She's Rotten And So Beautiful

yamino: I figure some people will appreciate this

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:59:02 +0200

yamino:

I figure some people will appreciate this

Photo

Fri, 24 May 2013 21:08:02 +0200

lesbiaaans: what a good character

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:48:51 +0200

lesbiaaans:

what a good character

pgay: ”if u like someone just tell them!!” yeah sure goodbye

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:06:44 +0200

pgay:

”if u like someone just tell them!!” yeah sure goodbye

Chowder County: gulagforcutie: thepeoplesrecord: Meet The Red Brigade: formed in...

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:56:05 +0200

Chowder County: gulagforcutie: thepeoplesrecord: Meet The Red Brigade: formed in...:

nazerine:

gulagforcutie:

thepeoplesrecord:

Meet The Red Brigade: formed in November 2011 to fight back against a growing number of sexual attacks on women in the city of Lucknow, India

The male tormentor of the young women of the Madiyav slum did not spot the danger until it was too late. One moment he was taunting them with sexual suggestions and provocations; the next they had hold of his arms and legs and had hoisted him into the air.

Then the beating began. Some of the young women lightly used their fists, others took off their shoes and hit him with those. When it was over, they let him limp away to nurse his wounds, certain that he had learned an important lesson: don’t push your luck with the Red Brigade.

Named for their bright red outfits, the Red Brigade was formed in November 2011 as a self-defense group for young women suffering sexual abuse in the northern Indian city of Lucknow, 300 miles south-east of Delhi. Galvanised by the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi last December and the nationwide protests that followed against a rising tide of rapes, they are now gaining in confidence.

From a core membership of 15, ranging in age from 11 to 25, they now have more than 100 members with a simple message for the men who have made their lives a misery: they will no longer tolerate being groped, gawped at and worse. Their activities are a lesson in empowerment.

Men who fall foul of the Red Brigade can first expect a visit and a warning. Sometimes the Red Brigade will ask the police to get involved, but if all else fails they take matters into their own hands. Their leader, 25-year-old teacher Usha Vishwakarma, has her own experience of the daily danger faced by many young women in the country. She was just 18 when a fellow teacher tried to rape her. “He grabbed me and put his hands round me and tried to open my belt and trousers,” says Usha, sitting in the bare-brick front room of her small house. “But I was saved by my jeans because they were too tight for him to open, and that gave me a chance to fight, so I kicked him in the sensitive place and pushed him down and ran out of the door.”

No one at the school took her accusations seriously, telling her to forget it and stop causing trouble. The experience left her traumatized and for two years she did nothing. But little by little her confidence came back. In 2009 she set up her own small school for local girls in an outbuilding next to her family home. Yet all around her, she says, she saw more and more young women suffering the same abuse she had faced. And it was threatening to wreck the chances of her young female students.

“Parents were telling girls to stay in their homes so there would be no incidents. They said, ‘if you go to school, boys will be troubling you, so stay home and there will be no sexual violence’,” says Vishwakarma. “But we said no, and we decided to form a group to fight for ourselves. We decided we would not just complain; we would take a lead and fight for ourselves.” They bought red kameez (shirts) and black salwar (trousers) and began to plan the fightback. “We chose red because it means danger and black for protest,” says Vishwakarma.

There is much to fight back against. “It is in the minds of men that girls are objects and it has been like that always,” says Vishwakarma. “Religion shows women as very powerless and that whoever is strong can do anything.”

They have started martial arts training so that the men do not have a physical advantage over them. Pooja, Vishwakarma’s 18-year-old sister, laughs as she recalls the reaction of the boy they grabbed in the street when his taunts became too much. “We all stopped and turned round and we surrounded him and grabbed his arms and legs and he thought it was a joke, but we were not kidding and four of us lifted him in the air and the others started to hit him with their shoes and fists,” she says.

The rough justice the Red Brigade metes out might seem extreme to western sensibilities, but many Indian women are making it clear that they are no longer prepared to put up with endemic abuse. That much is clear from the crime figures: reports of molestation in Delhi are up 590% year on year and rape reports by 147%. The rape cases have hit tourist numbers, which were down 25% in the first three months of the year – 35% fewer women are travelling to India. The Red Brigade say sexual abuse is a part of daily life for young women like them. They all have stories of abuse, attempted rapes and daily harassment. “This is what happens in India,” says 16-year-old Laxmi, one of Vishwakarma’s lieutenants. “These things happen all the time. All of us know this, so don’t let anyone say otherwise. This is why we have formed the Red Brigade.”

Seventeen-year-old Preeti Verma nods in agreement. Her family are too poor to have a toilet in the house, so she has to go out into the fields, she says. Every time she went out, the man in the neighbouring house threw stones at her to try to scare her into jumping up. “He wanted to see my body,” she says. “I told him: ‘What are you doing? You are shameless, don’t you have a mother and sister in your house?’ But he replied that his mother is for his father, his sister is for her husband and that I was for him.” She told Vishwakarma, and the man received a visit from the Red Brigade and another from the police. She has had no trouble from him since.

“We’ve caught a lot of men recently,” says 17-year-old Sufia Hashmi. “I joined up because men always used to pass comments on me and touch my body, but now we beat them the men cannot do anything and they run away. You feel powerful and you feel good.”

On the way back to the slum, the rickshaws pass a public park and for a moment these tough young women show themselves for what they really are – children forced to grow up fast. They beg and plead to stop. “Please, please,” they say, their eyes gleaming in excitement. Shrieking gleefully, they race off towards the swings, slides and roundabouts. Later they stroll back through the market, eating ice-creams, heading for their homes. The sun is low in the sky, the shadows long. The men watch sullenly as they pass. No one risks a word.

Source

Saw this on Al Jazeera this morning. I’m sure it’s gone around Tumblr in some form before.

hell yea

this would be a lot better without the”………but inside they’re really just kids!!!” at the end

it’s kind of demeaning and it has nothing to do with the content of the article

politicalprof: This is when my social science PhD soul goes...

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:53:44 +0200

politicalprof:

This is when my social science PhD soul goes mad.

1. As I’ve addressed elsewhere, it’s not my job to support your argument on your behalf. If you think guns save lots of people every day, start a series of counterposts to my “Gunmerica” posts. (Good luck: you won’t find them.)

2. “Balance” in no way, shape or form depends on my presenting “facts” disconnected from the social and political contexts in which those “facts” exist. When the evidence is overwhelming one way, it is absurd to create a false balance by suggesting there is meaningful counterevidence to the predominant point of view. (See the global warming “controversy” for a prime example of how “balance” perverts insight.)

And the evidence regarding guns and gun ownership is overwhelming. You are vastly more likely to be hurt or killed by a firearm you, a family member or a friend owns than you are to be saved by one. A huge number of the weapons obtained illegally in this country are stolen from homes of people who worry more about quick access to a weapon should their home be robbed (which will likely happen when they’re not home), than they do about how easy it is for a thief to steal an unlocked weapon.

The list of evidence and facts about the ills of gun ownership —particularly handgun ownership — goes on and on. My Gunmerica posts stand as another form of evidence: the casual way lives get damaged and destroyed by easy access to guns.

Will this evidence matter to the gun people? Of course they won’t: such people are lost in the fantasy of the citizen militia(man) gunning down the bad guy like Dead Eye Dick. Evidence is irrelevant in such cases.

But don’t ask me to give up my analytic eye in the name of false “balance.” If you wish to make the case you want me to make, go make it.

I dare you. Heck, I double dawg dare you.

And good luck.

social-sob: !!!

Fri, 24 May 2013 18:38:06 +0200

social-sob:

!!!

Why has nobody noticed that Madeline is actually brushing her...

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:17:17 +0200

Why has nobody noticed that Madeline is actually brushing her teeth the opposite way to all the other girls the rebellious bitch.

jayparkinsonmd: There’s currently a measles outbreak occurring...

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:16:47 +0200

jayparkinsonmd:

There’s currently a measles outbreak occurring in Williamsburg and Borough Park in Brooklyn. There have been 34 cases, 8 of which were in adults.

Here’a brief history of measles in America. This is what effective vaccines do:

Measles is coming back because of a quack of a doctor in the UK who admitted to publishing blatantly false data for fame and notoriety. He falsely connected autism with the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella vaccine. He’s since admitted it and has been banned for life from practicing medicine in the UK. Rightly so. The body count is up to 1155.

Measles is also coming back because of the anti-science movement (hipsters in Williamsburg?). The anti-vacciners are on par with the Christian Scientists believing that prayer will save your diabetes. If you are not vaccinating your children, you are simply rejecting science and one of the most remarkable inventions of humankind. On the same level as rejecting cars, planes, elevators, etc..

The issue of vaccinating your kids has very little to do with your kids, and everything to do with protecting the health of your community. Vaccinate your kids, and you’re doing your kid, your family, and your community a social favor. Don’t vaccinate your kids, and you are selfishly anti-social putting your kids, yourself, and your community at unnecessary risk of death.

justalittlebit-ch: peckerhead-red: yet another unrealistic...

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:13:24 +0200

justalittlebit-ch:

peckerhead-red:

yet another unrealistic standard for cats

fwiffo: discoverynews: teamepiphany: Virtual supermarkets are...

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:13:12 +0200

fwiffo:

discoverynews:

teamepiphany:

Virtual supermarkets are popping up in subway stations in South Korea, where commuters can virtually shop for items while waiting for the train to come. Customers simply scan an item’s QR code using the free “Homeplus” app and can have it delivered to their doorstep before they even get home. Ranked as the 2nd most hard-working country in the world to Japan, South Korea is rewarding its workers with this timesaving gem.

Wow! I kinda love this idea.

literally the future

fefeferi: when youre in a fandom that is known for being fucking annoying and youre ashamed of it...

Fri, 24 May 2013 17:12:18 +0200

fefeferi:

when youre in a fandom that is known for being fucking annoying and youre ashamed of it but you still like the thing

hali-gan: Struggling to Care About Heterosexual Romance: a chronicle of watching mainstream movies...

Fri, 24 May 2013 15:15:08 +0200

hali-gan:

Struggling to Care About Heterosexual Romance: a chronicle of watching mainstream movies with straight people

celeryandhummus: our kids will probably attend a middle school dance where the theme is the...

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:24:35 +0200

celeryandhummus:

our kids will probably attend a middle school dance where the theme is the 2010’s

they’ll wear leggings with ugg boots and twerk to “call me maybe”

nahshaw: i went out to eat lunch with my mom and i forgot what a knife was called so i asked the...

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:24:25 +0200

nahshaw:

i went out to eat lunch with my mom and i forgot what a knife was called so i asked the waitress for “one of those things that you use to stab people with”

lydiallama: welcome to dangan ronpa this is your main...

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:59:00 +0200

lydiallama:

welcome to dangan ronpa this is your main protagonist

he will be solving complex murder cases

kidswithhats: when video games let you save whenever you want

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:41:43 +0200

kidswithhats:

when video games let you save whenever you want

theyoungdoyley: “Why don’t you have any friends?” “I’m not...

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:26:17 +0200

theyoungdoyley:

“Why don’t you have any friends?”

“I’m not very fond of people. Everyone starts looking the same, and they all say the same things… and it frightens me.”

“Well, I’m sure if you actually gave people a chance, they’d warm up to you!”

“… If you insist, Miss Utena.”

For tahenkeai

hanabimonai: nikkiaino: I made this a while back, but today is...

Fri, 24 May 2013 13:03:55 +0200

hanabimonai:

nikkiaino:

I made this a while back, but today is as good a day as any to post it.This is queerbaiting simplified. It’s showing one thing, multiple things, just enough to plant the seed of that oh so dangerous thought: “Could this character possibly be just like me?”. Just enough to keep us guessing, just enough to not be enough for everyone to see. Because we are looking, we find what the creators so carefully put there “hidden” in plain sight (don’t you see it? it is there!). Our readings are silently tolerated, swept underneath the rug, shoved into the cupboard under the stairs. It’s all fine, as long as you don’t show your face and raise your voice. (“don’t talk about it, don’t ruin the status-quo, don’t be different”)

More and more people read those characters as queer. More and more LGBTQ+ youth and adults (and even non-LGBTQ+ people) hold unto that tiny sliver of hope that this time, this time it will be our turn. Until that thin rope we were collectively holding unto breaks and we fall. The rope breaks and we fall. Some will walk away barely scathed, just some bruises here and there, but others will break their bones and have to learn to walk all over again. And again. Repeat.

But that rope? It only breaks because someone cut it. Maybe they only frayed one thread, but it was enough. It’s a strong rope, it could have supported us all. We can’t fix it, we don’t have the means. We can only wonder why you would break our piece of rope, when you have a whole assortment of rope ladders to choose from.

So what is queerbaiting really? It’s showing a thing and then blaming people for seeing the thing. If you don’t want us to see the thing, don’t freaking put it there.

As frustrating as it is, I’m more likely than not to be okay with the writers’ part in doing this, as long as they aren’t the ones denying the nature of a relationship (or any other perfectly valid reading for that matter), later on.

Something I’ve come to realize from arguing about this with deniers in the past is that it’s the quality of the relationship that matters to me most and not whether they kiss or proclaim their undying love. Nobody needs such additional “help” to believe in attraction between opposite sex couples. Obviously I do want my favourite couples to confess and to get physical at times— I just don’t want things to be so ambiguous between the two of them that intimate touching or sudden confessions become (or get treated like) the very FIRST signals that they might like each other.

I just wish the creators of these works could see (or better, understand how it feels) when some of us dare to talk about a subtextual (or lately even canon, but subtle) pairing and other people (usually straight guys) freak out and insist on imposing their heteronormative reading of the text on everyone else rather than at least accepting a diversity of readings.

all time favorite ships → lambdadelta/bernkastel “You really...

Fri, 24 May 2013 12:20:27 +0200

all time favorite ships → lambdadelta/bernkastel

“You really don’t let a person get bored. That’s why I like you, love you. …………Let’s meet again somewhere. However, we may not be reunited for another hundred or thousand years… if ever.”
”That’s alright. The Sea of Fragments is tiny to a pair who love each other.”