ThePrettiestOne

This is what I was fucking talking about earlier.  THIS.  We’re happy to send more soldiers off to the next war, and to build costly warplans with costlier bugs to sell to the people who will be using them against us, but our own people, the ones who broke themselves believing our politicos’ promises?  Who the blind pig’s cankered, worm-eaten hams cares about homeless veterans, and veterans who need decent medical and psychiatric help, not to mention clean places to live and job help?  What’s happening to the homeless who can’t find shelter in the current Polar Vortex, and the ones to come?

dunshua:

if u think teenage girls are crazed and hormonal and irrational you should see what happens when you tell a grown ass man “no”

“

Female-assigned intersex kids’ vaginal canal size is also assessed by doctors, to ensure that it’s long enough to fit a penis inside of it. Doctors might surgically construct or re-construct vaginas, which can result in a host of health problems and necessitate multiple, multiple surgeries. This is especially the case since most intersex kids have these surgeries very young, and when their bodies grow into their adult forms, more surgeries are necessary to keep their vagina size in proportion. Non-surgical methods are also used to increase or maintain vaginal length by regularly using medical dildos to stretch the vagina over months and years. (It’s kind of like braces for your vagina, but much, much worse.) Just like there are no standards for how long a clitoris “can” be before it’s classified as a penis, there aren’t absolute standards as to how long a vagina is for it to be of “normal” length.

I had a dilation procedure performed for almost every exam I had with intersex doctors from the time I was 8 until I was 16, so that they could check how long my vagina was as I grew. I absolutely hated these procedures. I mean, imagine a man as old as your father or your grandfather, who you don’t know, inserting a medical dildo into you each time you saw him, knowing that you can’t question the doctor’s orders and just accept that you have to undergo these uncomfortable procedures for your health. Imagine a decade or so later, realizing that these procedures did nothing to track your health, and had everything to do with grown men feeling good about the fact that you could fuck some dude someday like a “normal girl”. That all those traumatizing procedures weren’t actually medically relevant at all, and it actually was within my right to refuse those examinations.

I didn’t know any of that at the time.

I also had no idea that I wouldn’t want to ultimately have the kind of sex they assumed I’d be having, adding yet another layer of this-was-totally-unnecessary/messed-up to my history.

Other kids shouldn’t have to go through this. Other adults shouldn’t have revelations some day far into the future that what was happening to them WASN’T okay, and their traumatic feelings ARE valid, and the whole system of how intersex people are conceptualized and “treated” IS entirely fucked.

And it’s gotta change. We’ve gotta change it.

”

-

—-Claudia at Autostraddle

I just read this article and was reminded once again how invisible the intersex community often is… we need to signal boost this shit to let people know that this kind of “medical treatment” is NOT okay.

(via bossybussy)

microaggressions:

Another installment of Brown in Kansas, a cartoon series by Steffany Brown. (Want to see more? That’s up to Steffany, but reblog anyway to show your support!)

justice4mikebrown:

#ViolenceWillNotBeTolerated: PART 1

(Part 2)

http://thedatingfeminist.tumblr.com/post/102627797894/misandry-mermaid-misssuzyvalentine:

misandry-mermaid:

misssuzyvalentine:

coveredinsnow-:

ilovemaydayparade69:

rubee:

"why dont you just give him a chance"

idk because im not physically or mentally attracted to him and ‘but he likes you’ or ‘but hes really nice’ isnt going to change the fact that im not interested

Damn, I don’t think women know how much that really hurts

I don’t understand this “you don’t know how much that hurts” stuff. Do men not remember rejecting women? Have they forgotten that they hold us to impossibly high standards of behavior and beauty? That our personality alone is not enough for most men. Us being a “nice person” isn’t what men list as their prime quality in a woman.

How come we’re rejected constantly, compared to each other, pitted against each other and pretty much just accept this and move on but the second we do that to a guy we’re friend zoning bitchs that are shallow and heartless.

Normally the men complaining about rejection would have no problem finding a lovely girlfriend if they’d just expand their idea of beauty.

If you’re not a stereotypical “hot guy” don’t expect to pull a stereotypical “hot chick”. It’s not every man’s right to have an extremely attractive girlfriend, it’s not your right to have any girlfriend. And if you wouldn’t date a woman based purely on her having a nice personality, why the fuck should any woman date you?

This is how you know that men are incapable of empathizing with women. When they say shit like “You don’t know how much it hurts to get rejected.”
It is a DIRECT, CLEAR implication that we don’t experience emotion or pain on the same level that they do.

That is some basic-ass misogyny and dehumanization and you should back away from any man that talks that way.

http://thedatingfeminist.tumblr.com/post/102633671644/actualginnyweasley-natnovna-i-was-14-and-i:

actualginnyweasley:

natnovna:

i was 14 and i was walking through a mall by myself at 12am after my shift at coldstone creamery lol and a bunch of men started whistling and meowing and getting really close to me and they kept asking me questions and i kept not answering until i didn’t know what else to do so i said “i’m only 14” and almost in unison they said “we don’t care” i was so fucking scared i didn’t know what to do and they kept talking about how i looked and how my body looked and what they would do i was on the verge of tears i was all alone in a huge mall i knew i couldn’t outrun them all i felt totally hopeless until a maintenance worker came up to all of us with a huge industrial broom in her hand, i thought she was going to yell at all of us for being in the mall after hours bc she probably thought we were all friends but instead she cursed all of them out in spanish, threatened to press a panic button on her belt and then proceeded to walk me to the basement garage and waited with me until my mom got there to pick me up she had a death grip on her cart the whole time and a face of steel she looked so strong and i just kept saying thank you and she kept saying not to thank her because she had to stop them.

that was the moment i realized women were the most important beings on this planet and we have to protect each other bc nobody else is going to, she didn’t even know me, we couldn’t even communicate that well because of the language barrier, she could have lost her job for waiting with me in the parking lot but she looked out for me when she didn’t have to, she had nothing to gain from it, i’m 21 now and i tell everyone this story even though it happened 7 years ago, what she did that night helped me form and shape lot of my beliefs early on. 

i was at a grocery store really late one night and some old guy kind of eyed me as i walked out of the store next to this other lady. She and I made eye contact and i knew she was scared too. we loaded up our groceries into our cars as fast as possible and I had way more bags than her so she got done faster than me. I panicked because i was sure she was going to leave so i just hurried faster, shaking a little, and then i noticed she sat in her car, watching me and making sure nobody came near. She waited not until all my groceries were loaded, or until my cart was put away, or until I got into my car. No, she didn’t drive away until I drove away. 

And that was the moment that I realized how much women need other women. That we can’t win this war without each other and we have to be looking out for each other, every second.

lassi rautiainen


lassi rautiainen


staffan widstrand


staffan widstrand


lassi rautiainen


susan brookes


lassi rautiainen

rocketslime:

nubbsgalore:

photos by lassi rautiainen, susan brookes and staffan widstrand of a rare friendship that developed between a female grey wolf and a male brown bear in northern finland.

notes lassi, “no one can know exactly why or how the young wolf and bear became friends, but i think that perhaps they were both alone when they were young and a bit unsure of how to survive alone. it seems to me that they feel safe being together.”

the photographers also note that the two share every meal together, bringing each other their kills (as seen in the third and fifth photos).

earbackwards armlessbear

newwavefeminism:

I like what this Army officer had to say about sexual harassment in the military.

geekerrific:

cyberteeth:

Chimamamda Ngozi Adiche, We Should All Be Feminists

The most powerful thing anyone has ever said to me: “You deserve to take up space.” 

alt=”" />

We've known for years that the FBI spied on Martin Luther King's personal life and sent him an anonymous letter in 1964 threatening to out him for his sexual indiscretions unless he killed himself in 34 days. Now we have an unredacted version of the notorious letter. Read the rest

bumblehazard:

micdotcom:

Incredible photo project reveals the wide diversity of Americans in uniform 

Do you know what America’s veterans look like?

There are approximately 21.8 million veterans in the United States, according to the census. But it can be difficult sometimes to see the diversity of faces that make up such an imposing statistic. Here are a few things we do know: Out of 21.8 million veterans, approximately 1.3 million of them are living uninsured, according to the Urban Institute, while according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 60,000 veterans are currently homeless sleeping on our streets. 

A new photo series called The Soldier Art Project aims to change this, capturing the humans who inhabit the uniforms in powerful and often poignant portraits.

Follow micdotcom

This in incredible.

This is fantastic.  Veterans and soldiers are human beings.  This country has a long career of treating them like shit.  They need medical care, many of them need psychiatric care, they need jobs and job support, they need housing, their families need counseling—they need proper thanks from a country that looks poised to plunge into more wars.

If you know someone who deals in veterans’ affairs in some way, or who works in a cafe where a homeless vet might go for a roll or coffee, talk with them.  If it’s the cafe and the vet’s having trouble coming up with cash for a cup of soup, why not ask if s/he can have it for free?  If you’re throwing out good food, why not separate it in boxes or bags separate from the crap so the homeless don’t get sicker? 

And if you know people who deal in veteran’s affairs, would you talk to them about taking more action for the people who get shot up because Congress wanted to get its war on?  Write your senators and representatives and the people on the Veterans’ Affairs and Armed Forces committees in the Senate and the House.  Demand more funding and better treatment for those who have served.

We can’t stop these warmongers from sending our people off to fight, it seems, though I wish we could get more Americans to try.  So let’s endeavor to help those who have served, and are at best being neglected, and at worst being given treatment that can be terms negligent to criminal.  Let’s help these mothers and fathers, sisters, brothers, and lovers.

“I’m tired of forgiving people that aren’t sorry for hurting me.”

-

No more forgiveness, fuck you. (via andro-saurus)

This.

(via niecormier)

“

There are no Jack Kerouacs or Holden Caulfields for girls. Literary girls don’t take road-trips to find themselves; they take trips to find men.

"Great" books, as defined by the Western canon, didn’t contain female protagonists I could admire. In fact, they barely contained female protagonists at all.

”

-

It’s Frustratingly Rare to Find a Novel About Women That’s Not About Love - Kelsey McKinney - The Atlantic (via okaywork)

MY FAVOURITE QUOTE I’ve been looking for it! I identify with this so much.

(via thevervaingirls)

lunarpuppy:

basically everyone is paying for police brutality except the police, they’re the ones getting paid

astonishing !!!

smartgirlsattheparty:

gowithgodsatan:

 Secret Origins #6: Wonder Woman

You tell him Wonder Woman! 

thebobblehat:

hello-missmayhem:

cptprocrastination:

doomhamster:

belcanta:

nikkidubs:

attentiondeficitaptitude:

belcanta:

Guaranteed basic income to every citizen, whether or not they are employed to ensure their survival and that they live in a dignified, humane way, preventing poverty, illness, homelessness, reducing crime, encouraging higher education and learning vocations as well as helping society become more prosperous as a whole. 

Wow. Forget raising the minimum wage. This is much much better idea.

The minimum wage could actually drop if we had basic income.

But Americans would never go for it. Miserably slogging through 12 hour days and having businesses open 24/7 is too engrained in our culture.

"BUT WHERE WILL THE GOVERNMENT GET THE MONEY?" screamed Joe Schmoe, slamming a meaty fist onto the table and getting mouth-froth all over the front of his greying tank top. "You libt*rds all think money grows on TREES!! HAHA!"

"But where will people get the incentive to work?!" Mindy Bindy cried, flapping her hands in front of her face. She’d had a fear of the unemployed lollygagging about ever since she was a child and her mother told her to be afraid of the unemployed lollygagging about. "You think people should get paid for nothing? I work hard for my money!”

"But who will serve me?" grumbled Marty McMoneybags. "Who will make me feel important? Who will do my laundry and cook my food and stand in front of me wearing a plastic smile while I take out all my stress—because I do have a lot of stress, you know, being this rich is stressful—on them?” He paused and straightened out the piles of hundred dollar bills on the desk in front of him, then raised his two watery, outraged eyes up to the Heavens. “Lord, if there are no poor people, how will I know that I’m rich??”

I laughed. This is perfect! Well said!

The thing is, while I’m sure you could scrape up a few people who’d be willing to just float by on a guaranteed minimum income? For most people the choice to work would be a no-brainer. “Hmmm. I can get by on 33k a year, or I can take that part time job and make 48k… enough to move to a better apartment, maybe take the family on vacation. Sold.” Hell, most people would want to work simply because it gives one a sense of dignity and something to do with one’s time. (Speaking as someone who’s been unemployed, on extended sick leave, etc. in her time, the boredom and sense of isolation that comes with not having a job is almost as bad as the humiliation of having to depend on other people for one’s survival.)

And with this system, part-time jobs and “non-skilled” jobs would be much more readily available because nobody would need to work two or three jobs just to stay afloat!

Which would ALSO mean that employers and customers couldn’t shamelessly exploit employees the way they can today, because if losing a job weren’t necessarily a financial disaster, more people would be willing to walk out on jobs where they weren’t being treated with dignity.

And if this also applies to students (and it should) then student loans would become much less of a problem, and fewer people would flunk out of school because of having to juggle studies and work.

Far fewer people would be forced to stay with abusive partners, parents or roommates because they couldn’t afford to move out.

And the thing is, all those people who suddenly had money? They’d be spending it. They’d be getting all the stuff they can’t afford now - new clothes, books, toys, locally-produced food, car repairs - and with each purchase money would flow BACK to the government, because VAT, also income tax.

The unemployed and/or disabled wouldn’t need special support any more - which would also mean the government could fire however many admins who are currently engaged in humiliating - *cough* making sure those people aren’t getting money they don’t deserve. Same for medical benefits and pensions. And I’m no legal scholar, but I somehow imagine less financial desperation would lead to less petty crime, and hence less need for police and security everywhere?

TL;DR Doomie thinks this is a good idea, laughs at those who protest.

reblogging for more top commentary

They tried something like this out in Canada as a sort of social experiment, called Mincome. What they found was that, on the whole, people continued to work about as much as they did before. Only new mothers and teenagers worked substantially less hours. 

But wait, there’s more. Because parents were spending just a little more time at home and involved with their families, test scores increased. Because teens didn’t have to work to support their families, drop-out rates decreased. Crime rates, hospital visits, psychiatric hospitalizations and domestic abuse rates all dropped, as well. More adults pursued higher education. Those who continued to work reported more job flexibility and more opportunity to choose employment they preferred.

Basically, now you can go prove to your asshole family members that society won’t collapse without poor people for you to feel better than.

PLEASE, AMERICA

Social mobility refers to likelihood that a person born in one social class will end up in another as an adult. A new study by Richard Reeves and Isabel Sawhill for the Brookings Institute offered a devastating picture of the possibilities for black youth. To summarize: most black children see downward mobility and are poorer as adults than they were as children.

More than half of black children born into the poorest 1/5th of households will remain there as adults. That’s only true for 36% of similarly-situated Americans overall. Poor black children, then, are less likely than Americans in general to be able to escape poverty.

Black children born into the middle class — literally the middle 5th of Americans as measured by household income — overwhelmingly see downward mobility. 16% will remain somewhere in the middle, 14% will be richer than their parents, and a whopping 69% will end up less economically stable. In comparison, only 38% of Americans, overall, born into the middle 5th see a decline in their status as adults.

As you may have noticed from the hole in the far right of the chart, the researchers didn’t have enough cases to even estimate outcomes for blacks born rich.

Below is the data for whites (first) and all Americans (second) for comparison:

Here’s the first author, Richard Reeves, explaining social mobility, using Legos of course:

H/t Joe Feagin.

Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College and the co-author of Gender: Ideas, Interactions, Institutions. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

(View original at http://thesocietypages.org/socimages)

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Black Youth Excellence of the Day: Meet 5-Year-Old Louisiana Native Anala Beevers, A Kid With An IQ of 145

New Orleans native Anala Beevers possesses an IQ over 145 at just five years old. Her natural genius helped her learn the alphabet at just four months old. “When she was born I’d say the ABCs to her and she would mouth the ABCs along with me,” says Anala’s mother Sabrina Beevers. “Then by 10 months old she could identify and point to each letter when I’d say it, before she could even talk.”

By 18 months Anala was reciting numbers in both Spanish and English. By her fifth birthday – which she celebrated this month—she could recite the name of every North American state on the map, plus every capital. Recent YouTube clips show Anala also naming the capitals of countries worldwide.

“We finally had to look at her and ask ‘Is this normal for a baby to do?’” says her father Landon Beevers.

When the Beevers finally put Anala together with other kids, the couple could really tell their daughter was strikingly different. So this year Anala Beevers skipped pre-K and was enrolled directly into Kindergarten at the Marrero Academy for Advanced Studies in Jefferson Parish. “They do have advanced study classes there,” says Landon, who expresses worry about Anala’s limited local education choices going forward. ”But her current school is not challenging enough for her; their resources are limited. We don’t know what we’ll do next for her, school-wise.”

At home though, “We are doing everything we can to maximize her potential. Anything she wants to explore we put it out there for her,” says her father, who plans to provide Anala with as normal a childhood as a genius can have. “We don’t have to push her or make her do anything, we don’t even make her sit down and read books,” he says, “she comes to us with all of that, tells us what she wants to learn.”

Though he has joked that his daughter “needs a reality show,” Landon claims he’s turned down “The Today Show” and “Good Morning America” to keep his little one’s life as simple as possible. Anala has nonetheless been written about extensively. In 2013, Landon Beevers told People magazine that his daughter’s smarts make her harder to deal with. Anala has publicly claimed she’s smarter than her parents (they publicly agreed) and even corrects their grammar.

“She’s more aware, her mind works faster, and she doesn’t just take things at face value,” says Landon. “She’s always gonna look deeper into it, which means she does challenge us a lot. We talk to her and respond to her like she’s an adult, and we get in a debate with her and then realize we’re debating a four-year-old! But the thing is, her arguments are valid – juvenile but intelligent.”

“Like the other day,” her mother recalls, “she asked why blue soap makes white bubbles—things that never crossed our minds.”

Beevers was recently invited to become one of 2,800 MENSA members under the age of 18 (the current youngest being 2 years old). The exclusive high-IQ club accepts only those who score at the 98th percentile on an IQ test – whereas young Alana Beevers placed in the 99th percentile range, putting her intelligence in the top one percent of all humanity.

Her parents say little Anala always has a new pursuit. The little genius is currently studying every book she can about volcanoes and astronomy; she can name planets and dinosaurs. “Though most recently now she’s on an artistic tip,” says her father. “She’s doing a lot of creative things right now. But it’s never just one thing. She’s a multi-tasker. Her mind never stops.”

Source: The Louisiana Weekly

Oooooof, I hope that little girl gets to spend some time with kids who are her own emotional age, not just adults who “forget” they’re talking to a 4-year-old.

Many of us believe that money brings out our calculating sides, inspiring decisions that are motivated by rational self-interest. But new evidence suggests that money does the opposite, leading to druglike mental states and irrational choices that are anything but sound.

Read more...

whitegirlsaintshit:

black—lamb:

stripperina:

ryden-gg:

bankruptspermbank:

ryden-gg:

some helpful reminders about sex workers ♥

If sex workers aren’t selling their bodies, what are they selling?

their time, the sexual experience that they’re having/creating, and the products that they create.

After we are finished providing someone with our services, we still have our bodies. Patriarchy says that when a woman has sex, all or part of her body belongs to the person she slept with. We say that’s bullshit. Our bodies now and forever belong to us and us alone.

Been there.

surprisebitch:

something-about-taylor:

all-too-well:

have we reached it………? have we reached the promised land?

it’s beautiful

finally

odinsblog:

npmp13:

203y:

odinsblog:

Republicans…

god fucking help us all

American politicians in general**

NOPE. I gotta call bullshit on your blithe “both sides" implication

Believe me, absolutely no one, and I mean no one, is calling Democrats perfect little angels—most certainly not the GOP-lite conservadems™ in mostly red states—but if you want to suggest that ALL politicians “generally” say such lunacy, specifically like that depicted above, then you gotta back that shit up and show me some concrete, contemporary examples (and no, Fox News, Breitbart and any other similar rightwing “news” sites don’t count)

Far right Republican politicians seem to be allergic to even the most basic of facts and they’re ridiculously anti-science…it’s almost like they’re legally required to say the most asinine, untrue shit they can think of whenever they’re within three feet of a mic

 FOR EXAMPLE:

Michele Bachmann (R-IA): The founding fathers worked tirelessly on the constitution until slavery was no more 

FOR EXAMPLE:

Joni Ernst (R-IA): We have an apathetic president, Obama is just standing back and letting things happen, he is reactive rather than proactive. With Ebola, he’s been very hands off

reporter: What should he have done about Ebola? One person in America has Ebola.

Joni Ernst: OK, you’re the press and you’re giving me your “opinion”

Btw: that wasn’t an “opinion,” as only one person in America had it at the time (and a grand total of two people have contracted Ebola in the U.S.)

AND ON RAPE:

Clayton Williams (R-TX): Rape is kinda like the weather. If it’s inevitable, relax and enjoy it

Paul Ryan (R-WI): Rape is just another method of conception

There’s tons more of examples like this and the ones depicted above, and 99.99% of the time, it’s a Republican saying such things 

It’s lazy thinking to engage in the false equivalence that “politicians in general” say such garbage. Accepting that blatant falsehood as fact only increases voter apathy, which in turn decreases voter turnout, which ultimately only helps Republicans

Anyone always blindly insisting that it’s ”both political parties” doing x, y, or z doesn’t show that they’re being fair & even handed, and it doesn’t show keen understanding of politics…it shows quite the opposite

If actual facts happen to demonstrate that one side is disproportionately saying and doing terrible, draconian things, then it isn’t your job to charge in and utter the magic words, “both sides” or otherwise suggest that both parties are doing it equally, in some misguided attempt at fairness or equality

SN: for those who still get liberalism confused with conservatism, don’t bother trying to catch a free derail here —you’re wrong

Look…the Wall Street/conservadem™ wing of the Democratic Party is getting further and further away from their core liberal, progressive tenants of economic populism & protecting the public commons, so there’s actually tons to legitimately criticize them for, but things like anti-sience, climate-change denying and pro-rapist sentiments are beliefs that neither “all politicians” nor “both sides” have in equal amounts. Those are all prerequisite traits for Republican politicians. And that’s a fact

““Crazy” is one of the five deadly words guys use to shame women into compliance. The others: Fat. Ugly. Slutty. Bitchy. They sum up the supposedly worst things a woman can be.
What we really mean by “crazy” is: “She was upset, and I didn’t want her to be.””

- Men Really Need to Stop Calling Women Crazy - Harris O’Malley (via misandry-mermaid)

swanjolras:

gosh but like we spent hundreds of years looking up at the stars and wondering “is there anybody out there” and hoping and guessing and imagining

because we as a species were so lonely and we wanted friends so bad, we wanted to meet other species and we wanted to talk to them and we wanted to learn from them and to stop being the only people in the universe

and we started realizing that things were maybe not going so good for us— we got scared that we were going to blow each other up, we got scared that we were going to break our planet permanently, we got scared that in a hundred years we were all going to be dead and gone and even if there were other people out there, we’d never get to meet them

and then

we built robots?

and we gave them names and we gave them brains made out of silicon and we pretended they were people and we told them hey you wanna go exploring, and of course they did, because we had made them in our own image

and maybe in a hundred years we won’t be around any more, maybe yeah the planet will be a mess and we’ll all be dead, and if other people come from the stars we won’t be around to meet them and say hi! how are you! we’re people, too! you’re not alone any more!, maybe we’ll be gone

but we built robots, who have beat-up hulls and metal brains, and who have names; and if the other people come and say, who were these people? what were they like?

the robots can say, when they made us, they called us discovery; they called us curiosity; they called us explorer; they called us spirit. they must have thought that was important.

and they told us to tell you hello.