Approaching Storm

We Are the Approaching Storm - Intersectional Feminist and Socio-Politcal Blog

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Pride Events

Hey so I know Pride month is over but there’s still lots of events and parades going on in different cities so I figure this post is still worth making. I just thought I’d offer a short list of tips for people attending these events to improve the experience for everyone:

- While these events are normally very safe, people of all genders and sexualities have the potential to be scummy, so try not to feel pressured into doing anything you aren’t comfortable with, and make sure to keep an eye on your friends

- Similarly, watch your drinks - avoid accepting open drinks from strangers / untrustworthy sources (in case they’ve been drugged). It’s hot so you’ll need to stay hydrated, but just make sure it’s with drinks you trust

- Be aware that certain homophobic groups may present themselves, and you may need to distance yourself from them, but they are unlikely to be actively physically violent

- Don’t be an asshole and start conflict with people showing pride in identities you’ve decided don’t belong there - this deserves to be a safe and accepting space for everyone celebrating it (with obvious exceptions, like pedophiles etc., though you’d be unlikely to encounter anyone openly representing those groups)

- CisHet allies are welcome at Pride - they are there to celebrate and show support for the Pride movement, and don’t need to be met with hostility

- Take note of all the different groups being represented, like queer POC, queer people of different religions, queer people with disabilities etc. - try to appreciate how diverse the queer community is and how these intersections present unique obstacles to these different groups. Opening your mind to these things can do a world of good for creating a more progressive community

In short: be safe, be kind, and have fun x

[approaching-storm-feminism]

U.S. Border Detention Centres - An Ethical Crisis

Adding to the U.S. government’s seemingly ever-growing list of human rights violations is the situation regarding the U.S. Border Detention Centres, implemented by the Trump Administration. While everyone is aware of their existence, not everyone has had the opportunity to be educated on the extent to which they present an ethical transgression. Thankfully, this has recently garnered more attention from the public and the mainstream media largely due to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s public acknowledgement of the situation (If you are interested in further engagement with the subject, and other American political issues, I highly recommend following her on social media)

A significant aspect of the topic’s recent attention is the controversy surround AOC’s referral to the centres as ‘concentration camps’, a reference to the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany. While people on both sides of the political aisle have expressed agreement and disagreement with the usage of the term, many people have been quick to point out that the expression is not simply meant to incite and emotional response, but is essentially accurate (x). Many prominent members of the Jewish community have expressed solidarity with the migrants’ plight, and have taken to reminding the public that the phrase ‘Never Again’, often uttered in honour of the victim’s of the Holocaust, applies to the oppression of any targeted minority group. Throughout the Trump Administration’s time in power, many startlingly accurate parallels have been drawn between the treatment of migrants (especially South American migrants) in the U.S. and the systems enforced by Nazi Germany. Some sources have even pointed out how the U.S. can be considered to potentially be on its way to completing a number of the initial Stages of Genocide (x)

The Border Detention Centres have been documented as separating migrant minors from their guardians and detaining them in what are essentially unregulated, unlicensed child prisons, which have been found to provide unethically poor treatment of the detainees. Overcrowding, starvation, sleep prevention, and the denial of access to basic hygiene have all been listed as examples of how the poor treatment, all while many of the prisoners are confined to outdoor cages reminiscent of animal enclosures. Additionally, in a large number of cases the guardians of the detained children are not informed of their whereabouts. This treatment of the children is believed to potentially induce lasting psychological damage to the children, and there is even evidence that large numbers of the children have been sexually assaulted by those employed at the centres. Worse still, multiple children have died while in the custody of these facilities, which has been largely attributed to the sub par sanitation and medical services

It is also worth noting that these facilities earn a profit, and so do the private companies that do business with them, and their money is earned at the expense of basic human rights. Regardless on your opinions on whether or not it’s necessary for a system like this is necessary to regulate immigration, it should not be debatable that if the system does not have the funding or the regulation to remain ethical, then it should not be allowed to exist at all. The migrants suffering in these facilities are very much human, and deserve to be treated as such. Their attempts to cross the border come from a simple desire for a better life for themselves and their children, while many of them do so in the process of escaping unlivable conditions. The system is objectively unethical, and something needs to be done about it

[approaching-storm-feminism]

U.S. Border Detention Centres - An Ethical Crisis

Adding to the U.S. government’s seemingly ever-growing list of human rights violations is the situation regarding the U.S. Border Detention Centres, implemented by the Trump Administration. While everyone is aware of their existence, not everyone has had the opportunity to be educated on the extent to which they present an ethical transgression. Thankfully, this has recently garnered more attention from the public and the mainstream media largely due to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s public acknowledgement of the situation (If you are interested in further engagement with the subject, and other American political issues, I highly recommend following her on social media)

A significant aspect of the topic’s recent attention is the controversy surround AOC’s referral to the centres as ‘concentration camps’, a reference to the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany. While people on both sides of the political aisle have expressed agreement and disagreement with the usage of the term, many people have been quick to point out that the expression is not simply meant to incite and emotional response, but is essentially accurate (x). Many prominent members of the Jewish community have expressed solidarity with the migrants’ plight, and have taken to reminding the public that the phrase ‘Never Again’, often uttered in honour of the victim’s of the Holocaust, applies to the oppression of any targeted minority group. Throughout the Trump Administration’s time in power, many startlingly accurate parallels have been drawn between the treatment of migrants (especially South American migrants) in the U.S. and the systems enforced by Nazi Germany. Some sources have even pointed out how the U.S. can be considered to potentially be on its way to completing a number of the initial Stages of Genocide (x)

The Border Detention Centres have been documented as separating migrant minors from their guardians and detaining them in what are essentially unregulated, unlicensed child prisons, which have been found to provide unethically poor treatment of the detainees. Overcrowding, starvation, sleep prevention, and the denial of access to basic hygiene have all been listed as examples of how the poor treatment, all while many of the prisoners are confined to outdoor cages reminiscent of animal enclosures. Additionally, in a large number of cases the guardians of the detained children are not informed of their whereabouts. This treatment of the children is believed to potentially induce lasting psychological damage to the children, and there is even evidence that large numbers of the children have been sexually assaulted by those employed at the centres. Worse still, multiple children have died while in the custody of these facilities, which has been largely attributed to the sub par sanitation and medical services

It is also worth noting that these facilities earn a profit, and so do the private companies that do business with them, and their money is earned at the expense of basic human rights. Regardless on your opinions on whether or not it’s necessary for a system like this is necessary to regulate immigration, it should not be debatable that if the system does not have the funding or the regulation to remain ethical, then it should not be allowed to exist at all. The migrants suffering in these facilities are very much human, and deserve to be treated as such. Their attempts to cross the border come from a simple desire for a better life for themselves and their children, while many of them do so in the process of escaping unlivable conditions. The system is objectively unethical, and something needs to be done about it

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Feminism to me um... I mean it's totally not about me. It's about all the women who may not have the opportunities that I have, all the privileges that I have. You know, trying to fight for better conditions and better treatment of all women. Whether that be trans women or women of colour, or, you know, women in professions that don't get a lot of, you know, respect. That to me is what feminism is about.

Lorde (Ella Yelich-O’Connor) - Singer, Songwriter

Ella Yelich-O’Connor, better known by her stage name ‘Lorde’, openly identifies as a feminist and has expressed her investment in the movement on many occasions. She has referred to herself as a ‘hugely sex-positive person’, highlighted the importance of intersectionality, and been described as inciting a ‘wave of female rebellion’. She was also praised for attending the 2018 Grammy Awards wearing a gown bearing words taken from Jenny Holzer’s ‘Inflammatory Essays’ encouraging the overthrowing of oppressors, in support of the Time’s Up movement

[approaching-storm-feminism]

I know it’s a little late, but happy Pride Month everyone x

Following Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s example, I’d like to take a moment to remind people that as well as being a time to celebrate your pride and freedom, it’s also a time to recognise and appreciate the Pride movement’s sociopolitical past and present. Many people have fought long and hard to incite progress for the LGBT+ community, though there is still much to be done in terms of abolishing institutional barriers and deeply ingrained biases

This is also a reminder that this month is for all members of the LGBT+ community, and should be celebrated as such

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Hey hey guess who isn’t dead

Not sure many people actually care lmao but I’ve just been busy with life / uni stuff, though I’m going to try and get back to posting some stuff that hopefully some people will enjoy haha

[pangur-and-grim]

biology papers are getting braver…. just waiting for the day I see “guillotine” in the Methods and Materials section

[approaching-storm-feminism]

As an ecology student and a social activist, this is the B i g g e s t Mood lmao

Just a friendly reminder though that intensive overexploitation of natural resources and relentless degradation of the world around us by the excessively wealthy, who have little to no consideration for the consequences of their actions, are reasonably significant drivers of the our planet’s rapid descent into ruin.

The developed countries in which the majority of those with too much money are found are largely the ones that will suffer the least from the effects of our degenerating environment - both climatically and in terms of the protection and freedom their wealth provides them - so their personal luxuries and corporate greed come at the price of the suffering of others, at least in the short term. The eventual ecological fallout will affect everyone in the end.

Hoarding their wealth rather than using it to fund research and conservation efforts is in itself an immorality. They more than most have the power to create real change and they just.. don’t. The existence of the wealth gap as big as it is in modern society is, in my opinion, objectively unethical, and for the sake of the planet and the people who live on it, something’s got to change.

- AS

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Book Recommendation: Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies - by Scarlett Curtis

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies is a collection of writings curated by Scarlett Curtis featuring the works of a long list of brilliant and influential women including Jameela Jamil, Emma Watson, Adwoa Aboah, and many more, that focus on the complexity and variety contained within the concept of the feminist movement, and the different things it represents for such a diverse group of people.

For me personally, it was a really interesting insight into how feminism is perceived and explored by all of the women featured. Understanding and empathising with the experiences of others is such a fundamental aspect of feminism that reading through their writings was a good experience for me, and one that helped to reinforce my dedication to the fight for freedom and equality, and to make that fight as increasingly inclusive and supportive as possible.

The topics covered range from accounts of the authors’ introductions to the world of girl power and the resistance of oppression, to more detailed explorations of the necessity of intersectionality and decisive activism, making the book appropriate for both veteran and newly initiated feminists.

A couple of highlights for me include the fact that there’s an entire section dedicated to feminist poetry, which should cater to anyone interested in the crossovers between art and politics, and one of the last chapters titled A Short History of Feminist Theory, which nicely summarises historical feminist developments in the last century or so.

All in all, it was a highly engaging, entertaining, and intelligent book that I would recommend to anyone who’s found themselves interested in the concept of feminism, including sceptics who could benefit from seeing things from the point of view of these incredible women

- AS

[approaching-storm-feminism]

- The LGBTQ+ community deserves freedom from legal and social discrimination

- Immigrants are people, and are deserving of empathy, fair treatment, due process, and equal protections

- Those with disabilities deserve respect, accessibility, and appropriate governmental support

- People should be protected from any unnecessary intrusions into their privacy and personal lives

- The right to vote is not one that should be denied to people through malicious or inadvertent voter suppression

- The extensive use of mass incarceration is a civil rights issue that disproportionately impacts marginalised communities, and the provision of rehabilitation and humane treatment to those incarcerated is an important goal

- People deserve the provision of dignified, high quality reproductive health care, as well as bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom

- Net neutrality is important for preventing the transmission of data over the internet being improperly discriminated against by internet service providers

- There have been countless incidences where a lack of accountability for law enforcement officers has contributed to the suffering of innocent people that does not result in appropriate consequences

- Solitary confinement is a widespread, though inhumane and ineffective, form of punishment extensively employed in prison systems

- The ‘War on Drugs’ has been consistently destructive, disproportionately centred on marginalised communities, and has focused on criminalising drug use while ignoring the connected public health issues

[great-tweets]

“This is a teachable moment for you.”

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Absolutely brilliant. Perfectly explained and also hilariously snarky.

People in similar positions as the oil change guy - please consider very carefully whether or not it’s appropriate to contact people like this, thank you x

[feministism]

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Comprehensive sex education should be provided to all children from a young age, including education on rape culture and same-sex intercourse. Not only is it ridiculous to pretend sex doesn’t exist in the name of protecting their ‘innocence’, but it also leaves them dangerously unaware of the realities of sexual experiences and the precautions to take regarding STIs and pregnancy. Such misconceptions can leave teenagers oblivious and at risk to themselves and others, as there will always be people who experiment sexually from an age younger than expected. I personally believed sex positivity should be encouraged, but it should also be made aware that it’s perfectly acceptable to be uninterested in sexual experiences.

Additionally, in my experience a lot of children with particularly strict parents are taught to avoid certain behaviours because they should fear the punishments, not because they are taught sense and morality - though once they are no longer at risk of receiving those punishments (i.e. when they are old enough to no longer be controlled by their guardians), they will no longer be interested in avoiding those behaviours, which can have destructive consequences for themselves and those around them. Children are still people, and I believe they deserve to be treated as such.

[approaching-storm-feminism]

To anyone who thinks feminism means never calling other women out, you are wrong and this is not progressive. We call men out when they hurt women, we also have to call out the women who do the same. Your gender does not protect you from being accountable for your bad behaviour

Jameela Jamil - Presenter, Actress

Jamil has recently garnered much attention from the media due to her bold statements in interviews and on Twitter regarding the toxic influence of celebrities on the public, especially in relation to body image. Most notable is her backlash against the ‘detox teas’ and other weight loss products, and how many celebrities, like the Kardashians, irresponsibly promote such products. As someone who has struggled severely with weight, body image, and related medical issues, she highlights how damaging it can be for celebrities to set an impossible standard of beauty (achieved through their vast wealth and photo editing), while supporting products with potentially adverse effects, and contributing to the dangerous cultures and narratives that harm so many women.

She is also responsible for heading the Why Not People? and I Weigh movements, which create support for people with disabilities, and promote positive ideas about body image, respectively.

(via approaching-storm-feminism)

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Hostility

When engaging in any sort of socio-political argument or discussion, whether in real life or online, it’s become apparent that for a lot of people the instinctive reaction to opposing views is to become openly hostile. This often manifests as expletive insults, personal attacks on irrelevant aspects of their character (most commonly their physical appearance), or even sometimes as threats

Choosing to respond in such a manner provides no useful contribution to the conversation, and instead is likely to offer those on the opposing side the idea that you and those who stand with you have little else to bolster what may actually be a perfectly reasonable argument, and that you are irrationally aggressive and incapable of sensibly engaging in politics

Frequently in scenarios such as this, you will have every right to be upset and angry, and to express as much, but to channel this emotion unproductively is likely to do more harm than good to the cause you are attempting to support

Put simply: people don’t like being yelled at. If you target them too aggressively, there is a good chance they will choose to simply tune you out and instead focus on returning fire. People don’t like being told they are wrong, and being met with anger. No matter how infuriating they may be, more often than not your only hope of getting anything across to them will be to communicate calmly and effectively

Remember: people are just products of their environment, and they often require education more than hostility. We want to encourage people to think more openly, to see things from our perspectives, and to invite them into our communities. Treating everyone who disagrees with you as ‘the others’, will only continue to isolate us. It is also important to remember that some people are perfectly well-intentioned, but may happen to remain ignorant on certain topics, and should be treated as such

That being said, I recognise that there are certainly some situations which deserve unadulterated anger, and some people who actively choose to remain hopelessly immoral and apathetic. You are under no obligation to remain quiet in the face of such injustice, and there are some evils simply too great to be overcome with polite discussions

Edit: Something I didn’t quite manage to get across in my original post is that I hate this. I hate that it has to be like this, and I hate seeing tone-policing in action. It’s awful that people think we should have to remove our emotions from our discussions in order for our points to be valid, especially when so many of the issues we are fighting for are so deeply rooted in emotion. Our fear and anger and sadness is often so central to the causes we’re promoting (e.g. the fear the black community feels towards the US police force, the anger we feel knowing our trans sisters are murdered simply for being themselves), and in a perfect world we wouldn’t have to give way in order for our voices to be heard. But sometimes all you can do is to attempt to remain rational long enough to communicate to the privileged why we deserve to be listened to

If anyone is looking for a better insight into tone-policing, this does a pretty good job of explaining it. I know it sort of contradicts my post, but it’s a topic I’m slightly conflicted about lol

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Yes, and we need it to be as strong and invasive as possible

Chloé Hollings - Actress, Singer, Author - In response to the phrase ‘Feminism is cancer’

Hollings, best known as the voice of Widowmaker in the popular Overwatch franchise, is a staunch advocate for body positivity and self love in the face of the harmful messages society perpetuates regarding how one should look and how much they weigh, and has worked to raise awareness of how emotionally damaging this struggle can be. She discusses these ideas and explores her own battles with eating and impossible body image standards, in her book, Fuck les régimes! (’Fuck diets!’).

(An excerpt from her book, translated into English)

[approaching-storm-feminism]

Men don’t age better than women, they’re just allowed to age

Carrie Fisher - Actress, Writer, Comedian

Fisher, renowned for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise, always spoke openly about misogyny in Hollywood, issues surrounding women’s body image, and her experiences with bipolar disorder and drug addiction. Throughout her life, she provided advocacy and financial contributions to a number of causes, including support for recovering addicts, AIDS/HIV organisations, and LGBT+ causes

(via approaching-storm-feminism)

[mysharona1987]

[approaching-storm-feminism]

The War on Drugs has always disproportionately impacted the less wealthy, and communities of POC, especially black people. This is evidence of a form of classism and racism deeply ingrained into judicial systems and law enforcement.  These people were arrested at a time when cannabis was more widely associated with the kind of people who society unfairly decided were worthy of neglect and disdain. Now that cannabis is becoming legalised in an increasing number of places, and is becoming more normalised and even trendy (mostly amongst richer white people), the people who were incarcerated for cannabis-related charges are being left behind

[approaching-storm-feminism]

I don’t assume I’m going to be okay, and maybe that’s who I am, because maybe it’s being an Asian woman, but I’m very aware of the fact that my position in the world is not secure. I have to secure it for myself. Our existence is not considered necessary, so we have to make ourselves necessary

Mitski - Singer/Songwriter, Musician

Through both her music and interviews, Mitski has explored ideas of ‘real’ femininity (compared to the softer, stereotyped version), independence, shamelessness, self worth, her struggles with her dual identity as both American and Japanese, and her interactions with these ideas in relation to her position in the world, and in a white male dominated industry, as an Asian woman

(via approaching-storm-feminism)