pantslessprogressive:

Favorite libertarian of all time, Ron Swanson.

(Source: philphys)

suddeninevitablebetrayal:

rainbowfairyprincess:

dangertits:

skiptripfall:

rainbowfairyprincess:

I am incredibly grateful to my parents for giving me both kinds of toys. I preferred the dolls, but at least I know that was my own honest choice.

My mom wouldn’t let me have toys. 

I still find most commentary on the sexist division of girl toys and boy toys to be rather lacking. Of course if is terrible that girls and boys are given toys that encourage them to enact stereotypical gender roles ways so young; this type of socialization might prime them to fill specific roles later on in life. But people are still undervaluing “girls toys,” equating them with passive frivolousness. And how sexist is that? The sentiment is that “gender neutral” toys, always verging towards “boys toys,” are constructive, educational, and worthwhile. Dolls aren’t. This is the kind of sentiment that dismisses the value of “women’s work” of care-giving later on in life.

“Boys toys” tend to be physically complex. “Girls toys” tend to be socially complex.  The complexity of the imaginary play that children often engage in with dolls is intangible and made invisible early on—because you aren’t looking.  It is so much easier for a child to say “look what I made” and get a pat on the back than to say “watch me engage.”

I played with lot of different types of toys. Sure, I liked to build things with legos. But I much preferred my dolls. And guess what? All forty or so of my beanie babies had individual personalities. They had roles, romances, they interacted with each other in complex ways. There were smaller subgroups of birds or bears. I used them to create a complete micro-society. But an adult passerby would see that pile of critters as a rather useless and excessive collection.

Understanding social complexities, the kind of play which “girls toys” encourage, is undervalued from an early age.

Let’s please stop with the “dolls are dumb” rhetoric. It isn’t helpful. It’s still sexist. The problem of gendered children’s toys won’t be fixed by allowing free access to “boys toys” for all, but by seeing the value in diverse types of play, and encouraging all children to engage in them.

Re-reblogging for commentary.

And to add that dolls ought to be marketed/designed in a way that encourages that kind of creative play, rather than the way they seem to be done now, with pre-packaged personalities and an emphasis on how “sexy” they are.

that commentary.

(Source: hypnotiqone, via boy-girl-wonder)

The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa as reimagined by Félicien Rops.

rascapetatiando:

Amor Huichol

(via mexicatiahui)

YOU ADD THE RED

YOU ADD THE RED

YOU ADD THE RED

FIN. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THIS.

HAVE SOME FUCKING PITY I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE.

(via chaperoned)

racismfreeontario:

Black History Month: Canada had slaves, too

MONTREAL — What unfortunate distinction does Olivier Le Jeune hold in Canadian history?

Le Jeune was the first recorded black slave in New France, brought to Canada from Africa in the 17th century when he was a child.

If you didn’t know the answer, you aren’t alone.

The story of blacks in Canada doesn’t form part of the national narrative and is outside the mainstream of what most people learn, says Lawrence Hill, author of the acclaimed historical novel The Book of Negroes.

Hill told students on Thursday at Ecole secondaire Antoine-de-Saint-Exupery in Montreal that he finds most Canadians and Quebecers know more about the history of blacks in the United States than they do about the topic in their own country and province.

As a teenager, Hill said he was never taught about the history of blacks in Canada. If it wasn’t for his parents, who had written books on the subject, “I wouldn’t have even known that slavery existed in Canada.”

Hill’s appearance marked the launch of Black History Month at the high school and also the launch of a French-language Black History in Canada Education Guide, a teaching tool that draws on The Book of Negroes.

The guide was developed by the Historica-Dominion Institute, a charitable organization dedicated to Canadian history and citizenship. It contains discussion questions related to Hill’s novel, as well as a black history in Canada timeline that notes key milestones, such as the abolishment of slavery in the British colonies, which took effect in 1834, and the election in 1866 of Mifflin Gibbs to Victoria, B.C.’s town council, making him the first black politician in Canada.

The English guide was sent to more than 3,000 schools across Canada last year. The new French guide has gone to 1,500 French and bilingual schools in the country.

“It’s an honour for the novel but more importantly, it’s a tool that hopefully teachers or students can use if they want to learn more,” Hill said in an interview.

Many teachers and educators have so little information about black history, Hill said. “Dozens of times in my life teachers have come to me and said ‘I’d love to do something about black history or talk about black literature but where can I find anything?’”

“As Mr. Hill said, it seems that Canadians know a lot about (American) black history but we don’t know enough about our own black history,” said Brigitte D’Auzac, senior manager of programming for the Historica-Dominion Institute. “So it was important for the institute to make sure that we talk about it,” D’Auzac said. “Let’s get every kid in school aware of this. And let’s talk about our history. It’s important and we need to know about it.”

Hill told students how he was born and raised in Toronto, the son of a black father and white mother who had emigrated from the U.S. Fluent in French, and a graduate of Universite Laval, Hill talked to students about his novel, weaving in historical information — such as the first big wave of black immigration in 1783 to Nova Scotia at the end of American Revolutionary War, and how, faced with racial discrimination, slavery and segregation in their new location, one-third of the Black loyalists ultimately left Halifax in 15 boats to create the colony of Freetown in Sierra Leone.

“The first big exodus of blacks from the Americas to return to live in Africa came from Halifax,” in 1792, Hill said.

He also read an excerpt from The Book of Negroes, which has been translated into French with the title Aminata.

Hill said it’s great to see more and more people in Quebec have learned about Marie-Joseph Angelique, a black slave who was accused in 1734 of setting fire to her master’s house, which also destroyed half of what was then Montreal. (Angelique was convicted and executed.)

For the longest time, people in Quebec seemed to know nothing about the history of slavery in Montreal or Quebec City, Hill said. “After all, the first slave in Canada is in Quebec City in 1628 — a boy from Madagascar, Olivier Le Jeune.”

Hill said he believes there is often an “unconscious resistance” to looking at our own history. Many Canadians know about the underground railroad, he said, which makes us feel good because we feel “we’re welcoming poor, fugitive American slaves and giving them their freedom here.

“So it’s convenient to know about that. And if a Canadian does know a tiny bit about black history in Canada they’re likely to trumpet the underground railroad,” Hill said. “But very few people can talk about, or know anything about the black Loyalists or them being so terribly mistreated in Nova Scotia that they left en masse 10 years later.” (via Black History Month: Canada had slaves, too)

See also: Black Canadian, Slavery in Canada, Underground Railroad

(via supersoygrrrl)

epic4chan:

This shows great projects worth supporting, but governments will make them illegal if we don’t stand up for our rights.  画

(via akagoldfish)

kiwizzo:

This is Lady Pink, one of the only female graffiti artists active in the ’80s. Jenny Holzer, famous for her feminist postmodern “Truisms,” designed this shirt and Lady Pink wore it around NYC. (via intifada)

(Source: deathatitsfinest, via lovebelikeawhirlwind)

dreaminginspanish:

Borderlands/La Frontera by Gloria Anzaldúa

pre-ordering this right now

(via joteria)

thedailywhat:

Follow Up of the Day: Well, it was fun while it lasted, but it turns out that’s not Jon Leibowitz AKA Jon Stewart getting his mosh on at a 1982 Dead Kennedys show in Richmond, VA.

The person in the photo is actually Red Cross/Prevaricators bassist (and Jon Stewart doppelganger) Alford Faulkner.

Old-school RVA punk Doug Dobey gave Faulkner a call this morning, and he confirmed the photo is of him at a July 23rd, 1982 Dead Kennedys show which took place at the now-defunct Casablanca.

For what it’s worth, it could totally have been him, if not for the hair.

[rvamag / thanks andrew!]

well that was a letdown