Summer Joyan, a 13-year-old Australian, reported in Newsroom
Perspective Exactly. So many people lack perspective—and from that stems homophobia, racism, sexism, and the rest.
i don’t know if people outside of brazil are aware of this, but our country just decriminalized gay conversion therapy. basically, it is now 100% legal for therapists to treat homosexuality as a disease if they want to.
It’s 2017, dickhead politicians This should not be happening—anyone know of an online petition? Can we contact our local Brazilian embassies?
A friend of mine on FB wrote this and, with their permission, told me that I could share it. I got more than a bit choked up reading it. Enjoy.
I’m 6 years old, and I’m Luke Skywalker, blowing up the Death Star in his X-Wing and using the Force… until I go outside to play Star Wars with the neighborhood kids, and I’m told I can’t be Luke because I’m a girl. I have to be Leia instead. Nothing wrong with Leia, but she’s the girl. She’s my only option, otherwise, I’m not allowed to play.
I’m 7 years old, and I’m She-Ra, with a pegasus and sword and… and no one wants to play She-Ra, because He-Man is better, stupid girl, duh. No boy wants to play a girl character. Duh. Stupid girl.
I’m 8 years old, and I’m Liono, with the Sword of Omens, telling me the future and defeating my enemies… until I can’t, because I’m a girl. I have to be Cheetara, even though I don’t like to run around really fast. She’s the girl. She’s my only option.
I’m 10 years old, and I’m a Ninja Turtle. I have these cool weapons and know martial arts… until I can’t be, because I’m a girl. I have to be April. She doesn’t get to do much, but she’s the girl. She’s my only option. If the other girl wants to play, she gets to be April, and I’m out, because she’s prettier.
I’m 14 years old, and my father yells at me again to stop being such a girl. Stop being weak. Stop being stupid. Stop being you.
I’m 17 years old, and set foot in a comic shop for the first time, only to be told girls don’t read comics. I must just be trying to impress my boyfriend. I don’t even get to ask if they had that book I read part of, with the beautiful woman who was Death, who saved a teenage boy.
I’m 24, and I’m Jean Grey, the powerful Phoenix, but turned into some weird Scarlet Witch hybrid who must die at the hands of Wolverine, because Logan just needed a little more angst.
I’m 28 and I’m Commander Shepard at the helm of the Normandy, but just having the OPTION of a female player character sends hordes of men into a blind rage, intent on stamping out any joy I might derive from this. I have to mute tons of keywords online and play in friends-only groups if I want to avoid being called a cunt for the sin of logging into multiplayer with a female avatar.
I’m 32 and I get a job running a comic shop. I tell my boss I’d like to have ladies nights. He asks, “But when is men’s night?”
I’m 33 and I’m Rey, facing down Kylo and digging deep to survive, despite being terrified. I’ve been fighting my whole life, though, and I manage to get out of it alive. I spend the next 6 months listening to every other guy who comes into my shop informing me that she’s a Mary Sue and how stupid it was to crowbar her in just for the sake of appeasing the females and pandering to feminazis.
I’m 34 and I get to be a Ghostbuster! My heart sings as I dual-wield proton guns, but when the battle’s over, I have to listen to all these guys trash it and talk about how women just aren’t funny and should stop trying.
I’m 34, and I am NOT MCU Black Widow, who categorizes herself as a monster because she can’t have children, who laughs as her male coworkers make rape jokes at the office party. I am NOT MCU Scarlet Witch, who is a problem for the men to deal with, who has to stay home and cook dinner while they take care of business, because she’s just too emotional.
Today, I’m 35, and I’m Diana of Themyscira, striding across a battlefield as everyone follows her lead. I’ve been waiting for this battle my whole life. Going into the movie, I had yet to see a single bad review, from anyone, regardless of gender. I had heard no one saying the movie was pointless or stupid or just another instance of women ruining everything. There is this tall, powerful, beautiful female hero, and no one is acting like it’s their job to tear her down. I look at the trending topics today, and everyone still loves it. The naysayers are a fringe minority. There is valid criticism, as the movie isn’t perfect. It has some problems, but overall, it’s GOOD. Finally. This is what it feels like. So yeah, I cried. I cried a lot. I’ll probably mist up a lot more times when I watch it. Everyone should get to feel like that.
Read the fuck out of this of the day.
Finally This. And don’t tell me that because I have a penis I can’t empathize. As a POC I have had to deal with similar shit. Thank goodness fewer and fewer people balk at a “brown Batman”, etc., though that shit is still there.
#justiceformuslims
I love every single person who reblogged this
I don’t think people realize how much of an impact this kind of support can have, I don’t think everyone knows what these little things can mean to us.
It may just be me, I don’t know. But every single time I see this on my dash or on someone’s blog or anywhere else, I kind of just breathe a sigh of relief. That’s one more person who cares. That’s one more person who doesn’t hate me.
Because it means so much, especially when all the media is spewing out is that I’m a terrible person and no one wants people like me near them. It means so much because I’m tired of people who won’t sit next to me in class, or who choose to join the longer line at the grocery store because they don’t want to be beside me and my family. It means so much when I have to lift my head any time someone says the words Islam or Muslim because I’m scared that they’ll say something that’ll hurt, when I have to pay attention to the news because who knows what so and so is saying now, who knows which of my people are being attacked now, who knows what’s going to happen to me now.
It means so much because I’ve been given the idea that the world is against me. And a huge part of it may be, but at least I’ve been reminded that some of it, just a small group of people, acknowledges that I’m a person too. That people like me are just that, people.
Maybe it’s just me, I don’t know. But now you do, so thank you for believing that I’m human when so many people don’t.
Have a great day x
Go unfollow this blog all you want, I am reblogging this.
I am aware this does not follow this blog’s style, however, I find it necessary to reblog this
Justice Amen to this.
Michael Caine, in 2009
To all the conservatives out there using any convenient enough excuse to bully, harass, and oppress people you think are different - I dedicate this song to you.
Gender identity Nicely done—though it is sad that in 2017, there are still enough intolerant people out there to necessitate this.
Pretty sure vindictive spite is probably the reason for this.
Oh, sure, it’s nothing to do with Islam This is what happens when the US elects a 70-year-old man with a child’s mental capacity into the White House. Pettiness ensues.
What has been a joke may become reality, if Alabama Republicans get their way.
Sen. Phil Williams has introduced legislation that would require facilities open to people “irrespective of their gender” to employ attendants “stationed at the door of each rest room to monitor the appropriate use of the restroom and answer any questions or concerns posed by users.”
Otherwise “bathroom, or changing facilities that are designed to be used by multiple persons” must be exclusively for “persons of the same gender.”
Those who run afoul of the law would be required to pay a fine ranging from $2,000 to $3,500 and would be open to lawsuits.
The bill, SB1, to be called the Alabama Privacy Act should it pass, will be voted on by the Alabama judiciary committee next month, reports AL.com.
Alabama joins seven other states that “have prefiled or introduced legislation that would restrict access to multiuser restrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities on the basis of a definition of sex or gender consistent with sex assigned at birth or ‘biological sex’ in the 2017 legislative session, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The other states include, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
North Carolina passed a law, with House Bill 2 (HB2), requiring transgender individuals to use bathrooms and locker rooms in government-owned buildings matching the gender on their birth certificate, and allowed private businesses to set their own policies around the issue.
Efforts to repeal HB2 failed in a special session called at the end of 2016, after Charlotte repealed their already nullified (by HB2) non-discrimination ordinance, which gave protections to the LGBTQ community, including trans public accommodations.
The state has been hit with boycotts that have resulted in a loss of millions of dollars in revenue and hundreds of jobs. California‘s ban on most taxpayer funded travel to North Carolina went into effect with the first of the new year, as did a ban on travel to Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kansas for their own anti-LGBTQ laws.
The concept of “bathroom cops” has up until now only existed in the world of satire, such as in the below “Funny or Die” video.
Toilet guards I guess they really miss segregation there, so they found other groups to do it to.
“hi optus? can i have dan’s number, i want to take them out for a beer and possibly marriage.”
Dan from Optus is politely not having any of your racist crap today
I want to buy Dan from Optus dinner
Wow!
That last one is a very polite burn. A+
Damn, Dan, you are really fucking good at that.
“Australia is a nation full of languages, some 200 plus of them are native to Australia, but English is not one of those native languages.”
I WOULD LIKE TO MARRY THIS PERSON.
Dan from Optus is a bloody legend.
Dan from Optus for Australian PM.
Dan from Optus for Leader of the World.
“Australia is a nation full of languages, some 200 plus of them are native to Australia, but English is not one of those native languages.”
Dan will be having none of your shit on their plate, thanks much.
This was beautiful. That last one especially. Marry me, Dan.
Kiwis abroad Just for the record, Dan is a New Zealander working in Australia.
Americans talking sense Damn, this is good.
#BeLikeDarsh Not only is Darsh Singh a man with an incredible history, Greg Worthington stood up for a fellow American because the truth is important. As to the original person who decided to be prejudiced, I cannot fathom a mind which sees a dastar and thinks it’s a springboard for an Islamophobic joke.
For six months I’ve been saying that what Donald Trump is primarily offering America is a brash new form of white supremacy.
The most racist men and women in America agree. A mix of leading KKK and Neo-Nazi leaders have all come forward to say that Trump has not only energized their base — spiking their web traffic to the point of needing to buy more servers — but that he has single-handedly “sparked an insurgency” among their ranks.
In a wide-ranging Politico report, leader after leader after leader of white supremacist groups, young and old alike, stated without equivocation, that Donald Trump has caused more momentum to swing their way than any person or event in recent history.
Don Black, the founder of Stormfront, which is far and away the most popular white supremacist site on the net, said his web traffic surges every time Donald Trump speaks, that radio listeners and callers have spiked, and that he’s helping white supremacists build a movement that will last far beyond this campaign cycle.
“He’s certainly creating a movement that will continue independently of him even if he does fold at some point,” said Black. “He has sparked an insurgency and I don’t think it’s going to go away.”
“I love it,” added Aryan Resistance leader Tom Metzger. “As long as he’s causing chaos and havoc with the citizens, he’s fine with me.”
And don’t forget about David Duke. The former presidential candidate, Grand Wizard of the KKK, and probably the most well-known white supremacist in America before Donald Trump, had only good things to say about the bilious billionaire.
“He’s meant a lot for the human rights of European-Americans,” Duke told Politico.
White supremacists are rarely unified on anything, but they all agree Trump has pushed them forward and emboldened them like no other leader in America.
Here we are, America: It’s almost 2016 and the leading Republican candidate for President is a white supremacist hero. Sadly, however, a dozen different warning signs that Trump would take us here were ignored.
For years he has been the most prominent person questioning whether President Obama was actually born in the United States.
His wife said he read Hitler speeches regularly and kept a book of them by his bed.
An employee of his allegedly would click his heels and greet him with the words “Heil Hitler.”
He was sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination, failed to meet the terms of their agreement and sued by them again.
Trump took out an ad in The News against five young black teenage boys accused of raping a white woman in Central Park. After they all served years of jail time, it turned out it wasn’t them, but a career criminal who did it. The city ended up paying them over $41 million in a settlement.
In spite of this, Trump found his way here, in the American mainstream, and our country is paying a real price.
For once, I agree with the white supremacists. Even if Trump flops, bows out, or is narrowly beaten, the damage is already done. Trump has truly awakened and energized a dangerous faction of America and we have no idea where it will go from here.
h/t: Shaun King at NYDN
We do know where it will go. Fascists and religious nuts are going to come out of the woodwork, a la Isis, but christian and “wholesome”
USA 2015 I dislike divisive politicians. The only people Trump has united are racists, against other right-thinking Americans.
Waking up to read a big NZ Herald article about ‘WHO IS BUYING OUR HOUSES’ (answer: THE CHINESE) always makes me feel uneasy, but after the reading the methodology used by Phil Twyford to come to that conclusion, I was positively mad.
Smarter people than me like Keith Ng have already done the analysis which shows how silly and, with respect, REALLY SHIT the “Special Investigation” is, so all I can really contribute are some personal, less scientific thoughts.
I was born in China. I moved to New Zealand when I was one years old, and have no memory of any childhood in China. I view myself as a Kiwi, and I am super proud of my country. I watch the All Blacks, know the list of Black Caps test wicket takers off by heart, call my friends ‘bro’ and ‘mate’, laugh at Billy T, eat Fruju and Feijoas and do other assorted Kiwi things. I even consummated my NZ identity by flying over to Poland to teach kids about my country.
The word assimilate never applied to me because I have not needed to. Since I was born I have been Kiwi.
But of course, I look asian. As a minority we are often reminded of our difference by small things. Strangers get confused whether they should talk to you (whether you speak english), people are casually racist when you are the only asian in a group. Sometimes it seems that you have to be more proactive when meeting strangers to ‘prove’ you aren’t some FOB. Sometimes the smallest things are the saddest. Having racial remarks yelled at you from passing cars is surprisingly distressing. The confusion and then the desperate urge to yell back ‘But I AM Kiwi!’ as the car disappears down the road sticks in the memory.
For me, it is a dream to be able to buy a house. To own a piece of the country which will always be my homeland. I think this is a dream shared with many other New Zealanders. Articles like the above, where ‘tsunami’ metaphors are used and blanket assumptions are pulled over an entire group only results in increasing racial division. See, people can’t tell just from looking at us what ‘kind’ of asian we are (not that it should matter really). But if people keep reading articles about ‘foreign speculators’, pricing ‘ordinary Kiwis’ out of the property market, they are probably going to assume the worst.
Choosing to immigrate to a foreign country is an incredibly brave and risky decision. My parents landed here with just their suitcase and some foundational English skills. They have worked so hard, made so many sacrifices to get to the position of being able to buy a house. My dad worked as a toilet cleaner at Manakau Westfield! They pay taxes, they contribute to the economy, they have learned the culture, they donate to charity. They are ordinary kiwis. While I accept that not all immigrants have the same good intentions, that is just how life is. Not all immigrants can be perfect. We shouldn’t all be made to feel guilty when we achieve our dream of buying a house, something we have sacrificed and worked for.
For those who have had to assimilate, it can’t be easy. Instead of complaining about how asians are different, and thus, pushing them further into their old culture, it would be much more intuitive to be welcoming and encourage them to learn about New Zealand. This is why it is greatly saddening to read stuff like what Twyford has said, which to me, is blatant racial fear mongering for political points. The housing problem is a deeply complex issue, with no definitive answers. Just pinning the blame on the new ‘yellow peril’ is counter intuitive and encourages racial division. To hear it come from the Labour Party, traditionally the ‘non-racists’ is especially disappointing.
I recently wrote an essay about portrayals of Chinese property buyers in the media. I came into it expecting to just rant about racism (sorry, I had many assignments due and wanted an easy B+), but happily concluded that media portrayal was mostly fair. [Still got an A lol, thank you Duncan Garner for being a racist]. It is really sad to see this stuff return. China is scary, I get it. It is a non-democratic, non-western country which is challenging the world order. It’s an easy target. This kind of stuff affects us though, and though we look Chinese, we are ordinary Kiwis and love it here. Please don’t make us part of the problem :’(
We are all Kiwis What an excellent piece from a New Zealander of Chinese ethnicity. And yes, I fully concur and know first-hand what he is talking about.
