#she has the same concept of gender and sex as a cat where it's merely reproductive

[basofy]

god this was so cringey shut up all you've ever seen regarding women has been a smelly rat in the mirror and distorted photoshopped images of women with big boobees you know nothing

[comparatist]

Something I wrote about Manga.

Manga plays an important role in promoting tolerance for gender minorities.

Manga is a cultural phenomena in Japan and the rest of the world. It’s not exactly a genre but an art of storytelling comprising the interests of all age groups. The style is considered to have its origin in ukiyo-e-prints of Hokusai in 19 century. The tradition lies in the creation of humorous art. There are tales of men who love to cook and woman who love to eat, Sommeliers having their extraordinary penchant for wine and the list goes on. Though the manga tradition has been categorised into four distinctive groups based on gender stereotypes, like ‘shonen’ being targeted for the young male audience and ‘shojo’ being set to arrest the attention of young female audience, while ‘sinen’ and ‘josel’ getting marketed for the older male and the female consumers respectively, significant crossover in the readership has been thoroughly noticed on the grounds of demanding good books over gendered stereotyped ones. Manga, as a mass medium of serialised characters has played a socially critical as well as an escapist role since the 1970s. However during the 20s and 30s, manga was explicitly a matter of juvenile interest, but then, after the economic boom in the post-World War 2 era, it expanded its market for all ages and social sections while exploring vast amount of subject matter. They however, primarily, focussed on sports, large eyed adolescents, the adventures of samurai and gangsters, and tales that indulge into the deep layers of sex and violence, often evoking pornographic fantasies.

Yaoi, also known as boys love or BL is a genre in manga and other such media platforms such as anime, drama CDs etc. exploring the features of homoerotic relationships between male characters. The general has been created by woman authors for female audience but the section attracts male readers too. It is basically defined by its characteristic feature of paring the male characters in the role of protagonists. The sexual top is known as ‘seme’ who becomes the active pursuer while the passive pursuant one is known as ‘uke’ or the sexual bottom. The term yaoi dates back to the doujinshi culture of the late 1970s to the early 1980s. It was then as self-deprecating way of referring to an amateur fan art parodying the mainstream manga and anime depicting their male characters in vague or explicitly sexual circumstances. Such writing or art resembles two Helens Cixous' idea of the “I’ecriture feminine” or the feminine fiction where writing is a way of pleasure for women to celebrate their desires by creating narratives around effeminate bodies thereby suggesting for a safe distance for the women’s desires and physical selves while defamiliarising the female body by making it somewhat male, reducing the vulnerability of woman, often implicated in an overtly sexual text and showing a way to expand her boundaries that she would not have done in real life, but through erotic discourse, anchored to the male body of the passive uke.

Shoujo manga stories also play an important part in the featuring of romances between young boys or young men from the mid 1970s.

In many Yaoi mangas, the performative male bodies, being the key to the unfolding of the narratives, especially during sexual acts, do succumb to heterosexual roles. In sexually violent manga of the yaoi genre, the male body of uke performs the role of the body to be violated which may even include male pregnancy(mpreg), pheromones going out of control etc. Therefore the romanticised, beautiful male body(bishounen) is made to play various roles ranging from pornography and wish fulfilment to a aesthetic beauty and different ideas of ‘tough love,’ as often the victim is portrayed to be falling in love with the assailant and forgiving his trespassing. These tales cater exclusively to the female psychosexuality, as they are produced by and for women and as there is no involvement of the female body in the stories, enter amount of pleasure that is derived from these texts is through mental correlation.

‘Boku Patalliro!’ is a Japanese manga series which explores the themes of yaoi, was written and illustrated by Mineo Maya. The plot focusses on comedy, primarily the weird adventures of Patalliro himself. Generally episodic in nature, the subplots often have little connection to the main one, other than involving the same identities.

Patalliro du Malyner VIII is the 10 year old diabetic child King of Malynera who grooms himself as a cat when he finds himself in frustrating circumstances and mimics the run of a cockroach when there is the need to speed up. In 1982-‘83, when homosexuality was still considered a taboo, Patalliro daringly flaunted it for laughs. Bancoran is an MI6 agent appointed by the British to be Patalliro’s personal bodyguard, is an efficient killer. The character identifies himself as an effeminate homosexual person. There are instances of Patalliro making fun of Bancoran's sexual nature which the latter is forced to accept owing to the royal advantage that the former enjoys. Bancoran is constantly frustrated because the enemy-agent assassins that he fights off to maintain Patalliro’s safety are the ones he fantasizes about. Patalliro himself seems to have interesting Bancoran and often tries to seduce him through various disguises or role-playing likes of which are that of a pretty boy or a beautiful woman.

Presence of beautiful, effeminate bishounens are abundant in the shounen-ai mangas, as well as socially accepted good looking Tamanegis (King’s group of elite guards) as bi-seinens in disguise. Patalliro’s narrative is parodic and pokes fun at itself through parodying the shounen-ai culture in many ways. Mild boy-on-boy actions, lighthearted atmosphere and good vibes are the salient features of the shounen-ai manga even if there are mentions of violence, it's not extreme. Another yaoi trope is the mannerisms and the gaits of the characters being very dignified to match with their physical beauty.

The semes are amazing lovers and are able to deal with their counterpart’s tantrums. Bancoran's relationship with Maraich, who once tried to assassinate him and almost regularly beats him up, is that of a regular heterosexual couple and he takes care of Maraich like a ‘husband should'. Maraich, a firm believer of monogamous relationship based on mutual loyalty gets pregnant despite being a man which, kind of makes their picture of domestic bliss complete.

However, when the subject of tolerance towards gender minority shown through manga is being discussed, the readers and critical thinkers should keep in mind that the concept of consent is often overlooked in a text emphasising on overtly sexual portions. The seme-uke relationships are often devoid of permission and the way they get portrayed through the mangas, is nothing but a normalisation of manipulation and glorification of the violation of bodily autonomy,. Body shaming and extremely unconventional body features creating serious insecurity and unrealistic expectations among Japanese gay men isn’t something that should be considered tolerant in any sense. Gay men often feel uncomfortable at their representation in such texts where bodies and sexuality are produced and consumed as tools of entertainment for women. However, the question of sexual exploration vs one sided homosexual ‘love’ being imposed upon the other is not raised as there has already been the normalisation of the disturbing trend in Japanese pornography, both gay and straight, of the sexual recipient not acting according to his/her will as words like ‘iya’ meaning ‘no’, ‘yamete' meaning ‘stop', ‘itai’ meaning ‘it hurts' get frequently used. Surely, manga covering the yaoi genre has great representation of the gay sexual love and relationships but the absence of consent in most cases doesn’t really make it tolerant for the gender minorities. Mere representations are not enough and the concept of free will in a healthy relationship should be a much discussed topic in the manga tales. It’s high time we realise that an act upon it.

[dukeofriven]

Okay, I’ve looked into the Young Wizards series and... I have questions. It seems to be just the usual fantasy where light is good, dark is evil, and thinking is bad. I read the whale book a long time ago and didn’t think it was very interesting, but it was a long time ago. I also saw you mention an asexual character? Are they a good person and not the usual heartless freak stereotype? Even then, I’m not sure if one positive rep is worth reading a series it seems like I wouldn’t enjoy. Any help?

Young Wizard is the most thinking-positive  book series I can think of. If I wizard doesn’t know their shit, the die. if they go to the moon not knowing their exact breathing rate and take along enough oxygen for the trip they asphyxiate to death. The entire point of the wizardly speech is that before you utter a syllable you have to think about what it is you have to do - not just from a technical standpoint, but in accordance with that most important precept of the Wizard’s Oath, that a wizard “will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened.” At its best it is a philosophic musings on just about anything you can think of, especially as the series goes on and kids who started as 12 year olds find themselves facing adulthood. What does it mean to kill in the service of life? What does it mean to take you human biases out into the universe when you find yourselves facing aliens who don’t even think of the same dimensional plane as you? Questions are constantly asked about morality, love, mortality, the ritual of death, the right and wisdom of youth employing agency and - as the books go on, the nature of gender, of sex, of the importance of so complex a relationship as friendship.If you’ve only read the first book then yes, its presentation of good and bad are written more overtly in terms of light/dark than later books. Even by book 2, however, the protagonists spend most of their time becoming a bloodthirsty, violent shark (one of the series’ best characters), and they (the protagonists) have to unlearn their biases and thinking this shark as ‘evil’ just because he kills and consumes without hesitation or remorse. he is not evil, merely different, his purpose in life -and in the ecosystem - exactly what the Earth requires: to change his nature based purely on human notions of morality would be itself an amoral act.In Young Wizards dark is many things, but is never evil in and of itself - it is merely an absence of light, which is not intrinsically virtuous either, just a state of photos. Evil is always evil - it is corruption unlike that of useful fungus, natural decay, ordinary rot that happens in any properly cyclical system - it is an aberration in the natural order. It is not change, or the cycle of beginnings and endings, but entropy itself, of suffering out of a cruel and malicious presence in the universe - who may be neither so cruel, nor malicious, nor as evil as anyone might have first presumed. As the books go own so too does the morality within them change too: simplicity is often the first casualty of learning the world is a complicated place.Now, up-front, the only openly asexual character is a late-comer to the series , though she has a bigger presence if you read the supplementary material. That being said one of the series’ major characters has an intense relationship with another that they themselves are still struggling to try and define  as they learn more about another. From our current vantage point in the series (which is far from over) it most resembles that which we would call ‘queerplatonic’ - intense, at once adversarial and supportive, incredibly close without being sexual, but also still something they are working out (which is difficult in some of the alter books as Big Events happen that make easily solving knotty questions of relationships harder than usual).So if you’re looking for an out and proud asexual character to be an obvious part of the series from book one, this will disappoint you in the short term, with the caveat. however, that sexuality comes into the series slowly as the characters reach and undergo puberty. In the first book they’re nowhere near that yet: sex and their relation to it isn’t even on their horizon, they’re just kids. its not even until book four that the idea of intimate relationships starts to occur to anyone, and even then they’re first interactions with puberty are more focussed on seeing if wizardry can be used to talk pimples out of existing. If you find that description of the queerplatonic relationship - as much as I am being purposefully vague to avoid spoilers - too vague, and you’re hunting for something more immediately about the adventures of someone openly self-identifying as asexual this may not be the series for you. If you’re someone who feels uncomfortable with any discussion or depictions - however g-rated - of sex then the later books, and especially the short stories (which deal with, amongst other things, an in-depth look at the indescribably complex socio-biological history of one of the series major alien characters and their species), you may find the later series not to your tastes.However: Diane Duane, the series author, would rather be thrown into a star than ever write a series that didn’t encourage children to think. I hold her up in opposition to Harry Potter precisely because she actual cares about morality: unlike Rowling’s cut-and-dried Calvinistic determinism, Duane gives readers no such easy answers: while the books are never so dark as to trick its characters into doing something seriously heinous, its not afraid to sit them down in front of the hard questions and say “other people can’t make these decisions for you: you’ve to make a choice even if none of your options are ‘good’ ones.” Good might be virtuous, but that doesn’t make it safe, and just because you’re one of the good guys doesn’t mean you’ll live to see eighteen.Oh, and yes, the asexual character’s a fucking riot - unquestionably one of the good guys, as are the series other queer characters, neuro-divergent characters, and characters for whom mere human concepts of gender and sexual modality would be not only inappropriate but downright inapplicable.Is it the greatest representation ever? No, of course not - but Duane knows, going so far to rewrite an entire book of the series to update it with a decade’s worth of new autism research and to listen to the input of her autistic readers who said the original didn’t represent them right. Diane Duane was writing polyamorous multi-species queer-celebrating fantasy novels when she was cutting her teeth of Star Trek back in the eighties  - i can’t think of another fantasy writer who has tried so hard for so long to not rest on her privileges and stay confined in the heteronormative tropes of multiple genres.I think she’s worth reading. i think she’s worth reading more now than I did when I first read her as a kid. The New Millenium Editions (the updated, modernized books) which cover the first nine books are on sale again. (One of these days i will post my Preferred Reading order for the series, but the short version is that there are ten novels, two novella collections, several shorts stories, and three spin-off, for-adult books about cat wizards that are still waiting on a re-write to make them line-up with the canon timeline).Look, I think these are some of the smarted, most-thought books ever written - a refreshing change not only from a young adult market saturated with ditzy, consequence-free escapist fantasies, but also media so up their own ass that brutally murdering their own characters is the way they demonstrate maturity. the first book, with the youngest version of the characters, may be a stumbling block if you’re not used to reading about kid-kids, but it very much is a series about growing up - and how much more complicated that is than pop-culture always seems to suggest.

[baroquespiral]

So I finally read this sequence, AKA Yudkowsky does the moral of Evangelion And it’s pretty fascinating because it touches on all the points @philsandifer was trying to make about/around Yudkowsky in Neoreaction A Basilisk... raises the same objections and endorses the same values... and immediately people start debating the merits of pickup artistry in the comments.

Which sort of resonates with Promethea’s criticism of Sandifer’s resolution, and sort of resonates with the reasons I kind of hate most (thematic) Eva-knockoffs of the formula “your neurodivergence/queerness/trauma is artistically fascinating, but in the end you have to learn to love yourself, perform your gender correctly and Get The Girl (as if she had no more say in the matter than she ultimately does in the masturbation fantasies this is supposedly the alternative to)”. But hanging over the whole thing is the question of what the fuck is a catgirl. (I have to say, Yudkowsky is the last person I’d expect to have the same concept of catgirls as the /r/socialism mods.)   Another commenter suggests Yudkowsky replace “catgirl” with “fembot”, which I think is the correct TVTrope for “nonsentient romantic partner”, and suggests Yudkowsky has already subsumed Actually Existing Catgirls under the category of “furmod”.  A furmod, in this definition, is a purely cosmetic body modification, “scarcely different from wearing lingerie”. For many people, this is all a catgirl or catboy’s feline features are or need to be: floating signifiers that attract ambient erotic charge, moe points in database space.   But most of these moe or fetish points once had content, even if the otaku’s strategy for dealing with sexual contradiction (the topic of the Sequence) is to evacuate it: maids belong to a social class, school swimsuits are worn in an institution, etc.   The content of the catgirl image, especially when I encounter it in anime, is that while fully sentient, they behave a bit like at least some stereotype about cats.  Interestingly these aren’t quite identical to the conventional straight desires people will necessarily admit to, at least outside of a culture that has a concept of gap moe: the general extrapolation plays towards a wilful, playful and yet comparatively disinterested sexuality, the specific implications of which I’ll probably post about one of these days.  As a rule, animal-people in fantasy since long before they were fetishized are a combination of human and animal psychological and physical traits, and it is on this basis - that of a sentient nonhuman romantic partner - furry or catgirl fetishes evolved.  The key insight is that sentience is not identical to the modern human array of social and evolutionary conditioned behaviours, and a two-player sexuality could still have radically different rules.  This is why the furry community is so overwhelmingly queer - but sexual contradiction opens enough space even within normative heterosexuality, as Yudkowsky observes, to fit two whole new gender-subspecies: “sweet sexy catgirls” and “darkly gentle catboys”.   The catgirl problem is actually a much more vexing, Yudkowskian one (wasn’t @inferentialdistance talking about it lately? but I can’t be assed to find those posts): what if for a posthuman sentience, contradiction (sexual or otherwise) could actually be optimized away?   In other words, what if the danger to interpersonality as we know it is the original Human Instrumentality? but note that I qualified this with “as we know it”, which brings us to the pickup artistry in the comments.  biologically or socially, we do not come unconditioned (what would unconditioned consciousness even mean?)  insofar as the social plays a big, I’d personally bet bigger role in shaping sexuality than the biological (as if the two could be extricated), we are not even ethically free of responsibility for shaping each other’s desires to an extent that could absolutely distinguish social reproduction from catgirl-engineering.  broadly speaking, the sexual modes Yudkowsky like many others criticizes as contradictory (he, like the PUAs in his comments/most cishet men, experiences this contradiction as a “needlessly frustrating” resource imbalance: others experience it as rape, gay-bashing, fat-shaming etc.) are optimized to reproduce the institutions of heteropatriarchy and capitalism.  if we are to have a remotely coherent argument against genetically engineering sentient catgirls, it would seem, it must be intersectional.

even Cordwainer Smith, who was CIA and probably knew something about MK Ultra’s horrific attempts at optimizing people IRL, wrote an Instrumentality better as allegorization of extant social reality (particularly, class) than extrapolation of a future one. and even taken literally, I think the takeaway from Cordwainer Smith (or Steven Universe, or being gay, or most things that deal with this question) is mostly that the problem would resolve to something like the present one.  sentience as we define it is overdetermined and always-already in contradiction with the single determination, or at least generates the possibility of such: perfect optimization will funge against sentience to the point that we’re either back at the “nonsentient romantic partners” starting point or our own.  the fantasy of perfect convergence of sentience and desire-fulfilment, according to that poaster who doesn’t like Madoka, is another otaku strategy for dealing with sexual contradiction, yet one that can only be expressed in reality as violent domination “a few psychological nudges in both sexes—to behavior and/or desire—could solve 90% of the needlessly frustrating aspects of relationships for large sectors of the population, while still keeping the complexity and interest of loving someone who isn't tailored to your desires” is a large part of the conventional feminist solution.  (not only does Yudkowsky define catgirls the same way as /r/socialism, he provides the exact same alternative!)  of course, the demand to optimize yourself - the Tumblr moralism that seems to strain as fervently as an ascetic religion against experienced “human nature” - does not solve the problem of contradiction.  while perhaps necessary in a fallen world, it only gives us the comfort of a coerced consent, a kind of Augustinian tautological reversal of ontological unfreedom.  indeed, mere sexual collectivism even at its most intersectional struggles to distinguish itself in meta-logic from the “community of women” that Marx refuted which is why it’s still worth thinking about catgirls because while different sentient desires will probably never be optimized into perfect harmony, they will continue to differentiate.  and the best, or at least most ethical and funnest, way I can think of to reduce the harm done by sexual contradiction is to encourage - with a feline aloofness and sense of play - that differentiation and profusion - through abstinence and perversion, deepening and broadening, socioeconomic levelling, wireheading and bihacking and niche-identifying and if we are ever at a point as a society where we can do this without expecting fulfilment of our creations, creating until the totality of desires approaches the threshold of a Deleuzian multiplicity without contradiction i.e.

Q U E E R  C A T P E R S O N  C O M M U N I S M

[cockholmsyndrome]

omfg who did you drag in your final paper

this paper was just drag after drag after drag, i felt like i was on some type of drug while writing it lmfao..

“Well, That’s Not Fair:” Subtle Racism withinFeminism 

August 24 of2014 was a memorable night in the music industry. It was the night of VideoMusic Awards, a well known award show for musicians. It was overall a verysuccessful year of accomplishments for Beyoncé Knowles Carter. However, sheopted to use her remarkable status in the music industry to highlight feminismduring her VMA performance. Towards the end of her 16-minute medley, the wholestage went dark and the word ‘Feminist’ brightly lit in the background. To nosurprise, she was heavily criticized for her bold statement. Would this samestyle of performance be shamed if Beyoncé were white? Does feminism equate withcertain skin tones? Each decision made by a female artist is essentiallycrucial to her career. It can drastically take a negative toll on the way thepublic views her. Though, the way society treats black female artists and whitefemale artists have shown a questionable trait upon the matter of feminism.

ParentsTelevision Council quickly responded with their thoughts concerning thisperformance by Beyoncé. Tim Winter, the PTC president stated, “It is perplexingthat a performance would include, on the one hand, strong, positive writtenmessages above the stage about honoring and respecting young women and endinggender-based double standards; while on the other hand the female performersare on stripper poles with back up dancers in flesh-toned bikinis.” Hedisregarded the fact that while being a feminist, you can also express sexpositivity, which was the main goal of Beyoncé’s performance. Women areconstantly shamed for being too sexualized, or they’re sexualized against theirown will. In comparison, we haven’t seen as muchharshly negative commentary about Miley Cyrus’ sexualized dancing that tookplace during the same award show in 2013. She was able to be show sexualizedtraits on stage with Robin Thicke and the PTC President had nothing to publiclyannounce about her behavior. Why didn’t he show the same type of response for Beyoncéthe following years? Curiosity strikes once again when you begin to wonderwhether or not race has anything to do with the way media and the communityreacts to different types of women.  

Race is one keyfactor that no one really thinks about when talking about the treatment offemale artists. Society tends to group women all together and state that allwomen face the same type of issues, when that’s merely just speculation tobroaden the term ‘feminism’. All women certainly face scrutiny. Though,different women face distinct levels of scrutiny based on their racialidentity. There have been multiple scenarios where a white female artist hasbeen treated with the upmost respect; meanwhile, a black female artist has beentreated differently in similar situations. Specifically, media outlets haveshown this discrete pattern with the way Caucasian women are portrayed versusthe way black women are presented. 

Susei Carneirowrote an article about the struggles that Brazilian black women face frommedia, labor, and society. She begins her discussion of media by mentioning thestereotypes and stigmas that damage the representation of black women. Inaddition, emphasizing the amount of power media holds over society. “Becausethe naturalization of racism and sexism in the media systematical reproducesthe stereotypes and stigmas that damage the social value of this group… Thesymbolic exclusion, the lack of representation, or the distorted image of blackwomen in the media are forms of violence that are so painful, cruel anddamaging that it could be regarded as a human rights issue,” she argued.Consequently, these distinctions in the treatment towards women of color have mainlybeen driven by the stereotypes that have been formed about them overtime. 

A commonstereotype that’s been applied to black female artists is their habit of havingan angry attitude. This stereotype has been broadcasted by multiple mediaoutlets that commonly write about musicians and celebrities. Media journalistsare well known for the subtle racist behaviors implemented into theirdiscussion of musicians. It’s typical for competition to arise in such anintense industry, though, the presentation of different artists have been basedupon their racial skin tone. A recent heated discussion in pop culture was thefeud between two female artists that go by the names of Taylor Swift and NickiMinaj. 

Billboardarticles are well known in this industry for spreading the news about recentevents in the music industry. Though, a sliver of their racist view point wasrevealed for a moment. An animation of the two celebrities was plastered at thetop of an article about the feud. In the image, Taylor Swift had her handrested on her hip and her facial expression was calm. Simultaneously, for NickiMinaj, her arms were crossed defensively and a frown was smeared across herface like an upset child. Two parties were involved in this feud, but one (awoman of color) was portrayed as the villain, while the opposite party (aCaucasian female) was presented as the victim. These little distinctions in thephoto had exposed who Billboard had supported in this feud. It wasn’t justBillboard participating in these subtly racist acts. Multiple other sources woulduse images of this black female artist in the middle of yelling or just lookingdisgruntled. On the other hand, Taylor Swift was portrayed as a straight Astudent that could do no wrong. Of course, this isn’t meant to sound demeaning towardsMs. Swift. It’s a valid point that emphasizes the cruel differences between thetreatments of women of color in media versus Caucasian women discussed inmedia.

Surprisingly, Nicki Minajand Taylor Swift concluded their feud by shaping it into a positive message byperforming on the Video Music Awards together in 2015. In society, women havebeen raised in such a manner that they’re constantly comparing themselves toeach other. Whether it’s their clothes, their bodies, or their facial features,competition of beauty between women has been shaped by societal norms. Throughthis notion, cat fighting within the music industry was found very common.Society has sculpted the culture of femininity to also have a characteristic ofbeing selfish and catty. From the competition that arises in the musicindustry, media outlets try to form rivalry among successful female artists.Rather than emphasizing their achievements for celebration, it’s for dramatizedgossip. 

It’s understandablethat media outlets are going to be strongly opinionated in their discussions ofevents in the music industry. They will toss aside the concept of unbiasedwriting for the sake of getting views on their work. It’s the audience choiceto believe what they read or to form their own opinion. Surprisingly, it isn’tjust media outlets that have been treating women differently based on skin. Thepublic in general, have been showing signs of giving torment to black women atan intensified degree in comparison for white women doing similar things. 

Throughouthistory, Caucasians have been given privileges. That includes their ability toenter black culture without any penalization. Though, if the roles wereswitched, then negative comments were sternly made. A primary example of thishypocrisy took place during the Country Music Awards and the BlackEntertainment Television Awards. Country Music Awards is a time to appreciatethe genre of music that’s been categorized under country, a genre of musicthat’s primarily Caucasian. With Beyoncé broadening her talent andexperimenting her abilities, she released a song that fell under the style ofcountry music. She titled the song ‘Daddy Lessons’ and managed to perform thesong with Dixie Chicks during the Country Music Awards. Though, the audiencethat had an intense passion for this genre didn’t take her presence on stagelight-heartedly. The New York Times wrote an article about the intense backlashshe had received from the public. An individual claimed that, “her policereform and Black Lives Matter movement had no place at the ceremony.” Though,she simply performed a song about her father and didn’t even show a singleindication of the Black Lives Matter movement. The article quotes a commenteron Facebook that stated, “Why are you showing Beyoncé and Dixie chicks? Onedoesn’t believe in America & our police force while the other didn’tsupport our president & Veterans during war. Neither are country andBeyoncé could not be bothered to put on some clothes for the occasion.” Whilesimultaneously being sexist and racist, the commentator seemed to show a muchmore intense distaste towards Beyoncé, the only colored woman on the stage thatnight. 

The BlackEntertainment Television Awards are meant to celebrate minorities across theindustries of music, acting, sports and more. A turn in the opposite direction wastaken when Iggy Azalea was offered the chance to perform for the show in 2014.She attended this ceremony that was specifically meant for minorities and performeda rap song titled ‘Fancy’. As a result, she was only praised for entering thisgenre of music that’s solely been formed through the struggles of minorities.Several comments from the public floated around stating ‘Iggy Azalea Rocks 2014BET Awards’, filling their titles with complete admiration towards thisCaucasian female artist. Simultaneously, Beyoncé received harsh criticismmerely for performing a country song during the Country Music Awards.Essentially, the artists themselves aren’t the issue on knowing theirboundaries, but the way media outlets/audiences respond to these events in sucha hypocritical manner. 

Opportunitieshave been formed differently for individuals throughout centuries. It’ssomething that’ll still be fought for in the future. Though, at a certainpoint, when an opportunity is so misconstrued it begins to get questioned.Rolling Stones released an article that explained how Beyoncé was shot downfrom even submitting her song ‘DaddyLessons’ into the Grammy nominations. The public found this situation to bequite confusing since she was just asking for a submission for her song.“Beyoncé earned nine Grammy nominations when the categories were revealed onDecember 6th. While the bulk of the singer’s notations were in all-genre, popand rap categories …. Inclusion there makes the outright rejection of thetwangy “Daddy Lessons” somewhat more of a head-scratcher.” Nepotism is predictablein such an industry. Though, the award show had essentially put a firm barrierin front of this successful black artist. This barrier had resisted her fromsubmitting a country song into a country nomination. People who don’tunderstand the subtle behaviors of racism within the music industry, willalways find this action as a head scratcher.  

The adversitiesthat minorities had faced throughout decades of violence and theft had amassive effect on the way people see ‘beauty’. With the way, history has shapedthe lives for darker skinned people; it’s understandable that white women havebeen glorified for their skin tone. The commonality of having straight hair andlight skin has gotten women of color to seek themselves as not naturallybeautiful. Gail Hilson Woldu stated, “Sociologically [Nicki] is reallyfascinating because she is not only dressing up to be a woman, but she’sdressing up to be a white woman”. This was applied to multiple other women ofcolor within the industry. They suffered societal shame that was given to theirskin tone and hair texture. By implementing white features to their appearance,they were attaining attention and glorifying this concept of being white toanother extreme degree. This concept of white-washing was driven by the lack ofglorification towards colored women. 

There hasalways been controversy behind the concept women of having sexual appeal.Whether it’s the way they dress, act, or dance, it’ll always be criticized. “Formany black women performers, having a voluptuous rear end was an asset and nota defect that needed to be camouflaged”, Woldu states by mentioning thesexualized actions towards black women. While it may be acceptable for them tohave bold sexualized features, it’s also been expected for them to have these voluptuous rear ends. “In “Baby’sGot Back,” by rapper Sir-Mix-a-Lot, black women’s protruding behinds are theobject of desire and lust, whereas white women had flat as a pancake behinds …and the fashion industry that celebrated anorexic looking white women aremocked in this music.” In the hip-hop culture, black men were only capable ofshowing appreciation towards the curviness of black women in their music. Withblack men objectifying black females in their music, it develops the heighteneddesire of sexualization towards black women over white women.

“Thesexualizing of black women is a continuation of slavery mindset in thetwenty-first century that is being perpetuated not only by black rappers, butmany of the white audiences who fuel the consumer base. There is nothinginherently sexual about black women, but instead, there is a sexuality placedupon their bodies, first by colonizers, then by the slaveholders, and now bythe popular media,” Lindsey Wiltse stated in her article. Essentially, all thehorrific actions inflicted onto the minorities over the several centuries ofhistory have sculpted this over-bearing habit of sexualizing women of color. Thehypersexualization of women that has been shown through hip hop culture, hasallowed for the white gaze to look into black females from a sexualized viewpoint. With the white gaze involved in hip hop culture, there’s an extraneousamount of sexualization towards black women. In reality, hip hop culturewithout the white gaze, focuses on its roots such as jazz and reggae. Themainstream aspect of hip hop has been inclusive to the white gaze and it hasresulted in a difference of sexual appeal in black women versus white women.

Overall, womenare constantly being challenged by the barriers of sexism that has beendeveloped over history. Female artists are still intensely sexualized andlooked upon as objects in the industry. Regardless of whether the artist is awoman of color or Caucasian, it’s expected for them to have a sexual appeal intheir appearance. In addition, women are criticized for not upholding multipleexpectations for their talent. For the music industry, having a pretty face anda marvelous singing ability won’t be enough for a woman to achieve success.They’re expected to reach a strict standard of beauty, attain the ability todance in uncomfortable heels, be charming and so on. For male artists, the mostthat’s expected for them is to wear basic clothing and have an ability tosing. 

Men arediscussed for their actions and their music. For women, they’re typicallyoverlooked for their talent and mainly looked upon as sexualized objects topoke at. A recently well known example would be LA Weekly posting amisogynistic article about Sky Ferreira. The article stated, “A third unnamedgroup that included me couldn’t help but reminisce on the past, on herdefiantly atomic boobs — the two knockers that altered the course of humanhistory.” As a result of the article, Sky Ferreira swiftly responded by statingthat she was more than just her body and that she was a musician. Sheemphasized a point that she is more than her sex appeal and her “knockers” andthat they’re two traits that she’ll never be ashamed of when discussing hercareer. With enough attention from the audience, the article was shortlyremoved along with an apology from the LA Weekly writer. Rather than focusingon her talent, or her ability to sing and write music, LA Weekly settled on theconcept of analyzing her body. This is routinely applied to only femaleartists. Though, for men, they’re commonly focused on their lyrics aren’tpresented in media at all.

Society tendsto just throw all the issues that women face under the title of feminism.Simultaneously, society forgets the specific type of issues that only women ofcolor have to battle each day. The barriers formed by sexism shouldn’t blur thelines within feminism. It shouldn’t be forgotten that white women clearly havean advantage in the world over women of color. When the non-Caucasian relatedissues are lost in the mix of feminism, it becomes ‘white feminism’. Commontopics that are connected to feminist discussions include rape, abortion,sexual assault and wage gap. Those topics are essentially the introductorycourse to the entire range of actual feminism that’s inclusive to all types ofwomen. While these commonly known topics are bringing awareness to issues, manymembers of society don’t really focus on the race aspect that lies withinfeminism. The manner of how a black women experiences sexism and inequality iscompletely different from the way a white woman experiences these issues. Toview feminism from a one-sided view of white women is not feminism at all.Kimberley Crenshaw stated in 1989, “The view that woman experience oppressionin varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity. Culturalpatterns of oppression are not only interrelated but are bound together andinfluenced by intersectional systems of society.” White feminism needs to beadjusted into a better understanding of issues faced by women of color. They’remore likely of being a target of hate and criticism than white women. Ofcourse, this isn’t to say that white women aren’t treated unfairly. But it’simportant to acknowledge how the issues that aren’t related to white women areoverlooked during the topic of feminism. 

[hasansonsuzceliktas]

How to Invite a Soulmate to Your Life

Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: In this interview, we’ll be talking about soulmates and spiritual love. I’m interviewing Begüm Güven Karace for a number of reasons. First, I want the opinion of a woman on these issues. Second, she is hosting a two-day seminar on finding soulmates through ThetaHealing® techniques. Third, she has been together with her husband from age 16, which is rather rare. It is actually unusual to see people who are engaged in spiritual practices having such a long-term relationship. I’ll bet many people who are reading this interview have already divorced at least one partner. They may already be with a new partner, or maybe they’re searching for one, asking themselves where this partner is. But why is this harder for women? It could be that spiritual women are not as in demand as spiritual men. Spiritual issues carry yin energy, so women are highly drawn to them. There are consequently many beautiful spiritual women around, and it’s harder for these women to find compatible men. We’ll present a solution to the problem in this interview. Begüm, let’s start by describing what a soulmate is. Begüm Güven Karace: A soulmate has a soul that we are already familiar with from another existence, so we feel like we know each other from the moment we first meet. We feel close to each other and may experience intense feelings straight away. For instance, a person may suddenly catch your attention. You may feel intense emotions and empathize with what this person thinks. This is very common with soulmates and members of the same soul group. We feel love for both our soul group family members and our soulmates, and we feel close to them. We feel like we already know them, but the feeling is more intense for a soulmate. That is the only difference. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Let me ask something directly: The only difference between a soul group family member and a soulmate is sexuality? So you would not have sex with someone from your soul family, but when you meet your soulmate, you feel something similar, but it may lead to sex. Begüm Güven Karace: Yes, we could say this of course, but some people do marry a soul group family member. When you ask these people about their feelings for their partners, they will say, “I love him/her like a brother/sister.” Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: So there’s no passion? Begüm Güven Karace: Yes. Such partners get along well, because they share interests and feel like they know each other since time immemorial, but there’s no passion. They may look like the best among the worst, but on the other hand, without passion, it can be difficult to continue a marriage or partnership. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Anything passionless is like coffee without milk. It’s the milk that gives the real taste. Begüm Güven Karace: A man’s point of view may differ, of course, but in general, both men and women want to be satisfied in all aspects. If we are in a situation where we confuse a soul family member with a soulmate, it will be difficult to continue the relationship indefinitely. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: At this point, what’s the difference between twin flames and soulmates? Begüm Güven Karace: I’d like to quote Paula Coelho’s book Brida, which beautifully explains the difference between twin flames and soulmates. Twin flames are mirrors of the soul, literally the two halves of your soul. A soulmate, however, is one who helps us to complete our experiences. A soulmate is someone who will help you to grow and evolve, while your twin flame is a mirror of your soul. We should remember that we attract partners we are similar to, both positively and negatively. If I were to be with my twin flame, he would experience the same difficulties as me simultaneously, and when partners encounter the same difficulties, it becomes harder to live a joyous life. On the other hand, a soulmate can support me through the difficulties, and vice versa, so the relationship flows more fluently and happily. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: I believe it may be difficult to meet a twin flame partner, because the twin flame is another part of the soul and has experienced different things. You may have heard about this, but in a regression session, I experienced that I was a Jew in Auschwitz, while my twin flame was a Nazi officer. I experienced two completely different scenarios in that camp. There is no romanticism here. Twin flames experience some common difficulties but from different perspectives. The best description of what a soulmate is can be found in the magnificent book 2150 AD. When the hero meets his soulmate, she says, “In order to be with me, you should first be with the others.” For the hero’s frequency, there were twenty women and two men that were compatible from a population of one million people. Applying this to the Earth’s population of seven billion, we must have hundreds of thousands of soulmates. Is this right? There’s not just one soulmate for each of us. Begüm Güven Karace: Research into spiritual issues claims that following the transformation and rise from 1988, many soulmates are here to experience life on Earth. I mean, it’s no longer true to say, “I’ve only one soulmate. I found him and lost him, so it’s all over now.” No, this is simply not the case! It’s possible for us to find soulmates with different ages and genders and in different locations. For as long as we love ourselves and be conscious of self-love, we will meet many soulmates. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: On one hand, this is good. If you believe you only have one soulmate, what if he or she was in love with someone else? This way you actually have many options. On the other hand, another question surfaces: If we all have many soulmates, we may be attracted to all of them, which is not acceptable within our current level of consciousness. I believe we are inherently polygamous beings who have been programmed to be monogamists. What do you think? Begüm Güven Karace: As far as we know, monogamy comes from a gene not present in 60% of humanity. Carrying this gene also does not mean people will be monogamous, because they may have other partners over time. However, people carrying the monogamy gene do feel guilty if they have an affair, while people without the monogamy gene feel no guilt about it. What’s more, female nature differs from that of men in this regard. Women are more inclined to monogamy as they are limited to giving birth once a year and ovulating once a month, while a man can, in theory, father hundreds of children in a year. Men and women have different programming for the continuation of human life. Women are attracted to men who are suitable to their own genes. They want suitable fathers for their children and are often inclined to stay with one man. Men, meanwhile, are programmed to fertilize as many women as possible. On top of this, cultural and social structures and laws lay down some restrictions on monogamy and polygamy, but we are still created with certain dispositions. Of course, there is a critical point here. People do not randomly feel attracted to each other. This is where the soulmate concept comes into consideration. If I am together with a soulmate, and if that soulmate is to be my life partner, there are going to be important junctions in our fates when I should not feel attracted to another, nor should he feel attracted to another woman. It is all about completing each other, loving each other entirely, and being implicit. That’s when we can think about monogamy. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Now, let’s talk about relationships. What’s needed to keep a relationship going? Begüm Güven Karace: The only thing that keeps a relationship going is self-love and self-respect. If I do not love and respect myself, I cannot love and respect another. If I do not accept myself, I cannot accept someone else, because that person becomes a mirror to me. I’ll be with someone who shows me the things about me that I’d rather ignore. If I cannot love myself entirely, I will continuously suspect that I am not loved. If I do not respect myself entirely, if I do not accept myself, and if I do not respect and accept the power that created me, I begin to feel like others do not respect me. Yet everyone deserves to be respected and accepted as they are. As long as I respect myself, I begin to love and accept others as they are, and relationships consequently work better. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: So Begüm, you are an instructor of ThetaHealing, which really is a magnificent tool for us. When I want to attract a soulmate, how will ThetaHealing help me? Begüm Güven Karace: Through ThetaHealing, we create a reality where it is possible to attract a certain type of people, whether it be soulmates or friends, to our lives. There is an important point before this, however: We should do our best to love ourselves. As we begin to love ourselves and accept how we are, people who will love and accept us will enter our lives. Whether it’s through ThetaHealing or another technique, it’s an exercise in self-love. Louise Hay has made some beautiful videos about mirror work, and many spiritual techniques have useful exercises for self-love. The first step to inviting a soulmate is to work on our self-love and self-acceptance. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Some readers may wonder why that among all those hundreds of thousands of soulmates, they have not met one yet. This may be because they are not broadcasting the right frequency, the frequency of love. What you say is very important, Begüm, but how do we invite a soulmate into our lives? Begüm Güven Karace: We can compile a list by noting down all the features that we would like to see in a soulmate. We should begin by first writing the gender of this soulmate. If we merely say that we want a magnificent soulmate who gives us unconditional love, we may just as well get a cat or a dog. This can come to your life like a soulmate, or it could take the form of a friend with the same gender as you. This is why we should first decide the gender of our desired soulmate. Then, we should list the features of this soulmate. We can write down both physical and spiritual features. We can then take this list and consider what we have written. Next, what can we offer our soulmate? Do we also possess the features on this list? As you said, it’s a matter of frequency. I can only attract people with the same frequency as me. Let’s say I believe I am poor and should continue to live in poverty in order to evolve, yet my list says I want a rich soulmate. As I do not accept wealth into my life, how can I invite such a soulmate into it? There may a soulmate ready for me, but he will wait for my belief about wealth, and therefore my frequency, to change. In addition, you should wish for everything to come to pass in the highest possible way. The first task is to make a list and write down the most desirable attributes of a soulmate. The second task is to examine this list and for each item, decide if we are really ready to accept it in our lives. Through ThetaHealing or another method or prayer, you can then ask for your wish to come true. Next, close your eyes and imagine the person described in your list standing next to you and holding your hand. This person carries all the features you wanted, but what do you feel? What do all these features remind you of? Is there anything that makes you feel afraid or anxious? What would your mother say? What would your father say? What kind of a person is your soulmate? How do your friends react? When you try to feel and consider these things, anything that restrains you comes to the surface, so you have the opportunity to clean those restrains. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Let’s use an analogy for inviting a soulmate. What ingredients can we use in a dessert? Which nuts should we use? How much flour and sugar should it have? There is a saying: “Love does not mean gazing at each other but rather looking outward together in a single direction.” Is this accurate? Should partners look outward together in the same direction? Begüm Güven Karace: Everyone has different preferences. For example, I often meet people who say, “I want a spiritual partner.” Sure, we all want someone who is special, but on the other hand, not everyone is as interested in spiritual issues as we are. An important point here is that I should rather ask for a partner who is tolerant and supportive of me in my spiritual endeavors. Almost 300 people were at the soulmate course I attended. The first thing Vienna Stibal asked us was how many of us wanted a spiritual soulmate. Many people raised their hands, but when Vienna asked the men to stand up, only five men stood up. This showed the ratio of men to women. Vienna then told us if we wanted a spiritual partner, we were really after a soulmate who will support us in our spiritual exercises. This can be someone who tolerates us and shows love. Your soulmate does not need to share your spiritual hobbies. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Is your husband interested in spirituality? Begüm Güven Karace: He is not interested in such things at all. He does not even know Reiki. However, I’ve always felt supported, such as when I opened my healing center and when I worked on spiritual practices. Yet he is not interested in spirituality himself. This is why you need to be sure about what you really want. So, what do you need? For example, desiring a companion in your life journey is a good thing. Instead of wanting a partner who loves me, I prefer a partner whom I love. Mutual love is important of course, but first and foremost, a partner must be someone I love. I want a partner I will always love and accept in every situation, and this is the first thing on my list. He must be someone I desire, someone I will have a joyous life with, and someone I am sexually compatible with. As you can see, the list must be representative of what you need. You may want a partner who is acceptable to your social environment, someone you can easily introduce to your family, but the other requirements should be about your personal needs. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: What’s more, we shouldn’t write down negative features. For example, we should not write, “Must not be a lunatic.” You may end up meeting the most insane person ever, because this is not how the universe works. Begüm Güven Karace: Yes, we should only note down positive features. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: …to get someone with a sound mind and a balanced demeanor. Begüm Güven Karace: Exactly, so we will look at our list. Let’s say I am very imbalanced, but I want a balanced partner. Such a soulmate will wait for you to reach a balanced state. If you want a soulmate now, you should ask for a soulmate that fits your current state. After your list is complete, close your eyes and imagine this person near you. What kind of person is there? How does he or she make you feel? When there are other people around that see you together, how would you feel? Do you feel confident, proud, or loving? Or do you feel fear, anxiety, or a desire to run away? Before inviting a soulmate into your life, you should first cleanse these feelings. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: As you also know, people engaged in spiritual practices often suffer oaths of loneliness from their past lives. Healers in this life were often shamans and healers in their past lives as well, and they may have lived far from their tribes. As this program still runs in the background, these people still feel lonely, and this deters people from entering their lives. Begüm Güven Karace: An oath of loneliness is important, and in addition, you should also conclude your previous relationships. You need to spiritually complete any previous relationships. You should end any services for such relationships, cut your ties with the partner, and regain your soul fragments from the partner, as well as return that partner’s soul fragments. When my hands are full, I cannot hold someone else’s hands. Even if you were not married or in a serious relationship, you may have cared for a parent over a long period, so you may have a similar spiritual bond with this parent. Ultimately, though, you must also cut down such ties and get back your soul fragments. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: These are necessary preparations. Even if I think I made all these preparations, it does not mean I will meet my soulmate, right? The universe does not work in a way that our minds understand. If I make the preparations in March, I do not necessarily meet a soulmate in April. Begüm Güven Karace: Once you are on the path, you will meet suitable partners. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: We close our eyes; we see our fears. We feel anxious. What next? Begüm Güven Karace: If you have any fears or worries, you should work on them by engaging in suitable spiritual practices. You should eliminate the fears and anxieties you feel when you hold the hand of a soulmate. You will then be ready to invite this soulmate. You might want to extend the invitation first and then work on your fears, but you need to take action first. For example, you should go out to meet a soulmate. Just go and do something you like to do. Do whatever you like to do, because when people engage in a hobby or other favorite activity, the energy they reflect brings love, joy, and happiness. We meet our soulmates when we do the things we like to do. These activities bring us joy and happiness, so they make us feel better. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: There is a very important trick here. It’s not right to believe you will be happy when you find your soulmate. Instead, you meet a soulmate if you are happy. We always do the opposite. We have lists: I will be that if I do this, I will be this if I do that, and so on. Instead, if you can honestly say, “I am happy. I am full of love. I love myself. I’m happy to be alive,” and when you feel you need nothing, a partner will come to your life. Begüm Güven Karace: Exactly. We also should not pine for completion. Thinking that a soulmate will come to your life and complete you is not right. I must first accept that I am already complete and whole. No one else can complete me. There will merely be an exchange between the two of us. We will love and support each other and give and take. If you do not feel complete and whole, you may meet a soulmate, but the person you invite to your life will support your unhappiness, because such a partner can only support your state of mind. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Can we meditate to invite a soulmate? Could you give an example? Begüm Güven Karace: Make a list of the attributes you want in a soulmate and hold this list. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. While exhaling, feel relaxed. Next, ground and center yourself in your heart and visualize descending into Mother Earth, which is a part of All That Is. Visualize drawing up energy through your feet, opening all of your chakras in the process. Imagine your consciousness within a beautiful ball of light, and within this light, rise from your crown and go out to the universe. Go beyond the universe, past the white lights, past the dark light, past the jelly-like substance that is law and into a pearly, iridescent white light. Become a part of this iridescent light as it penetrates your whole body. This is the energy of infinite love. Now, imagine you are a whole with this light and the list you still hold in your hand. Visualize the energy of this list rise up and encompass the whole world. Imagine your invitation reaching an appropriate person. Make your command and know that it is heard. Feel the joy and satisfaction with all your heart. Stay in this energy for a while before opening your eyes when you are ready. We can also invite compatible friends to our lives through this method. Hasan Sonsuz Çeliktaş: Begüm, thank you so much for your time. Begüm Güven Karace:  Thank you, Hasan. Read the full article