hideaway

[buckypupbarnes]

[lespritmodestee]

It’s funny how after a while you start hearing the truth in their words and your start seeing how little meaning remains in the fragmented          how are you          I miss you          come home. Instead,           I love you starts glistening  with the blood it took from you and you wonder  why you withstood this war for so long

A.A. (via lespritmodestee)

[huffpost]

Woman Tattoos Her Own Face To Cover Scars, Starts Business To Help Other Burn Victims

This woman rose above the challenges of her own experience to help others in similar situations.

See more of Hameed’s incredible paramedical tattoo work here. 

[jadeywj]

Bjork speaking up about dudes getting credit for everything

Pitchfork: When it was originally misreported that Vulnicura was produced by Arca, instead of co-produced by you and Arca, it reminded me of the Joni Mitchell quote from the height of her fame about how whichever man was in the room with her got credit for her genius.

Bjork: Yeah, I didn’t want to talk about that kind of thing for 10 years, but then I thought, “You’re a coward if you don’t stand up. Not for you, but for women. Say something.” So around 2006, I put something on my website where I cleared something up, because it’d been online so many times that it was becoming a fact. It wasn’t just one journalist getting it wrong, everybody was getting it wrong. I’ve done music for, what, 30 years? I’ve been in the studio since I was 11; Alejandro had never done an album when I worked with him. He wanted to putting something on his own Twitter, just to say it’s co-produced. I said, “No, we’re never going to win this battle. Let’s just leave it.” But he insisted. I’ve sometimes thought about releasing a map of all my albums and just making it clear who did what. But it always comes across as so defensive that, like, it’s pathetic. I could obviously talk about this for a long time. [laughs]

Pitchfork: The world has a difficult time with the female auteur.

Bjork: I have nothing against Kanye West. Help me with this—I’m not dissing him—this is about how people talk about him. With the last album he did, he got all the best beatmakers on the planet at the time to make beats for him. A lot of the time, he wasn’t even there. Yet no one would question his authorship for a second. If whatever I’m saying to you now helps women, I’m up for saying it. For example, I did 80% of the beats on Vespertine and it took me three years to work on that album, because it was all microbeats—it was like doing a huge embroidery piece. Matmos came in the last two weeks and added percussion on top of the songs, but they didn’t do any of the main parts, and they are credited everywhere as having done the whole album. [Matmos’] Drew [Daniel] is a close friend of mine, and in every single interview he did, he corrected it. And they don’t even listen to him. It really is strange.

Pitchfork: How does it make you feel when this happens now?

Bjork: I have to say—I got a feeling I am going to win in the long run, but I want to be part of the zeitgeist, too. I want to support young girls who are in their 20s now and tell them: You’re not just imagining things. It’s tough. Everything that a guy says once, you have to say five times. Girls now are also faced with different problems. I’ve been guilty of one thing: After being the only girl in bands for 10 years, I learned—the hard way—that if I was going to get my ideas through, I was going to have to pretend that they—men—had the ideas. I became really good at this and I don’t even notice it myself. I don’t really have an ego. I’m not that bothered. I just want the whole thing to be good. And I’m not saying one bad thing about the guys who were with me in the bands, because they’re all amazing and creative, and they’re doing incredible things now. But I come from a generation where that was the only way to get things done. So I have to play stupid and just do everything with five times the amount of energy, and then it will come through.

When people don’t credit me for the stuff I’ve done, it’s for several reasons. I’m going to get very methodical now! [laughs] One! I learned what a lot of women have to do is make the guys in the room think it was their idea, and then you back them up. Two! I spend 80% of the writing process of my albums on my own. I write the melodies. I’m by the computer. I edit a lot. That for me is very solitary. I don’t want to be photographed when I’m doing that. I don’t invite people around. The 20% of the album process when I bring in the string orchestras, the extras, that’s documented more. That’s the side people see. When I met M.I.A., she was moaning about this, and I told her, “Just photograph yourself in front of the mixing desk in the studio, and people will go, ‘Oh, OK! A woman with a tool, like a man with a guitar.’” Not that I’ve done that much myself, but sometimes you’re better at giving people advice than doing it yourself. I remember seeing a photo of Missy Elliott at the mixing desk in the studio and being like, a-ha!

It’s a lot of what people see. During a show, because there are people onstage doing the other bits, I’m just a singer. For example, I asked Matmos to play all the beats for the Vespertine tour, so maybe that’s kind of understandable that people think they made them. So maybe it’s not all sexist evil. [laughs] But it’s an ongoing battle. I hope it doesn’t come across as too defensive, but it is the truth. I definitely can feel the third or fourth feminist wave in the air, so maybe this is a good time to open that Pandora’s box a little bit and air it out.

[humansofnewyork]

"Who’s influenced you the most in your life?" “My principal, Ms. Lopez.” “How has she influenced you?” “When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.”

[becauseiamawoman-deactivated202]

Privacy is a privilege. It is rarely enjoyed by women or transgender men and women, queer people or people of color. When you are an Other, you are always in danger of having your body or some other intimate part of yourself exposed in one way or another. A stranger reaches out and touches a pregnant woman’s belly. A man walking down the street offers an opinion on a woman’s appearance or implores her to smile. A group of teenagers driving by as a person of color walks on a sidewalk shout racial slurs, interrupting their quiet. For most people, privacy is little more than an illusion, one we create so we can feel less vulnerable as we move through the world, so we can believe some parts of ourselves are sacred and free from uninvited scrutiny. The further away you are from living as a white, heterosexual, middle-class man, the less privacy you enjoy – the more likely your illusions of privacy will be shattered when you least expect it.

The Great Naked Celebrity Photo Leak of 2014 is just the beginning | Roxane Gay | theguardian.com (via becauseiamawoman)

[nyctaeus]

Donald Rodney - In the House of My Father, 1996-7

[christmasnoose]

Hey can you please explain why you are against James Franco/the interview? I'm not a big fan of him but I feel a bit uninformed about the whole fiasco and why it's having such a big impact.

no problem my dude!

the thing that bothers me the most about sony actually releasing the interview is that seth rogen and james franco had a HUGE opportunity at their disposal. that movie had a big name cast, and they could have done so many things with the concept of north korea. they could have made a drama or a comedy based in north korea or SOMETHING to use that platform to raise awareness about the horrors that go on in that country.

do you know that kim jong-un has brainwashed north koreans to make them think that he can read their minds (about 11 minutes into this video)? think about how terrifying that is: living under a dictator who you think can read every thought of yours, so thus any negative thoughts you may have about his regime need to be avoided immediately.

then there’s the fact that there is a massive food crisis in north korea. it’s so bad that people eat pieces of corn found in the shit of animals because they’re so hungry. one of the most visceral things i heard was that in severe cases of malnutrition, the anus actually doesn’t close and anything you eat or drink comes directly out of you. these accounts come from prison guards who witnessed it.

at any point for any reason, police in north korea can charge you with any crime they want, and take you AND your family - regardless of whether your family was even with you at the time - to political prison camps. these camps are obviously fucking terrible places to be, as demonstrated by the images drawn here by former prisoners.

there’s also the fact that people can’t leave north korea. their borders are tightly monitored with frequently rotating guards who are told to shoot anyone who tries to cross. china, who shares a border with north korea, sends back people who have fled to china from north korea. women who return to north korea pregnant are forced to carry heavy loads up and down hills until they miscarry.

so i was relieved that sony wasn’t going to release the interview because i knew it would be full of racist, frat-boy level humor (spoiler alert: it got terrible reviews and yes, it full of racist, frat-boy level humor) that makes fun of 25 million peoples’ suffering. they had an amazing opportunity to raise awareness about the devastation that exists in that country, and instead they used that platform to be racist, mimic accents and literally make butt jokes.

when north koreans are finally freed of their chains, they’re going to learn that the rest of the world thought it was hilarious how much they were tortured.

that’s why i am against the interview, james franco, seth rogen and sony.

[lazerprincess]

Suicide Note

If you are reading this, it means that I have committed suicide and obviously failed to delete this post from my queue.

Please don’t be sad, it’s for the better. The life I would’ve lived isn’t worth living in… because I’m transgender. I could go into detail explaining why I feel that way, but this note is probably going to be lengthy enough as it is. To put it simply, I feel like a girl trapped in a boy’s body, and I’ve felt that way ever since I was 4. I never knew there was a word for that feeling, nor was it possible for a boy to become a girl, so I never told anyone and I just continued to do traditionally “boyish” things to try to fit in.

When I was 14, I learned what transgender meant and cried of happiness. After 10 years of confusion I finally understood who I was. I immediately told my mom, and she reacted extremely negatively, telling me that it was a phase, that I would never truly be a girl, that God doesn’t make mistakes, that I am wrong. If you are reading this, parents, please don’t tell this to your kids. Even if you are Christian or are against transgender people don’t ever say that to someone, especially your kid. That won’t do anything but make them hate them self. That’s exactly what it did to me.

My mom started taking me to a therapist, but would only take me to christian therapists, (who were all very biased) so I never actually got the therapy I needed to cure me of my depression. I only got more christians telling me that I was selfish and wrong and that I should look to God for help.

When I was 16 I realized that my parents would never come around, and that I would have to wait until I was 18 to start any sort of transitioning treatment, which absolutely broke my heart. The longer you wait, the harder it is to transition. I felt hopeless, that I was just going to look like a man in drag for the rest of my life. On my 16th birthday, when I didn’t receive consent from my parents to start transitioning, I cried myself to sleep.

I formed a sort of a “fuck you” attitude towards my parents and came out as gay at school, thinking that maybe if I eased into coming out as trans it would be less of a shock. Although the reaction from my friends was positive, my parents were pissed. They felt like I was attacking their image, and that I was an embarrassment to them. They wanted me to be their perfect little straight christian boy, and that’s obviously not what I wanted.

So they took me out of public school, took away my laptop and phone, and forbid me of getting on any sort of social media, completely isolating me from my friends. This was probably the part of my life when I was the most depressed, and I’m surprised I didn’t kill myself. I was completely alone for 5 months. No friends, no support, no love. Just my parent’s disappointment and the cruelty of loneliness.

At the end of the school year, my parents finally came around and gave me my phone and let me back on social media. I was excited, I finally had my friends back. They were extremely excited to see me and talk to me, but only at first. Eventually they realized they didn’t actually give a shit about me, and I felt even lonelier than I did before. The only friends I thought I had only liked me because they saw me five times a week.

After a summer of having almost no friends plus the weight of having to think about college, save money for moving out, keep my grades up, go to church each week and feel like shit because everyone there is against everything I live for, I have decided I’ve had enough. I’m never going to transition successfully, even when I move out. I’m never going to be happy with the way I look or sound. I’m never going to have enough friends to satisfy me. I’m never going to have enough love to satisfy me. I’m never going to find a man who loves me. I’m never going to be happy. Either I live the rest of my life as a lonely man who wishes he were a woman or I live my life as a lonelier woman who hates herself. There’s no winning. There’s no way out. I’m sad enough already, I don’t need my life to get any worse. People say “it gets better” but that isn’t true in my case. It gets worse. Each day I get worse.

That’s the gist of it, that’s why I feel like killing myself. Sorry if that’s not a good enough reason for you, it’s good enough for me. As for my will, I want 100% of the things that I legally own to be sold and the money (plus my money in the bank) to be given to trans civil rights movements and support groups, I don’t give a shit which one. The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren’t treated the way I was, they’re treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights. Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better. My death needs to mean something. My death needs to be counted in the number of transgender people who commit suicide this year. I want someone to look at that number and say “that’s fucked up” and fix it. Fix society. Please.

Goodbye,

(Leelah) Josh Alcorn

[uosu]

TOKYO NAKED (A SHORT FILM SERIES) VOL.1 SATOSHI ONOHARA - THIRTEEN.

[slopaganda]

"WEIGHT" - Installation

This is an interactive installation exploring body image and self-worth. It asks the viewer to think about where their self-worth stems from, and what their own value really is.

[slopaganda]

This is a project I’ve been working on for a while now. It was originally planned for Mental Health Awareness Week 2014, and will be on display at my school next semester.

[azspot]

Mike Tyson is a convicted rapist, and he now stars as a loveable cartoon TV detective. Roman Polanski raped a 13-year-old and has since won an Oscar to a standing ovation. Sean Connery is the celebrated embodiment of rugged cool, who has openly championed beating women in order to keep ’em in line. Bill Murray has been accused by his ex-wife of repeated, brutal physical abuse. Rick James was arrested for torturing and sexually abusing a woman for three days straight, only to have his image rehabilitated by Dave Chappelle years later. John Lennon is one of the most worshipped artists who has ever drawn breath, and he has copped to battering the shit out of women.

It’s Not Just Cosby: Hollywood’s Long List of Male Scumbags (via azspot)

[deathtrapnest]

tgwtdt + tumblr text

[nenelashiro]

Eric Garner’s widow, Esaw, STRONG response to the officers ”Condolences” 

[laland]

Please everyone watch this

[untrustyou]

Daehyun Kim 

Be(a)cause of you, 2014

[qarurumon]

Men’s clothing is more pure in design. It’s more simple and has no decoration. Women want that. When I started designing, I wanted to make men’s clothes for women. But there were no buyers for it. Now there are. I always wonder who decided that there should be a difference in the clothes of men and women. Perhaps men decided this.

Yohji Yamamoto, 1983 NY Times  (via acopine)

[micdotcom]

This brave student has died after protecting two teen girls from harassment

Dozens of Germans mourned Sunday over the death of 23-year-old student Tugce Albayrak, who was killed after defending two teenage girls who were reportedly being harassed by a group of men.

The BBC reports that Albayrak was brutally attacked after intervening in the harassment earlier this month. Albayrak reportedly heard “cries for help from the toilet of a fast food restaurant” in the German town of Offenbach before confronting the group of men who were aggressively pursuing the two girls. One of the men later returned and attacked her in a parking garage. 

[alwayslabellavita]

Tugce was also a Muslim. Please don’t forget this. Since every time a Muslim commits a crime, people are so quick to mention their religion—it’s only fair that we apply the same standard and mention Islam when a Muslim does something good. And what Tugce did was so amazing and brave. She died a true hero’s death and I’m hoping this will continue to open peoples’ eyes to the deadly consequences street harassment can lead to.