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fatliberation · 3 years

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I’m Abandoning Body Positivity and Here’s Why

In short: it’s fatphobic.

“A rallying cry for a shift in societal norms has now become the skinny girl’s reassurance that she isn’t really fat. Fatness, through this lens of ‘body positivity’, remains the worst thing a person can be.” (Kayleigh Donaldson)

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I have always had a lot of conflicting opinions about the body positivity movement, but it’s much more widely known (and accepted, go figure) than the fat liberation movement, so I often used the two terms interchangeably in conversation about anti-fatness. But the longer I’ve been following the body positivity movement, the more I’ve realized how much it has strayed from its fat lib origins. It has been hijacked; deluded to center thin, able, white, socially acceptable bodies.

Bopo’s origins are undoubtedly grounded in fat liberation. The fat activists of the 1960s paved the way for the shred of size acceptance we see in media today, initially protesting the discrimination and lack of access to equal opportunities for fat people specifically. This early movement highlighted the abuse, mental health struggles, malpractice in the medical field, and called for equal pay, equal access, equal respect, an end to fatphobic structures and ideas. It saddens me that it hasn’t made much progress in those regards.

Today, the #bopo movement encapsulates more the idea of loving your own body versus ensuring that individuals regardless of their weight and appearance are given equal opportunities in the workplace, schools, fashion and media. Somehow those demands never made it outside of the ‘taboo’ category, and privileged people would much more readily accept the warm and fuzzy, sugar-coated message of “love yourself!” But as @yrfatfriend once said, this idea reduces fat people’s struggles to a problem of mindset, rather than a product of external oppressors that need to be abolished in order for fat people to live freely.

That generalized statement, “love yourself,” is how a movement started by fat people for the rights of fat people was diluted so much, it now serves a thin model on Instagram posting about how she has a tummy roll and cellulite on her thighs - then getting praised for loving her body despite *gasp!* its minor resemblance to a fat body.

Look. Pretty much everyone has insecurities about their bodies, especially those of us who belong to marginalized groups. If you don’t have body issues, you’re a privileged miracle, but our beauty-obsessed society has conditioned us to want to look a certain way, and if we have any features that the western beauty standard considers as “flaws,” yeah! We feel bad about it! So it’s not surprising that people who feel bad about themselves would want to hop on a movement that says ‘hey, you’re beautiful as you are!’ That’s a message everyone would like to hear. Any person who has once thought of themselves as less than beautiful now feels that this movement is theirs. And everyone has insecurities, so everyone feels entitled to the safe space. And when a space made for a minority includes the majority, the cycle happens again and the majority oppresses the minority. What I’m trying to explain here is that thin people now feel a sense of ownership over body positive spaces.

Regardless of how badly thin people feel about their bodies, they still experience thin privilege. They can sit down in a theater or an airplane without even thinking about it, they can eat in front of others without judgement, they can go the doctor with a problem and actually have it fixed right away, they can find cute clothes in their size with ease, they do not suffer from assumptions of laziness/failure based on stereotype, they see their body type represented everywhere in media, the list goes on and on. They do not face discrimination based off of the size of their body.

Yet diet culture and fatphobia affects everyone, and of course thin people do still feel bad about the little fat they have on their bodies. But the failure to examine WHY they feel bad about it, is what perpetuates fatphobia within the bopo movement. They’re labeled “brave” for showing a pinch of chub, yet fail to address what makes it so acceptably daring, and how damaging it is to people who are shamed for living in fat bodies. Much like the rest of society, thin body positivity is still driven by the fear of fat, and does nothing to dismantle fatphobia within structures or within themselves.

Evette Dionne sums it up perfectly in her article, “The Fragility of Body Positivity: How a Radical Movement Lost Its Way.”

“The body-positive media economy centers these affirming, empowering, let-me-pinch-a-fat-roll-to-show-how-much-I-love-myself stories while failing to actually challenge institutions to stop discriminating against fat people. More importantly, most of those stories center thin, white, cisgender, heterosexual women who have co-opted the movement to build their brands. Rutter has labeled this erasure ‘Socially Acceptable Body Positivity.’

“On social media, it actually gets worse for fat bodies: We’re not just being erased from body positivity, fat women are being actively vilified. Health has become the stick with which to beat fat people with [sic], and the benchmark for whether body positivity should include someone” (Dionne).

Ah, yes. The medicalization of fat bodies, and the moralization of health. I’ve ranted about this before. Countless comments on posts of big women that say stuff like “I’m all for body positivity, but this is just unhealthy and it shouldn’t be celebrated.” I’ve heard writer/activist Aubrey Gordon once say that body positivity has become something like a shield for anti-fatness. It’s anti-fatness that has been repackaged as empowerment. It’s a striking double-standard. Fat people are told to be comfortable in their bodies (as if that’s what’s going to fix things) but in turn are punished when they’re okay with being fat. Make it make sense.

Since thin people feel a sense of ownership over body positive spaces, and they get to hide behind “health” when they are picking and choosing who can and cannot be body positive, they base it off of who looks the most socially acceptable. And I’m sure they aren’t consciously picking and choosing, it comes from implicit bias. But the socially acceptable bodies they center are small to medium fat, with an hourglass shape. They have shaped a new beauty standard specifically FOR FAT PEOPLE. (Have you ever seen a plus sized model with neck fat?? I’m genuinely asking because I have yet to find one!) The bopo movement works to exclude and silence people who are on the largest end of the weight spectrum.

Speaking of exclusion, let’s talk about fashion for a minute.

For some reason, (COUGH COUGH CAPITALISM) body positivity is largely centered around fashion. And surprise surprise, it’s still not inclusive to fat people. Fashion companies get a pat on the back for expanding their sizing two sizes up from what they previously offered, when they are still leaving out larger fat people completely. In general, clothing companies charge more for clothes with more fabric, so people who need the largest sizes are left high and dry. It’s next to impossible to find affordable clothes that also look nice. Fashion piggybacks on the bopo movement as a marketing tactic, and exploits the very bodies it claims to be serving. (Need I mention the time Urban Outfitters used a "curvy” model to sell a size it doesn’t even carry?)

The movement also works to exclude and silence fat Black activists.

In her article, “The Body Positivity Movement Both Takes From and Erases Fat Black Women” Donyae Coles explains how both white people and thin celebrities such as Jameela Jamil profit from the movement that Black women built.

“Since long before blogging was a thing, fat Black women have been vocal about body acceptance, with women like Sharon Quinn and Marie Denee, or the work of Sonya Renee Taylor with The Body Is Not An Apology. We’ve been out here, and we’re still here, but the overwhelming face of the movement is white and thin because the mainstream still craves it, and white and thin people have no problem with profiting off the work of fat, non-white bodies.”

“There is a persistent belief that when thin and/or white people enter the body positive realm and begin to repeat the messages that Black women have been saying for years in some cases, when they imitate the labor that Black women have already put in that we should be thankful that they are “boosting” our message. This completely ignores the fact that in doing so they are profiting off of that labor. They are gaining the notoriety, the mark of an expert in something they learned from an ignored Black woman” (Coles).

My next essay will go into detail about this and illuminate key figures who paved the way for body acceptance in communities of color.

The true purpose of this movement has gotten completely lost. So where the fuck do we go from here?

We break up with it, and run back to the faithful ex our parents disapproved of. We go back to the roots of the fat liberation movement, carved out for us by the fat feminists, the queer fat activists, the fat Black community, and the allies it began with. Everything they have preached since the 1960s and 70s is one hundred percent applicable today. We get educated. We examine diet culture through a capitalist lens. We tackle thin, white-supremacist systems and weight based discrimination, as well as internalized bias. We challenge our healthcare workers to unlearn their bias, treat, and support fat patients accordingly. We make our homes and spaces accessible and welcoming to people of any size, or any (dis)ability. “We must first protect and uplift people in marginalized bodies, only then can we mandate self-love” (Gordon).

Think about it. In the face of discrimination, mistreatment, and emotional abuse, we as a society are telling fat people to love their bodies, when we should be putting our energy toward removing those fatphobic ideas and structures so that fat people can live in a world that doesn’t require them to feel bad about their bodies. It’s like hitting someone with a rock and telling them not to bruise!

While learning to love and care for the body that you’re in is important, I think that body positivity also fails in teaching that because it puts even more emphasis on beauty. Instead of saying, “you don’t have to be ‘beautiful’ to be loved and appreciated,” its main lesson is that “all bodies are beautiful.” We live in a society obsessed with appearance, and it is irresponsible to ignore the hierarchy of beauty standards that exist in every space. Although it should be relative, “beautiful” has been given a meaning. And that meaning is thin, abled, symmetric, and eurocentric.

Beauty and ugliness are irrelevant, made-up constructs. People will always be drawn to you no matter what, so you deserve to exist in your body without struggling to conform to an impossible and bigoted standard. Love and accept your body for YOURSELF AND NO ONE ELSE, because you do not exist to please the eyes of other people. That’s what I wish we were teaching instead. Radical self acceptance!

As of today, the ultimate message of the body positivity movement is: Love your body “despite its imperfections.” Or people with “perfect and imperfect bodies both deserve love.” As long as we are upholding the notion that there IS a perfect body that looks a certain way, and every body that falls outside of that category is imperfect, we are upholding white supremacy, eugenics, anti-fatness, and ableism.

#body positivity #bopo #body posi #body positive #body acceptance #fat acceptance #fat activism #fat liberation #anti fatness #anti blackness #anti fat bias #lookism #beauty standards #self acceptance

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sociaworkismyradar · 4 years

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If only everyone could share our skills days – A blog by Natalie Senior – First Year B.A. Hons Social Work Student - University of Bradford

To realise the ambitions of our, ‘Take Me As I Am’ blog, we introduced the first year BA (Hons) social work students at the University of Bradford to the use of blogs as a vehicle for personal critical reflection. This was part of our Readiness for Practice module, linked to experiential skills days on diverse social work topics. Students were given the space to explore and practise reflective blogging, as formative pieces that will be used as the basis for their summative assessment. To achieve this we ensured there was dedicated time for thought and reflection (Giroux and Giroux, 2004); for safe and open conversations on topics such as the elimination of violence against women. Given that this academic year (2020/21) has been shaped by the Coronavirus pandemic, and as a consequence our teaching has moved online, the use of blogs and ‘coffee morning – well-being’ Zoom calls has made this an opportune time to introduce this novel form of pedagogy. This approach supports our ethos, that academic support must be tailored to the individual, yet balanced with due regard to our profession: social work. Such a pedagogic approach requires challenging the existing power relations between student and academic; it requires, ‘authenticity’, ‘responsibility’ and ‘engagement’ from both parties. The response from the students to our new approach has been overwhelming and marks a new chapter in our exploration and understanding of the student experience. We offer that the following blogs, written by students, clearly evidence the transformative learning and reflection that has taken place, and the potential that exists in this mutual pedagogy through the use of the reflective blog.

If only everyone could share our skills days – A blog by Natalie Senior – First Year B.A. Hons Social Work Student

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women!

What a day to have the amazing skills day we had today. Speakers with so much knowledge and understanding of subject areas and a real passion for what they do. This clearly cascaded down to students in today's skills day and personally gave me a drive to find out more!!

Today’s skills day made me reflect on my past relationship and really made me see what I was living for 17 years is actually real and was not in my head coercion is real! My partner has also lived through domestic violence and has strong beliefs in stamping out violence against women. Each individual part of today gave me more knowledge and understanding of what me and my partner have both lived, it also made me revisit emotions I felt at the time and helped me to see where I have come to from learning from past experiences. For the purpose of this blog I feel I reflected on action as understood by Schon which outlines the process of reflecting after an event, exploring new information and feelings of how I felt at the time and processing these feelings and actions with new knowledge and understanding of my experiences and how I feel now (Bolton & Delderfirld, 2018). Sharing my day with him gave him a desire to look in to the White Ribbon campaign, we have boys ourselves and he models his beliefs and values in this area strongly with the boys, in this way he is a positive role model for our children aged 6,6 and 12.

The Anah Project is a project aimed at women fleeing all forms of abuse, not only localised in West Yorkshire but throughout the United kingdom (Anah Project, 2020). The Anah project isn't just a service that provides safe accommodation for fleeing women but they offer a support network around these women, they educate women on human rights and increase confidence, self-esteem and independence. They do this through a person cantered approach delivering support through individualised plans based on individual needs. It is widely researched and evident in policies and literature that person cantered approaches are the best way forward, they look at individuals as a whole identifying strengths, weaknesses, preferences, aspirations and in turn has a positive impact on the package of care and support required of each individual (Teater2014, Rutter & Brown,2015).

The project is run through a refuge, where self-referrals and referrals from other agencies can be made. As a student social worker I am already starting to gain a knowledge base of what services are available in the local area; just from today I have knowledge of three individual organisations/ campaigns/ projects where I can signpost or access for support and guidance should I ever need to in my professional role as a social worker (although this seems a million miles away right now!). Knowledge and understanding of such projects and campaigns, equips me with knowledge and understanding to promote the rights, strengths and wellbeing of individuals outlined in the social work standards (SWE,2020) using localised and national services. it also helps me to develop my skills when potentially working with individuals in these circumstances promoting rights, wellbeing and individualised plans drawing on individuals strengths and abilities to create better outcomes for them and work in partnership with wider agencies and professionals (SWE,2020).

The project works on principles of empowerment, collective action, self-help, mutual aid, inclusion and equality (Anah project, 2020). They certainly empowered me today! To empower someone is to give them choice and control at the same time relying on honesty and realism as a two way process (Maclean, 2009, Parrot, 2011). this project aims to do this on so many different levels. All these principles are key points in social work practice and hearing from such inspirational speakers today not only touched me on a personal level and gave me some realisation of my own experiences but gave me a desire to learn more and to better my skills and knowledge and personal understanding which in turn will better my practice as I progress from student to qualified social worker.

The issues discussed today sadly are a huge representation of the societies we live in, some societies more pertinent than others; and the work of social workers and organisations, projects and societies working together to drive down these inequalities of life providing social justice and better outcomes for all is indispensable in the 20th century societies we live in.

Domestic violence happens to both men and women but evidence supports that more women than men are victims of domestic violence, evidence also suggests that the prevalence in black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee (BAMER) communities is a big percentage of figures recorded. Why is this? Is this because they live in a community where it is accepted to treat women in this way? Is it a community issue and an inequalities in beliefs and values of the community as a whole? Is it religion that leads these beliefs and values? No matter of the answer it is not acceptable against men or women. However research shows that women from BAMER communities are at higher risk of abuse than those from other ethnic groups. Honour based violence, forced marriage, arranged marriage and more recently female genital mutilation have become widely recognised within societies and a call to end these acts of crime is urgently required. Research shows that as a minimum twelve women a year have been killed as a result of "honour based violence", BAME women are impacted by specific forms of violence such as forced marriage and honour based violence, these acts of abuse are experienced in context with domestic abuse experienced by white women (Penny, 2020) The disclosure numbers of those individuals form a black, Asian and minority ethnic groups is worryingly less than that of the general population (Penny, 2020) Educated and knowledgeable professionals with the skills to intervene where required, to be able to identify when these acts are happening and know how to deal with them correctly and with the individuals best interests is vital. Professionals require knowledge of early identifying signs of potential risk or abuse that may raise cause for concern, schools and education settings need to have a rigorous set of policies and procedures for identifying where long periods of absence may be a concern, police services need to be more broadly educated on signs of honour based violence and domestic abuse and know how to intervene and respond to these signs promptly and safely.

More needs to be done to end violence against women and that is through us as professionals including police been knowledgeable enough to intervene, read signs and act promptly and make those referrals. Emphasis needs to be put on schools to educate pupils on safe and health relationships, safe and acceptable behaviours and giving them the knowledge of where to go if they are at risk or feel they may be at risk of harm and encourage them to do this with confidence and reassurance.

The White Ribbon Campaign really stood out for me, as I have said my partner has lived a period of his life with domestic abuse and he strongly believes in ending violence against women. He has strong views and beliefs on this subject which he tries to cascade down to our boys who are still young at present. Values are what us as individuals think or feel should happen and are unique to us all, some people share in the same values and beliefs as others, in life we rely on morality and the experiences of others to inform and create our own moral codes, values and beliefs, as individuals we are highly influenced by present and past experiences and understanding within a context of the society in which we live and grow (Parrot, 2011). He believes these morals and beliefs should be understood from a young age, boys eventually turn in to men and instilling the understanding that it is not acceptable to cause harm to women in any context through sharing experiences with our boys and helping them understand age appropriate situations will hopefully allow them to lead healthy adult life's, knowing right from wrong in a society where domestic abuse is widely seen and appears acceptable. The mission of the white ribbon campaign is for men to commit to never excuse or remain silent about male violence against women using men and boys to act as a catalyst for change and take action to change behaviour both individually and collectively (White Ribbon, 2020).

I had never heard of the campaign before today but me and my partner looked in to this further, the idea of using men as a catalyst to educate other men and young boys is an amazing concept. There are many men out there who share the same beliefs and this needs to be heard it needs to be recognised worldwide.

Learning that the university isn't a recognised organisation who promotes the white ribbon campaign at present gives me a platform at the social justice society meeting later this week to discuss with executive members of how we can work to get the university recognised for its promotion of the white ribbon campaign. Following today and the knowledge I gained I feel I have a better knowledge of what it is and how important it could be for the university to be recognised for this.

Finally to end a brilliant information filled day we heard from breaking the silence.

For many men speaking out about mental health and abuse is a difficult concept no matter what ethnic background they are from. Personal experiences have seen how difficult this can be for men and unfortunately my experiences also saw a failing in services which put the individual at more risk, but whom eventually left the abusive relationship. More needs to be done to encourage men to speak out, it needs to become more socially accepted that men also suffer abuse and have rights to safe and healthy relationship and life the same way as women and children do. There are a number of articles within the human rights act (1998) that states the rights of all individuals. Article le 3 highlights that everyone has a right to not be subject to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Article 8 also outlines everyone has right to live a life with respect to a private life, home and correspondence, Article 9 highlights everyone has freedom of thought, conscience and religion and Article 10 identifies everyone has a freedom to express themselves and hold opinions (Brammer, 2020) Social workers working with individuals discussed above should endeavour to promote these rights trough all areas of practice and help individuals know and understand their rights when living in societies where this is not always so.

Traditional ideologies place emphasis on the masculinity of men in society where unfortunately men are also weakened and shamed by acts of abuse. An article published by the BMJ (1998) exploring the theories and values in health research found that in social constructivist views the male gender is signified by beliefs and behaviours of been hard and strong and this is evidence through practiced social interactions, it is an assumption that these attributes are fixed and evidence shows they do vary across cultures and religions (BMJ, 1998).

Socially it is not accepted that men can be victims of abuse but research shows that this is in fact the case and more should be done to encourage men to speak out and get the help and support they need, in the same way women do. Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) men appear to find speaking out much more difficult than men of other ethnic origins, why is that? Is it because of racism and discrimination stopping them accessing services and support? Is it social and economic inequalities? Is it the huge stigma around mental health? Is it the society which influences very stereotypical views?

BAME communities can experience racism and discrimination in many forms at many different points in their lives and research shows that this can have a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing (mentalhealth.org, 2020). Disadvantages within societies often associated with BAME communities such as poverty and poorer educational outcomes, higher unemployment and contact with criminal justice systems also plays a huge part in individuals speaking out and accessing support they need, they may not know how or where to access help (mentalhealth.org, 2020). As professionals it is important that we know what services are available in the local area, the support groups that run and how to access these. We have a duty to promote quality and inclusion and promote the rights of every individual we work with (SWE, 2020).

There is huge stigma around men's mental health and a lack of understanding on a community level of what this is and how to deal with it, in some communities it is not talked about and in some it is seen in a negative light. This can often discourage people from speaking out particularly men whom are seen to be strong and bold members of society. Research completed by BMI Healthcare (2020) found that one in eight men have mental health problems that they often struggle to discuss or seek help for (BMI, 2020).

Today’s skills day has been really informative and inspiring and given me more of an understanding of services available to people whom I may work with within my professional career. It has allowed me to develop some understanding of why these things take place and understand some professional jargon when it comes to legal procedures and practices. It has also given me a little closure in that self-acceptance of my own experiences were in fact real and should be spoken about and socially we still live in a world where changes need to be made and working together in communities and societies to change the view and disadvantages caused by domestic violence, and other forms of abuse is highly required for better quality of life and living.

I worried about today as it is close to home but now I feel inspired and enthused to get involved where I can and help make that change in society promoting social justice for all!!

Anah (2020) Anah Project [ONLINE] https://anahproject.org/what-we-do (Accessed 26th November 2020)

BMI (2020) Men and Mental Health: a damaging stigma [ONLINE] https://www.bmihealthcare.co.uk/health-matters/mens-health/men-and-mental-health-a-damaging-stigma#gdpr-out (Accessed 30th November 2020)

BMJ (1998) Education and Debate; Theories in Healthcare and Research: Theories of Masculinity [ONLINE] https:://doi.org/10.1136/BMJ.317.7165.1072 (Accessed 30th November 2020)

Bolton, G. and Delderfield. R. (2018) Reflective practice: writing and professional development fifth edition. London. Sage

Brammer, A. (2020) Social work law: 5th Edition. UK. Pearson Education

Maclean, S. (2020) Social Work Theory Cards: 3rd Edition. Linchfield. KirwinMaclean

Maclean, S. and Harrison R. (2009) Theory and Practice: a straightforward guide. Great Britain

Parrott, L. (2011) Values and Ethics in Social Work Practice: 2nd Edition. Exeter. Learning Matters ltd

Penny, G. (2020) Supporting B&ME victims- what the data shows. [ONLINE] safelives.org.uk/practice_blog/supporting-bme-victims-what-data-shows (Accessed 1st December 2020)

Rutter, L. Brown, K. (2015) Critical thinking and professional judgement in social work: 4th Edition. London. Sage

SWE(2020) Social Work England Standards of Proficiency. London. Health care and professional council.

Teater, B. (2014) Contemporary Social Work Practice. London. Open University Press

White Ribbon Campaign (2020)

What we do

[ONLINE]

https://whiteribbon.org.uk/what-we-do

(Accessed 1st December 2020

#bradford #bradforduniversity #bradfordcollege #socialwork #students

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nahalism · 5 years

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well.. i was doing a breathing/grounding meditation in the park and began to experience having multiple bodies. (an energetic body, mental body, emotional body, pain body, sound/vibrational body, light body [even a ‘colour body’ that isnt limited to one colour, but does vary in colour according to the person and emotional state] ect).

being that i could see myself existing beyond the parameters of my physical body, (liquid, organs, skin have restrictions that light and sound dont), i began to see if i could gauge where i started, where i stopped, and if i could still experience things that were beyond the periphery of my body and my senses. i had already read a lot of books, particularly Drunvalo Melchizedek’s the flower of life and Masuru Emoto’s the miracles of water, so i understood the basis of vibrational frequencies, and thus how my own vibrational frequency was not only regulating my body, but as depicted by the merkaba/tetrahedron often used in esoteric teaching, was being projected beyond my body and consequently impacting all that surrounded me whether i was aware or not.

[although this isnt directly related, it happened and i find it interesting so ill proceed to include it]. i settled on the feeling that there was no ‘end’ point to which i felt i could project myself. and because of that i began to think about urban planning. the proximity of houses and apartments in cities, how close we sit, stand and work to each other, the construction of our undergrounds/metro’s and most congested areas. i thought about the idea of none of us ‘beginning’ or ‘ending’ in any specific place, the possibility that we may all just be individualised/localised experiences of the same thing living in an amniotic sac that we call the world, a world that is fundamentally made of the same energy as us. and that if that were the case, how little truly separates us. and that if so little separates us then just how contagious thoughts, emotions, and a persons ‘way of being’ might really be. then i thought about why the most expensive communities are less densely populated, filled with detached houses, have less wifi.. why people with similar income brackets, daily practices, and mental attitudes choose to preserve these communities with such urgency and legislations as they do. then i continued thinking about the impact that environment can have on someone and how what one is consistently exposed to impacts their spiritual, mental and emotional evolution. i then began to acknowledge how ignorantly i conduct my own self when i walk clumsily on the ground or forget to look at the sky above me, because in doing so i realised i was neglecting two entirely separate realms of reality, and by doing that id neglected to consider the impact i was having on the life forms that inhabited those spaces. i started to think about how if a thought or a word can alter the molecular structure of water, what was there that i or other humans could do to reverse the damage being done to the earth: the geopathic stress that runs underground, or even the displacement happening to the earths techonic plates. that went on for a while then i spent some time taking in the people in the park. watching their demeanours, seeing if i could ‘feel’ them despite their distance from me.

this all got a little claustrophobic so i decided to breathe through the experience with my eyes closed, and as i did, i saw two movements in my minds eye. [1] light being used to draw an infinity sign in darkness. the motion was continuous. and [2] the second (which is unexplainable) but resembled a motion similar to a bowl of water continuously spilling over, each time re-absorbing the fallen water from underneath. almost like a continual feeling of sucking something up and pouring it back out.

[1] the first image that arose felt like the vertical motion of breath and the sense of continuity i felt whilst breathing. though i could easily distinguish the act of breathing in or out, breathing itself could not as easily be divided into parts. neither breathing in or breathing out could be said to be start or end of of breathing. similarly, despite the presence or negation of air in my lungs, the ebb and flow was consistently interrupted by a median in which there was both presence and absence. everything was woven together, in order to breathe new air, old had to be removed. in order to remove that air, new air had to be breathed. both processes were inextricable.

[2] the second image felt more lateral in motion, as though i were a nucleus and waves were both emanating from me and being drawn to me. at this stage i was in flow from the vertical breathing (finding expansion in the body with each breath in and ease in the body with each breath out), and as this progressed lots of feelings that made sense but lacked chronology & are hard to articulate flooded in (so excuse if this gets confusing). the small motions of up and down changed to a cycle/continuous stream, of up, out, over, in 🔁. [energy spurting out the head, throat, hands, chest, and stomach, washing out and over beyond my physical self, then coming back in as if drawn by a magnet, and up through the feet and through the sit bones]. as i continued to watch this happen the energy began to feel denser and more potent. and so i imagined pushing/propelling it further out beyond me, projecting it at the world, plants, people ect. and so as i continued to watch this happen i realised that which i was receiving could only be that which was a match to what id sent out. moreover, focusing on asserting the energy didnt stop me receiving the energy that came back & vise versa. the two were different processes, and each process could be focused on individually without its counterpart, but when i breathed with mindfulness of the two the energy grew more potent. [legit, the only thing i can liken this ‘energy’ too is the depiction of nen in hunter x hunter]. and as this was happening i remembered what i had learned about polarity [yin/yang, masculine/feminine energy, the upward facing tetrahedron/the downward facing tetrahedron], and adopted an electro-magnetic view of the situation. our ‘upward facing’ tetrahedron (representative of electric force, order, structure, assertion, reason, logic and masculinity) can be likened to the upward and outward projection of energy. similarly the ‘downward facing’ tetrahedron (which is is symbolised by magnetism and governs chaos, pleasure, creativity, sensuality, carnal instinct, receptivity and femininity) can be likened to the force that pulls the energy down from over and back in.

im not sure the correlation between what i observed that day and what i answered in the ask earlier is clear, but that is the resource i drew on to help me articulate my view. a lot of teachers and businessmen in the business of self empowerment do speak about transmuting sexual energy to creative energy (napoleon hills a good one) but i think when getting into these matters its good to understand the science/the alchemy. for example, this principle taught me a lot of things; how much power one conscious, self aware individual harbours. humanities true capacity to raise not only their own spirits, but the collective spirit of all they encounter. ectect. but looking at it under the lens of manifestation showed me how understanding the individualised polarities (especially that despite differences all things are fundamentally the same) and learning to balance them, is whats key to not only developing the lives we want, but fundamental to being able to maintain them. moreover understanding of the fundamental principles teaches the individual particular guidelines that are key to knowing how to bring precisely what they want, and not what we think they want, into being. funnily whilst imbalanced application of the two leads to .. imbalance.. lol, the imbalance if questioned shows itself to be perfectly balanced. e.g if one confronts the chaos that emerges in their material world, they’ll likely find the root issue to be a matter of the mind. similarly, having a structured plan and logical path to attain ones goal means nothing without the emotional intelligence necessary to enjoy the plan once come to fruition.

anyway. moral of the story is that books are great and they often provide sound information by teaching terminology and introducing concepts but, experience is the best teacher. understanding and consolidating the information we learn so that it becomes knowledge upon which we may build wisdom, is a process that occurs within the individual. so dont worry bout the books, if you are curious knowledge will find you. in the meantime, go and live

#ask

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thesigilsofbaphomet · 5 years

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The Magic the Gathering Oracle Deck

Ever since I started getting into tarot, I wanted to make a tarot deck from Magic cards, because I love MtG, and I’m broke, and it seems like a cool idea.

I’ve never really tackled the problem, because there are a lot of technical issues to figure out, and no great way to handle them short of writing on the cards (and I really dislike defacing cards. Alters and signatures are one thing, but writing random stuff is... really uncomfortable for me).

Recently, I learned what an Oracle deck specifically is, and it seemed like a good way to do this thing I wanted to do, so I started designing a deck.

My personal MtG Oracle Deck was designed with UR4 cards as much as possible, because that period of Magic is deeply nostalgic for me. I decided I wanted it to be 60 cards (a standard Magic Deck), with an equal number of cards from each color, plus artifacts, and initially leaned away from using creatures, but quickly decided to include one creature from each color. Ideally, each card type would be equal between the colors, but only colors and enchantments are kept equal between the colors.

For those who, like I did, don’t know much about oracle decks, they are less about a “codified” set of symbolic images (like Tarot decks are), and more about a series of images which are symbolic, but not necessarily the same from one deck to another. Some decks, such as Angel Oracle decks, are largely made of positive symbols, while others have both positive and negative images.

This means that it’s very easy to make an Oracle deck that is very personal to you. In effect, there are no rules, you can make the deck whatever you want.

So, here is my Magic the Gathering Oracle Deck-

1 Forest- The power of nature, instinct, and interdependence 1 Island- The power of the mind, logic and the intellect 1 Mountain- The power of emotion, passion, and chaos 1 Plains- The power of community, order, and morality 1 Swamp- The power of darkness, the self, and ambition 1 Ashes to Ashes- death and destruction 1 Aspect of Wolf- empowerment from connection to nature 1 Bad Moon- empowerment of Black Forces 1 Balance- Equality between forces, for good or bad 1 Battering Ram- Destruction of barriers 1 Black Vise- The cost of taking on too much 1 Blood Lust- The empowerment of passion, at the cost of vulnerability 1 Castle- Resilience through passiveness 1 Cockatrice- The ability to destroy all in its way even if it costs its own existence 1 Control Magic- Conversion of forces from one side to another 1 Crusade- Empowerment of White forces 1 Crystal Rod- Life through Blue forces 1 Cursed Land- Poisoning of resources 1 Dark Ritual- Enhanced resources through the power of the self 1 Disenchant- Removing oppressive forces 1 Dust to Dust- Destruction of obstacles 1 Evil Presence- Conversion of resources 1 Firebreathing- Empowerment through passion 1 Flight- Rising above ones opposition 1 Flood- The suppression of forces through the mind 1 Fog- Suppression of conflict or loss of one’s way 1 Forbidden Lore- Empowerment from one’s resources 1 Giant Growth- Sudden great empowerment 1 Giant Strength- The strength of giants and passion 1 Gloom- Suppression of forces that prioritize order and law 1 Goblin Digging Team- Removal of obstacles through self-sacrifice 1 Holy Strength- Empowerment through dedication to others 1 Icy Prison- Banishment of forces through the use of Blue forces 1 Iron Star- Life through Red forces 1 Ivory Cup- Life through White forces 1 Justice- Suppression of Red forces 1 Lightning Bolt- Destructive force 1 Lure- Attraction 1 Mana Short- The removal of all of one’s resources 1 Morale- Empowerment of action 1 Onulet- Life through death 1 Orcish Oriflamme- Strength in action 1 Power Leak- One’s tools being damaging or taxing to use 1 Regeneration- Regrowth, denial of death 1 Sea Serpent- Power of Blue forces against Blue forces, Mental conflict, the power of the seas 1 Sengir Vampire- Empowerment through overcoming one’s enemies 1 Serra Angel- The power of White forces 1 Shatter- Destruction of tools 1 Sleight of Mind- Conversion of forces 1 Spell Blast- Opposition of forces through equal use of resources 1 Spirit Link- Life through combat/conflict 1 Sunglasses of Urza- The use of community as a source of passion 1 Terror- Fear, death, destruction 1 The Brute- Brute strength and the denial of death through passion 1 The Rack- The cost of not knowing enough 1 Throne of Bone- Life through Black forces 1 Unholy Strength- Empowerment from dedication to the self 1 Untamed Wilds- The search for and acquisition of greater resources 1 Wild Growth- Enhanced Green resources through other resources 1 Wooden Sphere- Life through Green forces

There are a couple ways to use and read this deck. If you know how you are aligned to the symbolism of Magic’s color pie (for example, I’m very Black-aligned, then Red, and then there’s a sorta tie between Green and Blue, and I’m pretty opposed to White magic), then you can read the cards by how they match your color identity. Alternatively, you can read cards based on whether they are inverted or not, with cards that oriented towards you being positive, and cards that are inverted as being negative.

I’ve had to buy some cards for this deck, and just had to order some more that I thought I had (or thought I had in an Unlimited, Revised or 4th edition printing, or simply couldn’t find), so I haven’t gotten to use this deck yet.

If you’re interested in making this deck for yourself, Deckbox.org tells me that it’s average value is just under $30, and I’d bet that it could be cheaper to put together because a lot of the cards are very cheap in their older printings.

#pop culture magic #pop culture paganism #magic the gathering #magic the card game #Oracle cards #Oracle decks #tarot #fortune telling #divination

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strategemme · 5 years

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I THINK WITH MY HEART AND I MOVE WITH MY HEAD

EMMELINE VANCE: Character Task No. 1

𝖖 𝖚 𝖔 𝖙 𝖊 𝖘

The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves. I don't trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them. They used to say that if Man was meant to fly, he’d have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to. There are things that have to be done and you do them and you never talk about them. You don't try to justify them. They can't be justified. You just do them. Then you forget it. Due to personal reasons, I will be performing vigilante justice.

𝖇 𝖆 𝖘 𝖎 𝖈

NAME: Emmeline L. Vance; there isn’t a soul (presently) alive that knows what the “L” stands for. NICKNAMES: Em; other abbreviations of her name are generally acceptable as long as you don’t try to call her Emmie. AGE: 22 BIRTHDAY: August 27, 1957 GENDER: Female PRONOUNS: She/Her

𝖋 𝖆 𝖒 𝖎 𝖑 𝖞

MOTHER: Florence Vance neé Chevalier ( 50 ) { born in France, moved to England after marrying Devon } // muggle FATHER: Col. Devon Vance ( 57 ) { recently retired from the British Army } // muggle SIBLINGS: Anthony Vance ( 28 ) { named after a dear friend of Devon’s that was killed during the Second World War } // muggle

𝖕 𝖍 𝖞 𝖘 𝖎 𝖈 𝖆 𝖑 𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖇𝖚𝖙𝖊𝖘

FACE CLAIM: Demet Özdemir BUILD: Average height, athletic HAIR: Long, worn in waves on nights requiring effort and otherwise tossed into a bun HAIR COLOR: Brunette EYE COLOR: Brown SKIN COLOR: Tan DOMINANT HAND: Right { she’s pitiful when it comes to her left hand } ANOMALIES: (1) Scar across her left palm from making a blood-pact as a ten year old; it’s so faded now that you can only catch a gleam of silver in the bright sun. (2) Various small burns across her hands and forearms from healing poultices gone askew. SCENT: Vanilla and cedar wood; she’s worn the same perfume since her Hogwarts ACCENT: Standard English ALLERGIES: Cats DISORDERS: Insomnia; she’s always attributed it to a general pace of “too much to do and too little time,” but there are nights when all she wants to do is collapse into her bed yet finds herself condemned to staring at the ceiling; many people make the mistake of believing that she doesn’t need sleep to operate, but her history of errors speaks otherwise. FASHION: She spends far more time in lime green robes than she cares for, and thus compensates with a wardrobe full of neutral colors. She still feels more comfortable in muggle attire than wizarding robes, and thus is seen frequently in various combinations of jeans, blouses, and boots. NERVOUS TICS: After years of having her tics evaluated and erased, Emmeline has largely eradicated any tells of nervousness. Old habits die hard, however, and with the stress of the war mounting, she’s falling back into drumming her index and middle finger on any solid surface capable of absorbing her anxiety. As she’s assumed a leadership position, she’s also taken up the habit of pacing while waiting for her teams of tier three operatives to return. QUIRKS: (1) With the current travel restrictions, Emmeline has fallen back into driving. She learned during one of her summers away from Hogwarts, and her trusty Vauxhall Viva has carried her across Britain and back several times over. (2) When approach Diagon Alley for pleasure, Emmeline prefers to enter through the Leaky Cauldron. There’s something symbolic about crossing from Muggle to Wizarding London. (3) If Emmeline starts something, she has to finish. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, she cannot abandon a task already underway. It is one of the reasons she spends so long planning: planning necessitates time and distance while action must be immediate.

𝖑 𝖎 𝖋 𝖊 𝖘 𝖙 𝖞 𝖑 𝖊

RESIDES: Puddlemere, England { London has always been home, and her work at St. Mungo’s frequently brings her into the city. But as war rears its head, Emmeline has opted for more strategic ground. The community of Puddlemere is welcoming to muggleborns, and her proximity to other Order members offers safety that could never be found in city streets. } BORN: London, England RAISED: Too many places to count, though Emmeline isn’t partial to declaring military barracks as her hometown. Jokingly, she’ll say that Hogwarts was the most permanent home she had while growing up. More seriously, she’ll consider herself a Londoner. PETS: A tawny owl named Machiavelli, though she considers him more of a useful friend than a pet. CAREER: Healer { additionally, a vigilante; she offers free... how shall we say.. r e t r i b u t i o n to muggleborn and half-blood families that need a little extra muscle, be it of the offensive or defensive sort. } EXPERIENCE: In the medical field, Emmeline has specialized in accident and emergency, though it seems every Witch or Wizard only deems medical care necessary in such cases. Outside St. Mungo’s, she has frequented several underground dueling clubs to keep her skills sharp. EMPLOYER: St. Mungo’s POLITICAL AFFILIATION: The Order of the Phoenix BELIEFS: The the Wizarding community is in desperate need of some muggle influence (preventative medicine, to start, but automobiles, microwaves, and telephones would be a wonderful addition). The motivation of purebloods to eradicate such influence only keeps the community from advancing and reaching full potential, and the mounting war is representative of the collision between the old world and the new. (That said, she’s strongly of the belief that no one should have to die while seeking out inclusivity.) MISDEMEANORS: Nothing that has found its way onto her record. FELONIES: Being a muggleborn is starting to damn well feel like one. DRUGS: Never. As much as Emmeline has a tendency to lock herself within her mind, she has yet to seek out drugs as a key. SMOKES: Unfortunately. She knows she shouldn’t, but nicotine is often the only thing capable of taking the edge off and stimulating her focus at the same time. It’s a necessary evil, and her pocket is rarely without a pack ALCOHOL: A taste for scotch runs in the family, and it’s often one of the most expensive items on her list of expenses for the month. She refuses to touch it while in the process of acting, but it plays a large role in her planning stages. DIET: Emmeline never managed to find the time to take up cooking, and as such, she depends on local takeout. LANGUAGES: English, French PHOBIAS: Deep water { she adores swimming, but will never go so deep that her toes can’t graze the bottom } ; failure { a common fear, but many years passed where she refused to speak up in class because her fear of being wrong was greater than her confidence in being right; now those days have passed and she’s perhaps too passionately outspoken, but if she isn’t complete convinced of something, the words will never pass her lips } ; death { she’s grazed the reaper more times than she can count, either in her own life or accompanying the paths of others. still, she can’t imagine what it would be like to see her own funeral. she acts with certainty and confidence, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t fear what is on the other side of that bright green flash. } HOBBIES: Reading, board games or cards, camping, pick-up games of very, very, very amateur Quidditch TRAITS: I never dreamed about success; I worked for it. { + }: Hardworking, clever, frequently compassionate (but...) { - }: Occasionally apathetic, subconsciously manipulative, righteous

𝖋 𝖆 𝖛 𝖔 𝖗 𝖎 𝖙 𝖊 𝖘

LOCATION: Diagon Alley; it is the place where she first felt that her magic was a blessing rather than a curse, and it continues to instill that childlike hope in her whenever she visits. It’s one of the few bright places remaining. SPORTS TEAM: Puddlemere United, naturally. She’s only recently moved to Puddlemere, but she has a long history of training Mediwitches and Mediwizards during Puddlemere’s practices and matches, and as such has brushed shoulders with the team just enough to be emotionally invested in their success. GAME: Chess (of either the muggle or wizarding variety) MUSIC: She knows the correct answer to this is anything orchestral, yet Goodbye Yellowbrick Road is the most frequently-played record in her flat. MOVIES: The Godfather, Patton, Saturday Night Fever FOOD: Her mother’s Beef Wellington. She’s yet to find its rival. BEVERAGE: Scotch, Earl Grey COLOR: Light green (but certainly not lime, damn those robes)

𝖒 𝖆 𝖌 𝖎 𝖈

ALUMNI HOUSE: Ravenclaw WAND (length, flexibility, wood, & core): 11.25in, sturdy, redwood, dragon heartstring AMORTENTIA: Leather, incense, cotton PATRONUS: Hawk BOGGART: The visage of the first patient that died due to her negligence. It isn’t an exact replica from her memories, but one that is in the process of decomposing. It’s propped up in a bed like the ones populating St. Mungo’s.

𝖈 𝖍 𝖆 𝖗 𝖆 𝖈 𝖙 𝖊 𝖗

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Neutral good MBTI: ENTJ MBTI ROLE: Analyst ENNEAGRAM: Type 8 ENNEAGRAM ROLE: The Achiever TEMPERAMENT: Choleric WESTERN ZODIAC: Virgo CHINESE ZODIAC: Rooster PRIMAL SIGN: Corgi TAROT CARD: The Chariot TV TROPES: Lady of War, Female Empowerment Song, Historical In-Joke, Showing Up Chauvinists SONGS: Tongues -- Joywave // History Has Its Eyes on You -- Christopher Jackson // Come With Me Now -- KONGOS // Vindicated -- Dashboard Confessional // Baba O’Riley -- The Who // Vienna -- Billy Joel // Machine -- MisterWives // Kill Your Heroes -- AWOLNATION // Sabotage -- Beastie Boys

𝖎 𝖉 𝖊 𝖔 𝖑 𝖔 𝖌 𝖎 𝖊 𝖘

Muggle influence will do more good for the wizarding world than it ever will harm

Encourages second chances but condemns those that require a third

People should expect to get out of the world what they put in (no more, no less)

Violence should be a last resort, but damn if it isn’t a definitive one

Those that are neutral in a time of oppression have chosen the side of the oppressor

Sugar has no right to be in coffee or tea

History repeats itself; if you can’t find a parallel within the pages of history books, the situation simply hasn’t developed thoroughly enough yet

Cheap scotch is worse than sewer water

#dulcetask #m #development #// what is consistent formatting?? haven't met her #// also i spent way too much time on this R I P

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ceciliatan · 5 years

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InVocation, an art installation by Midori

Today I was inspired to ship off this ancient, grungy Mac keyboard (see photo) that has been gathering dust and grime in my office for over 20 years. I’m in the midst of cleaning out my office in general, unearthing all kinds of interesting things in the excavation, but this one was sent not to the dumpster but to Midori, who is collecting objects from queer sex workers around the world to be woven into an art installation she’s calling “InVocation.”

She texted me to ask if I considered erotica writers (or myself in specific) to be sex workers, and here’s what I told her: “I don’t think most sex workers would consider us part of their group, but I do, at least from a political coalition standpoint, because erotic writing work is subject to different laws and restrictions from other writing work on the basis of the sexual content. We’re treated differently, our product can be outlawed or flagrantly destroyed with no recourse for us, our books are hidden, etc.”

When you write erotic work, even places like Patreon restrict you. Even when what you do isn’t illegal, they make your page un-findable from the search bar (you have to know exactly what URL to put in to find any X-rated artist). Amazon does the same, plunging not only individual books but sometimes whole keywords into the “adult dungeon” where they languish, unfound by searches. Erotic writing is reportedly more likely to be pirated or stolen than non-erotic writing, as some people both feel shame about buying it and NO shame about ripping off a mere “sex writer.”

Erotica writers have to fight harder to get paid than non-erotic writers do and we’re offered less for our work (compare the $50 a story standard for erotica anthologies to the 8 cents a word standard demanded by the Science Fiction Writers of America = $200 for a 2500 word story). This despite the adage “sex sells.” Even in the wake of 50 Shades of Grey, the top selling book in English-language history, many bookstores still have no erotica section, and those that do have one often won’t label it visibly. Some stores won’t carry it because they believe it’s illegal to sell to customers under 18 and they don’t ID their customers. And so on.

All those barriers — moral, structural, logistical, societal, and legal — makes making a living as an erotica writer even harder than making a living as any other kind of writer.

I’ve been living with this reality for so long that I sometimes forget it’s there. But at the RWA conference a couple of weeks ago I took a step back and had it hit me all over again. So many of the avenues for building a career, gaining readers, promoting a book, and so on are restricted to non-sexual content. For example, Facebook ads are a huge part of most of the marketing campaigns of top-selling books these days. But Facebook won’t let us advertise a book that’s too sexy unless we can plausibly make them look “clean.” (Heck, even the website where 50 Shades was first posted as a Twilight fanfic and built up a huge following had rules against explicit content! They were just ignored…)

Anyway. Midori is creating a sculptural art installation at the Leslie Lohman museum in New York City, as detailed in her post here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-need-your-help-28998508

The sculpture will be part of an exhibition called ON OUR BACKS, and it couldn’t be more up my alley. To quote from the exhibition’s description: “This exhibition explores the history of queer sex work culture, and its intimate ties to art and activism. [It shows] queer and transgender sex workers’ deep community building, creative organizing, self-empowerment, identity/desire affirmation and healing and the use of pornography as a deft tool for queer and trans liberation.”

Read the full description here: https://www.leslielohman.org/project/queer-sex-workers

My manifesto, as I’ve been banging the drum since 1992, is that stories change lives. Fiction changes hearts and minds. And I write about sex and sexuality because our society has so many fucked up ways of thinking about those things that the only way to change people toward thinking about them another way is to tell them a story. I write a lot of science fiction and fantasy to change the viewpoint as far from “normal” as possible, but even a story like Daron’s Guitar Chronicles is saying the same thing: we who don’t love within the narrow confines of society’s enforced “normal” of heterosexual vanilla marriage need freedom in this world to exist and to express ourselves as fully accepted human beings.

So, yeah, off my grungy old keyboard goes. I had thought maybe I had one of my old old original laptops — I had a Toshiba T-1000 back in 1989! — but it appears I recycled them long ago because of fears their batteries were dangerous to keep around. But I have clung to a lot of ancient tech. Macs haven’t used keyboard with this style of connector since… 1997? You can see from the grime on it that this keyboard had a lot of mileage on it.

Midori wrote that what she is looking for is objects that were used in sex work that we’ve held onto but we’re ready to let go of. “Objects, which even as you hold on to them, you would like to let it go, give it a new home, recognize that it doesn’t need to take up space in your drawers or storage or heart, or something you’d like to respectfully let it dissolve into the universe. ” I didn’t have a dried out old lipstick case, but I did have this.

I’m looking forward to seeing the final installation.

from cecilia tan https://ift.tt/2GYK3qi via IFTTT

#cecilia tan

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eretzyisrael · 6 years

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We at EY never post articles while screaming MUST READ!!! But may we strongly suggest that you do read this entire article? It is long, but extremely worthwhile.

Thank you.

We’ve copied some excerpts below.

Recently, I watched a fine series on the Holocaust by the American network, Public Broadcasting System. As part of the series, they assembled a group of high school students who not only watched the series’ episodes, but went on a trip to tour Auschwitz. Then, at the end of the series, the students were filmed, discussing what they had learned. One young man, quite typical of the rest, was clear that he had learned that we must all be free of “discrimination” and “racism”, and he vowed to be more welcoming to Muslim immigrants.

So it was made clear to the viewer. The Holocaust now stands for the principle of being tolerant and non-discriminatory. We, of course, are now entering the end-game of those who have quite successfully hijacked the moral of the Holocaust story. In a world of moral and cultural relativism, where “tolerance” is the only enduring value, we Jews are participating in a fraudulent and reprehensible misuse of History – a misuse which results in the new villains being precisely those who adopt religious values to judge human behaviour, and seek to discriminate between good and evil, and the new heroes being Muslim victims of criticism. Moreover, those who support the Jewish homeland in Israel are also cast as villains, since Israel (as viewed by the United Nations General Assembly et al.) is guilty of humiliating and offending Muslims everywhere by its lack of tolerance towards those who want to destroy it.

In fact, the Holocaust more appropriately stands for what the proponents of tolerance do not want to hear: that there are some very evil people who periodically come to power and we must do everything possible to stop these evil people. We must not “tolerate” these evil people; we must take all necessary steps, including war, to stop them. We must not accept that all cultures and all ideologies are relative; in fact, some cultures are evil, and some are good, and the good will not be able to stop the evil through “negotiations” or tolerance, but in fact will have to stop evil by force. The Holocaust stands for the need to identify good and evil, and take action, no matter how inconvenient or how politically incorrect that action may appear.

In its mission of killing an entire people, a Genocide, the Nazis discovered that the more civilians that they killed, and the greater the speed and the magnitude of the slaughter, the easier this would be accepted by the modern world. This is related to the concept of the Big Lie, specifically that the bigger the lie, the more easily many people believe it. So, the second lesson of the Holocaust is that the second Noahite law against homicide is easier to breach the more audacious and bizarre the magnitude of the slaughter, and the professed rationale for same. It is easier for people to mourn the death of one person. There is an accepted protocol of going to a funeral and visitations that allow us a path towards mourning and acceptance. But for the death of tens, hundreds, thousands or millions, we do not have such protocol; it is too much for both our minds and our hearts, so we often do less to commemorate mass murder than the death of one individual.

The fifth lesson is to me, the most tragic of all: we must counter the morally corrupt position that mentioning the name of the Jewish Homeland, Israel, in the context of Holocaust commemorations is unnecessarily “controversial”, or is a form of using the Holocaust for some political agenda. The extent to which some twisted notion of “political correctness” causes us to “cleanse” our commemorations of the mere mention of the importance of the Jewish state, is the extent to which we have given up our values and replaced them with the values of our enemy. Hitler would surely be smiling if he knew that Iran and Syria, with their evil proxies, Hizbollah and Hamas, are publicly planning the destruction of Israel and the nearly 6 million Jews there. He would laugh out loud if he knew that so much as mentioning that fact in a Holocaust Commemoration event, is enough to cause a huge controversy, and therefore many of our events are not Judenrein, but Israelrein.

I argue that the entire attitude of Diaspora Jews towards the Shoah, and the lesson to be learned from it, is just naively optimistic. Jeffrey Goldberg, in his book, Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide, discusses his changed awareness when he emigrated from America to Israel, enters the army and feels the empowerment of his first rifle: “most of us having lived our lives in the company of quisling Jews who, for reasons inexplicable and bizarre, believed the main lesson of the Shoah was that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, instead of the actual lesson of the Shoah, which is that it is easy to kill a unilaterally disarmed Jew but much harder to kill one who is pointing a gun at your face.”

This is the ultimate message of the Shoah, where so many Jews went like “sheep to the slaughter”.

This time we shall not place a naïve faith in the international community, or in the Americans, or in anyone else, although we shall not give up on alliances. This time we shall not quietly entrust our “sheep” to the corrupted shepherds of a United Nations that makes Libya chair of its Human Rights Commission. This time we shall not entrust our sheep solely to the non-democratic Jewish organizations. This time we shall not quietly entrust our sheep to the Labour Zionist elites who had so little to say about the murder of the Jewish sheep in 1941-1944, and who had so little to say about the rocket attacks on Sderot and Ashkelon, and the murders of Jewish civilians resulting from the ill-fated Oslo Process. This time we shall realize that self-described “progressives” and “intellectuals” who spend their time on rationalizing Islamic violence against Jewish civilians, are not our friends, but our enemies.

Accordingly, the centerpiece of Holocaust commemoration on Yom Hashoah this April 21st, should be: This time we shall not go quietly.

#holocaust #shoah #tolerance #history #holocaust museum #yom hashoah

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wily-one24 · 6 years

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I hope there's not a question limit per ask lol... Paint it Black: 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 14 and 15 (or as many of those as you feel like answering lol)

Okay, two things.

A. Of *course* there’s no ask limit. I am an attention whore and will talk all day if you encourage me. Ask away!!

B. WTF tumblr? When I reposted that, it was a paragraph basically saying “ask about my fic!”, but now there are NUMBERED QUESTIONS? What? Where was the second half of that post when I came across it in my dash?

ANSWERS

3. What’s your favourite line of narration?

Oh geez. How the hell am I going to answer that? I have favourite lines per chapter, I have favourite lines per scene! Each part I’m reading at any given moment happens to be my favourite. Every time I reread it, I find something new... and... maybe I suck for saying this... but I think “you’re a fucking genius”, then I get all sad, because I think that was probably one of the last great things I’ll write. I’ve been going downhill ever since... but anyways, to seriously answer your question, I’ll give a few examples...

- That face off scene between Regina and Snow, where Snow claims her father was a good man and Regina answers “To you!”, the entire scene is charged and emotional and brings up so much shit between them that was never explored in canon.

- The flashback of Emma’s tenth birthday (technically collectively, all of the flashbacks, really. They’re angsty as fuck, but so formative in their characterisation that sometimes I forget they’re not actually canon). I have this habit of tearing Emma down to her bare bones and then trying to build her up again. I actually do this with most of my main female characters, and I do apologise for that Buffy, Kaylee, Veronica, Emma, and Alex. You all deserve so much better than me.

- The scene where Regina is alone in the castle and revisits the old chamber of Leopold’s. It’s hard to read but that is some weird little cathartic release right there. There is some great imagery that I don’t think many people allow Regina when it comes to her healing. Everybody tends to go the “being married to Leopold was a BAD THING” route, without ever really exploring the day to day soul destroying aspect of it. The reality of being the King’s prisoner wife. But giving her the ability and strength to revisit it, so she can finally acknowledge to herself how damaging it was, to close herself off from it both literally and figuratively, and then to be self aware enough to compare that situation to the one she has Emma in. That is empowerment.

- The parallel scenes of Emma and Henry at the start and the end of the fic. The first being when Henry is so adamant to rescue Emma and curse everyone again just to take them back... and the last where you can see how much indoctrinated he is into the fairy tale land, how much he is drifting from “our world” being the real one, to the fairy tale land being his reality, and how his morality has shifted... but then... he also brings it back by getting vulnerable and shows his concern not just for Emma but for Regina... which also shows great advancement from the child like black/white morality of good vs evil he begins with to an acceptance of a more adult grey-area morality, his willingness to examine the facts and the truth to make up his mind.

All the minor characters... Nancy (sweet, voiced Nancy), and Miss Edith (poor Miss Edith), Rachel, all the little characters that had such minor parts, but had such great effects in the lives of our main characters.

Oooh, writing Rumple was fun. I got to write him as nobody really does. As that creepy reptilian imp from the first few flashbacks in S1. Before they really woobified him. The hysteric giggling, maniacal creature who smelled the air and exuded pure malice. It was really enjoyable writing him like that.

Well, this went terribly off topic... anyway, yes, flashback scenes and confrontation scenes, be they between Snow and Regina, Emma and Regina, Regina and Maleficent, Emma and Snow, Emma and Henry... it’s in emotion that the true power of the fic lives.

4. What’s your favourite line of dialogue?

oh, this is harder than the first. It would take me ages to reread this fic (and now I most likely am, thanks) to really go through it and cherry pick my favourites. But, if a line has happened to truly hit home and resonate with you as a reader, it most likely did the same for me. I remember quite a few times writing this fic, thinking “holy fuck!” and knowing, just knowing, that it was definitely the line to write.

5. What part was the hardest to write?

The first two chapters. Up until the pivotal moment where Regina heals Emma, those were difficult to write and definitely difficult to read. I’ve had many readers tell me they were about to give up, bc it was too much torture porn to enjoy, but that moment specifically was a turning point for them because it built up the trust that I could and would reign Regina in beyond the point of no forgiveness or return.

11. What do you like best about this fic?

I liked writing it.

It took me to some pretty intense places. Fic writing, for me, has always been a form of therapy. I work through to some pretty intense fucking emotions through the angst of it all. Like, no, I have never been magically transported to a fairy tale land, collared, enslaved, and held against my will for the sake of my family and community’s lives... but if you look deeper in my life at the time, I had just been through a pretty horrific pregnancy that nearly killed me, my spouse and I separated, and I was left ill, recovering, and a single mother of a toddler and infant. I felt like I was being ripped apart from all angles, forced into a live of servitude for the betterment of everyone around me at the cost of myself. Even, though, like Emma, I didn’t blame them, it was still a period of mourning and loss.

I didn’t realise it at the time. This revelation happened years later when rereading the fic and trying to see where all the emotions had been coming from. It happens a lot with some of my more intense, dramatic, and (strangely enough) most popular fics. I don’t always see the correlation to my life at the time, but if I look back I can generally trace the rationality behind what my muse was trying to work through.

12. What do you like least about this fic?

The polarisation. The controversy. That fucking chapter fucking four. I still cannot reread that chapter without having to take a step back and breathe. That scene has some good imagery, but even now sometimes I just skip it. It’s not worth the shakes or unease or... ugh, just thinking about it upsets me.

I made a mistake in the tagging and I learned from it, but holy fuck was I attacked at the time and used as a sacrifical cow to the radfems. It was, honestly, surprising to me. Not only the reaction, but the harshness of it, all the accusation and personal attacks aimed at me.

I mean, I knew the fic was always going to be confronting to some. It dealt with some pretty hard issues and subject matter. I had warned for all the violence and non/dub con. But... I didn’t expect or prepare for the backlash in including a male, even if the male used was... just used... and never actually amounted to anything more than a tool for Regina to control/bind/further entrench Emma to her own will in one scene.

I, very naively, went into it thinking “surprise!”, and that an almost canon past pairing that was heavily explored in the actual show would not be controversial in the least. More fool me, I suppose. I definitely went back to re-tag it, I apologised. I am not sure what else I could have done, but to this day this fic is held up as an example of queer baiting and everything wrong with false lesbianism. And it is definitely used as an example by biphobic people as to why bisexual women cannot be trusted as we’re all “really straight women at heart”.

To be fair, I never explicitly labelled the fic as “lesbian”. I begin all my fics (no matter how AU or ‘out there’) from a canon stand point. Meaning, everything that happened in the show up to that point counts. Which includes every prior relationship both Emma and Regina had been in up to the Season One finale. Which, surprise, were with men!!

14. Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

I don’t know if there’s anything they should ‘learn’, but I definitely hope readers realise that this is in NO WAY AN EXAMPLE OF A HEALTHY BDSM RELATIONSHIP. It is not meant to be a guide, a ‘how to’, or a ‘goal’. This is an incredibly fucked up way for two already fucked up characters, to find some kind of semblance of existence in a world/s stacked up against them from the very start. I didn’t think I needed to state that out loud, but apparently I had to. Many times.

If not that... then definitely I hope perhaps some of the writing made people think about the characters more in depth, or differently, that it gave the reader a new way of thinking about the show and the storylines/characters in it.

15. What did you learn from writing this fic?

Tagging. Tagging fucking matters. Tag properly. Like, just do it.

In all seriousness, though... I think I learned a lot about my own trauma.

I also think my writing developed throughout the fic. There is a definite shift from the first two chapters... you can definitely see where it became less of a short one off smutty fic set up and more of an in depth angsty character exploration of the soul kinda thing.

I learned about set up and development and bringing in stray bits of plot development later in the story to tie up loose ends.

#hope this satisfies #jacqui writes fic #paint it black fic #PIB fic #rowark

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olayinkaalegeyinkaalege · 2 years

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Olayinka Alege | What Does Empowerment Really Mean to School Administrators?

Empowerment, at least from a teacher's aspect allows for a teacher to be fearless in the growth and refining process of achieving the goals of the shared vision of the school. This writer believes empowerment and buzzword are both relative terms. For instance, during the civil rights movement African Americans were empowered through central leadership (Malcolm X, M.L. King Jr.) to stand up for certain unalienable rights. What if there were some African Americans that did not think those rights mattered, or what about the white majority that was causing these oppressions, were either of those two empowered? Just say no, was a term coined in the 1980's when crack cocaine was becoming more prevalent. This buzz phrase was easier said than done. We don't hear just say no anymore, however, the message lives on. We hear, that's not cool, crack kills, this is your brain on crack, never-the-less the message remains constant.

Having said all of that, this writer takes the stance that to those who:

o Allow staff to have continuous, meaningful input in the decision making process.

o Purpose to give staff authentic ownership.

o Help staff make connections from the big vision to their own individual daily tasks. Empowerment is not a buzzword it is a strategy. To those who play the appearance game empowerment is a buzzword. Unfortunately, their success as a leader is probably a buzzword as well.

Olayinka Alege

Managers often involve other people in various ways in making decisions, but leaders go beyond that. Leaders are able to create and communicate a vision that inspires followers. This sentence sums up the moral and ethical considerations any leader will face. A soft theory X type leader will not be comfortable creating a vision that is shared and definitely will not see the need to do the work to motivate people to believe in its principles. Instead she/he will use guile and Machiavellian subterfuge in their styles to get people to think they have their best interest in mind.

The soft X leader probably doesn't even think he/she is compromising any ethics or morals as their initial premise is not built upon trust or acceptance. They are more directive and authoritative in nature, thus their thoughts and decisions would be more corralled and final. It is possible the soft X actually thinks a good deed is being done by listening to make people think they matter at all.

Newton Miller II has spent 40 years in urban settings and understands that the culture of the community drives the culture and climate in its schools. One must consider that research states schools with high-poverty and high-minority enrollments are taught by a disproportionate number of under qualified teachers, which adversely affects learning outcomes. It has been this writer's observation that teachers in these districts spend less time developing reasoning skills and are more apt to rely on worksheets as the primary pedagogical approach. Students who have internalized a pervasive sense of helplessness and hopelessness and who also see no connection between their education and economic mobility remain disengaged in school and mark time until they are eligible to drop out.

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her-culture · 6 years

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BDSM as a Logical Reaction to Monopoly Capitalistic Society

KATHERINE MEADOWS

Popular culture depicts BDSM (Bondage, Discipline/Domination, Submission/Sadism, Masochism), which utilizes sexual power dynamics as a means of furthering excitement and eroticism, in a way that generally distorts mainstream perception of practitioners. Ironically, by enforcing just one extreme of BDSM play, thereby painting the culture in a biased light, the media is demonstrating exactly what BDSM is confronting. Power is everywhere: present in institution-to-individual interactions as well as individual-to-individual interactions—including sexual relationships. In understanding how inextricably combined power and sex are, we can understand why power dynamics are the linchpin of BDSM play and get a more holistic view of this heavily misunderstood subculture.

Power is Everywhere

On bold-type phrases, interpret “power.”

To understand this concept, we have to examine what gives an entity power or what characterizes something with power. Power lends agency, running everything from machinery to the White House. As an abstract, power allows us to hold some capacity of control. Necessarily, this concept involves an exchange between an empowered entity and an entity lacking empowerment.

Forces in our atmosphere as well as the ground beneath our feet have a capacity to control where populations decide to live due to natural disasters and the motion of tectonic plates can kill.

Police officers also have the license to end a life—if they deem it necessary—and to deprive individuals of their freedom. Elected officials and representatives have abundant influence on the laws that govern our society and can even sway the governing forces of other nations. Power decides the rules and, if those rules are not followed, the repercussions. Those who have power can wage wars; the masses are the pawns of those with power.

Even micro interactions involve power exchange. The professor has the qualifications to grant a grade, and therefore, influence the likelihood that a student’s invested time, money, and hard work will result in a degree. It is within a parent’s hands to decide everything for their child until that child becomes an adult.

The Problem with Power

All of these positions that we identify with power also come with the potential for corruption. The parent, meant to act in the best interest of the child, may abuse that child or use the child in a myriad of inappropriate and dangerous ways. The professor may blackmail the student for something that they want.Those that govern our nation may cater to their own interests rather than those of the citizens they are in place to serve.

The police officer may use an unmonitored prejudice when they rationalize whether or not to use deadly force. The officer is prone to biases like anyone else, but because their position in society holds considerably more power, these biases carry more weight. If you’ve been paying any level of attention to the news or social media trends, you are probably aware that all of these problematic dynamics are both present and in a number of instances, allowed by the Monopoly Capitalist system to persist.

In a Monopoly Capitalist society, citizens serve a few functions. Not only are they the worker bees slaving away their libidos for the benefit of the 1 percent, they are simultaneously the consumers latching that dulled desire & stimulation to empty entertainment and luxury after unnecessary luxury; Lending their meager paychecks to those who make the profits. The Protestant values our society was built on (hard work is necessary for rewards and status) helped construct the path that most Americans are pressured to take. The school system teaches us that we must get a job to earn money so that we can buy the food and shelter that we need to survive, along with the most recent iPhone, clothing fad and other necessities.This system pressures us to go to places of higher education that shackle us to our debt in the name of a more prestigious existence (a specialized job with a higher income—and a more costly certification process). Yet, this upward mobility—a cornerstone of the “American Dream”—has never been easy in America. According to the The Equality of Opportunity Project, a child’s chances of “earning more than their parents have fallen from 90 percent to 50 percent over the past half century,” while the wage gap between the top and bottom percentiles grows broader. The America that is okay with these blatant disparities is the same nation that drives home the values, legislation, and economy that keep it this way.

The Role of Power in Identity

The world that we live in carries many forms of power that consistently determine our environment by limiting options, directing individuals toward one route instead of another, and largely shaping who we are. Foucault argued that power can now be understood as the “boundaries that enable and constrain [an individual’s] possibilities for action, and on people’s relative capacities to know and shape these boundaries.” Power sculpts who we are by being present in the influences on our “possibilities” from birth.

If you are born an American citizen, you were probably born in a hospital current on specific regulatory codes enforced by the dictation of the Department of Health. You were born in a healthy, clean environment, away from toxins and unsafe conditions. If you were born in a developing country, you may have come into the world undernourished, in a war zone, or into a poverty-stricken family. Already, two very separate tracks have been paved. If you went to public school growing up, you were taught logic and the scientific method for determining truth—as well as accepted organizations that presumably follow these methods and present the facts that the masses can invest in. If you went on to higher education, you learned the acceptable and unacceptable ways in which information is integrated into cultural understanding. The process by which we determine what information to let into the canon of accepted ideas is monitored by those with the responsibility to dictate which educational facilities will elevate or condemn. As a contrasting example, religious facilities may use other measures for truth, such as what is outlined in a sacred text. Socially, some use anecdotal (subjective, empirical) evidence, which is generally unaccepted in the scientific community. As Foucault detailed, “scientific discourse and institutions...are reinforced (and redefined) constantly through the education system, the media, and the flux of political and economic ideologies."

In the American school systems, you were taught the rules of this society by parents and peers alike: red means stop, killing people is wrong, the most important goal of life is to make money, etc. We gleaned all of our symbolic recognition, moral understandings, and ideological brainwashing from the culture and society we were socialized in. We were taught everything within the confines of what the overarching systems of control allowed us to learn.

Maybe we learned about these systems: ideology, corruption, etc.—and decided that we want less restriction and more freedom of action. Sometimes, we tested the limits of these systems of control; went over the speed limit one too many times and faced the repercussions. Sometimes, we learned and sometimes, we became more curious. Sometimes, we go farther and find ourselves in the almighty face of power—facing something more than just a $100 fine—facing a life sentence, facing mortality, facing crippling debt and repossession, facing ostracization and isolation—all methods of intense control.

Even if we didn’t encounter this backlash, we certainly grew up hearing about those who did. Part of our societal education is to learn about those who did not play by the rules and how they were made examples of. Now, fear becomes a mechanism of control, wielding power. Institutions, especially “prisons, schools, and mental hospitals” set a clear standard and promoting conformity in society. “Their systems of surveillance and assessment no longer required force or violence, as people learned to discipline themselves and behave in expected ways,”John Gaventa of adds.

Where BDSM Enters the Picture

Power permeates life in the ability to provoke something. Because of this fact, we are constantly surrounded by very subtle, inbred modes of control— constantly subjected to unquantifiable power dynamics, that we largely avoid consciously recognizing, because it would hinder functioning smoothly in this social system.

BDSM brings these power dynamics to the table and forces participants to recognize them and move within them. To understand these dynamics is a kind of power in itself because it is the first step in expanding the capacity for changing the instruments that alter and dictate who we are. Practitioners experience what it feels like to be entirely in control of the situation or to experience complete impotence (and not just if the scene gets weird). By allowing them to fully invest in roles they do and do not play within society, BDSM allows people to confront their staggering lack of power as an individual. Play can be very cathartic, with a potential for both great healing and great shattering.

Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby

Power permeates the sexual field similarly to the way it permeates institution-to-individual interactions. For example, sex may be used as an exchange for money or advantageous situations. Some individuals may find it empowering to entice others through sexual attraction, just as it is a show of empowerment to deny sexual interactions. Maybe you find the physical show of power (domination) as a turn on.

Generally in sex, a duo can be classified into one of two categories that do not necessarily align themselves with the opposing: Dominant and Submissive. One gives, one receives. One controls the situation, the other allows themself to be operated. This juxtaposition can go as vanilla as one person initiating or guiding the other or as intense as a BDSM scene that is orchestrated to follow an agreed upon script. There may be pairings of two Dominants and two Submissives, but the power play remains the same. How pronounced the power dynamics are determines where on the scale from “Conforming” to “Deviant” the sexual act falls.

Think about the nonverbal conversation that goes on during sex (inside and outside BDSM play), from the point of initiation. Perhaps it starts with a dialogue between the eyes—lingering just too long on the lips or body. When a hand crosses the threshold and is placed on a knee, an arm, or directly onto the other’s genitals, a question has been asked—namely, “is this okay?” If the person being touched is uninterested or has been read wrong, they will [ideally] verbally or nonverbally respond conveying that information. Or they may respond with another question: moving in to kiss the initiator or touching them back. The one acting is the one showing power, as power is the ability to do something specific. A couple may show power equally and at the same time. Or perhaps, one member of the group will take a stronger leading role, directing which positions are utilized. This isn’t to say that the passive member is void of power, as they always have the power to refuse advances (except in cases of harassment, coercion, sexual assault, and rape). Even during a sex act, if the Dominant directs the Submissive in a way that the sub dislikes, they can respond either verbally (“stop”) or physically by assuming a role of power and redirecting the action to something that does please them. Power often operates to benefit the entity with power; and in sex, the goal is generally that all parties involved get off in some way. To directly facilitate one’s own orgasm or excitement is to assume a role of power. To negate another’s eroticism is also a utilization of personal power. In this light, BDSM becomes a “set of tools for sandboxing...mainstream power dynamics,” according to freaksexual.com, “by providing a safe space to experience and confront, in a corporeal way, all levels of power and control.”

Conclusion

In a world where power permeates every interaction, social construct, and institution, human beings are constantly sculpted and directed by subtle forces that surround everything we know. By bringing these power dynamics into a space where they can be physically confronted, negotiated, and controlled in a way that is ultimately pleasurable, BDSM provides a cathartic release for the tensions that a Monopoly Capitalist society presents.

This article was published on the HerCulture blog. If you would like to submit an article, head on over to HerCulture to learn more about our writers and our magzine. Additionally, check out our social media (twitter, instagram, facebook, and tumblr!), our handles are herculture. Give this post a like and make sure you follow us on any of our accounts. By the end of December, we would like to reach our goal of 400 people on this tumblr account!

Start a culture revolution!

x Likhita

#understanding #herculture #culturerevolution #magazine

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feminismwwww · 3 years

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Why Feminism Will Never Die

Women's Writing Worldwide has been quite the interesting course to say the least. Online classes are already very different from the normal school courses I’ve taken, but this one really stood out because I could finally relate to what we were talking about. As a teen female, I have experienced very similar things to the women in the Ted Talks or readings. I understand their frustration and confusion, and as I sit and read these articles or watch these Ted Talks, I wonder to myself, “Why is this still a problem?” The course is based around strong women sharing their moments of bravery for a better life for themselves, and while we have seen the United States improving equality, we almost see less in other countries. This course taught me, more than anything, that feminism will never die.

We have read all about how these women fought for better lives and proved everyone, especially the males relevant, that they are capable of so much more. However, this is not something that happens once and the world is better. It’s a work in progress that has been going on for centuries. The U.S. feminist movement started in 1848, and while the support has grown immensely, feminist are also seen as the villain. Many people think feminism is just going against men and creating life into a gender-centered competition. In the reading about Bibi Haldar, we see a woman struggling with a mysterious disease, making her life growing up as hard as possible. While all the treatments and medicines never work, the doctors decide she should try one more thing. They decide that finding a man and marrying him will set Bibi up for a better, more comfortable life. At the end of the story, Bibi gives birth to a child but the father of the child is never revealed. She proves that she does not need a man in order to live a full life, she just needs happiness, which she created on her own.

Around the world, people have been battling women's reproductive rights for years now and it has created a divide amongst many. Between women, women and men, and women and religion. “My body, my choice” is universally recognized, however it is rarely followed. The fact that women are being told what they can and cannot do for themselves is just one more reason why feminism will never die. With a higher percentage of males creating the laws for abortion and birth control, female lively hoods are in their hands. The hands that have never experienced sexual assault or period pains, hands that have never held a still born baby.

As I read Under the Udala Trees, another assignment for this class, I noticed that our western views are not always the same as those in other countries or continents. America really is a melting pot, so many different races, religions, sexualities, childhood upbringings, etc. In other parts of the world, such as Africa, being part of the LGBTQIA+ community is very looked down upon. This is also true for women who decide not to get married at all or to marry another woman. In America, we see women empowerment and independence daily, females are building their own empires and using media to help younger girls feel able as well.

After this class, I have learned so much, about other parts of the world, about myself and my morals and values, about what life looks like depending on the person. The list is endless, however one thing I have decided myself with my new knowledge of this topic is that feminism will never die. It may be constructed into something else as time goes on and things change, but women will always be fighting for an equal opportunity. Women are not afraid to be challenged and being in a separate bracket as the males is just degrading. My hope for this world is that they make women's lives more bearable by providing fairness and free thought no matter their sexuality, race, religion or whatever preferences they may have.

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years

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How Live Caption Maker Ava Is Taking A ‘Path To Self-Empowerment’ In Making Video Calls Accessible To The Hearing Impaired

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/how-live-caption-maker-ava-is-taking-a-path-to-self-empowerment-in-making-video-calls-accessible-to-the-hearing-impaired/

How Live Caption Maker Ava Is Taking A ‘Path To Self-Empowerment’ In Making Video Calls Accessible To The Hearing Impaired

The Ava logo.

Update 12/10: Reworked the language in the last paragraph to indicate Duchemin has published his blog post on his company’s news.

Ava on Thursday announced significant updates to its live-captioning software that the company says will make virtual meetings more accessible to those in the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Additionally, the company announced they’ve raised $4.5 million in new venture-capital funding, led by firms Initialized Capital and Khosla Ventures, bringing the total amount of funding to date to $6.5 million.

In a press release, Ava shared two marquee new features rolling out today: Ava Closed Captions and Ava Scribe. Closed Captions provides real-time, automated artificial intelligence-based captioning to internet-based meetings on the Mac, Windows, and in a web browser. Meanwhile, Scribe does the same real-time captioning but adds another layer: users can request a professional scribe to supplement the computer-driven transcription with a human element. Ava claims this combination of human and machine gives users instant access to captions that are 99% accurate.

In a world that continues to mire amidst the coronavirus pandemic, good social-distancing practices have dictated that nearly everyone needs to work and study from home. This means people have had lessons in accessibility as a concept: finding ways to accessibly adapt their workflows such that they can remain productive and sociable remotely. Chief among these new ways of working is taking meetings and connecting with loved ones over video-centric tools like Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, and WebEx. While this software, particularly Zoom, have come to redefine what “getting together” means, one significant-yet-undervalued disadvantage is their inaccessibility to people who are hearing impaired. For the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, the lack of adequate captioning, if any, can mean entire conversations are lost because she or he cannot understand what a speaker is saying. At that point, Zoom isn’t so great.

As a child of Deaf adults who has experienced firsthand the hardships of conversing with family over holiday meals, it is this inaccessibility that led Ava co-founder and CEO Thibault Duchemin to develop Closed Captions and Scribe. In essence, Closed Captions and Scribe’s raison d’être is to bridge the “digital divide,” so to speak, between someone with a hearing impairment and someone with hearing.

“A paradigm shift has to happen [towards] autonomy and independence,” Duchemin said in a recent interview with me. “The Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities are empowering themselves to make accessibility happen themselves, instead of expecting others to do it.”

Some 450 million people worldwide who are Deaf and hard-of-hearing—5% of the global population—are being denied their fundamental right to access basic information, according to Duchemin. Rarely are accommodations made for job interviews, classes, and social media outlets like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Compounding the problem, he added, is lip-reading accomplishes only so much; only about a quarter of information is understood. This is why captioning and sign language interpreters are so vital to public service—here in California, it’s heartening to see Governor Gavin Newsom deliver his daily Covid-19 press conferences with an ASL interpreter off to the side. The updates on case count and public safety measures are too important for the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities to be left out.

Duchemin said he and his team “took the path to self-empowerment” to bringing accessible solutions to Covid-wrought problems. He lamented the lack of societal empathy for accessibility, frustrated at how diversity and inclusion has become such a bellwether amongst proponents—and yet people with disabilities are often forgotten.

He said while disability advocates have been banging the inclusion drum forever, it’s necessary to take up the cause yourself because the change is so glacially slow. “At some point, you just can’t take it anymore,” Duchemin said. “You say stop. You stop counting on companies, governments, and society to change fast enough.”

The moral? Ableism, confronted far less, runs just as rampant as racism and sexism.

Privilege is not solely a matter of skin color or gender. Privilege is also about the ability to be non-disabled—to move, to communicate, to do things “normally.” In Ava’s case, privilege is having the ability to hear what others are saying on a Zoom call.

The urgency to take matters into their own hands meant demand for Ava “skyrocketed” as the company worked to make video calling accessible to all. The Ava Free plan was altered such that there is an unlimited time allotment in perpetuity.

“The coronavirus has hit hard Deaf and hard-of-hearing people on communication matters,” Duchemin said. “With everybody wearing masks outside, it has been impossible to read lips. This accelerated the numbers of Deaf and hard-of-hearing people trying speech-to-text apps like Ava for the first time.”

Importantly, Ava is cross-platform; there are desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and the web, as well as mobile ones for iOS and Android. Duchemin said this “inclusivity,” as he coined it, is crucial because other companies like Google and Microsoft have siloed their live-captioning tech to work only within their respective ecosystems.

Feedback from beta-testers on Closed Captions and Scribe has been overwhelmingly positive. Duchemin said there’s “been a lot of surprise” to Ava’s capabilities since testing began in August. “After years and years of using makeshift solutions, an all-in-one-click captioner in your pocket [via the mobile app] can come as a shock,” he said.

Duchemin added there’s been a lot of excitement around the products, and the circumstances surrounding the virus meant the team “didn’t want to delay too much” in shipping because they saw the immediacy of the software’s usefulness to customers.

At a macro level, Ava’s technology is a testament to how artificial intelligence and machine learning can be applied to technology in such a way that truly changes and enriches people’s lives. The same can be said for Apple’s work in building People Detection for iOS and Google building the Look to Speak app for Android. Practical applications for AI and ML will only grow over time, as the technology matures and especially as wearable tech like AirPods (and more) continue their rise in prominence.

Duchemin has written a blog post wherein he explains his feelings about self-empowerment when it comes to accessibility, and how his company’s ethos strives to provide people tools with which to harness that power. In context of the pandemic, Duchemin writes the onset of Covid has “poured gasoline on prior accessibility fires.”

You can learn more about Ava’s mission and its technology on their website.

From Diversity & Inclusion in Perfectirishgifts

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kimisioux98-blog · 6 years

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let’s talk.

We need to talk for a minute about something really important with all jokes aside.

We’re going to go back to an oldie but a goodie and listen to the wise words of Crenshaw. In one of her resound works she states, “where systems of race, gender, and class domination converge, as they do in the experiences of battered women of color, intervention strategies based solely on the experiences of women who do not share the same class or race backgrounds will be of limited help to women who because of race and class face different obstacles.” (Mapping the Margins, 1246). Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw has a point here that I firmly believe we FAIL to acknowledge. We can talk all about how the feminist movement lacks intersectionality, but how about the consideration of safety- especially safety of women of color. Thes women have never and are not being treated with the same dignity as white women even when they are in the exact same circumstances, the only difference, as Crenshaw would say is that they are doing their actions “while black”. Racism still exists no matter how fucking intersectional we claim to be as a culture. As shitty as it is, the color of skin affects the help society gives to women in all aspects of their lives. The number on the paycheck can impact whether or not a woman will survive a life-threatening illness- social class matters. This stuff IS important. How we treat people actually matters.

IA Girl Like MeWhy? My dad is a wealthy businessman. Does this mean that I am a rich, filthy, feministic bitch? No. However, it does mean that I have the responsibility to think outside of my personal situation and learn what other individuals experience in their everyday life. The best part is that I have the privilege to do this. I have the opportunity to educate myself and go to an institution where I can take classes on things including race and socioeconomic status. I can’t sit here in my own little bubble of the “perfect life” while women like me are being beaten in their own homes.

I’m so sick and tired of seeing statistics like this. I would talk about how disgusting this is, but I think that to some extent we have all seen numbers like this, and by now whether or not we admit it, we kind of skip over these numbers and just accept that “that’s the way it is.” It is almost as if these statistics are romanticized today by how often they appear on the screens of my college lectures. We need to stop showing these facts and do something. Yes, us white girls (and native Americans, and blacks, and latinas). We must come together and use the extra money that we have to #1 educate ourselves and our loved ones on morality when it comes to being “different” and #2 take action. We have to eventually come to understand that the literal color difference in the pigment of the skin makes NO difference in our human rights. That can mean a million different things, but sitting here at the Butler University library crying because of this statistic won’t do anything. Yes, I should be sad, but more importantly, I should be angry. So angry in fact, that I open up conversations, do research, and take action. I need to be an advocate- an ally. I need to walk with, not behind these women of color that are facing injustices every second of the day that I will never be able to understand.

Beyoncé, the star I have talked about for days on end in my blog may help us to understand the problem with lack of intersectionality (truly understanding this concept) and perhaps how we can help motivate, love, and walk with women of color in the fight towards equality of our sisters. According to Marla Kohlman, “Beyoncé to the extent that she reminds us that it is imperative for black women to purposefully develop a positive sense of sexual empowerment, even as well engage in difficult dialogue about black female sexual politics that span several generations of popular media” (Beyoncé as Intersectional Icon, 34). I could not agree more. Beyoncé does encourage black women to develop a strong sense of self-confidence in a powerful way. If you forget how she does this, take a look at formation, and I think you’ll get begin to understand. Beyoncé opens up about her personal life and discusses the intimate details of struggles she has endured. She does this to relate to black women so that she can love them and encourage them to be bigger than the stereotypes. She talks about sex, rape, injustice- all things that are HUGE in the black community. She is an intersectional feminist icon not only because she is a black feminist, but because she believes in the power black women have to achieve their greatest dreams. She thinks nothing less about women of color, but rather she acknowledges the past of severe injustice and is fighting to help all women learn and grow from the past.

With this being said, not everyone would agree with this statement. A clear example is when Tia Tyree and Melvin Williams stated, “seeing her (Beyoncé) pretty hypersexualized behavior and overexposed image can lead to damaging, unhealthy and disempowering behaviors and competition among girls and women. (Flawless Feminist or Fallible Freak?,127). I could not disagree with this more. Beyoncé is beautiful and happens to have a sexy body- I don’t think anybody would deny that… but to shame her for her “hypersexualized” behavior??? WRONG. She was created with both the looks and the heart she has. Do you want her to get plastic surgery to become ugly? Really.. what are we expecting?

Has anyone EVER considered that she may be acting in this way to get people to pay attention. She may be using her beauty to expand her platform- which is actually a brilliant business move. This woman understands that sex sells, and since she has a powerful message to send, why the hell does not use the sexiness she possesses while she has time to appeal to all of her fans while she still has them? She is more than how she presents herself. Her actions should speak louder than words- isn’t that what all the quotes say? I think these two women are finding a way to criticize simply because they want to find a flaw within Beyoncé which is difficult to do (the woman really is amazing). However, she is flawed, and she is not afraid to say that. What’s more important is that we focus on what girls say and do, not just how they present their image. Yes the image is important, but how we act in times of trial really determine who we are.

I want to take a look at this quote for a minute. I think Emma Watson has a point here that can relate to black liberation within the feminist movement. The real problem, friends, is that we are not talking about how black women are oppressed. Due to this, these women are shut down before they even have the opportunity to use their voice. They are marginalized before a word can come out of their mouths- which of course ensures that what they say means nothing due to pre-conceived societal ideas that they are less than due to the melanin in their skin

Let’s be real- We cannot change feminism if we only understand what it feels like to be a feminist individually. We have to listen and open up the conversation to people who are different from us- those who hold different ideas and different shades of skin. Arguably, more importantly, is opening up this conversation. We have to feel welcome into entering this conversation which will only happen if normalize these conversations. What are we afraid of? Let’s do this.

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