That's Actually Awesome

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Sun, 19 May 2013 15:45:36 -0400

searchingforknowledge: Fifteen rape victims have formed...

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:44:09 -0400

Fifteen rape victims have formed martial arts movement and are prepared to confront abusers if no one listens to their complaints…

A GROUP of women are fighting back against the sickening culture of rape which they say infects India. Fifteen determined females – all victims themselves – have trained in martial arts and are prepared to hand out rough justice if no one listens to their complaints. And the movement, called the Red Brigade, is growing rapidly following the gang rape and murder of medical student Jyoti Singh Pandey that horrified the world.

In a nation where a woman is reportedly raped every 20 minutes, the group’s leader Usha Vishwakarma said: “We are fighting back – and the boot is now on the other foot.” Member Sufia Hashmi, 17, said: “We’ve caught a lot of men recently. I joined because men always used to pass comments on me and touch my body but now we beat them and they run.”

Like the other members in the northern city of Lucknow, 25- year-old Usha has first-hand experience of the daily dangers women face in the huge nation – a teacher tried to rape her when she was 18. She said: “He grabbed me and tried to open my trousers. I kicked him in the crotch and ran.” Usha complained to staff but they told her to forget it and allowed her attacker to carry on teaching. She said: “Many parents tell girls to quit school so there will be no sexual violence. But we said no – this has to stop. We decided to form a group to fight for ourselves, not just complain.”MORE

High schooler arrested, expelled for same-sex relationship

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:42:25 -0400

High schooler arrested, expelled for same-sex relationship:

blackamazon:

girljanitor:

gaywrites:

A teenager in Florida has been expelled from school and charged with two felonies simply because her girlfriend’s parents disapprove of their relationship. She now faces two years of house arrest and a year of probation.

Kaitlyn Hunt was a popular student at Sebastian River High School, participating in everything from cheerleading to basketball. Hunt began dating another female student and the latter girl’s parents became enraged, according to Hunt’s parents. Kaitlyn was 17 at the time the relationship began, while her girlfriend was 15. Upon Kaitlyn’s 18th birthday, her girlfriend’s parents sent the police to the Hunt home and the teenager was arrested.

Hunt was charged with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious battery on a child. Then, weeks before her graduation, Hunt was expelled from school.

“[The girlfriend’s parents] are out to destroy my daughter,” Hunt’s mother told the Examiner, “because they feel like she ‘made’ their daughter gay. They see being gay as wrong and they blame my daughter. Of course, I see it 100% differently. I don’t see or label these girls as gay. They are teenagers in high school experimenting with their sexuality — with mutual consent. And even if their daughter is gay, who cares? She is still their daughter.”

Infuriating. So many things wrong with this.

First, this is a case of homophobic parents blackmailing a girl they don’t like in a slimy, roundabout way that serves to mask their bigotry. I can’t believe what a cheap shot they took. Absolutely disgusting.

Second, “I don’t see these girls as gay”? Cool, thanks, Mom. Thank goodness she’s not disowning her daughter, but I don’t totally see this as being supportive either.

Third, there’s a petition circulating to drop or lessen the charges against Kaitlyn. Go sign it. And try not to lose faith in humanity, even though people like this exist.

You may notice how “not seeing her as gay” made absolutely no difference to her being expelled, charged with a felony, or having people with a lot more power than her trying their hardest to destroy her life.

This is why “NO LABELS!11!! WE ALL BLEED RED!!1!!!” doesn’t work. Ever.

REALLY REALLY REALLY

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Sun, 19 May 2013 15:05:46 -0400

"Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle,..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 15:03:15 -0400

“Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

- Rick Warren (via deerhoof)

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Sun, 19 May 2013 14:22:22 -0400

kiritan: riya

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:59:47 -0400

kiritan:

riya

gingerhaze: i have been waiting for this moment for a long...

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:57:59 -0400

gingerhaze:

i have been waiting for this moment for a long time.

viivus: Late night korrasami sketching goodnight

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:55:55 -0400

viivus:

Late night korrasami sketching

goodnight

irresistiblesweetness: simpledisneythings: An Arabian Nights...

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:50:48 -0400

irresistiblesweetness:

simpledisneythings:

An Arabian Nights slumber party… that Kuzco crashes fashionably late.

Kuzco, GTFO you dork.

"Here’s the thing. Men in our culture have been socialized to believe that their opinions on women’s..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:48:51 -0400

“Here’s the thing. Men in our culture have been socialized to believe that their opinions on women’s appearance matter a lot. Not all men buy into this, of course, but many do. Some seem incapable of entertaining the notion that not everything women do with their appearance is for men to look at. This is why men’s response to women discussing stifling beauty norms is so often something like “But I actually like small boobs!” and “But I actually like my women on the heavier side, if you know what I mean!” They don’t realize that their individual opinion on women’s appearance doesn’t matter in this context, and that while it might be reassuring for some women to know that there are indeed men who find them fuckable, that’s not the point of the discussion.

Women, too, have been socialized to believe that the ultimate arbiters of their appearance are men, that anything they do with their appearance is or should be “for men.” That’s why women’s magazines trip over themselves to offer up advice on “what he wants to see you wearing” and “what men think of these current fashion trends” and “wow him with these new hairstyles.” While women can and do judge each other’s appearance harshly, many of us grew up being told by mothers, sisters, and female strangers that we’ll never “get a man” or “keep a man” unless we do X or lose some fat from Y, unless we moisturize//trim/shave/push up/hide/show/”flatter”/paint/dye/exfoliate/pierce/surgically alter this or that.

That’s also why when a woman wears revealing clothes, it’s okay, in our society, to assume that she’s “looking for attention” or that she’s a slut and wants to sleep with a bunch of guys. Because why else would a woman wear revealing clothes if not for the benefit of men and to communicate her sexual availability to them, right? It can’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that it’s hot out or it’s more comfortable or she likes how she looks in it or everything else is in the laundry or she wants to get a tan or maybe she likes women and wants attention from them, not from men?

The result of all this is that many men, even kind and well-meaning men, believe, however subconsciously, that women’s bodies are for them. They are for them to look at, for them to pass judgment on, for them to bless with a compliment if they deign to do so. They are not for women to enjoy, take pride in, love, accept, explore, show off, or hide as they please. They are for men and their pleasure.”

- Why You Shouldn’t Tell That Random Girl On The Street That She’s Hot » Brute Reason (via albinwonderland)

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Sun, 19 May 2013 02:47:20 -0400

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Sun, 19 May 2013 02:46:46 -0400

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Sun, 19 May 2013 02:42:48 -0400

niknak79: Game of Foams

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:42:14 -0400

niknak79:

Game of Foams

xombiedirge: Black Canary and Huntress by Robert Atkins /...

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:39:46 -0400

xombiedirge:

Black Canary and Huntress by Robert Atkins / Blog & Simon Gough

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Sun, 19 May 2013 02:34:54 -0400

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Sun, 19 May 2013 02:34:27 -0400

eva-cybele: soi Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:32:18 -0400

eva-cybele:

soi

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

"I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:28:05 -0400

“I think there are plenty of good people in America, but there are also plenty of bad people in America and the bad ones are the ones who seem to have all the power and be in these positions to block things that you and I need. Because this is the situation, you and I have to preserve the right to do what is necessary to bring an end to that situation, and it doesn’t mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don’t even call it violence when it’s self-defense, I call it intelligence.”

- Malcolm X (via whatgivz)