sarcastic-skeptic

[sarcastic-skeptic]

any words on how to get out of the beginnings of a like...depressive spiral ? You dont have to if you dont want to because this is kinda morbid to ask but I feel like I'm heading in that direction lowkey👎🏾

I’m going to be honest that I’m not sure I have helpful advice here, just because the way I’ve been dealing with my spirals is a bit unorthodox—but I’m going to tell you anyway, in case you find it helpful!

Basically I see everything I do lately as an act of resistance. I’m going to start off by acknowledging my privileges. I’m Iraqi by blood but American by nationality, which means I’m far removed from all the conflict in my blood country; I’m white-passing, which does make me far less prone to day to day racism; I hail from a family that has supported me financially, enabling me to pursue both my education and interests; I had a very lush childhood, one of the happiest ever tbh; and while I have unique struggles just by virtue of being Arab diaspora, I also recognize that I can center my American identity at any moment. That, by and large, I live a life similar to that of my American peers.

But then there’s the other side of the coin. I come from an immigrant family, and an Iraqi one at that. The generational trauma is very real. I grew up thinking there wasn’t space in the world for someone like me. The closest I’ve ever had to representation was multimillionaire Arab people, who happen to be half white, who happen to fit the ideal Eurocentric standard (light colored eyes, blonde, pale skin etc). I had to grow into being proud of who I am and where I’m from. I’m Iraqi on both sides, so I have family scattered everywhere (what even is a picket fence family). America is still a very racist place in general. Even when people try to act all “progressive,” their expectation of what being Arab is can be very, very, very limited. I don’t fit the box in a lot of ways.

So to me going out, studying, playing piano, working out, taking a walk with my music on, dancing in my bedroom, not spending too much time crying over anyone—these are all acts of resistance. I know that the world thinks that happiness could not be afforded for my people. Maybe they pity my people; maybe they don’t think my people should be bombed or genocided or displaced. But they don’t think my people could have rich lives, could enjoy hobbies, could travel or have fun or just be normal (unless they’re maybe as white as could possibly be, or are rich, or both). That’s honestly the truth. So to me existing in those dual states—a state where I know it’s my duty to help, but also a state where I get to be a normal girl who does things just like anyone else—is so important.

Honoring depressive spirals is important. Negative emotion is not only part and parcel for the human experience, but it’s also a passage. The only way to let go of it is to embrace it. Passing it by is just easier done for me when I remember that this is still largely a white person’s world, and that a white person’s world always tells people like me that they deserve less—maybe just enough to survive, maybe just enough to get by, but less. And I refuse to feed into that. I’m not going to languish exactly where a white person’s world wants me to. So I try to enjoy my life to the fullest & be grateful, but to also give back and help underserved people in any way I can. It’s about the individual but it’s also about the community. I hope this helps somewhat :’)

[sarcastic-skeptic]

AGENT CARTER 1.03 Time and Tide (2015) dir. Scott Winant AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019) dir. The Russo Brothers

[sarcastic-skeptic]

favorite doctor who quotes: 76/?

[sarcastic-skeptic]

I think you should bask in the sun for a little while. I think you will have an epiphany

[sarcastic-skeptic]

remember when sabrina wrote a vulnerable song (and a whole album tbh) about how she got publicly slut shamed by the whole world just for liking a boy and the emotional toll that took on her? funny how nobody had shit to say about that side of her but now that she's in on the joke, now that she's claiming more agency over her life, her sexuality, her choices, it's grab the pitchforks!!! she stopped crying about it and started laughing with the people hurting her and suddenly everyone is mad idk i find it interesting

[sarcastic-skeptic]

There's a weird 3 star movie out there ready to change your life forever

[sarcastic-skeptic]

the most annoying people ever (while the US president directs the military to attack citizens in several cities): wow I think Sabrina Carpenter is dangerous for women and young people :/

[sarcastic-skeptic]

getting sooooo frustrated at the people saying sabrina carpenter’s album cover is “setting back feminism” like YOU are the conservative backlash you’re scared of! censoring a woman’s ART because it’s “male-centered” (there’s no man in the photo)!

personally my feminism includes people who enjoy kink and bdsm, my feminism includes sex workers. excluding the faction of people that includes dominatrix certainly doesn’t feel like a smart move!

but above all, this shit DOESNT MATTER! it’s album art! women are losing ACTUAL RIGHTS! sabrina carpenter is NOT your enemy! patriarchy/men are your enemy!!!

[sarcastic-skeptic]

having a great time continuing to love sabrina and enjoy her music despite people deciding she's reached her limit as Successful Woman Who Is Everywhere and it's now time for the obligatory This Woman Sucks Actually And We Don't Want To See Her Anymore follow up stage

[sarcastic-skeptic]

the criticism of sabrina carpenter is really just slut shaming repackaged to sound like feminism. purity culture has y’all in a chokehold

[sarcastic-skeptic]

LOOKS FROM "MANCHILD" MUSIC VIDEO styled by Jared Ellner

[sarcastic-skeptic]

not to be like both sides are wrong, and only i’m right, but i have been thinking about sabrina’s album cover controversy. to me, it’s pretty evident that she is going to be exploring her own compliance in getting into relationships where she gets treated badly or well like a dog. while manchild is a tongue-in-cheek mocking song that is all about how she just keeps stumbling into bed with these loser men, woe is me, there is an obvious irony to lines like “won’t you let an innocent woman be?” “i swear they choose me, i’m not choosing them.” sabrina is hardly an innocent doe-eyed girl. she is very sharp and experienced in relationships, and no one is forcing her to date these men. the music video further emphasizes this point by showcasing her hitchhiking into increasingly more ridiculous automobiles with increasingly more ridiculous men who all let her down in various absurd and/or violent ways. and yet the closing shot of the video is her getting out of one car and immediately running over and jumping into the next, continuing the cycle. so while the song on the surface externalizes the blame for her mistreatment to basically everyone but her, the subtext is all about how sabrina is the one doing this to herself. when i see the album cover of her smiling at the camera on her knees while a man holds her hair like a leash, i see a deep and very uncomfortable self-awareness and acknowledgement happening here. it’s obviously going to be dressed up in the shiny pop music veneer and sabrina’s signature brand of dry humor, but this is a very sensitive topic that most upcoming pop girls wouldn’t touch with a ten feet pole because it is humiliating to admit that you’re complicit in your own mistreatment and degradation. that you aren’t just posing as a dog, but you actually let men treat you like one. manchild isn’t just the first single from the album but also the opening track, setting the stage for what the album will be exploring. and again while on the surface it looks like your usual my ex is a loser classic fare, in actuality it is all about how sabrina is deluding herself about her choice of partners. “manchild, why you always come running to me?” she asks, and i’m willing to bet that she is going to be answering that question in the album, eventually coming to the conclusion that these things aren’t as one-sided as she initially presented them to be. from what i’ve seen, sabrina is very smart and very deliberate when it comes to her branding. i highly doubt she chose such a sensational image just to “appeal to the male gaze.” yes the picture is meant to play into that trope, but hardly in a glorifying way.

[sarcastic-skeptic]

Sabrina Carpenter

Primavera Sound | June 6 2025

[sarcastic-skeptic]

and btw white feminism doesn't mean "this white celebrity did sth feminist that I personally disliked", it means "this white celebrity is calling themselves a feminist but only applies feminism to herself and throws other women (especially women of colour) under the bus/refuses to show support for non-white women and people as a whole". May I remind yall Sabrina, while having a much smaller/newer amount of fame and power than Tayl0r, openly spoke up for Palestine and even donated to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. While Tayl0r has been absolutely silent about Palestine, about all the women that suffer there. And somehow SABRINA is the "white feministTM"? aight!

[sarcastic-skeptic]

People are always trying so hard to cancel women. like WHY are people so pressed about her new album cover lets be so fucking fr. people want to cancel her so bad it’s unreal 😭😭 like me personally, i love when women are unapologetic to show what they like, they’re horny, etc. it’s not setting women back at all lmfao. i hate how people think that women need to be pure and innocent and formal to not be setting women back. it screams of stereotype..

[sarcastic-skeptic]

So I don’t really listen to Sabrina Carpenter much, but. WHAT is going on with this album “controversy?”

Like what happened to “her body, her choice?” No one’s making her do anything, and she’s not evil and antifeminist just because she’s feminine and submissive.

She’s DEFINITELY not “catering to men”—she makes fun of them in her songs, kills them in her music videos, and has a majority female fanbase.

If you think this singular album cover is somehow setting back feminism, tumblr has rotted your brain until you don’t know what a real issue is anymore.

[sarcastic-skeptic]

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER 2014, dir. Joe Russo & Anthony Russo