May 2012
April 2012
“Heterosexists say that gay people “always want to make everyone gay” as though heterosexuals don’t always want to make everyone straight.”
—Son of Baldwin (via sonofbaldwin)
Dear Literature Snobs,
You’re all a bunch of White Supremacists feigning intelligence, masturbating with your own feels because you read some Tolstoy or Shakespeare and feel triumphant about it.
I will read whatever the heck I like, thank you very much. I don’t have to read “The Classics” because they’re “The Classics”. What could Charlotte Brontë have to say that I find so much more compelling than the works of Chinua Achebe? Why do I have to put myself through the unbending torture of Nathaniel Hawthorne? Why? Because they’re deceased, famous and White? Sounds about right to me. Why is it so hard for you to comprehend that I enjoy Oscar Wilde and Toni Morrison?
That Langston Hughes, Staceyann Chin, Paulo Coelho, Amy Tan, Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie are just as bad-ass as “The Greats”.
That I don’t believe Dostoyevsky is superior to Sandra Cisneros?
That”When I Was Puerto Rican”by Esmeralda Santiago has more relevance to my life than Chaucer?
That, yes, the works of Frederick Douglass and Phyllis Wheatley mean more to me that 19th Century British literature?
I like Jane Austen, yes.
I also like Shakespeare, yes.
I stan for Walt Whitman, yes.
But Dead White People aren’t the only ones who write things. Stop pretending to like a genre of literature simply because it’s old and held in high esteem by The Snob Police.
perfect post is perfect!!!
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles →
thewb.com
Someday I’ll find the time to start watching this. I hope I don’t get region-blocked once I’m back home from school.
Some new blogs I just followed:
Most of these were from Racialicious (which also has a Tumblr) and I can’t recommend them enough
Oppressed Brown Girls Doing Things
Mainstream media and the Orient
not new, but you should check it out: Of Another Fashion (WOC doing things in The Days When America Was Still Racist</sarcasm> and looking fashionable)
and Sigur Ros just launched their Tumblr
I miss the Skytrain. I miss seeing mountains and evergreens. I don’t miss running into my parents’ friends at the public library and being recognized and wondering what they think about me.
I miss the double L, the U, the “que” (“check” is not an alternative to cash), and the “re” instead of “er”.
I wasn’t interested enough in the politics to miss them, but now I wish I was.
I don’t know if I miss being in the same timezone as her, because when I don’t have to go to class my sleeping habits line up with hers anyway.
I won’t miss feeling “downgraded”, jobless and aimless without my fellow students, artists, activists, and other dedicated people at school.
“
Physics says: go to sleep. Of course
you’re tired. Every atom in you
has been dancing the shimmy in silver shoes
nonstop from mitosis to now.
Quit tapping your feet. They’ll dance
inside themselves without you. Go to sleep.
Geology says: it will be all right. Slow inch
by inch America is giving itself
to the ocean. Go to sleep. Let darkness
lap at your sides. Give darkness an inch.
You aren’t alone. All of the continents used to be
one body. You aren’t alone. Go to sleep.
Astronomy says: the sun will rise tomorrow,
Zoology says: on rainbow-fish and lithe gazelle,
Psychology says: but first it has to be night, so
Biology says: the body-clocks are stopped all over town
and
History says: here are the blankets, layer on layer, down and down.
Albert Goldbarth, “The Sciences Sing a Lullabye” (via inggridisnuts)
#science and art are not opposites #there is science in art #and there is art in science #awesome
(via rubato)
Play
Yay. →
lgbtcolors.com
*exhausted* but it was worth it. So proud of everyone who worked on it.
no time for romance, we have shit to avenge: alisonofagun: Dear daughter… - By, Mur Laffertycassket: “You know... →
incomprehensiblelentils.tumblr.com
Dear daughter… - By, Mur Lafferty
“You know spies, they’re a bunch of bitchy little girls.” – “Burn Notice”
Dear daughter-
You should know that you are hated.
I’m not sure why they hate you. You didn’t do anything to them. You don your princess crown,…
“
I was doing an interview once, and this guy goes, “So you must be pretty psyched about all this ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ stuff?”
And I was like, “Um, yeah, I am.” I have no idea why though. I had nothing to do with that movie. It’s just some people that kind of look like me are in this movie that everyone loves, and winning Oscars and stuff.
And then I was like, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are white people just psyched all the time?” It’s, like, “‘Back to the Future’! That’s us! ‘Godfather’! That’s us! ‘Godfather Part II’! That’s us! ‘Departed’! That’s us! ‘Sunset Boulevard’! That’s us! ‘Citizen Kane’! That’s us! ‘Jaws’! That’s us! Every fucking movie but ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and ‘Boyz n the Hood’ is us! We are white people! Suck our dicks!”
” —Aziz Ansari (via joshishollywood)To my parents, though you won’t read this now: I used to wish you could tolerate me, later realizing I meant accept. Now when I wish you could accept me, I mean fight for me.
Play
“Since her death in 1979, the woman who discovered what the universe is made of has not so much as received a memorial plaque. Her newspaper obituaries do not mention her greatest discovery. […] Every high school student knows that Isaac Newton discovered gravity, that Charles Darwin discovered evolution, and that Albert Einstein discovered the relativity of time. But when it comes to the composition of our universe, the textbooks simply say that the most abundant atom in the universe is hydrogen. And no one ever wonders how we know.”
—
Jeremy Knowles, discussing the complete lack of recognition Cecilia Payne gets, even today, for her revolutionary discovery. (via alliterate)
From Wikipedia:
She correctly suggested that silicon, carbon, and other common metals seen in the Sun were found in about the same relative amounts as on Earth, but that helium and particularly hydrogen were vastly more abundant (by about a factor of one million in the case of hydrogen). Her thesis thus established that hydrogen was the overwhelming constituent of the stars. When her dissertation was reviewed, she was dissuaded by Henry Norris Russell from concluding that the composition of the Sun is different from the Earth, which was the accepted wisdom at the time. However, Russell changed his mind four years later when other evidence emerged. After Payne-Gaposchkin was proven correct Russell was often given the credit.
Fuck the patriarchy.
(via sailaweigh)
Who Needs Feminism?: I need feminism because I’m a girl who reads comics and this concept... →
whoneedsfeminism.tumblr.com
- I need feminism because I’m a girl who reads comics and this concept baffles people
- I need feminism because people in comic book stores scrunch up their noses because “those darn feminists are angry again” when a female character is disempowered, objectified, stripped other powers, or…
I need feminism because, whenever I am having a difficult time with a task at work, instead of logically understanding it’s because I’m very small, short, and don’t have a lot of weight to throw behind my actions, people automatically assume it’s because I’m a woman and tell me to ask a male coworker to help me - even the women who are twice my size and could easily help me themselves tell me this!
being an ally or progressive or a decent human being does not mean that you just announce it to the world
maybe you could try recognizing and rejecting the heteronormative bullshit you’ve had ingrained in you
then devouring every single piece of information you can that talks about why we need to speak out against misogyny and racism and cissexism and the many many awful things
and always constantly check yourself and your attitudes and privileges
because that shit is insidious as fuck
People you will meet in discussions about sexism on the internet: →
lilacturtl.tumblr.com
People you will meet in discussions about sexism on the internet:
- Mr “Welcome to the real world”. Sexism happens. Always has, always will. Might as well suck it up and deal with it. Try to change society? What are you, mad? I don’t like it either, sunshine, but just be good and don’t make a fuss.
- Mr “Oh my god calm down it was a joke”. Everyone knows if you tack “lol” onto the end of a sentence, no one can get mad at you because you were being hilarious, and if anyone gets offended they’re being an uptight prick. You truly are the George Carlin of our time.
- Miss Validator. “I’m a girl, and I think this is HILARIOUS. Calm down feminists!” Watch as everyone in the thread uses her as yet another reason why you are stupid and oversensitive and they are hilarious and right. May also “apologise for her gender” in a cosmic blast of internalised misogyny.
- Mr “I refuse to believe this happens”. He would never cat call or rape and isn’t sexist at all and thinks gender roles are outmoded. Therefore, he thinks, everyone else thinks just like me too. Can’t line up women’s experiences of sexism with his own worldview, so dismisses everything they say, demanding “proof”. Sees no irony in this.
- Mr “actually you’ve got this the wrong way round”. Silly you! This is looks, feels, smells and tastes like misogyny but is actually misandry. Don’t worry, easy mistake to make, anyone could have done it. Just don’t say I’m wrong or I’ll link you to pages explaining why you have female privilege and call you an ignorant bitch.
- Mr EvoPsych! Has never studied this but has skimmed some articles and therefore can explain every facet of how human behaviour works. And why it’s just best and most natural for everyone to stick to their traditional gender roles. Because that’s how we did it in 10000bc. Women and men are just different, that’s why you’re not as smart as him.
- Mr *totally unrelated point*. Seriously dude, how did you even get here. Seems to be having a totally different discussion than the one you’re having, then whines that you aren’t addressing his points.
- Mr “I’m so not the problem here. Hello ladies.” Ugh, photoshopping is TERRIBLE, fashion is STUPID and I tell my girlfriend not to wear makeup because makeup is GROSS. I like small boobs - take that societal norms! You don’t have to have plastic surgery anymore, girls, because I like’em small. Stop dieting! I like a woman with meat on her bones. Read Proust! I like a lady who’s well-read. I don’t understand why you would want an item of clothing that cost more than £50 - you don’t need that to attract me, madam. What do you mean, you like wearing eyeliner and don’t dress yourself solely for my benefit? I told you I don’t like high heels! STOP DOING THINGS I DON’T LIKE!
I have had classes with and/or taught Mr. EvoPsych for the last ten years of my life.
This is actually hilarious and true.
“
Being a geek is all about your own personal level of enthusiasm, not how your level of enthusiasm measures up to others. If you like something so much that a casual mention of it makes your whole being light up like a halogen lamp, if hearing a stranger fondly mention your favorite book or game is instant grounds for friendship, if you have ever found yourself bouncing out of your chair because something you learned blew your mind so hard that you physically could not contain yourself — you are a geek.
I’m incredibly biased, of course, but based on that last paragraph, I think we geeks sound like pretty awesome people to be around. So why, then, the lingering social stigma?
” —What It Means To Be A Geek - The Mary Sue
Great little analysis on the changing social stigma of “geekhood” … the detail-oriented passionate pursuit of very specific knowledge. I think networks like Tumblr and Facebook let people find that social connection that used to be missing from their once-lonely passions.
In this connected age geeks aren’t outcasts, because their allies don’t have to be right next to them. They can be thousands of miles away, never meet, and know each other completely.
(via jtotheizzoe)
Play
Sacrifice (Death Grips Remix)
Björk
björk: sacrifice (death grips remix)(preview)
“
What men mean when they talk about their “crazy” ex-girlfriend is often that she was someone who cried a lot, or texted too often, or had an eating disorder, or wanted too much/too little sex, or generally felt anything beyond the realm of emotionally undemanding agreement. That does not make these women crazy. That makes those women human beings, who have flaws, and emotional weak spots. However, deciding that any behavior that he does not like must be insane– well, that does make a man a jerk.
And when men do this on a regular basis, remember that, if you are a woman, you are not the exception. You are not so cool and fabulous and levelheaded that they will totally get where you are coming from when you show emotions other than “pleasant agreement.”
When men say “most women are crazy, but not you, you’re so cool” the subtext is not, “I love you, be the mother to my children.” The subtext is “do not step out of line, here.” If you get close enough to the men who say things like this, eventually, you will do something that they do not find pleasant. They will decide you are crazy, because this is something they have already decided about women in general.
” —Lady, You Really Aren’t “Crazy” (via sparkamovement)
ouch
(via botchbot)
yeah. i got really tired of my ex “putting up with ‘my crazy’.”
(via polerin)
“Sometimes the bravest thing on earth was to sit through the night and feel the cold in your bones. Courage was not always a matter of yes or no. Sometimes it came in degrees, like the cold; sometimes you were very brave up to a point and then beyond that point you were not so brave.”
—Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried. (via ferventt)
