KIROKAZE
if i look back, i am lost
The Bright Sessions
🪼
Today's Document
shark vs the universe
hello vonnie
oozey mess
titsay
almost home
Love Begins
Origami Around
RMH
No title available
pixel skylines
★
Cosimo Galluzzi
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
EXPECTATIONS
Product Placement
seen from Colombia
seen from Russia
seen from Brazil
seen from Germany
seen from Spain
seen from Ecuador
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Switzerland
seen from Italy
seen from United States
seen from Bangladesh
seen from Malaysia
seen from Peru
seen from Malaysia
seen from Moldova
seen from South Africa
seen from Kenya
seen from United States
seen from Bangladesh
@haliesuzy-blog
Ruth ‘Baby’ Ginsburg (Notorious R.Baby.G?):
Officially Wins Halloween,
Is Absolutely Crushing Halloween This Year,
Is the Only Halloween Costume You Need to See This Year,
Beats Everyone at Political Halloween Costumes,
Should Be Every Infant’s Halloween Costume,
Will Make You Ovulate So Hard,
Etc.
feminism is worse than ebola
Helpful translation: “My precious white boy feels are more important than the lives of black people living on another continent.”
Nope. It ain't.
That thing that happened at RISD, in great detail.
When you cross paths with a sociopath, you're in for a rough ride. This just happened. whathappenedatrisd:
for anyone whose found this off of tumblr and not from the Medium article I wrote. I suggest you read the article first so this doesn’t seem quite as panicked and messy as it actually is (and makes a little more sense).
edit (11/11): tw- harassment, abuse, medical abuse. I’m sorry to anyone this has triggered who didn’t come here via the Medium article with some idea of what this would be about.
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Vaginas on my Moroccan lamp. (at Halie's Tree House)
Being queer doesn’t excuse you from privilege. You can be a white queer racist, a queer male misogynist, a cis queer trans*phobe, a wealthy queer classist, or any number of other oppressive things and the sooner you educate yourself to this the better off our whole community will be, because contrary to media depiction, queer people aren’t all white middle-class gay men!
No black woman writer in this culture can write ‘too much.’ Indeed, no woman writer can write ‘too much.’ No woman has ever written enough.
bell hooks
From Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work. I 100% agree. We NEED our words. They save lives. Including our own.
(via gradientlair)
I totally feel this.
Esmeralda's witchy eye
Tucked snuggly in The Treehouse (that's what I call my new apartment), I find myself the new mother of two cats. These cats came by way of animal control, who sneakily cornered me into adopting not one but two with a well-planned marketing promotion, Half off and Buy One Get One Free Day. On the same day. Apparently, Monday is a great day to adopt a cat in Virginia Beach. Esmerelda and Brumhilda, after blessing my apartment with that faint smell of cat urine from the trauma-induced mess they left in the carrier, settled in nicely, one taking the dominant position of the bed within a few hours, and the other hiding mostly except to occasionally visit, after I pulled her from under the couch, to spin-purr-spin on my lap for a few short minutes at a time.
Ending relationships can be really complicated. But, you always have the right to end one at any time if it’s not healthy or safe anymore—or if it’s just not working for you any longer.
Are you feeling shame over wanting to end a relationship? Does it not really feel like an option for you?
It’s not always easy—especially if the person you’re with is controlling, manipulative, or scary, but there are folks who are happy to help you through that process. Or, who can help you find a way to stay safe in the mean time. [You can chat with a peer advocate at loveisrespect.org 24/7!]
"I saw that art is not peripheral, beauty is not optional, but a strategy for survival." I've often thought this of being a woman. I don't know one woman who hasn't understood the importance of appearance on survival in a man's world and exploited it for that purpose.
via Ground Truthing - Guernica / A Magazine of Art and Politics (via guernicamag)I
"I’m studying to get a PhD in Neuroscience, but in my free time I like to perform in burlesque shows."
Saving this pic just to look at. :-)
^^ This.
Having trouble not raping? Follow this handy guide for rape-free sex.
The key to not raping is getting consent. First, a definition, and then the secrets to your successful avoidance of rape. (Thank Antioch College for putting this together for you). 1. For the purpose of this policy, "consent" shall be defined as follows: the act of willingly and verbally agreeing to engage in specific sexual behavior. See (4) below when sexual behavior is mutually and simultaneously initiated. Because of the importance of communication and the potential dangers when misunderstanding exists in a sexual situation, those involved in any sexual interaction need to share enough of a common understanding to be able to adequately communicate: 1) requests for consent; and, 2) when consent is given, denied or withdrawn [or it is rape]. Note: Recognized American and international sign languages are considered a form of verbal language for the purpose of this policy. 2. When sexual behavior is not mutually and simultaneously initiated, then the person who initiates sexual behavior is responsible for verbally asking for the consent of the other individual(s) involved [or it is rape]. 3. The person with whom sexual contact/conduct is initiated shall verbally express his/her willingness or must verbally express consent, and/or express his/her lack of willingness by words, actions, gestures, or any other previously agreed upon communication. Silence and/or non-communication must never be interpreted as consent [or it is rape]. 4. When sexual behavior is mutually and simultaneously initiated, then the persons involved share responsibility for getting/giving or refusing/denying consent by words, actions, gestures or by any other previously agreed upon communication [or it is rape]. 5. Obtaining consent is an on-going process in any sexual interaction. Verbal consent should be obtained with each new level of physical and/or sexual behavior in any given interaction, regardless of who initiates it. Asking "Do you want to have sex with me?" is not enough. The request for consent must be specific to each act [or it is rape]. 6. If someone has initially consented but then stops consenting during a sexual interaction, she/he should communicate withdrawal of consent verbally (example: saying "no" or "stop") and/or through physical resistance (example: pushing away). The other individual(s) must stop immediately [or it is rape]. 7. In order for consent to be meaningful and valid under this policy: a) the person not initiating must have judgment and control unimpaired by any drug or intoxicant administered to prevent her/his resistance, and/or which has been administered surreptitiously, by force or threat of force, or by deception [or it is rape]; b) the person not initiating must have judgment and control unimpaired by mental dysfunction which is known to the person initiating [or it is rape]; c) the person not initiating must not be asleep or unconscious [or it is rape]; d) the person initiating must not have forced, threatened, coerced, or intimidated the other individual(s) into engaging in sexual behavior [or it is rape]. 8. To knowingly take advantage of someone who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs, prescribed or over-the-counter medication is not acceptable behavior [and is rape]. (Antioch College Sexual Offense Prevention Policy <http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/jhamlin/3925/Readings/Antioch.html>)
Women have been mocked by men since the time of Socrates for a lack of courage, strong will, initiative, integrity, self-respect--the very things [John Stewart] Mill found important to the development of what he called "individuality" as "one of the elements of well-being." It is not enough to call attention to the fact that there are many women of whom these things are not true and that there are also male cowards. It is important to note the patterns and search for explanations of them. Many male cowards are survivors of other oppressive practices. What is so disheartening about most pornography, even so-called soft core pornography and even when it is produced by women who apparently give their consent to be used in its production, is that it presents to the public this fragile, compliant feminine character in very young women as a sexual turn-on. Finding pleasure in such portrayals calls to my mind the idea of finding pleasure in the "music" produced by the brass bull of the tyrant Phalaris of Acragas (early sixth century B.C.E.). The bull's "singing" was produced by the screams of victims roasting inside. One would hope that, for the most part, only those ignorant of what they were hearing could enjoy it, that sadists like the tyrant are rare. Likewise, one would hope that only those unappreciative of the history of rape terrorism could find the pornography that glorifies its end result a source of pleasure. Claudia Card, The Unnatural Lottery: Character and Moral Luck. 1996.
A Letter for your senator
Dear Senator _________________,
It is with great respect and admiration for your work to improve the lives of U.S. service members and veterans that I write to you today asking that you co-sponsor the Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013 with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and others who seek to pass this bipartisan bill. As a feminist concerned about relationship and sexual violence, I have an understanding of the complex social mechanisms and institutional practices that result in what feminists call "rape culture," a culture that perpetuates and maintains a system of rape against marginalized persons. It is unfortunate that our fine military has been implicated in perpetuating and maintaing a culture of violence against its own service members, and I look forward to increased awareness and determination to protect honorable service members while prosecuting sexual predators currently hiding amongst the ranks.
What must change is the climate of protectionism, or what feminist philosopher Susan Rae Peterson calls "state-sponsored" rape, a very disturbing description of what we're seeing in our military. She argues that rape is an institution, "a form of activity specified by a system of rules which define offices, rules, moves, penalties, defenses, and so on, and which give the activity its structure" (Feminism and Philosophy). This structure of protectionism is defined formally by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which empowers commanding officers to apply arbitrary leniency to rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment cases and which allows perpetrators to leave the service with a relatively clean record, as they are not currently added to the sex offender databases and suffer only minor consequences in exchange for the great evils they commit. Philosopher Claudia Card paraphrases Peterson, "If a state fails to protect women against rape but succeeds in protecting at least certain classes of men against rape charges, [. . . ] it supports a 'racket;'" yet; Card argues, even the continued threat is state-supported (Unnatural Lottery). It sounds far fetched, until we consider the case of Trina McDonald, whose story of a frat-like, assisted-acquaintance rape is well told in the film Invisible War, brings the protection racket to life.
During service on the remote Adnak Naval Operating Station, the 17-year-old Trina McDonald, a naive new "boot," was drugged and raped more than once. The attackers included security forces who were assisted by females that received protection for their complicity, as they were in on the racket. Of course, rape, like all oppressive violence, wears many faces and takes many forms, but it is always perpetrated in the name of power and submission, and our military will suffer for it. Women (and men) who are under the threat of rape by either subordinate or higher-ranking officers suffer psychological harm and post traumatic stress disorder from rape attacks and are not fit for duty until the injury has healed, and this healing only comes through speaking out about the crime against the person, from acknowledgement by authorities that the crime has occurred, and from knowing that retributive justice will be served by those authorities against the attacker. Those who hide the injury of rape live with psychological trauma so great that they are ill fit for continued service, so it is in our interest to strive for a military culture in which victims are safe to come forward to report the crime committed against them and to begin the process of recovery. Of course, ideally, we reverse the culture to create a space of mutual respect and celebration for others bodily integrity. It takes a while.
One last point about preventing rape. The only known and fail safe preventative mechanism shown to stop violence is social consequences. Mandatory arrests, incarceration, even rehabilitation programs have all failed to protect women from violence, beyond that arrest threatens to alert the neighbors and the boss. What does protect potential victims is the fear a potential perpetrator has that he or she will become publicly known as a rapist and that this knowledge will directly affect the pocketbook.
This is not to say that privacy of the accused is not important. What it does mean is that prosecutions are important and social consequences beyond the military (sex offender database lists) are important. Protecting predator service members from punishment creates an air of impunity, from which they commit serial offenses of rape, assault, and harassment on their fellow service members. The majority of the rapes being committed in the military are committed by far fewer attackers. Protectionism threatens the integrity of the military mission for the sake of a few criminal deviants and must end. Perpetrators of these atrocities harm everyone and simply aren't worth the costs.
Now, that you know more than you wanted to know about the sexual politics of rape, I hope that you agree that it is critical that Congress pass the MJIA 2013 to alter the UCMJ. It is clear that the military is unable or unwilling to address rape protectionism without these formal structural changes taking place; therefore, it is the responsibility of the U.S. Congress to ensure the integrity of the overall mission. I hope that you decide to work for the necessary structural changes that will result in a more productive, robust, and honorable military.
I thank you sincerely for your work and your consideration of this request. If you would like to discuss anything I've said here further, I'd be more than happy to meet with you.
Respectfully,
