Dear Marvel: stop hiding behind history and start making it

This is a very good post by Arturo at Racialiicious on diversity in comics and Marvel claiming that adding diversity to the Avengers would be "contrived"







(caps taken from the post :) )

That in particular stood out to me, cuz I mean we've heard this over and over and over again, in comics, in other industries, as reasons why women or PoC or queer ppl or disabled ppl are discriminated against or under represented in the work place or politics or in TV or etc... which is funny b/c we ALSO hear from white ppl that the past is the past is the past is the past is the past right? Slavery was in the PAST, discrimination was in the PAST! I'm not responsible for that! You can't be affected by that! It's OVER, jeez! Why are we talking about the past!?

Well at least we hear it when it SUITS them, when they dun want the white/straight/cis/abled/male guilt of acknowledging they benefit from a society built on a history of discrimination and oppression. -_-;;

But then we also hear stuff like this "it's not racism, it's THE PASTTT!!!! THE PASSSTTT!!! it gave us tons of iconic white heroes!" or "MY FAMILY HAS BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS!" or "men invented everything!" (which isn't even true >_> ) etc... apparently the past DOES matter, when ppl want to remind us of why they should be treated differently b/c of the actions of ppl that in another breath they'll claim "HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!"

Welcome to privilege. -_-;;; Again, privilege is not a conspiracy, it's not a group of white dudes plotting or planning... it's stuff like this, where b/c the heyday of superhero comics, of our cultural mythology, came from a time that was more racist and more sexist and where most of the heroes created were white and male, our iconic heroes are almost all white and male -_-;; Everybody knows Superman, and Batman, and Captain America and Spider-Man. I mean, even if in 50 years more CoCs actually get accepted as iconic heroes in our society, the older heroes would still be even more iconic AND there's a massive amount of new white heroes too that would be joining them (and that's assuming that given the way queer, female, non-white chars are treated in comics, and the goofy state of the industry, that they ever reach iconic status neways -_-;;)

And that's not to say that comics MUST therefore create ONLY CoCs or something... or that this is the FAULT of current white creators, but being AWARE of the past means nothing if all you do is throw up your hands and go "it's cuz of the past! blame the past!" -_-;; Here's the thing. Nobody is BLAMING THE PAST, or WANTS to. Ppl always seem to assume oppressed groups point to the past to blame it. But it's not that. It's to show that society was built on uneven ground (srsly uneven ground) and that the result of that unevenness has consequences that our society now and our culture now and REAL PEOPLE living in the now, are still feeling and affected by. :\ And that's where privilege comes from.

And for Marvel to just go "jeez it's cuz of the past! It's not OUR fault that all of our "iconic heroes" are white! " is... well it's either rly rly naive or disingenuous (given that Wolverine is not an old hero... nor are most of the ppl I find in various forms of the Avengers even a few years back... but they still feel like the only time to put in PoCs are if you feel white guilt and need a token -_-) but either way... it's... it's selling your fanbase short, and selling THEMSELVES short. -_-;; DC and Marvel are huge companies that not just maintain mythology, they CREATE it, they constantly invent and re-invent heroes to be icons, and they put editorial fiat and power behind it. Like Supergirl! Remember during the rly rly dark times of the Loeb/Kelly/Churchill Supergirl? Remember DC BEGGING women to read it? The whole page grovel they put out for us? o_o;; They never cancelled Supergirl, they tied her into a BILLION AND ONE plots with guest stars ALL OVER the place, they wrote a letter telling us to read it, they kept the series going and going, switching authors and writers....

would they have done it if this were some new black hero they created? Or say... the new Atom?

Manhunter?

I mean we can go on... but the point is, DC AND MARVEL ARE NOT TINY LITTLE INDIE PUBLISHERS! THEY HAVE RESOURCES and they have pull and they have a billion ways, including tie-ins, guest stars, and even editors yelling at fans, to try to get a hero or series going, IF THEY WANT TO. It just... I find it so funny when these giant companies throw up their hands and go "we can't help it! all our icons were created in the 30s! there's nothing we can do to promote new ones!" then in the next breath go "WE HAVE FIVE NEW WOLVERINE BOOKS COMING OUT AND AN EMMA FROST MANGA SERIES!" or "READ SUPERGIRL! PLZ PLZ PLZ! She's gonna guest star in 5 different books now! plz notice her and care!" Or even how they've managed to introduce and integrate Damian into the Batverse (who is also a CoC, which *gasp* should not be! white historryyy white historrryyyy xD ). They can DO IT if they WANT TO.

Remember Aztek? And how hard Grant Morrison tried to shoehorn him in as an A-list hero? That didn't work, but he had the chance to rly try. Or Kyle as GL, Wally... There's been all sorts of times that you knew a new char had serious editorial backing... like in wrestling, where wrestlers get "pushes". If a company RLY WANTED TO, they could push CoCs, women, queer chars, or any intersection of such. :| Ppl who say that Wolverine and Venom "evolved" out of fan interest... well some fan interest, specific types of fans.. white male ones... cuz there's a LOT of fan favourites that didn't get pushed cuz their fans weren't the right ones... or they presumed they weren't -_-;; When white guys like something it's "what people want", when women, PoCs, queer ppl or their allies like a char it's "catering to fan entitlement" (b/c white men are still considered "the mainstream" when they rly aren't... as Wizard's smoking carcass proves) if you give a char a push or if nebody even suggests it -_-;;; (Manhunter, Atom, Blue Beetle, etc)

Look, most of the ppl watching the Avengers TV series, or the movies, have no idea who most of the chars are neways, or what the history is. If you had a black or Asian Miss Marvel and pushed her, I mean like the Thor movie, w/ the special FX budget and the casting... and then put her into the Avengers movie, would the mainstream movie goers rly walk out? -_o;; Would ANYBODY rly whine except for maybe the hardcore comic geeks (and even then, it's a subset of a subset)? And you'd be invigorating a comic series also, giving yourself new opportunities, and you'd be MAKING history, instead of complaining about it (if they RLY are unhappy about it, I suspect that it's just an excuse cuz the consequences of a racist/sexist history can be corrected) :) You'd be creating new mythology that includes more ppl and new audiences and taking the steps to creating those iconic non-white male chars that according to Marvel, they wish they had more of :)

Comic creators, of all stripes, create history. They do it every day. The question, particularly to the Big 2, is what kind of history do they want to create? What kind of history do they CARE about making and care about being held to? Cuz that's the thing. Marvel isn't a chained to it's past decisions, they certainly dun seem to be chained when it suits them -_-;; They acknowledge the past, but they wun acknowledge the present, where they CAN change things and where also, they have LOTS of iconic CoCs that ppl love and adore, but apparently cannot SEE b/c they don't seem "right" to them (it's convenient that in the quotes in the post, he says that to be an Avenger it just has to feel right, and somehow, white ppl feel the most right! law of averages my butt... you're not drawing names out of a hat! >:O as the post points out there's a LOT of non-white heroes who I think many ppl would accept as "Avenger" material, esp given that groups history xD ).

There are so many great wonderful indie companies and creators out there, who have so less resources than the big 2 who understand these dynamics, don't hide behind history, and in fact, try to create icons against the privileges and biased narratives that are a consequence of our -ist history. And they dun have the weight or iconic resonance of a Marvel or DC to do it which both companies even EXERCISE to push events, or new heroes, or old white heroes revamped, etc...

It's one thing to acknowledge your company, and our SOCIETY came from racist, sexist, queerphobic times, it's another to understand what that MEANS, how that's affected the entire dynamic from which your company operates from, and how that's affected the way you and your creators SEE the world, and see heroism and what "feels" like an Avenger to you. And to realize what you can, and THAT YOU CAN, do something about it. :)

It's one thing to read history, it's another to grow from it, and understand you're making history right now too :)

Somebody should make sure those are actually legs under the dress >_>;;

I am still awake for some reason... -_-;; And the royal wedding is on xD But so is TNG! :D So I'm watching that :D also Criminal Minds is also on! xD Tho outside of those 2... it's amazing how many US and Cdn networks are showing this o_o;; Even The Learning Channel! xD History isn't, but maybe they'll show it tmrw.. when it's history xD I suppose this is good programming during a time when ppl normally aren't watching tv so what else would you show neways? xD

Neways, my friend, the amazing Zhinxy is watching it, so we are talking and I now have a/(yet another) new theory about Kate xD

[04:26] Zhinxy: Snobby Britain dismisses them as social climbers, and there has been some speculation that Kate was sent to the same college as Prince William as part of a grand scheme that the two would meet and ultimately marry.
[04:26] Zhinxy: Wow.
[04:26] Zhinxy: Now THAT is farf'nfetched
[04:26] Ami Angelwings: SCHEEMMMEEE
[04:26] Zhinxy: holy crap
[04:26] Zhinxy: that's conspiracy theory
[04:26] Ami Angelwings: does william have a mute girl friend at the school too? a pretty red head?
[04:27] Ami Angelwings: is kate rly a evil sea demon w/ octopus legs!?
[04:27] Zhinxy: LOL
[04:27] Zhinxy: yes!

That or she's an agent of the Feminist Conspiracy (TM) sent to put one of our own into the Royal Family! :O DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN... xD

>_>;;; Now I have 3 theories! :O Superhero or Ursula or The Feminist Candidate? :OOO Ami is on the case!

edit: Talking w/ Trish she made me think... maybe ALLLLL of the girls at the school were there for that reason too! Except from separate conspiracies! xD Like free masons and communists and moon landing hoaxers... anti vaxers.. etc (unfortunately William isn't gay... no Manchurian Candidate for you MRAs! xDD ) Now I want to write a weird teen novel where every girl in this school is a deep cover agent from some political organization trying to get in bed w/ this guy and spread their philosophy to him xDDDD

"Like he'd date a communist!"
"Hey at least we have snappy red dresses! And WE got a man into space!"
"Yeah like he's dumb enough to believe THAT bullshit!"
"Stay out of this Little Ms. Ohlooktheflagismoving >_>;;"
"Yeah! This is between me and the communslut. Why don't you hang out w/ your anti-vax buddy?"
"As IF! Measles are SO YESTERDAY."

>_>;;

I'd sell millions! xD

Trans misogyny in our queer allies part 2598726314 -_-;;

WTF IS THIS S-!? >:O (tho nebody who remembers the big fight that happened on Bilerico over trans ppl last time wouldn't rly be surprised)

"I've found that comparing transgender women and drag queens is like comparing nectarines and tangerines. They're both citrus, they're similar, and you can mistake one for the other occasionally, but aficionados of one can tell you intimately and passionately exactly what the differences are and why their choice of fruit is vastly superior than the other.

-Bil Browning, The Bilerico Project

UGH! >:O GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS

GROSS!

I'm so sick of our GLB allies constantly failing when talking about us, or feeling like b/c they're queer it makes them experts and they can say ridic things like this -_-;; YAY! We're objects again! At first reading I thought he meant that the differences between male cross dressers and trans women is apparently... how ppl who fetishize us see us! -_-;;;

But then in reading more of the context I realized that he's responding to a comment complaining about trans ppl being upset at transphobic crap in the media and his response is this BS thing that "well trans ppl THINK they're the same but they're ttlly not and they think they're so superior!" or some crap along those lines >:O It's just completely screwed up... and I'm tired of our SUPPOSED ALLIES (including initial commenter guy) ignoring transphobia b/c it wrecks his fun and then going "GEE TRANNIES LIGHTEN UP ALRDY!" -_-;;;

augh augh augh >_<;;

Disgusting >:O

edit: before nebody points out "nectarines aren't citrus", yus i know that, yus somebody pointed that out in the thread, but that's the LEAST of the issues w/ that comparison >_<;;; so plz dun point that out.. :)

Hateful Kombat xD

This is so absurd I'll make an exception to my "*yawn* MRAs" policy xD

Apparently the misogynists and the racists are fighting and the winner is hilarity xD

What I'm esp amused by is that the MRA criticism of the white power groups isn't their racism or the awful things they do or nething else... that's all fine and good w/ the MRAs! A lot of them seem to be in favour of white "pride" neways and for white men to reclaim America xDD No, the issue apparently is... they want white men to reclaim America and the KKK/Neo Nazis/etc want white PEOPLE to reclaim America xDDDD

Yup xD Apparently no hate group is hateful enuf if they allow women to participate in their hate! xD THAT MAKES THEM FEMINISTS! (srsly they said the KKK women were feminists xD cuz y'know... if YOU ARE A WOMAN THAT SPEAKS THEN YOU ARE A FEMINISSST!!!! xD or feminazi >_> in this case literally o_o)

It's so absurd xD Also awful, cuz apparently the MRAs are ttlly fine w/ the horrid things the white supremacists believe and do (except they allow women to do them too >_> ) >_<;;

I saw this pic in the Toronto Star and I have to ask... >_>;;

Is it just me or does that guy (who also looks a lot like Tobey Maguire imo >_> ) not looking at NDP leader Jack Layton, but checking the blonde girl out? O_O;;;

I mean on thinking about it more, maybe he's just looking at the handshake... but, esp on first glance, it rly looked like something else o_o;; Either way, poor guy being caught on camera in that frame >_>;;

Parents worry son is an erotic literaphile, blame teacher (that's the only way I can make this make sense xD)

This is so ridic -_-;;

A series of racy romance novels by an author named Judy Mays are a little too racy for some parents in our area, especially now that they have discovered the woman known as Judy Mays is teaching their children.

Many parents might admire a high school English teacher who is also a published author, but some parents in Snyder County said what their children's teacher is writing about in her spare time might be a little too hot to handle.

Parents said Judy Buranich has been an English teacher at Midd West High School for nearly 25 years, but recently they found out she is a published author and writes under the pen name Judy Mays.

Her book is an erotic romance novel and some parents said they are not happy with the book's content.

Parent Wendy Apple has a son in 10th grade at Midd West High School in Middleburg. His English teacher's name is Judy Buranich. Apple said she recently found out that after school Buranich has a second job; she writes erotic romance novels.

"Now my son knows so how is he thinking when he's sitting in her class knowing what she does on the side," Apple said. She added she found all of the information on the internet. Apple said Buranich writes under the pen name Judy Mays.

OH NOEZ YOUR SONS TEACHER DOES OTHER THINGS UNRELATED TO TEACHING! :O RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!

I always love it too when parents dig up something on the internet and then act like the person is running around displaying it on their job -_-;; It reminds me of teachers who have been found to have done porn in the past, or the Raptors cheerleader who was fired b/c *gasp* she did a nude shoot in Calgary many years ago that somebody found online! :O Like... o_O Okay LOOK, if you're worried about your kids, ther'es only rly 2 situations that would happen... either A) the kids dunno about this, and the teacher (or cheerleader, *gasp* cuz we want them to be sexy but not TOO sexy amirite? xD ) would just be another teacher to them... or B) your kids are reading/watching porn and recognize her from that in which case, perhaps this is more an issue w/ your kids and your parenting hmmmmm? xD

It's like the cheerleader thing... first WHAT DOES IT MATTER secondly, either your kid knows or they dun, and either way it's NOT HER FAULT! -_-;; I mean she even has a freaking pen name! Also they know that erotic writing is still WRITING right? The same skills are required as "regular" writing. xD I would be happy for a published author to be teaching my child!

"She is teaching children that are under the age of 18 and definitely the books that she is writing are adult books. "

I love how the mom just says that, leaves it hanging but doesn't connect what one has to do with the other o_O Is she TEACHING CHILDREN THOSE BOOKS!? no. I mean you can say that w/ NETHING and leave it hanging xD

"She is teaching children that are under the age of 18 and definitely the [plural object] that she is [verb] are [adjective] [object]."

It's like madlibs! xDD

"She is teaching children that are under the age of 18 and definitely the video games that she is playing are fighting games."

Actually I just thought of one even SCARIEERRRR that i bet A LOT OF TEACHERS ARE DOING!!! :O

"She is teaching children that are under the age of 18 and definitely the men that she is sleeping with are adult men."

I MEAN SHE IS INDULGING IN ADULT ACTIVITES ON HER OWN TIME!!!!!!!!!! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!! WUN SOMEBODY PLZ THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!??????

xD Now I want to bring it up w/ those parents! They'll never let their kid out again! xD

" "Now my son knows so how is he thinking when he's sitting in her class knowing what she does on the side," Apple said. "

I also dun get THAT. Your son only knows b/c you TOLD HIM, not cuz she was bragging to the class about it or nething (again... penname) xD Annnnd... this doesn't make sense... I mean if she was a pornstar and your son was spending all his time imagining her having smex ... that's still his problem... but at least that makes sense.... she's worried that... what... her son is staring at the teacher imagining her WRITING EROTIC STORIES!? xD "Oh that's it Ms. Buranich you work that pen! I love it when you conjugate those verbs! YES YES YES FINISH THAT PARAGRAPH!! FINISH IT!!!!"

xDDD

Tho that would be pretty awesome :D I know at least a few friends (and a few who read this blog :D ) who would love it if simply writing suddenly became a smexy fetish xD

Neways... hilarious parents are hilarious >_>;;; I hope this doesn't hurt the teacher's career or nething in any way tho :( It'd be awful if she suffered b/c of some complainy prudey pants who want to blame her b/c they think their son is a fragile glass doll or a literaphile xD

Ami's 800th post: Sci Fice cream! :D

This is a cute story :)

A Fort Greene science fiction writer has traded in his pen for an ice cream scooper - and he's taking a fresh approach to the snack in his new shop.

Brian Smith, 41, is opening an ice cream parlor in Prospect Heights next month that he says will be the first one in the city to make its ice cream completely from scratch.

"We're going to have the freshest and smoothest ice cream in the city," said Smith, whose shop on Vanderbilt Ave. is called Ample Hills Creamery and opens May 9.

About a year ago, the quirky father of two quit his job as a sci-fi screenwriter to pursue a career as an ice-cream maker, which he says is his dream job.

His recipe starts with cream, milk, egg yolks and sugar, heated to 170 degrees and slowly mixed together in a steel tank.

Then he cools the ice cream "base" and leaves it to settle overnight before adding ingredients to create different flavors.

The process requires a special license from the Department of Agriculture because once Smith mixes raw eggs and sugar with milk he has to pasteurize it to kill any bacteria.

Smith is the only ice-cream maker in the city to do it this way. Other shops avoid the hassle by buying their ice cream base from other producers or making it in dairy plants outside the city.

By making his own base, Smith thinks he can create fresher ice cream that is smoother and has fewer ice crystals.

"It's a pain but we get much better results this way," said Smith.

It's a fresh approach to making ice cream, but thinking outside the carton is Smith's specialty.

Before he turned his hand to ice cream, Smith wrote science fiction and horror stories for the Internet and television.

A few of his monster movies made it to the small screen, including "Alien Express" starring Lou Diamond Phillips in 2005 and 2008's "Bird Flu Horror."

Smith said that writing movies and making ice cream have a lot in common.

"Thinking up creatures that devour people is a lot like thinking up new flavors of ice cream," said Smith.

His imaginative flavors include maple syrup with bacon, beer with chocolate-covered pretzels and breakfast cereal, made from cereal-soaked milk and Fruit Loops.

"It sounds crazy but, trust me, it tastes amazing," said Smith.

Trish pointed this out to me cuz usually you see it go the other way w/ ppl leaving their jobs to pursue a dream of writing but in this case it's person leaving writing to pursue his dream of making awesome awesome ice cream :D I LURVE the idea of froot loop flavoured ice cream btw, esp made of cereal soaked milk, half the fun of eating froot loops is drinking the tasty tasty milk at the end :D

Also it's my 800 post! :D yay! I figured it's fitting to have my 800th post be about something fun and cute that Trish showed me :D

Frightening o_o;;;

This is frightening as all get out O_O

However, affidavits and other documents filed with the tribunal by the prosecution in advance of the hearing allege the female officer complained to superiors because she felt “picked on” by Izzett, 47, after spurning his invitations to go out with him.

“Izzett asked her out repeatedly telling her that they were meant to be together. She told him she wasn’t interested but his advances continued,” according to internal police correspondence. The advances included “hugging her and saying such things as ‘come on give me a hug.’”

Lead investigator Tony Smith told Izzett during one interview, reading from his own notes summarizing what the female officer told him, that she estimated Izzett hugged her fewer than ten times.

“All of the personal conversation is unwanted and she tells him so on numerous occasion — occasions,” Smith said. “It gets to the point where she tells the staff inspector that she’s in a relationship with another woman and hopes that he will leave her alone. Instead he sees this as another challenge. He said “that’s just an experiment. You’re going to be with me,” transcripts of the interview with Izzett show.

After telling Izzett she was in a same-sex relationship, the female officer said Izzett wrote her a letter, a copy of which has been filed in support of the prosecution’s case. Called “The Great Nature-Nurture Debate,” the 16-page document includes various explanations for homosexuality cobbled together “from recent secular professional literature” and bookended by deeply personal comments.

“You have awakened the giant within,” reads the final paragraph. “I will exhibit patience and understanding as I know that the object of my desire is worthy and deserving of this.”

Holy crumbs O_O;;; If that's true this is freaking scary as HELL O_O;; And even when she lies to him and tells him she's gay hoping to turn him away, this just prompts him to put together a 16 page document explaining to her why being gay isn't real O_O;;; Holy wtf >_<;;;

This is what a lot of sexist trolls DUN GET about stalking and harassment! (for both men and women but while they believe it about men they never believe it about women) I mean we always hear those trolls go "OH CRYING HARASSMENT/STALKING/RAPE/ETC IS SO EASY FOR WOMEN".. they dun get that often women do everything they can to try to deter or stop the man hoping they can be reasoned with or lose interest and it's only when it WUN STOP that we seek help :( esp when that person is your superior or somebody w/ connections to your community or friends/family :(

But even without that dynamic it's still scary D: I mean I've been there... you just hope it'll go away, you hope it'll stop, you hope if you're polite... b/c you dun want to get him angry or get fired or get the "he said/she said" thing and you worry about rumours and ppl thinking of you as a liar, and believing him, or police asking him "is this true" (for stalking/assault, etc) and then he now knows what you think and who knows how he'll react.. and etc etc etc D: I hate when ppl think it's "so easy" for ppl to make that decision (& yus, there are ppl who lie about things, both men and women, ppl also lie about insurance theft and commit fraud e_e) but it's often a rly difficult scary thing for victims to think about much less do, and usually after we've feeled EVERY THING ELSE has failed cuz WE'RE ACTUALLY THE ONES WHO HAVE TO GO THRU THE PROCESS (which believe it or dun isn't EASY on complainants, male or female -_-;;;). this is something that some ppl seem unable to grasp... when you're ACTUALLY in that situation... you're just hoping you can make it go away and not go into the unknown future of possibly screwing everything up :( Believe it or dun, most women go thru our lives trying to LIVE our lives and not plotting to destroy menz -_-;;

But neways... this sounds frightening O_O;; And his alleged persistence is pretty scary too o_o;; And his prose x_x

Globe and Mail's Canadiancentricism has Ami amused :3

This Globe and Mail headline is amusing to me as an example of a headline writer either being caught up in his Canadian point of view/bias or writing for a Canadian audience xD

Overtime loss has Chicago columnists gloating

Um... shouldn't that be overtime WIN!? xDDD It's only an "overtime loss" if you're looking at it from a Vancouver (and maybe Canadian) POV right? xD Given that you're talking about the perspective from Chicago, you should be saying "Overtime win" right? >_>;; Or even "Vancouver loss has Chicago columnists gloating" at the v least (tho that's STILL pushing it imo, since Chicago was THE OTHER TEAM IN THE MATCH, it would make no sense to refer to it as a Vancouver loss when talking about the reaction in Chicago or really ANY OTHER CITY, except for the losing city, generally the focus is on who wins right xD )

Neways... I just noticed that and found it immensely amusing >_>;;; xD

Happy Death and Return of Jesus Day! :D

I hope the following doesn't offend nebody :( I just came up w/ it cuz everybdoy is wishing ppl Zombie Jesus Day and as a Catholic Comic Fangirl geek this just popped into my mind and I had to flesh it out a little xD Spiky Yeti btw is how Trish describes Doomsday xD

Newayyyysss...

Happy Death and Return of Jesus Day! :D

Today is when we celebrate Jesus coming back after being killed in a heroic battle against Crucifix (the spiky yeti with thorns coming out of him) to fight Cyborg Jesus (who is actually one of the "Legion" demons he cast out (as seen in Luke 8:7-39 now available as part of the New Testament TPB!) coming back to sully Jesus' reputation) w/ the help of Kid Jesus (a clone made from Jesus and Judas' DNA), The Purifier (a holy ghost who believes he's Jesus created by the Shroud of Turin during Jesus' resurrection) and Shepherd (an armoured Lazarus saving ppl in Jesus' name as Jesus once saved him) :3

>_>;;

<_<;;

:D

Happy Easter! :D

Update on assault of trans woman in Maryland McDonalds :( and how the racism/transphobia is getting worse

This is the latest news on the incident w/ an interview w/ the woman who was assaulted :(

I'm glad that McDonalds has fired that guy who was filming it and not helping (and posting transphobic crap online) and that they're going to prosecute and that everybody's rly upset and outraged over this. :) I'm also glad she seems okay and I hope she will stay okay and be able to heal, emotionally and physically :( *sends good thoughts her way* :(

BUT... I'm still rly rly disturbed by the racism in the comments, ESP that it's like cuz the initial reporting and assumptions of the video was that black women were attacking a white cis woman, it's like that her being trans to them has now become like she has red hair -_-;; It's interesting to me that b/c the initial reaction was "those savage black ppl!" her being trans is being brushed off, because a) it means backing off on how ENTHUSIASTIC they seem to be in being racist asshats and tarring an entire race and b) they can distance it by saying SEE THOSE BLACK PPL ARE TRANSPHOBIC, THEM THEM -_-;; Also somebody in the comments called them "apes" and rather than somebody calling them out on it they got a response saying "that's an insult to apes" and other racist crap (somebody also said that since white ppl are afraid of black ppl in prison, they dun fight back, and the white pop in prison should be protected -_- )

GROSSS

#&*&#%

There's also a lot of comments on other sites (presumably ones that didn't report it initially and are now reporting it knowing she's trans) who ignore the race aspect and do the usual transphobic "WE HAVE TO PROTECT OUR DAUGHTERS CRAP"

It's rly interesting and SICKENING to me how there seem to be TWO major ways that ppl are reacting to this, and BOTH ARE F-ING AWFUL. And this is why oppression olympics doesn't work b/c no matter which way you slice it here, EVERYBODY LOSES! Dx Which is better the racists who are saying "she's not trans, she's WHITE, and it's those savage black ppl!" or the transphobes crying "they're not black, they're CIS, and they're just defending us from those perverted trannies!"!? They're BOTH DISGUSTING AND AWFUL >:O Here's 2 comments from a NY Post article that are perfect illustrations of what I mean:

Octavarium
11:39 AM
Apr 23, 2011

This isn't about two females beating on a transgender, DN. Get the story right!!! It's about two racist blacks beating on a white person. Why is it that when whites beat on blacks, it's racist, and when blacks beat on whites, it's for every excuse in the book. The DN has no guts to print the truth!!!

hjo4
11:46 AM
Apr 23, 2011

The women found a transsexual was using the restroom that a 14yr child was using at the same time. They became irate and violent.I have nothing against the transgendered but exercising some common sense would've avoided this beat down, if you are a transgendered person or MTF (male to female) they should use precaution and not use a ladies room when female children are occupying it. Every parent (especially men) would be OUTRAGED if they found a man was in the restroom with their daughter. I don't condone the violent act,it's understandable especially if those women are not educated about transgendered people.

See what I mean? -_-;;; The first guy actually thinks her being trans is irrelevant and tries to make it about race so he can participate in his little reverse racism fantasy that scary black ppl are out to get white ppl. -_-;; The SECOND comment ignores race ALTOGETHER and goes into the "WATCH OUT THE RAPEY RAPEY TRANS PPL" and victim blames US. Altho the second one actually seems to not just be transphobic but doing the mafia protection money thing "well I'M not the one threatening you, those BAD IGNORANT PPL OUT THERE ARE, but you better do what I want you to or they'll hurt you" and casting the attackers in a "they're not smart ppl like me" way -_-;;

What's even MORE interesting tho is what happens after the first guy read this person's comment:

Octavarium
12:04 PM
Apr 23, 2011

Violence is never an answer, however, if this was actually a dude the walked into the girl's bathroom, then this changes my perspective of the story. I wouldn't want a dude walking in while my daughter is in the girl's room, so in a sense this transgender got what was coming.

Even tho he first said "IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT SHE'S TRANS, SHE'S WHITE!" suddenly when he thinks about it, it matters! And now her RACE doesn't matter xD It's so absurd I dunno whether to laugh or cry. It's like his fears of black ppl and of trans ppl are conflicting... and he can't decide which he hates and fears more -_-;;;

And I point this comment out also, cuz compare it to the one above, where the commenter paints their transphobic fear using racist narratives (those ignorant savage black ppl will getcha, they're not civilized like us) -_-;;;

See what I mean w/ how f-ed up this entire story is? And the intersection of race and gender identity and the hatred of both in our society? -_-;; It's rly rly rly bad when they intersect together (like our media and society knows how to bash a trans woman of colour, and the stereotypes to throw on her) but it's rly rly bad in ANOTHER way here right now, b/c you have cis black women on one end and a trans white woman on the other and it seems all these bigots seem unable to figure out who they hate more... and when they hate ONE, then they focus on the "mainstream" trait of the OTHER -_-;; It's... so... fucked.. up -_-;;; And it makes my head hurt and makes me screamy -_-;;

I mean FFS, what happened was a DISGUSTING AND TERRIBLE ACT (and a transphobic hate crime >:O ). I mean can't we agree this is WRONG!? It seems like so many ppl can only think it's wrong if they can use the narrative of evil black ppl attacking white ppl, and if they can't use that narrative, then it's OKAY b/c it's a trans woman being beaten down by cis ppl! It's SO F-ED UP how these oppressions are just layering on this thing and you peel one off and ther'es just another one >:O Does it MATTER!? That video was SO F-ING BRUTAL AND FRIGHTENING AND TEAR INDUCING, I mean so many ppl I know couldn't even watch it, and apparently we have to debate the circumstances to see if it's rly bad that PPL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF ANOTHER HUMAN BEING!?

This s- is REAL and it's FRIGHTENING and to a lot of trans ppl this is a legitimate fear we live w/ day in and day out (and so is racism and racial profiling for PoCs, and the reality and fear of that), and they're treating this all like it's an academic exercise >:O

RAWR! >:O

I'm so glad she's okay though (relatively okay :( ) and I hope her well in her healing and getting over this horrific trauma, and I hope her assailants get the punishment they deserve in court >:| UGH >_<;;;

This is disgusting and HORRIFYING D: w/ a nice helping of transphobia and racism too :(

This is fucking disgusting and frightening as all hell D: (note the video in the link is extremely violent and triggering)

This is the Baltimore Sun reporting on the story. The reporting does not say that she's trans (or that she's NOT trans) but according to Bil Browning (in the Bilerico article above) he contacted the reporter who confirmed that she was trans.

Transwomen are women. I've emailed directly with the reporter and he's aware that the woman is transgender. They are working to confirm but didn't want to publish that without talking directly to her first since they weren't sure if it was a factor in the attack. If it wasn't, they didn't want to out her.
Bil Browning | April 22, 2011 5:38 PM

And according to The Smoking Gun the employee who filmed the assault said on his Facebook "That Was Not A Female That Was Getting Beat Up....That Was A Man....He Was Dressed Lik A Woman...." and other such lovely things -_-;; But if that's him and he's being accurate (w/ his transphobic interpretation), then yeah... not only was that a trans woman, the attack was because she was trans :(

Whether she's trans or not, watching that was horrifying D: And rly made me shake and cry :( Stuff like this makes me wonder just how close I might have been in the past to that being me :( I've had some rly scary incidents, and a security guard hold me and publicly out me to humiliate me and guys chasing me and mocking me... but luckily nothing where ppl actually hurt me :( But... D:

A few things about this, and all the confusion surrounding it (right now at the early stages) are on my mind tho... :|

First off, that because the reporting said only that she was "a woman" a lot of ppl seem to be commenting on Bilerico that she's not trans. :\ To me this hits at two things:

1) the media has so much history in sensationalizing stories involving trans ppl, and "outting" trans ppl and using the wrong pronouns and etc that everybody assumes now that if they do not, it must mean that the woman wasn't trans

2) we are so used to cis as the default and also the unmarked discriptor for ppl that if we don't see "trans woman" the assumption is "she's cis" :\

The thing is we still dunno... tho if Bil talked to the reporter and the reporter rly did say that she's trans, that seems like she might be... :| Plus the guy who posted the video... (edit: Read the update)

The second thing is, even if she's NOT trans, if they THOUGHT she was and attacked her, it's still an act of transphobic hate :( And either way, it's terrible :( If she's cis, but they did attack her b/c they thought she was trans then it's only incidental that she wasn't :(

Thirdly, from reading the various other stories online, I find it interesting that since ppl assume she's cis, the comments are largely sympathetic, mostly angry at ppl for standing around filming AND... VERY RACIST >_<;;; Since the victim is white and the attackers black, the WORST stereotypes a lot of ppl seem to have about black ppl and esp black women (aggressive, angry, vicious, etc etc etc >_< ) are coming right to the ugly racist fore (plus generous helpings of the N word >:O ), and whenever it's black vs white, esp white women, there is always this awful dynamic of "how dare you savages attack the poor pure white girl!"

If she IS trans, I srsly wonder how long that dynamic lasts before it inevitably turns into ugliness BOTH ways, horrible aggressive black women vs a creepy tranny trying to sneak into the women's bathroom :( Prolly in the EVERYBDOY IS TO BLAME BECAUSE WE FEAR AND HATE THEM ALL thing where they villify the black assailants and stereotype them in the worst ways possible AND THEN call the victim a man and say that she shouldn't have tried to use the washroom and that she's a pervert and etc etc... And I wonder if she was reported as being trans from the beginning would many of the comments have just been "YEAH BEAT THAT PERVERT" hateful cheerleading or other such crap D: >_<;;; Also if she had been BLACK, would the news have just gone w/ assuming she was trans rather than holding off, b/c it fits the racist/transphobic intersection stereotype in our society so well? >_<;; UGH... I dun wanna think about it either way :(

It's relatively early in the reporting but it's still horrifying since the assault DID happen and ppl DID sit on their hands doing nothing (except for that older woman... big thumbs up to her for trying to stop it) and the reactions so far.. from ppl being racist asshats or ppl telling Bilerico they're wrong JUST B/C the early reports said "woman" instead of the usual misgendering crap.. is just.. UGH.... and PLUS THE VIDEO, esp at the end with her going into seizures.. I couldn't watch nemore :( It's just so... #*&R(*#@&%*(&@#% AUGH

I wanna cry about everything Dx

and angry and upset at the disgusting violence, transphobia and racism of it all Dx

*screams*

Update: According to the Smoking Gun again, the victim is a trans person:

”The police report identifies the victim as 22-year-old Chrissy Lee Polis, who appears identical to Christopher Lee Polis, whose rap sheet includes convictions for disorderly conduct, property destruction, and prostitution, according to court records. The civil rights group Equality Maryland has identified the McDonald’s victim as a transgender woman.”

However, the blog I found this info on (googling) is an example of what I'm getting scared of from this, that if you sympathize with the victim, then the race issue suddenly comes up -_-;;

For one they use a quote that they seem to like where the person quoted explicitly describes the attack by race and notes that the employees were black and did nothing (*sighs* -_-;; cuz this isn't about ppl in general doing nothing, or ppl being ok w/ transphobic violence, it's alllll about those awful black ppl >_<;;) and secondly:

2. Is it a hate crime? If so, black on white, or one related to the victim being transgender?
3. If the roles had been reversed, 2 white women pounding on a black, would the media’s narrative have been different? Would it have been reported more widely almost a week ago when the incident took place?

Yup... REVERSE RACCCIIISSSMMM!!!! -_-;; And the "if it was reversed it'd be EVERYWHERE!!!!!" Um, actually I dun think so. If it had been reversed, I suspect that the media would have outed the black victim as a trans person long ago and everybody would be bashing how she deserved it :( You might get the "is this a race hate crime thing!?" from some media outlets (and only if they dun report she's trans) but the comments response would be nowhere near what it is right now with the racism and anger -_- You'd prolly get the same ppl being racist right now defending the attackers and saying "WE DUNNO THE FULL STORY!"

*sighs*

Awfulness :( I'll try to keep this post (or make a new one) updated :|

Update 2: Apparently the employee who filmed the assault has now been fired but annoyingly and strangely, the Maryland DA appears to be looking into this as a racially motivated crime (reverse racism I guess -_- ) o_O;; Trying not to be cynical here, but I'm worried that the DA thinks it'd be easier to convince a jury that these are scary "reverse racist" black women attacking a poor innocent white woman (who wants to guess that they're gonna try to downplay her trans status as much as possible if they go this route >_< ) than trying to prosecute them as transphobic cis woman who attacked a trans woman for daring to use the women's washroom cuz I suspect (esp from the reaction to stuff like ENDA in the US and Bill C-389 in Canada) that there's still a lot of cis ppl out there who DO think that trans women using the women's washroom is a terrible horrible thing :(

Geeky politicians are awesome :D

This is NDP Leader Jack Layton and his wife (also currently an NDP MP) Olivia Chow in 1991 xD (from this Toronto Star slideshow showing the leaders when they were young xD )

Not that costumes are a reason to vote for ppl (or change my opinion of them xD ), but I find this v cool and awesome :D

A paranoid misogynist's hate filled but TV logic plot to kill women (SHHHH DON'T TELL NEBODY ITS A SEKRIT)

HOLY CRUMBS O_O;; This thing is SO HATEFUL, SCARY and also RIDICULOUSLY ILL THOUGHT OUT XD that I had to share it, if only for the (very frightening) lulz xD



What's wrong with this? Let me list the ways:

First off, this guy watches FAR too many movies (also he's SCARY as hell, also cowardly, cuz if you notice he wants OTHER ppl to do it >_> NOT HIM HE'S THE BRAINS OF THE OPERATION! IF HE DIES ALL HOPE IS LOST!) also I think it's hilarious that he's saying SHHH DON'T TELL NEBODY on a PUBLIC ONLINE MESSAGE BOARD xD

But his plans won't work -_-;; I mean besides that it's not EASY to do ANY of those things, and it's not EASY to get poison gas canisters that can easily kill humans MUCH LESS ones that will release in the TV way he's imagining...malls are generally big spacious areas with LOTS of ventilation, and most poison gasses that you'd be able to get (he's imagining some comic book neurotoxin I bet) would NOT kill ppl a) fast enuf for ppl to notice ppl getting ill and evacuate and b) without a TON of concentration >_<;; Also I love how he's also willing to sacrifice all the MEN who work in malls (also this is proof MRAs never go out -_-;; Been to a mall lately? there's a LOT OF MEN THERE... malls, esp NOWADAYS, are not ALL FEMALE CLOTHING STORES -_- ), as usual, MRAs don't ACTUALLY CARE about men they just HATE WOMEN -_-;; Plus the gas would kill children and babies first, and probably the most, but who cares about them!? WE NEED TO SEND A MESSAGE THAT MEN LIKE HIM ARE GOOD AND WOMEN ARE EVILLLLLLLLL xD

And that whole thing about poisoning the water supply? I dun think any of those places have their own personal water supply >_>;; And as I keep saying, better funded and better organized terrorist groups than you have been trying to kill many ppl in various places and times (incl now!), if it's SO EASY, they'd be poisoning water supplies left right and centre -_-;; I dunno why he thinks these things are THAT EASY except as I said, too much TV xD Also again, MEN EVERYWHERE WILL DIE TOO -_- BUT WHO CARES ABOUT MEN!

And that last plan... y'know there's a reason that movements DON'T do this... I LOVE LOVE LOVE his naivete that what would happen is that the police would back off and never respond to DV calls again and that DV would just be de facto legalized. UM NO. -_-;; If deliberately trying to kill police officers makes the state or the police BACK OFF enforcing whatever law you want them to, ppl would do this long ago -_-;; What would HAPPEN IDIOTBOX is that MRAs would be labelled a terrorist group! I'm not even being facetious. I mean FFS, so many marginalized groups are ALRDY afraid of the police and standing up to the police or even questioning them b/c they can do all sorts of things to you or abuse their authority. If you STARTED KILLING POLICE OFFICERS IN COLD BLOOD DO YOU RLY THINK THAT THE GOVERNMENT WOULD JUST SIT BACK AND GO "oh okay, MRAs, got it, go abuse your wives to your hearts content!"!? -_-;;; (also I love the "IN THE NIGHT THEY HAVE NO DEFENSE!" besides that they would surround the house and call in back up, what about IN THE DAY? You still plan to live at your house right? xD Plus I think the sniper being KILLED would be a nice deterrent for nebody else trying this to do it again xD) OMFG.. this guy lives in TVLAND.. also I suspect he's one of those guys who thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, that nobody's REALIZED these brilliant plans before but him xD

And I think a LOT of women (AND men since he apparently thinks there's a WHOLE LOT OF MEN working for the feminist conspiracy too that he wishes to kill) wish that we rly did have police protectors hovering around us, esp when apparently he thinks men should be killing us in DROVES >_<;;; I guess we should be glad this guy's too afraid to do it himself, and also that his plans would be exceedingly difficult to pull off >_>;; (I dun think I need to go into how extreme and scary his hatred for women is or that he seems to praise Sodini's murderous actions as some sort of activism >_<;;)

I also love how he seems to think that ALL MEN SEKRITLY SUPPORT THEM and once you start doing this society will turn over and MEN EVERYWHERE WILL RISE UP AND FIGHT THE FEMALE SCOURGE -_-;;; Rather than y'know, it would COMPLETELY DESTROY w/e cred that MRAs had to start with... -_-;; Tho my amusedness at the ridiculosity (to take from Mike Wilner) ends at them wanting massive male and female deaths :( It's scary and sad to me that somebody can be filled with that much hate and anger :(

RAWR >_<;; It rly is WHITE UNLESS PROVEN CoC IN A COURT OF LAW in adaptation movies nowadays isn't it -_-;;;

-_-;; They may have made Talia Al'Ghul white

I'm too tired and drained right now to post something coherent and smart about this and why it's awful so I'll let my friend and one of the biggest Batman geeks (she prolly know more about Batman comics of any era than nebody I know) and awesome feminist blogger, Zhinxy explain it (from her comment in that thread) :)

Please let her NOT be Talia. She doesn’t “look like Talia.” She is far from “Perfect for Talia” who is one of my favorite POC comic book characters. She’s a lovely woman, and a fine actress, but she is also a White woman. Talia is officially of Middle Eastern and Chinese descent. Yes, the role of her father was whitewashed. But that gives us a chance to rectify the situation by the simple logic that her mother could certainly have been of her comic book background. Two wrongs do not make a right, and whitewashing is a practice that comic fans should not applaud.

Exactly :) Tho, as I also was saying to her, this is kinda comics fault, and I'm sure many ppl will be like "I NEVER THOUGHT SHE WAS WHITE LOOK AT THIS FRAME OF HER" -_-;; As Joel Bryan noted in my post about how Countdown can't even keep the chars looking the same from book to book there seems to be no editorial art control or style guides in Marvel or DC nemore. Women esp seem to be only discernible by their hair colour (and in Holly's case not even) and the clothes they wear (and again in Holly's case not even) -_-;;;

It seems like sometimes the artists just know a char by "oh she's a teen/20s girl! i can draw that!" and use a completely different photo reference (as Bryan believes) that another might, or that they SHOULD based on what we KNOW of the char (and it seems like a lot of artists have NO idea of the chars they draw either, like Holly in that panel). -_-;; So there are prolly lots of times where Talia looks ttlly white b/c the artist just thinks "ooh sexy Bat girlfriend! I know what *I'd* want her to look like!" -_-;;

OF COURSE, there's also the whole Avatar: The Last Airbender thing too, where white ppl will ALWAYS claim that nebody who isn't OBVIOUSLY meant to be dark skinned in comics or animation COULD VERY WELL BE WHITE! -_-;; And I'm sure there's gonna be that crap as a response to Zhinxy and the others who will argue to keep Talia's CoCness -_-;; (and as she says, having Neeson as Ra's was a screw up alrdy, but it doesn't mean you can or should be hiding behind it >:O )

rawr..it looks like I had more to say than I thought :o

Neways, good comment is good :) I HOPE that she is not Talia >_<;;

Oh yeah.. and on that note: The lead for the remake of the Crow is white too -_-;;

And yus I know that NOTHING SAYS DRAVEN HAS TO BE PART ASIAN! Except that he's been played by ONLY part Asian actors in the movie and in the TV series, and it seems unlikely, EVEN IF (and probably) they cast Brandon Lee in the movie b/c he was the best person for the job (like Dean Cain as Superman, I dun think they were thinking "Asian Superman") AFTER the movie, they clearly were thinking "Draven is part Asian" when they cast for the TV series... otherwise it's a pretty big coincidence given HOW MUCH hollywood has to be dragged kicking and screaming to NOT cast white actors and actresses as often as possible. -_-;;

But of course, yeah we remake and get a white Draven -_-;; HONESTLY, this seems like it's getting worse, from white Aangs to white Kyo Kusanagis to an all white Akira -_-;;; You know, even back in the 90s, Liu Kang, Ryu, Chun Li, Kung Lao in the TV series, etc etc at least were allowed to be white. In fact, I always have a soft spot for the MK movie NOT JUST cuz I actually like it, but cuz they didn't make the hero Johnny Cage (like the SF movie made Guile the hero) and Liu Kang was a great char who was allowed to get the girl as an Asian male lead :) W00T and all that good stuff :) But it rly seems like now more than ever, Hollywood seems FRIGHTENED TO DEATH to have non-white leads in adaptations and will take and find any excuse they can to say "well he/she can prolly be finessed to be white, I mean, Asians have light skin too right? And besides it's a comic book!" -_-;; And then they give us a supporting char that's a PoC or change a char to be black or etc etc and think it makes everything square -_-;;;

It just... it makes me so angry >:O (And I'm pretty sick of the white washing of Asian chars in general cuz ppl feel like except for the eyes there's no "real" difference between us and white ppl in art and fiction >_<;;; It's just so AUGH to me >:O )

Hilarious Sun News debut is hilarious xD

SUN News' debut is hilarious xD

>_>;; This sounds wonderful. They can't just be like "we're a new network, here's the news". I mean EVERYBODY knows they're trying to be the Canadian FOX news, but they gotta keep up the trumpets so their base knows "WE WILL SUPPORT YOU AGAINST THE LEFTY CONSPIRACY!" xD

The hosts and reporters all explained what they would be doing at Sun News. Bromides were involved. There would “be no sacred cows.” They are “raising the bar.” It’s “not going to be politics as usual.” And, most importantly, they “are going to cover the stories that matter.” The stories that “people really want to hear about.”

This, apparently, even extends to the weather. Krista Erickson, who will anchor the Canada Live afternoon program and who was given the unenviable task of hosting the Sun News “pre-game show,” introduced weather specialist Michelle Jobin, who showed off a fancy monitor with a giant “EXTREME WEATHER” banner on it. Ms. Jobin explained that the screen was state-of-the-art, and that she would use it to “tell stories about weather that matter to Canadians.” Finally, a network that is unafraid to tell the real weather stories, not like those lefties at the CBC with their pro-hail biases and their PC attitudes toward snow squalls.

Ms. Erickson noted that she knows viewers have a lot of frustration toward weather forecasts. “Not with Michelle,” she said. “You can count on her.”

That's my favourite part xD THEY WILL TELL YOU THE WEATHER THE FEMINAZI QUEER SOCIALIST CONSPIRACY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW! Their meteorologist KICKS THE CRAP OUT OF THOSE PINKO ONES! xDDD

Y'know when the National Post thinks you're a joke as a right wing mouthpiece, there's an issue here xD

Also I was talking w/ a friend about this and then this happened:

[22:54] Pazi: That was a real nice country you guys had once. >>
[22:54] Ami Angelwings: yeah D:
[22:54] Ami Angelwings: but it prolly won't catch on that big
[22:54] Ami Angelwings: i hoep not neways
[22:55] Ami Angelwings: maybe ppl rly are sick of hearing about spring showers without being told the truth that they come from China
[22:56] Pazi: They're outsourcing Canadian weather to cheaper atmospheric conditions in East Asia.
[22:56] Ami Angelwings: xD yus
[22:56] Ami Angelwings: also the slow islamic takeover of our weather system
[22:57] Pazi: The prevailing wind blows East.

Toward *Mecca*. Coincidence? I think not!
[22:57] Ami Angelwings: xDDDD
[22:57] Ami Angelwings: and towards quebec!
[22:57] Ami Angelwings: those frenchies want EVERYTHING
[22:57] Pazi: Like M&M's the color of their flag!
[22:58] Ami Angelwings: yesterday the CBC said it would rain, today they said it'll be sunny.. WHICH IS IT!? SUN News weather doesn't flip flop
[23:00] Pazi: Here at Sun News we're dedicated to finding the causes of weather and eradicating them, so that our forecasts will always be accurate.
[23:00] Ami Angelwings: xD
[23:00] Ami Angelwings: there should be no state restrictions on weather
[23:00] Ami Angelwings: why must it always be cold in the winter and warm in the summer? we say let the free market decide!
[23:02] Pazi: Tired of chaotic phenomena determining the temperature and speed of the air you breathe? Sick of being confused by seasonal patterns that change according to events outside your own country? Suspicious of foreign influence on your precipitation? Sun News is there.
[23:02] Pazi: XD
[23:02] Ami Angelwings: xD
[23:04] Pazi: Tornadoes rip through the Prairie provinces, devastating as many as dozens of lives. Sun News brings you a special report tonight on the possible origins of this terrorist cell!
[23:04] Ami Angelwings: City of Toronto issues cold weather alert for homeless. As usual the PC lefties give a handout and support the welfare industry. If ppl can get the weather for free where's the incentive for them to get off their lazy (encounter suited) butts and get a job and buy a tv and SUN news!?
[23:06] Pazi: Can freezing rain cause cancer? Our in-depth coverage starts on Sun News At 11...and the answer may surprise you.
[23:07] Pazi: Lightning and Thunder: Benign Atmospheric Discharge, or Alien Particle Beam Attack? Find out tonight!
[23:10] Ami Angelwings: I'm so sick of how the sun is red during sunset... how mcuh is it costing taxpayers for this Liberal propaganda!? how come we never have a blue sun? you just know our activist judges would never allow this!
[23:12] Pazi: I hear in BC the sun turns the whole sky pink when it sets! We let these people marry, and now they insist on forcing their colors, the symbol of their perverse lifestyle, on our skies and children!

Liberal Candidate & former judge thinks sexual assault is no big deal >:O (Trigger Warnings)

This is farking DISGUSTING >:O (Trigger warning for the link and the quoted text below)

Why the FUCK has Ignatieff not kicked this guy out of hte party!? I don't CARE if it's during an election. He just removed a candidate who founded a white power movement in Quebec, this isn't very much different, this is a former judge who THINKS SEXUAL ASSAULT IS NO BIG DEAL! >:O It reminds me of that asshole judge in Manitoba who sentenced a convicted rapist to house arrest b/c while the guy DID RAPE THE GIRL, he feels BAD FOR THE POOR RAPIST and called him a "clumsy Don Juan" >:O

This is the same farking disgusting thing >:O

Host: But you've got also, you can't deny that 70 per cent of inmates in federal prisons are there for violent crimes. First and second degree murder, sex assault, arson, kidnapping. Those, 70% of them judge, so it's not again they're just a bunch of innocent people sitting in prison. There's some bad dudes in there.

JR: There are. But I believe that the percentage of 'bad dudes' that are in there is a lot lower than the, I mean, this is one of my problems with the criminal justice system the way it is, is that I say we put too much emphasis on the offence and not enough emphasis on the offender. If you're looking at what the Conservative government wants to do is say if this is the offence, you go to jail. And that's going to put people in jail that don't need to be there.

Host: But what kind of offences though?

JR: Sexual assault.

Host: You shouldn't go to jail for a sex assault?

JR: Well, you know, there are sexual assaults and there are sexual assaults.

Host: Sure?

JR: And I had another young man, not a young offender, but a 19, 20 year old. He's at a party, there's a lot of sexual innuendo, one of these women is being very aggressive with her boyfriend and they're drinking a lot, the boyfriend passes out, she goes, gets into bed naked, he goes up, he's thinking he's going to be able to, that she'll probably agree to have sex with him, he fondles her privates, and she wakes up and tells him to go away, and he goes away. They report it, he's charged with sexual offence, he has digitally penetrated her, the crown prosecutor says this is a digital penetration of a woman's vagina, he should go to jail for three years, that's the starting point for this sexual offence. And I'm looking at this 20 year old, socially inept young man, and his offence is a sexual assault and it's one that they consider a major sexual assault because it involves digital penetration. I don't think in those circumstances that that what happened there should put that young man in a penitentiary for three years.

Host: Unless it's your daughter, and then maybe you've got a whole another perspective! You haven't mentioned the word 'victim' once yet!

JR: You know, I am concerned about victims, but what I'm concerned about is our society as a whole.

And I get that this is a conservative interview who's trying to "get" him, but he wasn't LED into this, he went his own way, opened the door and walked right thru >:O And it's not like I'm a big THROW EVERYBODY IN JAIL person either, and I'm against this fear-mongering by the Conservatives about building more jails and locking ppl up forever and ever (and honestly as usual, ppl focus on the WRONG CRIMES, they shrug at date rape rates while ringing the bell on serial killers or hiding in the bushes rapists, just like how ppl fear the TV show pedophiles that want to kidnap your kids 3 states away when most pedophiles are ppl the parents or child knows) -_-;;; But.. this is so WTF... & forget mandatory sentences for a second... it's the fact that he thinks SEXUAL ASSAULT IS NO BIG DEAL and as the interviewer pointed out, DID NOT SAY the word VICTIM (or survivor) ONCE! In fact from how he tells it this guy is the REAL victim, the POOR BOY! >_<;;; Also like the Manitoba judge he chalks it up to the guy being awkward and oh, y'know, boys are like that! Havne't you ever sexually assaulted a passed out girl cuz you liked her? >_>;;

I also love how much he sides with the guy >:O Oh he thought she'd fuck him! See that makes it OKAY! HE MIND READ HER! >:\ Also I suspect she didn't wake up and politely ask him to leave and then after the fact thought "let's get him for sexual assault for fun!" FFS.. just THINKING ABOUT WAKING UP WITH A GUY TOUCHING MY PRIVATES MAKES ME WANT TO THROW UP! >:O and he fucking penetrated her! >:O srsly... GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS GROSS

and super gross to that Liberal candidate >:O He seems to think this is NO BIG DEAL. And yeah I know he's trying to do the "WE DUN WANT TO LOCK HIM UP FOREVARRRR" thing... but ffs, he srsly DOES act like THIS IS NO BIG DEAL and he shouldn't be punished AT. ALL. >:O In fact to hear HIM tell it, it sounds like he doesn't even think this is rly a crime! >:O

It IS interesting that the various victim blaming conservative talking heads and their supporters on comment threads, etc.. seem in general avoidant of rly ripping this guy tho, cuz given their reaction to Slut Walk & the Manitoba judge ruling, if this wasn't a Liberal, they'd be all for what he said.. so I think it's an awkward moment for them >_>;; They seem to be pointing it out as something bad but w/o explaining why >_>;; I mean after spending all their time bashing Slut Walk just a couple weeks ago and saying "men can't help themselves!", it'd be weird for the talk radio guys to turn around suddenly and say "no wait this is wrong" xD

Maybe they'll learn from this tho and realize rape apologia is bad... one can hope :) To be fair, I found out about this from Charles Adler, a right wing radio host whom I generally can't stand... but whether it's partisan or not, he's right to be angry about this >:O rape apologia is wrong no matter who's doing it (i hope he remembers this xD) >:O

But again... WTF F-ING F! >:O Ignatieff, you removed a racist asshat from your party, REMOVE THIS GUY! >:O (thank GOD he's not a judge NEMORE)

Dear ppl of Wild Rose: Vote NDP or Green instead of Liberal >:O

That's f-ing disgusting >:O I'm gonna go write Ignatieff and tell him to dump this asshat ASAP. If this disgusts nebody else I encourage you to do the same (unless you're not Canadian, cuz that might be moot >_> ) >:OOOO

Edit: The more I think about it the more I suspect the Liberal Party is OKAY with Wild Rose Candidate John Reilly and his awful rape apologia comments b/c their platform is attacking Harper's "tough on crime" sentencing and building more jails stance and the truth is, I really do wonder if they consider sexual assault another "not big deal" crime like using drugs that shouldn't be punished -_-;;

And the Conservative supporters silence on the issue is because after just victim blaming and denigrating rape survivors a few weeks ago cuz of Slut Walk, they can't rly turn around and claim "this is wrong!" plus I doubt they think it's wrong either -_-;; Who says we don't live in a rape culture? >_<;;

Captain Racist America stands up against the fascist forces of OKCupid xD

Holy crumbs is this real? xD If it is this guy is hilarious (and racist) xD

Basically it's this Arizonan guy claiming that OKCupid violated his civil rights by having Spanish as an option on their site xD He argues so badly for his version of events that I rly do wonder if he's for real xD Cuz srsly... he basically puts up the emails where he looks like a jerk and even threatens them with DEATH and then acts like he's completely rational and reasonable xD

If this site was generated in America for Americans, then why do you have spanish on there? I live in Arizona and im fed up on how everything has beening turning into hablo espanol. Why does it have to be spanish? I don't understand it, especially when they didn't want to have to anything with us when wars happen, but yet we immigrated other cultures we have fought wars against, and yet we still spoke English. Now that we have a problem with our borders with illegal immigration, we are making it VERY EASY for them to cross the border illegally and be able to communicate so they do jobs w/o supporting our own country. So why are we allowing this? This is the last thing i hate, i came to site because of the genuine portrayl of actually meeting someone or establishing a relationship. Why do i want to deal with someone speaking spanish if i don't speak it. That is why i live in America, not Spain or Mexico. See my point? I hope you do, because this is a problem not just from your site, but in our society/economy in OUR OWN COUNTRY! I hope you realize you are contributing to the help of illegal immigration and terrorism. Keep in mind a terrorist comes in different colors/cultures, but when they are in our country illegally, the worst thing that is done to them is being deported back to their country just so they can try it again. So thank you for NOT supporting AMERICA!

So that's him originally xD I love how he segues into terrorism and doesn't rly explain why xD Also I'm confused about the war thing and who he thinks didn't support America in what war or ... wtf o.O xD I'm confused >_>;;;

But the best part is OKC's response xD

-From: John Marc Imbrescia (jm@okcupid.com)
El lenguaje del amor es universal. -jm

-From: Vinay Pai (vinay@okcupid.com)
It's actually worse than that... the pixels our pages are made from are made in China, putting millions of hard working American pixels out of work. It's unfortunate, but it's really hard to stay competitive with all the increase in cost. We considered switching to black and white because they're so much cheaper than colored pixels, but that upset a lot of people. It's a tough choice... I hope you can be more understanding :(

From: Eli Gwynn (eli@okcupid.com)
I've been considering taking it on as my next project to overhaul the whole nationality/ethnicity restrictions of the site. Hopefully we can get to the point where only people of native continental ancestry have active accounts and all communication happens in Navajo, Hopi, or Algonquin. The last thing we want is outsiders undermining our proud continental heritage. I'll also be changing my username to RepliesWithSwiftSarcasm.
Eli - Soon to be known as "Coyote Compiler Whisperer"

xDDDD I luff their sarcastic responses xD Of course our hilarious Captain Racist America gets his back up about this and can't IMAGINE why these guys would mock his racist and utterly ridic demands xD

*Imagine this was you voicing an opinion about something you strongly feel that is a problem with our country that needs to be corrected as far as how our economy/society is doing. Nothing. Well how am i suppose to react to this? Well i responded to ELI, because not only is sarcastic, but insults and patronizes me and i told him i felt about it. Well he then goes and deletes my account! I been on there for about a year and made a lot of progress to build my profile and etc. Now it is taken away because i am exercising my rights and then they violate it and say that its my fault.

Awww he feels PATRONIZED does he? xD I also love how he thinks it's up to OKC to correct the problems he sees in the country and society xD "how am i suppose to react to this?" Ideally by hanging your head and realizing the racism of your ways xD But of course he just keeps digging:

Well here is the email i sent to ELI and here is the response i got from him. Keep in mind its suppose to protray as me being the bad seed about this, turning it around to make me look like the crazy person that had nothing better to do than to threaten people and lose an account information.

On Aug 28, 2008, at 2:48 PM, Paul U wrote:
PAUL-How about "dick with teeth full of fists"? Or maybe "little penis big incompetence"?

ELI-You're not the first person to insult us. It happens *every day* and we don't care.

PAUL-Yeah that really mature of you to respond like that, you this is a joke?ELI-You're not the first person to contact us complaining about allowing non-english speakers on the site and then proceed to butcher the english language.

PAUL-I don't care what race you are
ELI-These are hardly the words of someone who writes to his internet dating site complaining about all of the spanish-speakers.

PAUL-if i saw you in person i would litterally beat your face in until you are gargling your own blood.
ELI-You're definitely not the first person to threaten us.

I'm actually not sure what this is.. from what he says after, this is apparently bits and pieces of an email exchange... which begs the question.. so you EDITED your exchange and you STILL COME OFF LOOKING LIKE AN ASSHOLE!? xDDDDD This is why I'm boggling about this guy... usually a person's side of the story, esp when they're EDITING EMAILS tries to make the other side look like ogres and softens what THEY did, but if he's softening what he's said, he's either doing a TERRIBLE JOB, or he said some even WORSE THINGS xDDD But neways, yeah... in his whining summary above, he NEGLECTED TO MENTION THE REASON HE WAS BANNED: I.E. the threat of violence xDDD

But heroic boy is always in the right and afger being banned he summarizes his case as such:

mm, thats funny, because i thought it was an opinion, not a complaint. Theres a tab to press when to submit a feedback and there is a complaint tab, an opinion tab, and there is also a tab that says, "IM REALLY ANGRY!" Just like that. Go check it out, before you (the reader) prejudges me on being the bad person.
Oh and ELI, i don't have to try to do bad publicty, you are just doing it fine for me! Keep it up you dumbass!

Paul
cave creek, Arizona
U.S.A.

xD It's not a COMPLAINT, it's an OPINION (that's COMPLAINING about things xD)

I ALWAYS love the IT'S JUST MY OPINIONNNNN thing when ppl act like that somehow saying "it's just my thoughts!" and puts their thoughts out in public means that they can't be criticized or something xD And srsly he IS complaining (what's the difference between a complaint and an opinion neways? o_O "it's just my opinion that you run your restaurant like crap?" xD ) I love that again, he reiterates how he feels it's SO OBVIOUS he's in the right and somehow has made it all about the feedback tab o_O

xDDDD Kk Paul, I can't tell you what this will do for OKC's rep, but at least in this blog, it's not doing nething good for yours xDD

(also maybe I should use OKC MORE nao that I know they have snarky awesome mods xD)

And yus I am on OKC >_> find me if you can! (tho I haven't checked my profile in YEARS, I just set it up for fun xD I get a lot of creepy guys msging me x_x Or guys who know NOTHING about comics but pretend they do and fail big time xD)

The Spectacular Super Kate! :D

[23:32] Ami Angelwings: one of my friends did the lettering for the royal wedding graphic novel o_o
[23:33] Zhinxy: WOW
[23:33] Ami Angelwings: whut :o
[23:34] Zhinxy: that's awesome
[23:34] Zhinxy: XD
[23:34] Zhinxy: and funny
[23:34] Zhinxy: there's a royal wedding gn
[23:34] Ami Angelwings: :)
[23:35] Ami Angelwings: yus
[23:35] Ami Angelwings: it's how they met and fell in love
[23:35] Ami Angelwings: unfortunately she does not run off during dates saying
[23:35] Zhinxy: omg
[23:35] Ami Angelwings: um i have to go home to.. uh... wash my socks!
[23:35] Zhinxy: HAHAHAHHAHAHA
[23:35] Zhinxy: Kate Super Middleton
[23:35] Ami Angelwings: yus
[23:35] Ami Angelwings: >_>
[23:39] Ami Angelwings: they should take artistic license
[23:39] Ami Angelwings: otherwise it'll be boring >_>
[23:39] Ami Angelwings: he'll be the only person in kate's life who doesn't turn out to be a supervillain
[23:39] Ami Angelwings: and then later on kate will make a deal with the devil and remove their marriage from history
[23:40] Ami Angelwings: maybe they've ALRDY BEEN MARRIED before but it was retconned :O

Ami liveblog update :)

Live blogging/tweeting the new episode of Smallville! Follow it on my Twitter until 10pm EDT :D (check this space for a summary of my tweets later) :)

Edit: http://ami-angelwings.blogspot.com/2011/04/ami-livetweetsblogs-smallville-10x17.html

I put it up on my reviews blog :) That was annoying -_- But it's there! :D

Great takedown of the Slate & NYT Game of Thrones reviews.. & random misogynist hilarity xD

This is a good analysis and take down of the Slate and NYT "reviews" of game of thrones

I didn't even hear of the Slate one... but ugh -_- Look even if you dun LIKE the genre, your job is still to try to review it as best and as fair as you can. At LEAST he admits his bias, but that doesn't mean you can then go and start ripping on the genre rather than give an actual review -_-;; And what was the whole language thing where he seems to be TRYING to mock somebody but nobody is sure who >_>;;; Lesson to pretentious reviewers: If you never read fantasy fiction, don't try to satirize it xD

And then of course the infamous Bellafonte review which is spreading like WILDFIRE across teh internets O_O;; Like if she continues on for another 20 years of reviewing (assuming she still has a job after this) I dun think she'll ever live down this embarrassment (which is justly deserved, she didn't just write a sexist article, she bashed an entire genre and fanbase and didn't ACTUALLY REVIEW THE SHOW very much -_-) I can't wait for the NYT response, or HER response... I'm wondering if she'd respond at ALL, or just stick up her nose and go "those ppl are beneath me" which actually prolly would be preferable than the other response I fear might be coming which is the "YOU IDIOTS DIDN'T GET MY BRILLIANT WRITING, THAT'S NOT WHAT I WAS SAYING AND HONESTLY YOU PPL DUNNO YOUR OWN GENRE VERY WELL AND ANY WOMEN WHO SAY OTHERWISE ARE OUTLIERS" defensive delicate genius thing we've become so accustomed to from creators who are caught with their butts hanging out -_-;;; But I'm pretty sure we'll prolly hear from the NYT at the very least... mind you, since w/ something as serious as rape apologia (that victim blaming article of the 11 y/o who was gang raped) they put in a BLOG POST the usual "we're sorry for hurting your feelings" non=apology, I suspect if they DO say nething about this it'll be another non addressing of the issue xD

On an AMUSING note, I saw this in the comments of the article I just linked:

The MESSAGE

Grow up to become the walking dishrag your feminist wife can use and discard, taking your kids and your house.

The NYT has some nerve, both telling women there is nothing wrong with modern divorce and telling men it is OK to walk into the modern tragedy that is marriage.

Young guys KNOW BETTER. Kate Hymowitz heard an earful and some more from young guys and their disdain for the tragedy called modern marriage.

—Liberty2Day

XDDDDD What does that even have to DO w/ Bellafonte's review!? xD Oh right... this guy's an MRA type... EVERYTHING has to do w/ the feminist conspiracy! xD And then a random tangent about something the review isn't even about. xD

BUT REMEMBER GUYZ IF YOU READ A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE YOU WILL TURN INTO A DISHRAG THAT YOUR FEMINAZI WIFE WILL USE!!! AND THEN YOU'LL LOSE YOUR KIDS AND HOUSE!!! MARRIAGE WILL DESTROYYY YOUUUUUU

Random MRA comments are so hilarious xD

Random Ami thoughts on the different female body "ideals" & they're conflation and confusion xD comic art :)

Yesterday night I had a convo w/ Trish about porn and bodies in porn, and how I had been explaining to some guy a while back who seemed to think men in straight porn (with big penises or large muscles) weren't there PRIMARILY for "closeted bi guys" or even straight women like he thought (even tho I'm sure some straight women like looking at them xD and it prolly doesn't hurt :) ) but as part of an aesthetic thing, where with the female chars being "perfect" (or the porny societal idea of perfect) and having extreme anatomy, then it would be weird if the other side didn't either... and it adds to the whole "sex between gods and goddesses" sort of fantasy element of some porn... and then today I was reading thru an old Marvel review I did that involved a lot of Marc Silvestri art xD

And I realized that that's kinda what the "mainstream" comic art that ppl complain about is stuck on -_-;; The thing is that our idea of the ideal male body for sexual fantasy and for athletics/strength is EXACTLY THE SAME, surprise surprise, cuz male sexuality and male attractiveness is, in our societal ideas, tied in w/ success and strength, and that means muscle. The problem is that for women it's not the same, in fact it's pretty different what's the "ideal" female body across all sorts of things... but in athletics, it's def not the same as in porn or sexual fantasy, but it gets conflated b/c male fans and writers and artists seem it only from their PoV and thats why you get ppl arguing that it makes sense b/c men have ideal bodies too, yus, but then they extrapolate that therefore women should be the porn equivalents, when that's not why superhero men have those bodies. >_>;;

Honestly I think most of the time they KNOW that they're conflating two different "ideals" but it's an easy excuse and derail when female fans complain -_-;; "well look at it, doesn't it match up!? it makes sense!" well only if you think superhero women exist as fucktoys and girlfriends for the guys... (which... yeah we've heard that before too or guys tiptoeing around admitting it) >_> rather than athletic partners in heroing. And the thing is it doesn't mean they can't be SEXY ffs -_-;; but there'd be a different range -_-;; Supergirl as Maria Sharapova -> maybe WW as Dara Torres or something... rather than the range being "barely 18 pornstar" -> "DD cup curvier pornstar" >_>;; The men are athletic fit men b/c superheroes are ideal forms of strong and powerful men, it's just incidental they fit our ideas for sexual fantasy too -_-;; Unless of course guys defending this think that superhero comics is a purely male power and sexual fantasy, men are the powerful athletes, and women are the pornstars who dote over them? (that was rhetorical xD and honestly even the companies say the opposite... remember DC begging women to read Supergirl? -_-;; CLEARLY at least the ppl in charge WANT women to see the female chars as power fantasies, they just dun seem to want it enuf to actually realize what's wrong xD)

There's the female "ideal" that comes incidentally w/ a fit, athletic body, and then there's the "ideal" that's a male sexual fantasy or the super thin model standard -_-;; That's NOT the same thing. (From personal exp, I know during my working out compulsion and my eating disorder, that there's SO MUCH out there, and I mean literally, as in actual written advice and all sorts of panic in weight loss/exercise forums, to women about get thin but DON'T GET BULK OR YOU'LL LOOK ATHLETIC AND NOT THE GOOD ATHLETIC, it's not some theoretical feminist concern, the conflict between the two is quite a real double message in society to women -_-) Men are not not drawing men as men they're attracted to, any attractiveness is incidental and accidental... they're drawing them as athletic bodies they want to have to be heroic and feel heroic, but women are their "ideal girlfriends" not "ideal athletic teammate" -_-

Like.. okay.. if you were playing sports, what body would you choose, and if you had women on your team what body would you want them to have? If you were honest and cared about winning (rather than staring at your teammates >_>) you would choose the athletic muscled one :) (and honestly, are female athletes NOT sexy enuf for comic readers? xD )

edit: after writing this I just ran into this rly great post and it a) is v familiar to me, at least about the weight loss/exercise stuff for sure and b) is what I was saying above:

You eventually realize that yes, there is something that intentionally keeps women out of the weight lifting area: a general societal understanding that women aren’t supposed to be strong. That muscles are the realm of men, and having them would make a woman look… manly. Femininity, as defined by people who aren’t, ostensibly, female… doesn’t include muscles. It was a gendered expectation that was preventing me from becoming my more fit self, and it frustrated me to no end.

Also

The expectation, once I’d lost a respectable amount of weight, was that I’d done so by dieting. (Y’all know that dieting and I don’t get along worth a damn.) Dieting is just what women do. You hate food for making you fat. You fear food because it makes you fatter. You avoid food because you don’t want to be fat. You turn “fat” into a loaded term… you turn against yourself and hate yourself for having fat (news flash: even athletes have fat), you cringe when you see “fat people” enjoying their lives because you can’t enjoy yours because, well, you’re too busy being fixated on fat. It’s just the cycle that women go through. By virtue of being a woman, you’re expected to engage in this cycle.
As I moved on in trying to decide what I wanted to look like, I had to contend with demands and expectations from all sides. On one end, I was being advised that being thin was the ideal. No muscle, no “curve” – “curvy is just pretty language for fat,” and we all know how bad “fat” is – just thinness. On another angle, I was being told that, as a Black woman, I needed to keep my curves. [Black] men love curves, and if I lost mine, surely no man would want me then. From a third angle, I not only needed to have curves, but I was worthless without the right kind of curves. No gut, huge ass, giant breasts. My body wasn’t my own to make the decisions for – everything was a mitigating factor in what my body should look like. The only thing that didn’t matter in the equation was what I wanted to look like in the end.

I'm quoting that just cuz it rly hits me hard, cuz I rly understand that idea.. of how dieting feels like it should be the normal state of life, feeling liek you can NEVER quit the dieting and starving and if a little is good, more is better, and women SHOULD NOT EAT, and we should be thin WHILE athletic but not ATHLETIC ATHLETIC, THIN THINNNN.... no muscclleee :( I starved myself while running 4 hours a day b/c I was afraid if I stopped running, I'd get fat, and if I ATE, then my running would make me MUSCULAR :(

Like if you look at Silvestri's art.. you see v clearly the 2 contradicating messages.. the impossible lean stomach, with muscular arms while the arms are also SO THIN THEY CAN'T HAVE BONE, and thin legs with giant breasts and round butt... -_- ;;;

And she describes her own double standard b/c of the extra beauty standard pressures and body messages on black women in society and what "men want" :( There's "all women should be thin" and a lot of racism in that too in terms of how everybody has to be some white beauty standard extreme (as an Asian girl I get the other side, the exoticness thin "you're so lucky to be Asian they're the PERFECT woman" stuff :( ) but at the same time the "as a black woman you should also have XYZ qualities" >_<;; Rather than just able for her to be her, there's this thing to be lean, no fat, perfect while having all sorts of other qualities that are contradictory cuz of her being a woman and a black woman :(

argh :( sry... i just... I might be a bit ED triggered nao :( and trying to write it out to get past it... sry sry sry... :(

This is abs ridic -_-;;

So they rly have defined women's sports as "must be weak sports"!? -_-;;

Who the hell defines "male range" btw... -_-;;; If you're TOO good, clearly you're not a woman! FFS... we dun ban MALE athletes with physical advantages from competing with men! Guys play basketball all the time with glandular and hormonal issues that allow them to be super tall... -_- Some championship swimmers have "abnormal" joints, I mean by DEFINITION being a top athlete makes you a freak of nature -_- This is SO STUPID & obsessed with some idea of rigid gender and social idea of women as "necessarily weaker" >_<;;

Also that headline (fe)male >_<;; VERY CLEVER -_-;;

The IOC says that an athlete banned from female competition under these regulations would not be eligible to compete as a male.

wtf o_o so literally any woman who doesn't fit their narrow definition of a "woman" cuz they claim "UR BASICALLY A MAN" can't compete with the men? o_O So srsly.. this rly is a "FREAK FREAKKKKKKK" thing!? >_<;;;

This can cause the development of bulky muscles, perhaps giving athletes an unfair competitive advantage.

So srsly, we're claiming genetic doping now? -_-;; WTH is "unfair" when it comes to WHO YOU ARE!? Again, are ppl with other physical "abnormalities" going to be banned now? -_-;; Are we going to start defining what's "fair" in terms of racial stereotypes now too!? Sorry Yao, you're TOO TALL FOR AN ASIAN DUDE, you can't play basketball?!?

But despite the uncertainties, the guidelines have been welcomed as a reasonable compromise. "It makes the playing field fair," says Collins.

So then men should be able to take steroids or HGH if they're smaller than the "male range" right? TO BE FAIR RIGHT!? -_-;;; OH FFS! Should a cis non-intersex woman who sets a world record by a LOT be forced to take more estrogen shots!? -_-;;

Again, I'll reiterate what I said when the original Semenya uproar happened. Whether or not we SHOULD have male and female divisions in sports is ANOTHER issue, and one that maybe we as a society might want to have. But if you HAVE gender divisions, then you have to divide by GENDER, not by some idea of men as "normal sports" and women as "sucky sports" and we gotta make sure those poor non-intersexed women aren't being beaten by scary intersexed women (altho Semenya did NOT set any records, so unless we're not alleging that everybody who's beaten her or set faster times should also be expelled >_> ) or etc -_-;;;

Some experts, including Genel, argue that, as other kinds of physiological variation, such as height or oxygen-carrying capacity, are accommodated in sport, perhaps natural variations in hormone levels should be accepted too.

Kinda like.. Michael Phelps? Maybe HE should be banned too! MUST BE FAIIRRRRRR FAAIIIRRRR!!! If a woman had his physique, I bet they'd want to ban her too -_-

SRSLY -_-;;; As I said... it's pretty much by definition that being a top athlete MAKES YOU A FREAK OF NATURE. -_-;; Being in the top 10 sprint times alrdy means you're something like .0000001% of the human population -_-;;; This is so stupid.. >:O If you're dividing up by gender, then you have to divide BY GENDER... otherwise just admit that you think that women's sports is a little pink not-serious-competition headpat to those weak little girls who think they can actually do nething w/ their weak little girl bodies -_-;;

Ugh -_- They responded to their ridic and embarrassing actions regarding Caster Semenya by enacting a ridic and embarrassing rule -_- *clap clap clap* Another fine display by the Lords of the Rings.

Something Awful mocks the MRAs and inspires Ami thoughts and snark :)

Something Awful mocks the MRA forum Spearhead

FRIGHTENING O_O;; If it wasn't for the hilarious snark of SA, it would be scary... o_o;; Well it's alrdy scary. I also often feel bad for these guys :( Well yeah I know they wanna kill me :( But I feel bad for them that they have SUCH low self esteem (and some persecution complex issues too :\ and all that self hatred and hatred in general that seems to be eating them up :( ). But... then they want to kill and rape me and they are incredible racists and islamophobic and that's about when I start not feeling bad >_>;;

But still.. I rly DO understand what it's like to be so angry and so depressed so maybe that kinda makes me feel kinda bad for them :( It's terrible to be in such a dark dark hopeless space :\ And esp when looking back, it seems like night and day... and how much darkness, depression and insecurity/anger can consume you :(

As I've said before.. these guys seem like the same kind of ppl (usually white guys who hate themselves and need somebody to blame) who would join other hate organizations or philosophies... the lost angry no self esteem ppl who get recruited into race hatred groups or cults or etc -_-;;; Where the ideology points at them and says "YOU AREN'T AT FAULT, THE WORLD IS AGAINST YOU, EVERYBODY HATES YOU ADN THAT IS WHY YOU ARE MISERABLE, IT'S [insert group here]'s FAULT! HATE THEM!!! " and... it's sad but then my sympathy ends when they start threatening to kill ppl or commit hate crimes >_>;;

What's always odd to me is how these MRA types always whine about the lack of nething for men, but then don't ACTUALLY DO NETHING, except maybe threaten revolution and rape and murder and death threats and "JUST YOU WAIT ONE DAY!!!!" -_-;;; But no helping women run crisis shelters for men (it's actually mostly women's shelter organizations that realized a big hole that society was ignoring in abused men and created help for them :( ), or protests, campaigns, donations... just "WOMEN ARE TO BLAME AND I WANT TO KILL PPL" :(

I dunno.. honestly, my snark is being dulled right now cuz I do feel bad.... such hatred and anger and dark dark dark depression is... both familiar and something I would never wish on nebody :\

It DOES scare me tho when ppl who just stated how much they want to kill ppl ask for advice on what to do, cuz a lot of these ppl seem like ppl who make excuses for themselves (THANK GOD) so they dun become the next Marc Lepine but would advise OTHERS to go and kill women >_<;; And THAT part is frightening (but like all sorts of other hate ideologies or even NON hate ones, you can never control or predict for who's gonna "snap" or has the unique mindset that they actually will kill so it's something you can't worry too much about :( just frightening to witness their thoughts like this o_o )

Neways... onto the snark! xD

Just some Ami thoughts on the things in that post O_O;;;

- there's almost NO solidarity there outside of their united hatred... nobody feels bad for each other, and ppl are surprisingly quick to start breaking out the anti-male homophobic slurs, misandrist slurs, etc etc

- they like to brag about things that they claim they've done irl about how tough and awesome they are for being rude to women.. I guess it seems like an accomplishment when they HONESTLY seem to believe the feminist/state conspiracy will decapitate them if they did (HAHA I WAS RUDE TO A WOMAN AND I SURVIVED! I AM ALPHA!) xDDD

- they rly seem to hate and fear women o_o despite the constant "WE ARE SO SUPERIOR TO WOMEN AND SMARTER AND STRONGER" they fear our ability to talk o_o and often our ability to even exist xD oooh ssccarrryyyy

- they have no concept of history or the understanding of society or NETHING, to the point where I even wonder if they leave home v much xD

- the wanting to rape children is FRIGHTENING o_o;;; Tho they clearly are too scared by the law to do it (much like all their posts "BOY SHOULD WE DO THIS except I wouldn't cuz I'm a good boy, but I wish other men did it so I could be ok to do it" xD ), again.. thank god -_-;; Again, the self esteem thing comes up... "a 13 y/o would surely find ME cool right!? right!???" :\ also as Zhinxy pointed out, it rly does seem like they want a child bride to raise and make the perfect enslaved woman.. again.. scary o_o;;;

- they like to hide behind other men a LOT, despite their "RAWR IM SO TUFF" thing... >_>;;; AGAIN, men > women is in a GENERAL GROUP SENSE... there's LOTS Of overlap and unless even with a total societal breakdown, everything is determined by the top men and women in UFC cage matches or 100m sprints... it's IRRELEVANT to the individual interactions between individual men and women.. sure Dwight Howard could prolly beat up Perdita Felicien but that doesn't mean you could beat ME up... and def is irrelevant to the idea of whether YOU as a man should be "superior" to me as a woman.. if you WANT a free for all, FINE, no gender free for all, all you tough "beta male" guys who clearly dun even think much of your OWN ABILITIES, let's see where you stand when it all shakes out xDDDD Srsly.. it's PATHETIC! they talk SO TUFF and then hide behind these statistical bell curves xDDDDD

- The guy who thinks child rearing is EASY, but then claims "WELL NOT FOR ME B/C I'M SO SMART MENIAL TASKS ARE BORING AND HARD TO ME" is hilarious xD He's simply... hilarious xDDD I can't stop reading the post and laughing XDDD

- Blah blah blah women suck, Arabs will rape them and then where will they be... women are stupid and never mature mentally, etc etc etc... when the REVOLUTION COEMS you'll see!!! YOU'RE LUCKY I'M PROTECTING YOU! e_e did I sum it up just about? xD

Honestly, the whole "YOU WOMEN ARE LUCKY US MEN PROTECT YOU".. they give themselves a LOT of credit... I esp wonder when THEY seem to do nothing but sit on their hands and they feel they're SO USELESS at everything, how much they think their protection is worth o_O;; As for thanking the men in my life? My male friends would never want me to thank them for JUST BEING MY FRIEND AND NOT RAPING ME b/c they're DECENT HUMAN BEINGS WHO THINK NOT BEING AWFUL SHOULD REQUIRE NO THANKS -_-;;;

Other than that.. I would thank LOTS of women and men in my life for the support and love they've given me, teachers and librarians for keeping me safe from bullying, for helping me learn about myself, helping me deal w/ my depression... therapists and counsellers for helping me thru PTSD, my eating disorder and transition :) My family for their support and love.. my friends for being awesome... etc etc

I have a LOT to be thankful for, male and female :)

But thankful to any guy in my life for BEING A MALE? I think this rly reveals the little navel gazing fishbowl these guys live in.. and the assumptions they believe about the lives of women and girls...

should I be thankful to my dad for being an abusive asshole? o_O;; Thankful to somebody i trusted and loved for sexually violating me? >_<;; Thankful to the other guys who molested me or attempted to? The guys that stalked me? So much for that protection from the men related to me or close to me right? e_e;;;

I remember once, I witnessed an older woman being sexually assaulted on the subway by some creepy guy... he was touching her and she was trying to get away but nobody would move to help her or let her move cuz it was rush hour. LOTS of big guys in suits saw it and they didn't help. :\ I finally pushed ppl literally out of the way, helped her get past me and then blocked the guy off from chasing her, I stared at him until he finally left swearing at both of us. Where's all that GUYS PROTECTING WOMEN FROM OTHER GUYS!? huh? Where's all that "You'RE SO LUCKY THAT MEN NATURALLY PROTECT YOU IN YOUR DAY TO DAY LIFE" wher'es the magic male forcefield? -_-;; And so much for that guy being superior to me btw (he was shorter than me too, oops, generalizing by group is trumped by statistical overlap guyz!! xDDDD ) >_> So much for him being able to toss me aside like a rag doll and crush me e_e;;

Ppl SHOUDL help others, and I'm not saying ppl should put themselves in danger, but hitting the emergency bar on the subway, or calling the police on the street, or etc.. and I think ppl who do help (this isn't about me, I just used me as an example, not how great I am :( ) are great ppl, and we SHOULD thank all the unsung heroes in our society and our lives, teachers, and librarians, firefighters, police, regular citizens :) who help fellow citizens, male or female :) BUT why should you as a self centred woman-hating man be thanked JUST FOR BEING MALE!? TALK ABOUT ENTITLEMENT

holy crumbs o_o

-_-;;;

Maybe I should be thankful tho... thankful to all my great male friends who DON'T hate me and want to rape and kill me O_O;;; But as I said, I'm friends w/ them cuz they're decent and good ppl who dun think NOT DOING TERRIBLE THINGS (or allowing terrible things to happen) is something ppl should be thanked for xD

neways.. that got longer than I thought o_o They engender thoughts :D Mrowr! :D

I still do wish they could find happiness in their lives though and let go of the hate :) They need more pink and happy and cats and good superhero comics in their lives I think :D *sends* :) (I do rly hope they do tho...not just for them but b/c of the fear that some of them might act out on their murder fantasies :( )

edit: I had the wrong link at the top :( But I've fixed it :)