June 2013
“Suppose a man makes unwanted social advances to a woman in, let’s say, a restaurant or theatre, and she eventually has to tell him loudly or angrily to get lost. She is the one who will be perceived as rude, hostile, aggressive, and obnoxious. His verbal aggression and invasiveness are accepted and expected; her rudeness (or mere curtness) in getting rid of him is noticed and condemned. One of our great myths is that a “real lady” can and should handle any difficulty, defuse any assault, without ever raising her voice or losing her manners. Female rudeness or violence in resistance to male aggression has often been taken to prove that the woman was not a lady in the first place, and therefore deserved no respect from the aggressor or sympathy from others.”
—D.A. Clarke, “A Woman With a Sword” (via ellielamothe)
“Every year white people add 100 years to how long ago slavery was. I’ve heard educated white people say, ‘slavery was 400 years ago.’ No it very wasn’t. It was 140 years ago…that’s two 70-year-old ladies living and dying back to back. That’s how recently you could buy a guy.”
—
Louis C.K. (via 30thcenturyboy)
Sylvester Magee, the (probable) last American born into slavery died in 1971.
The last living child of former American slaves, Mississippi Winn, died in 2010.
Slavery in the territory that is now the United States lasted more than 330 years. We will be 330 years removed from slavery in the year 2195.
(via fishingboatproceeds)
“
The report finds that between 2001 and 2010, there were over 8 million marijuana arrests in the United States, 88% of which were for possession. Marijuana arrests have increased between 2001 and 2010 and now account for over half [52%] of all drug arrests in the United States, and marijuana possession arrests account for nearly half [46%] of all drug arrests. In 2010, there was one marijuana arrest every 37 seconds, and states spent combined over $3.6 billion enforcing marijuana possession laws.
The report also finds that, on average, a black person is 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than a white person, even though blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates. Such racial disparities in marijuana possession arrests exist in all regions of the country, in counties large and small, urban and rural, wealthy and poor, with large and small black populations.
” —From the ACLU’s excellent new report The War on Marijuana in Black and White (via prettayprettaygood)If one more person points out with disdain the fact that I’m taller than my boyfriend I’m going to explode.
Hey everyone, here’s a tip: By telling a woman that she’s in anyway physically too big to be with a particular man you’re being patriarchal. Period the end that’s it.
The notion that a woman HAS to be smaller than her male significant other is really really sexist.
Stop.
when you find a shirt you really like and wear it a couple times and it starts doing
the thing
These are called pills. You can remove them with a shaving razor. Be gentle with delicate fabrics!
WHAT
My mind decided to read “These are called pills” as “There are called caterpillars” so I tried to make sense of that and actually thought it’s a good name until I read what they’re really called. Then I felt dumb.
“when your little girl
asks you if she’s pretty
your heart will drop like a wineglass
on the hardwood floor
part of you will want to say
of course you are, don’t ever question it
and the other part
the part that is clawing at
you
will want to grab her by her shoulders
look straight into the wells of
her eyes until they echo back to you
and say
you do not have to be if you don’t want to
it is not your job
both with feel right
one will feel better
she will only understand the first
when she wants to cut her hair off
or wear her brother’s clothes
you will feel the words in your
mouth like marbles
you do not have to be pretty if you don’t want to
it is not your job” —it is not your job | Caitlyn Siehl (via faintestglance)
asks you if she’s pretty
your heart will drop like a wineglass
on the hardwood floor
part of you will want to say
of course you are, don’t ever question it
and the other part
the part that is clawing at
you
will want to grab her by her shoulders
look straight into the wells of
her eyes until they echo back to you
and say
you do not have to be if you don’t want to
it is not your job
both with feel right
one will feel better
she will only understand the first
when she wants to cut her hair off
or wear her brother’s clothes
you will feel the words in your
mouth like marbles
you do not have to be pretty if you don’t want to
it is not your job” —it is not your job | Caitlyn Siehl (via faintestglance)
Academic Men Explain Things to Me: Thank goodness you enlightened me! →
mansplained.tumblr.com
Today an aquaintance said that he would teach his sons to treat women like goddesses. I told him that women aren’t goddesses but just your regular run of the mill people with flaws and antics and histories. He then said that no “lady” ever has a true flaw and proceeded to explain to me what life…
Mansplained manicure
Strange Man: “You bite your nails.”
Me: “What?”
Him: “I’m really observant, and I notice little things like how short your nails are.”
Me: “I don’t bite my nails.”
Him: “You don’t have to be defensive. It’s cute.”
Me: “I’m not being defensive. I don’t bite my nails.”
Him: “It’s not a bad thing. It just means you’re sensitive and thoughtful.”
Me: *sigh* “I’m a professional pianist. I cut my nails every other day so they don’t click on the keyboard.”
Him: “Hey, you don’t need to make excuses. I said I think nail-biting is cute. In fact, can I get your phone number?”
Me: “No.”
All You Need to Know About Irrational “Self-Defense” Laws in Three Pictures
That’s Ezekiel Gilbert. He was acquitted yesterday in the murder of Lenora Ivie Frago, who had taken $150 from Gilbert for sex and then refused to have sex with him or give him the money back. So he shot her, not wanting to kill her (and it did take her a few months to die). But because Texas allows people to use deadly force in order to retrieve stolen property (and because the sex did not occur, despite prostitution being illegal, the money was considered stolen), Gilbert, for lack of a better phrase, got off.
That’s Ralph Wald. He was acquitted last week for the murder of Walter Conley. Conley had been in the middle of having sex with Wald’s wife, so, like any reasonable person, Wald claimed that he assumed his wife was being raped and shot Conley dead. His defense was Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which allows anyone who believes that he or she is facing danger in his or her home to use deadly force. Wald said his wife was in danger, so he shot first and asked questions later. Oh, wait, actually he didn’t do that last part. He told police he was glad the guy was dead.
That’s Marissa Alexander. Last year, in Jacksonville, Florida, she was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a shot in the air to warn her husband, Rico Gray, to back off her. He had been arrested previously for domestic violence against her, beating her when she was pregnant, and on that day in 2010, he “approached her in a rage” when Alexander drove up to their house to get clothes. She was trying to move out and get away from Gray. Before she fired the shot, he had chased her through the house, broken down a door to get at her, and cornered her in the garage. The judge said she should have fled instead of firing twice into the air. At trial, her Stand Your Ground defense was rejected because the jury did not believe she faced imminent danger. She was convicted of aggravated assault and given the mandatory sentence. She is still in prison.
Look at the pictures. Here’s your homework assignment. See if you can figure it out: What is different about Alexander?And on Monday, 06.10.2013 a white man who profiled, stalked and murdered an unarmed 17yr old black male will go on trail asserting the defense that it was he who was threatened by someone armed with skittles and iced tea
Tell me again about how post-racial America is and how there’s no war on women, particularly those of color
Oh yeah, and let’s don’t forget: SCOTUS appears to be ready to repeal Affirmative Action… because ~*equality*~
You’re living, you occupy space, and you have mass.
You know what that means?
You matter
this is the most inspirational pun i have ever seen
Academic Men Explain Things to Me: Screwdrivers are clearly a Man Tool →
mansplained.tumblr.com
About a year ago, my apartment window was broken, so I called the building’s maintenance worker to fix it. While he fixed it, he showed me how he did it, saying the entire time “Your husband can just do this himself…” “If your husband has a screwdriver he can push this little thing here back…