independent as a hog on ice

hey, i'm meg. 25, ♀. femme. queer. historian. pirate. .

[islamandart]

Snowfall in Middle East

www.islamandart.tumblr.com

[cliffpantones]

I guess I kind of hate most things, but I never really seem to hate you.

[ohaldir]

"My story. It’s exactly the same as your story, just one chapter behind."

[oenomaus]

[rewiredotnews]

Scarlet Letters: Getting the History of Abortion and Contraception Right

Abortion was not just legal—it was a safe, condoned, and practiced procedure in colonial America and common enough to appear in the legal and medical records of the period. Official abortion laws did not appear on the books in the United States until 1821, and abortion before quickening did not become illegal until the 1860s. If a woman living in New England in the 17th or 18th centuries wanted an abortion, no legal, social, or religious force would have stopped her.

[bebinn]

Reminder that records of contraception and abortion exist all the way back to 1550 BCE in ancient Egypt!

This was a really fascinating read. Until the early 19th century, abortion was legal until “quickening,” or when the pregnant person first felt the baby kick - anywhere from 14 to 26 weeks into the pregnancy. Society only began to condemn it when people decided white, middle- to upperclass women weren’t having enough children soon enough in their lives, and when male doctors started taking over traditionally female health care fields, like midwifery.

Yep, shockingly enough, it’s never, ever been about the life of the fetus - only about misogyny, racism, and classism (ableism, too, though the article doesn’t discuss it).

[thebicker]

Pro-lifers love to cry about all the unborn children who were aborted since Roe v. Wade. They conveniently neglect to mourn all the abortions that took place before then, as well as all the women (and other pregnant people) who died from unsafe abortions because of their “pro life” legislation.

Hope all those kids who pledged to give up soda and candy "until abortion ends" are prepared to never ever have that stuff ever again.

[odditiesoflife]

The Amazing Colored Petrified Forest

A sun-swept corner of the Painted Desert in Arizona is home to the Petrified Forest National Park which draws more than 600,000 visitors each year. While most come to see one of the world’s largest concentrations of brilliantly colored petrified wood, many leave having glimpsed something more. The current 346 square miles of Petrified Forest open a window on an environment more than 200 million years old, one radically different from today’s grassland.

Over time, trees died or perhaps were knocked over by flood waters or wind. Rivers carried the trees into the lowlands, breaking off branches, bark, and small roots along the way. Some trees were deposited on the flood plain adjacent to the rivers and others were buried in the stream channels. Most of the trees decomposed and disappeared. But a few trees were petrified, becoming the beautiful fossilized logs we see today. 

source 1 2 3 4 5

[xyzamyatin]

dang

[fleurdulys]

The Irritating Gentleman - Berthold Woltze

1874

[mszombi]

I know that feel, Painting Lady. 

[dollymacabre]

My bus ride to and from work every day.

[misanthrobot]

They never published the second picture, which was the one where she backhanded him in the fucking face for getting all up in her shit.

[murdorito]

Oh great, good to know this has been a problem for HUNDREDS OF YEARS CAN WE PLEASE STOP DOING THIS ALREADY JUST FUCK OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE

[nethilia]

Everyone is overlooking something very significant in this picture, that I saw in two seconds, that adds a layer of super slime to his whole awful attitude. “The Irritating Gentleman” is a politeness.

She’s wearing all black in 1874. Black gloves, hat, cloak, and dress. In public. The whole nine yards. That’s not a fashion choice or a gothic thing. Back then when people wore all black like that, they were in mourning for someone who died. No one did mourning like the Victorians, that shit was an art form to them.

Someone in her family has died—she could even be a young widow. No one’s accompanying her either. With the carpet bag? She’s traveling alone while still in deep mourning. Look at the closeup. She’s got tears in her eyes. She is upset, devastated in a way that one is only when someone has died. And the guy’s still bothering her, like her problems are flippant bullshit and she needs to just smile or pay attention to him because ladies are supposed to be pleasing for men no matter what shit they’re going through. That’s not a look of “what an ass.” That’s a look of devastation that even in her pain, she’s expected to give people like him focus. She’s not mad. She’s hurt. And to add insult to injury? Everyone would be able to tell. It was a clear sign and still is in ways that someone is mourning, to dress in black crepe like that. He would know why she’s wearing all black, and he’s still demanding her attention.

What an insufferable dick.

At least I’m not the only one who saw this.

[seashells-and-bookshelves]

I think what gets me most about this painting are the tears in her eyes.

[didierleclair]

VIOLA DAVIS and DENZEL WASHINGTON in the play “Fences” by AUGUST WILSON

[lohrien]

Illustrations by Christian Schloe

[memorygirls-deactivated20250816]

[saisonciel]

[billowy]

1897

[lifeforlovers]

[pusheen]

[zestyblog]

[blackhistoryalbum]

[blackhistoryalbum]

FAMILY MATTERS | THE BLACK VICTORIANS | BEST OF 2013

William T. Shorey (1859-1919), famous whaling captain, and his family, San Francisco, CA. Late 1800s. Follow us on Twitter | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest

[allnight123-deactivated20160618]

[deforest]