#i know i said this show is feminist but sometimes they say this kind of unfounded crap
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killerpancakeburger ¡ 3 months ago
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Benson: *describes a perfum very precisely simply from smelling it*
Stabler: *extremely confused face*
Benson: Women notice these things.
Me, a woman: *same extremely confused face* No they don't O_Ă´
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spacerockfloater ¡ 7 months ago
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hi! i noticed you learnt about what ryan condal said regarding blood and cheese. it was…something. i would like to know your thoughts on the matter. though it would be completely understandable if you need sometime to gather them together or if you would rather not at all! thank you and bye!
Hello beloved, thank you so much for asking me! I’d love to share my opinion!
If anyone’s wondering, @rhaenelle is referring to this interview where Ryan Condal essentially says he believes that Blood & Cheese’s brutality and heinousness was exaggerated by the Greens in a propagandistic attempt to convince their subjects that Rhaenyra and Daemon are the worst villains ever born, hence why he toned the event down; to show us what he thinks is the accurate version of Jaehaerys’ murder.
Now, I am aware that Condal had already warned us that HOTD was going to be a feminist retelling of the events of F&B, which practically means that his plan has always been to whitewash the everlasting fuck out of Rhaenyra. So what do I think about this?
Well, for starters, I think that Ryan Condal is an excellent businessman. He knows what kind of tropes are going to make the audience engage with his show. He understands that people need a hero to cheer for and a villain to hate, therefore he removed the moral ambiguity from all of the characters and divided them into two categories: the Blacks, enlightened revolutionaries full of passion, deserving of admiration and correct in everything they do, and the Greens, pious fools with a moral superiority complex who are stack in the ways of the past and commit despicable crimes. The average viewer does not possess the intelligence to comprehend that both parties have their good and bad moments, and that they’re both correct in fighting for what each believes is rightfully theirs. Simultaneously, he benefits from the modern trends that want women in media to take revenge when they are wronged and emerge as triumphant girlbosses, because of course a white upper class woman’s suffering in a western world (or Westeros) society has everything to do with her gender and nothing to do with her personality or decisions (even if this works solely for Rhaenyra, because Alicent seems to be held accountable for every single one of her actions). Finally, it is obvious that Condal is trying to appease disgruntled Daenerys fans, so he has rebuilt Rhaenyra into this tortured martyr that wishes to change the world for the better in an attempt to make her resemble her great granddaughter six times removed.
For all of these reasons, I find it very logical that he is going out of his way to minimise the tragedy the Greens experience. It just doesn’t make Rhaenyra look good and honestly, who wants that? The producers saw how unhappy Danny’s stans were when they made her lose her shit; they’re not going to make the same mistake twice. They don’t want their show to tank like the last season of GOT did, so they’ll do everything in their power to keep the audience happy. And it’s working! What’s the last thing Condal says in this clip? “You kinda start rooting for [Blood and Cheese]!” and boy oh boy, the TB stans sure do! Literally hundreds of memes that rejoiced at Jaehaerys’ death were posted on X this week, with tens of thousands of likes. But when Lucerys died, it was presented as the most foul thing to ever happen in the ASOIAF universe. It is the TB supporters that dictate which child murder is good and which is bad, and that decision usually depends on which child came out Rhaenyra’s womb, not let’s say, the fact that one kid was a toddler that could barely walk, while the other was a teenager that laughed at the disabled person he mutilated himself.
It’s all just marketing
That being said, I want to clarify that I understand why Condal and the HOTD producers do what they do, but being a good entrepreneur does not necessarily make you a literary genius. Now, I’m not gonna explain why stripping Rhaenyra off of every character trait that made her interesting is a bad decision and that in their attempt to remove the blame from her so that they can elevate her as this righteous patron of feminism, they’re accidentally removing all of her agency and turning her simply into a victim, because I have a whole blog dedicated to that. But let’s just say that presenting Rhaenyra as this sexually liberated idol that’s incapable of evil, when in fact she’s an entitled aristocrat who’s completely at the mercy of men around her, from her father to her husbuncle, is the most performative activism move ever pulled in recent TV history, as well as pushing the narrative that Alicent suffers from internalised misogyny because duh, a woman can only be good and a feminist if she supports Rhaenyra, not when she pursues her own interests.
Ultimately, I think we just have to accept that this show is not meant for TG fans. We are not going to find any satisfaction in it. Everything that was unique and admirable about the Greens in the book has vanished. Their family dynamic is fucked up, Alicent’s children hate her, Aegon and Halaena cannot stand one another, Alicent is constantly a victim and never someone that chases her own ambitions, Halaena is very vague, Aemond appears to be more angsty than angry, Aegon is a stupid rapist, Jaehaerys’ death was turned into a mockery, Alicole was weaponised in order to make us shit on Alicent and Criston even more and so on. This show barely caters to us because we’re not making them any money.
The reason that there are more TB than TG stans is because (I’m gonna get so much fucking hate for this) most people who watch TV are fucking morons. I swear, when F&B came out 6 years ago, no one gave a flying fuck about Rhaenyra, because we all understood that everyone involved in the Dance of the Dragons was fucked up in their own way and that the message of this story, just like the general message of ASOIAF, is that nobody deserves to sit on that fucking throne. We were all in agreement about that. But then this fucking show came along and all the oblivious simpletons that swallowed whatever the producers shoved down their throats, grabbed the book and decided that “Woah, this book is obviously a critique on patriarchy and Rhaenyra is obviously the victim of the story”! As if GRRM, the man who said that he doesn’t sit down and think “Oh, I’m going to write a woman now” but instead he believes women to be people just like men, with complex personalities, would ever do that. And they just can’t believe that it is possible for book!Rhaenyra to be an evil racist classist full of entitlement! Surely it must be because the Greens are rewriting history! There’s no way GRRM, the man that created Cersei fucking Lannister, would ever make a female character that’s vicious and crazy just because she feels like it! Y’all need to sit down for a moment. I say this as a radical feminist that supports the 4B movement: you’re projecting your own ideas onto George’s work. Not all the media we consume has to reflect our ideologies, but if you think that it has to, then this book isn’t the anti misogynistic masterpiece you wish it was.
Like, when it comes to F&B, I am firmly anti Targaryen and did not wish for any side to win. I wanted them all wiped out to be honest. But when it comes to HOTD, I’m TG basically out of spite at this point.
All in all, I just think that things are going to go downhill for us from this point on. They’ll just keep glorifying the Blacks until the very end.
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zevlovor ¡ 29 days ago
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You should definitely elaborate on the pet names :3
(pretty please)
So glad you asked!
Here are a few, let me know if you want me to elaborate on a specific one:
(In order from sweet to spicy)
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥
"My Light/My Star"
Zevlor means this in the most spiritual way possible. His days have been dark and grim. Sometimes the only light he sees is during the fleeting moments of safety for his people. You have given him happiness like he only knew as a child, before all his innocence was vanquished by war and suffering. He looks at you and suddenly the birds are singing and night is day. You are his light, his guiding star.
"Baby Girl/Baby"
Zevlor doesn't mean this in an infantilizing way whatsoever. To him, "baby" represents the purity of your kindness and the gentle nature of your soul. You are a damn blessing in this forsaken world, a babe among wretched beasts. Also had to include it because of ✨️that✨️ Glenn McCready cameo, it just sounds so right in his voice.
"Dumpling"
Zevlor's words for you are absolutely d r i p p i n g in pure sugar syrup. Sometimes he takes it a step further and calls you a painfully cute name like this, especially if he's teasing you. He is so sweet sometimes you can't stop smiling. Your face hurts. Stop it, Zevlor. Tee hee.
"Precious Thing"
This is for when he's giving you that s l o w, sweet, love. He gets a little possessive during sex, so fawning over you like an elusive object is a go-to for him. You are a rare jewel in his eyes. And yes he loves showing you off.
"Temptress/Tease"
Something he mutters when either you are purposefully teasing him OR you just look/smell particularly delectable that day and he CANNOT focus.
"Whore"
For those of you who are women, I want to point out that Zevlor is a feminist okay? Zevlor said women's rights. That being said... he knows you love being degraded a bit, and he won't deny it does something to him (makes him harder than stone). If you don't bring it up first he might ask "Can I call you my little whore, darling?" He will breathe hastily into your ear when he is so horny for you he can't even think (dude is even polite when degrading you). Once you agree, he does not shy away from saying it, especially when he's slamming his cock into you. May also add filthy, dirty, insatiable, insolent (when you're bad) to the beginning.
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥
Thanks again for my very ⚔️first⚔️ ask! You are invited to my Zevlor birthday party 🫶
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darylsfavoritegirl ¡ 11 months ago
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HEYYYY IM HONESTLY SO FUCKING EXCITED WHAT DO YOU THINK ABT THESE HEADCANONS bc i wanted to do smth like for a while i just never could come up with anything but its easy in a sense sooo here you gooou
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SFW
• I don't think his mommy issues are necessarily sexual, sometimes you would do something that would invoke that "motherly" "safe" or "warm" feeling inside of him. He would never be able to understand what it was or would tell anyone about it. It'd be one of the reasons why he'd care for you as much as he did. You'd make him feel safe by saying something or embracing your arms around him in a certain way which would make him commemorate his mother, though because his mom died when he was young, he wouldn't be able to understand it at all bc he doesn't consciously remember those moments with her. This man fr would think you'd cast a spell on him :D
• I just know this man is a feminist in the core. Growing up, he'd always hear Merle running his mouth about women and how they were like this and they were like that, overall his ignorant, blunt, dumb thoughts about women. He would witness his dad going off on benders with different women each time and how he'd vulgarly talk about them later. And hell maybe he's disrespected women or been really cruel to them but he still regrets it to this time and yeah we all know this man suffers in redemption, always trying to make up for his past mistakes and wrongs. Yet I'm %100 sure he loves seeing women thrive, turning into their best selves or just witness them be real badass and it might even give him some kind of arousal 👀👀. He is into that shit. I said what I said.
• One of his love languages is definitely showing you the places he'd used to spend his time in. Could be a special spot in the woods, could be a small cabin he'd used to get lit with people. Hell it could be random corner in town whenever you'd have to be in downtown for various reasons. He wouldn't even mind if those places brought him bad memories or unpleasant ones. He'd just like being there with you, doing whole ass story times and watch you react them with a wide-eyed expression. He did have a weird and a "crazy" life before the fall that'd make him feel like he was on mushrooms everytime just thinking about it. He'd love letting you know more and more about his past. It would just give him a reassuring feeling deep down. He would feel like it would bound you two together.
• That.man.has.a.sweet.tooth. He loves anything that has sugar. He'd always snack on candies or cookies or chocolates after a hangover. Or when he'd be on drugs. Sugar wakes him the fuck up and he loves the energy boost. He'd carry some candies in his pocket back in the day, eating them throughout the day when he'd feel his blood sugar dropping.
• He is definitely a car-date type of guy. He got more into it after the apocalpyse started and he met you. Sometimes you'd go on runs and you could sit in the car for hours, smoking, eating, talking or yk👀👀 if supplies you found weren't an emergency need. He absolutely savored those moments. You could sit for hours without speaking, in a complete silence. He appreciates quietude.
NSFW
• I know him having a breeding kink is well known and acknowledged but he's insane about it that it hurts. He loves seeing you all squirmed and whiny underneath him with all his cum inside of you, some of it dripping down your thighs. You couldn't always find the right pills for unplanned pregnancy risk and it WOULD drive him crazy to not be able to it.
• He just loves to see you messy beneath him. Hair all tangled, thighs shaking uncontrollably. Your fingers digging so deep on his shoulders that you'd cause his broad shoulders to bleed sometimes, he loved it. Your eyes are all glossy with pleasure. You both would love to go wild and leave sloppy kisses on eachother's bodies and wouldn't mind them drying on your bodies at all, leaving it all sticky.
• He loves being submissive as much as he loves being dominant. You can't convince me otherwise. If you gained his trust, he will be all yours, all needy beneath you while you ride his soul out of his damn body. Again, he adores a badass woman, a woman to take the lead. You would place your hands on his chest and sometimes hold his strong large biceps and he wouldn't dare to move an inch. He liked being vulnerable like that.
• He is just so patient it physically throws you over the edge. He'd get so close making you cum and he'd stop, teasing you with his tip or fingers or sometimes his tongue. He'd smirk at you and even make fun of you in a taunting way to overstimulate you and don't worry he'd make up for it with better ways. He knows what he is doing. It's just come natural to him.
• It's safe to say you are the one who teases him in the public most of the time, your feet tracing his legs up until it stops on his bulge under the table and he'd give a stern stare, trying to shrug and look indifferent as others would notice his suddenly-changing demenour. However, there'd be boring Alexandria dinners that Deanna would host and if you sat next to eachother, he'd place his large hand on your thigh and even dare to slip a finger on the fabric of your panties, starting to rub his middle finger harshly in circles while having full ass conversations with people and try to hide his subtle smirk bearing his face. He would do it rarely yet he'd be so good at it because no one would suspect a thing, he'd always make it look like he was resting his arm on your lap. You'd squirm under his warm touch and heat waves would wash all over you while trying to look normal as ever. And believe me, after those nights, when you'd confront about him about what he did at a dinner with 20 people, he'd act as if he doesn't understand a thing you're saying or would say "Don' kno' what yer talkin' 'bout." while shrugging his shoulders and turning to his side with a wicked grin.
FOOTNOTE
well this actually took shorter than i thought idk why i believed it would take me couple of days to finish one lmao i deadass wrote this in like an hour max ???? anyway i wish there were more but idc i was so impatient to post one of theseeee :)))
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doodler16 ¡ 14 days ago
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No same Anon about Lilith and Eve.
I agree that at this point, I don't expect anything from Vivzie's female characters. I know I'm going to be disappointed, I'll just take what I like and rewrite them.
Now, the fact that Anon threw out is wrong: Lilith does not belong to the Bible. It belongs to Jewish folklore (Torah) but more as a legend since its origin is Mesopotamian.
Thanks to a medieval satirical text, Lilith was considered the first woman and wife of Adam.
Of course, the second fact that I throw is true: Lilith in her myths is far from the feminist figure with which the image of Lilith is popular. Unlike "Lilith who does not let herself be bent" in the original myths, she is a demonic being who kidnaps babies and rapes men. She does this together with Naamah, Agrat bat Mahlat and Eisheth Zenunim (this is more from the Zohar).
The idea of Lilith as an "empowered figure" is thanks to the creator of Wicca, Gerald Gardner. A very controversial subject, very controversial. I will not go into the debate if the Wiccans are considered a kind of pagans or just imitators of paganism who want to feel special because of the esoteric of the whole thing, but it is due to them that the figure of Lilith was bleached to look like this "rebel" being. And recent popular culture pushed that narrative further.
The same example is HH: Lucifer and Lilith are in love, Adam is evil from minute 1. Lilith did not bow to Heaven and Adam, she rebelled with her love Lucifer and now she is the queen of Hell.
When in reality several myths tell us that the one who did not overcome her ex was Lilith:
In one version we are told that Lilith transforms into Eve and has relations with Adam.
In another we are told that one night she enters Eden and rapes him.
In another we are told that, after Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve separate for 140 years due to the horror of the affair. In this myth there are 2 versions: again, Lilith has relations without Adam's consent (here Naamah, Agrath and Eishet are included). And the other is much calmer where Adam accepts to be with Lilith during those years.
What is made clear is that in all versions they have descendants: the lilims, the succubi, some vampiric beings, and sometimes it is even said that Asmodeus is the son of these two.
(In other versions, Asmodeus is the son of a mortal and Naamah, in other versions he is simply the husband of Lilith).
So for the first time, if Vivziepop puts Lilith as an evil being, a bad mother and so on... well, she would be the only character that is close to the original source.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not against reinvention or looking for a different route to the established (I have Adam x Lilith as the endgame in my rewrite and of course I've had to tweak some things) but Vivzie is criminal to the point that I'd rather she didn't touch Lilith and Eve because they're going to be at the mercy of favoring Lucifer. Do I want to be wrong? Yes, I want the show to tell me "You know what? Actually the conflict of these two doesn't revolve around Lucifer or Adam, neither are they going to become lesbians, nor are they going to have that kind of "I'm better than you because..." fight; no, their conflict is going to make Lilith feel guilty because she realized that she ruined two people's lives by imposing herself before what she thought was right, becoming the very thing that she complained about Adam and Heaven. And that Eve's conflict is that for a long time she felt this complex of being the replacement, that she should imitate Lilith because she was "the original, what a woman should be" as well as sticking to what "a wife should be", even putting that Adam let her be her own person because he was worried about how bad Eve was getting because of her own existential crisis. He as Lilith can ask Eve for forgiveness, but Eve cannot accept it. Thank you for saying so, but Lilith and Lucifer's actions doomed many and in horrible ways."
Am I going to get it? No, but I have accepted that I will live with it. There will always be a fanfic, a video, a new series, something, that really wants to explore all these characters beyond the original versions or the cheap tropes surrounding them.
Sorry for the big text, I needed to get it out of my system.
Yeah, I don’t blame anyone for having super low expectations regarding the Hazbin Hotel women especially with Lilith and Eve. Since in Helluva Boss, the women are demonized, one-note, and super side-lined. The women in Hazbin Hotel so far are mediocre anyway.
You good, Anon. No need to apologize and thanks for the clarification regarding Lilith. The version you mentioned about Lilith transforms into Eve is interesting because Vivziepop is planning some big plot twist with Lilith, Eve, Rosie, and Roo. Something about one being the other.
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m1ssunderstanding ¡ 1 year ago
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Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Day 13
Ah it’s “coordinate with the carpet” day.
John could probably say “2+2=3” and Paul would be like “Oh you're sooo right, John.”
Literally the ADHD antics (jumping over a chair because it’s there and you can and it would be funner than going around) are so relatable.
Ringo putting Zac’s picture up? I don’t know much about him as a dad. Does anyone know? I mean I know part of the reason he and Mo left india was because they missed their kids, and in late 66 when John was making HIWTW and Paul was working on TFW and George was off learning filthy eastern ways, Ringo stayed home and ‘enjoyed the baby’. Was he a really good dad?
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John: I really liked how that lead singer was singing so soft and nice. Paul: like this, John? Like this? John? John, look at me, do you like this?
Literally why are you even there, Yoko. Like, genuinely, not for the bands sake or anything, but for your own sake, go find somewhere else to be! Something, something, one of the few ways to find success as a woman was to attach yourself to a man and she was hustling with the best feminist tools available okay, okay. Ugh, I just don't know if I could stomach it.
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I heard John say “Rickie and the Red Streaks” and I was like, ummm, did you mean “Suzie and the Red Stripes”? But apparently it’s a real band. They were in the same Cavern show as the Beatles when they came back from Hamburg but never made it big. And Paul was purposely referencing them with Linda's pretend band because, as he said, he would have been happy to just have been them instead of the Beatles. 
“John, can you take a little bit of bass off your guitar?” The faces. Paul told him to take some bass off a minute ago, didn't he? Or he just knows how much John hates to be told that. Anyway it's the silent communication for me.
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Paul: *stops his little wordless moan-singing for two seconds*. John: Everybody had a wet drea–SING, Paul! Paul: Ooohh yeah! He’s sooo happy I’m melting. Paul McCartney wants one thing in this life, and it’s for John Lennon to tell him to sing.
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“He would’ve been president, you know.” John, bless your naive, lovely heart. 
Paul: shrieking. John: moves the microphone the way a mom takes the sharpie out of her toddler’s hand. 
“If you can get ‘em off Mimi’s wall.” I have a hard time with Mimi. Sometimes she’s adorable. Sometimes she’s horrible. I really can’t get a read. And maybe that was the problem. Maybe John couldn’t either. 
This moment. My little ND baby. Someone just hit your g spot, didn’t they? But to be fair, it is incredibly impressive. Billy has never heard the song before, and he just jumps in with the perfect fill? I love Billy. So talented, such a cutie, so cool, so kind. And look at him. Having such a good time.
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The silent communication again here. “Are you hearing this?” “Yeah, baby, I’m hearing this.” Then, John vocalizes the decision. How many Beatles decisions were made like this? Thinking specifically of Brian's account of their decision for him to manage, but probably this happened constantly. 
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Yoko reading “The Beatles Complete History”. I love that she’s like, “Everything John tells me is ‘Paul this, Paul that, wah, wah, wah’. I need to get some cold hard facts.” 
Billy’s piano actually is insanely sexy though.
John: *complains about his rock and roll finger* Paul, turning up the scouse: Come on, son, now try your hardest. John continues, soft, needy' Lookie, look at him. *holding up his finger* Paul, genuine: Ah, I know. I just love the different ways they take care of each other. 
Poor George, dissociating himself into another dimension as John’s crooning about Paul’s eating habits. Look. At. How. He’s. Looking. At. Him. You’d think Paul was in that moment creating the heavens and the earth. Nope. Just rocking back and forth like a catatonic, probably getting crumbs all in his greasy beard.
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But seriously HOW is everyone in this room watching these two men, taking in to account all of their behaviors, scream "All I want is you!" at each other and not forcing them immediately into either fucking or therapy or both?!
Ringo’s holey pocket, my beloved. 
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The guy with the RP accent and the suit coming up to John like the bad guy in every American children’s movie. “I’ve spoken to Mr. Klein.” Dun, dun, dun.
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dworkinlover ¡ 29 days ago
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I’m primarily an ed blog but I’ve kinda been radicalized. I want to speak to more radfems, but I don’t want to abandon any of my friends in the ed community. Do you have any advice? And if I don’t nuke all my posts would you mind if I still followed you?
Hi! I completely understand how you feel and want to firstly say I empathise 💜💜. It is a strange feeling to be sort of teetering on the edge where you see yourself as a radical feminist but aren't fully "in" as part of the community. I do want you to know that you are very welcome on radblr, and while I can't speak for everyone, I think most of us are very happy to see new faces.
I absolutely don't mind if you follow me, and honestly I doubt that anyone in your community will care enough to sift through everyone you follow and call you out on following a radfem blog or two. There is definitely no need to get rid of all your existing posts!!
That said, an option might be to create a sideblog that is fully dedicated to radblr. Another alternative could be looking for radical feminist communities on other platforms, on which you'd feel more comfortable following radfem-aligned content. I'll use this post as an opportunity to make some reference lists to three other social media: reddit, pinterest, and instagram.
Reddit: r/PornIsMisogyny, r/AntiPornography, r/AntiSexWork, r/AntiKink, r/AntiBDSM, r/4B, r/WereNotEmpowered, r/BanFemaleHateSubs, r/DeppDelusion, r/FourthWaveWomen, r/FemaleAntinatalism, r/RadicalFeminism, r/WGTOW.
Disclaimer: not all of these subreddits are completely radfem, because reddit bans radfem subs pretty often, especially where it detects anything mildly terfy (most recent example being r/FemaleSeparatists). There are also private subs like r/FemalePessimist. People sometimes start radical feminist discord servers and spread the word about them via reddit.
Pinterest: this is a bit harder because there aren't really accounts that I follow on there, but there definitely is a lot of radfem content (it's how I got introduced to it actually). Here is a link to my related saved pins - maybe if you save a few, the pinterest algorithm will stsrt showing you that kind of content.
Instagram: prowomyn, female.liberation, femaleradicalized, ogdyke, radfemlibrary, raddish.haggish, anticornfeminist, burningtheroots, gravvefem, labrysliterati, women.are.females, labryswrites, misandryisahoax, wmstonline, radfeminology, xxliberationfront, 4bmovement2024, 4bworldwide, radfemw1tch, xx_revolt, please_save_us_andrea_dworkin.
if anyone has any to add to these lists please do let me know!!
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coraniaid ¡ 10 months ago
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The only thing more powerful than the Buffy writers' reluctance to give screentime to a woman over the age of thirty is the collective Buffy fandom's eagerness to seize on the slightest scrap of canon characterization as evidence that said thirty-plus-year old woman is some sort of monster.
The show: Willow Rosenberg likes spending time with her mother and does so willingly even after moving out (as we see, for example, in Forever) and her mother was keen to invite her high school boyfriend over for dinner to try to get to know him as soon as Willow admitted to her that he existed (at the end of Gingerbread) and her mother was fully accepting (literally "proud") of Willow when she came out as a lesbian (already implicit, but confirmed in The Killer In Me). Oh, but she has a full time job in academia and sometimes Willow wishes she paid her more attention (this despite the fact that Willow canonically does hide things from her all the time) and she doesn't always notice when Willow cuts her hair or properly remember her friends' names and she only met Willow's first girlfriend a few times.
The fandom: well, clearly Willow is as much a victim of parental abuse as Xander Harris or Amy Madison or Faith Lehane. This is a completely reasonable and proportionate conclusion to come to based on one on-screen appearance and some throwaway lines of dialogue.
I mean ... don't get me wrong. Shelia Rosenberg is not a good mother. She's not much more than a cardboard cutout, really. Less of a character than even Hank Summers, and that's saying something.
What she is, really, is the sort of lazy cliche you get in a lot of teen movies of the 1990s and 2000s (something which is true of Joyce Summers as well at times, only Sheila is permitted far less depth or screen presence or other redeeming features). She's a somewhat reactionary take on the idea of an adult woman who dares to have a professional career and therefore cannot "properly" attend to the needs of her children. A woman too busy focusing on the abstract (her academic study of "adolescent development") to care about the practical (the growing pains of her own teenage daughter).
(Get it? See, it's funny, because she's a woman with both a child and a career. What will those crazy feminists dream up next?)
As written, Willow's mother kind of sucks: not because she's a bad person but because she isn't written as a person at all. She's a joke, and not a good one.
But the weirdly popular idea On Here that Willow is somehow traumatized by having what is, by all accounts, a fairly ordinary and comfortable childhood is absurd. There is simply nothing in the text to support this.
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writing-for-life ¡ 1 year ago
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So, you mentioned something about Thessaly in a 90s context in one of your responses to another post, and I was wondering if you could expand on that. Because yeah, I have no problem with her *existing* as a character, because obviously she has a role in the narrative, but I highly suspect that her perceived role has changed a LOT in the intervening years since the initial writing.
As someone who first read Sandman in 2022, I figured that her character role was to get us to question what we think we know about Morpheus. Can we really trust that he's changed or improved, or that he's even all that likeable, if he's literally jumping into bed with this thoroughly unpleasant woman who likes violent murder *way* too much and also seems to be transphobic to boot?
At the same time, though, I got the uncomfortable sense that we were supposed to *like* Thessaly. In a sort of, "You go girl, be a #girlboss, let's show these boys we can be JUST as good at killing as them!" sort of way. Which I rationalized as "well, that probably was progressive in the 90s, but the idea of cold blooded violence and emphasis on the possession of a womb being feminist ideals has aged poorly."
So, yeah, I'm wondering if that is anywhere close to how she seemed in the "intended" context.
[As always: Send me asks about everything Sandman-related!]
This is such a good ask, and I feel there are a lot of bases to cover here. Not sure if I’ll do it justice, but here goes…
Disclaimer straightaway: I absolutely detest Thessaly and everything she’s done narratively, and I’m neither a Thessaly-apologist, nor someone who loves her as a character. But I think we need to discuss her with a bit more nuance than I see in lot of fandom spaces.
I think first of all, we need to look at:
Thessaly as a fictional character
As you already pointed out, she naturally has a role in the narrative. I also think parts of her role in said narrative are sometimes a bit misunderstood. One prime example would be the idea she never loved Morpheus. And yes, she absolutely always put herself and her own interests first, so from that angle, she loved herself more than she loved him. That doesn’t mean she never loved him at any point though. Many people quote her saying that she never did as proof that she didn’t. But what people say doesn’t always align with what they feel or do: She says at his wake she swore she’ll never cry over him again—and cries while she’s saying it. That tells us two things: She *did* cry because of him before. And she *does* cry now.
Again, she is a selfish, utterly horrid bitch, but she loved him at some point, and she was mad at him for neglecting her and not paying her enough attention. That’s when it turned sour (and we know how absolutely shit at communicating with women Morpheus is, so they’re both as bad as each other in that regard).
I see her as someone who is totally disconnected/dissociated from her emotions, to the extent that she probably really believes what she says, out of some deep-rooted fear of any kind of vulnerability. Why that is—we can only speculate, because Neil never went into it, hence nothing we assume will ever be canon.
What can be considered canon, however, is that Neil has confirmed the fact that she *did* love him at some point—most notably in the Sandman Companion:
Hy Bender: […] Of course, she’s lying when she says she never loved the Sandman.
Neil Gaiman: Of course; I think that’s made explicit by the final panel, where she says, `I swore I would never shed another tear for him’ while crying. But after he’s won her and then returned to his duties, he wasn’t enough for her anymore. She wanted attention; and when she wasn’t getting it, she said, “Right. We’re done,” and walked out on him.”
I’d also like to point out that the most trans-exclusionary prick in the whole of AGoY is actually George, just that he’s not a woman, and hence, no one ever seems to mention it (he’s actually the one egging Wanda on, not Thessaly). Plus, walking the moon road is maiden, mother and crone to a T, and consciously so. Foxglove is the maiden, Hazel is pregnant, and Thessaly is ancient. So Thessaly’s choice was also based on that, and the only one who Wanda really could have *potentially* replaced would have been Foxglove; she presumably never had penetrative sex, unlike Hazel (in the archaic definition of what penetration means, so we don’t need to argue about lesbian sex practices now). We don’t know that about Wanda, no matter if someone sees her as a man or a woman. I didn’t mean to get that explicit about maiden status, but I guess it *is* important in this context (although yes, of course Thessaly said Wanda is a man, and I’m not arguing that either, but I still think it was grounded in her belief how moon magic works).
Which brings me to a very important point: Thessaly is ancient. Culturally, we can’t compare her to someone who grew up in the 20th century, also with regard to her violent inclinations. She is thousands of years old. She’s seen it all. She has a fierce sense of self-preservation, maybe even rooted in some fears or trauma of her own. All not very nice character traits, no, but that’s not the yardstick, and probably was never supposed to be. I also remember Neil saying he consciously wanted to oppose neopaganism and the watered down, new wave witchcraft of the time (late 1980s/early 1990s, and that, I really remember), which was all about the “divine feminine”, female empowerment, tarot cards and incense sticks. I’m being a bit flippant now, but it isn’t far off. It was more of a trend than anything. He wanted to consciously oppose it with someone who would still act according to ancient, rather violent codes and rules. And Morpheus will have known those, and probably found them less surprising than we do (doesn’t necessarily mean he’d condone them either).
The fact whether Thessaly should make us question Morpheus in the comics is a tricky one. What she definitely *should* make us question is: Morpheus could have quite easily broken some rules in the Kindly Ones when Thessaly had set up the protection circle for Lyta, and the consequences probably would have been less disastrous than playing by said rules. And we can safely presume he knew. We are also supposed to question the same when he lets Nuala call in her boon and doesn’t just say: “This isn’t really a good time, can we do this later?” (and he absolutely COULD have done that), but actually follows through with going ,“Well, what gives, I basically grant you your boon now and leave the Dreaming, even though I know the potential consequences.” So yes, Thessaly is supposed to make us question Dream’s choices, but probably not the way we think. And for that, we perhaps should look deeper into…
Thessaly the TERF and Feminism in the late 1980s/early 1990s
This might get a bit longwinded, and I am showing my age here. I grew up at the intersection of second wave and third wave feminism, and as a bisexual woman, I made a lot of experiences during the early 90s that feel wholly aligned with the plot of AGoY (which was written during that time). I don’t want to write a whole essay about feminism here, but second wave feminism was on its way out in the late 80s. A lot of the bad associations some people have with feminism today stem from that time (not always justified, because a lot of good was achieved during that period. But parts of it in specific sub-communities—definitely problematic). Equality vs equity discussions within the feminist movement were dominating everything, and the divide between radfems and libfems was getting deeper. People like Audre Lorde IMHO rightly criticised that failing to understand that not all women start on equal footing, that not all women are the same, is problematic (so you could easily see how this is incorporated into the narrative of AGoY).
Second wave feminism wasn’t just about making sure women had rights. It was very much about “all of us can do everything men do, and we want the same a man gets”. It was all about the workspace (so often very white, CIS, middle class), not being at home with the kids etc (of course there were also other topics, but this one was really quite dominant). You could even see it fashion (massive shoulder pads etc). All the while, actually *being* a man was vilified (again, just in certain quarters).
So I feel you’re on to something with your #girlboss comment, only that I don’t think it was intentionally set up to like her, but rather as a criticism of what certain quarters of the feminist movement were like at the time.
Personal anecdote: I got that type of schtick from WITHIN the LGBT community at the time. Bi-erasure was big. And there were radfem lesbians that would actually tell you that being bi doesn’t exist, that you are basically a traitor to your “sisters” and just a lesbian who isn’t fully out. The same shite they used to criticise about men who would say you’re only a lesbian because you haven’t found the right guy yet. And here they went, telling you that you can’t be attracted to men if you’re also attracted to women.
Third wave feminism has a much stronger focus on the individual woman and what it means to be a woman to HER. This also included trans women, much more than during the second wave. Judith Butler’s work is actually exemplary for this (in essence, there is no such woman as “the” woman—we’re all different despite sharing common traits and problems. Trying to make us all the same will only harm us in the long run).
And with AGoY and Thessaly, we are exactly at the moment in time (in the comics) where that shift happens. I think Neil got it right for the time, and understood a lot of what was going on. Many people in queer communities felt really understood and seen, myself included. I absolutely see how that translates differently today. But it always saddens me when the historical context gets completely stripped away, and people don’t take the time a work of fiction was written into consideration and only measure it from today’s viewpoint. We can, and absolutely have to be critical if the TV shows fails to address these points and just translates everything 1-2-1. Which I am fairly certain won’t happen, because Thessaly has already been stripped off a lot of her obvious TERFiness in the Audible. I’m not even sure if we’ll get her in the show—we’ll hopefully find out.
Phew, that was long, I’m gonna lie down 😂
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snowblack-charcoalwhite ¡ 6 months ago
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I've said it many times and I'll say it again. I don't understand why so many people claim that Aemond is somehow Ryan's favourite or even self insert. I guess it would be obvious now that he hates him as much as the rest of the greens, but some still insist on this. Like, here is the character that actually was one of the most popular in s1 despite the fact that he barely had any screentime and is tg, yet we are halfway through s2 and look what they've done with him?? 5 minutes of screentime, half of it the unnecessary brothel scenes to show him naked and to destroy his relationship with Aegon for good. Zero interactions with Alicent, Helaena, Otto...No reaction to Jaehaerys (but yes to luke).. And he's somehow Ryan's pet? Yeah, no. I think that Ryan is staunchly tb who loves Rhaenyra and Daemon (and Rhaenys) and just watch him give Daemyra an intense and emotional reunion to confirm Daemon's loyalty to her. All these harrenhal scenes are just devices to make the moment more impact full and to subvert expectations™, I'm 100% certain this will be the case. And what the greens got? Mutual hatred, a nonexistent cause, Aegon who still bullies and humiliates his brother and only sees him as a weapon, Aemond who tries to get rid of his brother in the middle of the battle and is completely detached from his family, Helaena who barely exists and don't even get me started on Alicent and Criston. Therefore, if Ryan, Hess or anyone in the writing team "loves" the greens, they sure have a strange way of showing that lmao.
Anyway, I would love to hear your opinion on this.
Hello!
To be honest, at this point I have trouble telling which HotD characters are actually loved by the writers. I am really tempted to say that none of them are because no writer treats a character they love like Condal&Co treat the majority of HotD folks, even TB ones, the supposed faves. Rhaenyra (post S1E5), the protagonist - meek and boring. Rhaenys a.k.a "the voice of wisdom" - a hypocritical woman (who is also basically a mass murderer). Daemon - I don't even know what to say about him, his characterization has been all over the place.
However, IMO we need to take into account two things: 1) HotD writers apparently have received a commission to create a show with a clear as day feminist agenda to regain the audience's favor lost after Daenerys business in S8 of GoT; 2) the most important - they are fucking incompetent, and so they could ruin the characters they "love" just as effortlessly as they do with those they "hate" (sometimes they even fail with the latter - because they are kind of supposed to ruin them but, once again, are incompetent).
So, I really don't know whether Condal and the rest of HotD team are ruining Aemond on purpose - or are just trying to legit create a compelling arc for him by presenting him as a bullied kid with a fuckton of issues who one day just snapped and fully went into a psycho killer mode. Both options are possible - and actually both of them might be true because (and here goes yet another HotD problem) it really feels like the writers who work on the show have trouble communicating and coordinating their ideas. One pushes for one thing, another - for another, and as a result we have characters who act like they get a personality/brain transplant every episode (Daemon and Alicent in S1 are the prime examples of that).
As for the "Aemond is Condal's self insert" -everything is possible. To comment on that properly I would have to get into speculations about the latter's personality and mental state, and I'd rather not do this. As much as I despise him, he is still a real person; and I am neither a psychologist nor a psychiatrist (neither do I know him personally), so it's not my place to do that.
Thank you for the ask!
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maxdibert ¡ 2 months ago
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I also think that what contributes to the popular opinion among the fandom that Lily is a saint or an extraordinarily kind person is because Snape sacrificed so much for her, his past memories are mostly about her, his feelings and sacrifice are dramatic and romanticized, therefore people assume she was someone special, but they ignore the fact that Snape was an abused and socially deprived child and these children often create unhealthy attachment to the first person who show them genuine affection and friendship. His unhealthy attachment might have just made him ignore her major flaws and put her on a pedestal therefore the readers also put her on a pedestal. His memories create this saintly light around her, because that's how he viewed her, therefore the readers were forced to view her like that too. If he grew up in a loving home he might have just seen her like a normal person that can be sometimes a jerk like everyone else. The fact we don't know much about her doesn't help either because it creates a mystery we want to solve. And with all of what I mentioned it is easy to just perceive her in the same way Severus did.
Absolutely. I agree 100%. Completely. No doubts about what you’re saying. You’re absolutely right.
I’d just like to add that Rowling conveniently uses Lily to justify James. Lily doesn’t just have this saintly image because Severus idealized her, but because the narrative itself frames her as a kind of moral totem by which we’re supposed to judge whether a man (sic) is on the right or wrong path. The only proof we have that James changed is that Lily accepted him, which indirectly implies that she was so good, so ethical, so morally unassailable that if she chose someone as her partner, it was because that person had truly proven they were worth it. Even though the story never explicitly shows this supposed change—and there are even moments suggesting it wasn’t entirely genuine, like when Remus and Sirius admit that James just got better at hiding his awful personality rather than completely changing.
Rowling doesn’t just portray Lily as Severus’s best memory or the best thing that ever happened to him—already suggesting she must have been exceptional to have been so important to one of the most complex characters in the series, to the point that he risked so much for her. She also tells us Lily was so good, so incorruptible, that she could change men. This idea makes my stomach churn and fills me with frustration because the concept of the "healing woman" in fiction and the "woman as a catalyst for male redemption" trope disgusts me. I find it deeply misogynistic because it denies women the right to be imperfect, to be broken, flawed, morally questionable, or to commit immoral acts. It forces us to embody moral perfection to the highest degree. Honestly, it’s something I despise, and it infuriates me that Rowling portrays herself as a feminist because, if I were to do a gender analysis of her series, I could write another thesis for my degree.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. That said, we also have a third factor that ties a neat bow around Lily’s sanctification: she’s Harry’s mother. She’s the mother who gave her life for him, whom Harry always idealizes, and about whom he only ever hears that she was beautiful, popular, and the best person ever. It’s normal for Harry to idealize his parents because he never knew them, but James at least benefits from some depth in the narrative, thanks to the flaws Rowling gave him and the fact that she has the decency to give him friends who can talk about him. Lily doesn’t even get that. Lily has one known friend in the series—Severus—and he’s a mistreated boy for whom this girl was his emotional anchor throughout childhood and adolescence because she was the first person in his life to show him kindness. Everything Harry sees of Lily is filtered through an extremely subjective lens where she’s always the good one, and outside that lens, there’s nothing to contrast that image with because Rowling didn’t bother to create any of the supposed friends Lily had as a "super popular girl" who might still be alive to talk to Harry.
Lily is never given her own identity. Her identity is built around the men who orbit her; it’s constructed through the impact she has on them. But she herself has no personality because her entire existence in the series is shaped by the male gaze of the men around her.
Everything about her character is so problematic. People excuse Rowling by saying she started writing the books in the ’90s, but come on—there was plenty of literature in the ’90s about feminism, gender roles in fiction, and the issues with the male gaze in female characters. Rowling simply has a very archaic view of women that’s riddled with clichés, and with Lily, it completely got out of hand.
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molsno ¡ 11 months ago
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in case anyone was wondering, I turned off reblogs on most of my posts a few days ago because I just can't take it anymore. it gets so exhausting trying to use this website as an outspoken feminist.
I've used this blog for almost 11 years. this is my personal blog. I use this website to engage with topics I'm interested in and meet new people, and that's been true since day 1. but I constantly find that when I attempt to share my thoughts on feminism as a regular person in a normal tone, or I write a joke post complaining about misogyny, people will take me in the worst faith imaginable and argue with me. they'll attack me and harass me, sometimes even with explicitly violent transphobia. they'll paint me as irrational and hostile, or take my lack of nuance in these kinds of posts to condescend to me like I'm an idiot who doesn't know anything.
I've seen it all before, so you know what I started doing? I started writing longer posts that explain my thoughts in detail, with all of the nuance necessary, while addressing all of the potential counterpoints in advance. not only do these get significantly fewer reblogs, they barely curb the problem. people still harass me over them, too. these kinds of posts are also a double-edged sword. when I write long form posts based on feminist theory I've read in a formal tone, people take me seriously, admire me, sometimes even idolize me.
I cannot emphasize enough that I am literally Just Some Girl.
do you know how terrifying it is knowing you have thousands of people will read every single thing you say? especially when some of those people put you on a pedestal?
what happens if you fall?
no matter what, I keep finding myself scared of what people will do to me if I show any moment of weakness. whether I try to treat this like my personal blog and complain about things that annoy me or try to be something of an intellectual who educates people on transfeminism using the knowledge I've acquired, I feel like I'm setting myself up for destruction. if I'm ever messy, if I'm ever flawed, if I ever say something wrong, devastation awaits me. either I receive harassment and threats from people who hate me, or I face social ostracization from people who previously liked me.
do you understand how this has caused me immense amounts of stress? how it's influenced my behavior? how it's caused countless breakdowns? how it paralyzes me? do you understand that this is the reality trans women have to live with when we reach any level of notoriety?
I just... I don't know. I'm tired. I need a break. I like talking about my interests, I like discussing transfeminism, I like educating people. I even like the fact that people listen to what I have to say. the things people say about me can be really flattering sometimes. but I've also seen the horrible things people have said about me, and how they pale in comparison to the things they say about trans women who are more notable than me.
I just want to be treated like a person. I don't know how to make that happen. sometimes I just want to tear it all down and force people to see me for who I really am, even if I have to risk losing everything.
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naoko-world ¡ 8 months ago
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Men aren't inherently bad
As a context I can sometimes see some people talk seriously about men as if them being men make them bad people. I could even see some people extending it to trans men!
But if you see, for example, more men being predatory than women, that's wrong to say every one of them are predators. They can even be strong allies!
To prove it to you I'll talk about some men who proved they were good people and far from predatory. Of course, I could talk about men I personally know but it will be better to concentrate on celebrities since talking about people I know won't make you that interested and will not prove anything to you.
But first, a bit of chauvinism
Still, I'll start by being a big chauvinist and talk about two french youtubers I see as feminists! (Even if none of them actually said they were.)
Le joueur du grenier (the gamer of the attic)
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To introduce him a bit : He started his main emission by being inspired by the angry video game nerd and the nostalgia critic, and is one of the most popular youtuber in France. In his videos he's talking about bad old games, and sometimes talks about tv shows or other kinds of things that aren't games but are nostalgic (like old advertisements). He's also doing other things but I'll stop here since I'm not here to convince you to watch his videos.
In one video about Barbie games (this one in his second channel) he said as a joke "Pourquoi je joue à ça ? Parce que c'est marquÊ 'Software for girls', donc moi je veux prouver que même les mecs ils peuvent y arriver aussi." (Translation: "Why do I play it? Because it's written 'Software for girls' so I want to prove that the guys can do it too.") I don't know you but I always found it absolutely hilarious! And incredibly feminist!
Even better, in his most recent video he talked about Wii games for girls and, in it, he showed us a world where he's a woman (his role is played by an actress of course) and is playing the games with three other girls. The best is that it doesn't feel like a bad parody, you can really see him in this woman! It's not a stereotype!
Squeezie
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OK now I'm talking about Squeezie, who's the Youtuber N°1 in France! He's basically the french Mr.Beast/Pewdiepie with a lot of concepts. His most popular is Who's the imposter, for which he added dubbing for one of the episodes.
To tell you about something pro-feminist he did, I could talk about his video about Kathrine Switzer, who's the first woman to run the marathon at a time where it was forbidden for women to run it. I could also mention his video where he invited one actress who was here to promote La maison des femmes (the house of women) which is a place where women can receive some care for various cases like when they're victims of violence.
Even better, in his emission Le pire date (the worst date), in the second episode, he was playing with 2 other men, but also one woman. Among the dates there was also one man. So we could see one woman trying to win some women's hearts (they're all actresses of course) and the men were seen trying to win a man's heart (also an actor).
Now for american celebrities!
It's time to talk about people you may know!
Keanu Reeves
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This one surprised me a lot! Because I would never have thought about what he's praised for: not touching women when doing photos with them.
I personally did photos with celebrities and each time they were touching me because it's some kind of a automatism. It never bothered me because I never thought that I had the choice to refuse or accept being touched. So, hearing that Keanu Reeves don't touch women because, by default, he considers he doesn't have their consent... That makes me feel so happy! Also thinking about the possibility I could refuse to be touched during a photo.
Frederick Douglass
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Here is an example of a man who escaped slavery to finally become a leader of the abolitionist movement in New York and Massachusetts. He was pretty famous for being a good orator and his writing against slavery but, according to a pdf from the secretary of the commonwealth of Massachussets, he was also fighting in favor of women's right to vote. I quote it: "Frederick Douglass’s lifelong commitment to women’s rights reflected a belief that rights should be universal, not limited by race or gender. He believed that disenfranchised groups should support each other."
Nice!
Fred Rogers
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Well, this one I couldn't know them and I'm so happy I could learn about his existence!
For what I understood of it, he animated the children show Mr.Rogers's neighborhood, where he talked about many societal issues such as divorce or how to deal with issues of race. He also added in the show a recurring character who's an african-american police officer (played by François Clemmons), another character who is a mayor who is an african-american woman (played by Maggie Steward), and he showed his puppet Lady Elaine Fairchilde travel to Jupiter and discover a planet...
That man seemed to be a really good one who was embracing feminist values, as well as the anti-racism.
Danny DeVito
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In an interview for The guardian, Danny DeVito has been asked if Hollywood is unfair to women. I love his answer, which is: ""I don't think it's only Hollywood, I think it's just generally speaking. Most men somewhere in their psyche are still dragging women around by their hair. It's terrible. I have two daughters, but even before my kids were born I always thought that it was terrible."
If we're asking about his actions, when Mara Wilson's mom got Breast cancer during the filming of Matilda he and his wife cared a lot for the girl, even inviting her at their home so she could forget a bit about her mother's illness. You can see more details on an article from Thelist.
Nonetheless that's so sweet of him!
Tom Hiddleston
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Honestly when my friends suggested Tom Hiddleston because "he's a feminist" I was pretty skeptic. Especially since I heard men calling themselves "feminists" but being jerks outside of this.
But then, when looking for proof of it, I found this video showing many times where Tom Hiddleston was respectful toward women... Which convinced me he earned his place in my post... Especially with how many times in the video he's praising actresses he worked or is working with! Like OMG Tom I hope you really think that! Also... If I were them, I'd be touched by those words.
SquidTips
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Back to YouTube with a man who made me question how I support trans people: Alex from the channel SquidTips.
Why is that? Because he's straight and cisgender but is showing the LGBT flag and trans flag in his logo and in his shorts where they're visible behind him (for example in this video). You can see in the screenshot that he even wears t-shirts with these flags.
He's also promoting LGBT rights in his longer videos, like in this one about why transgender women belong in women's sports.
What else do you want? He's awesome!
David Tennant
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When thinking about good men one of the first people I thought about was David Tennant.
Like if I got fed up with him as The doctor since he returned in the role to be another incarnation of it, I still appreciate some things he has done and is probably still doing.
In the said things there's this t-shirt you can see him wearing during the promotion of Good Omens season 2, which is saying "Leave trans kids alone you freaks", and the trans and non-binary pins he sometimes put on.
In the same topic, he also said some things that are very pro-transgender and non-binary as the Media ThePinkNews reported.
And as a last one... My favorite...
Rick Riordan
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Rick Riordan is, of course, Percy Jackson's author. He also wrote the sequels The heroes of Olympus and The trials of Apollo, as well as the spin-offs The Magnus chase and Kane Chronicles, and standalone books related to that universe.
Let's say that I admire this man... He included a lot of representations in his books after Percy Jackson ; which had been reproached to him by some parents who didn't want their children to learn about homosexuality, trans identity or other things he included ; but, in the first series, you can also see something awesome: strong and smart girls and women who aren't here only to please the male characters! I even think that Annabeth, Percy's soon-to-be-girlfriend, could have been the main character instead of Percy.
In the first series you can even see a daughter of Aphrodite and a daughter of Ares being besties and deeply loving each other (officially without them being in love with each other, especially since one of them has a boyfriend and the other one found her love interest at some point)... That's pretty touching! What is awesome is also how none of them are shamed for being either girly or not enough, they're only both two girls with different tastes.
I love these books, I love this man, I want to be a writer like him !
Adding that, outside of his books, he also created the imprint Rick Riordan presents, where he highlights books about other cultures or mythology written by other authors who asked to join the imprint. You can see a list of these books here!
Conclusion
As a conclusion I will only hope I could convince you that claiming that men are naturally predatory is a bad way to fight for women's rights but also incredibly wrong. Like I chose these examples but I was given many names ! No, being a man doesn't make anyone a bad person.
Also we can't fight for equality between the genders if we're stuck with the idea that the entirely male gender is an enemy of women. Furthermore, this idea brings some questions like "Do you consider that trans men are enemies too?" (Well, I saw some people who would reply "yes" to that question) and "What about non-binary people? Are they enemies or not?”
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bisolationist ¡ 7 months ago
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You know being a woman abused by a woman I feel like I will never ever be able to connect with them fully.
Like even if we get along and all that I know it's all conditional. That kindness and female/feminist solidarity they all talk about is all conditional.
The second I mention the sex of my abuser and suddenly I'm seen as a gender traitor, they turn angry and attack me. And like you said now I know too much like I can't be expected to trust women, let my guard down with them stand with them etc...
And when I say this the way people talk to me its like sooo condescending like yeah I know misogyny is still a thing I'm a woman too !!! But you can't tell me to ignore women's wrongdoings towards me because men are worse.
Truth is they'll only show me kindness if I had the right type of abuser, went through the right type of abuse and had the right type of sexuality.
I mean I remember whne there was this girl who kind of did something sexual to me I told her to stop but I just kind of like gave in and whne she told everyone about what happened all my female friends were acting super weird towards me as if I was some sort of creep and then when I told them what happened they said smth along the lines of oh come on youre like down for everything (just bc I was seen as bi).
And the problem is I can't discuss this anywhere like literally anywhere if I post smth on my blog I'll have feminists and women say to me oh but you don't know hwo society treats mothers maybe she doing the best she could, oh well that never happened to me etc etc... like I can't deal with this. And on normal spaces like men don't care they'll use my abuse as an excuse to be misogynistic it's such an isolating experience. I don't expect feminists to fight for me like feminism is about female liberation they don't owe me anything but why did they have to go out of their way to attack me, mock me, call me a liar, belittle what happened to me, tell me I'm exaggerating, treat me as If I was betraying tye feminist cause for speaking up like i was a fucking mra, and I'm not even allowed to let my abuse affect me if I have one negative sentiment towards women I'm a pick me I'm sexist I'm this I'm that.
Sorry for this fucking wall of text I'm tired of them treating me this way then turn around and pretend it's not happening you knwo
I'm really sorry it took me a while to get to this. I think I'm starting to dread looking in my inbox and I keep putting it off.
Obviously I'm not in exactly the same boat as you, so I can't fully address the parts about being a woman. But you're definitely not alone - all of the women in your position *I've* talked to feel the same. I have at least one friend that's voiced very similar things (don't worry I asked for permission before linking; she said she'd be open to talking to you if you want). And while I haven't experienced it first hand... I mean... I've seen it. I've seen the anger and vitriol that gets sent you way, the way your trauma is scoured for any excuse to be dismissed, the way you get excoriated as anti-feminists for not pretending it's a lesser deal. Not that you need me to reaffirm it, but you're definitely not crazy.
And I do understand the loneliness. Sometimes I wonder if this is why I subconsciously isolate myself despite having lots of people that express they care about me, enjoy my company, etc. Because I can't fully trust any of them would take this topic seriously, and I just... couldn't bear it if they didn't. Sometimes trying to find people that will accept this, *and* my bisexuality, and have compatible values... I don't know, it feels way too unlikely you know? And that's just for friendship, throw in attraction/sexual compatibility in there and it's like... do these people exist...
The condescension is unbearable. Again, obviously not the same for me, but I'm so TIRED of people throwing it in my face like I'm saying misogyny isn't real? It's so frustrating that bringing this topic up at all invariably gets me listed as an MRA despite my beliefs being the opposite? Or they tell me things like that men are more likely to be the perpetrators against either sex... as if they ever took me seriously with that either? Either way, my bisexuality gets used against me, too. I don't think I've ever been in a situation where the excuses ran out - I guess that's the really disappointing thing. There's always someone willing to come to bat for these people, and they always try to justify their view as the moral and sensible one.
If you feel like you're suffocating about it all, I think you might as well blog about it. Who else are you going to blog for? It's your life! You're the only one that can give your voice power. But at the same time - yeah you're going to get weirdos and rape apologists. If that's too much to bear, that's completely understandable, too.
Anyway I'm not sure I managed to say anything new, but I hope you know I believe your experiences and how you've felt. I hope you know I'm angry on your behalf because you don't deserve to deal with any of the bullshit of how people treat you for it.
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winns-stuff ¡ 2 years ago
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WOW so feminist
the way hades "rescues" persephone from her abusive home is through marriage... because watching over your immature, naive child who was put into a shady relationship by your sister and also into a position of power by said boyfriend is, apparently, abuse...
putting aside how demeter's character is brutally villainized, it sucks that persephone doesn't even get to confront her mother. like she needs him to fight her battles for her despite the plot making it seem like this is the ultimate standing up to her mother
where is the wrath that metis praised her for?
instead she has to run from home like a salty teenager by marrying her 40yo CEO boyfriend. in any other media that would be the beginning of a cautionary tale if not a horror story altogether
Sorry again to this person, their question has been sitting in the inbox for a while.
But I don’t understand why Persephone is just so.. Weak? Like we’re supposed to praise her for her inner and outer strength and see her growth but there’s nothing to show for it except for words that other characters describe her as. I’ve never seen Persephone be terrifying recently, maybe to the nymphs and lower class but no one else. I’ve never seen her be intelligent either nor have I seen her be kind to anyone who isn’t already in her favor. But you know what I have seen? Other characters praising Persephone for being all of these things, it doesn’t make sense to me. I can say that I’m a millionaire with a big huge mansion and thirty dogs and cats but if I don’t show you any evidence to prove the statement you’re not going to believe me are you? Like in order for us to really compliment Persephone for being any of those traits you first have to make her do those actions which means you’ll have to show us how she’s terrifying, show us how she’s compassionate, show us how she’s smart, show us why she’s this caring individual. People eat up the way Persephone is described but they remain blind about the actual results of that.
Also, I understand that sometimes you might need support or help with things especially when speaking to a (narrative wise I guess??) abusive parent, I imagine you wouldn’t want to be alone with them when you’re confronting them so it’s always good to have another person you feel safe and protected with. But the thing that bugs me and probably a lot of people is that it seems like Persephone can’t do anything for herself, it feels like she’s banned by the comic from being anything but a smol cinnamon roll. It’s insane how she’s never had the chance to actually defend herself or speak up, who took that ability away from her?
Last thing, I absolutely hate how everyone’s allowing Hera to get away with all of this. She quite literally forced Persephone and Hades to be together and she’s been keeping it from Demeter and allowing her to look crazy in front of everyone while puppeteering the whole thing behind the scenes. You’re definitely not a girl boss for ignoring your nieces requests to not go in a place she’s obviously not comfortable in, match her up with your affair, and continue to push their relationship together while living through her. It’s insane to me how LO stans claimed that Demeter was doing that all while Hera literally… Nevermind I’m not going to spoil anyone but just know that it’s icky.
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salamanderinspace ¡ 1 year ago
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I watched the first two seasons of House M.D.. Processing thoughts.
I used to watch them over and over when I was about 18, or 19. Those were the DVD days--no streaming yet, cable cost money, and I was living on my own and paying my own bills. So I watched the DVDs over and over, especially the middle episodes of the second season like "All In" and the Christmas one with the Munchausen's patient. And the one where Cameron does meth.
I'm trying to figure out my feelings about the show, as an adult. It's been awhile. I went through such a feminist journey in my 20s that I probably couldn't have stood to identify with a protagonist like Greg House. As a teen I used to think the things he says - especially the racist and chauvinist remarks - were just for shock value. By keeping conversations off script you can make people share things they otherwise wouldn't and save a lot of time, which is important if you're in pain. Pain causes impatience as well as irritability. I used to see House as a perfect representation of someone in pain.
That's before I even understood my experience as one of chronic pain. The way I grew up, the "walk it off" and "I'll give you something to cry about" sort of way, I had no idea I was experiencing physical pain even when it was severe. I'd completely sublimate it. I thought maybe House was like that. And he reminded me of my father, who I think was always in pain, whether he knew it or not. Genetic condition and all. He used to sublux his hips, but neither I nor him knew what that was or ever talked about it. It was just normal. A way of walking.
Anyway. It seems like the show is proposing that House has always said inappropriate or hostile things, even before his leg hurt. I'm trying to be listening more to the story that's being told and less to the version of one that made sense to me. It's a story of a guy who pushes people away. This is usually played as a sign of immaturity, because I guess 13 year old boys are scared to get close to anyone--but in my experience it's also a sign of maturity, to know yourself well enough to know that you'll be happier with people at arm's length. So--does the character believe in stereotypes about women and black people, or does he just say things that will make people leave? I don't know. I think we're seeing a character written by a couple different writers who each have subtly different takes about who House is and what he wants. That's evident at the end of the season, in "No Reason," when it seems like the writers are thinking out loud about how to grow a character like that. Where does he go from here?
The show tries to be progressive, often. Sometimes it fails. In the early 2000s it was disruptive to really harmful mythologies about fatness and queerness and mental illness and a dozen other things, mythologies which were believed as fact back then. Basically it's a show with empathy and progressive goals and storytelling, but with a coarse protagonist who is (IMO) a straight white man that's kind of an asshole. He says he doesn't vote. He's not a perfect hero. But he's believable. And he's likable. People who think fast and quip and always have an answer for things are always likable, somehow. Even when they're bullies. The bullying is actually what makes them likable. It's why I watch a lot of video essays I disagree with by leftists whose main passion is dunking on people / art they don't like. Some people are built to bully. It's like watching a dancer dance.
House and Wilson have such a hostile relationship in these first two seasons that they barely read as friends to me. Maybe that's the teenage boy version of intimacy. I can see that. Some of their arguing is expositional, though, as they're drafted into the writer's needs to convey two conflicting viewpoints about a problem. Neither one is always right. That's another interesting blip inbetween the character and the show--House believes in right and wrong, but the show believes in complexity and ambiguity.
Some of the episodes feel more formulaic and contrived than they used to when I was a kid. Everything is contrived to make House seem clever and smart and right. He's a good diagnostician. He has a calling. It drives him; he enjoys the mystery. This doesn't erase what harm he does by failing to connect with humans. It doesn't outweigh it, somehow--it doesn't have to. You have to start from a position that nobody owes the world anything, nobody owes the people around them any particular type of caution… we can owe each other kindness and respect but express that in a myriad of ways. House does it by being honest and dark and making that open space for pain. Wilson sometimes does the same thing when he talks to House.
The thing is, you relate to House as an 18 year old with bad social skills, and then you grow up and see that the writers mean for him to have great social skills. He actually knows exactly what he's doing. It's like a super power. He just doesn't feel warm and fuzzy about other humans the way most humans do. And that's relatable too, because nobody feels warm and fuzzy all the time, even where they're supposed to. Sometimes somebody thanks you and you feel nothing. Sometimes people are scared of you and they should be.
I haven't rewatched the later seasons as much so I'll check in after watching on.
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