Pretty much just nerding out through comics, progressive politics and activism, queerity, and various fandoms. Currently heavy on the superheroes, though you should see plenty Tolkien, A:tLA, Harry Potter, and anything Whedon.
For my blog focusing on the Middle East and religion, check out zaatarwitholives.tumblr.com {block:AskEnabled}
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
I want nothing to do with a feminism that excludes trans* women. Go be a cisterhood without me.
135 notes and counting. Faith in world semi-restored ♥.
Feminism must be intersectional and inclusive or it is bullshit.
(Source: twoheadedshark)
me and naia had deep black girl talks about how white feminists interpret black female empowerment and she brought up all the back lash against beyonce’s “girls” song and it really just hit me why white women have such a hard time being empowered and recognizing that song as a feminist anthem.
really it’s because it’s not for them. the language that beyonce and black women like nicki minaj use to empower each other and lift one another up is not their language. they really don’t recognize it and can’t respect it because it isn’t in their tongue. when you hear a line like “i think i need a barber, none of these hos can fade me” that’s steeped in black culture and black language and black affirmations. it goes over their head. and what do people do with shit they can’t understand and what do white people do with shit they can’t relate to and aren’t invited to partake in? they criticize it. they find the biggest rock to throw and i really think that’s the biggest issue white feminists have with our black girl heroes like beyonce and nicki minaj.
they just don’t fucking get it and they feel excluded from these powerful anthems of black femaleness and the bitches are just mad about it.
it’s because white feminism is obsessed with equality with white males and male power, whereas black feminism presented by beyonce/nicki minaj/etc is about complete and total supremacy and the recognition of one’s self as the higher power. beyonce says no one can “fade her” aka “take her” aka she’s on top; she doesn’t have an equal, male or female. she’s not looking for equals. black feminism has more than just sexism to overcome; it’s racism and queerphobia and transphobia and other things that make it difficult to just be satisfied with gender equality. so why stop there? why not just make yourself supreme hero?
Can we just repeat that a few more times,
“The comments on any article about feminism justify feminism.”
“The comments on any article about feminism justify feminism.”
(Source: pinkwithlace)
ATTENTION MEN: Giving your seat up to a lady is a very small price to pay for running the world and maintaining a robust gender wage gap.
-Randy Isxaq Agadi
“When I give up my seat to a woman, I expect the repeal of the 19th Amendment in return.”
(via thearcanetheory)
Why I Am a Male Feminist
The word turns off a lot of men (insert snarky comment about man-hating feminazis here) — and women. But here’s why black men should …be embracing the “f” word.
Like most guys, I had bought into the stereotype that all feminists were white, lesbian, unattractive male bashers who hated all men. But after reading the work of these black feminists, I realized that this was far from the truth. After digging into their work, I came to really respect the intelligence, courage and honesty of these women.
Feminists did not hate men. In fact, they loved men. But just as my father had silenced my mother during their arguments to avoid hearing her gripes, men silenced feminists by belittling them in order to dodge hearing the truth about who we are.
I learned that feminists offered an important critique about a male-dominated society that routinely, and globally, treated women like second-class citizens. They spoke the truth, and even though I was a man, their truth spoke to me. Through feminism, I developed a language that helped me better articulate things that I had experienced growing up as a male.
Feminist writings about patriarchy, racism, capitalism and structural sexism resonated with me because I had witnessed firsthand the kind of male dominance they challenged. I saw it as a child in my home and perpetuated it as an adult. Their analysis of male culture and male behavior helped me put my father’s patriarchy into a much larger social context, and also helped me understand myself better.
I decided that I loved feminists and embraced feminism. Not only does feminism give woman a voice, but it also clears the way for men to free themselves from the stranglehold of traditional masculinity. When we hurt the women in our lives, we hurt ourselves, and we hurt our community, too.
~ Byron Hurt
Read his entire post: http://www.theroot.com/views/why-i-am-male-feminist?page=0%2C0Photo by Ellis Binks
White women and black men have it both ways. They can act as oppressor or be oppressed. Black men may be victimized by racism, but sexism allows them to act as exploiters and oppressors of women. White women may be victimized by sexism, but racism enabled them to act as exploiters and oppressors of black people. Both groups have led liberation movements that favor their interests and support the continued oppression of other groups. Black male sexism has undermined struggles to eradicate racism just as white female racism undermines feminist struggle. As long as these two groups or any group defines liberation as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others.
bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From margin to center (via ceedling)
WERK BELL
(via bpfoeva88)
(Source: orindamoraga)
Sisterhood cannot be assumed on the basis of gender; it must be forged in concrete historical and political practice and analysis.
Chandra Talpade Mohanty, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discources,” Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity.
The War on Terror – in Afghanistan, in particular – was justified in the name of protecting women’s rights. Of course, society in Afghanistan is riddled with institutional sexism – as every country in the world is, North and South, East and West. What is notable is that, in order to gee up support for an intervention, American and British governments had to paint a picture of serenity and equality at home. They had to convince not only their supporters, but a sizeable proportion of the liberal West, that ‘their’ sexism abroad was worse than ‘our’ sexism in the West. That a country which only made rape within marriage illegal in the early 90s is somehow in a privileged moral position. Judging by the politics of groups like FEMEN, they have done well. The fact is, Muslims are being vilified at home and abroad. As ever, a huge share of the burden is placed on women; on their dress and the way they bring up their children. Any decent feminist would recognise Muslim women bear a double burden of racism and sexism, and turn their focus towards supporting their struggle. They might, as a starting point, campaign against the increasing militarisation of East London, making it harder for Muslims to walk the streets without harassment. They might join Muslim women in asserting the right to wear hijab or niqab without fear of attack. Interestingly, activists in the Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan (RAWA) have mentioned that the burqa can sometimes make it easier for them to carry out political activity, as it can disguise political leaflets and hidden cameras. FEMEN could listen to these women, the women they are patronisingly attempting to ‘save’. We could ignore this, fetishise the freedom to show skin, and get our tits out on the bridge with FEMEN. Or we could build a women’s movement that opposes both conservative moralism and state-sanctioned Islamophobia, and show liberal feminists the true meaning of sisterhood. The choice lies with us.
That’s not what a feminist looks like - Elly Badcock (via samiracortez)
