Showing posts tagged culture

Promoting Anorexia: An Interview With Kenneth Tong. This Was No Hoax

donewiththisshit:

atchka:

Remember this asshole?

Yeah, he got reamed. Check it out.

This guy is getting way too much attention for actively ignoring medical and psychological understandings of health in favor of his personal standards of beauty and worth. 

I couldn’t even get through that whole thing - he makes me want to vomit. I didn’t agree with everything the author said, either (mainly the “objective mental illness” part, because medicalization isn’t exactly “objective” - mental illnesses are very much socially constructed, though that’s not to undermine what she’s saying about the seriousness of anorexia), but it’s nice to see someone take him down a notch.

(Source: atchka)

(Reblogged from entre-deux-femmes)

Tong is wrong, but so is #NoSizeZero

(Clearly all of my posts today are going to be about what’s trending on Twitter…)

Like I’ve said before (here, here, and here), one of my biggest problems with the body acceptance / body image awareness movement, aside from its tendency towards racism and heterosexism, is its obvious hypocrisy in terms of preference for a particular type of body. Dove’s campaign for “real beauty,” which basically only depicts women of the same general size, is a perfect example of this, as is the #NoSizeZero hashtag on Twitter, which seems to be trending in response to Kenneth Tong’s Twitter. Tong promotes anorexia as a lifestyle and regularly tweets misogynistic, fat-phobic posts about women’s bodies and the importance of being a perfect size zero. 

His posts make me angry enough to vomit, but I’m upset that once again, the idea of body acceptance is translating into anti-anorexic and anti-skinny responses to this man. The #TongIsWrong trend I understand, but why does no one thing to tweet #YesAllSizes rather than #NoSizeZero? Why respond to the negativity with more negativity when the idea is to accept everyone’s body, regardless of its size? Let’s not forget that some people are naturally thin and that people of all sizes suffer from eating disorders — adding one more negative voice to a culture obsessed with criticizing “imperfect” bodies doesn’t really help counter Tong’s message.

“
Fat people are often supported in hating their bodies, in starving themselves, in engaging in unsafe exercise and in seeking out weight loss by any means necessary. A thin person who does these things is considered mentally ill. A fat person who does these things is redeemed by them. This is why our culture has no concept of a fat person who also has an eating disorder. If you’re fat, it’s not an ED — it’s a lifestyle change.

Lesley Kinzel (via heyfatchick)

It kills me every time I see someone winning one of those ridiculous weight loss shows for losing xxx lbs. and getting to the same weight I’ve seen others hospitalized for, just like it kills me every time I watch TV and see another ridiculous diet commercial following an advertisement for fast food. We live in a society that can’t stop eating, can’t stop dieting, and where you’re hated for being too fat but criticized for being too thin. Then we look at the obesity epidemic and the fact that eating disorders are also on the rise and wonder how that could be possible. Really? Everything about our culture and food is severely fucked up…

(Source: serafinalongarina)

(Reblogged from anarchofeminist)
“
Rape culture is telling girls and women to be careful about what you wear, how you wear it, how you carry yourself, where you walk, when you walk there, with whom you walk, whom you trust, what you do, where you do it, with whom you do it, what you drink, how much you drink, whether you make eye contact, if you’re alone, if you’re with a stranger, if you’re in a group, if you’re in a group of strangers, if it’s dark, if the area is unfamiliar, if you’re carrying something, how you carry it, what kind of shoes you’re wearing in case you have to run, what kind of purse you carry, what jewelry you wear, what time it is, what street it is, what environment it is, how many people you sleep with, what kind of people you sleep with, who your friends are, to whom you give your number, who’s around when the delivery guy comes, to get an apartment where you can see who’s at the door before they can see you, to check before you open the door to the delivery guy, to own a dog or a dog-sound-making machine, to get a roommate, to take self-defense, to always be alert always pay attention always watch your back always be aware of your surroundings and never let your guard down for a moment lest you be sexually assaulted and if you are and didn’t follow all the rules it’s your fault.
This is a damn good read. (via nikkiwiley)

(Source: asoftrevolt)

(Reblogged from jumbleofnotes)
“
I make the following pledge as an activist, and as an American that believes fully in the rule of law. Should I be called to sit on a jury for a rape trial, I vow publicly to vote not guilty, even in the face of overwhelming evidence that the charges are true.

Jury Duty at a Rape Trial? Acquit! « A Voice for Men

WTFWTFWTFWTF?!! Really, what else is there to say? I can wax rhetorical as much as anyone else but do I have to?!

He has this to add: “Better a rapist would walk the streets than a system that merely mocks justice enslave another innocent man. And better a system that cannot be trusted as it is, be corrected from within by a single honest citizen in the name of real justice”. Words fail me.

(via redlightpolitics)

This is very trying. In other words, even if you witness a rape taking place with your own eyes, don’t put a man in prison for it. Because fighting against an allegedly ineffective system is more important than what happens to women. 

(via moreapologies)

The only reason rape cases are “corrupt” in this country is because female victims are expected to defend their own actions and put their sex lives on trial in order to appeal for sympathy, and if she’s not some kind of virginal white princess, she was “asking for it.”

(Reblogged from moreapologies)

List of rape myths

moreapologies:

marilyncuberle:

This is a great list for everyone to read. I have a few problems with the way he worded some points but overall this is a good read and I hope you will take a few moments to look it over.

I know a lot of people who need to read this — thanks for passing it along.

(Reblogged from moreapologies)

Vaseline launches skin lightening Facebook application in India

whyweneedsocialjustice:

Some of the comments on this article are very interesting. People are noting the irony of available bronzers and tanning sprays in the West versus skin-lightening creams in countries like India and Thailand, which, upon first glance, seems like a clear example of people simply wanting what they don’t have. I think the racial, social, and economic implications are more complicated than that, though.

Yes, we do have a lot of bronzers, tanning sprays, and other such products where I live. But it’s not as though skin lightening creams, hair relaxers, and other images of white beauty aren’t still found all over the place. That desire to be lighter is still quite prevalent, but we see a different image of white beauty nowadays. As some commentators mentioned, classism is one of the more important issues to delve into here; whereas lightness used to be a symbol of luxury (and still is, in many areas of the world), white skin tones now carry different connotations. Pale skin once meant that a person didn’t need to go out and work in the sun, while tanner/darker people most likely spent their days doing manual labor. Now, being tan indicates that a person either has the time and money to vacation in a warm area or regularly visit tanning salons, and we instead read pale skin as unhealthy-looking, possibly symptomatic of anemia, poor eating and skin care habits, etc.

(Reblogged from whyweneedsocialjustice)
moreapologies: thefistofartemis: peppermintwolfman: (via sexymeee) I could believe it’s even higher than that… Agreed… the percentage probably varies a lot depending on the type of assault, too.

moreapologies:

thefistofartemis:

peppermintwolfman:

(via sexymeee)

I could believe it’s even higher than that…

Agreed… the percentage probably varies a lot depending on the type of assault, too.

This photo is from last week’s Pride parade in New York. Everyone is always pretty friendly in allowing me to take their photo at these events — it’s one of the only times people are that gracious about having a stranger stick a camera in their face, and it’s one of the things I love about NYC Pride. I also love that it’s one of the most racially diverse queer events you could ever participate in. Not every state is that lucky. What I hate about Pride, though, is that like any queer-related event, the focus is still on very homonormative goals and values. This year, there was a lot of focus on DADT and on marriage, as there was last year. Don’t get me wrong, when I decided to sneak into the march last year, I ended up walking with Marriage Equality NY - and they were lovely people! But the emphasis on “gay marriage” is problematic for a number of reasons: it ignores the fact that not everyone who wants a same-sex marriage is gay, and it also prioritizes marriage (something that mainly affects gays and lesbians) over issues that affect the other letters in our acronym, such as trans-inclusive hate crime legislation. Last year, I was at an LGBTQ conference with other colleges in the Northeast, and we were asked to state our opinions on a number of issues affecting our community by standing in various boxes ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. When marriage came up, 95% of students strongly disagreed with Prop 8. When HRC’s actions concerning ENDA came up, 95% of students stared blankly at the man asking us questions, as they had no clue what he was talking about. Let’s think about this for a minute: a bunch of students living on the east coast were up to date and very much concerned with a law in California concerning marriage, yet none of them knew about HRC lying to the trans community and pushing for a non-inclusive ENDA, an action that probably set our community back a good decade. They’ve since apologized, but it’s still troubling that this doesn’t quite register as a big concern within the LGBTQ community.I also saw a lot of “born gay” signs this year, a phrase that annoys me more and more every time I hear it. I think it’s one of the worst approaches to homophobia our community has ever created. Besides the fact that it (absurdly) singles sexual orientation down to this one so-called “gay gene,” it assumes gender by suggesting that biology predetermines our attraction to gender. If we understand gender to be biologically innate (rather than a social construct), the “born gay” standpoint further complicates the LGB relationship with the trans community, and we have enough tension there to begin with. “Born gay” is an easy comeback to the argument that homosexuality is unnatural as well as the religious argument, but it’s more problematic than anything else, and completely ignores the fluidity of sexuality.In addition to the born gay posters were signs that appropriated the language of the Civil Rights Movement. I believe I’ve posted about this before (one one of my blogs, at least), but I’m bothered by it so much more after Prop 8. As it is, offending the black community by equating our struggle with the Civil Rights Movement does nothing to help our relationship with people of color, but it’s especially offensive after we blamed black and Latino voters for the outcome of Prop 8. And that was only after opponents of Prop 8 did not go into communities of color to appeal for their vote in the first place…I still love Pride events, and I always enjoy myself in the craziness of it all. But we’re not immune to homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, or racism just because we are a fairly progressive community. As a community so focused on our own oppression, we should be more conscious of the prejudice within our own community and the voices we silence in favor of the ones more marketable to heteronormative society. (cross-posted on my main blog) View high resolution

This photo is from last week’s Pride parade in New York. Everyone is always pretty friendly in allowing me to take their photo at these events — it’s one of the only times people are that gracious about having a stranger stick a camera in their face, and it’s one of the things I love about NYC Pride. I also love that it’s one of the most racially diverse queer events you could ever participate in. Not every state is that lucky. What I hate about Pride, though, is that like any queer-related event, the focus is still on very homonormative goals and values.

This year, there was a lot of focus on DADT and on marriage, as there was last year. Don’t get me wrong, when I decided to sneak into the march last year, I ended up walking with Marriage Equality NY - and they were lovely people! But the emphasis on “gay marriage” is problematic for a number of reasons: it ignores the fact that not everyone who wants a same-sex marriage is gay, and it also prioritizes marriage (something that mainly affects gays and lesbians) over issues that affect the other letters in our acronym, such as trans-inclusive hate crime legislation. Last year, I was at an LGBTQ conference with other colleges in the Northeast, and we were asked to state our opinions on a number of issues affecting our community by standing in various boxes ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree. When marriage came up, 95% of students strongly disagreed with Prop 8. When HRC’s actions concerning ENDA came up, 95% of students stared blankly at the man asking us questions, as they had no clue what he was talking about.

Let’s think about this for a minute: a bunch of students living on the east coast were up to date and very much concerned with a law in California concerning marriage, yet none of them knew about HRC lying to the trans community and pushing for a non-inclusive ENDA, an action that probably set our community back a good decade. They’ve since apologized, but it’s still troubling that this doesn’t quite register as a big concern within the LGBTQ community.

I also saw a lot of “born gay” signs this year, a phrase that annoys me more and more every time I hear it. I think it’s one of the worst approaches to homophobia our community has ever created. Besides the fact that it (absurdly) singles sexual orientation down to this one so-called “gay gene,” it assumes gender by suggesting that biology predetermines our attraction to gender. If we understand gender to be biologically innate (rather than a social construct), the “born gay” standpoint further complicates the LGB relationship with the trans community, and we have enough tension there to begin with. “Born gay” is an easy comeback to the argument that homosexuality is unnatural as well as the religious argument, but it’s more problematic than anything else, and completely ignores the fluidity of sexuality.

In addition to the born gay posters were signs that appropriated the language of the Civil Rights Movement. I believe I’ve posted about this before (one one of my blogs, at least), but I’m bothered by it so much more after Prop 8. As it is, offending the black community by equating our struggle with the Civil Rights Movement does nothing to help our relationship with people of color, but it’s especially offensive after we blamed black and Latino voters for the outcome of Prop 8. And that was only after opponents of Prop 8 did not go into communities of color to appeal for their vote in the first place…

I still love Pride events, and I always enjoy myself in the craziness of it all. But we’re not immune to homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, or racism just because we are a fairly progressive community. As a community so focused on our own oppression, we should be more conscious of the prejudice within our own community and the voices we silence in favor of the ones more marketable to heteronormative society.

(cross-posted on my main blog)

everyone-is-beautiful: (via unnfff)

everyone-is-beautiful:

(via unnfff)