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snoopy of the day

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a compilation of videos very worth watching! 

the pink triangles: the story of the gay holocaust

nawal el saadawi on feminism, fiction and the illusion of democracy

life beyond: alien life, deep time, and our place in cosmic history 

life beyond II: the museum of alien life

stephen axford: how fungi changed my view of the world

man spends 30 years turning degraded land into massive forest 

the prisoner of azkaban - why john williams’ score is the best in the series

video essay: the world of wong kar wai

how much is enough?

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while we’re all publicly critiquing the “male loneliness” hysteria i want to mention that the “men’s mental health!!!” handwringing is a part of it. which is not to say that I am not empathetic to the mental health struggles of men as individuals. my wish is for everyone to have access to quality mental health care, and for people in the depths of mental illness to find support and get better.

But it’s frankly a disservice to women and everyone else to frame “men’s mental health” as a uniquely urgent social issue. I’m not going to unpack all of the statistics right now, but suffice to say men’s mental health issues are not inherently worse or more prevalent than anyone else’s. In fact, women suffer from depression at higher rates than men.

Yet women’s collective mental health does not generate mass concern or rhetorical pandering like that of men, because:

(1) our society at large does not encourage/reward collective empathy for women the way it does for men. conversely, efforts to talk about women’s issues are often treated as suspect and met with overwhelming anti-feminist backlash.

And (2) women’s mental health cannot be dredged up as an apolitical scapegoat for things like mass murder and sexual violence. because women as a group, despite suffering from equal or greater mental health struggles, do not commit those crimes at nearly the same rates as men. And when they do, no one is saying “but she was depressed” or “we should have been nicer to her” or “if only he hadn’t rejected her.”

And all this lip service to “men’s mental health” does not address or even attempt to address the explicit radical misogyny that these disaffected young men are embracing. because that would require a serious critique of systemic patriarchy and gender politics, which tends to unsettle the people who are invested in maintaining that system.

Anyway. It is extremely tiresome to see widespread patriarchal violence and resentment toward women’s social advancement dismissed with cries of “men need to be coddled more!!!”

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Dusk Till Dawn, Josh E Wylie, 2023

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the most fun a girl can have is finding parallels, noticing patterns, making connections, contemplating

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jg white bambula seams dress

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engraved carabiners

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Mexico City, Mexico | Joseph Owen

Marigolds for Día de los Muertos at El Mercado de Jamaica in Mexico City.

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"don't make it political!" .... what proportion of death and suffering must occur before politics are involved. if this isn't political, what is even the point of any politics, ever. of democracy. the words are "by the people for the people." if i am going to be left alone by my elected representatives to "figure it out" - to undergo damage, hardship, fear. what the fuck did i elect them for. what was their job. the entire point is that they handle this shit. this is why we were supposed to be electing leaders.

poverty is political. misogyny is political. gun control is political. climate change is political. how much aid a community gets is political. what the fuck are you talking about. it's been political this whole fucking time.

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You complain about the life that you chose! You’re not a victim! Not at all! Your generosity conceals something dirtier and meaner. You’re incapable of facing your ambitions, and you resent me for it. But I’m not the one who put you where you are. I have nothing to do with it! You’re not sacrificing yourself, as you say. You choose to sit on the sidelines because you’re afraid! Because your pride makes your head explode before you can even come up with a little germ of an idea! And now you wake up and you’re forty, and you need someone to blame. And you’re the one to blame! You’re petrified by your own fucking standards and your fear of failure. This is the truth!

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maturing is realizing that some people should never be forgiven

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This door in my kitchen in the morning :’)

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Tokyo (2008) by Willem Alink on Flickr.

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