celebs) is a little anti-feminist. Why can’t we allow Beyonce to be a singular expression of someone who is multidimensional? It’s almost as if unless she’s singing, dancing, and appearing (as opposed to existing) in love, she is only allowed to be one thing. But what do I know? I’m just a stan. Anyway… You can not provide critique without context. And this Washington Post piece is so context-free that I question how she was able to write it. It’s 2013, and we still haven’t acknowledged that women can use the word “bitch” without setting all of feminism back? If you don’t use the word, that’s fine, but I don’t think that calling someone who has attacked you (verbally or otherwise) that is a set back. It’s contextual.
tilena:
Helena Bonham Carter on one of her and Tim Burton’s first arguments.
If Pineapple Express had been about two girls, they wouldn’t have made it. And if I were a woman I wouldn’t have my career.
Everyone must fight with time to find their place in this world before their inevitable death. Many run away from this fight. Don’t you ever do the same.
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- Genkai (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Wow. Let me just sit here and take this in for a moment. This anime… I cannot express how many life changing quotes or moments it has within it. So many things that could be related to reality.
Plenty of times I’ve wanted to run away from that fight, to just give up, and few times I tried. Because it’s easy. It’s a hard concept, ending your own life and giving up the fight, but doing it is easy. Why? Because it makes everything less painful and simpler. If you’re not around to fight, then the pain of the fight cannot take it’s toll on you. You can be at peace. Truth is though, everyone will die one day. Death is inevitable. So why rush to it? Why not live through the hell and the good times?
However, it is now that I realise that EVERYONE has to fight with TIME to find their place. What is waiting for you, will never be handed to you on a plate, nor will it fall in your lap. You have to fight. You have to make yourself wake up every day and endure whatever it holds for you, why? Because you never when the day will come that something will change your life. It could be something as small as a smile from someone in the street or it could be something big, like a promotion or some big opportunity. All of that could happen in one day, a second or maybe years, who knows.
What I’m getting at is that no human is ever a one man show. Though you have to fight the fight, you are never alone in that fight. Don’t ever forget that.
Never run away from the fight. Every decision you make will affect the countless people that care about you. You can’t be a cocky kid anymore.
(via diaryof-storm)
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Ask your female friends, if you have any, if they’ve ever walked home late at night with a key pushed through their knuckles, just in case, if they’ve ever crossed the street to avoid a stranger, just in case, if they’ve ever taken the long way home because of the weird guy on the corner, just in case. Ask them if they’ve ever made up a boyfriend to get a guy to leave them alone, if they’ve ever gotten off a train car and moved to the next because you just never know, if they’ve ever shelled out for a cab because men like you were at the bus stop. Do you really want to be that guy?
Good Omens!Crowley is an angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards. Supernatural!Crowley, on the other hand, took a nosedive as soon as he got the chance and probably did a backflip just for extra points.
How come the human race is not progressing as fast as technology has? Yeah, we’re gonna be living on the moon, but there’s still gonna be racists. So, in the end, are we really winning?
Remember that it’s both possible and even necessary to simultaneously enjoy media while being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects.
‘Politically correct’ is just a term assholes came up with so they can dismiss people who have the nerve to want to be respected. Demanding not to be stereotyped is not political correctness, it’s a human right, and you are not some hero for refusing to respect people’s right to be treated like humans.
