emphasis pronoun
January 2011
52 posts
Bitch: Beyond the Panel: An interview with Dorothy Gambrell of Cat and Girl →
bitchmagazine.org
Check out my first interview in my webcomics series for Bitch!
December 2010
1 post
radical possibilities, babe: If you could reblog this, →
lipsbetweenthehips.tumblr.com
Phylicia Barnes went missing two days ago.
I don’t know all of the details because I don’t personally know her but one of my friends is really upset over it and any kind of help would be really appreciated.
She lives around the Monroe/Charlotte NC area, but she has family in Atlanta, Georgia so she could really be anywhere.
I never reblog these because they’re always on the other side of the country, but Charlotte is right by Rock Hill, so watch out and reblog.
ETA from nutresex:
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
A 16-year-old girl from Monroe
Barnes was last seen wearing a navy blue pea coat with a hood, turquoise thermal shirt, blue jeans, white slippers or boots and a caramel colored purse.
Barnes was visiting her two sisters in Baltimore when she disappeared near Eberle Drive around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.Anyone with information about Barnes should call Baltimore police at 443-984-7385.
Read more:http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/30/1945029/baltimore-police-search-for-missing.html#ixzz19f06LuYcNovember 2010
1 post
October 2010
41 posts
An apology to Helen G for a terrible thing I did.
Yesterday I fucked up big-time.
I identified Helen G of bird of paradox as a cis woman with a long history of appropriating trans experiences, both in this space and at my main blog. This is an act of erasure and verbal violence against a trans woman who does not need to be shit over any more. It places me on the level of many others that I have hypocritically taken to task for their crimes against trans women - even worse.
It could have been easily avoided, but I was not careful enough in my writing and reporting. It continues the cis feminist tradition of centering cis women in discussion of trans issues, and appropriating and erasing the work and words of trans women without credit or thought.
I furthered this hateful act by not taking my hurtful actions seriously enough and immediately apologizing and taking responsibility. I did not realize how grave my mistake was until I read her post this morning. Clearly, I am not qualified to be writing about trans women if I am capable of such violence and callousness.
I apologize without reservations to Helen G and any and all others who were hurt by this unforgivable and appropriative act. I have a lot of learning and listening to do, so per her request, I will be silent on trans issues for a while.
Thanks and apologies also to Kinsey, who helped me to understand and work through this in a way that stole her spoons. She’s a good friend, and deserves better.
Here is the link to Helen’s explanation of why my actions were so harmful.
Deeply Problematic | Stacy Blahnik killed; Philadelphia Daily News reduces her to trans status and beauty →
deeplyproblematic.com
Uh Helen Boyd’s at engender. And cis. And a prat (this doesn’t not follow from the first, but I thought I’d mention it cos she gets right on my tits ). Helen G’s the QT blogger, and amazing.
Blahnik’s life is not worth covering to reporters, and her gender is exploited for shock value. Farr, aided by the police report, focuses not on Blahnik’s death, not on the circumstances of her case, not on her life and time, but instead upon the womanhood that she so clearly views as questionable. This is ground in with the very last line, which misgenders and trivializes a life lost: “‘Whatever she was - transvestite, man, woman - she didn’t deserve to die like that,’ one man said.”
Blahnik was a positive influence in the lives of many: her neighbors, her boyfriend, the people she worked with and for. She should be mourned and remembered for her life well lived: her good work, her relationships with her loved ones, and her considerable contributions to her community.See also Helen Boyd’s and Monica Roberts’ coverage.
Whoa, really sorry about that. Thanks for the heads-up, correcting all now.
Deeply Problematic | Stacy Blahnik killed; Philadelphia Daily News reduces her to trans status and beauty →
deeplyproblematic.com
Blahnik’s life is not worth covering to reporters, and her gender is exploited for shock value. Farr, aided by the police report, focuses not on Blahnik’s death, not on the circumstances of her case, not on her life and time, but instead upon the womanhood that she so clearly views as questionable. This is ground in with the very last line, which misgenders and trivializes a life lost: “‘Whatever she was - transvestite, man, woman - she didn’t deserve to die like that,’ one man said.”
Blahnik was a positive influence in the lives of many: her neighbors, her boyfriend, the people she worked with and for. She should be mourned and remembered for her life well lived: her good work, her relationships with her loved ones, and her considerable contributions to her community.
See also Helen G’s* and Monica Roberts’ coverage.
*originally mis-identified as Helen Boyd, apologies and thanks to An Army of Rabbits for the correction.
Deeply Problematic | Turkish women attacked at third European Transgender Council; police harrass, degender victims →
deeplyproblematic.com
Women around the world are hassled, violated, raped, and murdered, and that hatred is intensified if they are trans. When they are also a member of a marginalized nationality, they are even more vulnerable to the violent agents of the kyriarchy. And like many marginalized people, the police offer no recourse but instead another avenue of victimization. Organizations like Transgender Europe and the brave activists who populate them are vital to dismantling the global system of racism and cissupremacy that endorses and encourages such treatment.
In Which We Pause To Discuss "Fair Game"
You know, if you enjoy being mean on the Internet sometimes — and I sure do! — it’s important to have a rigorous ethical code, concerning your targets. If you pick on folks who are too low-profile, too inexperienced, too ill-equipped to defend themselves, or simply too clueless, you run the risk of becoming a bully. And nobody wants to be a bully. But how do we decide that it’s okay to pick on someone? How do we avoid aiming rocket launchers at squirrels? Or some other metaphor for inappropriate-force-applied-to-unworthy-or-undeserving-target-ish-stuff? How do we, in other words, define “fair game?”
2. Be well read - Twilight and Harry Potter are not the kind of literature guys will want to discuss over dinner. Check out books by C.S. Lewis, Stephen Covey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Gray, Seth Godin, Ayn Rand, or Chuck Palahniuk. Yes, guys that read books by these authors will probably be the ones that in five years won’t be swilling beer on the couch watching football with their buddies all day sunday while you ‘tend to the kids’ or are cleaning all day.
That’s how.
OH MY GOD THIS WHOLE THING IS PATRIARCHAL GOLD. This dude, whoever he is, is SO INVESTED in the idea that women live to meet the confounding standards of the male gaze.
Some of my favorite other lines:
Yes, guys will look at your (tight) pants with “love, cute, diva, pink, and sweet”, but few will think it is “cute” or view you as a “diva”. Seriously.
Every day when I get dressed, I wonder, “how can I best make [fella] think I am a ‘diva’? These pajama pants with clouds on them that I have had for a decade will surely do the trick!”
Also, eliminate saying ‘like’ in front of words. People aren’t ‘like’ going somewhere, and they aren’t ‘like’ mad. They are simply ‘going’ somewhere or ‘mad’.
Like, whatever.
When guys see pictures of girls with that drunk baby oil sheen on their faces, they don’t see ‘future wife’, they see easy.
Because what I really want is for some guy I barely know is to look at me and IMMEDIATELY “imprint” on me (as the kids might say).
Good guys (read that again) don’t expect a size 2 (NO, they don’t) but in a battle between two women that use my previous nine suggestions, the skinnier one will probably win. Guys have the same battle but its with the size of our wallets, so don’t think it is one sided.
Most fat women (read that again) are not idealized in pop culture (NO, they’re not), but in doing battle with a skinnier woman who equally adheres to arbitrary standards, the one with the better left hook/bazooka/biting wit will probably win.
And I’ll just note, before Dad-isms decides that I’m just bitter and too lazy to get a good guy, that my fat ass has had a lovely fella for years. While biting my nails, yelling about Harry Potter, living in sweatpants, and putting tons of drunk pictures of myself up on Facebook all the way.
Deeply Problematic | Institutionalized racism on the court and in the classroom at Mullen High School →
deeplyproblematic.com
Last February, spectators chanted racist slurs at black players in a game between home team Mullen High School and opponents Overland. These slurs were not isolated and they were not stopped; officials allowed this harassment to continue throughout the game. No disciplinary action was taken against the students and parents who participated in this hateful cheering.
Why am I writing about this, a year and a half later? This is, to be sure, an awful act motivated by discrimination and hate. But such instances are infinite - why report on it now?
The admission of this action endorsed and grew an environment in which acts of systematic and individual racism are permitted and encouraged by race-privileged figures of authority. Recently, one of Mullen’s most popular teachers, Timothy Thornton, was fired for a persistent pattern of racism after student Tyler Brown reported him to officials. According to students and confirmed by his own admission, he:
- told racist jokes
- used the n word as a slur, without critical context
- broadcast his obsession with the KKK to his students
- and just in case you thought that it was just talk, he bragged about giving students of color lower grades
There’s more to this story. Click the link to read about it.
Cause I'm too lazy to look for myself...
…does anyone know of some good Fatshion blogs to follow? Because I very much enjoy seeing clothes that, you know, I could possibly wear.
(And, yes, I will hunt around on my own, just if one of you knows something off the top of your head, that would be cool. Thanks.)
My favorite favorite favorite is Definatalie.com. LOVE HER, gorgeous art and a gorgeous woman.
I also love fatshionable.com, which has terrific photography and a STUNNING lady at the helm.
Weddings and Accessibility – Your Wedding is NOT Just About YOU →
smallstrokesbigoaks.com
Today, as I was perusing Tumblr, I came across this gem of an article all about a bride who asked her sister, who happens to need a wheelchair, to be a bridesmaid but then did not…
“And I realised that there were times, during my depressive episodes, when I was crazy, when the chemistry in my brain simply wouldn’t allow me to think in the way I had previously considered “normal”. Yet, I also found that the use of the terms “crazy” and “insane” in general discourse was hugely comforting to me. Rather than an appropriation of my experience, I found that the way these words were used made me feel like my crazy times weren’t something I needed to keep away in a little box — they were simply part of a world that doesn’t always make sense, that doesn’t always operate in a neat, well-ordered way.”
—Beppie, Intersectionality and Privilege: Addressing the Squishy Bits
