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Clothes Make the Guardian: Fashion and femininity in the Sailor Moon franchise

Sailor Moon is a series that revels in its femininity. While the five core girls have a variety of interests and goals—from becoming a doctor to a stay-at-home mom—they all unashamedly enjoy “girly” things: they swoon over boy bands, enjoy going shopping, and have slumber parties where they talk about crushes and getting married.

However, liking these things doesn’t make the sailor scouts weak. Instead, Sailor Moon demonstrates, time and time again, that the power of femininity and female friendships makes the girls strong. Although this is a prevalent theme throughout the show, this celebration of unashamed femininity is most strongly reflected in its fashion. The outfit designs not only provide characterization and add to the overall aesthetic of the series, but contribute to the story’s emphasis on the strength of “girly” things on an understated but crucial level.

The silhouettes and clothing styles the characters wear in the original 1990s Sailor Moon anime, as well as the original manga, are consistent and intentional. Color gains additional meaning when critically examined, and style becomes not only an expression of oneself but an integral part of a character. What is feminine becomes something powerful. Unfortunately, this idea doesn’t carry through to modern Sailor Moon media, particularly in Sailor Moon Crystal and the 2021 Sailor Moon Eternal movie. The new adaptations betray the purposeful fashion of the original series in a way that undermines the story’s overall gender commentary.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

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Some things to note when you're discussing Palestine and Israeli apartheid in the coming days/weeks/months (not a complete list but will update as I have the emotional energy):

Do not refer to what is happening in Palestine as a "conflict" or "war." These words imply a balance of power that does not exist. Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza have no military, no control of their borders, no control over their access to resources like electricity, water, and medical supplies, no freedom of movement, and, most importantly, they do not have the most powerful government in the world funding them.

Israel is an apartheid state. Refer to it as such. It is based in a settler colonialist system that actively recruits and funds people from the Jewish diaspora to move into homes on stolen Palestinian land. Since the formation of the state of Israel in 1948, 42% of the West Bank has been illegally settled while 86% of East Jerusalem has been stolen for settler use. Under international law, the expansion of these settlements is illegal. Israel has faced zero repercussions for their actions. Hold them accountable in your speech.

Do not refer to the Israeli army as the "IDF" (Israeli Defense Force). Palestinians refer to them as the "IOF" for a reason--Israel does not need to defend themselves from civilians who have no military. From 2008 to September 2023, over 3,800 Palestinian civilians were killed by the IOF. There is no need for oppressors to defend themselves--they are the ones on the offense at all times by the nature of their positions of power.

Remember that decolonization will not be a peaceful process. Do not condemn a group of people who have been brutally colonized, ethnically cleansed, and displaced from their homes for 75 years for fighting back against those oppressing them. This post concisely explains why the violence necessary for decolonization will never match that of the violence necessary for the sustained process of colonization. You cannot break free of a violent system with nonviolence. When Palestinians attempted peaceful protest in 2018 on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, they along with clearly marked journalists, doctors, and medics were shot and killed for their actions. Oppressors will maintain their power status by any means necessary; the ongoing genocide of Palestinians is proof of that. Decolonization requires violence because colonization itself is an inherently violent system.

Zionism does not equate to Judaism. Do not let Zionist propaganda fool you into believing that condemning the Israeli government is in any way anti-Semitic. The Israeli government does not represent the views of all Jews, even those who are Israeli citizens. Governments should always, always be criticized and held to account for their actions. Israel is no exception to this rule. Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. Anyone who tells you otherwise is weaponizing true Jewish oppression and suffering as a means to gain support for a violent, racist, apartheid government.

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Mahmoud Darwish, from A State of Siege (2002) (tr. from the Arabic by Fady Joudah)

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well if bitches want to act cute this morning i'm gonna be fucking adorable. you want to talk about zionism? let's talk about what zionism is at its core bc i'm sick of people arguing there are versions of it that are justified and i'm fucking pissed off

zionism is a movement that advocates for the existence of a jewish state for the jewish people. currently the jewish state is in palestine, which was where we lived before our expulsion almost 2000 years ago, but other propositions for the location of a jewish state have included uganda, madagascar, and mussolini's "italian east africa" (esp. ethiopia.) there were biblical and historical reasons palestine was a candidate, of course, but the primary reason it "won" was it suited british colonial interests. it could, to quote the first british governor of jerusalem, "[form] for England 'a little loyal Jewish Ulster' in a sea of potentially hostile Arabism." as the british empire fell, what became the state of israel was picked up by the united states as a similarly loyal buffer against communism in the middle east

but those are ugly little ulterior motives, aren't they? and as loathsome as the zionist project is to me as a jew myself, i'm not going to pretend i don't understand that escape from antisemitism—particularly in the wake of the shoah—was a bigger motivation for a lot of zionist jews than furthering british and american imperialism. so, let's take jewish zionists at their word and go through why their most common arguments still fucking suck. i'm going to read the arguments in good faith, but that doesn't mean i'm going to mince words or coddle anyone's deeply-held beliefs in the face of an active, ongoing genocide. the only reason i'm even talking about the zionist perspective is y'all keep trying to pick fights and i want you to know how empty, callous, and self-absorbed your ideology is

i'm also not going to argue outside of what i've written below. if you comment i'll just block you, and if you make another post i'm not gonna read it. i don't care. you don't get the benefit of the doubt when your beliefs have led to a genocide

this post is excessively long because i'm angry as fuck and this is more of a vent than a persuasive essay. i'll be pleasantly surprised if it does any good, but i doubt it and i just need to scream so meh. now, click that read more and let's get this over with

the jewish people have a right to self-determination and a national homeland

oh my god woodrow wilson is that you?? shouldn't you be at the big birth of a nation screening in the sky?

i see a bizarre number of people citing this argument and it takes everything in me not to ask if i can see the cool steampunk time machine they must have just stepped out of. have 200 years of big world wars and small, horrible civil wars taught us nothing about nationalism? you can't build an ethnostate without kicking off a cycle of violence that ends in somebody's genocide. palestine wasn't a "land without a people" before the british colonized it, it was a colony of the ottoman empire that as a matter of fact had a delegation present at the treaty of versailles where wilson presented his famous fourteen points

see the thing about national self-determination is it sounds nice in theory, but human migration is a complicated thing and we tend to imagine borders being more solid than they actually are. you only have to look at violent processes like the partition of india or the places where america's southern border divided pre-existing mexican communities. prioritizing the sovereignty of people who belong to/are represented by nation states also inherently subjugates nomadic peoples and peoples whose self-government is more decentralized than the west is used to

if people are coming to israel to flee antisemitism, shouldn't we act in solidarity with people who don't have colonial interests propping up a state for them? do we not owe solidarity to our romani brethren who suffered nazi atrocities with us, or the first peoples of north america who were forced onto reservations that went on to inspire hitler's camps? does our suffering make it okay to do the same thing to palestinians now? or ugandans? ethiopians? malagasy? how would you have justified a jewish homeland if it hadn't ended up being palestine? borders and nations are concepts we made up that are maintained through violence. nobody has a right to one, especially at the expense of other people

jews need a homeland because we aren't safe anywhere else

how convenient for the antisemites! did you know that the government of arthur balfour of balfour declaration fame limited jewish immigration to great britain in the 1905 aliens act in response to us fleeing pogroms in the russian empire? it was the nazis who considered madagascar and they literally visited palestine to weigh whether expelling jews to the holy land was an adequate final solution to the jewish problem. hell, there were zionist fascists willing to work with the nazis and mussolini because they felt they had interests in common. (that link goes to a haaretz article, btw. i've even linked an unpaywalled version so you can all see a mainstream israeli source talk about this)

furthermore, we've made the world just as unsafe for palestinians by taking land they occupied for thousands of years while we were gone. zionists can argue all they like that muslims have ~plenty of countries for palestinians to go to~ but muslims aren't a monolith anymore than jews are. although y'all desperately want every jew to fall in line with zionism so idk why i'm bothering to argue that

either way, that argument ignores that occupying palestinian land for jews to settle pushes palestinians by the millions into countries that aren't prepared to host a refugee population or who simply don't feel obligated to treat them with any respect or humanity. that includes neighboring countries like jordan, lebanon, and syria as well as the very european countries jews have fled in the first place. ESPECIALLY when you take the syrian refugee crisis into account. how many of those people were only in syria because their parents and grandparents were pushed there by the nakba?

but what happens to the jews of israel if we give palestinians autonomy?

look, i understand that a lot of us freeze up at the thought of jewish expulsion or a potential genocide of jews. antisemitism is real and dangerous, and like most jews i've seen plenty of it in leftist and anti-zionist spaces. while "what if the people we're oppressing retaliate" is a tired old white supremacist talking point, jews have historically gotten retaliation for shit we literally didn't even do. europe has exported its particular brand of antisemitism to the middle east, and while i don't believe the majority of palestinians would seek revenge against people just for being jewish, i also know that antisemites don't need majority support to pull off pogroms

but that doesn't justify israel staying its current course. zionist violence against palestinians is already fueling retaliation against jews in the diaspora whether we support what's happening or not. it's to the point now that every time israel starts bombing gaza again, i start to fear for my own safety here in the united states. furthermore, palestinians living in diaspora share the same fear and experience the same level of retaliatory violence because they've been forced to be strangers in strange lands too. what about them? what about us?

and most importantly, what about the people in palestine trying to cling to what's left of their homeland? why, because we've suffered at the hands of imperial powers, do we get to use today's empires to do the same thing to palestinians that the romans did to us? if israel stays on its current path, the only place this can end is in genocide. do we as a people really want that on our hands? do we want to see what happens when the west turns on us again and has our self-designated leaders' hypocrisy to wield against us?

i don't doubt that there are antisemites among the ranks of the palestinian people; just look how many racist islamophobes we jews have in our own communities. i've also seen plenty of palestinians and other anti-zionists acknowledge that jews had completely non-colonial reasons to flee to palestine, that mizrahi jews have existed in palestine forever, that we're being used by forces of white supremacy that don't actually give a shit about us as people

because that's the thing—they don't. we can't colonize our way into unconditional whiteness, and considering the dominance of white ashkenazim in israel i don't think it's a stretch to argue that that's what the zionist national project ultimately is. the west will abandon israel the second it's convenient, and all the jews living there will have left to rely on is the mercy of people who were forced out of their homes on their behalf. israel can bomb gaza until it's flattened like the warsaw ghetto before it, but we've seen what happens when you try to eradicate an entire people to create living space for a Folk who feel entitled to it. is that seriously the future you want for the jewish people? i leave the logistics of decolonization to the colonized, but as a jew i feel confident saying i don't want that done in my name

and it doesn't have to come to that. jews all over the world, both across the diaspora and within israel itself, are waking up to the hypocrisy and cruelty of the zionist project. jews are building community and solidarity with palestinian people, calling out our parents and grandparents who've looked the other way for too damn long, and reconnecting with the thousands of years of language and culture built in diaspora that the zionist movement saw fit to discard as a relic of jewish oppression in order to rebuild a rich, healthy, and just judaism that doesn't define itself by the conquest of others

solidarity with the palestinian people. from the river to the sea, if there's any justice in this world, one day soon you'll all be free

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Israel has cut water, electricity and food to Palestinians in Gaza. They are buying 10.000 M16 rifles and plan to distribute to civilian settlers in the West Bank to hunt down Palestinians. They're bombing the only way out of Gaza through Egypt, after telling refugees to flee through it, and have threatened the Egyptian government in case they let aid trucks pass through. Entire families, generations, are being wiped out and left to wander the streets hoping they don't get bombed.

Palestinians are using their last minutes of battery to let the world know about their genocide and are being met with a wall of "What about Hamas? What about the beheaded babies? Killing children on either side is bad!" even though the propaganda claims have been debunked over and over again. How cruel is it to ask somebody to condemn themselves before their last words? Or before grieving the loss of their entire families? When there's no such disclaimer to Israelis even though their government has shown over and over genocidal intent? Like who are you even trying to appease? What will your wishy washy statement do against decades of zionist thought infiltrating evangelical and Jewish stablishmemts?

Take action. Israel will fall back if public opinion turns its tide. The UK fell back on its bloody decision to cut aid to Palestine under public scrutiny. The USAmerican empire spends $3.8 billion dollars annually solely on this proxy war while its people suffer under a progressively military regime as well. News outlets are canceling last minute on Palestinian speakers while letting Israelis tell lies unchecked. Palestinian refugees are being targeted in ICE establishments and mosques are already being hounded by the FBI. Europe, Canada and the US have banned pro-Palestine protests but people are still resisting. You have the chance to stop this from turning into repeat of the Iraq war.

I want to do something but there's hardly anything for me to do from Brasil besides spreading the word and not letting these testimonies fall on deaf ears. I'm asking you to do this same ant work from wherever you are.

Follow:

Eye On Palestine (instagram / twitter)

Mohammed El-Kurd (instagram / twitter)

Decolonize Palestine (website with a chronological explanation of the occupation and debunking myths)

Muhammad Shehada (twitter)

Plestia Alaqad (directly from Gaza. Many of her videos are interrupted by bombs)

If there's a protest in your city, please attend. Here's an international calendar of events:

Friday, October 13

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (US) – Fri Oct. 13, 3 pm, UNM Bookstore, University of New Mexico. Organized by Southwest Coalition for Palestine.

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA (US) – Fri Oct 13, 6 pm, Sproul Hall (Vigil), University of California Berkeley. Organized by Bears for Palestine.

DOUAIS, FRANCE – Fri Oct 13, 6:30 pm, Place de’Armes.

GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN – Fri Oct 13, 5:30 pm, Brunnsparken. Organized by Palestinska samordningsgruppen Gothenburg.

GREENSBORO, NC (US) – Fri Oct. 13, 4 pm, Wendover Village, 4203 W Wendover Ave, Greensboro, NC. Organized by Muslims for a Better NC.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Fri Oct 13, 5 pm, Keir Starmer’s Office, Crowndale Center, 218 Eversholt St, London. Organized by IJAN UK.

MEANJIN/BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct 13, 6 pm, King George Square.

MIAMI, FL (US) – Fri Oct 13, 4:30 pm, Bayfront Park. Organized by Troika Kollectiv.

NAPOLI, ITALY – Fri Oct 13, 4:30 pm, Piazza Garibaldi, Napoli. Organized by GPI and Centro Culturale Handala Ali.

NGUNNAWAL/CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct 13, 5:30 pm, Carema Place.

PERTH/BOORLOO, AUSTRALIA – Fri Oct. 13, 5:30 pm, Murray Street Hall, Boorloo/Perth. Organized by Friends of Palestine WA.

PORTLAND, OREGON (US) – Fri Oct 13, 3 pm, 1200-1220 SW 5th Ave, Portland.

PORT RICHEY, FL (US) – Fri Oct 13, 7:30 am, Route 19 and Ridge Road, Port Richey. Sponsored by: Florida Peace Action Network; Partners for Palestine; CADSI

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – Friday, Oct. 13, 7 pm, UP Main Campus, DSA Building opposite Thuto. Organized by PSC UP.

WITSWATERSRAND UNIVERSITY (SOUTH AFRICA) – Fri Oct 13, 1 pm, Great Hall Piazza, Flag demonstration. Organized by Wits PSC.

Saturday, October 14

ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct. 14, 2 pm, St. Nichlas Square. Organized by Scottish PSC.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – Sat Oct 14, 2 pm, Aotea Square, Queens St, 291-2997 Queen St. Organized by PSN Aotearoa.

DETROIT/DEARBORN, MICHIGAN (US) – Sat Oct 14, 2 pm, Ford Woods Park, 5700 Greenfield Road. Organized by SAFE, PYM, SJP, Handala Coalition, more.

DUNDEE, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct. 14, 2 pm, Place TBA. Organized by Scottish PSC.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – Sat, Oct 14, 2 pm, Princes Street at Foot of the Mound. Organized by Scottish PSC.

FRANKFURT, GERMANY – Sat Oct 14, 3 pm Hauptwache, Frankfurt am Main. Sponsored by Palestina eV, Migrantifa Rhein-Main and more.

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – Sat. Oct 14, 2 pm, Buchanan Steps. Organized by Scottish PSC.

HOUSTON, TEXAS (US) – Sat Oct 14, 2 pm, City Hall, 901 Bagby St. Organizd by PYM, PAC, USPCN, SJP and more.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – Sat Oc 14, 12 pm, Church St. Organized by FRFI.

LONDON, ENGLAND – Sat Oct 14, 12 pm, BBC Portland Place, London. Organized by a broad coalition.

MILANO, ITALY – Sat. Oct 14, 3:30 pm, Piazza San Babila. Organized by Young Palestinians of Italy, UDAP, Palestinian Community, Association of Palestinians.

ORLANDO, FLORIDA – Sat Oct 14, 3 pm, Lake Eola at Robinson and Eola, Orland. Organized by Florida Palestine Network.

TORINO, ITALY – Sat. Oct. 14, 3 pm, Piazza Crispi. Organized by Progetto Palestina.

VALPARAISO, CHILE – Sat Oct 14, 6 pm, Plaza Victoria, Valparaiso. Organized by Comite Chileno de Solidaridad con Palestina.

WASHINGTON, DC (US) – Sat Oct 14, 1 pm, Lafayette Square. Organized by AMP.

Sunday, October 15

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS – Sun Oct 15, 2 pm, March from Dam Square to Jonas Daniel Meijer plein.

NAARM/MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Sun Oct 15, State Library Victoria.

TARDANYA/ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA – Sun Oct 15, 2 pm, Parliament House.

AUSTIN, TEXAS (US) – Sun Oct 15, 3 pm, Texas Capitol. Organized by PSC ATX.

GADIGAL/SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Sun Oct 15, 1 pm, Sydney Town Hall.

SANTIAGO, CHILE -Sun Oct 15, 11 am, Plaza Dignidad, Santiago. Organized by Comite Chileno de Solidaridad con Palestina.

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"but but but as a palestinian, do you condemn violence?"

i don't know, what the fuck do you think? why do you think we've been struggling against israel's violence for over 70 years?? how do you even have the nerve to have palestinians on the receiving end of this question??

this revolt is a direct result of the violence created and maintained by israel. we have been condemning violence for as long as we remember but no one listened. and yet now that we are screaming out of sheer desperation, it's suddenly unacceptable? suddenly the conversation just cannot continue before a verbal condemnation is uttered?

palestinians are literally told by the world to "suffer quietly but also when it's time to revolt please keep your composure and confess to everyone's sins"

our struggle for freedom does not need an acceptance letter! and because you have ignored our pleading, you're going to have to put up with our rage i'm afraid

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those who are too scared to choose a side keep recycling lines like "children are off limits" and "protect children" as if we don't all agree but

i'm here to tell you that in the span of one week, israel had murdered 700 palestinian children (this number is only expected to keep rising)

israel had cut water off every child in gaza which exceed 1000000 in number

cut electricity and fuel off hospitals that care for children and infants

it has rendered tens of thousands of children homeless

families are rationing water portions

children are writing their names on the palm of their hands so that they would be identified when the shelling happens and they're pulled from under the rubble

the situation in gaza can only be described as catastrophic

but sure go ahead and wish ~peace on both nations~ you fucking detached weirdos

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is this true??

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A woman using her husband's shadow to protect and shelter herself from the sun in Masijd al- Harām.

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Anne Boyer, from her Instagram

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“You don’t know anyone at the party, so you don’t want to go. You don’t like cottage cheese, so you haven’t eaten it in years. This is your choice, of course, but don’t kid yourself: it’s also the flinch. Your personality is not set in stone. You may think a morning coffee is the most enjoyable thing in the world, but it’s really just a habit. Thirty days without it, and you would be fine. You think you have a soul mate, but in fact you could have had any number of spouses. You would have evolved differently, but been just as happy. You can change what you want about yourself at any time. You see yourself as someone who can’t write or play an instrument, who gives in to temptation or makes bad decisions, but that’s really not you. It’s not ingrained. It’s not your personality. Your personality is something else, something deeper than just preferences, and these details on the surface, you can change anytime you like. If it is useful to do so, you must abandon your identity and start again. Sometimes, it’s the only way.”

— Julien Smith, The Flinch (via wnq-anonymous)