"Privilege is not having to bother naming the people you take from, and getting away with it."
— s.e. smith laying down some truth on twitter.
Protest Sharon Needles’ Racist Actions - Wednesday (6/27) @ Jungle Club Atlanta
Sharon Needles has some shit she needs to work on. For receipts, see grrylman’s post here.
And lucky for us, she’ll be at the Jungle Club in Atlanta, Georgia this Wednesday (6/27). Let’s all get together for a lovely time of protest and dissent over the ridiculous racist behavior of Sharon Needles.
Our plan is to assemble outside of the Jungle with signs, badges, and other militant items of fabulousness.
We will then join the line and move through informing people of Sharon’s racist statements and actions. Keep it peaceful, keep it simple, keep it classy.
Some of the attendees are going to be very angry with us. We have to know this before going. This demonstration is not violent, and we are asking that all demonstrators please refrain from engaging with anyone who wants to argue. We’re only demonstrating to speak the truth.
In other words: if someone tries to throw shade your way you just do you gurl.
When we’re done, we’ll move over to The Heretic for .25 cent beer night. Protest will start promptly at 9:00pm and go until 10:00pm.
Invite your friends!
For an invite to the Facebook event, send an ask to grrlyman or glitterlion. Be sure to include your facebook info.
Seriously?! SERIOUSLY?! This is what you fucking choose to do with your time? What a waste, protesting her show isnt going to change shit. She is SHARON MOTHERFUCKING NEEDLES who will do whatever the fuck she wants. She is a drag queen and typically they dont give a fuck what everyone else thinks, this is true for Sharon. Go spend your time protesting something else like Mitt Romney or something that will actually matter. Who gives a fuck if she makes a few off color racial comments? Seriously, fuck off.
Greetings everyone.
The bolded commentary is from http://harrypotterisg0d.tumblr.com/, aka Matt.
I’m reblogging this, not because Matt’s commentary is particularly mean spirited or out of the ordinary. On the contrary, it perfectly demonstrates the standard reaction that queers of color get when we dare to speak up about our experiences with(in) white gay-queer community.
You see, identical to white straight culture, white gay-queer culture believes that it’s a waste of time to work against racism at all levels. That the “few off-color racial comments” made by folks, especially drag queens, are in no way comparable to the vitriolic statements and policies espoused by politicians, like Mitt Romney. I mean, really, we should find better ways of spending our time because pointing out these actions and how contradictory they are to liberation won’t change a thing. Why don’t we just fuck off?
You see, what these basic motherfuckers don’t seem to understand is that a large portion of the violence and abuse committed against queer communities of color begins with a few off-color racial comments. That politicians make a few-off color racial comments every day that lead to legislation and policies that further stigmatizes communities of color and cuts us off from vital resources necessary to our survival.
That police make a few off color racial comments when they chase us, beat us, frame us, lock us up, and kill us.
That teachers make a few off-color racial comments when they treat us like prisoners instead of students. When they attribute our educational difficulties and accomplishments negatively to our race, versus a lack of support and over disciplining or hard work.
That the bartenders in your favorite gay bars make a few off-color racial comments when they serve everyone but us making up some bullshit excuse about it being so busy that they can’t see us standing right in front of their asses.
I can keep going, but I think you get the point. They’re not off-color and they are not a few. They’re racist and neverending. They’re the countless microaggressions committed against people of color daily. They’re the biases that maintain systems of white supremacy and privilege that put politicians like Mitt Romney in power and allow them to say the most vitriolic racist bullshit with no consequence. They’re the beginnings of the KKK and the last words black and brown bodies hear before our lives are ended way too fucking soon.
So no, we won’t fuck off, but you can kick rocks in open toed shoes.
Take your basic ass and your basic understanding of drag culture and sit all the way fucking down because I am not the one.
i have never watched this show, but glitterlion’s analysis and response to these statements can apply to any number of comments of this kind and deserves to be heard and read.
when individuals feel personally criticized or attacked because someone (or something) they are a fan of is held accountable, a common defensive response is “don’t you have anything better to do?” i can’t even begin to count the number of times this has happened to me.
criticize a music video by florence and the machine? typical response: “don’t you have better things to ruin?”
suggest white people think twice before wearing a native american headdress just because it’s trendy? typical response: “give me a break! if you really want to make a difference, do this instead. you’re wasting your time.”
i could list countless other things i’ve experienced personally but you get the point.
read this rundown for a perfect illustration of why it’s not a case of either/or. why fighting the small battles can be just as important, if not moreso, than fighting the big ones. i haven’t seen this articulated in such a clear, perfect way since i read this last year.
(via tendertough)
feminism is not a dirty word. it does not mean you hate men, it does not mean you hate girls that have nice legs and a tan, and it does not mean you are a ‘bitch’ or ‘dyke’, it means you believe in equality.
i’ve seen this more times than i can count.
it’s a quote by kate nash from 2008 that often makes the rounds on tumblr. most recently i saw it done up on queerveganfeminist’s tumblr.
i get that these kinds of quotes can be a “gateway drug” to feminism and/or critical thinking for lots of young folks… but lately i am just so TIRED of seeing and hearing them.
because you know what?
sometimes feminism DOES mean you hate men.
sometimes feminism means you ARE a bitch.
sometimes feminists ARE hairy angry dykes…
and they’re fucking allowed to be. i know that’s not really the message they are trying to presenting but it just feels watered down to me. i know the goal is to challenge the stereotype that only one kind of (lesbian-man-hating-fat-ugly-angry-hairy-butch-dyke) woman can be feminist, and that that idea is problematic and prescriptive… but consistently, when i see young women challenging that, they still tend to have an inherently negative tone about feminists who happen to be hairy. or butch. or angry.
i think that’s why i can’t handle this shit.
i think that’s why i miss the friends i had who would laugh about this shit with me. friends who would create zines like “dirty (un)feminist secrets.” it’s why i still hunt for moments like that online, it’s why i connect with rgr-pop’s and k’s and cassie’s ways of mocking this sanitized version of feminism with their own dark humour or unbridled rage.
perhaps it’s because i’m conscious that even at twenty-six, i’m still unlearning. still unlearning the sexist-racist-homophobic bullshit that i was immersed in on so many occassions as a kid. still unlearning that i don’t need to apologize. i’m pissed that i can still remember the number of times i apologized to men for not wanting to have sex. or for wanting to have too much sex. apologized to women for having slept with men, or vice versa. apologized for getting “too drunk.” or wearing too short of a dress. or for swearing in public. or for my body, my hips, my body hair. for my vulgarity. for being loud. for being angry.
i don’t want anyone to have to apologize for simply learning how to be themselves.
i understand that these quotes are, for some people, their own way of resisting that, and that taking the time (especially when you’re young) to put those frustrations into words, art, zines, and share them with everyone can be cathartic and productive.
but the number of times fellow feminists have asked me to “tone down” my anger? that talking about race is “getting us off topic.” that my suggestion that we use a different chant instead of “stand up fight back” for a less ableist chant is marked as “sidetracking” or “besides the point.” that other queers, activists and critical folks have used my femme presentation as a way to discredit the work i do? successfully?! of course i’m going to be fucking angry.
it’s why i “get” the humour behind memes like “is this feminist” and need to let myself laugh my ass off every once in a while at a movement i often consider myself a part of. it’s why i laugh at almost all of rgr-pop’s response to whoneedsfeminism. i get, to a certain extent, the message that the creators of projects and quotes and zines like this are trying to convey (discrimination/oppression/subjugation based on gender should be challenged) but i can’t handle the simplification of an incredibly complicated interconnected system. no one is challenging white privilege with these statements. no one is talking about how we can fight the good fight together. instead it just feels divisive and glossy. if it were as simple as quotes like this purport the fight to be, we wouldn’t need a century of “capital F” feminism and a million fucking waves and STILL be bringing up the need for intersectional analysis, and STILL be fighting transphobic assholes who actually dare to call themselves radfems, etc. etc.
goddamn. i just feel like everyone wants these guidelines of what is and isn’t feminist so they can simultaneously reward themselves and punish/chastise others (but in the most unproductive of ways).
POINTING OUT SMALL-SCALE PROBLEMS DOES NOT DIMINISH ONE’S CAPACITY FOR TACKLING LARGE-SCALE PROBLEMS
Some points:
+ Pointing out small-scale problems does not diminish one’s capacity for tackling large-scale problems. In fact, small-scale problems are born out of the larger ones, they feed into the larger ones, they keep those larger ones intact and acceptable to mainstream society. Every rape joke makes a rapist feel more comfortable amongst zir peers, and a victim less comfortable speaking up. Every racial stereotype on a TV show or in a macro on tumblr helps make every 3D person of color feel that much more 2D and invisible, makes that kid not want to speak up in class, makes that girl feel ugly, makes that bigot feel more welcome. Every “no-homo” in a music lyric or a standup act makes a queer person that much more afraid to be who they really are. Every “durr, that’s retarded” in general conversation reinforces a society where people with disabilities are dehumanized and reduced to an illness. Every time some hipster wears a headdress or talks about their spirit animals, that contributes to a climate that makes it harder for colonized cultures to hold onto the few shreds of identity, of dignity, that haven’t already been stripped from them, assimilated and commodified, because it’s not like there is no history of this literally, tangibly happening to civilization after civilization after civilization. It’s not like it isn’t still happening.
If you don’t understand how these “small, insignificant, nitpicky” things can build on each other, can chip away at a person and a community, congratulations. You are goddamn lucky. But you should, you know, try to understand. Because you live in a world with other people in it.
+ Klansmen and Westboro Baptists and other blatant, vocal bigots are easy to recognize, to fight, and to distance oneself from, but it’s not the only form of bigotry that exists. Would that it were. Modern day bigotry in this ~post-racial, ~post-feminist, ~post-everything society is much more insidious and much more harmful. It’s easy to say we’ve got no internalized prejudices just because we’re not like them. But at the end of the day that helps no one.
+ It’s not just TV. It’s not just comedy. It’s not just music or books. All media is made by real people in the real world, with all the baggage that goes along with that. That doesn’t mean everyone is required to analyze it critically, or that no one can have fun with it (or that people can’t do both at once! WEIRD, RIGHT?), but analysis is as valid a part of consuming media as squee. Telling people they should think less is about as non-constructive as it gets. No one’s trying to force people to read or engage in discussions against their will. No one’s trying to make anyone else feel bad for enjoying things. No one except the strawpeople, anyway.
+ We aren’t perfect, no one is. Since when is that a reason not to try to be conscious of how our words affect people? It’s not about who’s offended and who isn’t because that’s an individual thing that changes from day to day. It’s about trying, wherever possible, to avoid contributing to real systems of oppression that harm our entire society in tangible ways. Weirdly enough, it’s possible to do that and still manage to have fun on the internet.
re-reblogging this because i will constantly be repeating myself when it’s already been said better.
what’s the big stink about pork magazine?
ok so like what’s the big stink about pork magazine?
Anonymouslong story short:
i had heard of pork magazine via tumblr a year or two ago, namely via some style bloggers who wore pins and cool shit from the mag. i kinda dug the aesthetic, but didn’t really look more into it. i flipped through a few issues i came across in a store but it’s not like i had a subscription or anything.
this changed last summer.
july 2011: pork magazine published some photos of a “cowboys and indians” photoshoot, featuring white folks dressed up as - you guessed it - stereotypical cowboys and indians. worse still, one of the people dressed up as an “indian” is swigging back hard liquor (as if we didn’t have enough bullshit propagating the stereotype of native people = drunks). some people involved in the photoshoot have a pretty big online following more around fat positive politics, so most critical folks involved in that community were totally caught off guard by this blatantly racist photoshoot.
then, the reaction to criticisms and comments saying “hey white folks you might want to think twice before putting on a headdress and playing dressup this way” was even worse than the photoshoot itself, if you can believe it.
fatpeopleofcolor wrote this great rundown of the situation if you want more details and links.
march 2012: made these “pork army” membership cards using nazi imagery. white folks reblog saying “sign me up, mein fuhrer.” haha! so funny, right?
april 2012: people point out that even with all of this behind us, some fat-positive blogs are still celebrating the people who have yet to be held accountable for participating in a racist photoshoot and very publicly aligning themselves with a publication that prides itself on using offensive imagery, racist language, and saying “fuck off” to anyone who disagrees with them.
and that, unfortunately, is why people are still talking about this shit almost a year later.
personally, i have directly contacted the editor of the magazine and some of the people i saw very publicly associating themselves with pork magazine who i had otherwise thought were cool dudes. sean responded quickly and respectfully enough, but we clearly disagree on the basics. i prefer that to the radio silence i got from people who still get lauded as “amazing babes.” there is ZERO accountability here and ZERO reason to support an independent magazine that is completely unapologetic about any criticisms that it uses violent racist imagery and language.
and hey, what a lovely ironic surprise: here, founder of PORK sean aaberg writes about his boner for gavin mcinnes, cofounder of vice, about his love for the t-shirt “the last of the white niggers.”
enough said.
![[image description: a cookie with icing on it that reads “meets minimum standards of decent human”]
this is kind of how i feel about the world right now, for so many reasons. call me a cynic, but this ain’t revolution. tolerance is not revolutionary. for more context: originally from 52 acts.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3v0fmHNyh1qzvsguo1_500.jpg)
[image description: a cookie with icing on it that reads “meets minimum standards of decent human”]
this is kind of how i feel about the world right now, for so many reasons. call me a cynic, but this ain’t revolution. tolerance is not revolutionary.
for more context: originally from 52 acts.
Your fatness, femmeness, queerness, disability, or age does not make you not racist
don’t forget it. you have to work at it, you have to unlearn that shit.
I have certain issues with the Rodarte sisters. Issues born from their “Mexico inspired” collaboration with MAC featuring ghostly nail polish and blood-streaked eyeshadow inappropriately titled “Juarez” to their blatant self-promotion of Black Swan that discredited the work of other costumers involved in the project. However, I still really enjoy their clothing designs. So the question is: are certain allowances appropriate to make for “creative geniuses?”
I often find that we do make allowances for brilliant people or artists, perhaps because their contributions to society are supposedly greater than their faults or because their personal lives shouldn’t be a factor when we judge their work. Still, I find it puzzling that girls who participate in Slutwalks to reclaim the term slut and stand by sexual assault victims who have been told that their attacks were their fault, enjoy and support films by Roman Polanski (who was convicted of statutory rape but fled the country to avoid imprisonment). Another example (from the fashion world): John Galliano’s anti-Semantic rant in a Parisian cafe nearly a year ago. Of course, for every example we have there are dozens of untold stories—if John Galliano had never opened his mouth, he’d still be designing for Dior. Further, both of these examples are of personal lives/beliefs; if they don’t behave like that in their work-space can we separate their work lives from their personal lives? Besides, who among us is blameless and innocent; we all make mistakes, so who can judge?
Of course, one difference between Galliano and Rodarte is: John Galliano has been ousted by the fashion community, sentenced by the French government for his crime, and generally made to suffer for his racist rant. The Mulleavy sisters continue to collaborate with MAC, receive credit for the costume design of Black Swan, and generally remain darlings of the fashion community. My issues with Rodarte stem not from their personal lives, but is directly related to their work. As of now, I enjoy the designs of Rodarte, but I feel uncomfortable posting on them (although I still do on occasion).
Yet one final worry that arises for me is, why do we make these allowances for geniuses of the arts or science when we wouldn’t make them for an “ordinary” individual? What makes the artist an exception to basic rules of morality? Are they somehow above the rest of us?
So, I’m really just wondering aloud where do we draw the line—when do we stop making exceptions for “creative genius” and why do we do it to begin with? I certainly don’t have an answer.
i had to re-read this and make sure i had the date right on this… because i remember when this story broke when i was IN mexico. i’m mostly reblogging to add a few links to those who have already covered this issue when it broke back in 2010, but i’m glad to hear more people are asking critical questions about when Artists We Like do or say things We Do Not Like.
i think, for the purpose of brevity, we have to limit the conversation to the (capital F) Fashion industry. i would add terry richardson to the list as an example of someone who has made personal and professional mistakes (some of which could qualify as crimes) but who, for some questionable reasons, continues to get a free pass from the industry.
keeping it short: in my opinion, we have to hold designers, photographers, magazines, brands and stores accountable for their missteps if they want our support. the case of the MAC-Rodarte fiasco illustrates quite well what should happen but doesn’t.
- a brand/designer comes out with an inappropriate, offensive product or ad campaign and presents it to the market.
- the market (whether it be press, bloggers, models, customers) say: “oh hey that’s kind of messed up/racist/sexist/shitty. you should think about that and maybe even reconsider selling us this.”
- if it gets enough kerfuffle, the brand/designer reacts.
this is where things get make or break. what USUALLY happens is this:
3a. hires a PR company for backup, issues a “non-apology” à la “some people are offended, we’re sorry they’re offended, but we’re not really going to take a hard look at WHY what we presented is offensive.”
4a. people move on and forget.
this is what i would like to see happen:
3b. brand/designer actually takes a good look at their choices, thinks about what they could have done differently (whether it be have done another focus group or market test or have just not pursued the project AT ALL, depending on the case) and issue a sincere statement apologizing or explaining (or both).
4b. people accept apology, confident they have held the parties in question accountable for their actions.
to me, these aren’t very complicated questions. in the case of MAC-Rodarte Juarez? to me it’s pretty straightforwardly FUCKED UP to market clothing and makeup on an ongoing (even worsening!) situation of thousands of women being violently raped and murdered all under the guise of fashion “inspiration.” but a lot of people want to give the benefit of the doubt to creative types,
these questions aren’t particularly difficult for me to address, perhaps because they don’t affect me, since i can’t afford to buy major label brands. unfortunately, i know that if i did have the means to drop hundreds of dollars on clothing/beauty products, the list of brands i could enthusiastically endorse and deem deserving of my hard earned cash would be pathetically short. because these missteps are part of the industry. there’s no such thing as bad press. look at how many brands live off of scandal, controversy, and mocking the “politically correct police” - all while being awarded and lauded for the very same shitty content. i could go on ad nauseam about this but i should wrap up.
these “controversies” should be discussions, opportunities for the market to express what they want and expect from their designers. reknown fashion bloggers (like the clothes horse) should be concious of these elements when choosing to devote their blog space to them. don’t mindlessly reblog something just because it’s pretty. don’t accept ads from whoever, however, just because you want the cash. this just serves to reinforce their mistakes, especially if they haven’t even bothered apologizing (i will point once again to the case of one mr. richardson). fashionistas should be demanding apologies. demand better.
recommended reading:
- Maquiladors Enchant Rodarte by minh-ha t. pham at Threadbared (July 12, 2010)
- MAC, Rodarte, Say Sorry for Juarez-Inspired makeup by Julianne Hing at Colorlines (July 16, 2010)
- When PR goes wrong: The MAC-Rodarte Fiasco by Maria Bustillos at The Awl (August 3rd, 2010)
Reasons as to why you should boycott De Beers and their conflict diamonds
- De Beers has a history of indigenous abuse; they’re highly critical of indigenous rights in Africa, where most of their mines are, as they fear that they will lose money if indigenous peoples are given basic human rights.
- But it’s not just Africa; the recent dumping of sewage in Attawapiskat by De Beers played a substantial role in the on-going housing crisis.
- De Beers played a crucial role in the forced removal of the Bushmen from the CKGR in the early 21st century.
- De Beers has a history of blood diamonds. The film Blood Diamond is based on the way De Beers have dealt with diamonds in the past as well as today.
- De Beers supported and indirectly funded Apartheid in order to be able to continue to sell diamonds.
- DeBeers has a history of undermining the governments of diamond rich African nations by helping to enrich their presidents to the tune of several billions of dollars while their population had to beg money from the UN and the World Bank in order to survive.
- De Beers owns most of the world’s diamond mines and they fixed the price of diamonds for decades.
Some links worth reading
- The De Beers operation is unethical not only towards the end buyers, the public which buys diamonds but also to all distributors and retailers of diamonds in the whole world.
http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/annual-reviews-diamonds/SierraLeone_AR_2004-Eng.pdf
http://mg.co.za/article/2005-07-08-botswana-diamonds-lose-their-sparkle
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2009/06/26/diamonds-rough
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/2919089/De-Beers-battles-with-Survival.html
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/bushmen
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/subjindx/144diam.htm
http://www.cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/africa/01/18/diamonds.debeers/index.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/nov/08/southafrica.frontpagenews
http://intercontinentalcry.org/attawapiskat-holding-winter-blockade-against-de-beers/
It’s been three weeks since Attawapiskat First Nation took the extraordinary step of declaring a state of emergency. Since then, not a single federal or provincial official has even bothered to visit the community.
No aid agencies have stepped forward. No disaster management teams have offered help.
Meanwhile temperatures have dropped 20 degrees and will likely drop another 20 or 25 degrees further in the coming weeks. For families living in uninsulated tents, makeshift cabins and sheds, the worsening weather poses serious risk.
Two weeks ago I travelled to this community on the James Bay coast to see why conditions had become so extreme that local leaders felt compelled to declare a state of emergency. It was like stepping into a fourth world. […]
This is Canada, people. CANADA. The blatant racism in these actions is astounding. The way our government treats the first nation peoples is disgusting,
Anyone we can write to? Let them know the world (or at least our little corners of it) is watching?
There’s some contact info in this related post here, http://intercontinentalcry.org/attawapiskat-state-of-emergency-ignored/
What you Can Do
Two petitions are being circulated if you’d like to support the community of Attawapiskat:
- Calling on Chuck Strahl to live in Attawapiskat for one month
- Calling on the government to build a school
You may also want to write a letter to:
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper: pm@pm.gc.ca
- Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC): CNAP-NACC@ainc-inac.gc.ca
- INAC Minister Chuck Strahl: StrahC@parl.gc.ca.
For background and more information, please visit attawapiskat.com, www.attawapiskat-school.com, and Attawapiskat support on facebook
made one minor change - Attawapiskat is the name of the reserve…not the Nation itself
Please take a few minutes to bug the Canadian government and support this First Nations community. Signing a petition on the internet is the absolute least we can do. Tell your friends, family & neighbours!
i was just about to post this. the most depressing thing? yes, this is probably the worst case, but there are countless other native communities across canada facing similar housing shortages, lack of access to clean water, and otherwise lacking in basic human needs and rights.
(via prudeboy)
