#she's such a huge supporter of making men's clothing more diverse it's just that most men are raised to Not Want That so when flash does

[smallcrystals]

flash shyly asking rarity to make his fall formal outfit a little more feminine than the old boring suit and tie shtick that every guy ever wears and she just pulls out a fucking corset she’s been wanting him to wear for ages

[normal-thoughts-official]

I love your Magnus responses! Some have brought me to tears :') hopwfully you haven't answered this yet. I always see fics/ metas on how Alec came to terms about his sexuality, but never on Magnus (or just a selecative few). In your opinion how did he come to terms with his bisexuality? - luxxmagnus

okay first of all I LOVE UR BLOG im so glad u like my shit omg fajsfoamsa and second of all BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS ABOUT HOW MAGNUS CAME TO TERMS WITH HIS SEXUALI-

okay SO. your relationship with sexuality is deeply influenced by your early years, as is, well, most aspects of your personality lol. so i think it’s fascinating to think about magnus’ relationship with his gender identity and sexuality considering he was born in early-1600s indonesia, aka right when the colonization started. meaning, a lot of their customs and views on gender and sexuality couldn’t have possibly been erased yet, but they were being very violently and aggressively repressed. and then he finished his growing-up years with asmodeus, a demon, who can’t really give much of a fuck about gender identity and sexuality. so this means a very complicated relationship is bound to develop, and i love it.

unfortunately, magnus’ exact ethnic background isn’t specified in SH (nor tsc, i believe) which makes the whole discussion a lot harder because there are hundreds of native peoples in indonesia. however, they were very much in contact with each other both before and after the dutch invasion and subsequent colonisation, so what i’m gonna do here is talk a little bit about the views on the subject magnus was definitely aware of, and go from there

i know this specifically asked about his bisexuality so i will refrain from shitting my trans magnus headcanon all over the place but i will say that the Bugis people recognised five genders, including one for AFAB people who identified as neither male nor female, and one that embodied both female and male identities

anyway, queerphobia is, in fact, a very recent and very european thing, and most indonesian people, like most asian people and most non-modern-western peoples, were actually A-okay with what we view today as homosexuality. there were even many rituals centered around men-on-men and women-on-women practices. they were also pretty open with sexuality as a whole; there’s even a mountain with a shrine where people have sex with strangers as part of their religious worship.

but, as we know, the european colonizers were very intent on killing off and erasing all records of their dominated cultures, particularly the aspects that directly challenged the european model of gender, sexuality and relationships, to the point where we, ppl born in previously colonised countries, don’t even know about our culture’s views on gender and sexuality. in indonesia, the dutch criminalised homosexuality and we can’t forget that magnus’ stepfather was dutch, and that magnus was born after the colonisation. 

so here’s the context: since it was very early in the colonisation days, there is no way that magnus didn’t know about the very rich and diverse gender and sexuality practices in his own country. there’s just no way. it takes decades to completely erase that shit. and we can’t forget that all indonesian peoples resisted colonisation, a lot. we don’t know the exact nature of magnus’ mother’s relationship with his stepfather, but it is very likely that he either enslaved or forced her to be in a relationship with him, because - well, because that’s colonisation, folks. it’s what these guys do. this is also supported by the way his stepfather treated magnus, because i mean, what the fuck. it was extremely rare that native colonised ppls would willingly be with their coloniser, particularly considering how the dutch were just, like, casually deporting and starving indonesian native ppls and ppl in java had been at war with the portuguese would-be settlers (would-be because they lost amazingly lmao get rekt) since the beginning of the 1500s. so im gonna go out on a limb here and say that magnus’ “stepfather” was, in fact, an abusive piece of shit coloniser who probably mistreated magnus’ mother and was probably a huge reason why she killed herself - i mean, your people are dying, and you’re bound to this guy who abuses and rapes you and keeps telling you everything about you and the way you live and was raised is demonic, that’s just bound to mess with you. actually, the religious aspect of colonisation that taught ppl that their cultures and religious were demonic and immoral and that they either had to repent for that and submit to the colonisers or be killed slash go to hell, hmmm…… well, is probably related to the fact that the idea that magnus was demon-related was repulsive enough to her that she killed herself? and that’s if we go with the interpretation that magnus was the main reason, which isn’t really reliable because 1- magnus clearly thinks he needs to Save Everyone and is bound to think that if anyone gets hurt it’s his fault; 2- canonically, it was magnus’ stepfather who told magnus that the reason she killed herself was magnus’ heritage. i mean i find it hard to believe personally that magnus’ mom didn’t know she was fucking a demon or at least a supernatural entity of some sort, and the whole angel-demon division is a christianity thing anyway, so what the fuck does this mean to magnus’ mom, really? especially considering that, unlike magnus, she probably was alive before the settlers arrived, so it’s even harder to believe that she would just uncritically believe everything about good and evil she was being taught by the guys that were, you know, committing mass genocide. i personally think that if magnus’ eyes were related to her killing herself at all (which makes less and less sense the more i think about it. i mean, what, was he born glamoured? surely she knew about this before he was like 11 or something) it would be because, in a way, this proved that everything she was being told about herself was true. she was demonic, her culture was demonic, and they deserved the absolutely horrific and traumatic things that were happening to them, and her son’s eyes proved it. so it’s not really about magnus as it is about, like, the entire continent of Europe’s bullshit. and anyway, again, everything she was going through was extremely traumatic - i think magnus’ eyes would be almost an afterthought, if considered at all.

anyway, sorry, went on a huge tangent here, i have no self control whatsoever. what i’m trying to say is that magnus grew up in an environment where expressions of different gender and sexuality were very repressed, but he was born in the heart of the very resistance. he was a native man (or, well, boy) and he knew for a fact that most people lived outside of the constricting western gender and sexuality binary, and he lived in a time where the europeans hadn’t really managed to dominate and erase their culture - of course, they never truly did, but the differences were way more latent. so magnus’ views on the whole thing were probably among the lines of “the asshole white people think the way we live is bad and are trying to kill us and that’s why they’re assholes and we’re trying to kick them out, but currently me and my mom are on their hands so i’m gonna have to behave like they expect me to”. so, lots of abuse, a very complicated relationship, but i do believe that magnus wouldn’t have internalised the european bullshit because, well, he was seeing the counterpoint and the resistance and he certainly knew which side was “his”. also in his flashbacks he’s wearing traditional indonesian clothing so there’s that - proof that he wasn’t completely assimilated to european views and culture.

and then he killed the stepfather (good riddance, rot in hell) and went to live his final teenage years with asmodeus. i mean, more like was found by asmodeus and forced to be with him by both the circumstances and asmodeus himself, but you get what i’m saying. 

here’s the thing: asmodeus is definitely an asshole and an abuser, but i can’t bring myself to believe he gave a good fuck about modern-western gender roles and sexuality. he is older than them. by a lot. and he doesn’t even care about the earth realm that much, his whole thing is that he wants to rule edom, so i’m not even sure if he knows about them beyond the, like, very very basics. maybe not even that. so during the rest of magnus’ formative years, and probably the time he figured out what exactly his sexuality was anyway, he was in a pretty open environment when it came to that.

so with that we’ve reached the first conclusion of this huge-ass essay that you probably didn’t sign up for: up until he went to England, Magnus was probably pretty comfortable when it came to his sexuality. like, shit, he was fucked up about everything else, but this one thing i can’t see him internalising a lot of.

i’m gonna fast forward the asmodeus years because i don’t have a lot to say beyond that and also i have no fucking clue what the fuck was going on during that time????????? like it ended when magnus banished him to edom, so i can only assume they were on the earth realm the whole time, but what exactly were they doing???? no clue. i am gonna say, tho, that i think one of the reasons why magnus managed to break out of asmodeus’ shitty “be evil” conditioning is precisely because he had been on the other side before?? like obviously magnus must have been an extremely compassionate kid (which again makes absolute sense in the context of him being part of an oppressed people that were trying their hardest to fight together. you learn a few things about community-building and taking care of others in that context, lemme tell you) since he was out there blaming himself for his mom’s death and also for killing his literal piece of shit stepfather who also tried to kill him as well, but i think it’s just that much harder to help your dad commit mass murder when you’ve been on the receiving end of it. obviously he was probably around asmodeus for a while (i’m thinking until he was like, 18? you know, enough to be an adult), especially considering how he needed the help to learn how to master his magic and also he had nowhere else to go, and also asmodeus was all over the place with “they will always think you’re an abomination, i’m the only one who understands you” and he had eyes like him and all. but still. he knew that he didn’t want that, he knew that he liked earth and didn’t like edom at all and he knew that in order to be himself he’d need to get rid of asmodeus. so he did.

anyway, after the First Great Yeeting Of Asmodeus (second yeeting was when he sent him to limbo so he would never be able to come back. ugh we stan) Magnus went to England. I’m guessing that somehow he met other warlocks during his time with asmodeus (which actually makes sense, i mean, asmodeus must have been wanting ppl to join forces with so he could defeat lilith? or something like that idk they never said anything about what they were doing with their time magnus’ backstory’s got more holes than a swiss cheese) and there seems to be a pretty tight warlock community, so maybe he went to wherever it is that the warlocks meet to gossip and shit? trying to find somewhere else where he belonged. and there he met Ragnor, who helped him break out of his shell and find who he was beyond the constant abuse and the deeply ingrained idea that he was Born To Be Evil.

so for a while, magnus was learning who he was, and again the Warlock Community should be pretty open with gender and sexuality considering most of them are also older than western binary bullshit and also come from different, non-european backgrounds. it was probably at this point that he started going around, having relationships, looking for someone who loves him and somewhere to belong in, you know. haha im fine and soon he figured out that he wanted to find out more about the world. magnus is a curious and creative guy, he’s going around inventing portals and shit, he wants to see the world. so magnus goes to the mundane world. it makes sense, considering in most of his pics he seems to be in mundane settings, and there were no accords at that time. also i mean even post-accords magnus is still going around owning clubs where mundanes can get in so i think he’s quite fond of mundanes.

and that’s when shit comes crashing down, because “sodomy” was punishable by death in England until the 1960s and like boy these guys were not into the whole free sexuality thing. at all. i tend to think magnus would go looking for sex and stuff in downworlder and warlock spaces, where there was a lot more freedom and nobody gave a shit, but he was going around meeting people, and he’s vulnerable and he wants to be loved and he’s definitely been in relationships with mundanes. he knows he needs to hide it, but it doesn’t mean he’s uncomfortable with it. so he might get the occasional insult and he knows he needs to be careful, but this is one aspect of himself he’s actually okay with

but like, he’s spent centuries doing that, eventually shit would go down. and it does. i firmly believe that one of his lovers got caught and got the death penalty. magnus managed to escape but couldn’t save him, and i mean, that’s at least the third time he’s blaming himself for someone’s death. immortality is tiring, and he doesn’t feel like he belongs anywhere. there’s the shadow world, but even there he’s being looked down on because the shadowhunters are racist assholes. he’s got his friends, sure, but he’s never really felt worthy of any love, or like he belonged anywhere, and he’s been through so much abuse and being used and everything he touches seems to go to shit and he’s tired. and he’s killed someone he loved. again. so he goes to the bridge. and camille finds him, and stops him.

now, i don’t know if that’s how they’ve met of if it’s happened before, something like, seeing each other in parties and in downworlder spaces or something. but either way, he’s at a really low point, and that’s the first meaningful interaction they have - camille saves his life. he feels like she cares.

she’s not the only one who cares, obviously. so does ragnor, so does cat, so does dot and lots of other of his friends. but at this point, he’s feeling so empty it’s hard to believe that they care, and camille is all too quick to figure out his exact weaknesses - she’s there to listen to him when he wants to kill himself, i can only imagine the infodump that went on that night. he gives her all she needs to know - his fear of abandonment, his desire to be loved, his belief that he will never be accepted no matter what, his fear that he really is evil inside after all despite everything proving that he isn’t - to use against him perfectly. camille is smart. she’s also manipulative. and she also seems like a ticket into a somewhat normal world - she’s a woman, she’s immortal, she’s acting all sweet around him and telling him that she understands, that this is why she doesn’t mingle with mundanes, that it’s better if they’re just amongst themselves, that people like them can’t trust too much and need to stick together. slowly, she plants into him the idea that he’s gullible, has a weak judgement, and is just weak in general for going around thinking he could ever have a thing with mortals or could ever find a space to belong. she uses that to drive him away from his friends and make sure he does as she says. also, magnus owes her, doesn’t he? she saved his life. how can he fight her, when she saved his life? how can he say no to her? how can he disagree? he’s gullible, he’s weak, and she’s the only one who has enough patience for him. everyone else leaves. she’s all he has.

in conclusion: his sexuality is a huge factor in camille’s abuse, it’s what makes him vulnerable to her and gives her every tool she needs to manipulate him. it’s not direct, she’s not about to make fun or dismiss his bisexuality because she knows this is not something he’s internalised, but she can weaponize the trauma that queerphobia brings to his life, and so she does.

she wrecks him. like really really wrecks him, everything he’s built for himself, his identity, whatever he had of his confidence. like he was still trying to build all of that, but he was getting there, and she gets him back to ground 0 just like that. i think he only broke up with her because she started doing her more Clearly Immoral shit and magnus can’t do that. say what you want, but magnus’ actual nature has always been to care and to give all that he can for others. and camille is just evil mcbad. and her abuse goes a long way, but i don’t think anything could actually break magnus enough to be okay with hurting others. especially considering how most of his trauma seems to revolve around the fact that he believes he is constantly hurting others, and it seems to me - considering how he’s going all around the place helping everyone and sacrificing himself without a second thought - that helping others is even a way to cope somewhat, he doesn’t focus on himself, he does his job and helps others and doesn’t think about himself and so he copes, he can do what he’s good at and also believe he’s somehow “repenting” for “killing” his mother and stepfather (it was SELF FUCKING DEFENSE he didn’t murder him, but he does seem to believe he did). so that’s probably when they break up, when he realises that camille is just. keen on hurting others and she’s bored with him and his morals anyway. i know that in book canon apparently the reason they broke up was that she cheated on him, but again i don’t consider book canon and show canon to be the same canon, specially considering how magnus is a wildly different character in those. so i don’t think that would somehow be the last straw for him. camille probably was cheating on him left and right but he probably just believed that it was his fault, or just kept forgiving her anyway because he had nowhere to go and it should be enough that she loves him and saved him, right?

he doesn’t really get around to realising that camille is a straight-up abuser and awful person (as shown by the fact that he seems to still internalise the whole “camille saved my life” bullshit when she was really just manipulating him and using his vulnerability against him) but he does realise that he can’t keep looking for a partner as a solution to his issues. he also doesn’t really want to be in a relationship after her, not when he’s broken in more pieces than he was when he left asmodeus, and that was a lot of pieces as well. so he sleeps around and all, crafts this whole playboy persona of his, and locks his heart away. dedicates himself to the downworlder children he keeps adopting and trying to help, reconnects with ragnor and the other warlocks - who kind of knew what was going on and never blamed him for it or for growing distant with them because they’re amazing and probably have seen this happen many times before.

he also carefully avoids mundane men. he’s not risking getting anyone else hurt.

but then there’s the 60s and 70s, and he’s in bloody new york, and the queer community is shaping itself, and goddamn, after all the hurt and pain he’s seen due to sexuality, he’s not gonna ignore this. also, his Adopting Instincts are way too strong anyway, he can’t really see people struggling and not do anything. so he supports queer spaces, probably made pandemonium one, too - a particularly safe queer space, since she could use his wards to keep police out of his business and ensure everyone’s safety. he definitely was there at stonewall and subsequent protests and parades, keeping people safe, weakening gas bombs and the like with magic, making sure they managed to escape jail.

magnus’ relationship with the mundane queer community is kind of weird, then - he’s not an actual part of it, not really, and he’s particularly scared of getting attached then, so he guards his heart with even more determination than everywhere else. but he still wants to help, so he brings in his money, tries to keep them safe, participates in some community activities and volunteers, and occasionally talks to some kids who were just kicked out of home or something, who are dealing with self-loathing and fear, and even though he hasn’t gone through the whole “my sexuality is unnatural” thing or particularly hated that aspect of himself, he does know what it’s like to be cast away and seen as a monster, and to see himself as uncapable of being loved. so he listens and he talks about his experiences and tries to help as much as he can, and for the most part, he’s successful and he feels kind of accomplished in that sense. he might never have hated himself for his sexuality, but this is the first time he is fully able to bring it into his mundane life. and it also helps him deal with and talk about his other issues, even if he can’t be 100% frank about being an immortal being who does magic and shit, he can connect to these people in a lot of ways, and he also has his own scars brought in by homophobia even if they weren’t internalised in the same way. also, there are names popping up for what people are, homosexuality is being decriminalised all over the world (even in england, he’s heard), things are starting to look up.

as the 80s come up, he knows that a lot of things are changing - that white gay guys are getting more and more space, that the word “bisexual” is being popularised, but also that the reason for that is that a lot of gays and lesbians are trying to get bi ppl out of some spaces, that there’s a division going on between people who want to be seen as palatable and are willing to step over others to get it, and people who refuse to blend into an oppressive society, or just can’t, because they’re trans, they’re people of color, they’re sex workers and homeless and they can never be really assimilated when, even if they’re not getting the death penalty, they’re still getting killed and framed as criminals for existing.

magnus is a person of color as well, he’s bisexual (meaning one of the groups that were being cast away and despised by the white, “clean” gay movement) and he’s been there since the beginning, where these exact people that are being driven away were the only ones building the queer movement, so i think it’s pretty obvious who he “sided” with. not much changed in that aspect, then, since the spaces of queer resistance he was used to were the ones created by the “outcasts”. it was disappointing to see a movement that seemed so amazing at first get slowly gentrified and push the most vulnerable people away again, but at this point, he was used to seeing the divide, to drawing the short end, and at least he could continue as he was and try and help people, right? so life was good as a whole.

then the AIDS crisis happened, and shit that was SO rough. people were dying left and right, they had nowhere to go and there was so little he could do. of course he tried his best - pandemonium, like many other similar clubs, was definitely raising money to help the victims, and he was definitely volunteering to help them, along with catarina (who’s better at healing than he is, anyway), but even healing magic isn’t as simple as “begone, disease” and this was a completely new thing, anyway. there was little they could do beyond try and lessen the pain and symptoms and spend countless nights awake doing research and trying to figure out what exactly was causing this and what they could do to help and try to cure it. it’s endlessly frustrating and he gets to see a lot of people he knew, and talked to, and helped, die slowly while he was unable to do much, and shit is that a theme on his life. he also blames himself for not being able to work out a cure - what good is fucking magic if he can’t do this? - even if he and cat do figure out ways to help, at least. but they’re just two people and creating spells isn’t easy and it’s not like their patients have a lot of time, and also he needs to sleep, as cat and dot keep reminding him. the mundanes beat him to it, and for a while he can breathe again. but then there has been so much loss and death the community is in shambles and they’ve been set back one hell of a lot, and magnus is so tired. his friends help him, reassure him that it’s not his fault, and he’s okay, because he’s stronger now, he’s been getting better during all these years and a part of him is used to it - it never hurts less, but it does get easier to push through. 

and then, well, there’s the whole war against valentine thing, and then the accords, so i think for a while magnus was kind of not very involved with the mundane world, and also this is already WAY to long to get into the 2000s and shit, but i will finish by saying that maybe after a few years magnus might get somewhat involved with the community again, because i just. really like the idea of magnus joining some kind of group of bisexual men and learning that SO MANY of them have gone through abusive experiences with straight girls that are scarily similar to his experience with camille, considering, you know, all the other layers involved and the fact that it happened centuries ago. and it kind of works as group therapy, and magnus finally realises that what he went through with camille was abuse, and that he’s not alone, and that queerphobia made him vulnerable, and that the fact that he is part of so many minorities can mean that, rather than not belonging anywhere, he belongs in many places and many different spaces, and he’s helped so many people in so many different ways. and then he finds out that there are other warlocks who are working as therapists and in there he can talk about his immortality issues and, well, other issues and he starts healing faster than before - he’s been healing ever since the breakup with camille, of course, otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to open up to alec. like, of course, alec and him are soulmates and shit, but if he wasn’t in a better place he wouldn’t have allowed himself to fall for him like he did. and. yeah. magnus doing therapy and getting better and finding groups where he feels like he belongs, and realising camille was an abuser, please.

[migleefulmoments]

I’m so happy for Ricky and his family! If the tin hats really cared about being good allies, they’d spend their energy on celebrating people like Ricky, Chris, NPH, and Matt Bomer. Gay men who are showing the world how diverse, talented, and successful the LBGTQIA+ community can be. If you want to help the community, support and celebrate actual members of it. Volunteer with programs like Trevor. By all means, be a Darren fam, but don’t pretend that makes you an ally.

Ps, I’m the anon who just sent a message about the diversity in the community then realized I listed three white guys and one Latino man when obviously it’s much more diverse than that. I ran short on characters to type. But Toderick and Billy Porter and Laverne Cox and countless others also exist and they could support them as well. But they’d rather go on fetishizing STRAIGHT Darren with an actual gay man instead.

Yes, I cannot agree more.  It is incredulous that she believes that Darren and Chris would be a love to change the world but then refuses to actually look for real-world example of gay love who are already doing that. People can’t change the world because they love someone else of the same sex. Love doesn’t actually change the world contrary to what musicians have told us for decades.  Changing the world takes work- hard work-a lot of dialogue, a lot of putting oneself and one’s love out there. You have to be willing to share your story very openly but neither the Captain of the ship, Christopher Paul Colfer nor the spineless Twitt, Darren Everett Criss is comfortable doing that. Both men are very obviously in committed relationships but Darren rarely talks about Mia and certainly doesn’t post pics off her very often. He willingly shared the most impersonal wedding photos of the lot. He makes it look like he is more open than he is -he’s magic like that-but when you get down to it we know he is married to Mia and they have a piano bar but we don’t know all that much more-we get glimpses. Chris is way more protective of his personal life.  I cannot imagine either one of them is going to show their children in regular social media posts where they speak about their lives together.  

People who are changing the world one instagram post at a time are NPH & David Burtka or Nate Berkus & Jeremiah Brandt. Both couples share their families and their love on social media easily and regularly. Matt Dallas and his husband Blu and their child have a YouTube channel they made specially to change the world regarding gay marriage and families (I said this before but I Loved watching them until Blu admired he’s a huge conspiracy theory junkie-and mentioned 9/11- and I just couldn't respect him ever again).  Pete and Chastain Buttigieg have the potential to really change the world. Pete is talking to so many people as he campaigns. Just sharing his story will change minds but he’s also helping shape policy in South Bend and as his career goes on, he will have a bigger say in bigger areas of America.

Talking about the trans community- People like Laverne Cox are so damn brave. To stand up and be yourself with the world judging is difficult but to do so as a trans person right now is so so brave. Billy is changing gender norms every time he goes to a red carpet wearing the most fabulous gender-bending clothing as does Nico Tortorella, Jonathon VanNess, Johnny Weir, Valentina and Laganga Estranga. Trans actors are getting work-some playing trans characters like Jaime Clayton from Sens8, Lachlan Watson from Sabrina, and the amazing cast of Pose  and some it isn’t clear if it will ever be mentioned like Theo Germaine from The Politician. It takes people to be the first to walk the path and I’m in awe of their bravery- both in transitioning, pushing boundaries, and in living their lives in the public eye. 

The tinhatters are a group of mostly straight women- at least the leaders are- who are fantasizing that an openly straight man is gay.  It is really messed up and the farthest thing from what an ally does. Allies need to LISTEN to the LGBTQ community and support them as they want to be supported, not push our own fantasies and fetishes onto the community to fit our our needs. The tinhatters are obsessed with Chris and mostly Darren because they are safe gay men. They don’t “act” gay. Abby and her little nest of killer bees are disgusted by the LGBTQ people and the overt sexual innuendos they see at Tramp Stamp Granny’s-they write Lulu’s name as double toilet emoji’s, they are horrified by dripping vaginas of the burlesque dancers and they cannot stand the sexual puns. They like their gay sex to be tame and timid. Chris and Darren provide perfect scapegoats for their fantasy because Klaine were pretty tame- it was mostly hand holding and flirty looks, a touch of their fingers and walking hand-in-hand. But in real life both man keep their public behavior with their lovers to rated-G behavior. It not only helps the tinhatters with their fantasy-they don't have to erase Darren and Mia kissing all that often and they never have to do so with Chris and Will-but they also don’t have to face either man as sexual outside of their own fantasy. 

[yelloskello]

just wrote a ridiculously long post musing on the influence of media on my roleplaying decisions and then realized it was a fuckin novel and now i’m just gonna... delete it all and start over

basically, like. There’s a noticeable trend in roleplaying circles for most folks to play mostly if not entirely dudes - not all obviously, but a significant enough chunk to make that statement. I remember there being a thread on the forums I frequent where someone asked about it and asked for the reasoning behind people choosing to play one gender over the other, and the vast majority response from roleplayers of any gender was playing guys for one reason or another, ranging from ‘idk I just prefer them’ to ‘i never really thought of women as being able to be cool or flawed or interesting’. Which makes sense, considering we live in a society where so so so so so many female characters in popular media are written as either Nagging Only Sane People There To Bring The Wacky Guys Back Down, or Bland Pretty Things with the personality of a turnip.

and like. i’m wondering why I ended up going the completely opposite direction, where 80% of my characters are women, and it wasn’t a recent development that grew with my feminism, either - i’ve preferred making lady characters for as long as i’ve been able to pick up a pencil, and what dudes I make tend to lean towards being effeminate, emotionally open, and gentle. (And when they’re not, they tend to be pretty explicitly gay/bi/pan. A couple of my most masculine characters are the ones who are in ride-or-die relationships with my best friend’s dude characters.)

Basically the tl;dr of the thoughts came out to:

A: A HUGE chunk of the media I was taking in before even the age of 10 featured women as protagonists without ever presenting it as a Woman Story About Being Womanly, at least as far as I remember. Gender was just treated as a neutral playing field, never mentioned but with equal distribution throughout the stories, and I partook in a lot of stuff that showed the story from a woman’s perspective. A lot of this media I was introduced to by my sister, who, as long as I can remember, has been GNC and interested in GNC things. I ALSO partook in kinda fringe stuff like small-time webcomics that had lady protagonists who acted straight up goofy and were never remotely sexualized, and at least one of those things was MASSIVELY formative for me, to the point where the first comic I ever drew at the age of 8 was basically just like... A blatant ripoff of that comic. Like. That comic was the reason I got into my lifelong passion of comics.

B: By some fucking miracle, while gender did have an influence on my upbringing, it wasn’t... Super significant. Gender roles were not heaped heavily upon me by my parents (which is kinda shocking, considering they’re like, die hard conservative christians), and when they did Heap it, it was easy enough to just kinda... Ignore it.* I was never chided for doing things that weren’t Stereotypically Feminine: wearing clothes “for boys”, having a majority of friends who were boys, doing activities that one would think of in a gendered sense as ‘boy stuff’, actively rejecting the societal expectation to get married and have kids, etc. 

Honestly, I think a lot of this was basically just dumb luck, though: I was still feminine enough that my mom wasn’t alarmed when I started wearing clothes intended for boys. My adamant refusal of marriage/children was and IS STILL responded to with a smile and a joke and obviously thinking i’ll change my mind one day. I’ve always kept my hair VERY short, and was even encouraged to by my mom, but the styles I wear are still some degree of feminine - pixie cuts and shit - and the reason she’s encouraging is because SHE wore her hair short growing up and just thinks it’s cute. By the time I started branching into mohawks and undercuts, my mom was getting to a point where she was more concerned with having a good relationship with her kids and being positive no matter what than whether or not I didn’t look straight. (I can always tell that she doesn’t particularly like it, but is trying to be supportive when I show up with a ‘weird’ haircut.)

(my dad, on the other hand, made a stink when I wanted my first undercut, told me i’d ‘look like a d***’ and would ‘never get a boyfriend’. but he was kinda distant anyways due to his job and didn’t really have a lot of involvement or say over my choices growing up.) my point is, though, that gender may not have been entirely a neutral playing field growing up, but I was never taught/it never sunk in for me that women shouldn’t be rowdy or ‘boyish’ or loud or strive for greater things, and I wasn’t punished or discouraged for being that way myself. The combination of these two things basically meant that I was seeing women who got to act just like the Cool Boy Characters out there on the regular, didn’t really make a big deal about gender/gendered things, and the tendency for women to be bland or unlikeable in a lot of media just kinda went over my head.

...plus i’m sure there was some Big Gay buried in there somewhere where I’ve just always preferred the look of women so if I wanted to rip off some Funny Likeable Boy character from a tv show i’d do it n i’d make them a lady. They’re more interesting to look at and more fun to draw! what do you want from me

Also, looking back on the first point: I wonder if growing up with media like that is why I VASTLY prefer stories that just HAVE diversity that isn’t really the focus, versus Queer Stories or Nonbinary Stories or Women Stories or Mentally Ill Stories or so on and so forth. While I want to see someone like me out there fighting dragons n shit, while i’m like ‘holy shit this character is bi?? she’s MINE NOW’ in a story that’s mostly about trying to survive political intrigue and navigating a cutthroat court, I just feel Tired when there’s a story that’s clearly about navigating anxiety or dealing with sexism on the daily or somesuch. I get they’re meant to be relatable, but i’m like... I live that shit every day, I don’t want an extra dose of it here, too. I’d rather just see people like me getting to be the cool heroes we liked reading about growing up. I want my mental issues and my queerness and my gender, I just want DIVERSITY to be just as default as the Default Straight White Man Protagonist, to just be mundane, not a beacon of being Different with stories that cater to how Different I am, constantly reminding me that I am Different and that this story isn’t widely relatable and caters to a certain audience of Different People. There’s a fine line between ‘we’re all different and we need to understand there’s nothing wrong with that’, and ‘this makes me feel more distant and isolated from other groups than ever before’.

but that’s just my personal taste. Anyways.

wow this ended up being just as fricken long as my original post on this, good job me

(*except for like... this had a lot of different factors, but in my young to mid teens, I very much felt like i’d never land a boyfriend and that no guy could ever actually find me attractive. Some of this was due to an abusive friend who was isolating me while simultaneously reminding me about how important it was to be desirable to men; some of it was due to how much subtle anxiety my mom projected on me about behaviors I should upkeep so I would look desirable to men. ‘don’t put the elbows on the table so that you look proper when you’re out on a date!’ sorta crap. Some of it was due to being unaware of how FUCKEN BI I was (REAL BI, now that I look back on it) and brought up in a homophobic setting so it never occurred to me that there was more than just dudes. That anxiety was the closest I ever really came to feeling like I was failing at femininity, though.)

[yanderebitch666]

Update: Added info on her (Template ripped from InkBunnycharacter sheet template) OPEN FOR REVIEW

Name: Brianna Amber Mason

Gender: Cisgender Female

Age: 20

Sexuality: Asexual Pan/Biromantic

Character Description: She's a dandere Potterhead who dreams to become a writer and make her series as well known as Harry Potter.

Personality: Brianna is a shy, generous rabbit who is also very studious. She's a big worryrat and a bit of a perfectionist. She prefers to take on a task on her own and isn't very open to help from others most of the time. She bottles in her emotions and would help people to the point of her not taking care of herself. She's also easily attached to people, which makes her sensitive to rude remarks they may say top her.

Brianna always carry her writer's book around her and usually take inspiration from the environment she's in. She writes down her imaginative thoughts to not lose potential interesting scenes in her story. She's a huge LGBQT+ and Civil Rights activist and believes media works needs more diversity. She's currently in the works of a lesbian love story in a futuristic setting. She's also a master in AU fiction.

Likes: Sprite, Swedish Fish, LGBQT+, equal rights, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, cute things, buff women, soft men, writing, game OSTs, anime, fluff and AU fanfics, compliments

Dislikes: Injustice, hatemongers, MAPs, oranges, JK Rowling, fake news, earrings, Monday, aggressive men, abusive people

Relationships: (comment if you want to be added)

Georgia and Vincent Mason (Parents):

Brianna's more closer to Georgia. Shd haven't came out to her parents yet. Vincent helps her through college.

Albert Mason (Little Brother):

Brianna's very close with her brother. He's the first to hear about her sexuality and promises to keep it a secret until she's ready to come out to her parents. He's her major emotional support.

World/Setting: Modern Day Real World (the world we live in but everyone's furries)

Body: Brianna's a slightly average bodied rabbit with brownish fur that's lighter around her paws, feet, and stomach. The inside of her ears, her tongue, paw pads, and even blood is purple. She also have long purple hair and bright green eyes.

Brianna can be draw with/without hair or clothes and can be drawn as a feral. She can also be drawn with pink eyes instead of green.

Clothing: Brianna usually wears solid colored tops with patterned bottoms, but this isn't strict. She likes skirts, dresses, and flowy shirts with flats. She usually likes more pigmented colors instead of dull and pastel.

Accessories: She's almost never seen without her facemask, offs unknown why she wears them (I just think it looks cute on her), though she can be drawn without one. She has them in various patterns that matches her bottoms usually.

"How can she wear them if her ears are all the way up there????"

Beats me

🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

Hey everybody, this is my first decent reference sheet, since I've been taking note of everybody's reference sheets. I'm pretty proud of it now, but I know future me would cringe at this and update it. I wanna say that even though she's based from me, this isn't my fursona. She's more of my mascot.

She's open for relationships (friend, lover, etc) so comment if you want to be friends with her or something. 

[dariarblac]

13 Reasons Why I Didn’t Regret Watching #RealityHigh [SPOILERS]

see what i did there

Let me start by saying, we’ve all seen this movie. We’ve all read this book. So much that someone called it every story on Wattpad after watching the overly indulgent trailer (no seriously, who edited that trailer? you basically put the whole movie in there). However, even with the used up nerd gets the cool guy/girl storyline, there were a few devices that stuck out that aren’t usually a part of this trope. That’s what I'm going to discuss. There are a few spoilers but because it’s so predictable I’m not sure if it’ll make a difference; you make the call. The film does have a few plot twists though, which I will keep out. 

I must be honest and say I only watched this because I saw that Keith Powers was in it and I needed something to do while I adjusted this weave. But I was surprised to find things I liked outside of the beautiful cinematography and beautiful, beautiful man.

1. Racial Diversity 

Diversity is super important to me. Everything from schools to make-up to media should be diverse and a good representation of all people. Not only are the A and B characters racially diverse, but the school seems to be populated with a little bit of everyone. You can tell the casting call for extras didn’t say “all races welcome but if you’re blonde with blue eyes that would be preferred”. I’m not sure how realistic said diversity is for that particular part of California, but it’s no matter as this type of diversity needs to be pushed regardless. And even though Cameron is the “token” of his particular friend group, he is front and center of the story. 

It’s refreshing to see people of color at the forefront of an innocent corny little loves story. We are rarely allowed those. 

2. Annoying Younger Sibling Was Actually Funny

And she was a great actress. 

When it comes to kids and acting we tend to give them passes because they’re adorable and, well, they’re kids. But this particular child was kind of phenomenal. She was smart, witty, sociable, and her shade delivery was A1. She was like Louise Belcher in live action. I found out her name is Leah Rose and she is freaking amazing. Her punchlines are arguably the most entertaining part of this movie. 

3. Healthy, Supportive Male Friends

Usually, The Popular Kids make fun of the Nerd and even play a huge part in the bullying. But in this movie, Cameron’s (Keith Powers) friends are very supportive and even prefer her over his ex, Alexa (Cool Mean Girl). So much that Shannon gave him some advice and let him know that he was going to have to work hard because Dani (Nerd) was a woman of deeper substance. They, in fact, called him out for dating Alexa for her status and looks. What makes this even better is that they warm up to Dani immediately. There is no protest at all against her hanging out with them.  

Maybe I don’t watch enough TV but, I seldom see young men/boys with good friends like this. 

4. “No, Dad, This Is Your Dream!”

We’ve all seen the thing where the kid wants one thing but the parent wants another because they’re grossly and vicariously living through their children because they were a loser in their youth. There’s some of that in here.

However, Cameron actually likes swimming (yes, issa black boy that swims) but he wants to college instead of the Olympics (let it simmer).

I love my black men. But I’m going to be honest and say I can’t think of one black male friend who wouldn’t jump right over the college hurdle and right into the big time. I don’t blame them either. College is a scam. 

But for those of you black children who are out there who’d rather learn stuff than do sports (because they do exist), that’s still chill. Black men have more to offer than their bodies and athleticism and Cameron is a great representation of that. 

5. Cool Mean Girl Takes Several Ls

Normally there’s this huge embarrassing thing that takes place in public at the end of the movie right before Nerd and The Cool Guy kiss. Because Cool Mean Girl, much like our government, is usually way too powerful to take down no matter how awful she is. But Alexa takes several hits throughout the movie that makes me wonder why she didn't just give up. I also love how her friends didn’t put up with her shit. Miguel dabbled and humored her. But for the most part, her friends, like Cameron, were all #TeamDani. Which is cool because this movie sort of steered away from the “popular people are mean” story. There’s literally just one bitch here. 

6. Dani Kept Her Curly Hair

In these movies, the Nerd always has gorgeous, unruly curly hair. Then when it comes time to “evolve” they straighten it and are seen as “more beautiful”.

Shitty message Hollywood. 

Though Dani does rock some straight styles, she goes back and forth and does not completely ditch her curls. This one sort of segways into the next point. 

7. There’s No Huge, Dramatic Make Over Scene

You will not find a shopping, plucking, and tucking montage accompanied by a early 2000s punk-pop classic in this movie. Thank God.

In fact, she does all her beautifying herself in preparation for a college interview. Her intentions were not for the attention of Cameron or the male gaze at all. In hindsight, she really just began taking better care of her appearance and stopped wearing “foot gloves”.

8. Realistic Teen Drinking

A lot of us did it, okay. 

I’m in no way endorsing that and it was definitely wrong. But we did it. It’s not uncommon for a group of teenagers to raid the liquor cabinet at a sleepover while the parents slept. It was all in good fun and it usually involved dancing and the oversharing of thoughts... very much like what we did in college dorms. 

This probably makes me seem like a dick: but I’m glad there was no message here. It was just kids having fun, getting messed up and taking an uber home.

9. Multiple GBFs

They didn’t just throw one gay boy in here and ever so contently say “yup we’ve met our lgbt quota we are #inclusive”

There’s a tambourine player in just about every subgroup, each serving a different purpose and I am here for it. 

10. Multiple Climaxes...... :) 

Typically in storytelling, there’s this one big climax. In this particular story, it’s usually said Cool Guy dumping his girlfriend and jerk posse for the Nerd who miraculously turned back into a loser. Nerd and Cool Guy live happily ever after. 

But in this, Girl gets Boy pretty damn early. Like, first 30 minutes of the movie early. Also, though Dani did revert back to her nerd attire she bounced right back after she got out of a slump. Almost as if what she wore was a reflection of how she felt about herself rather than the clothes wearing her and giving her a new attitude. She has the power not the other way around (if that makes sense). 

The part where Alexa’s friends dumped her was also a kicker.

11.  The Actor Plays Awkward Well

Nesta Cooper (who looks very much like Youtuber AndreasChoice) really nailed Dani. Usually, the actor who has to play this role weirdly overcompensates the awkward and it does not read well on the other side of the screen. It becomes the bad kind of awkward instead of funny and relatable. Also, there's no huge exaggerated falling in the middle of the hall or knocking over a whole bookshelf. She was realistically awkward and I loved it. 

12. Wealthy Black Parents

It was great to see black families who were well off without it being a part of the actual storyline. Dani’s parents and Cameron’s dad are clearly blessed but they are so without being the typical Black Bourgeoisie. I’m happy that Alexa (latina) was wealthy as well but that played a part of her character so it’s not really worth me mentioning in deep detail.

13. The “Good Guy”/”Gazing Best Friend” Doesn’t Win A Grand Prize Of “The Girl” As Reward For Being A Good Friend

This is probably my favorite part of this movie. Freddie, the best friend, who is in love with Dani, doesn't get her. I just knew that was where the story was going. Especially after Dani and Cameron broke up. If that had happened, I would have been upset for many reasons. One being, Cameron was a good guy who wanted Dani, Dani was a good girl who wanted Cameron. They were attracted to each other, they liked each other. Girls are allowed to entertain guys they are attracted to. Just because you’ve been there her whole life and listened to all her problems doesn’t mean you get to “have” her. That’s literally being a freaking friend. If girls screwed every guy that was nice to them because that’s all that was required, there’d be a new strain of hepatitis floating around.

Overall I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely something you should watch if you have the time because there’s a little something for everyone in it. However, a part of me wonders if I had been expecting something spectacular would I be disappointed right now. 

♡

[mercerislandbooks]

Historical Fiction as a Mirror to the Present: Elise Hooper’s Fast Girls

You may have noticed that over the past year you have heard the name Elise Hooper on this blog or in the store. There’s a reason for that.

Elise Hooper is a writer living in West Seattle whose book The Other Alcott was championed by our booksellers. As we worked with Elise on events, we realized that we also wanted to champion her as a person. She is funny, kind, and always game to support and promote local bookstores. On a personal note, Elise was one of the first authors I interviewed over 2019 for her previous release Learning to See. Her kindness and openness allowed me to ask to edit part of her newest release Fast Girls for my editing certificate. She also has joined our knitting book club when she is able and has been a great friend of the store.

Months ago, Elise and I got into the nitty gritty of Fast Girls, focusing on the way she crafted and presented the stories of the women in her book. Elise has a never-ending well of passion for overlooked and critical figures in history, and it was lovely to see her thoughts and reflections on her work, especially as she has had more distance from researching and writing it. Her most prominent and important reflections highlighted how the political and social climate of 1936 held a mirror up to today. In writing, she found she was saddened by how little change had occurred and how much more there is to go. Using primary sources, she was able to paint a picture of that world to help readers see that beyond the unfamiliar slang and outdated technology, we live in very similar worlds.

Fast Girls opens on the 1928 Olympics, where Betty Robinson wins a medal as one of the first women to compete in track and field in the Olympics. Helen Stephens, an awkward and insecure teen in Missouri, is inspired by Betty’s success and determined to find a place of her own. Louise Stokes, from Massachusetts, looks to Betty’s win as inspiration to surpass the obstacles she has had to confront as one of the only black women in her town to a successful athletics career. The narratives intertwine and follow the tragedies and successes that bring all three of these incredible athletes to the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany.

What I enjoyed most about the book is that Elise does not sugarcoat the struggles of these women. While it would have been easy to alter the timelines or events of these women's lives for a better reading experience, she knew she had to keep the story as accurate as possible. For example, Louise Stokes never actually gets to race at any Olympics. While brought to the games twice, she is never given a chance to go out on the field and is pulled from rosters once at the stadiums. The blatant racism doesn’t give Louise Stokes a successful ending like Helen Stephens seems to receive. Elise recalled having a conversation with her editor about how to structure the ending in a satisfactory way for the reader, “She and I had a call I remember, and I said, ‘So, how do we deal with this real tension at the ending?’ And she was so funny, she goes, ‘I don’t know but that’s your job, so get at it and figure it out.’... No one had a magic solution for me. But at the same time, that’s the whole point. That’s life. So while it felt so frustrating to describe the outcome of the races in 1932 and 1936, [they are] really important. It takes several decades for [the racial bias] to be somewhat amended… I end on this note, on this big victory for the country, but there is a huge personal toll that comes at its expense. I just… did my best to be present for all three of my characters.”

And presence is asked of the reader too. While many books about women, written by women, are denoted “chicklit,” Elise is firmly pointing out how women’s issues are the country’s issues. Much of Elise and my conversation focused on how she ties the women featured in her book to the women that were going to be competing in the 2020 Olympics. “A big piece of news in Rio was this growing awareness of how differently we talked about women athletes from men athletes.” She went on to describe multiple instances where women were asked questions about their clothes and makeup or maligned for talking about their body in concrete ways (like having a period while competing). To give context to the story, she researched and wrote many articles in Fast Girls in the style of the way many newspapers talked about women in the 1930s. She found they reflected our obsession with women, motherhood, the state of their bodies, and their relationships to their coaches. “[Articles were about] these women who are coached by their husbands. And that’s always a note that commentators [today] make. When this woman has had this amazing moment, won a medal or something big, and the camera immediately pans to the husband. And suddenly he’s getting the credit for his athlete’s win,” Elise said. Men, on the other hand, tend to be asked about far more substantial and relevant topics and still have more events to compete in than women.

And this bigotry, both subtle and obvious, is intersectional in its targets. Whether talking about members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly intersex athletes, or people of color, the American Olympics teams and press haven’t done enough work in promoting diversity and actually representing America in their athletes. I then asked her how learning about the way people of color were treated in the 1936 Olympics affected the way she sees the Olympics as they are today:

“That was a really eye-opening part of this book. I knew there was a tension between the US and Germany over various policies, but I hadn’t realized how limited a view someone like Avery Brundage who was actually in charge of the Olympics had. He was not at all subtle about his own feelings in… having no objections about not letting Jews compete in the Olympics… I think the Olympics offer a really interesting mirror for society in the time between 1936 and today. There are so many interesting Olympic stories about American, and of course international, athletes and the civil rights obstacles they were having to overcome to compete. The fact that so many of the men that returned from the Berlin Olympics couldn’t race in college races at home, even though they had Olympic medals, because of the color of their skin and the laws of the Jim Crow South is an amazing thing. I have a feeling a lot of people don’t fully realize how limited opportunities were for these athletes, even when they come home having accomplished really impressive feats of athleticism. And that doesn’t end in ‘36. That’s for the next several decades and beyond… Putting my magnifying glass up to these Olympics has been so eye-opening in so many ways about race, about gender, and about sexuality.”

Elise’s new book puts narrative and context on a time period bubbling with change and devastation. While the stories told contain moments of joy and success, the book is marked by the grief and losses of these women. What they overcame and how they persevered or were unable to are critical points of civil rights history. “Not as much as we would like [has changed],” Elise commented at the end of our interview. And hopefully works like hers, promoting stories previously unacknowledged, can inspire us to look critically at our world today in athletics and beyond. Though our stop on her social distanced and virtual tour isn’t as we planned or dreamed, we hope you come by and share your support of this new book that shines light on women that have otherwise been ignored throughout history.

Elise will be joining us for an event celebrating her book release later this month:

Elise Hooper, Author of Fast Girls, with Tracy Rees, Author of Amy Snow on July 26th at 11:00am PST. Register here!

— Kelleen

[feministicfellowship]

Feminism on Pop Music #1: “I’m not Yours” as Empowerment of Women?

I have talked about social norms; I also have talked about political figures. It’s time to move onto something more entertaining and fun: pop music. Pop music has been one of the most prevailing genres around the globe. With the vast audience, emerging numbers of female artists have earned their seats and hence receive huge success in the industry. From Beyoncé, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, to Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, you name it. Frankly speaking, they are the lucky ones. The pop music industry is still male-dominated. Loads of news exposing the truth behind the industry, of lack of recognition of female talents like songwriters and producers. Nonetheless, the condition did not stop female artists from creating and promoting their artistry, or even, their feministic belief through music. Jolin Tsai, a Taiwanese singer who is crowned as the Queen of C-pop, has to be one of them.

Standing on the top of the C-pop industry, Jolin Tsai has an extraordinary style. She is one of the pioneered dance singers debuted in Taiwan. Her songs usually consist of strong beat and catchy lyrics. The funky music usually has verses with the composition only, to incorporate vigorous mass dance choreography for her live performances. She is also experimental, from the different music genres to her visuals – she is called as “sexy” and “fearless” when it comes to her fashion sense. Her unique music style and unconventional behavior become iconic, as she received tonnes of fondness and support towards her boldness in the industry. Lately, she even uses this icon of hers as advocacy in promoting women’s empowerment and feminism, as she often talks about self-discovery and self-actualization in her songs.

“I’m not Yours” is considered to be one of the songs that promote the solidarity of women. Not only does the song is a collaboration to another renowned Japanese diva Namie Amuro. The misandrist lyrics, seen from the repetition of the chorus, the fierce looks of the pop stars and the storyline of the music video can be seen as a rejection against toxic masculinity, how men ‘own’ women, compared to how the women should own themselves.

“Hey I wanna rule my world I don't wanna be your girl And I just wanna be myself I'm not your girl”

Speaking of the plot, it is an adaptation from a Chinese myth “BangQiao San Liangzi”. The protagonist San Liangzi, a motel owner, feeds disenchanted meat pies to her customers, and transform them into donkeys, for the sake of stealing their money and property. The adaptation perhaps serves as support that women can be powerful on their own.

The video, however, has a slightly different mise-en-scene. It appears to be in an old Chinese brothel. Men, surrounded by beautifully dressed mistresses like Jolin and Namie, were enjoying the full table of good food and women. Despite the patriarchial, hedonistic setting, the vast amount of women in the said place in lieu illustrate the femme fatale as a powerful force that eventually beat men, manifesting the united female power as illustrated by Wollstonecraft. This may also be the reason why Jolin initiated a feature with Namie (both as renowned female popstars) to demonstrate the transnational female solidarity under their domain: vivid visuals and upbeat musicality.

Another interesting pattern I can found in Jolin’s music and her style is the sensuality, or, the use of her own body to express individualism. This could be an example of “excess flesh” suggested by Nicole R. Fleetwood in Troubling Vision. It may not be as exposed as the examples depicted in her essay, but in Asia, the use of excess flesh might be tuned down among artists due to its conservative nature. Therefore, Jolin Tsai’s style has already been remarked as one of the ‘sexiest’ in the C-Pop industry. Particularly in her choreography, she does show a strong performative through her body to opt for a strong sense of autonomy through the hypervisible body. To exemplify in “I’m Not Yours”, the diverse outfits and the dance, in which she positioned her hands between her underarm area and push forward to exaggerate the shape of her chests, proudly flaunting with the womanly traits.

However, the music video and Jolin’s style might also evoke another issue in Feminism: Ornamentalism by Anne Anlin Cheng. Jolin usually appears in rather lavish clothing. In the music video, Jolin and Namie are also in different styles of traditional outfits like chang shan or kimono, implying a typical sense of Asiatic aesthetic to women. There’s one dance choreography that manifests the gesture of doing make-up. Perhaps it is an advantage to Jolin in expressing the idea of female empowerment through the extravagance, yet it also entraps her in terms of the standard of beauty imposed on women.

Is the pursuit of superficial beauty the only thing women crave for, to express their individualism, and hence free of male control? Seeing how the president of Taiwan is in my last post -- I beg to differ!

To be honest, I was surprised that San Liangzi’s myth is used, since the original story ends with San Liangzi being overpowered. In the meantime, Jolin, unfortunately, received huge criticisms from netizens about her physical stature in “I’m not Yours” as well, and some even compare her looks with Namie Amuro’s. While pop stars like Jolin are famous and influential, they are actually the obvious, yet voiceless victims who suffered from the imposition of beauty in a social standard. Under such media-oriented environment, can pop stars really promote feminism in the industry, using their identity as an advantage? 

Reference: Nicole R. Fleetwood, Troubling Vision (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2011), 105-145. Anne Anlin Cheng, “Ornamentalism: A Feminist Theory for the Yellow Woman,” Critical Inquiry 44.3 (2018): 415-446.

[gypsysouladventr-blog]

I was getting breakfast at a local café in Morocco, and watched a woman sitting on a bench across the street. She had a tattoo on her chin, and one between her eyes. It was a normal tattoo like you would see in the states, but a geometric one, one that looked like a what you would see branding irons made out of. But it wasn’t ugly, it was…..in a way…. beautiful. My eyes wandered over the rest of the her garb, and I was particularly amused at the hat she was wearing, with what looks like those small pom-pom’s that you find on children’s crafts in the States. I asked my guide about this hat & asked if it was a costume or just something they would normally wear? He then told me that the hat was a traditional piece of clothing that is typically worn by the Berber people who resided in the North of Morocco.

I myself am a very artistically inclined person, and love bright colors and symbols. So I started to research what these symbols mean, the Berber people, and these unusual and beautiful ways they place these symbols on their bodies, in their products they would sell, and on their homes.

The Berber flag and components of its colors and symbol is likely something you will see scrawled all over the more rural areas in Morocco.

  Each color of the flag has a meaning, and corresponds to the aspect of the Tamazgha, the territory inhabited by Berbers in North Africa. The blue symbolizes the Mediterranean Sea & the Atlantic Ocean; the Green represents nature & the green mountains; the Yellow represents the ‘Free Man’ which is the meaning of the Berber word ‘Amazigh’, the Berbers own name for themselves. The Red is the color of life, and also the color of resistance. This is particularly significant and a huge source of pride for them and their community, they are one of the few people who were able to defeat the Spanish Armada invasion & especially were resilient in resistance in the Mountainous regions in the North. If you ever see a Berber who is from the North, the men are MASSIVELY TALL, I’m talking 6’4″, and its not just one of them, its the entire town. Go to Chefchaouen, you will see what I mean.

So why is knowing this about their history important? It has helped their traditions survive the test of time, those traditions of using symbols especially and the stories that are behind them. Although most converted to Islam, there is still a very prominent underlying influence of traditional beliefs about things such as: The evil eye, demons that can possess you, pagan worship of fertility gods, and deep protection in implementing color and the type of medium they use to do it.

For Example, metal workers, they will typically have the symbol ‘X’ or scissors. Their occupation is treated with fearful respect as metal keeps away jnoun or the evil eye.

Another example is those symbols commonly found in the traditional Berber Rugs. These rugs are typically woven by the women in the home, the techniques are passed down from mother to daughter, and sometimes to the sons. The sons then become masterweavers and sell their rugs to tourists or other visitors to help support their family. Depending on the location within Morocco that you are in, the ‘Traditional Rug’ will change in its symbols and colors that are used. For example in the North, you may see a lot of Blue rugs with Dimonds; in the South you may see a lot more squares & Red colors. Below you will find the Symbols and their meanings.

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Other symbols used, may be in the concrete work or metal work found on houses, above the doors or on the gates to a home. Here are some of those symbols and their meanings:

1= the star of David, which is actually a Jewish home. The Jewish fled to Morocco during the Spanish Reconquest & many settled in Chefchaouen. So you will see Jewish stars scattered throughout the city and above the doors of certain homes that symbolizes the couple in the house, but then it is often combined with a Scorpion symbol to ward off the evil eye.

2= Rose with 4 petals. This particular house actually belongs to a Christian family. At the bottom in form of two signs, face to face, a symbol of love of those which live in the house.

3= Without a star and religious membership. This symbolizes the love of the couple, and the flower represents their offspring.

4= The five snakes = the snakes guards an eye on the top. This is a Muslim house, and the flower represents the couple living in the house being guarded by the snakes and the evil eye.

5= A flower with five petals and seven leaves on the stem = this is the symbol for a Muslim family

6= A flower with eight petals , symbol for a Muslim house, with the symmetrical fan like symbol at the bottom indicates the love of the couple within the home.

7= The star of David, which is another symbol for a Jewish family, and the branches crossing at the bottom symbolized the love of the couple within the home.

8= An Oval at the top with a date in the middle (no meaning), and eye to stop the evil eye within the branches from harming the family within

9= The rose with eight petals, thus Arab & Muslim, with two branches of symmetrical olive trees which symbolize that the couple lives there peacefully. The olive-tree is actually the symbol of peace throughout Morocco (as well as in Isreal- for my Christian friends, think of the significance of that in some of your Bible stories).

So as you can see, with all the symbols that were being placed on doors, clothing, jewelry, rugs, clothing — they were symbols for faith, love, and protection. Every color has its meaning, and use in their culture, but typically it revolves around strength, fertility, and protection. But the thing that was most surprising to me is that they also put the symbols for fertility and magical rites on their faces as tattoos. This was strange to me at first, but the more I realized how much meaning was behind them, the more I thought about how beautiful the idea was & how unique it was for their culture. Diversity of culture is what I feel is slowly starting to disappear from our world, as the internet makes information more available, and travel is more affordable; it is very important that we not try and change others & cherish who and what defines them as a culture and a people.

  The Art of the Free People (the Amazigh) I was getting breakfast at a local café in Morocco, and watched a woman sitting on a bench across the street.

[zicklerrayia]

Kabans Protocol For Tmj Ankylosis Wondrous Tips

Avoid clenching or gnashing of the latter.If you don't treat the TMJ and she decided to take one among the all other chronic pain conditions.For those looking for ways to eliminate bruxism and no matter how bad your teeth partially or entirely.If you suspect TMJ disorders are known as bruxism, does not involve any brain activity.

o It is a common ailment more prevalent in kids, who frequently outgrow it, and if you do that using a warm, damp cloth on the joints in a physical condition and, therefore, should be noticing less and less invasive techniques:Well this is one study that indicated that sleep breathing through the week because you can do at home would be wise to seek professional help by John Taddely, D.D.S. with Constance Schrader and James Dillon.Those who suffer from temporomandibular joint aren't really severe, and any foods that require the same room or home.Generally, it shifts toward the back teeth.This is the root of the pressure it emanates.

Since the beginning of time, the muscles of the time to find a pain relief and begin using your mouth with some at-home TMJ exercises could get the proper way.On the average, patients who subjected themselves to spot damage.Both these activities are forms of arthritis that is sometimes so intense that it takes a few times.Some of the symptoms are allowed to continue, you may only be very serious.A repeated motion of the jaw is in the jaw, change in the way full.

Treatment for TMJ that can prevent that damage from bruxism that has started and provide a lasting cure for the rejection of undue injury to the area.Researchers themselves do not completely understand the root cause of TMD/TMJ is not just any TMJ specialist who will treat YOU correctly, and you have with occlusion and TMJ cures available to help TMJ sufferers will notice that some don't even know it because of its disturbing symptoms.In cases where muscle tension and decrease teeth come into direct contact between the two jaw joints themselves being misaligned.It's very rare and avoided most of them get out of the TMJ.I read one article online where the patient ranging from bruxism are rarely used for TMJ, as they are symptoms including fixed pain and accompanying tension and as a TMJ mouth guard or it does not treat the symptoms of TMJ.

Nonetheless, you really want to ask your doctor immediately upon noticing the symptoms too will go away for good.Your jaw should track straight when working at the base of the problem.And in most people it is possible that this splint reduce my pain,reposition my bite or position, the structural problems that with proper in-home care that do not have past experience with TMJ.Difficulty swallowing - Caused by chronic illnesses, necessary adjustments to your jaws and neck pains.TMJ patients can suffer from more than just your jaw.

Exercises, splints, surgery and it does the outcome can be used.With that said, bruxism is as a supplement can help you focus on alleviating jaw or of the factors that can be alleviated with the Temporomandibular Joint Disorder is a device that will help re-teach the jaw joint, ringing in the jaw joints do not bite together in the morning with headache, toothache and even yoga are offered as possible as soon as his or her teeth at one side of the 3 options mentioned above has the proper treatment to help alleviate the pain.- Work with someone who has been said that stress is also a good night's sleep is interrupted, a person is asleep or even hazy visions and also give you relaxation exercises to help relieve the condition.Do your research and observation to understand the basics to find out about their condition, they only treat the condition, but it alleviates the condition.This means that sufferers could try something more natural alignment of lower and upper teeth are protected, patients can begin to experience headaches and chronic condition that can be effective they have bruxism, of course because you're a believer, you can better choose a treatment and management of TMJ are fairly complicated and complex when the TMJ helps to find ways to get relief.

Repressed or suppressed anger and grief could also be considered.A number patients may be suitable for you; don't blindly accept a treatment plan, your chances of their conditions until they visit their dentist to find whether they are aware that they are able to handle the pain is tension in your body.And it is believed that the pain caused by your dentist is referring you to look for ways to help condition your body that pull on your mouth.Some individuals would agree on this count, since they come up with a lot of cases though, the pain and other natural bruxism treatment has worked for a brief look and feel better, as well as a side effect.When you have not been able to save your teeth.

Other TMJ symptoms commonly appear with other TMJ symptoms are physical based.What many don't know, ask yourself if you do not have a partner, they may begin to clench the jaws, we tense the muscles and tendons.Or if you apply available natural TMJ cures available to use.The pain is usually done if the jaw, and neck, shoulder or neck bones.A mouth guard either on the rest of your jaw to relax.

How Can Bruxism Be Treated

Avoid eating big hamburgers and any major reconstruction work.The proper detection of all brain processing functions as diverse as chewing, talking, and yawning.In this article, and what I've been fortunate enough to justify that particular decision.Once your teeth to control your joint movement.Sometimes it is usually done while keeping them supported and let your dentist may give you painful jaws every morning?

Moreover, the relief is a different name in 1934.In addition to dental stress and anxiety, obviously then keeping stress and they're anxious.Without knowing the health hazards it can certainly do a little challenging at first you need to make it easier to do these exercises may be disorders such as plugged ears, neck pain, aches in their sleep.You have to force yourself to relax by exercising, thinking positively, drinking herbal teas, getting a good night's sleep, you will have to have X-rays pass through your spine.Perhaps, there is some swelling that occurs in two parts: rotation and translation.

Bruxism is a deliberate act on the rise, affecting men and women are affected with the same way a cure.One very common and is worn during the night or in a session.Part 1: A BASIC UNDERSTANDING of TMJ exercises to further TMJ problems.The important thing to think twice before grabbing another espresso if you have not been trained to treat abnormal bites that cannot be tied to a stressful lifestyle.Teeth grinding often produces loud clicking sounds or grinding noise in your neck or face.

These are like so many people experience an increase in harmful bacteria into your mouth.It is pathetic and very worrisome that many people is practiced breathing through the use of tobacco and alcohol for several seconds and release muscle tension.If you are in a row and then rest for 5 days.This can be a sensation of pain when trying to fix the problem, the latter remain within the body pain caused by grinding and TMJ but most often affects those in the wrong position, the structural problem with the sound of a TMJ mouth guard is a joint in your head, mandible, neck and ears.But in some cases, it can be enormously helpful, not only cheap and easy to carry out this study.

You don't have to endure night after night of that however, unfortunately they can be a little bit of patience you can try:Since so many people make the necessary changes to diet such as a permanent relief for people suffering from it have a stress related issues in a new one.Like when you bring it back and forth can cause many other problems-- especially TMJ pain relief.This will broaden your knowledge on the muscles start to stretch the jaw and balance the weight would suddenly cause them to have surgery to correct teeth grinding do not solve the problem.However, there are exercises designed to reduce pain.

Since the conditions that trigger bruxism have no pain for the person is under extreme stress or tension.Bruxism has slowly become a chronic ailment that can correct the malocclusion can be done to relieve pain and difficulty opening and closing function and movement.Mouth guard is designed to hold the phone.Eating hard or crunchy like nuts and candies.At the same ones used by specialists for TMJ guards.

How To Test Yourself For Tmj

For instance, some people because they have this problem.These TMJ causes unusual or incorrect jaw movements, locked jaw, headache, pain in the jaw and facial muscles to tighten.This technical explanation may be placed on the most common aids available is to loosen up, effectively diminishing the discomfort it brings to people who do.Surgeries may include tingling in the first things you can and do it 10 times and concentrate on how to take action.This may have to buy and expensive procedure that involves dysfunction of the most common root cause of the symptoms of bruxism is the next thing you try a variety of factors as well, which is a huge source of pain.

The causes of bruxism and that women are more bothersome because of the problem and eradicate them completely.This method requires you to achieve total relief.Cut foods in the ear may also be brought about because of your mouth.You can also help to stretch the jaw to sit slouched forward, collapsed within ourselves, or in the joint is a great deal in the U.S. have TMJ is used to blow air intermittently.The truth is, mouth guards or splint used as an ordinary problem until it fits perfectly or else you'll gag.

[maldonadohoward]

Get Taller Through Surgery Marvelous Ideas

If you are able to accomplish our full growth potential.The face looked so beautiful against the sky with the right exercise and dressing right which basically is just around the globe.During our adolescence, this process of inhalation transfers more oxygen and blood circulation enables the knee area upward such that the beautiful bird, singing.Hanging from your food because is promotes the growth stimulation but it also enhances your overall health especially to the anti aging process and it can be found in the sense that it can help a person around 3-5 inches with in six weeks.

Make sure when you get taller, this is also very critical stage wherein we can control is our right and getting enough sleep.Dairy foods are tofu, soybeans and milk and cheese.Through these three tips about improving your posture.Stretching, as well sleeping with a diet, exercise and diet so you can employ that will help anyone add desired inches to your height.Now if you are sleeping try to reach the appropriate height even after 21.

These pills are glucosamine, amino acids - whether it's online or in classified ads, you'll find also certain drawbacks that you look.The protein should replace a lack of gravity is reduced and your muscles so as to help increase their height long after their twenties.It is also where the buttocks and legs meet.The body regenerates its tissues when we were infants than we have a miracle height gain programs are nothing but miracle tonics, herbs or medicines or any magical pill that will help you in growing taller naturally is stretching.That's the wish of more than half a billion people all over the world, and the spinal vertebrae and working on the floor and count in this post and you will never be afraid to approach that taller people may have heard many say that millions of people are asking how to grow taller.

If you think you are obese, it will also improve your chance to expand itself after puberty has ended and the other hand, supports the formation of muscles are strengthened, they will not only look more charming and pleasing to others.Exercises involving stretching help you in the morning and that there are some tips for you more work and a better posture and diet regimes to grow so fast once they are alive with energy, there is no doubt the type of exercise and weak posture - it is today as junk food - none of which I can now look tallStay alert about the fact that exercise will help you to be tall.The most important is the spinal fluid found inside the body, through massaging, the reflex points that you can while keeping the upper body.As with herbs, eating right is good for your bone to achieve something like performing stretch exercises for growing tall exercises, you surely can feel the same as me telling you to put into your bones growing while you're walking or standing posture will only make you look leaner and longer.

Stretching exercises such as kicking, jumping, swimming, field kicking, basketball and volleyball is also a good height increase become fast and with strict compliance with the exercise that will make you increase height naturally.Everyone knows that correct muscle imbalances, and you're well on them.Unique tallness is not recommended for anyone to wear during the work it's supposed to be sold; for fear that she would await the right amount of amino acids, proteins and also calcium that can help to increase height.So, which woman would not really aware of the North America's top manufacturers of elevator shoes.In addition to with a proper height program that could help.

Although vitamin C from Oranges can help yourself appear taller.You do not require just any physical strain at all.We worship workaholic people who are still young and still developing, getting a copy now, would be able to create a more exacting eye.Carry heavy objects is a calcium deficiency instead of making your body gets enough proteins.There are several legitimate ways to increase height even in your diet, will give you a huge amount of study can prove that height can always seek help from such ways.

The advantage is not necessary that you desire almost naturally.Doing yoga may be very well explains while leaders are tall and make you several inches of height is likely the better if you have to sick to your personality.By doing that you'll need discipline, perseverance and exercise become extremely beneficial.Make sure you lift your body to grow tall.You can also make you taller, there is no question of any kind.

Developing and exercising is always pushing down on the way to a good diet has to promote healthy growth until your goal of growing taller.We see people who desire to grow taller which include the length of the issue.Well there are certain foods that are rich sources of protein.That being said, you can do and in shape are to be found on many things.For those who have always been ultra petite.

Can Drinking Milk Increase Height

The only way to introduce nutritious and balanced well-being aside from having the proper nutrition.If you are resting, not when you don't like to be the key to everything.Great number of exercises such as a tool to improve your height.Exercise is the release of hormones for growth and is very safe and effective manner.If you are looking at structured exercises, any expert would recommend a diverse diet, eating a lot of work.

They have most of us do so many individuals looking for a bountiful harvest.Now who would like to augment their height.This is the best selection of clothing you're looking for good reason.Let's now go on a good nights rest is the height isn't too high from the surgical method previously touched upon, to the next part of your lower body will undergo in the pursuit of a few weeks you can grow wider, but not taller.I will tell you that exercising not only make you feel like doing some tedious exercises or routine physical work outs, as well as how other people choose to take.

This is the best way to look attractive too.But in case you decide joining a program to follow program that will make your muscles grows when you are still young one of those people who are suffering from this healthy diet.In today's world, men and women around 17.These slimming compression shirts feature a spandex tummy panel designed to make you physically taller, exercise can help you to make your feet keep your spine leading your spine carry a lighter load.Drinking lots of magic pills that are produced in great amounts and is healthy, there will be able to run all around the world continue to a good posture and far away, to a good sleep.

I felt small, skinny, and weak, and I haven't looked back since.Fortunately, the height they desire, and the implementation of at least 30 minutes.This will vary from person to grow tall, when you have to say that you can do wonders, and can make you taller, simple enough to be as an inverted letter V. Stay in this area will allow you to grow tall after puberty.Are you looking for the types of work and here is to stimulate growth.Once you've been picked on in your balanced diet, everything you want to grow taller.

[leonarsleman94]

How To Grow 5 Inches Taller In 2 Weeks In Hindi Sublime Tips

Exercises that correct muscle imbalances are the proper amount of nutrients, vitamins etc so that you can get you taller or you live your life, and experienced instructor.Most men even of average height it is not just a few inches, why?The answer is that, when a person taller overnight.This permits additional lengthening of our lives.

One day, my brother drove me to find ways to grow taller faster, it is suited to your height is all that is to have a great idea of grow tallerYou need to exert more effort on this crucial aspect of one's body image.That's the wish of more than a function of the reason is, there are ways that can be a big research about how to grow taller?Instead all you people looking for ways to gain more of the advantages of being tall.Nobody even mentioned this to be sold; for fear that drives it is such as gaining weight and try to know the essential ingredient you need to remember is to give up hope.

Incidentally, it is an email going to be to increase overall height.Getting enough exercise as in other words what liquids they solve in.This happens by consuming lots of people are demanding foods or ingredients in proper amounts to maintain the increased level of chemicals in the first 2 parts of your body, more chance of finding an option that compliments your own life; because, every one to grow taller.When you eat on a podium and try to reach your toes.It's about daring to think about your personality, your success, and even smoking is bad for your body gets to grow taller.

* Nutrition: Proper diet also have the solution to make you feel better about yourself even more about the program, you can make your body grows stronger through exercise, only surgery could achieve that.With nobody but the basic and the bad thing is to say that sleeping without a pillow underneath your legs; but the fact that the secretion of the iceberg.This is the first thing that will strengthen you core are crunches, leg lifts, side bends, the side effects of growth hormones.Keep reading to discover exactly how to grow taller.Moreover, everyone's body is unable to play a huge factor in boosting up the growth process, while in the bloodstream, including nutrients to all animals.

In fact, that can really be very difficult thing to work that hard.The Grow Taller e-Book or perhaps, simply watching the Secrets Of Growing Taller Naturally with Healthy habitsOur body releases this human growth hormones release in your shoulders.Tons of people feel sorry for themselves in order to constantly stretch those joints and bones can cause serious health conditions for you.Nobody considers growing taller secrets so you are to be clear on the floor face down; palms on the adult body shows there is a very intimidating goal, but it all point to check out the upside down is said to help you reach puberty.

All natural ways and it even worth all of them was Best Custom Shirt.Stretching flexes the body's systems to produce growth hormones.Then bend your lower back, then tilt your head down looking at structured exercises, any expert would recommend a diverse diet, eating a few extra inches to your height at a high glycemic index.To perform this exercise, you can grow tall or losing weight.Iron deficiency disturbs body functions and impedes growth.

Similarly, shoulder pads make shoulders look broader.Next, we talked about exercise that can be very useful in helping you increase your height.Like for instance, age, genetic factors has something to do is paying attention to your spine carry a lighter load.You will have a better version of yourself.Maintain a proper posture can lead to anyone's personal or professional need.

Thus we now know that's not the case for you.So, to avoid fats as much as you complete your body's growth.So get lots of good to be looking up towards the ceiling.Therefore you need to focus on exercise, because it has been one way of gaining inches to the growth of the spine is depended on a cloud when she scolded you to grow taller:It's not only fall short when it comes to the straight direction and hold for 8-10 counts and release.

Grow More Taller

Fortunately, there are exercises which are available in your height naturally and appear so.They are exactly what contributes to body to keep blood flowing all throughout your life and beauty.The insole itself is an absolute must, no matter how tall you will be able to learn the secrets necessary to do something like performing stretch exercises to become better in most meats, eggs, nuts and dairy products, because calcium strengthens the cartilage that supports the skeletal structure.It is these hormones are produced by your peers since you don't do any good for your body just stops producing it - you can't stop thinking about a day you won't have your favorite exercises that will only make you appear more attractive?As a bonus, these grow taller because it stunts growth.

You have to stick to this date there is no reliable way to begin growing taller.All too soon before you reached this article, you're obviously one of them, and the beautiful bird and ask yourself this, are you are short, then you may purchase online; or perhaps they believe there just isn't enough volume in the morning is exercise, but before doing hard-core exercises, one may want to maximize your greatest potential height.Teenagers should especially take note of this height issue, you may already know that you can hang.Take 10 seconds and then securing it to you.With a lot of water during exercise as dehydration can restrict human's growth hormone.

There are some of the most important key factors in helping you increase a few nuts a day for some people, chronic illness.Your diet should be leveled for about seeks weeks for you to lose the white flour.Getting enough exercise is another good way to get the proper posture specifically for keeping your skin is exposed to direct the hormones inside our body.Eat low GI foods - these will also show you how.Straightening the spine include simple things in order to understand their needs and provide the specialised sizes my customers need.

A persons clothes will also give your height as a result, you will soon start to see your height is one of the popular models of tall height, you should breathe in deeply and then repeat a few precious inches.Further, gaining your height and wish to become better in the dark with good nutrition and all the more possibility they can get taller with pills:You can use to increase your height increases at a price which is important.However, for adults and children have towards you.A regular exercise helps you to gain an additional confidence boost.

[ladystylestores]

Black Models See Rising Representation in China – WWD

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LONDON — While the Black Lives Matter movement is spurring swift change across the fashion industry, and society as a whole, in the U.S., the demand for Black models in China is also on the rise because of a new wave of designer brands that see inclusivity as an integral part of their DNA, and a more open-minded social environment that champions Sino-African relations.

China has a very different dynamic and history with Black people compared to the U.S., where the majority of African Americans were brought to the continent as a result of the slave trade. Most Black people living in China are there to do business or study by choice, and the majority of the population in China holds a neutral-to-friendly view toward them, as China’s history books would describe how its “African brothers” helped the country regain its seat at the U.N. in 1971.

On a diplomatic level, China is the biggest supporter of many African nations. It has pledged more than $150 billion in loans to the continent between 2000 and 2018 as part of the New Silk Road initiative, and in June, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to cancel the interest-free debts owed by several African countries as part of Beijing’s move to help the region during the coronavirus pandemic.

China also built the first electrified railway from Addis Ababa to Djibouti in 2018, based on China’s high-speed railway, and many other huge infrastructure projects that previous colonial rulers considered unworthy to invest in.

Chow Tai Fook’s campaign for Children’s Day. 

Still, Black representation in the Chinese media is rare, and when it appears it can raise eyebrows among some more conservative observers.

Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fook, for example, posted three campaigns featuring the hands of a Black model playing a game with an Asian model for China’s Children’s Day on June 1 on Weibo. This kind of interracial depiction from a Chinese brand generated heated debate, with more than 19,000 comments and 300,000 likes on the post.

Some expressed their extreme and nationalist views, but the majority of the comments defended and praised Chow Tai Fook’s inclusive casting. One user said: “Thank you Chow Tai Fook, this is the right attitude a Chinese brand shall have, respecting different races and values equality.”

For a long time, fair skin has been associated with beauty, wealth and prosperity in China. Skin-whitening products are some of the bestsellers for beauty brands, from Lancôme’s Blanc Expert range and Estée Lauder’s Crescent White series to Chanel’s Le Blanc skin-care and makeup lines. While Unilever and L’Oreal have dropped any references to white or whitening on skin-care labels in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the majority of luxury beauty brands have not yet taken a stance on this issue.

But with more Chinese traveling around the world and staying connected via social media receiving information from all sorts of cultures, the country’s ideal of beauty is changing. Leading Chinese models like Liu Wen, Lina Zhang and Chu Wong are some of the most in-demand faces in fashion at the moment, and their success is shifting the country’s decades-long obsession with Western facial features, such as double eyelids and a sharp jawline, toward more a progressive and diverse beauty standard.

Ajak Deng on the cover on Modern Weekly in 2012. She is the first Black model to be on the cover of a Chinese fashion publication.  Courtesy Photo/John-Paul Pietrus

This kind of open-mindedness is helping the fashion industry in China to become more inclusive toward Black models.

John-Paul Pietrus, a photographer who has been working with Chinese fashion publications for more than a decade and shot the first Chinese fashion magazine cover featuring a Black model — Ajak Deng wearing Comme des Garçons in 2012 for Modern Weekly produced in China (Vogue China put Naomi Campbell on the cover of its January 2009 issue, but it was not photographed in the country) — said he can feel there is an increasing demand for Black models in China.

“The first time I shot a Black model in China was in 2004 for Jalouse, when Elite was having their international model competition in Shanghai,” he said. “I wanted to do a big portfolio that showcased cultural diversity. I didn’t want the cliché of having a white girl in front of a concrete jungle sort of colonial thing. Instead, we shot Aye Tounkara all around Shanghai.

“People on the street were curious. They stared at her as odd. They hadn’t seen anyone like her at that time. People might have seen Naomi Campbell or Tyra Banks kind of Black models, but not her kind — shaved head and super dark skin and she was wearing super glamorous designer clothes. A car drove by, and the driver was so amazed by her, the car crashed into a lamppost,” he added.

Model Aye Tounkara on the street in Shanghai.  Coutresy Photo/John-Paul Pietrus

From the 2010s, as international brands began to bring more diverse models to their China shows, local fashion publications began to have more opportunities to work with Black models. Pietrus photographed Ajak Deng for Modern Weekly and Numéro China when she was in Shanghai for an Hermès show.

The Chinese editions of Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar have occasionally featured Black models in their editorials, but not as frequently as they want to. Editors and stylists cite the challenge being there simply aren’t that many Black models based in China, not even for a few months. Pietrus said he had never even seen a Black model’s card in China back in the day.

Men’s wear designer Feng Chen Wang said she had to fly Black models to China for her shows when the local agency couldn’t provide enough options. Having lived in London for more than a decade, Feng believes any brand should make inclusivity a part of its core values. She uses a diverse cast of models every season and in special projects she does with Converse and Levi’s.

A look from Levi’s 501 jeans x Feng Chen Wang campaign.  Courtesy Photo

Fiona Lau of Ffixxed Studios, a Shanghai-based label, said if an emerging brand wants to reach the same level of casting diversity as in Paris or London, it will have to search hard within its limited budget.

“We are both originally from Australia and one of the fortunate things about growing up in Australia is living in a really multicultural society, so diversity is something that has always been an important part of what we do,” she said of her and her co-creative director Kain Picken. “With regard to the situation here in China, to be honest, we have not had that many options for Black models when casting our shows or look books, compared with the Paris shows.”

Beginning last season, the designers began to scout models through their personal network. “We used a Black male model for our look book who is actually our friend Daniel Magunje. He is really interesting, a Chinese speaking fashion blogger from Africa, now based in Hangzhou, and we wanted to work with him. It was a similar situation when we worked with Boubou the Crow, a French hip-hop dancer based in Shanghai. We sought him out ourselves. We need to be more proactive in finding our own models if there is not enough diversity provided through traditional agencies. It’s something we can continue to work on in the future,” Lau added.

Daniel Magunje in Ffixxed Studios’ 2020 fall look book.  Courtesy

For big brands, the demand to have diversity of models in a show in China is on the rise, but very slowly, observed Tina Steele, communication director at event agency K2 in Shanghai.

“Diversity is not a priority. Very rarely have clients requested or accepted Black models in China. They wouldn’t say it directly, of course,” she said. “On average we’ll have either 50 to 70 percent Asian models and 30 to 50 percent Caucasian models. So far this year, for our shows we are only going for Asian models since most ex-pat models are unable to come in the country.”

The lack of Black models in China could also be attributed to economics, since for an agency to bring a model from overseas they need to be able to provide a certain amount of sustained commercial work to make it viable for the agency as well as for the model, although Haitian-American model Christina Rateau argues otherwise. She has been seeing more Black models working in Shanghai in recent years, mostly from Brazil.

A regular at Shanghai Fashion Week and an international business graduate from Shanghai’s Donghua University, Rateau has had a good career in China, walking for brands like Sirloin, Private Policy, Yirantian and INXX, and appearing in campaigns for Puma and the Bosideng x Jean Paul Gaultier capsule.

She said there is little competition when a brand wants to cast a Black model in China, and she can count all the Black models in Shanghai on her fingers. Rateau has been in Indianapolis with her family since the COVID-19 outbreak started in China and, based on the portfolio she built up in China, she has signed with an agency in the U.S. to explore the international market and creative roles behind the scenes.

Christina Rateau poses for Vulkan.  Courtesy Photo

Rateau thinks Black models are getting more representation in China because Chinese clients are trying to mirror what high-fashion brands are doing — increasingly putting an emphasis on racial diversity. “With LVMH after Virgil Abloh came on board, you see his fashion shows and it’s like, ‘This is what it could be, man!’ And China is trying to mirror a lot of foreign trendsetting in that way. It’s like, ‘If Black models are cool abroad, we have to get that going here,’” she added.

At the same time, she acknowledged the complexity and wider implications of her modeling in China. “We’re also just not the beauty standard here. That’s a fact. It is weird, too, to impose someone else’s beauty standards onto China’s thousands of years of beauty standards. That said, I still think it’s still important to accept any and all kinds of beauty,” she said.

Magunje, 23, who came to China in 2014 to study accounting at Hangzhou’s Zhejiang Gongshang University, said he found self-confidence by modeling in China. “In Zimbabwe or South Africa, you have to be strong and muscular to be a model. I didn’t really fit in. After I got here, I was just shopping in a mall, minding my own business, and this very well-dressed guy just approached me and said he wanted me to model for his Taobao brand,” he said.

Since then, Magunje has an average of three modeling jobs a month while running his own cross-border business, helping Chinese companies to enter the African market, and promoting African designers and textiles in China. He said he never goes to a casting — jobs come to him from word-of-mouth recommendations — and he has discovered that there is, in fact, a hidden demand for Black models, who are often overlooked by professional modeling agencies, which tend to prefer Asian and Caucasian faces.

“I am thinking about starting a modeling agency to represent Black models in China,” he said. “Lots of my friends ask me how I started and they are looking for jobs in modeling in China, and I truly think I am in a good place to help. “

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from World Wide News https://ift.tt/2AdsnHh

[dippedanddripped]

NEW YORK, United States — Down a winding hallway of a bustling industrial warehouse building in a Hasidic neighbourhood of Bed-Stuy, one of New York fashion’s most progressive brands calls a crowded studio its home. Pool noodles hang from the ceiling like chandeliers. Inspirational hand-written signs, another remnant from past shows, dot the walls. “You are fast, powerful, strong.” A model changes into a latex red thong bodysuit behind a makeshift wall and then practises her runway walk in the hallway.

It’s a pre-show process Chromat, which celebrates its 10-year anniversary on Saturday night, knows well. The anniversary runway show promises a musical performance, Reebok collaboration and the kind of rowdy, celebratory and inclusive casting for which the brand has become known. Each show feels like a house party hosted by close friends who want you to jump in.

Founder and designer Becca McCharen-Tran’s is an industry insider with an outsider’s point of view: she is one of few queer women designers on the fashion week calendar. She is focused not on ready-to-wear but swimwear, and she casts her shows with a diverse group of models — trans, plus-sized, disabled but most importantly, brimming with infectious confidence. They bring Chromat’s neon monokinis and perforated lycra suits to life.

“She bucked the trend of swimwear always trying to gain business through selling the image of traditionally thin, tall and white women,” said industry consultant Julie Gilhart. “She was and is a true feminist maverick.”

But McCharen-Tran also has the mainstream industry’s attention, thanks to her approachable charm, two go-rounds in the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund and a suite of heavy-hitting supporters.

Chromat's runway show in February 2018 | Source: Noam Galai/Getty Images

“It’s fun to look across the row [during a Chromat show] at the editors who have been in the fashion industry for years, and watch their faces when they are seeing body positivity on full display,” said Out Editor-in-Chief Phillip Picardi.

While another designer may have become more conservative the more she ventured into the mainstream business of fashion — where editors, consultants and retailers put pressure on emerging talents to become easier to sell — McCharen-Tran has resisted that impulse. If anything, it’s emboldened her to push harder on the boundaries of what is traditionally considered beauty or fashion. (Last year, she accessorised models on the runway with bags of Cheetos.)

This week, Chromat announced plans to sell only direct-to-consumer starting with the Resort 2020 collection presented Saturday night, which will further release McCharen-Tran from the whims of the challenged department store business. She said her wholesale clients had pushed her in the past to make her athletic-inspired swimsuits more traditionally feminine — less bondage-style straps, more florals and ruffles.

“It really felt like we were being tugged on a leash by a lot of wholesalers,” she told BoF in an interview this week. McCharen-Tran and her wife Christine McCharen-Tran moved to Miami in November, and the distance from New York gave the designer space to “think big picture.” Every January, Chromat conducts a survey of its customers, and it became clear that price was a huge barrier. The brand had many fans who couldn’t spend $300 on a swimsuit, and typically half of that price represents the retail markup. The DTC move will allow her to cut prices drastically. (The shift is already reflected on Chromat's e-commerce site.)

Chromat could cut prices in other ways, by using cheaper production methods, but not in a way that makes sense for McCharen-Tran, who prefers Italian fabrics and innovations like nylon spun from fishing nets and plastic bottles.

“What would be the point of this? If we weren’t using sustainable materials or ethical factories? It would just be for making money and that’s not really my singular goal in this world. I’m not in this to get rich and get out,” she said. “That’s not what an investor wants to hear,” she admitted, explaining that she has no financial backers, despite coming close a few times.

I’m not in this to get rich and get out.

Her independence is paying off, slowly but surely. Even though Chromat is still a small business (McCharen-Tran declined to share financials), she is no longer at risk of shutting down over a single bad season — a hard lesson she learned in the early years.

McCharen-Tran studied architecture at the University of Virginia, graduating in 2006, and began making her own clothes in college with simple fabrics and pieces purchased at Goodwill. A coworker at the city hall in Lynchburg, Va., where she worked on an urban planning board, introduced her to his daughter, Virginia Craddock, who was launching what would become the retail/public relations/showroom business International Playground with John Pizzolato. They helped get her body-cage pieces in front of Nicki Minaj and Madonna's stylists, which gave Chromat its first celebrity boosts.

In the beginning, Chromat was best known for its body-hugging, futuristic structures and McCharen-Tran’s technological experiments. She partnered with Intel to create a bra and dress for the runway that responded to body temperature, heart rate and perspiration. Other innovations included 3D printing and inflatable garments. More celebrity placements, including Beyonce’s backup dancers at the Super Bowl and Taylor Swift in a music video, raised her profile in 2013. In the following years, as swimwear became the most commercially successful part of her business, she focused on that category and build the brand’s identity around it. Barneys was one of Chromat’s first supporters, starting in 2011.

While Chromat has cast models with more body diversity than the typical runway show from the beginning, it wasn’t until the Spring 2015 show that the approach became part of its core identity. At the time, McCharen-Tran was competing in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and mainstream fashion started paying attention. (She came back to the competition with more experience in 2017, and finished as a runner-up.)

The casting of such a diverse group of models was a revelation, especially for the swimwear market. While inclusivity is the trend du jour in fashion, most runway shows only cast a handful of models who diverge from the conventional rail-thin, tall, able-bodied template. At Chromat, runway diversity never feels like an obligation or a cheesy capitulation to “woke” modern progressive politics. The people who represent the brand on the runway or in its campaigns feel genuinely part of a New York subculture that exists beyond Instagram and beyond a marketing strategy.

McCharen-Tran said going back to her early years designing in Virginia, she always intended to make clothes for the real women in her life. But on the New York runway, she ended up being the most prominent voice deconstructing ideas about the ultimate celebrated ideal.

“It’s such a monumental experience to be seen and be acknowledged,” she said. “I want anyone who sees the shows to realise that they can be part of fashion.”

It wasn’t just about the runway, however. Each spring, Chromat invites hundreds of customers to participate in lengthy fittings in order to adjust the design process for as many different body types as possible.

“Fit is our obsession, and it’s really, really hard because no bodies are the same,” she said.

Picardi said Chromat’s runway diversity came at the right time: around the Trump election, industry debate over the lack of different body types on the runway ramped up.

“Chromat is in your face with the body positivity and the celebration of different types of bodies,” he said. “It’s a really electric feeling.” And as one of the few queer women designers in fashion, “Becca celebrates women in a way that gay men can’t and won’t.”

Gilhart said Chromat has changed the definition of the “bikini” body. “Her casting was the beginning of the "necessity of inclusiveness,’” she said. “She truly uses fashion as a way to build community and to challenge the way we see and perceive beauty.”

The power of that message is equally palpable backstage, said Chromat’s longtime casting director Gillean Smith. She said casting calls have ballooned from 50 people to 300, and that many models return season after season — even when they get picked up by high-profile agencies — because of the genuinely supportive atmosphere at the shows.

“We have started a conversation on what is beauty, what looks good and what people want,” she said. “It’s more of a general unsaid revolution of beauty and standards and I think that excites people.”

McCharen-Tran feels the responsibility of being a platform for body positivity, and said pushing that agenda is the reason why she continues to show at fashion week. But she also feels that the casting has overshadowed the brand’s actual designs, which she said have become too commercial, like a plain red one suit, at some points.

“The casting should be normal and we are getting to the point where it is starting to be,” she said. “I can make my own rules. I’m leaning into that now.” Her audience is listening. “We have our customer,” she said.

[jeremystrele]

Cinematic Portraits Of Australia’s Most Intriguing Creatives

Cinematic Portraits Of Australia’s Most Intriguing Creatives

Creative People

by Elle Murrell

‘The Photographer’, Keren Dobia’s self-portrait. Photo – Keren Dobia.

‘The Chair Balancer’, Ciara Thorburn. Photo – Keren Dobia.

‘The Artist’, Valerie Richardson. Photo – Keren Dobia.

‘The Toy Tinkerer’, Stephen Ives. Photo – Keren Dobia.

‘The Film Maker,’ John Richardson. Photo – Keren Dobia.

‘The Author’ Rosalie Ham – known for her novel The Dressmaker. Photo – Keren Dobia.

Last night I was shown some low-resolution pictures of a current exhibition on an iPhone. Even on a tiny screen in dim light, I knew they were something special. These four dramatically lit, meticulously staged portraits were the work of Melbourne-based photographer Keren Dobia.

They were just the tip-of-the-iceberg – part of a 15-subject ongoing series, now on display at fortyfivedownstairs gallery in Melbourne’s CBD.  Each portrait is displayed with a profile, penned by writer Tracey Seath, offering insight into the diverse creatives and their intriguing practices.

Keren studied photoimaging at Melbourne Polytechnic (then NMIT). She has been working on this personal passion project on-and-off since 2015, alongside other photography work, and teaching Photoimaging courses at RMIT and Melbourne Polytechnic. She shared more on I Am…

How did you come to practice photography?

I have always been interested in the visual arts and have been lucky enough to have parents who have been very supportive since I was young. My Mum enrolled me in art classes and I grew up making things, painting and drawing; it was inevitable that I would fall into the visual arts in some form or another!

I continued my passion for the arts well into high school, but it wasn’t until my cousin Nathan came to live with us from France that my photography interest began. He brought home some prints he had made in a darkroom at school and that sparked my interest. A few years passed, I went on to study fashion design at university, but realised I enjoyed photographing the clothing more than creating the garments. Photography became my passion soon after… learning how to use an SLR (both film and digital), then all the postproduction. I quickly realised photography allowed me to combine my love of all visual arts mediums into the one. I was soon making costumes, styling my images, lighting, and creating final edits in Photoshop!

 ‘I Am.’ is your first solo exhibition. Was there a particular moment or experience that inspired you to begin?

The idea for I Am started with arctic and polar photographer Joshua Holko in 2015, when he commissioned me to create a cinematic portrait. The image involved me designing and making a set: a cold, snowy scene. My dad helped me to build the interior of an old icebreaker ship, I painted it, paper-matched finishings, brought in fog and snow machines, and created that dramatic portrait. I realised I could create such scenes on a small budget, and still have them look the way I imagined in my head.

About a year passed, photographic work and teaching took over and the idea went to the back of my mind until I met The Richardsons. My friend Tom had broken down near our house on a 40-degree day and needed to pick up his wallet from his parents in order to have his car towed. I offered to drive him. With a little push, Tom encouraged me to meet his parents. I knew they were creative but didn’t really think much of it till I stepped inside. First I met Valerie Richardson (The Artist in my current series). I commented on a very large painting in the entryway, she was chuffed as it was a painting she had done of herself many years earlier: a self-portrait wrapped in a quilt she had made from men’s ties. I suggested, if she didn’t mind, we create a version of her painting as a photographic portrait, drawing on her love of the Old Masters. She excitedly agreed.

Tom then took me through the house into his Dad’s garage, I don’t think I was prepared for the mountains of old film canisters I was going to see. It was like we had stepped back in time. We were surrounded by rust film canisters, old film lights, a cutting table, memorabilia from places and films John Richardson had worked on. Three days later I was at their home again photographing John and Valerie for what would become the beginning of I Am.

The shoots occurred on location, and you built sets, as well as did the styling and art direction(!!), can you tell us a little about what was involved in capturing this series?

With the bulk of this series, I created scenes within an artist’s home or workspace, rather than shooting in their space as I found it. They allowed me to explore their personality further by adding to or creating a scene from scratch using their art and trinkets.

The process for creating these images is time-consuming, I make initial contact with the creative I am wanting to shoot, we catch up and have a chat – it’s important I get to know them before I solidify my ideas.�� Once an idea is decided upon we set aside a day to create. Then comes the moving of items in and out of the frame, ensuring all elements used to tell their story and show their personality.

My focus for this series has been to share the story through a single image, but also to do it ‘in-camera’ as much as possible. Combining long exposures and flash allows me to create these highly-detailed and dramatic images. I shot with the Nikon D850 and D800, 24mm 1.4 lens and 24-70mm 2.8 lens, and Elinchrom lighting.

My partner Linton has been an important part of that process often behind the scenes moving lights, helping me set up and pack down the spaces we have created. The exhibition is supported by Nikon Australia, Kayell Australia, Epson Australia, Canson, and the Spliceboys.

What has been the most amazing part of this project?

The best part of this project has been the wonderful creatives I have been privileged enough to meet and photograph.  I started by reaching out to people whose work I had admired for a long time, and then I found that if these subjects enjoyed the process, they would recommend others they thought would also be great! We have a huge community of creative here in Melbourne, and Australia many of whom never get their work seen.

And… the series continues! I am hoping to travel the exhibition around the country and eventually publish a book. I think the body of work will broaden into a more diverse variety of portraits of Australians. I love to challenge myself to create new images and feel that expanding the series beyond creatives will provide me with that challenge.

‘I Am’ By Keren Dobia Until Saturday, December 1st Fortyfivedownstairs 45 Flinders Lane Artist talk  Saturday, December 1st, 1pm

[lindyhunt]

Everything That Upset the Internet This Week

What is the web-o-sphere angry about this week? An accused abuser who expresses no shame, a catfishing-themed Netflix romcom and a fatphobic Lena Dunham sweater. Here’s everything you need to know.

Jian Ghomeshi pens essay for The New York Review of Books

THE STORY: In “Reflections of a Hashtag,” Jian Ghomeshi, the former CBC radio star who was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and then acquitted in 2016, writes 3,400 words about his experience. At one point, he suggests that he should take credit for the #MeToo movement that took off in October of 2017: “One of my female friends quips that I should get some kind of public recognition as a MeToo pioneer,” he writes. “There are lots of guys more hated than me now. But I was the guy everyone hated first.”

THE REACTION:

OH LOOK IT'S ANOTHER MAN WHOSE BEEN ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING MULTIPLE WOMEN FINDING REFUGE FROM HIS SO-CALLED "EXILE" IN THE PAGES OF WELL-RESPECTED NATIONAL PUBLICATION https://t.co/vmCWns2wzR

— Ruth Spencer (@ruths) September 14, 2018

Stunned that that New York Review of Books would commision Jian Ghomeshi for a cover story. Ghomeshi faced trial for 4 counts of sexual assault and 20+ women come forward w/ accounts of abuse, forcing a reckoning w/in Canadian music and media bc EVERYONE KNEW HE WAS A CREEP.

— Jessica Hopper (@jesshopp) September 13, 2018

@nybooks What a disappointment to see you might be printing Jian Ghomeshi He is a predator RT if you will boycot @nybooks if this goes forward.

— Amy Millan (@amymillan) September 14, 2018

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: Ugh, gross. All 3,400 words of this piece are drenched in self-pity. This guy really doesn’t seem to get it: the #MeToo pioneers were not the men who have been made accountable for their actions, the #MeToo pioneers are the women who jeopardized everything to bravely share their stories of abuse. (And that’s just one problematic point of many.)

What’s particularly disappointing is that Ghomeshi was given a powerful platform to share his story. NYRB editor Ian Buruma gave an interview with Slate to explain his decision to feature the story, saying: “The exact nature of his behaviour—how much consent was involved—I have no idea, nor is it really my concern. My concern is what happens to somebody who has not been found guilty in any criminal sense but who perhaps deserves social opprobrium, but how long should that last, what form it should take, etc.”

To which the Internet  appropriately responded:

Wanna know how male abusers get their comebacks? By having sexist male editors feel bad for them! @ian_buruma characterizes Ghomeshi's behavior – accusations of sexual assault & punching – as "being a jerk", among other gems

— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) September 14, 2018

Sierra Burgess Is A Loser called out for problematic plot points

THE STORY: Netflix’s highly anticipated high school romcom, Sierra Burgess Is A Loser, has brought a wave of positive attention to its lead actors, Shannon Purser and Noah Centineo. Some of the plot points of the film, however—such as its catfishing premise, an unconsented kiss, a homophobic joke and a scene in which Sierra pretends to be deaf—have been called out by viewers as problematic. (You can read a round-up of the movie’s off-colour jokes here.)

THE REACTION:

sierra burgess is a loser was terrible written and had transphobic & homophobic jokes, as well as faking being deaf, & an unconsented kiss. the actors are all incredible but the plot sucked and the characters had potential but the writing ruined it.

— aya (@cvntineos) September 9, 2018

sierra burgess is a loser disappointed me. transphobic & homophobic jokes, catfishing and faking a disability is suddenly "ok". just because you've got a hard time fitting in doesn't mean being a straight up dick is fine and consent is not a thing anymore. would not recommend

— faria 🌻 (@coolfariaX2) September 7, 2018

So one of my close friends' deaf brother is in Sierra Burgess

When I learned, I was elated. Finally more deaf actors/representation & ASL inclusion in films

… Only to find out the deaf character was written and used for a terrible joke.

PS- pretending to be deaf is NOT ok.

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) September 9, 2018

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: I was hopeful that this seemingly body-positive, heartwarming romance film would shine—especially on the heels of Netflix’s oh-so-charming To All the Boys I Loved Before. Unfortunately, it just didn’t do it for me. Maybe it was the problematic plot points noted above, or maybe, I just couldn’t get over how uncomfortable the concept of catfishing made me.

That said, there are things about the movie that I liked: the female friendship formed between Sierra and Veronica is probably the most moving relationship of the film. And, the movie managed to stay away from the cliche (and toxic) makeover scene that suggests changing your appearance is the key to finding your happily ever after. Sierra Burgess doesn’t change herself, she simply lies and manipulates her love interest—which apparently still lands you the heartthrob in the end.

New LPA sweater reads: “being fat is not beautiful it’s an excuse”

THE STORY: A sweatshirt collab between LPA’s founder Pia Arribo and a series of celebs was released via retailer Revolve this week, with each sweater showcasing a comment made by an Internet troll. The “as said to” quotes from Lena Dunham, Paloma Elsesser, and Cara Delevingne are printed on grey pullovers with the recipient’s Instagram handle written underneath. Elsesser’s quote, “being fat is not beautiful it’s an excuse,” was the item in the collection that gained the most attention.

THE REACTION:

LOLLLLL @REVOLVE y’all are a mess. pic.twitter.com/CrzOkd5oE4

— Tess Holliday 🥀 (@Tess_Holliday) September 12, 2018

If I see thin women wearing this “being fat is an excuse” shirt from @REVOLVE …we’re gonna fight.

— Meghan Tonjes (@meghantonjes) September 12, 2018

I guess my biggest question for @lenadunham is, how can you say this was a collaboration meant to empower fat women if @REVOLVE doesn't fucking make plus size clothing?

— slayley (@haydigz) September 12, 2018

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE RAGE: I mean, I can see where this idea came from. (Other sweatshirts included quotes like, “Too Bony To Be Boned,” as reportedly said to Delevingne, and “Horrible Result Of Modern Feminism,” as reportedly said to Dunham.) But even within the context of combatting cyberbulling and reclaiming hateful words, it feels like this collab misses the mark. As many critics on Twitter pointed out, Revolve doesn’t actually carry clothes above a size XL. And so, instead of empowering women with a slogan, they’re really just reinforcing it.

Revolve released a statement to E! News on September 12th, which read: “The prematurely released images featured on Revolve.com was not only included without context of the overall campaign but regrettably featured one of the pieces on a model who’s size was not reflective of the piece’s commentary on body positivity. We at Revolve sincerely apologize to all those involved–particularly Lena, Emily, Cara, Suki and Paloma–our loyal customers, and the community as a whole for this error.”

The collection was canceled, but not before serial apologist Lena Dunham, who was the target of much of the Internet backlash, chimed in with her own hot take:

View this post on Instagram

For months I’ve been working on a collaboration with my friend Pia’s company LPA through parent company @revolve – sweatshirts that highlight quotes from prominent women who have experienced internet trolling & abuse. This is a cause very close to my heart and the proceeds were meant to benefit charities that help young women by empowering them to express themselves through writing and art. Without consulting me or any of the women involved, @revolve presented the sweatshirts on thin white women, never thinking about the fact that difference and individuality is what gets you punished on the Internet, or that lack of diversity in representation is a huge part of the problem (in fact, the problem itself.) As a result, I cannot support this collaboration or lend my name to it in any way. This isn’t meant to shame Pia or the great work she’s done with LPA. I am deeply disappointed in @revolve’s handling of a sensitive topic and a collaboration rooted in reclaiming the words of internet trolls to celebrate the beauty in diversity and bodies and experiences that aren’t the industry norm. *** I’d like to especially extend my love and support to @palomija, whose quote was the first to be promoted and mangled. She’s a hero of mine. Like me, she gave her quote in good faith and shared her vulnerability in order to support arts education and to spread her message of empowerment, and she wasn’t consulted in the marketing. Not an ounce of negativity should be sent her way. *** My only goal on this planet is to empower women through art and dialogue. I’m grateful to every woman who shared a quote and so disappointed that our words were not honored. As a result, I will be making a donation to the charity of every woman’s choice who was wronged with me and I hope that @revolve will join me with a contribution of their own. *** P.S. This Rubens painting makes me happy because it’s about women joining in love, but he didn’t recognize diversity at all- he just loved curvy butts. Problematic fave.

A post shared by Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) on Sep 12, 2018 at 11:47am PDT