#feminism i guess

[minetteskvareninova]

My superpower is that I am chronically immune to caring about anything and everything regarding the Kardashians, in both positive and negative sense. I mean, people will be like "Oh, no! Modern women have Kendall Jenner as their idol instead of [insert an inspirational female figure]!!!" and my only response is "Okay, then don't be friends with those women. I manage to avoid them just fine."

[spidersinthesky]

random dudes stop touching me challenge

[kryptoniteheadcanons]

Thoughts on Black Christmas (2019)

Uhh....brief mentions of sexual assault. Spoilers I guess ...it’s Black Christmas 2019 I don’t think anyone cares.

- I don’t know if I'm going to make a separate post comparing the three of the movies, I might end up saying everything I need to say  in this review. 

- Once again, stop making remakes and sequels that have nothing to do with the original. 

- That snow angle shot was actually pretty cool, I like it. 

- This movie being set at christmas is just as arbitrary as the first one. 

- Yeah, that diva cup thing was pretty awkward. Why did there have to be complete silence while she was putting it in? You couldn’t have used that time for dialogue?

- Oh hi Cary Elwes ….didn’t expect to see you here. 

- God I fucking hate it when professors call on you even though you didn’t raise your hand.

- Also they make Cary’s character so fucking creepy that the first time I saw this I he  assaulted Riley.

- “He totally went off on me because I asked why there were no women, or people of color, or queer people on the syllabus.” Yeah that is weird, most classics lists i’ve seen for colleges, even in 2019, at least have like Frankenstein or a book by one of the Bronte sisters. You have to be trying to not have a woman on the list. (Also: I don’t think they ever mentioned any of their majors? I feel like that would have been a good thing for character building, at least for Riley) 

- Yes, Riley does need to take back her agency and learn how to live her life again, but I don’t think getting up on stage to sing and dance about what is probably one of the most traumatic experiences her life, in front of the person who assualted her, is really the healthiest or safest way to do that. 

- Also, am I the only one that thinks Kris petitioning to get the bust removed from the main hall and that actually happening sounds weird? Maybe it’s just because I went to community college so I don’t know how larger, more established colleges work but that sounds like she was probably petitioning to get the name of the school changed and they just did the bust thing as a ‘compromise’. 

- What did they steal for Kris for the pledges to know that she had to be killed too? 

- Nate, dude, I know you have a migraine or whatever but just leave the room or something. 

- I feel like a lot of real world discussions about feminism and equal rights end up like the one that happened in the kitchen so I think maybe this needs to be said: We do need men in the world, however what we don’t need is bigots and abusers. Misogyny negatively effects all of us, you can talk about the issues men face without having to put down women. 

- I find it really odd that this movie claims to be a more ‘feminist’ version of Black Christmas (I have no idea if the director or writer intended that, maybe it was just a studio or marketing team thing) but they cut out the women’s reproductive rights subplot? How do you even do that? 

- I kind of wish this movie was a full on psychological thriller of Riley having to actually process her trauma instead of being a qausi-slasher movie. 

- Referencing the point above, I feel like the ending is in this weird limbo where it’s not weird enough to clearly be an allegory but it’s also not normal enough to be like, believable. 

- Was Riley’s smile fading at the end because one (or some of them) got out alive or because she realizes that she just destroyed half of the evidence that proves she and Kris didn’t kill all those people?

- Do I think this movie is misandrist propaganda? No. Do I think this movie is great and everyone should see  it? also No. I think its a movie that tried to do something good but fumbled and wound up in a no woman’s land of cringe dialogue and ham fisted morals. 

- also in case anyone was wondering, my favourite character was Jessie, she reminds me of one of my cousins. 

[heatwa-ves]

Still mad they didn't give klavier a cute gay little stage outfit for turnabout serenade. maya got a waitress outfit but klavier can't have a stage outfit he has to perform in his courtroom outfit.

[pillarsalt]

reminiscing ⛰️

[uncanny-tranny]

The whole "breasts shouldn't be politicized because the primary purpose of breasts is to feed babies!" can be a fine jumping-off point, but I really wish people thought deeper than that when we talk about the ways in which bodies are politicized and restricted.

Like, why's it that when we talk about breasts, they must have some Higher Purpose? It's true that breasts aren't inherently sexual, but they aren't valuable solely because they can potentially feed a baby. A human body doesn't have to serve a Higher Purpose in order for it to not be legislated against or policed, and I just wish people would remember it isn't always about babies, about other people, about anything else other than the people who have that body.

[an-android-in-a-tutu]

Been seeing a lot of takes like this and I appreciate where they're coming from, it's a good idea to be especially wary of excessive criticism aimed at things made by and for women but like. Yes you do see hot takes about Marvel, and the lego movie, and Batman films. To say this with your whole chest you have to spend zero time in leftist circles and pay zero attention to criticism of big blockbuster movies or just. Yknow. Lie to make your point.

More relevantly you see this specific thing happen whenever a big corporation makes flaccid listless gestures towards progressivism for the sake of their bottom line. Because the end result is always too toothless to have meaning for leftists while still being offensive enough to right wingers simply by virtue of having a lot of women or gay people or people of colour in it to have them frothing at the mouth. Sexist dudebros hating Barbie doesn't shield it from feminist critique, they were going to hate it whether it succeeded or failed but it can still fail.

And as nice as the big feminist speach in barbie is I have to wonder if its primary purpose is to actually uplift women so much as it is to shut down criticism of the movie and the brand. If even Barbie can't escape this criticism what hope is there for the rest of us, right? Except Barbie isn't a real woman, she's a plastic toy made in sweatshops by a brand attempting to rehabilitate a progressive image out of a long history of being criticized for its portrayal of women because that's what will boost sales. This movie is part of that, and pointing that out is important.

You don't need my or ayone's permission to enjoy the Barbie movie, if it was meaninful to you I'm genuinely happy for you, if you just thought it was fun and funny, great! But to act like the only reason to criticize the movie is sexism is glossing over some very real problems and like, straight up falling for the corporate propaganda. Yes every big blockbuster movie actually does get criticized bc they are political tools that serve the people in power. Not every big blockbuster is also being sold as a feminist masterpiece though, so you probably are gonna hear it more about Barbie. You'll also hear it more about Barbie bc people are hypercritical of women and that will motivate some critique, but to assume bad faith is to shut out conversations that need to happen.

[thisismisogynoir]

I love it when women hate men. I love it when women are allowed to vent to each other about how horrible and creepy men are. I love it when women form friendships with and prioritize each other over relationships with men(whether they're attracted to them or not). I love it when women put men dni in their bios and on their nude photos and on posts on their blogs. I love it when women refuse to mollycoddle and accommodate entitled male feelings with "but this doesn't mean I hate all men, I know a few men who are great, I love my father/sons/brothers/uncles/male cousins/guy friends" I love it when women complain about men WITHOUT "not all men" being a disclaimer. I love it when women avoid socializing with/refuse to be around/befriend/get close to men because they know men can't be trusted. I love it when women make "kill all men" jokes. I love it when women offer absolutely no concern or care for men's feelings and if their misandry offends men whatsoever because why should we, men are the oppressor class who have raped and killed and abused us and kept us as subjugated as second-class citizens for millennia, they regularly mistreat us and the women in their own marginalized communities still every single day and make this world so much harder and more awful for us to be in, and if we choose to hate them and not spare them any sympathy then so be it, and I don't just mean "men as a class" either, you can be a woman who doesn't want to have anything to do with any man on an individual basis and completely cuts off men from her personal life too and ykw I will love and fucking support you in that because men deserve absolutely NOTHING from us. If they're so tough and strong then they can handle it just like they can handle being lonely. If you are a woman who hates men, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A LESBIAN AND/OR A TRANS WOMAN, then just know that I love you. I love you, I support you, and you are safe here.

[nothingmatters-everythingmatters]

I can't stay away from tumblr because I like reading radfem and gender critical blogs (and also I live here unfortunately just by virtue of being a gay loser artist) and this is the most populated place for that kind of discussion, but holy shit it gets so bleak seeing just how easily radfems are strawmanned and how the most popular posts on this website are still so deeply entrenched in very cognitively dissonant thought built on misogyny and refuses to engage with any kind of opposition or critique.

I believe in healthy discourse and discussion! I want to hear people's arguments and insights and learn why people believe certain things! but one (very large, very popular) ideological side of this website is so fundamentally incurious and hostile towards changing their minds at all, and there's just such a lack of what could be a really productive public forum where feminist and progressive thought could be freely discussed, this being a women-dominated and same-sex attraction dominated website and all. especially because it's already so difficult to discuss those kinds of things in real life as the majority of people don't really care or relate to any of it.

I really wish I could just log off forever sometimes and never have to think about this again. alas, I quite like to think, and the internet is still the best way to find the community and the perspectives which I seek. born to participate in community and discussion of theory, forced to gaze upon a field of strawmen alone (⌣_⌣”)

[dhaaruni]

All my homies hate pro-natalism

[cordycepsfem]

So my girlfriend and I went to our local Pride event today, one that I’ve written about previously here.

I did not want to go. This is because I am new-task-avoidant, and Pride was on one day of my usually tightly-hoarded weekend. But she asked that I go and meet some of her friends from her volunteering group so I said sure.

Meeting her friends was great - they’re fun and welcoming people from a variety of backgrounds, and I’m glad we did that. I hope we can spend time with them again soon.

Then we go out to the actual festival part. It is loud. There are people everywhere. This is unsurprising because it is a pride event in a major city. As people we are not fond of loud, crowded events… but we made the effort to get here so we’re going to go through it.

So we start walking.

As we make our way through the crowds I realize that the two of us are some of the more conservative-looking individuals there. We’re in T-shirts, shorts, baseball caps, functional shoes. There are many, many people in what we on here are all familiar with as “queer” costuming - it’s loud, it’s ugly, and it’s adorned with pins and stickers demanding attention. Many people have giant flags around their necks.

We see booths with obviously female individuals selling merchandise emblazoned with “f*ggot” doing a robust business. Lots of apparel and accessories that scream “I have an identity and I’m here to make it your problem!!” One booth has a pin showing a mastectomy-scarred chest reading “the no-titty committee” which causes me to let out a sad noise, because sure enough I’ve seen at least ten individuals with bare chests and some awful mastectomy scars wandering around. Some have glitter or fancy tape adoring their scars. Others have very obvious “dog ears” which look sloppy and painful.

(Note: I am not saying that having scars is awful. I am saying that the way the incisions were made was imprecise, leaving scars that are larger and that look worse as compared to, like, an actually good surgeon performing a regulated procedure with a standardized course, and not a “gender medicine professional.” This is obviously my own bias from doing research and from seeing others “in the wild” and should only be taken as my opinion. I have plenty of scars; the surgical ones all look clean and well-executed. These did not.)

We keep walking. There were at least two furry booths. Lots of people in puppy masks. Plenty of trans-focused groups.

We buy a few things at some of the more relevant booths and I stop to talk to one group about a job. My girlfriend says she’s ready to go, so we cut around the rest of the park and head for a nearby bookstore.

As we’re walking she takes my hand. “That pride wasn’t for us.”

“No.”

“I don’t know who it was for, but it wasn’t for us.”

I said “I told you so” in the kindest of voices but it was really just sad. This event and so many others happening this month are no longer for actual LGBT people. They are a celebration of the commodification of “queer” identity. Were there some booths there with people doing good work for those in our communities? Yes, without a doubt. But was there a bigger contingent of people there to give a “fuck you” to the world? Yep.

The first Pride events were to show straight people that LGBT people were not sexual deviants. Now the sexual deviants have booths at the Pride events.

I would just like a lesbian event. Just women. I’m willing to start it and run it. Girlfriend was so excited to go to Pride, and I think she left more disappointed than anything else. There are no longer a lot of “normies” at Pride. They have to be somewhere, so where?

[annabelle--cane]

do you know how fucking mad it makes me that the hilltop hole in reality and the panopticon tower can feasibly be read as yonic and phallic symbols of power. can you understand the level of rage I feel.

[foxoftheasterisk]

so there's this problem where people use "girl" to refer to adult women all the time

the reason, of course, being that "girl" is casual in a way "woman" will never be

it doesn't happen with guys because. there's the word "guy" for them.

ALL THAT IN MIND,

we need to repopularize the word "gal"

[marzipanandminutiae]

"oh wow I'm going to miss this part of Boston so much. I've lived here for eight years! I hope moving to a different neighborhood isn't a mistake!" I think to myself, walking down tree-lined streets home from the train

"there's someone coming to see the room tonight!" says my landlady- who, if anyone's wondering, is an elderly Japanese woman. "big Black guy- kind of scary! like Existing Housemate!"

(Existing Housemate is indeed a tall, muscular Black man. he collects vintage comics and listens to Hustle CultureTM podcasts. the scariest thing he's ever done, in my experience, is leave boiling water unattended on the stove for long periods of time)

my decision to move out is strengthened five hundred-fold

[uncanny-tranny]

This might be a half-baked theory, but I wonder how much of the "think of the children!!" ideals that are almost... aimed at women rely on the idea of women as Forever Children.

What I notice is that a lot of these ideas of corruption in youth are feminized in a way that evokes motherhood, but I also notice that many people blur the lines between women or anybody forced into or expected to be women and children so that they are as one.

[ballpitwitch]

Keanu Reeves performing at Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach, CA - August 10, 2023