#sexualising fictional men however?

[euporie-art]

if i can ever figure out how to mod 3d models into project diva future tone u bet ur ass im going to mod some tgaa characters into this mv. the fucking boob jiggle closeups are INSANE.

5 likes and ill draw a tgaa man in this project diva module

[the-sappho-of-lesbos]

Lesbian Pulp Breakdown #2

Here for another pulp breakdown ! (Finally 🙈)

This one will also have spoilers and lots of triggering content. Please be warned.

This pulp fiction breakdown is for Lesbian Love by SV Miller. 100%, absolutely written by a straight man. This book is WILD, and significantly worse than the last one I posted about Alone At Last, which I didn’t think was possible. Because that one was a train wreck.

So in this one we have our protagonist Aggie; now Aggie is married to a man called Jim but she also sleeps around and has affairs a lot. The first three chapters, if I recall, were literally just her having affairs with other men and then getting mad at her husband for accusing her of having affairs. Her and Jim have a very toxic and volatile relationship, as well as being very inconsistent in the way they approach each other, the way the approach themselves and their marriage. It’s wild.

Anyway, she gets to the point where she’s like: I don’t want to be in this marriage anymore. I don’t like him. I don’t like what we’re doing. We’re always fighting, throwing things at each other and then we end up being intimate. She hated it. Then she found an advertisement for a sanctuary away from men that was supposed to heal her, heal the relationship and get her away from there; BUT to get there she had to have a lot of money so she ended up having even more of an affair and putting herself in very dangerous situations to get the money. Though when she did, phew, off she went - she was there. It was all secret and she was given these very weird and ominous directions to get there, she wasn’t allowed to bring certain things with her etc.

When Aggie is there, it becomes very clear to us, the reader, she has just entered a massive cult. It’s also when this book just dives head first into all of its problems.

This isn’t to say Alone At Last was a good book by any stretch of the imagination, however, it did hold little nuggets of positivity, mainly in the areas of acknowledging homosexuality was natural and not having the main lesbian character end up dead or in an institution. This book can’t even say it has that going for it.

This pulp genuinely felt like a homophobic pamphlet fever dream.

There was so much sexual assault in this book committed by a lesbian, but sometimes the author would jump around on if it was assault or not in a very uncomfortable way that felt like it was rooted in a fetish.

So we have our lead lady, Aggie, introduced to this lesbian commune that is run by the lesbian dictator Helen. A rich woman set on assaulting women, keeping them trapped in this isolated location, and “turning” them gay - or as this book likes to paint it, corrupting women to sin.

There is a massive emphasis all throughout the book about how broken, unnatural and wrong lesbians are, ( the very last line is “I feel … normal!”) while simultaneously sexualising them for male titillation. With big strong men to come in towards the end and save them all.

It tries to entice us into the plot with this evil lesbian cult commune plot , where women are forced to pair up with one anther in this instance Aggie is forced to be with both Helen and a woman called Grace ; Grace is also the character Aggie ends up snot being attracted to, but only because she is in a “perverse” place). These women are locked up in torcher chambers if they don’t comply to the Evil Lesbians or try to run away.

In the end this pulp is probably a textbook example of what people think of nowadays when they think of old school lesbian pulp. With terrible writing on top! It was genuinely a slog to get through. Even though it’s relatively small it took me 4 months to finish reading it because it was just so terrible and had no redeeming qualities about it. Just a terrible mess of assault, homophobia and horrible writing.

Let’s hope the next one is better.

[olderthannetfic]

Whenever I see the "there is no F/F content in fandoms, fandoms hate women" discussion on Tumblr, all I can think of is a phrase that is guaranteed to enrage half the Tumblr fandom audience, maybe more: "Have you tried imageboards?".

When I was younger, I used to frequent different anime and cartoon-themed imageboards. Big ones like 4Chan's /a/ and /co/, smaller ones meant for specific fandoms or kinks, non-English ones in my native language, you name it. The users were mostly straight men, and the F/F content and shipping flourished there. The "waifu threads" exclusively dedicated to gushing about female blorbos. The wast majority of kink content involving fictional women, either alone, with a nondescript self-insert man or with each other. The F/F fanart, fanfiction and ideas were just limitless, to the point where you would struggle to find one or two discussions about the guys in the midst of everyone celebrating the women.

The anime, cartoon or comic has a cast full of women? They will all get love. Women and men both? Women will generate much more discussion. One or two women amidst the cast full of men? People will mostly post about the two women, deal with it. Sure, there were designated boards and threads for the male characters, but good luck expecting there to be as much activity as there were in the waifu threads. The fandoms with lots of female characters, such as Touhou Project, thrived on these grounds, and much F/F shipping was had by everyone.

Now, of course, the imageboard culture is an entire separate beast. Right-leaning, edgy, bigoted - basically, what you get if you put a bunch of ostracized and lonely cishet male nerds in an echo chamber and let them feed each other bullshit all day long. A lot of the F/F art they made was sexual in nature, something that could be decried as sexualisation, but, the way I remember it, it was not much different from what is often done to male characters by straight women who ship M/M because they find the two dudes hot. A lot of gushing about waifus by the anonymous 4Chan dudes could be seen as misogynistic, despite the language being practically the same as when a Tumblr fandom girl is describing her blorboman and the things she wants to see done to him.

It all comes down to the the real life influencing the way we interact with fiction: male sexuality is viewed in a different light than female sexuality, despite both being more or less demonized in our society, just in different ways. Men are always predators, women are always victims. When a guy has sexual fantasies about a female character, he is a creep who wants to hurt real life women to enact these fantasies. When a woman has sexual fantasies about male characters, she cannot tell fiction from reality and is at risk of getting hurt by men while trying to enact these fantasies. And if either of them fantasizes about a same-sex couple, they are fetishizing queer people, obviously.

However, that's just how people roll - you cannot change what gender you are attracted to, and people with similar attractions stick together. It just so happens that the fandom side of Tumblr largely consists of straight women and queer men, so you get ships with guys, while the fandom side of 4Chan and the like largely consists of straight men, so you get ships with women. Both sides also happen to have cultures that don't mix well, and someone who frequents one place is likely to avoid the other.

I don't frequent 4Chan anymore, and I'm not big on fandom Tumblr, either, but Tumblr continues to be the unique place where I am more likely to stumble upon erotic fandom content featuring men than women, who are the majorly discussed and shipped characters practically everywhere else. I obviously do not excuse 4Chan's bigotry and rampant hateful bullshit, but my point still stands: if you want to see more F/F shipping and discussions of girl blorbos, but don't feel like making some yourself and creating a like-minded community on Tumblr, you should try your luck elsewhere on the Internet, especially when it comes to anime and cape comic fandoms. Tumblr is a unique place in terms of male-centric fandom content, and honestly, it's not that bad, if Tumblr isn't the only place you find your stuff at. It simply occupies a specific niche and doesn't offer much of everything else (though you can still find it if you look).

--

Now, be fair: plenty of imageboards are full of nominally straight guys who love millions of female blorbos... and art of Link getting wrecked.

[youryanderedaddy]

Yeah some obssesive men can be misogynistic bc they think a girl is theirs and they shouldn'r reject them bc they are nice to them?

However i think some obsessive men would act possesive,regardless of gender and non-patriarchal ideas..

Anyways. It's hard to find smut or just one shots with yandere boys without misogynistic traits :( or if they plant the idea of one,ppl would still labeled as misogynistic.

But with female yanderes (bc sexism thinks girls can't do no wrong and aesthetic,romanticizing mental illness) they make sadistic girls look more appealing and cutesy gaze.

Like I just want enjoy my sadistic boys in peace and them to have some cutesy :(

Oh you just made me drop an essay. I have a lot of thoughts about this actually.

Tw for discussion of misogyny, rape, stalking, lots of incoherent talking too lmao

Most yandere characters in mass media are female. I have this theory that (mostly) men like yandere women in fiction because it's a reversal of the socially accepted gender dynamics where women are seen as weak, fragile or submissive. We need to take in account that the trope started in Japan where those gender roles are still very prevalent to this day, and to a male Japanese audience seeing a dangerous, powerful, dominant woman is a power fantasy. It's unusual, you know? For the "prey" to be the predator. In retro horror movies the victims are usually women while the killers are men. So it's absolutely shocking (revolutionary even) to see the roles reversed. Female stalkers, villains, obsessive women, in a way they're all reclaiming themselves in cinema and media, and allowing themselves to be possessive and jealous the way men have been for centuries IN REAL LIFE. I have nothing but respect for media that chooses to engage with that, be it horror or even romance. I think it's easier to have a nuanced discussion on female yanderes than on male because of the physical difference and the way society views criminals based on gender and appearance.

Society keeps telling us that women are to be desired, they're always the center of the desire (and objectification/sexualisation). With female yanderes this is reversed too - men get to be desired (obsessively so), they become the center of someone's sexuality, which is rarely the case in real life where male sexuality revolves about being the dominant figure in the relationship. It's a way for men to be submissive without having to face a society that emasculates and mocks them for this submissiveness. Or at least that's the way I see it. It's a very interesting topic.

With male yanderes, the conversation is entirely different. It's hard to write about them without engaging in some way with misogyny. You can't write possessive men without thinking about the very real life implications of those behaviors. 200 years ago women were still considered property, they belonged to the highest bidder. Even today hundreds of women are murdered because they reject men who can't handle rejection, or who view them as property. Of course there are cases where women kill their male partners out of jealousy or paranoia, but the reverse are much, much more common. It's very important in those topics to be able to distinguish between fiction an reality.

There is the other side of it all. Fiction is fiction. It can be anything. Fiction of course doesn't exist in a bubble, but it doesn't need to be realistic or even engage with the real world. You can have possessive men who aren't misogynistic or rapey. But I choose to look at all perspectives. I enjoy working with some realistic traits from time to time, and that often means dealing with unpleasant, sensitive real world topics like misogyny, rape, inceldom, assault, rape culture etc. I look at the yandere genre as a horror trope first, and as erotica second. I don't consider it romance - although some slight yandere traits can be used to create perfectly healthy male yandere characters, my writing isn't an example of that at all.

Those are my two cents, sorry for the rambling, but as a writer (and a feminist) I really find this topic intriguing. There are so, so many aspects to it, social, cultural, etc

[kutputli]

sex work (prostitution) is based on sexual exploitation of young people. Sex work wouldn't work without young girl (I was a victim who thought it was empowering bc of shitty people like you spreading lies)You are a monster. Aside from your shitty view, I don't care about your study or whatever. black men often exploits black women, your post on Louis is at best laughable. Do you know why? Because Louis admitted in the church exploiting young black girl. He's not a nice pimp. Nice pimp aren't real. You don't care because Louis exploited young black girl. I'm sure, if white women were pictured in his brothel, it wouldn't be the same reaction. Louis and his fandom are awful with black women, that's why the white audience can cling with this character. People have far less empathy for black women. And Louis is creole, he was mad to not be part of the white patriarchy. He never cared for other black people.

Is it possible to call out shitty black men? People like you make it very hard.

Your post about sex work make me want to vomit.

I'm very sorry for your experience of being victimised. It is never acceptable to harm anyone, sexually, economically or in any other way. I'm sorry it happened to you, and I do not condone the actions of the people who harmed you.

I do care, very much, about Black women and how they are disproportionately coerced and abused into various forms of economic harm, including sexualised labour. Just as I care about Dalit and Bahujan women, who, as I stated in the post you are referencing, have been subjected to generational sexualised enslavement systems.

I will, however, continue to support the dignity and freedom of sex workers who have consistently unionised and self-advocated for more safe and equitable labour conditions for their profession. I will not support any argument that seeks to shame or berate sex workers or those third party labourers involved in the sex work industries such as pimps.

Coming specifically to Louis de Pointe du Lac, a fictional character - if your reading of his character is that he is a shitty Black man, then by all means, you should feel able to post your critiques of him in your spaces. I have seen many critiques of Louis, though relatively few of them from Black-identifying fans.

In case you missed this while reading my previous post, I myself am not white - I am brown and a South Asian living in India. One of the reasons I love the character of Louis is because of his Blackness, and what I see him bringing to his relationships because of it. As I referenced in that post, it is Louis's relationship with both his own Black employees, as well as with Miss Lily, that contextualises my reading of him as a fair, non-predatory employer and client.

And going beyond the professional, it is Louis' unabashed love and support of Claudia, along with his love for his sister and mother, that informs my reading of him as a Black man with a great deal of passion specifically for Black women. I understand his character to be one that is profoundly aware of the inequities of racism, and while he may not have a perfect feminist understanding of misogynoir and how intersectional patriarchy operates, I think that he has a sensitivity towards Black women that knows they are enduring and surviving forms of harm that he is not subject to.

It's fine if you disagree with my reading of a fictional character.

But please don't come to my blog expecting me to denounce actual, living sex workers, because I have too much respect for the conditions they survive to ever do so.

[beesspacedotorg]

Why do you sexualise skz?

hello anon thank you for asking. there are a lot of things I can say to this, but I'm going to assume you're asking a genuine question and not sending anon hate.

the answer is that people have been doing this for a LONG time. as long as there's been celebrities there's been fanfiction of them, they've been sexualized. Sex sells, people want to imagine themselves with people they can never have, and in isolated places on the Internet like this, there's really no harm.

some of the first ever fanfiction was RPF (real person fiction), I think it was with hockey players.

if you're asking me about the morality of it, the reasoning I have for that is just that I see them as people. there's a case to be made that sexualizing celebrities flows through to real life people getting hurt, and that's true. the difference though, is that I do not see skz as just sex objects. they are real people with real thoughts and feelings and emotions and they deserve to be treated as such. I wouldn't do this with someone like Marilyn Monroe because she spent her whole career being JUST a sex symbol, not a person.

also, several members of skz have hinted that they KNOW how thirsty stays are for them and are chill with it. i.e. chan talking about stays edits on bubble.

if there ever comes a time where skz makes it known that they ARENT comfortable with this (like how Markiplier asked fans to stop writing fanfiction about him and his friends and they stopped, like Dan and Phil had the same thing happen to them), I'll stop. I might even go so far as to delete my blog.

if there ever comes a time when people are too busy talking about chan's abs instead of appreciating his producing abilities and vocal skills, I'll stop. however, I don't think it will come to that.

you don't have to agree with me, you don't have to like what I do, that's fine! I get it, but don't waste your energy or time harassing people about it. as someone who's done that because I've had unrestricted Internet access since 12, it doesn't help and it will only hurt you. (not that I'm saying this is harassment or whatever. unless it is. in which case. c'mon man)

also not to get on a soap box, but it's my personal belief that while sexualization of men, especially young boys, especially men of color, is dangerous there's a disproportionate amount of women, especially young girls, especially women of color, who experience it at much higher and much more severe levels which is why I talk about female celebrities being sexualized more. a actress does a sex scene and she's selling herself an actor does the same thing and it was the best performance ever

also, about three different movies have been made based on Harry Styles Wattpad fanfictions. so. there's that.

[creepypastaessays]

Tim Sutton essay, redone

The internet has opened up a myriad of ways for media houses and fans alike to interact with their favourite characters from films, TV series and YouTube productions. One area that keeps raising eyebrows is the casual, often regressive sexualisation of characters. One such character subjected to this alarming trend is Tim Sutton from the YouTube series "Marble Hornets". This essay intends to argue why Tim Sutton should not be sexualised in fan media.

"Marble Hornets" is an eerie, captivating series, centred on the experiences of characters in the hands of a strange, supernatural being. Tim Sutton, albeit mentally unstable due to his battles with the Operator (the series' antagonist), remains an admirable character whose complexities add depth to the series. However, a worrying trend has been observed in fandom culture: the sexualisation of this character, which displays a lack of understanding of his character arc, and, more importantly, trivialises the serious nature of his mental illness.

Firstly, it's essential to understand the character of Tim Sutton. He’s presented in the series as a mentally unstable individual, tormented by the Operator. The sexualisation of Sutton in fan artwork and fiction erodes his complex character. It simplifies him to a sexual object, reducing his struggle with mental instability to mere side notes. This variation not only betrays the original character design but also detracts from the purpose of introducing such a character in the series.

Let's delve deeper. The series impeccably portrays the struggles associated with mental instability. By subjecting Sutton to constant psychological torment, the show paints a vivid picture of the mental health struggles many people face. Therefore, the sexualisation of Sutton is not only wrong; it implicitly trivialises mental illness. And in a society where mental health is a pressing issue, such behaviour could lead to an erosion of the right perception towards mental health.

Moreover, a character’s sexualisation sends wrong signals to the younger audience. The Marble Hornets’ fan base comprises a significant number of adolescents who may not comprehend the implications of mischaracterising a person suffering from mental issues. The sexualisation of Sutton risks glorifying the suffering he undergoes, negating all the pain and challenges people with mental disorders endure daily.

Additionally, the overt sexualisation of Sutton contributes to the objectification of men in the media. Although more prevalent towards women, male objectification remains a persisting issue that needs to be addressed. Subjecting Sutton to sexual objectification perpetuates the problem and desensitises people to its presence. It also reduces appreciation for commendable acting and high-quality storytelling, focusing only on the physical tenets of the character.

Furthermore, it is pertinent to point out that Sutton has consistently struggled with dissociative identity disorder. By sexualising his character, fans unknowingly stereotype people dealing with similar conditions, even implicating that their struggles are inexplicably linked to their sex appeal. This paints a harmful narrative that hinders efforts to remove the stigma around mental health.

In conclusion, the sexualisation of Tim Sutton from Marble Hornets in fan media discounts the fundamental essence of his character, inadvertently undermines the importance of addressing mental health issues, and continues the cycle of gendered objectification in media.

As fans or creators, it is essential to appreciate characters like Tim Sutton for their contribution to the plot and the vital issues they represent. As we enjoy our freedom to imagine and reinterpret, we must recognize the potential impact of our interpretations on those watching and learning. Let's be more considerate on how we choose to portray characters, especially those depicting mental health issues, to avoid perpetuating harmful narratives and stereotypes.

The real beauty of a character like Tim Sutton lies in his complexity — his struggle, his strength, and his vulnerability. Therefore, let's strive to uphold that, and not his physique or sexuality, as the essence of his character.

[incendiarybomb]

The fact you ignored the most important points of what I was saying proves a fucking point.

Consuming gorey content ≠ murder.

Consuming content where a minor is in a sexual situation ≠ pedo.

Portraying a pedo in a good light, promoting child and adult sexual relations, pushing the idea children can consent and writing porn of child however can do real world harm if that is the ONLY PURPOSE for the story.

Glorification isn't a buzzword but for arguments sake let's rephrase.

YA stories which promote abusive ideals, as well as portray abuse of women as normal and okay, and romantasize violent men have been shown to do damage to those young adults the stories are aimed at.

The fact you cannot see that fiction has any real life consequences is a problem.

You can write and read whatever you want but when you promote the idea that stories written to sexualise children or portray abuse in a positive light can't do any real world harm you are just fucking delusional.

Stories can have mixed morals or bad ones or whatever. But when the message is "abusing your partner just makes your bond stronger" or "all women get treated this way and hit by their boyfriends" or "children who are 8 years old can, and should, consent to sex" ect you can't deny that there can be real world effects ESPECIALLY when they're aimed at teens and young adults.

I really think everyone needs to truly internalize this:

Fictional characters are objects.

They are not people. You cannot "objectify" them, because they have no personhood to be deprived of. They have no humanity to be erased. You cannot "disrespect" them, because they are not real.

[contextualstudiesy2]

Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

In the text “Walking After Midnight: Women, Sex, and Public Space,” I came across many eye-opening themes and ideas. The main point of the text is to explore the reasons behind a woman’s discomfort when walking, not only at night but on an everyday basis. The text's intention is to show that this is not just a modern concept but something that has been a large-scale issue for many centuries. The text begins by looking at the year 1870, when a young woman, Caroline Wyburgh, aged 19, goes “walking” with a sailor. At that time, walking was regarded as courtship—a time when two lovers could spend time together. However, in recent years, with industrialisation and the new modern era, this has changed significantly.

The beauty of a romantic stroll with your partner was a dream, but it confined women to only being allowed to walk with a companion or a supervisor. Otherwise, a woman would be treated as a prostitute. A woman walking in the wrong place at the wrong time would quickly be labelled as immoral or, worse, accused of being a prostitute. The way to prove her innocence was to undergo a painful and humiliating examination. If she didn’t pass, she could be sentenced to months in jail. The process was horrendous: the woman would be tied to an examination couch with her feet strapped. Many innocent women in such circumstances would be 'deflowered' unnecessarily. Solnit explains this issue with a narrative style, using text from James Joyce’s novella The Dead. This approach softens the true horrors of the situation while adding fictional exaggeration. However, everything has its element of truth.

Women have always been treated as a minority—some might say as mere childbearing slaves. It is truly heartbreaking that a woman cannot go for a simple walk without being immediately sexualised and facing sexual harassment, or even rape in some cases. Solnit states, “Women’s walking is often construed as performance rather than transport,” which, sadly, is true. Women are seen as objects for men to satisfy their needs, even if it is just with vulgar thoughts. Solnit emphasises that this issue is not just in England but worldwide and has been the same everywhere since ancient times. Richard Sennett states that Athenian women “were confined to houses because of their supposed physiological defects.” Solnit supports her argument with Sennett’s statement, reinforcing the idea that women are mistreated simply for being women. She then continues to mention that women in ancient Greece lived far from the celebrated public spaces and public life of the cities.

Solnit further strengthens her point about the mistreatment of women by mentioning France in 1876. Before that year, watching women get arrested was a masculine pastime. However, the abuse became so extreme that boulevardiers sometimes tried to interfere and got arrested as well. Later on, these women were pressured to register as prostitutes to be released from prison, but tragically, many committed suicide.

I believe that Solnit is trying to bring attention to the mistreatment of women. She references many historical events and tells these stories in a narrative, almost novel-like manner. However, I think that with modernisation, these problems have eased to a significant extent. In the 21st century, it is common to see women walking the streets alone at any given time, even at night. It is no longer seen as taboo, and they are not immediately labelled as prostitutes or associated with one. However, the trend of sexualising women has not disappeared, and many women are still victims of harassment and rape on various occasions in public spaces.

[nellamente]

The History of Spectatorship

From Saturday 28th December 1895 up till now (and the upcoming future), we have been given the role, as human beings, to watch other human beings move in front of us on a screen. That is the role of a spectator.

The very early films are seemed to be known as "Cinema of Attractions", the reason being that "Early films were brief and consisted of simple actions or visual spectacles" (“Cinema of Attractions - What Is It? | CinemaWaves”, 2023). For the early cinema spectators watching other people through a machine was already a big thing so, I would understand why it was 'out-of-this-world' for them. The real question is what made them attractive? One would think that after some time watching 'simple actions' it would end up being relatively "boring". However the term 'simple actions' is too general.

Serpentine Dance (1896), one of the earliest films, shows a girl looking at the camera with her big dress, tossing its fabric up and down as she dances freely and smiles. "the images, whirls, figures, and designs that take shape in the three-dimensional space around the dancer and generated by the movement of the fabric, are all manifestations of the physical body."(Kennedy, n.d) Basically in other words she's embracing her body through her dress. The dancer had no context, and the audience had no knowledge about her character therefore the "dance does not anticipate the male gaze which underpins the exhibition of the female body on stage, particularly at the time – and it does not seek to arouse his sexual desire" (Chevrier-Bosseau, n.d). The open ended expectation is that neither did women audience feel any 'negative' emotion towards this 'film' as it was not based on a narrative but on a simple performance of a non-characterized female dancer.

At the beginning films were more based on the actors interacting with the camera, for example; From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen (1903) the woman is seen to be taking her clothes off in front of the camera, she smiles at the camera showing awareness of the camera being present in front of her. According to Mulvey " female stars, were visualised with all the spectacular attributes of the cinema itself but also highly sexualised and endowed with a quality that I called ‘to-be-looked-at-ness' (Mulvey, 2024)" Considering this making sense with the film and how it is expected to be viewed by male spectators, Mulvey's theory applies here that; "cinema narratives and portrayals of women in cinema are constructed in an objectifying and limiting manner to satisfy the psychological desires of men" (Rodriguez, 2019)

How was this viewed by female spectators?

Later on the years films like From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen (1903) became more familiarized and even more sexualised especially films based on Burlesque shows. As a matter of fact "top burlesque stars “received countless fan letters from women asking them about their wardrobe, where they had costumes made, and tips for a good sex life with their husbands." (Fargo et al. , 2008).

The interaction with actors with the spectators is very impactful, more than we know. According to research "they reveal what is usually hidden (the camera editing and the work they accomplish) and they tear apart the fabric of the fiction by provoking the conscious awareness that "we are at the movies." (Modleski (2020) In simple terms, making us forget that we are spectators. However, research also shows that the spectatorship experience for the male and female genders, is different. Laura Mulvey believes that "we are “caught” in a “patriarchal order”" in other words, cinema is run by the desires and sexual fantasies of men since women are mostly to be viewed as objects to be looked at/that pleases. From Modleski we can determine that patriarchy in cinema has been so used, that women spectators also react erotically towards other women but not "quite the same way that men do, given that patriarchal film has a structure of a male fantasy" (Erens, P. ,2020)

The prioritization of male gaze is still going on till this day.

This scene from Fast Five is exactly what Laura Mulvey has been pointing out through her theory. Just like From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen (1903) (the film we mentioned before) the girl is aware of being seen and she knows what she is doing. However to emphasis the male gaze "the character of Gisele is being used to achieve something the male protagonist needs." (Leonard, 2021) She is the centre of attention in her bikini. While the men are fully dressed (female gaze not prioritized).

This makes me think that though time has passed, despite the use of technologies being changed and the cinema advancing. We are still the same spectators as we were in the first film in the 1895 and making use of the psychoanalysis theory in the process.

Reference list

Chevrier-Bosseau, A. (n.d.). Loïe Fuller, A Subversive Pioneer. [online] Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. Available at: https://www.dancereflections-vancleefarpels.com/en/loie-fuller-subversive-pioneer.

cinemawavesblog. (2023). Cinema Of Attractions - What Is It? | CinemaWaves. [online] Available at: https://cinemawavesblog.com/movements/cinema-of-attractions/.

Fargo, E., Couch, N., Mizejewski, L. and Woods, A. (2008). ‘THE FANTASY OF REAL WOMEN’: NEW BURLESQUE & THE FEMALE SPECTATOR. [online] Available at: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=osu1211331939&disposition=inline.

Gunning, T. (2006). Attractions: How They Came into the World. [online] JSTOR. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n09s.5?refreqid=excelsior%3Ae870000117fa989909ebec1d5ab94510&seq=3.

Gunning, T. (2024). Attractions: How They Came into the World How They Came into the World from The Cinema of Attractions Reloaded on JSTOR. Jstor.org. [online] doi:https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt46n09s.5.

Kennedy, T. (n.d.). Mediathread The Serpentine Dance: Technique and Choreography of the Body Unveiled. [online] mediathread.ctl.columbia.edu. Available at: https://mediathread.ctl.columbia.edu/s/CUdnce3985/project/40874/.

Leonard, K. (2021). How Does the ‘Male Gaze’ Work? [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-the-male-gaze-definition/.

Library of Congress (2009). From Show Girl to Burlesque Queen. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChCWP-FFVqU.

Modleski, T. (2020). Hitchcock, Feminism and Patriarchal Unconscious . [online] Indiana.edu. Available at: https://publish.iupress.indiana.edu/read/issues-in-feminist-film-criticism/section/f89f23a1-740a-4b81-bde5-92356d0a98c8#ch6.

Movieclips (2024). Fast Five (4/10) Movie CLIP - A Woman’s Job (2011) HD- YouTube. [online] Youtu.be. Available at: https://youtu.be/6w0F9xVXn_E?si=D97Eklo2ZU20awrs.

Mulvey, L. (2024). Freud, Hollywood and the male gaze. [online] The British Academy. Available at: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/freud-hollywood-and-the-male-gaze/.

Preserve, L., Diaz, S., Diaz and Silvia (2004). The attractions of the ‘cinema attractions’ to female spectatorship Recommended Citation. [online] Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228642516.pdf.

Rodriguez, I. (2019). The Male Gaze: Definition & Theory - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [online] Study.com. Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-male-gaze-definition-theory.html.

TheParmaViolet (2013). Serpentine Dance (Paris, France 1896). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zkXb4aWVZs.

[captainswife]

I actually had a funny conversation once with a coworker about sexualizing catholic priests and the saints and they kept saying it was a sin for people to be nude and sexual in the first place so sexualizing the church is wrong.

So I asked them to explain why Adam and Eve are always depicted as being naked in the Garden of Eden and why the church commissioned the Sistine Chapel to have naked people on the ceiling and never had it painted over if nakedness was a sin.

This coworker no longer debates me on the sin level of sexualizing priests and naked people.

okay TO BE FAIR most of the depictions of saints and such that we DO have are from the renaissance, and you know what renaissance artists were? horny. that's what. so i DO partially attribute the nakedness to that

HOWEVER

that is an excellent point, why are all the people at church allowed to look at half-naked sexy saints and god with his cake out and men and women wearing nothing but loincloths??? like??? father, is that what you are looking at so intently during prayer? hmmmm???

of course, there can be a point made about how nudity does not have to be sexual, if it's not in a sexual context. which is one of the points i really like, when it comes to discussions of artistic nudity, actually.

ALSO i feel like most of the people who complain about the internet sexualising priests and such assume that we would want to like... dunno, make them stray from the path of god or something? like, do they think we are going to walk up to a priest at church and get freaky with him??

that's not what this is about, man. it's about the FANTASY, it's about THE AIR OF THE FORBIDDEN, exactly BECAUSE celibacy exists. it's about the DRAMA, it's about the SECRECY, it's about the mixture of emotions between guilt and lust. like, those are so fun to explore in a fictional environment???

and also like... fuck, do people really expect we will take our silly little fantasies to actual religious people and stick them in their faces? hello???

in conclusion, i am thinking about this too much. i just think most strictly religious people(especially christians) are a bit silly and need to chill out and have a little fun, yanno?

not like what we do is any worse than what the catholic church has ever done, just sayin... they can take a little silly sexy fun thrown at them, it's fine

[sussyscurryscorpio]

Random Astrological Observations Part-9 (18+)

(This picture does not belong to me at all) (Please take only what resonates. I'm really unsure about several observations this time)

~Mars is weak in Libra, since it's in its enemy sign. However, this may/not affect their sex drive. I mean, most Libra Mars are pretty kinky in their own way. They have a huge praise kink and might cringe over degradation kink. Personally, for me too, it's a huge turn off.

Someone: "You are such a dirty whore..." *degradation kink* Libra Mars: "Oh really? Well", pauses, "Go fuck a whore then coz I ain't one".

~Praise kink 🤝🏻 Leo Mars. Istg, they want to be ADORED in bed. They want to hear things like, "Fuck, you're so pretty" in the middle of doing the deed. Princess treatment is a hugeeee turn on.

~I've read this so many times that Aries Mars people have an animalistic sex drive. They'll actually "Preying on you tonight. Hunt you down and eat you alive". Haha.

Like tearing clothes and throwing on the bed, biting, nails on the back... And, well, due to all this rush, they finish quite early🤡

~Weak Mars (Taurus, Cancer, Libra) are Rope bunnies. They like being tied or restricted probably. Submission is their strong suit.

Doesn't mean that they are strictly submissive. They could have heavy scorpio placements and be Switchers too.

~Gemini Ascendants are some of the horniest peeps (to themselves or to others may vary) after they expose themselves to sex world. After all, they have Scorpio in the 6th house. They might like adding sex to their routine too since 6th house means your routine stuff and scorpio is...

Also, Gemini is depicted by a man and a woman and the connection between them. Hence, Gemini is a more sexual placement than Scorpio itself.

I know. You thought Gemini was symbolised by the twins, didn't you? Well, in Vedic astrology, it is symbolised by a man and a woman.

~Neptune in 8th people might daydream about sex a lot, or may like visualising sex. In fact, they might be Voyeurs (people who get turned on from seeing other people have sex)

~People with Rahu (North node) conjunct or opposite Venus might find themselves being called sex addicts or people who are always called out for always talking about sex.

~Scorpio placements feel no shame in talking about sex at all. Like, if you feel no shame in doing it, why feel shame in talking about it. The hypocrisy pisses them off.

~Moon conjunct Pluto women may find themselves getting called "mommy" a lot and they do not like that usually?

~I'm jealous of people who get Capricorn Venus lovers. They will fuck you like those fictional book men and I'm here for it? Where are my Capricorn Venus men?

The fact that my ex was a Capricorn Venus and the guy I cheated on him was also a Capricorn Venus🙂 (Please no, I don't take pride over this at all)

~Mars Conjunct Venus people and their sex appeal🫣 You leave me shy with your sexual fantasies please. They might be non-monogamous too.

~Chiron in 7th people might hate their partners to be in open relationships, but they themselves are very comfortable with being in one. I mean, open relationships are good for these people since commitments sometimes may feel overbearing for them.

~I don't know about others but I have a huge thing for Somnophilia, consensually of course. (No, I'm not ashamed of it) I guess it's because of my Venus (And Mars) Conjunct Ketu (South Node) but *shrugs*

~Capricorn Mars people may be into age-difference kinks? Very probable. A friend of mine has this and she fantasises things with older actors a lot. She hates men of her age😭

~On the flipside, Libra mars (may apply to Taurus and Cancer Mars too) may prefer younger men to older guys.

~What is with Women with Lilith in 1st being called "mommy" by guys? This is one of the most sexualised placements. (even if you feel it isn't, give it some time) Once you start getting sexualised, it fills you with disgust and an even poorer self esteem.

~I've seen guys with Scorpio in 4th not really liking to be called "daddy." They find it weird somehow. Although, they may have NO problem calling someone "mommy." Hmph?

[ink-and-dagger]

Sorry, as cool as it is to see more trans interpretation in fiction, something about cis women writing trans men without much regard for or understanding of the trans experience doesn't sit quite right with me. Reminds me of the whole BL craze of 14yo girls writing gay smut and sexualising gay men. It's fun to read you interpret Silco like that but it leaves a sour aftertaste. Still sending much love, your writing is immaculate. Just this thing in particular I think needs some reflection.

Hi Anon,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns to me and for complimenting my writing. I’m glad you enjoy my stories ❤️

Secondly, I’ll forgive you for assuming my gender identity seeing as I stated my pronouns were she/her back when I first joined tumblr. But I feel now is the time to point out that I actually use she/they pronouns.

Now onto your concerns.

I agree that there are ethical problems surrounding authors telling stories that aren’t theirs to tell. I’m not going to reveal what my irl job is, but I will say that I work within an industry that is directly connected with the very issues you’re raising. So I’m very aware of what you speak. It is a genuine problem, and I am very much on your side, and have in fact spoken out in real life on these issues outside of fan fiction.

Personally, I would never even consider writing a fic from the point of view of a character who has a very particular life experience that I didn’t also share or have intimate knowledge of.

However, what you’re referring to here is a single, 5 sentence ficlet. Not an in-depth dive into the life experience and psyche of a trans man.

I think it’s a little unreasonable to expect authors to remain rigidly within their own lane when writing characters. If that were the case, does that mean the only ethically correct characters for me to have written in Drink With Me were Jinx and Astrid? Seeing as I personally have no experience of being a cis man (that particular interpretation of Silco) or a POC (Sevika/Max) or a gay man (Jasper/Max)? If that were the case then wouldn’t all stories be incredibly dull? I can’t imagine that there are too many authors in the world who tick so many minority boxes that they’re able to write a diverse cast of characters purely from personal experience alone.

Again, I’m not saying that it’s correct for me to go ahead and write a whole story about an experience I have no personal knowledge of. And you’re perfectly entitled to your opinion and how to feel about my work. But I do resent being demonised for a <100 word prompt. Particularly since I’m extremely passionate about and involved in the LGBT+ community.

I would also be genuinely interested to hear what it was within the 5 sentences that gave the impression that I didn’t give any prior care or consideration to the trans experience? I’d be particularly interested to hear your opinion if you yourself are trans, or are very close to someone who is. If not that’s fine, your thoughts are still perfectly valid, I just might take your opinion with a grain of salt, and also question whether or not this entire ask might be just a little bit hypocritical?

I’d also be interested to hear whether you’ve experienced a similar sour aftertaste with other creators who have written for trans Silco? Only because it is never my intent to be insensitive to anyone, and I would like to know if other writers are taking measures within their work that I’m not so I can rectify that.

I am open to an intelligent and honest conversation about this, and would genuinely invite you or anyone else who has similar concerns to reach out to me. I would hate for you to feel uncomfortable reading my work, and like any decent human I’m always striving to better myself and to keep learning.

I also don’t want you to take this response as an attack. I’m merely taking the opportunity to voice my concerns and opinions, just as you have.

[chihirolovebot]

nvm doing this now . discussions of csm-typical grooming, sexualisation, pedophilia and whatnot below .

The base of my problem with calling Makima a pedophile has its roots in her characterisation. the simple fact of the matter is that she is not in any way attracted—romantically, sexually, or in any form—to Denji. Obviously this doesn't excuse her actions, because you're right, she does make sexual advances on him. But you mention you haven't engaged with CSM, so let me break it down for you.

For those who are unaware, the Chainsaw Devil, which Denji wields the power of, is pretty easily the strongest Devil in the verse, because devils grow stronger the more they are feared—however, the Chainsaw Devil is the only devil to be feared by other devils, making it way stronger than anything else.

The Chainsaw Devil also has the ability to 'eat' slash consume other Devils, thereby erasing the concept they represent. It's sort of difficult to explain, but for an example—if the Chainsaw Devil ate the Tomato Devil and erased it, tomatoes would cease to exist. At some point, Makima reveals to Kishibe that Chainsaw has eaten several devils pertaining to real-life historical events; she asks Kishibe, 'do you remember what the Nazis did to the Jews?' and he is visibly confused—it soon becomes apparent that Kishibe doesn't know what Nazis, or the Holocaust is, because Chainsaw 'ate' the WWII devil. It did something similar with the devils of AIDS, nuclear weapons, and several other fictional devils/events.

This is the primary reason Makima covets the Chainsaw Devil and seeks to control him; she wants to use this eating power in order to erase concepts she finds unnecessary or detrimental to mankind. The power of the Chainsaw Devil is in the hands of Denij—so she has to get control of Denji. How does she do that?

By ruining his entire life.

Makima sets Denji up with Aki and anther fiend, Power. They eventually form a tight familial bond, with Aki becoming the older brother figure, and power the bratty little sister to Denji. He's shown to care very deeply for them. And then, near the end of the manga, Makima sets them both up to be brutally murdered in the worst way possible. She has Aki fused with the devil that murdered his parents, the Gun Devil, which turns him into a mindless beast who tries to kill Denji and Power, forcing Denji to kill him in self-defence. After this, his spirit is broken. He goes to Makima and confesses he wants to be one of her dogs, so that she can tell him what to do, so that he doesn't have to think. After that, Makima murders Power right in front of him, leaving Denji overcome with emotion and releasing the full power of the Chainsaw Devil for her to control.

So now that the context is out of the way—you understand, hopefully, Makima's motivations for controlling Denji. Now let's look at the how.

Makima knows Denji. From the beginning, she knows he's the Chainsaw Devil, because she saw him use the power of it the first time she saw him. Denji's very first words to Makima are hold me, as he slumps into her arms. This tells her the two most important things about the boy she's stumbled across: he wields an insane power, and he craves comfort. This is more than enough for someone as cunning and manipulative as Makima to make some leaps in logic and determine how best to integrate herself into Denji's life.

Denji is a teenage boy. He doesn't know—and neither do we, at first—that what he craves above all else is romantic intimacy. Not necessarily sex. But because he is a teenage boy, this is what he perceives a relationship to be like. Denji's father was abusive, and so he has an inherent built-in distrust of men and places women on pedestals. This comes across both in serious and comedic moments:

But it all boils down to the idea of Denji seeking validation from women rather than men, and Makima uses this to her advantage. She knows that what Denji creaves is genuine intimate connection, and she plays on this. She sort of creepily becomes all the defining women in his life—playing into the seductress role, but also the maternal. One of my favourite ED sequences from the anime has this shot:

Makima is this angelic being, with Denji staring up in awe. Fujimoto stated that "Denji always yearned for maternal love,", that Makima and Denji's relationship was based on documentaries about child abuse, and that Makima's names comes from mama. So she is very very motherly-coded to Denji. But like I mentioned, she also plays the part he thinks he wants, hence the aforementioned sexual advances.

One of the most infamous scenes is after Denji is disappointed after touching Power's breasts, Makima tells him that sexual acts without intimacy feel empty. This is when she does things like bite his finger, caress his skin gently, and place his hand on her breast. Her dialogue is chilling in this particular scene. When she bites his finger, she asks, "Remember it so well that even if you go blind, you'll know it's me from the bite." Similarly, after Himeno kisses Denji and vomits in his mouth, Makima gives him a cola-flavoured lollipop to wash away the taste, literally overwriting the claim Himeno put on Denji's body with her own marker. Makima subtly works to make herself the only option in Denji's mind who can give him what he wants—both what he thinks/knows he wants (sexual gratification) and what he doesn't know he wants, but she does (maternal love and genuine connection).

Makima is not attracted to Denji. Makima, I think, is not attracted to anyone in particular. She's a weapon, a machine, raised by the government. She has a general want to be loved, but not by anyone in particular, and it's implied this is more the Control Devil inside of her than Makima herself, as Nayuta expresses this same desire when the Control Devil reincarnates into her. If Denji was eight years old, she'd play harder into the maternal figure, because it would make him easier to manipulate. Denji is sixteen in the canon timeline, so she plays a bit of both. If Denji were thirty-five, she'd find some way of making herself the most important person in his life, specifically by using his insecurities and internal biases of women in order to manipulate him and isolate him from the others. Even when Denji does get to care about other people, it's all orchestrated.

Makima's manipulation and cunning is right at the heart of her character. It's why I think referring to her as a pedophile is reductive in terms of her character, because she is not attracted to Denji. She sees what will manipulate him into coveting her and she does it. Pedophiles are what they are because they're attracted to children. Makima is not this. She's a child predator. She's a groomer. And these two terms feel far more fitting because they acknowledge the agency she had in her role in this relationship. She deliberately did this to Denji. She studied him, dissected his personality, isolated him from the world and broke him down emotionally and mentally. She did that. Not because he was a child, but because he was Denji.

I really hope this made sense. It's half past four in the morning but this has been sitting with me for ages. And if you have any clarifying questions please shoot and I'd be happy to answer them.

i havent seen csm is makina not the one who literally makes sexual advances on a teenager?? have i been misled??

tell u what i will break this down in the morning bc whilst i would never deny that makima is a child predator (!!!!!!!) i believe that simply referring to her as a pedophile is reductive bc of her character and denji’s . but it’s like 4 in the morning so i’ll explain it better after i’ve slept . definitely don’t take this as me defending her actions she sucks as a person so bad .

[bohemian-nights]

The HOTD fandom is so gross towards non Targ women. You would think they would be interested in seeing different female characters who also challenge the Targ’s supremacist beliefs but instead they villify,hate them and wish them to be cut from the story so their incest ships aren’t threatened or they invent incest where there isn’t,lol. It’s funny to me how they use the excuse they since it’s the Targs it’s ok to love the incest in the family when that’s supposed to be a critique to their blood supremacist beliefs. I mean it’s so creepy how the Targs are brainwashed from an early ages to view the women in their family as potential wives as if they don’t face enough potential abuse and sexualisation as it is.

Yeah this fandom is insane(especially with its hate of certain characters). It’s some how worse than the OG GOT fandom. I will say though that it seems to be a very small loud minority of shipping stans that have made things 🫠

Idk what to say other than the fact that it seems like logic has gone out the window for sexy horny incest time. I mean I’m guilty of this to some degree(😂 I’ve created a Daemon x Targ!oc fanfic for Christ’s sake’s), but at the same time I want to see more.

I don’t want this show to turn into some tragic CW level love story cause that’s not what ASOIF is about. The Targs by and large are really messed up yet interesting people who feel that they are Gods among men. They are basically the fictional version of the Hapsburgs(minus the physical deformities that come from incest).

Fanfiction is one thing, however, it seems like these people really want what the dynamics they’ve created in their head to become a reality on the show and I’m not here for it.

[madhyanas]

tell me ur thoughts on twilek head coverings 👀

aw YES thank u so much my brain was going to burst

to avoid my brain melting out my ears and also to apply some Critical Thought and Depth to star wars for once: i will be ignoring the aspects of the gross sexualisation of female twi’leks that aren’t relevant to what i’m saying. as recommended by doctors

tw: discussions of canon-typical slavery, trafficking, hyper-sexualisation. brief explanation of blood as internally transported by the body (not graphic). compression aids/stockings for medical purposes. 

only mentioning things people might want to avoid - it’s mostly okay!

0. ‘lekku’ - the tentacles growing from twi’lek heads. that’s uhhhh p important lmao

broadly speaking, i see 2 primary points of significance to twi’lek head coverings: cultural and anatomical.

1. cultural significance

to start with the obvious, we only see head coverings worn almost exclusively on women and children. children seemed to wear head coverings regardless of gender (see: suu lawquane’s kids). the only examples i could find of any coverings on adult men are either helmets or bands that wrap around the ends - with the exception of this dude who appears in the kanan comics and honestly? looks amazing

one interpretation could be a modesty-oriented culture. this is probably my favourite cultural explanation, and one i could 100% see emerging as a form of liberation amongst twi’lek women as a response to the over-sexualisation and trafficking of their species. especially since it’s such a well-known practice and stereotype. (for instance, it’s one that hera syndulla took advantage of multiple times to lower people’s guard.) 

the over-sexualisation of twi’leks is, as far as canon is concerned, distinct to twi’lek women, while enslaved twi’lek men were typically trafficked for manual labour. so it would make sense that the women’s experiences and trauma, being different from that of their male counterparts, may have resulted in a unique custom of dress in retaliation to their suffering.

very messed up how twi’leks are characterised as individuals and as a species, but something i would like to explore from that is how their subjugation and hyper-sexualisation influenced their community identity, their ideologies (especially regarding independence) and the twi’lek population taking back autonomy over their bodies and appearance. 

(in my opinion twi’lek women should have more identity-asserting narratives beyond just a few characters, but that’s by the by.)

however, there are a lot of flaws in the modesty-oriented interpretation idea. firstly, if originating as a social revolution against their enslavement, it only makes sense for as long as the enslavement and trafficking of twi’leks had been a practice. not so sure how it works out pre-Empire. secondly, it doesn’t really work in the case of enslaved twi’leks. think original trilogy - they wore ornate head coverings even when barely clothed otherwise. my guess is that these are more for ‘decoration’, for lack of a better word. since the head coverings themselves are apparently a staple of twi’lek culture, it could be that slavers let enslaved twi’leks wear head coverings for the. ‘exotic’ effect. or whatever. disgusting so let’s move on

it could very well be a religious custom, though i don’t think this is very convincing. simply because we don’t see much of twi’lek religion at all. wish we did :(

there’s a few more possible interpretations but last one for now: family lineage. from the kalikori episodes in rebels, it’s made very clear that family legacy is a defining aspect of a twi’lek’s individual identity. so i guess it wouldn’t be a stretch for women to ‘pass on’ a certain style of head covering through the family line. this explanation is really fun imo because it could possibly explain the different styles of head coverings a little more comprehensively than just regional variations/personal preferences. it also adds more more depth to what’s already been established as twi’lek tradition. could also be little things like medallions/ornaments added to head coverings. 

then again - to once more rain on my own parade - this might not check out, since neither suu’s children share any similarities in head coverings to her own, nor does hera to her mother’s. but more on hera’s head coverings below

2. anatomical/physiological

yeah alright i started getting tired here so. bullet points

star wars plays fast and loose when it comes to twi’lek physiology, especially lekku

the presence of ‘braintails’ - lekku that apparently contain part of a twi’lek’s BRAIN (whack) could be a reason for head coverings

so first and foremost i guess a logical explanation would be it’s just safer to have your brain wrapped up lmao - if they’re contained in dangly bits like lekku with no BONE encasing them (???) then having something wrapped around tightly would be a pretty basic safety measure

why don’t men wear them then? well quite a lot of male twi’lek’s have bulbous, protruding foreheads. not too far-fetched to argue that men’s brains are located more forward, while the women’s are located more backward? definitely not an airtight explanation though. 

i’ll be honest my number one favourite explanation behind head coverings is for circulation. like for varicose veins in the legs (a non-fictional condition), patients usually wear compression stockings. they improve blood flow by letting the arteries (high pressure blood vessels) relax for a bit and gives veins (low pressure) some help in sending blood back to the heart

i think that’s what head coverings could be for!! to help with blood circulation in lekku!! they’re essentially an extra pair of limbs to account for but with none of the motor skills/control of movement. and they’re constantly dangling - seeing how bouncy they are, gravity has to be taking a toll there. think like the worst case of pins and needles but you can barely move the limb that HAS the pins n needles. a compression sock/stocking/head covering might help with that.

reasonably speaking the compression sock would be at the bottom of the limb to account for gravity, and this doesn’t address the gender disparity, so it’s not a perfect explanation. but i like it a lot!!!!!

this could also be adapted for pilots, i feel. like hera’s head coverings have been mentioned to be a notable divergence from usual styles, which could be because they’re adapted for rapid changes in altitude, pressure and gravity? 

anyways much to think about