"

As we got up from our seats and stood in place to enter the aisle, the white woman behind me stood next to me in the aisle and was determined to gain the place in the line ahead of me. Elisabeth was standing by her seat in the row beside me, and the woman’s husband was standing behind us in the aisle.

We stood a long time, as it seemed to take longer than usual for the passengers ahead of us to file out of the passengers’ cabin. When it became closer for our row to exit, the elderly woman beside me started walking ahead and somehow got three rows in front of us. I am not sure how she managed that, but she did, leaving her husband behind us. So far, we have simple rudeness.

As she left the plane, she was about eighteen passengers ahead of me on the ramp. So, when it was my turn to walk out, I asked her husband if he wanted to go ahead of us, and he politely said, “Please go ahead.” So, my daughter and I stepped from the passenger cabin.

As we passed the elderly woman on the terminal ramp, she had an angry look on her face as my daughter and I emerged from the door ahead of her husband. She was waiting for her husband in disgust. Her displeasure was written on her face, and as we walked past her, she said aloud to her husband, “I can’t believe you allowed the Chinese to get ahead of you!”

She said it loud enough so that I could hear. As the words left her mouth, her spitefully-based statement to her husband angered me more than such events may warrant. My first thought was the perception that an Asian is always already viewed as a foreigner no matter how long they have been living in this country. Even fourth or fifth generation Asians are viewed as the “perpetual foreigner.” Asian Americans have been depicted as “perpetual foreigners,” “unassimilatable,” and other stereotypes that reveal historic and persistent racism experienced by this racial/ethnic group. For example, almost every Asian in America has been afflicted with the perpetual foreigner syndrome. Many have been asked, “Where are you really from?” This loaded question, which I shall call the “really-question,” differs from the usual one, “Where are you from?” The really question figuratively and literally ejects the Asian American respondent to Asia, because the assumption behind the question, even if the questioner is oblivious to it, is that Asian Americans cannot be “real” Americans.

"

Grace Si-Jun Kim, “White and Yellow: Overcoming Racism,” The Feminist Wire 4/24/13 (via racialicious)

It’s the same here, in Canada. Asian Canadians will never be Canadians.

(via paradelle)

“For example, almost every Asian in America has been afflicted with the perpetual foreigner syndrome. Many have been asked, “Where are you really from?” This loaded question, which I shall call the “really-question,” differs from the usual one, “Where are you from?” The really question figuratively and literally ejects the Asian American respondent to Asia, because the assumption behind the question, even if the questioner is oblivious to it, is that Asian Americans cannot be “real” Americans.” -Grace Si-Jun Kim

(via feminist-space)

My mom, who doesn’t even strictly identify as having feminist views, warned me about this phenomenon…and it’s really telling if it’s visible enough that people in a bystander position  know this viewpoint exists.

If we’re forever viewed as foreign in a non-Asian country, and viewed as foreign (“too American,” “too Canadian”, etc.) in an Asian country, then where the hell do we belong? Where can we find a place where for once we are NOT seen as outsiders?

(via feminist-space)

Posted 6 hours ago

(Source: vongruby, via dyke-recovery)

"(TW r*pe/sa/csa)

Sexual assault centres in US colleges have said that more women are reporting anal rape, which Dines attributes directly to the normalisation of such practices in pornography. “The more porn sexualises violence against women, the more it normalises and legitimises sexually abusive behaviour. Men learn about sex from porn, and in porn nothing is too painful or degrading for women.” Dines also says that what she calls “childified porn” has significantly increased in popularity in recent years, with almost 14m internet searches for “teen sex” in 2006, an increase of more than 60% since 2004. There are legal sites that feature hardcore images of extremely young-looking women being penetrated by older men, with disclaimers stating all the models are 18 and over. Dines is clear that regular exposure to such material has an effect of breaking down the taboo about having sex with children.

She recently interviewed a number of men in prison who had committed rape against children. All were habitual users of child pornography. “What they said to me was they got bored with ‘regular’ porn and wanted something fresh. They were horrified at the idea of sex with a prepubescent child initially but within six months they had all raped a child.”

"

from the Guardian (via femalestruggle)

God…

(via callingoutbigotry)

Posted 6 hours ago

asianhistory:

Asian History and US History Minus White Guys has officially started an Indiegogo campaign

I’m trying to raise a minimum of $10,000 to pay off the rest of my semester’s tuition and next semester’s tuition so that I can spend more time, money, energy, and effort here and at USHistoryminuswhiteguys!  I’m currently $31,410 in debt with student loans, and at the end of next year, will have $42,500 in debt.  I work a part time job and intern, and unfortunately not even scholarships, pell grants, or jobs can cover all my bills.

That’s where I’m asking my followers to step in! 

I would like to change that, but I need everyone’s help. 

It’s possible if I have your help! Please reblog and consider donating. We have 9 days left! :) 

IndiegogoAsianhistory | US History Minus White Guys

(via asianhistory)

"This is what I don’t get - Women are impure because males have touched them. Who’s the dirty one here?"

— Comment on Jezebel article “Female ‘Purity’ Is Bullshit”   (via jececilia)

(Source: lunarynth, via faineemae)

Posted 7 hours ago

whoneedsfeminism:

I need feminism because as soon as I tell people that I have two moms they ask me how stuff works with no man in the house. 

Please don’t call yourself a feminist if you approve of BDSM.

exittheory:

raised-rory-from-perdition:

piefacemcgee:

ihaveabsolutelynoidea:

cynically-colorblind:

It’s one of the most misogynist things out there.

dictating how a woman chooses to express herself sexually is misogynistic

it’s also misogynistic to assume that all women undertake a sub position 

it’s also heterosexist to assume that all bdsm is heterosexual

image

please place a sterile bandage on that BURN 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burn_centers_in_the_United_States

When discussing the stock female sub/male dom situation, this is one of the largest misconceptions out there—the assumption that all women WANT to be liberated from a submissive role, the same way that many people think that Muslim women who veil are “oppressed.” There’s a lot of people out there, and plenty who honestly do not see their current position as being one of oppression or submission. Some people: female, male, neither, heterosexual, bisexual, homosexual, in-between, etc., honestly enjoy helping out others and making them feel good. If you feel that, it’s what you are and what you’re into. There are different levels of BDSM, and proper BDSM is Safe, Sane and Consensual. If the sub gives explicit consent to what is being done to them, there’s nothing harmful or wrong about it.

(via shockade)

Posted 1 day ago

nbcnews:

Teen’s invention could charge your phone in 20 seconds

(Photo: Intel)

Waiting hours for a cellphone to charge may become a thing of the past, thanks to an 18-year-old high-school student’s invention. She won a $50,000 prize Friday at an international science fair for creating an energy storage device that can be fully juiced in 20 to 30 seconds.

Read the complete story.

Female scientist: winning!

(via donutrage)

craftyjai:

ride-the-vibes:

This is JASON FYLES and he goes to my university (Newcastle University, North East of England) He is 19 years old, 5’8, ginger hair and slim. He was last seen in the Sandyford area at 2:45am on Thursday morning and has not been seen since. He was wearing a blue shirt, grey cardigan, beige chinos and brown ankle boots. Everyone in uni is so worried about him along with his family and friends. We are coming together as a university to appeal for his safe return. It is thought that he lost his friends on the night out and tried to make his way back by himself. Please, I am begging for you to REBLOG THIS, even if you don’t live in Newcastle, or England. Every REBLOG means that someone else will see his face, they will know who we are looking for, and your followers could be the one to know his whereabouts. Stay safe Jason, we’re looking for you. 
THIS WILL NOT RUIN YOUR BLOG! 


Local news report

PLEASE. Nobody reblogged my own post on this which I posted an hour or so ago so I’m wondering if nobody will now. This guy is my friend. If I have ever sent you a nice ask or reblogged something of yours and it made you happy for a second (or even if I haven’t; this is about helping him, not doing me a favour) for God’s sake just help now, help to find my friend Jason. You want me to make him human to you?

  • Once we all grew beans in pots as part of a Biology experiment- the experiment failed miserably and made the whole lab stink, but his was the only bean that grew and he was actually pretty proud about it
  • He learned to knit as part of a school project where he had to learn a creative skill, and when a couple of people teased him about it he said “gender is a social construct” and carried on knitting like a badass
  • He loves the scene in The Great Gatsby where Gatsby throws all his silk shirts around and he and I used to giggle over it together
  • Once I asked him if he had a string of tinsel I could use in a photoshoot and he brought me a big cardboard box full of tinsel and fairy lights because he’s a helpful and lovely guy

He’s HUMAN and he needs our HELP and just PLEASE PLEASE FUCKING REBLOG THIS??? He’s been missing for four days now- when he went missing he would have been wearing his contact lenses and he won’t have had his (very thick) glasses with him so by now he’ll have had to take his contacts out and throw them away and he won’t be able to see well and oh God just please signal boost this

(via caffeinatedfeminist)

sttinkerbelle:

Men can be feminists too, and they should be.

(via feisty-feminists)

epicreddragon:

“A woman’s place is in the revolution.”

(via feisty-feminists)

feministdisney:

mourning-would:

feministdisney:

flopehoats:

elizabitchtaylor:

gbg-g:

interstellargeek:

feministdisney:

xelamanrique:

look who’s finally joined!

look who got pushed to the side

Wow, move Tiana over one and suddenly all the PoC princesses are in the very back. I mean, did the people that made this lineup not see how racist this appears?

Mhmm. So not surprised

ew i hate the redesign and also why would you put Mulan in the outfit she wore to see the matchmaker, which she hated because it didn’t really represent her?

GOD DAMMIT MULAN IS NOT A PRINCESS SHE MARRIED A GENERAL

I like how someone read all this and at the end of it all was truly outraged that…

Mulan is in the lineup

I’m just gonna say that to me it looks like they put them in order of popularity. But sure lets turn everything in existence into some form of racism.

But sure let’s pretend the WoC princesses are least popular in spite of everything that indicates most of them being popular fan favorites, much more so than Aurora or Snow White??

And even if it were true, popularity of merchendise is manufactured in itself. Tired of people acting like certain princesses are associated as princesses more just by chance. It’s because they’re marketed that way! Think of how- even after Tiana came out- WoC princesses are tokenized in any princess merchendise.

If there is more than one princess, and less than six, there will almost always be only one shown. This is one of the reasons Pocahontas is less associated as a classic princess- Jasmine usually ended up being the tokenized character. Even though WoC made up almost half the line before Merida came along, I’ll be on my deathbed before I consistently, or even sporadically, see three of them together when it isn’t  entire group. Even though this happens all the time with the white princesses. (links show examples of marginalizing merchandise) 

So yeah after almost 15 years of doing that since the inception of the princess line, it’s no wonder that the princesses who are featured on every piece of merchandise- because Disney chooses to feature them- become seen as the “classic princesses.” Marketing does not just make use of perceptions- it creates them. People perceive the white princesses as being classic princesses because they’ve been repeatedly exposed to this message, not because it’s a given fact of life. 

It may seem pointless to talk about it to a lot of people, but no one is saying it’s racism in the sense of denial of housing opportunities, jobs, or anything like that. It is, however, a largely subconscious racial microaggression that contributes to a socialized way of viewing PoC as “the other” that are there to “show diversity” and white people, characters, preferences, everything, as the “default.” This happens not only when we refuse to call actions out, but also when we fail to even notice it happening in the first place.

Reblogging for the updated discussion. A few points:

  • I personally never liked how Mulan is always shown in her matchmaker costume. It’s definitely not “her,” although it is obviously very feminine and the closest thing to a princess-like ensemble shown in the movie.
  • I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that having royal blood or marrying into royalty is NOT necessarily the criteria for becoming a Disney princess, but rather the worth of their actions that make them somebody to be admired. Mulan was a total badass. Just saying. Yes, she didn’t marry into royalty, but she’s IMO one of the most awesome Disney characters out there, and I’m sure SOMEONE would have been outraged if she’d been left out of the line, regardless of whether or not she was royal.
  • Also, to add to feministdisney’s comments, Disney didn’t start featuring girls/women of color as major characters and potential princesses until quite recently. We grew up with white princesses and during our lives, princesses of color were slowly introduced and integrated into the Disney Princesses line. Because white princesses were the standard?”classic” mold in the past, they still remain by and large our standard now, unfortunately.

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can mobilize an entire society in violent hate against me.

sheresists:

Language is never neutral. 

(Source: genderbitch, via thepluralisphoenixii)

Posted 2 days ago