#In turn that would mean that Michael Distortion has less identity issues

[cor-corbinian]

What if Michael Distortion just continued to live Michael Shelleys life? Just shows up at the magnus institute to continue his job and neither Gertrude nor Elias/Jonah can get rid of him because technically Michael has a contract as an archival assistant.

Edit: Link to fic :)

[apenitentialprayer]

The Grim Reminder

Attack on Titan and the Perpetual Crisis

(x) tl;dr: the fascist believes that the nation is continually under threat, finding enemies in other nations, but the worst and most dangerous enemies being dissent originating from within. This is currently a problem in the United States, especially (but not exclusively) with the Right, which often interprets disagreement as irrational, childish behavior that is destroying the nation. From the very first episode, the characters who inhabit the world of Attack on Titan are people in constant danger; some threats are obvious, like the nearly two hundred foot tall Titan that compromises the integrity of Wall Maria; others aren’t so much, like the incompetence and corruption of the city guards. But in any case, the one consistent thing you can expect in this story is that the very world itself seems to act as an obstacle that prevents the main characters from achieving their goals. There are enemies at every turn, because the world itself is an enemy. Opponents are inhuman, strangers are potential threats waiting for you to let your guard down, and even friends are ultimately not reliable. The world is in crisis, and the only person you can trust to fix these issues is yourself. This continuous crisis is a key part of any fascist narrative. If there ever was a golden age, it is long past; the golden age, a mythic period where the fascist’s group was the best, is something that must be regained. If it is based on an actual, historical epoch, the seedier qualities of society in that time period will be de-emphasized, if not ignored. And, luckily for the people living now, the golden age is something that can be brought back; it may even be on the verge of returning, were it not for the Perpetual Crisis, the way the enemies of the state always seem able to place a new obstacle that just barely prevents the total victory of the fascist movement. The golden age is definitely a rhetorical device deployed by Eren’s father in the episodes centered on his flashbacks, and thus by Eren as well. Ignoring the history of conquest, slavery, and eugenics of the Eldian Empire, Eren’s father presents a vision of the Eldian past where his ancestors brought civilization and progress to an otherwise backward world. The ancestors of Marley and all enemies of the Eldian Empire (which seems to have been pretty much everyone) were jealous of this past, and any and all criticism of the Eldians is best viewed as propaganda weaponized against the legitimate rulers of the world. The Eldian Empire must return; it is a matter of bringing the world back to an order that has been lost. The fact that the author has made it clear that this is a rhetorical device even in-universe may actually imply that the author is critical of the distortion of the past to support a present political agenda. But even if the use golden age rhetoric is implicitly criticized, the Perpetual Crisis is a reality of the world of Attack on Titan; the story, as presented so far, makes it clear that the multitude of enemies perceived by the main characters are truly there, and are truly obstacles preventing the fulfillment of their goals. First, we have Titans who have violated the sacred boundaries of mankind by breaking through Wall Maria. Second, we have Titans who have infiltrated humanity itself, sowing discord and paranoia from within. Third, we have leaders who oppose the views of the main characters, and are thus viewed as self-serving and incompetent. It’s never the main character’s fault when something goes wrong; what prevents the main character from achieving what he wants is always a ferocious enemy, an insidious plot, or a failure to trust in one’s own feelings over the opinions of others. That’s a dirty secret of the fascist view of the world; I’ve already said that the fascist cannot abide the thought of living in peace with a rival nation. But a fascist movement thrives off of the momentum of the perpetual crisis, and thus cannot exist without the rival to define itself against. As Ernest Gellner points out, if everyone in the world was to convert to Christianity or Islam, the concept of Christianity or Islam would still have meaning - these identity labels can exist meaningfully even without an Other to define itself against. This is not the case with a nation, which defines itself as a distinct set of people, and this is even less true of a fascistic nation, which thrives best when it has enemies both within and without. We see this clearly in Nazi Germany with the concept of the lebensraum, or “living space.” Simply put, according to the Nazi regime, the Germanic peoples did not have the room it needed to thrive, and thus needed to expand. The German people were supposedly in a seminal point in history, where it either had to both expand and purify itself, or go extinct. This was an apparently urgent need, something that had to be accomplished soon, a desire so strong that the two groups acting as obstacles to fulfilling this goal were oppressive by means of their very existence; namely, the Slav already living in the lands that the Nazi regime wanted, and the Jew living among the Germanic peoples. But these weren’t the only enemies, either; anyone who questioned the need for or methods of attaining this lebensraum were also enemies, and this category would expand to include basically anyone who didn’t explicitly affirm the idea. Communists, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, non-Aryans; all of these interior enemies added to the crisis, necessitating witch hunts to “purify” the Germans, with horrific results. Now, there are a lot of groups and organizations that thrive on the concept of the perpetual crisis; the Catholic Church positions itself as the Ark of Noah, keeping the faithful safe in a sea of modernist heresy; the feminist movement in recent years has emphasized chronic feelings of fear that women experience in masculinized environments, with some prominent figures taking some pretty strong positions on the #MeToo movement (Michael Che’s Kavanaugh statement comes to mind). Neither of these stances are inherently fascist, though both have the potential to become fascistic. But let’s use a slogan that wraps both the Golden Age and the Perpetual Crisis up nicely: “Make America Great Again.” The slogan clearly presupposes two things; first, that America was great at one point, and second, America is no longer great. The “greatness” America experienced seems to be located sometime before the sixties, usually during or shortly after the Second World War; we fought the Nazis and won, after all! And we came out of the Depression. Things weren’t great for many Americans, but the subgroup that was usually identified with the nation itself (middle-class, White, native-born) was doing pretty well for itself. The groups associated with America’s fall from greatness (Marxists, civil rights activists, leftist politicians) are usually those groups that challenge this Golden Age narrative. The Nazis depicted the German nation as a defeated, emasculated nation that was suffocating under the weight of the pressure placed on it; it needed more living space. The less optimistic sections of conservative Americans depicts the American nation as a declining power, rotting from the inside because of people bashing the pillars that had allowed America to stand in the first place; the Christian nation is allowing more and more Muslim immigrants even as it faces the threat of Islamic terrorism; the primarily White nation must pander to black civil rights activists and Mexican immigrants even as these populations continue to increase; a proud nation of tradition is finding its traditional ways of life slowly eroding because of modernity and an enabling, multicultural, secular liberalism. I’m not saying that America doesn’t have problems. The way it is depicted above, however, encourages the suppression of minorities and encourages conservatives to see themselves as the True Americans defending what is left of Authentic America. Like the Eldians, who depose a king because of his policy of non-violence, some Americans would like to live in a world where agitating activists are at least silenced, if not eliminated (“If you don’t like it here, move somewhere else”). Faced with the possibility of allowing power to reside in a family that would rather keep the Eldians isolated from the world and at peace in the Walls, Eren opts to murder that family in order to seize power for himself. Having finally eliminated the threat of the Titans on the island of Paradis, Eren shifts his view to Marley across the sea. The survival of the in-group is what matters most, and in a fascist worldview you must be willing to do whatever it takes in order to ensure that survival. Every disagreement is a matter of life or death, every inconvenience an existential threat; the stakes can never be too high, and your side can never be too zealous in its actions. I’m not sure how to solve the problem of dealing with enemies from without; I’m not going to touch that. But in terms of dealing with struggle from within, I’d suggest first and foremost an elimination of the us vs. them attitude. The fascist sees disagreement as malicious sabotage. We have to see political opponents as people who are equally as invested in this nation, and whose disagreements with ourselves is coming from a place of authentic concern. We have to stop attributing malicious intent where other explanations are possible; a pro-choicer declaring that pro-lifers ultimately wish to control and punish women distorts their argument and demonizes them; declaring someone who doesn’t want limits on immigration to be pro-white genocide distorts their argument and demonizes them. As a final topic, it should be noted that fascists often claim to represent the true feelings of the people, and are thus justified in accomplishing their goals as ruthlessly as possible. One of the dangers of claiming legitimacy through the people, however, is that the people are more than capable of disagreeing with you; the fascist may ignore this, overriding the general will and choosing to do what they think is best for the people. Rabindranath Tagore wrote a book back during the first agitations for Indian independence, a book called The Home and the World. Using the metaphor of husband and wife, it argues that if you are going to treat a person or group of people as if they have the right to self-determination, you have to be prepared to accept decisions that you feel don’t reflect their best interests; if you’re going to treat a government as if its power ultimately comes from the people, you have to put your money where your mouth is and take their decisions and requests seriously. Just something to think about.

[onlineworkyou2b]

Investigations Into The Personal and Political Mount For Trump

Under two years into Trump's administration, his business partners, political counselors and relatives are being tested, alongside the acts of his late dad.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigations currently snare Donald Trump's White House, crusade, progress, initiation, philanthropy and business. For Trump, the political, the individual and the profoundly close to home are for the most part under examination. Under two years into Trump's administration, his business partners, political consultants and relatives are being tested, alongside the acts of his late dad. On Saturday, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke turned into the fourth Cabinet part to leave under a moral cloud, having started 17 examinations concerning his activities at work, by one guard dog's check. The majority of this with the main unique insight examination against a president in 20 years hanging over Trump's head, turning out charges and solid equipping blameworthy supplications from subordinates while keeping in anticipation whether the president — "Singular 1" in examiner Robert Mueller's coded legalese — will wind up blamed for criminal conduct himself. The extent of the investigation has formed Trump's administration, demonstrating an unfaltering diversion from his overseeing plan. Up until this point, a lot of it has been propelled by administrative examiners and government guard dogs that shun partisanship. The force is sure to increment one year from now when Democrats expect control of the House and the subpoena control that accompanies it. In spite of the fact that Trump rejects the examinations as politically roused "witch chases," his high-octane Twitter account often double-crosses exactly how devoured he is by the investigation. He's likewise said to watch long periods of TV inclusion on achievement days in the examinations. "It saps your vitality, redirects your consideration and you can't lead in light of the fact that your rivals are quite agitated against you," Cal Jillson, a Southern Methodist University political specialist and student of history, said of the investigation. "It debilitates your companions and encourages your foes." Midway through his term, Trump is attempting to convey on his focal battle guarantees. He may end the year without a Republican-drove Congress giving him the $5 billion he needs for an outskirt divider. What's more, he's reviewed couple of administrative needs for 2019. Regardless of whether he had, it's impossible the new Democratic House lion's share would have much impetus to help a president debilitated by examinations pile on wins as his very own re-appointment battle approaches. Maybe not since Bill Clinton felt harassed by a "huge conservative trick," as Hillary Clinton put it, has a president been under such coercion from examination. This danger has accompanied Trump's gathering responsible for Congress and the Justice Department driving no less than three separate criminal examinations. They are the Mueller test investigating conceivable plot, hindrance of equity or other bad behavior in contacts between the Trump battle and Russia; the New York crusade back case including quiet cash paid to Trump's supposed darlings; and now a case from New York, first detailed by The Wall Street Journal this previous week, looking at the funds and tasks of Trump's debut panel and whether outside premiums made unlawful installments to it. Behind those issues is a battery of claims or request from state lawyers general and different gatherings attached predominantly to Trump organizations. Best case scenario, the examinations are eclipsing what has been sure monetary news. Even under the least favorable conditions, the tests are a danger to the administration, Trump's family and his business advantages. The profound jumping will just develop in the new year when Democrats assume control over the House. They are relied upon to dispatch their very own examinations and could seek after indictment, however party pioneers alert they could confront a political reaction by making that stride. Regardless of whether Trump stays away from reprimand, the Democratic examinations will make migraines. Organization authorities will be called to affirm under the watchful eye of Congress and legislators will look for a trove of records, most likely including Trump's expense forms, which he has declined to make open. A stripped down White House staff may battle to keep up. A count by the Brookings Institution discovers in excess of 60 percent of Trump's best assistants have left in the initial two years, a turnover rate surpassing the past five presidents. Moreover, 10 Cabinet secretaries have withdrawn, more than Barack Obama, George W. Shrubbery and Clinton lost in two years. The shake-ups now have left Mick Mulvaney, Trump's spending head, carrying out twofold responsibility uncertainly as the president's head of staff. That blend makes it difficult to envision a president viably occupied with strategy, regardless of whether — as on account of Clinton — the attracted out examinations lead to an indictment that neglects to evacuate the president. "The cutting edge administration is exceptionally unpredictable and requesting so you require the president's complete consideration," Jillson says. "Where your consideration ought to be, you're likewise contemplating gathering with your legal counselors." As the examinations mount, couple of Republicans have separated themselves openly from Trump. Yet, secretly, a few legislators do stress that the examinations will harm his re-appointment prospects and their very own odds in 2020 House and Senate races. The government battle back test has put GOP legislators in an especially unbalanced position. Investigators — and in addition Trump's long-lasting individual legal counselor Michael Cohen and a newspaper organization that has for some time been a partner — declare that Trump guided quiet installments to keep ladies close-lipped regarding affirmed issues in the end a long time of the 2016 crusade. Such an installment would disregard battle back laws. Cohen was condemned this previous week to three years in jail. Underscoring the exercise in careful control for Republicans, active Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah at first expressed that he didn't much think about Trump being ensnared in Cohen's wrongdoing, at that point reconsidered his words. "I made remarks about charges against the president that were unreliable and a poor reflection on my extensive record of devotion to the standard of law," Hatch said in an announcement Friday. Five individuals in Trump's circle have confessed to charges in the proceeding with Mueller test. Among them, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were Nos. 1 and 2, separately, for a period in Trump's presidential crusade. George Papadopoulos, a lower-level battle consultant, was condemned to 14 days in jail and is out. The others are Michael Flynn, who was Trump's first national security guide in office and is to be condemned Tuesday, and Cohen, who is relied upon to start his sentence in March. Likewise, the uncommon guidance's office says Flynn, in giving 19 meetings and turning over a heap of records, has aided a criminal examination that presently can't seem to be uncovered. At the end of the day, there's no imaginable closure. Trump is additionally presented to lawful hazard past that from government examiners. Among the claims or examinations: — Democratic lawyers general in Maryland and the District of Columbia and congressional Democrats are testing the Trump Organization's business exchanges with remote and state government interests, for example, those at his Washington lodging, refering to the protected prohibition on presidents taking installments from such sources without congressional assent. — Summer Zervos, when a competitor on Trump's TV appear, has sued Trump for criticism for blaming her for lying. She affirmed in 2016 that he reached her. He's fizzled a few times to wreck the case. — New York impose authorities are investigating whether Trump or his beneficent establishment distorted expense obligation. What's more, the New York charge office said it is "vivaciously seeking after every single suitable road of examination" after a New York Times report discovered Trump and his family, returning to exchanges by his dad, Fred Trump, undermined charges for a considerable length of time. The report said Trump got the identical today of in any event $413 million from his dad, quite a bit of it through questionable expense moves. Trump called the report "an extremely old, exhausting and regularly told hit piece on me." — New York experts claim in a claim that Trump unlawfully tapped his altruistic Trump Foundation to settle legitimate question, help his crusade for president and cover individual and operational expense, including the buy of an actual existence measure picture of himself for $10,000. Stanley Renshon, political researcher at the City University of New York and a psychoanalyst, says the majority of that means many individuals, not simply the left, "endeavoring to make his administration unsound." It is, maybe, vaster than the conservative "intrigue" the Clintons persevered, Renshon says. "I consider it the everyone connivance."

[srhblog-blog1]

Michael Foucault

Foucault Goes to Weight Watchers - Cressida J. Heyes

Hypatia, Volume 21, Number 2, Spring 2006, pp. 126-149 (Article) Published by Indiana University Press.

In this reading Cressida. J. Heyes talks about the issues surrounding the multimillion pound weight loss industry, mainly focusing on the infamous Weightwatchers diet, shedding light on her arguments through a Foucauldian feminists’ view.

The media is constantly pushing onto us the notion of “idealistic beauty,” and “normalization”. These oppressive standards which many of us, sometimes subconsciously, strive to obtain say that slenderness will make you aesthetically pleasing, something to be desired and appropriately feminine. Many of us have this preconceived idea that we are all, “too fat,” and supplemented by the media  and celebrity endorsements, we are often left with this impression that being slim will in turn make us healthier. This preconceived idea and false consciousness presumes that heavier people will have more health problems then say a slimmer person. That one cannot be heavy and healthy. It seems to me that the Weight Watchers program is a product of false consciousness and obscures the truth about the relationship between weight and health doting on the ignorance and misconceptions of buyers. Diet schemes are often being renamed as “eating plans” or “lifestyle changes”. These making the dieting women feel more secure about conforming to society invisible rules about how a woman should be and appear.

For some women, I feel that, body shape and size, is an indicator of the inner, moral self, strength and will power. In his work, Foucault, talks about active subjectification concerning “the way a human being turns him/herself into a subject,” (Foucault 1982).  This combined with his concept on “docile bodies,” suggests how the body, something full of power and activity is subjectified, manipulated and transformed. The human creates a docile body by almost training and manipulating it to a so called perfected state through dieting. The body becomes not a living thing but an object to be changed and altered. This leads me on to speak about the idea of “Cultural Capital, “and some of Bourdieu’s theories. Cultural Capital is the idea of forming values based upon culturally authorized tastes. For example, a healthy, slim body would be more excepted than a larger, obese body based on the way our society perceives beauty. Bourdieu says that a person’s level of taste indicates their class and class places a person, in society, within a cultural hierarchy. Media which is shown through television and online plays a huge part in how we perceive the world. Unknowingly we criticize and judge the appearance of the body in relation to cultural capital and cultural hierarchy. We watch a reality TV show, such as “The Jeremy Kyle Show,” and see an overweight, arguing, scruffy family. We assume, per cultural capital, that this family is of less class and wealth than a slim, athletic looking family that we might see on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”. We then make the assumption that this means they are lower down in the social ladder, at the bottom of the hierarchy. These two binary conceptualizations of marked and unmarked set aside what we believe is normal and strive after and what is not ideal. No one wants to be marked in a negative light. Dieting and possessing the strength to manipulate the body seems to be a way for women to show power and determination and detach themselves from some of the stigmas and criticisms linked to being larger.

Power, strength and determination are key skills which a “Weightwatcher,” must possess to succeed and reach their weight goals. “Meeting members typically enroll and have historically demonstrated a consistent re-enrollment pattern,” (Weightwatchers 2002). From this I can only assume that women who have used their dieting plan have reached their desired weight but regained it in the long term meaning re-enrolling on the program. Contradictive to the seemingly whole point of dieting, (to make you healthy,) “yo-yo dieting is actively bad for your health,” (Gaesser 2002). The term itself “Weightwatcher,” depicts the idea of someone keeping their body under surveillance. A once fat person can never forget that her new slim figure was once one of weight and could slip back to that place at any moment. For me the idea of playing a character or a role comes to mind. Once a person has lost their desired weight they must keep up a façade, keep up “a lifestyle to conform to hierarchical expectations as well as their own. I feel that from their statement Weightwatchers are almost setting these women up for failure, admitting that they won’t reach their goals the first time but still boasting the minority of success stories to which these women aspire to.

Although I feel that much of the weight losing perseverance in women is to do with determination and self-worth along with the critiques of society and the influence of social media producing extreme ideals, I also feel that the idea of one’s intersectional self plays a huge role.  In John Berger’s work “Ways of Seeing,” he says, “Men act, woman appear,” (Berger). The idea of perfect beauty sexualizes women, makes them an object to be desired, be and looked at by men. Laura Mulvey talks about “The male gaze,” and how “women connote to being looked-at-ness.” (Laura Mulvey). From sexist stigma, such as poster, articles, media we see every day perhaps women also strive to be attractive to the opposite sex. (Solovay 2002) “Being slimmer works to one’s advantage in the employment and dating market.” More and more this idea that a woman should be feminine and sexy in order for men to like them is pushed onto younger and younger generations. This was apparent in 2009 when child’s cartoon character, Dora the Explorer, underwent a makeover transforming her from an innocent, childlike character to a more sexualized, beautified figure. Similarly, Barbie underwent a whole new series of construction. Her change from 1980 to 2010 distorted and manipulated her figure. If we look at Barbie verses an average British woman her body specs would be unrealistic and unachievable for anyone. But even small changes like these show how the female body is being sexualized and idealized in every aspect of life. I also find it strange that throughout Heyes piece of writing she seems to very much so speak as a female for females, she does not seem to reference any male presence. I feel that perhaps the whole dieting scheme is aimed primarily at women, perhaps it’s because society would see it weak for a man to diet, perhaps they would say that a man should show his power and strength by going to the gym?

I feel the whole concept of Weightwatchers is very much miss sold and many women are acting upon false beliefs.  Dieting seems to be women succumbing to “normalization,” cancelling their rights to freedom and forming an identity that society has molded for them. Many of these dieting plans exercise habitats commonly associated with eating disorders, a problem which seems to be less focused on within the media. However contradictive to everything many women agree that a diversity of body shapes and types should be celebrated. From women, such as the Kardashians, who are revolutionizing the view of body image and saying its ok, almost better to be bigger and curvier - after all who doesn’t want a Kim Kardashian behind. So why does society and women still conform to these strict dieting regimes?