ladybitsblog - Tumblr blog

[ladybitsblog]

over the years, a lot of people have taken issue with the idea of a feminist critique of children’s movies, and so forth

I think at its core, though, and looking at feminism in terms of how it applies to larger concepts than just children’s media, that is the point. Feminism should make you...

[ladybitsblog]

I read this quote, from an interview with Katherine Sui Fun Cheung, and the interviewer asked about why she was a pilot and all that, and she just said "I wanted to fly, so I did."  And I thought MAN!  I can't even figure out what to eat for breakfast, never mind sailing through a load of barriers just because I think I want to give something a shot.  "Flying? Whatever, I'll just Do It."  

-Kate Beaton 

http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=374

[ladybitsblog]

Fashion photographer Richard Avedon captures Dovima posing with an Atlas-Able rocket at Cape Canaveral, 1959.

[ladybitsblog]

Why solitary confinement is a form of modern-day torture

As of 2013, there were 80,000 men and women in solitary confinement in the United States, some of them as young as 14 years old. In this illustrated op-ed video, artist Molly Crabapple explains the psychological and physical trauma suffered by those forced to spend 22-24 hours a day alone — sometimes for arbitrary reasons, like reading the wrong book, or having the wrong tattoo — in a grey, concrete box. (According to the U.N. 15 days in solitary is torture.) “There is no limit to how long someone can be held in solitary confinement,” says Crabappple. “And very little evidence is needed to justify holding a person in solitary indefinitely.”

[ladybitsblog]

Face Hacking: Transforming Our Future Visages With Digital Makeup

On VICE//Motherboard//LadyBits

By Jackie Snow

In a studio on a quiet street in the Shibuya prefecture of Tokyo, Nobumichi Asai is hacking human faces. By combining design, motion tracking, and projection mapping, Asai is pushing the limits of human appearance with his “digital makeup.”

“The face is very interesting media,” Asai told me in Japanese as his wife confidently translated, as if she has had many discussions about this topic.

In October 2014, Asai, along with makeup artist Hiroto Kuwahara and French digital image engineer Paul Lacroix, released a video of Omo​te. Named so after the Japanese word for “face” or “external,” the augmented reality project was first displayed in a live installation where different omotes were mapped onto real faces, which Asai once wrote he considers “the most delicat​e yet powerful medium for art.”

[ladybitsblog]

When I express any shred of doubt about whether I deserve or am qualified for something, people often try to reassure me that I am just experiencing impostor syndrome. About 10% of the time, it’s true. Amelia Greenhall’s excellent piece, however, has inspired me to clear up a big misconception about what is happening the other 90% of the time.

While there are a few situations that make me feel insecure, I am, for the most part, an excellent judge of what I’m capable of. Expressing a reasonable amount of doubt and concern about a situation that is slightly outside my comfort zone is normal, responsible behavior. Understanding my limits and being willing to acknowledge them is, in fact, one of my strengths. I don’t think it should be pathologized alongside the very real problem of “impostor syndrome”.

In fact, it is the opposite behavior—the belief that you can do anything, including things you are blatantly not qualified for or straight up lying about—should be pathologized. It has many names (Dunning-Krueger, illusory superiority), but I suggest we call it blowhard syndrome as a neat parallel. Blowhard syndrome is all around us, but I have a special fondness in my heart for the example my friend Nicole has taxidermied on her Twitter profile.

Just to be clear, I’m not mad at anyone who has tried to reassure me by telling me I have impostor syndrome, and I recognize it as a real problem that lots of talented people struggle with. But I am furious at a world in which women and POC are being told to be as self-confident as a group of mostly white dudes who are basically delusional megalomaniacs. We’re great the way we are, level-headed self-assessments and all. Stop rewarding them for being jackasses.

My totally reasonable amount of self-confidence is not a syndrome; dudes’ bloated senses of self-worth and the expectations we’ve built around them are. Correct accordingly.

-Christina Xu

[ladybitsblog]

Cupid and psyche (four on the top) and Trust (three from below) by Jonty Hurwitz, an artist and engineer who set out to create beautiful nano sculptures.

[ladybitsblog]

“She prized the frank, the open-hearted, the eager character beyond all others. Warmth and enthusiasm did captivate her still. “ ― Jane Austen, Persuasion

[ladybitsblog]

LadyBits + Motherboard sitting in a tree...

Over the next three months, we'll be teaming up with our friends at Motherboard every week to bring you a new article around the theme: BODIES OF THE FUTURE. You can find the entire collection right here, which is already stocked with weird sexiness. To kick things off, LadyBits founder Arikia Millikan introduces the series by explaining a bit about the origin of LadyBits, and the moment this partnership was conceived: "At the end of our first meeting, Motherboard editor in chief Derek Mead turned to me and said, 'this was my only partnership meeting this week that wasn’t stupid,' and I knew in my heart it would soon take flight." Next, open your mind to the prophylactic alternatives of the future with an article by A.V. Flox about ​the outlook for the condom. Then reaffirm your sexual independence in our brave new world of ​future sex toys, authored by Carly Pifer. Finally, question everything you thought you knew about sexual function with a piece that explores the weirdly American medical practice of male circumcision and the science of ​regrowing foreskins like salamander arms. (We’re not only going to talk about sex here, but we will talk about it a lot.) Join us on our journey into the human body! As always you can keep up with LadyBits on twitter, facebook, and be sure to sign up for updates about our upcoming site launch at http://lady-bits.com.

[ladybitsblog]

We won't need fear where we're going.

[ladybitsblog]

Dedicated dads and fierce-faced girls are better than beer-soaked sexism. But rather than feeling satisfied that these ads represent how far we’ve come, we should see them as an indication of how far we have to go. They open up a great opportunity to press the advertisers for details on how they’re putting their purported ideals into practice. How much of its annual profit is Always diverting to girls’ empowerment programs? What sort of paternity-leave policies are in place at Dove and Nissan — and do those companies support better federal family-leave laws for all parents? How is the NFL changing its policies, not just its messaging, toward players who abuse their partners?

The Problem with Those Feminist Super Bowl Ads - NYmag.com (via annfriedman)

[ladybitsblog]

When you believe that we live in a female-dominated world where straight men are the most oppressed class, it tends to make you wrong about pretty much everything.

http://goodmenproject.com/ethics-values/solution-mra-problems-more-feminism/

[ladybitsblog]

Alternate and highly awesome meaning to the term "nuclear family."

“We were a two career family. I was a nuclear engineer. I designed shields for the fuel reactors on the first nuclear submarines. He was a carpenter.”

[ladybitsblog]

Cruising into 2015 like

[ladybitsblog]

maleprivilege:

The Male Privilege Checklist

1. My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.

2. I can be confident that my co-workers won’t think I got my job because of my sex – even though that might be true. (More).

3. If I am never promoted, it’s not because of my sex.

4. If I fail in my job or career, I can feel sure this won’t be seen as a black mark against my entire sex’s capabilities.

5. I am far less likely to face sexual harassment at work than my female co-workers are. (More).

6. If I do the same task as a woman, and if the measurement is at all subjective, chances are people will think I did a better job.

7. If I’m a teen or adult, and if I can stay out of prison, my odds of being raped are relatively low. (More).

8. On average, I am taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces much less than my female counterparts are.

9. If I choose not to have children, my masculinity will not be called into question.

10. If I have children but do not provide primary care for them, my masculinity will not be called into question.

11. If I have children and provide primary care for them, I’ll be praised for extraordinary parenting if I’m even marginally competent. (More).

12. If I have children and a career, no one will think I’m selfish for not staying at home.

13. If I seek political office, my relationship with my children, or who I hire to take care of them, will probably not be scrutinized by the press.

14. My elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious and powerful the elected position, the more this is true.

15. When I ask to see “the person in charge,” odds are I will face a person of my own sex. The higher-up in the organization the person is, the surer I can be.

16. As a child, chances are I was encouraged to be more active and outgoing than my sisters. (More).

17. As a child, I could choose from an almost infinite variety of children’s media featuring positive, active, non-stereotyped heroes of my own sex. I never had to look for it; male protagonists were (and are) the default.

18. As a child, chances are I got more teacher attention than girls who raised their hands just as often. (More).

19. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether or not it has sexist overtones.

20. I can turn on the television or glance at the front page of the newspaper and see people of my own sex widely represented.

21. If I’m careless with my financial affairs it won’t be attributed to my sex.

22. If I’m careless with my driving it won’t be attributed to my sex.

23. I can speak in public to a large group without putting my sex on trial.

24. Even if I sleep with a lot of women, there is no chance that I will be seriously labeled a “slut,” nor is there any male counterpart to “slut-bashing.” (More).

25. I do not have to worry about the message my wardrobe sends about my sexual availability. (More).

26. My clothing is typically less expensive and better-constructed than women’s clothing for the same social status. While I have fewer options, my clothes will probably fit better than a woman’s without tailoring. (More).

27. The grooming regimen expected of me is relatively cheap and consumes little time. (More).

28. If I buy a new car, chances are I’ll be offered a better price than a woman buying the same car. (More).

29. If I’m not conventionally attractive, the disadvantages are relatively small and easy to ignore.

30. I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch.

31. I can ask for legal protection from violence that happens mostly to men without being seen as a selfish special interest, since that kind of violence is called “crime” and is a general social concern. (Violence that happens mostly to women is usually called “domestic violence” or “acquaintance rape,” and is seen as a special interest issue.)

32. I can be confident that the ordinary language of day-to-day existence will always include my sex. “All men are created equal,” mailman, chairman, freshman, he.

33. My ability to make important decisions and my capability in general will never be questioned depending on what time of the month it is.

34. I will never be expected to change my name upon marriage or questioned if I don’t change my name.

35. The decision to hire me will not be based on assumptions about whether or not I might choose to have a family sometime soon.

36. Every major religion in the world is led primarily by people of my own sex. Even God, in most major religions, is pictured as male.

37. Most major religions argue that I should be the head of my household, while my wife and children should be subservient to me.

38. If I have a wife or live-in girlfriend, chances are we’ll divide up household chores so that she does most of the labor, and in particular the most repetitive and unrewarding tasks. (More).

39. If I have children with my girlfriend or wife, I can expect her to do most of the basic childcare such as changing diapers and feeding.

40. If I have children with my wife or girlfriend, and it turns out that one of us needs to make career sacrifices to raise the kids, chances are we’ll both assume the career sacrificed should be hers.

41. Assuming I am heterosexual, magazines, billboards, television, movies, pornography, and virtually all of media is filled with images of scantily-clad women intended to appeal to me sexually. Such images of men exist, but are rarer.

42. In general, I am under much less pressure to be thin than my female counterparts are. (More). If I am fat, I probably suffer fewer social and economic consequences for being fat than fat women do. (More).

43. If I am heterosexual, it’s incredibly unlikely that I’ll ever be beaten up by a spouse or lover. (More).

44. Complete strangers generally do not walk up to me on the street and tell me to “smile.” (More: 1 2).

45. Sexual harassment on the street virtually never happens to me. I do not need to plot my movements through public space in order to avoid being sexually harassed, or to mitigate sexual harassment. (More.)

45. On average, I am not interrupted by women as often as women are interrupted by men. (More.)

46. I have the privilege of being unaware of my male privilege.

Credit: http://amptoons.com/blog/the-male-privilege-checklist/

[ladybitsblog]

Love these bits.

"Bits, bits, bits" - Yes Please by Amy Poehler

[ladybitsblog]

Word ^