One dead in minor fender bender, story at 11.
Fairy tales are NOT all straight white heroes and women sans agency! I swear! -
I re-blogged a picture of a little girl, dressed as Tiana, hugging the face actress who plays Tiana at one of the Disney Parks, and noted that everyone should have their princess. And a few people have now contacted me basically going “no, only straight white people can have princesses if you stick with the classics.”
Um.
No.
I am a folklorist, and it’s time for some Fun With Folklore.
First off, very few Princesses/fairy tale heroines who are going to become Princesses because that’s what you do are actually defined by specific physical attributes. You have Snow White, who yes, requires the “skin as white as snow” etc, but that’s to make her an alien beauty and justify the actions of her stepmother. She belongs to the Aarne-Thompson tale type 709, which is commonly referred to as “Snow White,” but which contains a hell of a lot more, including “Bella Venezia”, “Myrsina”, “Nourie Hadig” and “Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.” All those links will take you to Wikipedia. Click them. Note that NOT ONE of those girls is defined by her appearance, beyond “incredibly beautiful.” “Nourie Hadig” is Armenian in origin; you can bet that girl was not white as snow. (Note that I do not actually care for the “Nourie Hadig” 709 variant, due to using a Roma girl as the main adversary, but that’s another story.) Any story you want to tell is going to have variants where the heroines are never described! You know why?
BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TELLING THESE STORIES UNDERSTOOD THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN TO SEE THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR OF THE TALE.
There are fairy tales about people with disabilities, ranging from the physical (missing limbs, missing eyes, missing tongues) to the emotional (girls who cannot smile, boys who cannot feel fear). There are fairy tales that end in same-sex marriage. There’s even an excellent fairy tale about gender identity, “The Princess Who Became A Prince,” in which our hero has always felt he was a boy, but tried to be a dutiful daughter, until a dragon stole a neighbor princess and he had to ride to rescue the girl in order to save the kingdom. One misaimed curse later, and wham, our new-minted prince is finally outwardly as he had been all along on the inside.
THIS IS JUST AS OLD AND TRUE AND SCHOLASTIC AS CINDERELLA AND THE OTHERS.
The “big fairy tales” of today are the ones that someone seized on as marketable. We have the power, as drivers of media, to say that we want more diversity. We want Princesses of every race, creed, and religion, and we have the folklore and fairy tales to make them real. We want our transgender Princess (although wow would the marketing be problematic). Saying “the classics” are 100% about straight white people reduces the past to a place where only straight whiteness existed, and where no other children ever needed stories. And that’s not what the past was.
Once upon a time has never stopped being right now.
(via evbelluche)
California Deputies Seize Phones from Witnesses After Beating Man to Death (5/10/13)
David Sal Silva, a 33-year-old father of four, died begging for his life, fighting up to nine law enforcement officers.
People who say they witnessed the incident as well as Silva’s family members described a scene in which deputies essentially were beating a helpless man to death. They were indignant that cellphone video had been taken away by deputies.
“My brother spent the last eight minutes of his life pleading, begging for his life,” said Christopher Silva, 31, brother of the dead man. He said he’s talked to witnesses but did not see the incident himself.
At about midnight, Ruben Ceballos, 19,was awakened by screams and loud banging noises outside his home. He said he ran to the left side of his house to find out who was causing the ruckus.
“When I got outside I saw two officers beating a man with batons and they were hitting his head so every time they would swing, I could hear the blows to his head,” Ceballos said.
Silva was on the ground screaming for help, but officers continued to beat him, Ceballos said.
After several minutes, Ceballos said, Silva stopped screaming and was no longer responsive.
(via sinidentidades)
Oh, wait. I forgot. Those people have actual problems.
I’m from a “third world country” and to add to that I’m from a very conservative predominantly Muslim country. I’m about to drop a BOMB SHELL on you, bro.
There are gay people. There are genderqueer people. There are trans* people. But they can’t be open about it for the most part because they may even be shunned by their own family. We are all products of our society and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with exploring yourself and your feelings and your identity.
If it’s safe and you can share it why the fuck not? Because if someone has the audacity to put a name to their identity then we can’t deal with poverty or racism?
No shut up.
Also here are some more fun facts:
- We have internet!
- We have sex!
- I had a pet cat!
- I was a specialized education teacher! (And I’m a woman! WHAT!)
- We had feminism!
- We had hardcore and punk and rap shows/Music scene!
- Cable TV!
- Parks and playgrounds!
- Medical care!
- Cell phones!
- ALL THIS AND MUCH MUCH MORE.
All this and I’m still worried about silly things like racism, sexism and cissexism! And I still think you’re ridiculous and have made absolutely zero points!
I’m sorry you think we’re too primitive to know about gender identity.
(via youcrashquims)
“Old Economy Steve”
mad as hell
My dad once told me that sometimes when he’d lose a job he’d have another one before he went home and I just…
WHAT IS THE FUCKING POINT OF THAT STORY. THAT IS NOT RELEVANT TO MY JOB HUNT. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A JOB FOR OVER A YEAR, DON’T TELL ME ABOUT HOW JOB HUNTING USED TO BE.
FUCK.
literally my father
This shit right here.
Two weeks ago I was told I was hired but I needed to complete a background check…I haven’t heard anything back and those fuckers said I was hired.
They told me that same shit at RICKYS
I don’t even know. I just want to scream.
(via fauxmosexualtranstrender)
I’ve always felt guilty for enjoying my pre operative state, as though I am some kind of falsely transgender male fetishist. Only heterosexual men fantasize about pre op trans women after all right? A woman with a cock is arousing for some reason, and I’ve felt guilt confusion and self doubt over this for years. On queer porn sites I see trans men enjoying their vaginas and nobody questions their gender. Is something wrong with me? I’m sorry for asking you, but maybe others experienced similar?
—Anonymous Ask
I hear you and know this is an issue many trans folks deal with. I will mention that there are trans guys who face judgment - both internal and external - about receiving front hole penetration, but you’re right to notice there is a different dynamic than with trans women.
A big reason for this is the disproportionate focus on trans women’s sexuality that psychologists and other gatekeepers have maintained over the past half century. Written right into the diagnostic criteria there have always been two diagnostic options for trans women — transsexual vs transvestite, true transexual vs secondary transexual, homosexual transexual vs autogynophile transexual. In each case, the primary distinction was focused on sexuality. For trans women, enjoying sexuality too much or in the wrong ways has been justifiable cause for denial of medical care. Trans men have to face gatekeepers too, but there is no equivalent diagnostic system.Of course this is all ridiculous and based on the notion that real women don’t desire sex. But this legacy affects all of us in the community. It has been so ingrained that many trans women take on this criteria as doctrine and enforce its rules upon others, deciding who is a real woman or not based on your level of sexual desire. And it is virtually impossible to go unscathed by this messaging. People may assume that I’m immune due to my advocacy and my work in porn, but before a scene I often think through what kinds of sex I’m willing to do based on how I think the rest of the community might react or how I’ll be judged.
More often than not, though, I choose to ignore judgment. I choose to move passed the impulse of shame. I choose to celebrate healthy sexuality, enjoyment, and connection in all its forms. I choose resistance. And I invite you to join me.
A comma splice walks into a bar, it has a drink and then leaves.
A question mark walks into a bar?
Two quotation marks “Walk into” a bar.
A gerund and an infinitive walk into a bar, drinking to drink.
The bar was walked into by a passive voice.
Three intransitive verbs walk into a bar. They sit. They drink. They leave.
(via a-p-r-i-l-23)
I couldn’t help myself.
hey look it got even BETTER
I CAN’T BREATHE SEND HELP
(via icouldfallmadlyinbedwithyou)
(Source: humancomputer)
knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit
wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad
That was deep
(Source: malfoysexslave, via chromatic-cherry)