might aswell list my other blogs

@hexxeh is the more heavy stuff

@caemag is for more lighthearted stuff

@nxacev is for the cute stuff

@skipmag lighthearted stuff more fanart reblogs

30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza just since the ceasefire announcement less than 10 hours ago.

Think how depraved, sadistic, and arrogant an entity is to openly use the time between it had agreed to a ceasefire and it going into effect as a final stretch in a race of annihilation, a final show to the whole world of the stark asymmetry of power between the occupier and the occupied.

The number is actually 81 now. One of the massacres targeted a school. I just can't shake the heartbreaking thought that all of them were celebrating the ceasefire just last night.

This monstrosity is beyond words. Fuck Israel.

Some libraries can even get you hooked up with social workers and local aid programs. The important thing is investigating what YOUR library can do for YOU.

my library also has museum passes, crafting lessons, girls who code, and a children's summer reading program :D

The iceberg is even deeper than depicted!

i'm working on organizing a print making program with our free makerspace, where folks also fix broken appliances and learn to make rugs and use indigo dye in traditional japanese style. i'm also planning a ceili in march and hoping to partner with our local recycling and compost center to do a program for earth day. and it's all free!!!!!!!!!!!!

white trans people stop identifying with Orientalist depictions challenge

Okay so I am going to make this as… short and clear as I possibly can but essentially, Orientalism is the way the colonial West depicts the East.

Orientalism was first coined by Edward Said in 1978 with his book, “Orientalism.” Essentially it’s a critique of how the white West portrays the East (the Orient) as this exotic yet dangerous place while simultaneously fetishizing its people. It’s the way Western white scholars or artists depict the people in the “Orient” and how this single monolithical depiction of the East can build up harmful stereotypes as there is nobody to counter-claim them because of their “credibility.” The book goes into a lot more detail, it explains why the East is portrayed as it is by the colonial West, how a lot of white people view the East as something they can fix and unfortunately it’s still very prevalent today.

It’s why Hollywood tends to put that piss yellow filter on geologically Eastern countries, or why Asian or African countries are often depicted as a monolith or why Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres are the way that they are. There is this fear of the East but also this perverted interest in their culture through a colonial lens. 

So why am I bringing this up? Have you heard of the Orientalist art movement?

It was an art and academic movement where the West scholars and artists would travel to the East (mostly Southwest Asia) and depict these regions and their people through their white Western lens. Often hyper-sexualizing their people in grotesque ways, writing cheap penny novels depicting Southwest Asian men as sexual predators, fantasizing about Harams, drawing women in skimpy innacurate outfits often tailored to the Western gaze and boil down to “pale woman in skimpy thinly veiled outfit does sexy belly dance.” 

What I’m trying to get at is that these Western “credible” people would go out of their way to dehumanize and portray Eastern people and cultures as their “costumes” or “leisure.” The East became the colonial West’s carrier as they profited off of them.

These depictions are of course… innacurate, but they still live on. A lot of media nowadays, especially Fantasy and Sci-Fi media, portray these rich and diverse cultures as "very sexually charged people,” and “dangerous, but for us to conquer and fix”

So where does gerudo link come into this? And why did I make this statement?

There’s this… weird phenomenon especially on the internet where people tend to over-sexualize or effeminate men by putting them in these Orientalistic outfits. If you’re active in Fantasy spaces, then chances are you’ve seen characters in thinly veiled clothes, this weird sensual bikini or gold ornaments to “sexualize” them (this is especially common with Southwest Asian or North African coded characters).

Why is it bad when white trans people identify exclusively with these depictions?

Because you’re not identifying with the character’s gender as you think you are, you’re identifying with years and years worth of racist and dehumanizing depictions of our cultures. Drawing men in gold ornaments or “sexy ‘middle eastern’ bikini” outfits isn’t as progressive as you think it is.

If anyone’s interested, I didn’t know where to put this but here’s an article from 2012 by Serkan Gorkemli called “’Coming Out of the Internet’: Lesbian and Gay Activism and the Internet as a ‘Digital Closet’ in Turkey” where they state that LGBT+ acceptance was hindered in the late Ottoman Empire because of Orientalism.

Link: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jmiddeastwomstud.8.3.63?seq=1

Here’s Dror Ze’evi detailing that point further in “HIDING SEXUALITY The Disappearance of Sexual Discourse in the Late Ottoman Middle East” where he discusses the slow gradual disappearance of sexual discourse and identity throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire.

Link: https://www.academia.edu/9535498/Hiding_Sexuality_Disappearance_of_Sexual_Discourse_in_the_Late_Ottoman_Middle_East 

Finally if you’re curious, here’s the link to Edward Said’s Orientalism

https://www.eaford.org/site/assets/files/1631/said_edward1977_orientalism.pdf

Since this post blew up overnight for some reason I want to make things clear.

I made this post SPECIFICALLY because a white person tweeted that Gerudo Link was very “gender” and a bunch of other white people flocked to agree and it was my last straw lmao. I’ve seen this happen with other characters, this notion that if they show some sort of skin (especially with male characters) they’re very “gender” which you know, you do you, but I’ve seen this applied to Orientalist depictions which is where my problem relies. If you’ve never seen it happen, great for you! Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen though :)

Why did I say white trans people specifically and not white people in general, and you know what you’re right! Orientalism is something every white person should be aware of. However in this case, like I said, I made this post for this specific topic, that I have personally seen happen. I want LGBT+ white people to know that they are not exempt from racism. I want you all to know that just because you’re trans that does not mean you cannot be racist nor can you understand what being BIPOC and trans is like when a big reason why LGBT+ is now seen as “taboo” in many countries is because of colonialism and Westernization.

“Am I not allowed to enjoy ____ anymore?” Nobody is saying that you cannot enjoy whatever piece of media you enjoy or that we want to “cancel” them, what I am trying to get at is that as a Southwestern Asian it’s literally impossible for me to go through a fantasy or sci-fi series without seeing any sort of Orientalist depiction (this doesn’t have to be just the hypersexualization or belly dancing aspect of the theory btw, Orientalism is bigger than that, that’s why I provided the PDF). I just want you to be critical of what you consume and identify with, and to question why you identify with racist depictions if you do.

Lastly, if you want “coherency” or “professionalism” then go check the sources or do your research. This is just a bite sized tumblr post and I owe nobody an Academic level essay on this topic. I started the research for you, go and read the sources I provided as a start if I’m too “unfollowable”.

thanks a lot for this post. i think the white people questioning if this “really” is a pattern need to fully absorb the truth of - no, the reason you as a white person has never seen this happen before and therefore don’t believe this to be an issue is NOT because you happen to surround yourself with magically good white people, but because you’ve seen it, not thought wrong of this behavious, and ignored it. perhaps even partaken in this behaviour yourself without contextualising it as harmful

i never saw the tweet you did, but i’ve seen so so many other white trans and/or GNC people fetishize orientalist depiction of particularly women as their “ideal gender” for years and years, and its not like i seek out these behaviours intentionally

Following up on my post here. In 2-3 days the United States has:

- Declared the events in Sudan as a genocide

- Placed sanctions on UAE companies financing and arming RSF genocidaires.

- Watched over a ceasefire deal between the zionazi occupation and the Palestinian resistance.

What you need to know is this:

1) U.S. definitely ran out of money lmaooo

2) This was always on the table. Biden and Harris could've done this from the start. Instead, they do this 1 week before Trump inauguration to move the foreign policy agenda elsewhere.

The U.S. was performing genocide in Sudan and Palestine simultaneously and intentionally.

Don't you ever dare forget this.

Remember.

Hello to my friends on tumblr, and all of those who supported me and supported my family and my nation and all of our families in Ghazzah. I present to you a big thanks for all the donations - big or small - for all those who contributed in the support of our people in the Ghazzah strip throughout this whole grinder of a war. I thank you from the depths of my heart, and all the thanks in the world cannot do justice to your tireless efforts with us. Thank you all, and I hope to see you all doing well.

- Your dear Mohammed Ayesh.

Also here is the link of my campaign, there is a small amount left for its success if you would like to contribute

Pay pal

🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

just got the email to say that the UK government will not be implementing an independent evaluation of the Cass review and I'm. fucking exhausted

ok ok I'm rallying myself here. hope is not lost. it's taken a blow and it's awful but it's not lost.

For context, there is currently an official petition going calling for an independent review of the Cass report, which has been widely criticised by pro-trans groups, academics, and educational psychologists, among others. (You can find links to these criticisms here). Criticisms range from the lack of peer review (for a report that can influence national policy!) to the exclusion of trans researchers from the process and its underlying assumption that gender transition is an undesirable outcome. At a certain number of signatures (10,000 iirc), the government has to issue a response. Their response has been to double down on support for the Cass review:

But! The petition is still going:

It has 11,440 signatures. If it can get to 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in parliament. If you're in the UK, please sign. The state of gender-affirming healthcare for transgender people is currently deplorable, and set to get worse if we cannot make headway against the rising tide of transphobia and ignorance that is dictating government decisions.

You can also write to your MP

The charity Mermaids has created a tool to make emailing your MP asking for their support easy. This tool isn't specifically regarding the Cass review – the main concern is on the ban on puberty blockers, which is equally pressing. However, they provide a template message that you can add to and easily modify:

If you're in the UK and can spare 15–30 minutes to sign the petition and email your MP, you can do something that, although it may seem small, could contribute to a strong cumulative action. If you can't, please reblog this post and share the links as far as you can ❤️

"Zionism is entering it's last phase before it's collapse."

Israeli historian Ilan Pappe has told Al Jazeera that he believes there are many factors, from a Trump presidency to international isolation, that show Zionism is entering its “last phase” before its collapse.

The end of Zionism is nigh.

(source)

You’re right and you should say it pizzasteve

Since the declaration of the ceasefire agreement the Israeli army committed many massacres in Gaza killing at least 82 civilians and injuring many others.

We still need your voices against these criminals. We need your support to alleviate our suffering. Support us here.

The occupation will not stop killing civilians. Since this morning, about 50 Palestinians have been killed throughout the Gaza Strip. This occupation's hobby is killing Palestinians.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT IN GAZA

isr*el has finally "agreed" to a ceasefire agreement. we'll see whether they'll actually abide by the terms, as history shows that the general trend of behaviour is that they agree and then continue to escalate and terrorise innocents in Gaza and Lebanon. but in this moment i'd like to share a few community funds. as well as donating to escape funds, please consider donating to these groups that shoulder the burden of rebuilding gaza's community.

1. The Sameer Project

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2. Translating Falasteen x Sameer Project collaboration

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3. The Zaynab Project

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4. Merciful Hands Doctors

Hey do y’all remember when Boeing fucking killed a guy last year. And we all said “huh I guess Boeing fucking killed a guy” and then went on with our lives. And everybody knew that Boeing had fully just fucking executed a guy and nothing came of it. Like there was no police investigation no justice no nothing. Like literally EVERYBODY knew that Boeing had full on murdered a guy to silence him and there wasn’t any consequences for them. Kinda crazy.

The ceasefire agreement was reached and joy is floating among the Palestinian people

The joy is indescribable here all over the Gaza Strip. This thing seems like a literal miracle.

Rafah crossing will be opened tomorrow, God willing. We need help, friends. Please donate.

The State of Qatar announced a full agreement on all the details and said that the ceasefire will be implemented on Sunday.

These four days will be more difficult than the past 15 months because the occupation will commit a large number of massacres and the crossing will be opened soon. We want you to donate to us so that we can evacuate from Gaza in peace.

Please follow my blog

Your donation, my friend, can get us out of here, so please donate so we can evacuate soon.

Many people have been killed in the last 24 hours who were waiting impatiently for a ceasefire, so my friends, I am asking you to donate to us so that we can leave at the first opportunity. Please donate.

Only 271 euros left to reach 81 thousand euros. With your touches we can achieve this. Please donate.

The US-backed terrorist state of Israel killed Palestinian chef and co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen, Mahmoud al-Madhoun.

Mahmoud was able to feed over 3,000 Palestinian civilians a day through the genocide.

Let's keep giving it all we've got for the Gaza Soup Kitchen. Israel has repeatedly targeted and killed those who have given service to the Gaza community.

Donate as much as you can or if you're unable to, share this post so it reaches more people! Any amount, even a dollar, can help the heroes of the Gaza Soup Kitchen to feed the people of Gaza.

(source)

f

Urgent surgery needed to save Gaza teen’s leg

Mohammed is in a crisis situation, on which you can find more information under our “#mohammed al habil” tag.

Mohammed has been unable to attend his physical therapy due to lack of funds. The condition of his leg has deteriorated as a result.

He now requires an urgent operation in order to save the function in his leg. Mohammed is only 18, and he is terrified of spending the rest of his life with only 1 usable leg.

The operation costs $4,000. Currently, Mohammed's campaign is at just over €17,000. This represents the total funds raised over time, not the funds currently avallable.

New temporary goal: €21,000 EUR

Need to raise: €3,712 EUR (about $3,828 USD)

Please help Mohammed save his leg!

NOTE: I am unable to effectively fundraise for Mohammed. We are urgently hoping for bloggers who will be able to devote time and attention to promoting his campaign. Please consider making a post for Mohammed to promote his campaign so he can save his leg!

That is 5 days from today. He needs to be able to pay for the surgery by that day, or it will be cancelled, and rescheduling puts him at greater risk of permanent disability.

It is possible to pay the bill in installments. However, Mohammed wants to pay as much of the bill as possible in order to get the expense out of the way. I'm setting our new temporary goal at half the cost of the surgery, which will bring us to €19,567 EUR, but I'm hoping we can exceed that goal before Monday.

New temporary goal: €19,567

Currently: €17,792

Progress: €225