276 Days

prostheticknowledge: Anish Kapoor in Berlin: ‘in short,...

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:24:31 +0100

Anish Kapoor in Berlin: ‘in short, Britain’s fucked’

Sad but true statement comparing Britain to Berlin on the arts - via The Guardian:

The British-based artist says the exhibition, entitled Kapoor in Berlin, is the best show he has yet put on, which may have much to do with the fact that he feels Germany demonstrates a huge degree of respect for the arts – in stark contrast to Britain.

“Germans have a rather healthy respect for the arts and artists,” he said, in an exclusive interview with the Guardian, adding that that attitude could “not be more different” from the British perspective.

“In Germany, it seems that the intellectual and aesthetic life are to be celebrated and are seen as part of a real and good education, whereas in Britain, traditionally – certainly since the Enlightenment – we’ve been afraid of anything intellectual, aesthetic, visual.”

These perspectives were reflected in the two countries’ drastically differing policies on financial support of the arts, he said.

“In the UK, while the arts are the second biggest sector after banking, they probably form less than one tenth of 1% of government spending. It’s completely scuzzy. The UK has two things, the arts and education, and both of them it pushes into the corner. It’s the hugest, hugest mistake. Why do British ministers meet anyone from the arts other than to cut them? Compared to Germany, Britain has got quite a long way to go there, frankly

“In short, Britain’s fucked.”

More Here

Mobile Mirrors: Manequins Covered in Mirror Shards by Lilibeth...

Sat, 18 May 2013 21:09:26 +0100

Mobile Mirrors: Manequins Covered in Mirror Shards by Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen

Studio? Who needs a studio when you have tarpaulin!…...

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:59:56 +0100

Studio? Who needs a studio when you have tarpaulin!… …
…. … :’(

“What did I say body? huh? I warned you, you fucked me...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:59:13 +0100

“What did I say body? huh? I warned you, you fucked me over so no more complaining, you’re getting drugged the shit out of till this degree show is finished. And you had better be improved by the time of my follow up appointment next week, or i swear…”

madamenoire: Why I Dig Janelle Monáe And The Impact She Is...

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:52:09 +0100

madamenoire:

Why I Dig Janelle Monáe And The Impact She Is Having On The Music Industry As A Non-Conforming Woman Of Color

<3

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:49:58 +0100

Fuck you body, I’ve got a degree show to put together. (Picture...

Thu, 16 May 2013 19:26:13 +0100

Fuck you body, I’ve got a degree show to put together.

(Picture of what I have to take to uni with me)

In which a "male ally" of FEMEN explains to me I'm brainwashed by patriarchy for not liking them. And that I'm ugly.

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:04:28 +0100

mansplained:

I recently wrote an article critiquing the Ukrainian organization FEMEN for being too dictatorial in their position that nudity, de-facto, equals freedom. To quote a friend of mine, “If you want to get naked, boo, do it. Just do you, boo. Just do you.” I received numerous responses from men, and thought I’d share two of the gems — sent from self-described “male allies.”

1) “You’re just mad that you’re too ugly to be included at a FEMEN demo.” Fight on, oh male warrior of opposing the commodification of the female body; fight on.

2) “The fact that women are offended by FEMEN’s toplessness just shows you’ve been brainwashed by patriarchy.” <— Besides entirely missing the point, this man happens to be a HUGE porn lover (which FEMEN wants to end, logically enough).

Ta-ta(s) for now. Because with all the charges of fat-shaming, slut-shaming, imperialism and racism swirling around FEMEN, God knows it’s the boobies that we all take issue with. Thank Holy Penis someone cleared that up for me. Maybe I’ll get it if I take off my bra and put on some makeup.

Dear Merida Supporters,

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:53:25 +0100

irresistible-revolution:

feministdisney:

lipsredasroses:

Merida is NOT a good role model because she is not “traditionally feminine.” She IS a good role model because she learns from her mistakes, is fiercely loyal to herself and family, will do anything to protect her mother (at the end of the movie), and is free spirited. She is NOT a good role model because she doesn’t like to wear fancy dresses. She is NOT a good role model because she is “anti-femininity.” If you think she is a good role model because she only likes to spend time with Angus, shoot arrows, and go on adventures in the woods you missed the entire point of Brave and Merida’s character arch in the movie.

Also, while you are defending Merida please do not bash the other princesses. They do have more to offer than just sitting around looking pretty waiting for Prince Charming to come and save them. They are all actors (actresses?) in their own movies. So most of the princesses couldn’t shoot an arrow but that doesn’t mean they are bad role models. So the majority of the princesses end up with a prince, that doesn’t change the fact they are all strong women. Being with a man doesn’t change the fact that these women survived abusive homes, stepped up to their responsibilities, saved their prince (Ariel, Belle, Tiana, and Rapunzel all saved their prince at least once in the movie), achieved their dreams, and dictated their future. Also, all the princesses are conventionally beautiful, including Merida. Merida is thin and white. Sure her face is more cartoonish than the other princesses but that doesn’t mean she is some ugly duckling.

All I am asking is, can we please stop bashing femininity and girls who are traditionally feminine when writing about Merida? These articles got really old a year ago.

I haven’t seen too much femininity bashing per se but I agree that I dislike a lot of the dialogue surrounding the redesign. There’s been a lot of emphasis on Merida being “the princess we were WAITING for” (which is why I haven’t published so much on the petition since the introduction focuses heavily on “we were waiting for a strong princess”) and “she saves herself rather than waiting around for a guy unlike the other princesses” which really, does not fully describe most of the other princesses. & the whole “we finally got this princess” thing ignores how much PoC princesses like Tiana, Mulan, and Pocahontas contributed to the whole independence/action sequence princess options.

And yeah, they all had guys and romance, but really, that wasn’t even anything in Mulan’s movie in terms of affecting how she moved through the plot. She did everything on her own, for her own reasons, and she saved everyone by herself.

I mean it’s great Merida exists but we don’t have to act like she’s groundbreaking on every level in order to disagree with the hyper-traditionally-feminine redesign which is a problem because it does not agree with her character, and assumes all princesses have to be traditionally feminine regardless even of their personal preferences and movies. And considering that Disney makes a fair amount of effort to try and define girlhood in their marketing, that is something to be concerned about.

Thank you! I signed the petition because the redesign was whack but the language it was couched in made me uncomfortable and ultimately prevented me from sharing it on my blog.

Let’s just do a quick recap of what Merida is lauded for in this petition shall we? Her love for and skill in combat, her ability to ‘save herself’, her eschewing of ‘princess’ trappings, her ‘natural’ appearance. These are all fine traits, and deserve highlighting, but the context in which Merida is celebrated is often completely ignorant of how race, femininity and gender intersect on Disney princess bodies.

Mulan was a woman who didn’t quite fit the rigid gender expectations foisted on her, who joined the army to save her father, and who ended up inspiring an army and saving her nation.

Tiana overcame all obstacles to realize her dream: owning her own business.

Jasmine openly spoke out against the customs of arranged marriage and slipped out of the palace to explore life beyond her sheltered walls.

Kida saves Atlantis and helps rebuild an empire.

All these princesses have something in common: they are princesses of color.

Why aren’t these characters lauded as ‘the princesses we’ve been waiting for? Why aren’t these women recognized as ‘breaking the princess mold’? Why aren’t they celebrated as groundbreaking feminist icons?

It’s because within white heteropatriarchy, femininity is always implicitly coded as white, and women of color are expected, and often violently forced, into situations that are considered unfeminine: fending for ourselves, fighting off oppressive fathers, saving ourselves because we’re ‘stronger’ than the white fragile, princess-type women. When strength and independence is demanded of you, it becomes just as oppressive as when weakness and dependence are ascribed to you. The struggles to assert humanity and agency are different for white women than they are for women of color, and yet this truth remains unacknowledged in these princess conversations. Merida is hailed so much because she breaks the white princess mold. Mulan and Jasmine and the other princesses of color aren’t celebrated because they’re performing what’s ‘expected’ of WOC.

Merida is a groundbreaking white princess. But let’s be real: she’s still a white princess in a pantheon that’s glaringly white. We can celebrate her story without diminishing those of Mulan and Kida, and we can love Merida while being realistic about how far Disney has to go in deconstructing racialized femininity.

twisted-sapi0sexual: dazegoneby: pyangpyangart: sad-teeth: S...

Tue, 14 May 2013 23:47:56 +0100

twisted-sapi0sexual:

dazegoneby:

pyangpyangart:

sad-teeth:

So today Angelina Jolie had double mastectomy, which is the removal of one’s breasts, to prevent Breast cancer. So instead of praising Angelina on her bravery, men on Twitter decided to ridicule her, even calling her stupid for removing her breasts. For those of you on Tumblr that are attacking Feminists about being delusional about sexism against women and misogyny here’s your fucking proof that sexism and misogyny exists.

This is distressing and awful to see this..

All of them can fuck the fuck off.

I want to stab all of them in the eye sockets

norafox: Cyanide and Happiness nails it.

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:40:01 +0100

norafox:

Cyanide and Happiness nails it.

fortunatelight: davidlynching: fun fact: iraq, pakistan, afghanistan and saudi arabia have a...

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:18:48 +0100

fortunatelight:

davidlynching:

fun fact: iraq, pakistan, afghanistan and saudi arabia have a higher percentage of women in the government than the us & the uk

another fun fact: white people tend to get very angry when you point this out to them

ah white feminists, can y’all take note?

tyleroakley: flozac: the principal at my school made an...

Sat, 11 May 2013 00:57:28 +0100

tyleroakley:

flozac:

the principal at my school made an announcement yesterday that the girls need to start covering up and then i found this in the hallway

BOOM.

Omelette

Sat, 04 May 2013 20:01:49 +0100

Omelette

"If owning a gun and knowing how to use it worked, the military would be the safest place for a..."

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:18:23 +0100

“If owning a gun and knowing how to use it worked, the military would be the safest place for a woman. It’s not.

If women covering up their bodies worked, Afghanistan would have a lower rate of sexual assault than Polynesia. It doesn’t.

If not drinking alcohol worked, children would not be raped. They are.

If your advice to a woman to avoid rape is to be the most modestly dressed, soberest and first to go home, you may as well add “so the rapist will choose someone else”.

If your response to hearing a woman has been raped is “she didn’t have to go to that bar/nightclub/party” you are saying that you want bars, nightclubs and parties to have no women in them. Unless you want the women to show up, but wear kaftans and drink orange juice. Good luck selling either of those options to your friends.

Or you could just be honest and say that you don’t want less rape, you want (even) less prosecution of rapists.”

- A Short Post on Rape Prevention (via howtodresswell)

racismschool: thegoddamazon: ikenbot: turned-to-wicked-little-...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:19:16 +0100

racismschool:

thegoddamazon:

ikenbot:

turned-to-wicked-little-things:

This is just a bunch of ignorant ass white people on twitter who don’t know shit about shit. It’s things like this that make me want to get off of this planet.

“come on ken don’t you think you’re being a little assertive”

when POC complain about actual problems that need to be dealt with we get generalized and treated like irrational fucks.

when these people do it? “it’s not an engraved problem it’s just a few bad apples, not all of us are like that therefore stop talking about it”

Reasons why I am aggressively anti-racist and refuse to “get over it”.

#PostRacistSociety

Photo

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:03:25 +0100

pootee: Art From Behind - NOTAUSGANG

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:00:57 +0100

pootee:

Art From Behind - NOTAUSGANG

"[TW: domestic violence] The other question everybody asks is, why doesn’t she just leave? Why..."

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:28:26 +0100

“

[TW: domestic violence]

The other question everybody asks is, why doesn’t she just leave? Why didn’t I walk out? I could have left any time. To me, this is the saddest and most painful question that people ask, because we victims know something you usually don’t: It’s incredibly dangerous to leave an abuser. Because the final step in the domestic violence pattern is kill her. Over 70 percent of domestic violence murders happen after the victim has ended the relationship, after she’s gotten out, because then the abuser has nothing left to lose. Other outcomes include long-term stalking, even after the abuser remarries; denial of financial resources; and manipulation of the family court system to terrify the victim and her children, who are regularly forced by family court judges to spend unsupervised time with the man who beat their mother. And still we ask, why doesn’t she just leave?

”

- “Why domestic violence victims don’t leave” - Leslie Morgan Steiner (via childofweakness)

The question itself is part of a system of oppression. It’s not a real inquiry, it’s a reminder that abuse is a problem that the abused person should solve.

If it were a sincere inquiry, we’d hear, just as often, “If he was unhappy, why didn’t he leave instead of beating her?” But we don’t hear that.

(via tvandcomplaints)

Me today. The Degree show grind

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:00:41 +0100

Me today.

The Degree show grind