#social commentary

[screaming-in-the-corner]

Something you need to remember is that journalistic photographers are still artists at heart. When you are providing a source of information that is to be seen as "the truth" you are going to frame things to look a certain way.

You will publish the ones that look like what you want. The framing of Luigi Mangione's transportation is incredibly evocative of paintings of Jesus being arrested. It also (not so) coincidentally is often the framing of a hero being captured for the greater good.

This is ON PURPOSE. Do not discredit the artist by calling it a mistake. This was on purpose. The artist supports him and is framing him as a hero.

No matter how much corporate news may attempt to drown out the support for Mangione, artists always have the ear of the people. A picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it?

[shyjusticewarrior]

At some point "fanfic can be as good as professional writing" became "fanfic should be as good as professional writing" and that's caused major damage to fandom spaces.

[triaelf9]

I'm sure some people online could spend their time better

[sleepy-bebby]

[whereserpentswalk]

"Creatives deserve to be paid" and "We desperately need community spaces for creatives that aren't focused on trying to make money or advance careers where we're allowed to make connections and experiment" are two statements that can and should coexist.

[wickedwitchofthesouth]

Do you think people have shit to say about mutants taking part in the Olympics? Are there mutant beauty influences who are campaigning for larger shade ranges from makeup companies, e.i, not just human skin tones?? Do you think there are some fashion trends that mutants start just to make life easier for them selves and at first all the humans called it ugly and then culturally appropriated it and rebranded it with some gentrified name? Do you think mutants get barred from entering churches or temples? Do you think 98% of mutants have faced violence at the hands of a human at some point in their lives?

Do you think?! Do you think? Do you think?!? because I do. all the time all I do is think

[digitalismmm]

Jungle vines

[multifandominfj]

The Wicked Movie is one of the most politically, socially and contextually layered modern movies to ever be made. It is so relevant for the current times we are living, it’s literally a direct commentary.

And I will stand on that fact till the end of time.

Witches are rooted in antisemitism. Everything about the stereotypical witch was a Jewish stereotype. Idina Menzel is Jewish. Her being cast was a direct commentary on it. Cynthia being cast also brings to light how Elphaba is commentary on how society STILL treat black women/women of color.

That’s why Glinda’s eyes are green in the original poster for the musical! You have to be eagle eyed to spot it, but it’s a small detail that shows “Good” people…are probably more evil than the people in society that are being labeled “evil”.

[aptericia]

Not proud to be here.

--

Ok, here goes draft like 5 of this fucking post. I spent 4 hours tossing and turning in bed last night thinking about this, and then this morning I found a tumblr post that really helped me understand what I was trying to say.

The post talks about how aromantic "advocates" claim that "aros don't take up resources, so there's no reason not to include them!" And if that's actually what people believe, I think I can finally articulate why it is that I feel so alienated in queer spaces.

It's because aspecs in general aren't "welcomed" by much of the queer community. We're tolerated. We perhaps get the luxury of not being contradicted on our own identities, or not being specifically kicked out of LGBTQ-only spaces, but that's the whole point: what we get out of the queer "community" is people NOT doing things, not actually doing things FOR us. And that, frankly, is not enough. We deserve conversations about us. We deserve to have others consider our feelings, even when making lighthearted jokes. We deserve varied, respectful representation in media. We deserve the active deconstruction of amatonormativity in society. We deserve to have space made for us, rather than at most being told we should "go take up more space!" ourselves.

Of course, the reality is that my being aspec is a personal matter that does not inherently affect anyone else. But the same can be said for literally any queer identity. Your being gay doesn't say anything about me, so of course I shouldn't hurt you for it, but why should I help you either? Because your happiness and comfort are important. The same goes for aspecs.

And most of the time, I don't even need anyone to make space for or expend resources on me; I can live fine in everyday, non-queer-specific places without mentioning my identity at all. But it's the queer community that claims it will make that space for me, doesn't, and then acts defensive and morally pure if I call out the hypocrisy because "we're queer too, you can't erase our identities to advocate for yours!!!!"

Again, this post isn't about specifics. I have queer friends who are incredibly thoughtful and supportive about my identity, just as I have non-queer friends who are. I find more solidarity in aspec-only communities, as well as trans/genderqueer ones, although there are still many exceptions. This post is also not about amatonormative ideology, which is extremely common from queer and non-queer people alike. This post is about the reason I've felt so betrayed by the queer community.

--

On a personal note, I remember being so excited when I started identifying as aromantic (and later asexual). Fitting myself into labels has been a lifelong struggle for me; to this day I still can't confidently say if I'm White or PoC, neurotypical or neurodivergent, abled or disabled, cisgender or not cisgender. I continue to struggle making friends because I don't fall into social cliques. To discover that I officially, certainly, was LGBTQ+ lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. And now I'm just so sad to find that despite that, I'm still stuck in the middle. I didn't get rewarded with a community. I still feel alienated from both queer and non-queer people. I know it was silly to get my hopes up when there's such vast diversity in both groups, but it really was a disappointment. Going to my first Pride parade last year was really the moment where I realized this.

[eccentricphilosoph]

It's also not about making the movements anti-man, anti-white, anti-straight. Very important to remember.

And it's NOT ABOUT YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL either if you're a part of these groups. It's about the GROUPS.

[queerism1969]

[sunbeamedskies]

Hating nazis does not mean you’re not prejudiced against Jews. Posting about how you’d love to punch a nazi is not your get-out-of-accusations-of-antisemitism free card

[rentedvsl]

i thought when i was in high school that having trouble making friends was something you would just overcome as you got older. now that I'm older & out of school, i realized it's actually harder. theres no classes, study halls, or school events to get to know someone in, & there are very few events organized by parents you have to go to anymore. you have to work, but depending on the job that can be a hard place to make friends. because who is truly authentic when they're under that kind of pressure & exhaustion? making friends when you get older is hard. making friends means you take the leap by suggesting hanging out with a coworker outside of work despite having no idea if they are only nice to you out of necessity. making friends means having uncomfortable conversations & driving people long distances and running out of things to say in the car. making friends means staying after church instead of walking out as soon as service is over and talking to that one girl you only ever smile at every sunday. making friends means saying "we should grab a coffee sometime" while your hands are shaking

[lilithism1848]

[catgirl-kaiju]

it's so funny to think abt how the dystopian levels of surveillance and data collection we are subjected to every day without consent, and sometimes without awareness being done primarily for the purpose of advertising goods and services to people. targeted ads that so often get blocked and ignored because everyone hates ads.

just... the hilarity of a vast network of machines dedicated to spying on everyone in the world, straight out of the mind of a deranged conspiracy theorist, which exists to let you know that shoes are 10% off at wal-mart, and which doesn't actually make you want to shop at wal-mart