SWOOOOON SWOON SWOON.
6’3, I used to be 6’6 but lost my hair RT @metricjulie: Gosh how tall are you
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 22, 2012
SWOOOOON SWOON SWOON.
6’3, I used to be 6’6 but lost my hair RT @metricjulie: Gosh how tall are you
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) September 22, 2012
This is how thoroughly we women have been sexualized, that we cannot make the kind of noises that come with physical exertion without it being associated with sex. In fact, everything about our bodies has been sexualized in one way or another. If we groan during sport or we breast-feed in public, we are criticized for making people think about sex. If we talk openly about things like menstruation and poop and farts, then we are criticized for making people not want to think about sex.
Think about what it means to be ladylike and all of the adjectives that go along with it: elegant, cultured, classy, sophisticated. To be successful at being feminine means being successful at being private, keeping your body’s natural functions behind closed doors and never letting anyone know they exist. It means to be constrained, that you do not let your legs spread wide in public transportation and you do not make noises that are harsh on the ears. It means presenting a polished, shiny surface to the world at all times, one that allows others to project whatever they wish onto you while never showing too much of your true self.
Think about what it means to be ladylike and all of the adjectives that go along with it: elegant, cultured, classy, sophisticated. To be successful at being feminine means being successful at being private, keeping your body’s natural functions behind closed doors and never letting anyone know they exist. It means to be constrained, that you do not let your legs spread wide in public transportation and you do not make noises that are harsh on the ears. It means presenting a polished, shiny surface to the world at all times, one that allows others to project whatever they wish onto you while never showing too much of your true self.
Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.
Printed on black, tri-blend American Apparel shirts for an ultra-soft feel.
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Buy one here or spread the word!
There are things that rip my skin open and reveal what lies beneath but I don’t believe in trigger warnings. I don’t believe people can be protected from their histories. I don’t believe it is at all possible to anticipate the histories of others in ways that would be satisfying for anyone.
There is no standard for trigger warnings, no universal guidelines. Once you start, where do you stop? Does the mention of the word rape require a trigger warning or is the threshold an account of a rape? How graphic does an account of abuse need to be before meriting a warning? Are trigger warnings required anytime matters of difference are broached? What is graphic? Who makes these determinations?
It all seems so futile, so impotent and, at times, belittling. When I see trigger warnings, I think, “How dare you presume what I need to be protected from?”
Trigger warnings also, when used in excess, start to feel like censorship. They suggest that there are experiences or perspectives too inappropriate, too explicit, too bare to be voiced publicly. As a writer, I bristle when people say, “This should have had a trigger warning.” I think, “For what?”
I do not understand the unspoken rules of trigger warnings. I cannot write the way I want to write and consider using trigger warnings. After a while, I would second guess myself, temper the intensity of what I have to say. I don’t want to do that. I don’t intend to ever do that.
Writers cannot protect their readers for themselves nor should they be expected to.
–
Roxane Gay, “The Illusion of Safety”
The other day someone got mad at me for not putting a trigger warning before a discussion about periods on twitter because I am a privileged cis woman who is lucky enough to get a period. Nooooope. (I AM privileged, though. Cis, white, perceived as straight. Jeez.) Anyway.
I deal with my own triggers, things that people could never imagine or guess: camping (tents, the camping smell), people tickling my feet, army-green clothes, and lots of other things. There is no reasonable way I could expect people to a. know this and b. cater to these all the time or without knowing. That’s on me if I want to be able to live in the world the way I want.
Anyway, I have a rougher, more insensitive way about me that Roxane does not and it shows in this piece, which I think you should all read.
(Source: sodisarmingdarling, via temperament)
YOU GO, CÉLINE.
Celine Dion’s photoshoot is sexy because she gives no fucks. That’s hot as hell.
— Julie (@metricjulie) August 27, 2012
This is how I feel about the upcoming provincial elections in Québec
For context on the 3 major parties:
PLQ (Parti Libéral du Québec): centre-right; current government; corrupt as all hell; apparent massive disdain for youth and education (see student protests 2012)
CAQ (Coalition Avenir Québec): right-wing; all that matters in life is entrepreneurship; middle-aged white business people running the province AGAIN
PQ (Parti Québécois): centre-left I guess; sovereigntist (would hold a referendum if 15% of Québécois wanted one); xenophobic (appear to want to purge Montreal of all non-native French speakers and religious symbols except for the cross); controlled by unions
There are other parties (I’m going with Françoise David, one of my feminist heroes, a QS (Québec Solidaire) fringe party candidate who might actually be elected to the National Assembly), but Québec will elect one of the 3 major parties to a minority or majority government and I will cry and then drink myself stupid on September 4.
The Legitimate Rape song!
Awesome pictures from yesterday’s monster protest in Montreal
One of hundreds of student protests over the past months in Montreal against the tuition hike, Bill 78, and neoliberalism.
Check out the pictures here.
My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.
–
Jack Layton
