Etiquette & Ethics

"Politeness and etiquette form a sort of supplement to the law, which enables society to protect itself against offences which the law cannot touch. For instance, the law cannot punish a man for habitually staring at people in an insolent manner, but etiquette can banish such an offender from the circles of good society, and fix upon him the brand of vulgarity" (Arthur Martine, Martine's Hand-book of Etiquette, and Guide to True Politeness, 1866).

[rentedstarship]

Xingzi Gu, Untitled (moon and cherry)

[lamignonette]

[themostexquisitelady]

Elizabeth Taylor by Mark Kauffman, 1948

[lamignonette]

[this-old-stomping-ground]

(via 9ba4f24e1155cb41192a2e43aeb4b284.jpg (735×861))

[chainsawpunk]

Domenichino, The Maiden and the Unicorn, 1602 // Anton Robert Leinweber, Dragon Resting Its Head On The Lap Of A Woman, 1912

[candyheilman]

[awelltraveledwoman]

A young Amish girl holds the reins of two huge draft horses. Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. William Albert Allard/National Geographic.

[nagsyl]

[earthanthem]

(via Cottage Garden)

[etiquetteandethics]

I am not afraid of solitude, not of nature in her wildness. Jeanette Winterson, Frankissstein

[wildbeautifuldamned]

Antique 1920's Rat Perfume Figural Bottle from Germany ebay Diane's Clearinghouse

[hanteeyo]

my skeletons altogether 💀💀

[cloudmancy]

is he rocking with the orthodox ita bag

[allthingseurope]

Paris (by Celine)

[loish]

Ok, hear me out - shapes.

[gatheringbones]

[“In the either/or gender class system that we call male and female, the structure of one up, one down fulfills the requisite for a perpetual power imbalance. It became clear that the reason the binary gender system continues to exist, and is actively and tenaciously held in place, is that the binary gender system is primarily a venue for the playing out of a power game. It’s an arena in which roughly half the people in the world can have power over the other half. Without the structure of the binary gender system, the power dynamic between men and women shatters. People would not have gender to use as a hierarchical framework, and nearly half the members of the binary gender system would probably be at quite a loss. They believe (foolishly, I think) that the power they have and exert over others is a good thing, and they want to hang on to it; they’re terrified of losing this stuff.

What I’m talking about is what’s been called “male privilege.” And I think this is the crux of the gender issue; this is what’s holding gender in place: people who have and exert male privilege just don’t want to give it up.

I think that male privilege is the glue that holds the system together. People ask me what it was like to have had that kind of privilege, what it was like to lose it, why in the world I gave it up. To have it was like taking drugs; to get rid of it was like kicking a habit. I gave it up because it was destroying me and the people I loved.

Exerting “male privilege” is acting on the assumption that one has the right to occupy any space or person by whatever means, with or without permission. It’s a sense of entitlement that’s unique to those who have been raised male in most cultures—it’s notably absent in most girls and women. Male privilege is not something that’s given to men in this culture; it’s something that men take. It’s not that women don’t have the ability to have and wield this privilege; some do. It’s that in most cases, this privilege is withheld from them culturally and emotionally. Male privilege is woven into all levels of the culture, from unearned higher wages to more opportunities in the workplace, from higher quality, less-expensive clothing to better bathroom facilities. Male privilege extends into sexual harassment, rape, and war. Combine male privilege with capitalism (which rewards greed and acquisition) and the mass media (which, owned by capitalists, highlights only the rewards of acquisition and makes invisible its penalties), and you have a juggernaut that needs stopping by any means. Male privilege is not the exclusive province of men; there are some few women who have a degree of this horrifying personality trait. The wielding of male privilege is, in a word, violence.”]

kate bornstein, from gender outlaw: men, women, and the rest of us, 1995

[random-brushstrokes]

HongNian Zhang - Two Girls (1986)