a l'allure garconniere

outrageous comments made by rich white man vs. 1,127 deaths in bangladesh

lionza:

the disparity of internet attention between shitty comments made by a&f’s ceo and the garment factory disaster in bangladesh. human deaths in the context of extreme exploitation - less shocking, less rousing. 

thank you thank you thank you for saying this. i’ve been feeling like an angry curmudgeon about this over the past week, yelling at my computer screen. here’s an angry (franglais) comment i left on a friend’s post about the “shocking” statement made by the company’s ceo, which is being covered around the world:

FYI Je m’excuse mais je trouve ça surprenant que les gens ne savent pas déjà a quelle point cette companie n’aime rien qui n’est pas blanc, skinny, hétéro, préférablement “Homme.” En plus, they have sold awfully sexist racist t-shirts (whose slurs I won’t repeat) for decades, and issued unapologetic press releases in response to organizations that call them out for it. (2005) They have produced and sold shirts for girls (not women, girls) with slogans like “Who needs brains when you have these?” referring to breasts they do not yet even have. They have had numerous successful lawsuits (2003) proving everything from the fact that they only hired men for managing positions, and discriminated against African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and women at nearly every level of their hiring practices. And what a surprise, they discriminate against people with disabilities as well (2009). Those are just SOME of the reasons why I don’t understand how people still shop there. (Oh yeah, and they even sued Beyoncé if that’s not enough)

other facts that have boggled my mind:

• the statement by a&f’s ceo that has gotten people so up in arms in early may, 2013? was made in 2006.
  
• people are talking about this ad nauseum in canada/quebec. there are no abercrombie & fitch stores IN THIS ENTIRE PROVINCE.
  
• the internet’s response? let’s put the clothes on the least cool people we can think of… homeless people! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU.
  

i seriously wonder, are we at a point where we really believe “plus-size” clothing is/should be accessible to everyone, by every brand, that a statement like his - which if you actually read it, is more about “cool” kids/class privilege than it is necessarily about shaming fat people - is beyond shocking and merits this much outcry? where was your outcry when the company was using racist hiring practices? selling racist and sexist products? why do you give a shit what some old rich white guy says about your body? and from where i stand, why the fuck do you care about a company that doesn’t even sell shit where you live? 

why does it get so much traction when just last month, 1,127 workers die (and countless others seriously injured) in a garment factory collapse? when nearly every major brand, sold in every part of the world, uses garment labour from that part of the world?

it simply reminds me of flavia dozan’s words:

“Here’s the problem I have with this neoliberal feminism: they have traded an in depth geopolitical and social analysis involving gender and the position of women in the West in relation to women everywhere else for the promotion of consumer empowerment dressed up as “choice” and career advancement. “Here, improve your chances at success by wearing the garments of your choice!” or “Here, see the latest fashion trends and pretty outfits! Wear this to succeed in your office job”, promoting this aspirational, mind numbingly decontextualized consumerism. The role models of this neoliberalism parading their manuals to better lean in and “having it all” chants as the only kind of gender analysis we are afforded. As women, we should aspire to rule the corporations that caused this death toll; as consumers, we should aspire to close the wage gap that prevents us from buying more “stuff”, with nary a word about how that “stuff” is produced, by whom and under which conditions. And when faced with over a thousand deaths, this neoliberal feminism will induce us to some form of rightful indignation (OMG all these people died! OMG this is terrible! ad infinitum) while obscuring the root causes of this death toll.”

is it easier for people to vilify a brand that doesn’t even market their clothing to you than it is to step back and see the impact of a globalized market? to look at the textile factories that closed down in the 80s and 90s as brands decided paying their workers the least amount of money possible for their work led to the creation of this system? that your demand for the most amount of clothing for the least amount of money may have led to this system?

get your fucking priorities straight.

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).

The Untitled Mag is important.

bowfolk:

Because I live in a world where people belittle my loneliness.

Because I live in a world where people who resemble me feel great when someone tells them “they don’t look like a black girl”.

Because I live in a world where as soon as a white girl discovers all the privilege she has and wants to figure out how to dismantle white supremacy and shares it with her friends, those friends are all ears to listen, whereas beforehand they’d scoff at any poc’s testimony of living in a racist society.

Because Cece McDonald has the same charge as George Zimmerman.

Because queer means white punk chicks that look like Kathleen Hanna.

Because women always means cis, white straight women.

Because if you’re queer and fat, you don’t exist.

(Source: theuntitledmag, via formelyusako-deactivated2012090)

usernames of white girls who tag shit #headdress #fashion

have usernames like:

• gypsylicious
• runfreelikewolves
• caught in a dreamcatcher
• gypsyocean
• the massacre alive

you can’t even make this shit up.

Happy Holigays

queersforfeminism:

family privilege: Or how to be conscious of the various affects experienced by your queer/trans during the holiday. So you’re a homo, you have a lovely family, who appreciates you, does not oppress you for your gender expression and respects and honours your sexuality. awesome! Unfortunately, Not everyone is as fortunate. Families are triggering, holidays are triggering, and trying to take care of ourselves during these times can be especially challenging.

Many queers do not have what i am referring to as ‘positive family privilege’ during these holidays, in fact, this time of year can be the worst for some of us. Coming out as queer or trans may have had incredibly devastating affects on your ability to experience and belong to a family.

All i ask of my friends who enjoy the privilege of having families who do not trigger, invalidate, or oppress them is to be conscious of your fellow homo’s who do not have that same privilege. How much space are you taking up when you talk/spread your privileged joy?  (This is not to say that i am not happy you have a nice family where you’re able to enjoy the holidays - i just want you to think about how this may affect your less fortunate friends ) How can you be a conscious and caring friend during these difficult times? How can we celebrate in our own queer-non-normative and radically different ways? How can we challenge the heteronormative and homonormative pressures during this vulnerable time of year?

super important food for thought yet again courtesy of all around superbabe queersforfeminism. i suggest all queers who celebrate the HOLIGAYS start tagging their tumblr posts as such so we can see how some radical queers fuck this shit up a bit.

when someone says something triggering or hateful so much so that it makes me want to cry? i unceremoniously remove myself from the room and go cry in the bathroom a little bit. pointers for makeup wearing queers: waterproof mascara is your friend during the holigays.

I have never experienced a situation violating more constitutional rights than what is happening on Wall Street right now. No media helicopters, no press, no personal video is being allowed. This, if nothing else, should scare you.

readnfight:

liquornspice:

Oh. Let’s try:

• prisons/private prisons/prison labor
• immigrant detention centers
• juvenile detention centers
• slavery/slave trade
• the entire placement of the US-Mexico border
• Patriot Act
• segregated schools/the continued extralegal segregation of schools
• sterilization of women of color and immigrant women
• eugenics
• George Bush declaring war on an idea
• COINTELPRO
• McCarthyism
• the three-fifths clause
• the fact that raping a black woman during slavery was trespassing, not sexual assault
• lack of universal health care
• stop-and-frisks
• racial profiling/racial checkpoints/religious profiling
• the failed Sensenbrenner Bill/Arizona’s SB 1070/banning ethnic studies
• Japanese-American internment camps
• Chinese Exclusion Act/Alien & Sedition Acts
• Brasero Program
• US’s continued existence occupying indigenous land

but maybe you haven’t experienced those things or their legacies. Trust me, there’s more; that was off the top of my head in five minutes, but now I need to go to work.

This doesn’t scare me. I’ve BEEN scared. I’ve also been angry. This shit has been around my whole life.

because unfortunately it seems like a whole lotta people need a reminder of this. your privilege is showing.

(Source: viciousturtle)