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Just thought I should let y’all know 🙃

Mutuals:

@nofreakingmourners @livingonspiteandcoffee @supernaturallynerdy @neverhaveieverheardkazbrekkersay @iambecomeyourvillain @my-beautiful-wylan @several-bronze-daggers @itwasalwaysaboutthetea @mydarlingkaz @horanghae-taylors-version @crawling-back-to-bed @anarchist-therapist @tfischaitea @anika-thestollsister @tysshadow

iddek

Pay attention, 2014 Mad Men: This little girl is holding a LEGO set. The LEGOs are not pink or “made for girls.” She isn’t even wearing pink. The copy is about “younger children” who “build for fun.” Not just “girls” who build. ALL KIDS.

In an age when little girls and boys are treated as though they are two entirely different species by toy marketers, this 1981 ad for LEGO — one of our favorite images ever — issues an important reminder.

gnder101-blog

This is my favorite advertisement. Also, a short story about sexist parenting with LEGOS. I work at a toy store that sells thousands of dollars of legos and I’ve seen time and time again parents refusing to buy blue box legos for girls and refusing to buy pink box legos for boys even when they ask for them. One girl came in with her parents and she wanted LEGO CITY because it was her birthday and they wanted to buy her gift with her at the store. [LEGO CITY is a LEGO series that lets a child build train stations, firetrucks, passenger ships, space exploration vehicles, drawbridges, garbage disposal trucks, basically anything related to the running of a city and it is not a gender based toy.] I showed them the LEGO CITY, but the mom told the child over and over “No, this is for boys you can’t get that” and eventually, she made the little girl choose a LEGO Disney Cinderella Castle instead because it was “more appropriate”. Even after I pointed out that every box has female and male LEGO people because the toy is meant for both boys and girls, she refused because it looked like a “boy” toy. I’ve had many occasions where a girl will be drawn to the LEGO CITY series only for the parents to come to me and ask “Where are the GIRLS Legos, you know, princesses and stuff. I’m not buying her this sort of thing” and it makes me so, so, so, so, sad every time because I can already imagine the types of values in education and career choices the parents will be scolding child for wanting in the future when they aren’t even allowed to play with anything blue. Let girls be kids without all the forced gender stereotyping, dammit.

benyw

You know what little girls could grow up to be? Architects, engineers, builders.

You know what little girls cannot ever be, no matter what they do in life? A princess.

We sell real life careers to little boys, but to girls we sell lies and fantasy. Then we have the gall to say that girls ‘choose’ careers that earn them less, that girls just aren’t interested in STEM fields, that girls are stupid for pursuing frivolous nonsense, etc. etc.

This is gender in action. Not nature, but socialization.

cliteralviolence

That last comment especially 👏🏻👏🏻

milessperhourr

As a female architect I approve this message.

ahallister

I loved LEGO when I was little, and it was an activity I enjoyed with both my sister and my two brothers. It galls me how the brand was marketed so heavily to boys in the 80s and 90s, because now those kids are adults and remember it as ‘something for boys’ and keep it away from their girls. Marketing can do damage for *generations*, not just in the immediate short term.

quousque

GENDER IN ACTION what a great fucking way of putting it

azriona

I was just thinking about this post/ad the other day. I’ve reblogged it before, and there’s a version that links to an interview with the little girl in the picture about her memories of the photo shoot. It’s all very girl-positive and how gendering toys is terrible, and for the most part, I agree. There’s no such thing as boys’ toys and girls’ toys. Or there shouldn’t be.

The thing that occurred to me about this ad, though - it’s not really breaking any gender barriers. The little girl in the picture? She’s dressed like a boy. She’s not wearing pink. Her hair’s not in ringlets. She hasn’t built what could obviously be called a princess castle. If you looked fast, you’d probably think she was a boy (until you noticed the braids).

So yeah, maybe this ad is saying, “Hey, girls can play with Lego too!” Except, not really. Because what it’s actually saying is, “Hey, girls who are actually tomboys can play with Lego too!”

I’m just saying - I think it would have been way more powerful if you’d had a girl in pink and ruffles and ringlets building space ships and skyscrapers and King Arthur’s castle. That it’s possible to be both girly - and want to do those things. This ad? Ain’t showing that.

ghostrepeater

Okay, so the thing i’m having a problem with here is that this little girl is NOT dressed like a boy, she’s dressed like a little girl at play in 1981.

Girls’ clothes in 1981 were not limited to various shades of pink and purple but ran the full spectrum of colors. They were also expected to stand up to the wear and tear of regular play (which in 1981 meant running around outdoors). Ruffles and the like existed but those clothes were fancy, meant for occasions or events like church and holidays, not everyday wear.

For example, here is a photo of my brother and i in 1983 wearing our everyday clothes

I am five years old here. At this time, my room was painted pink, i had what i called my princess dress, and my Barbie was the one that came with an all-pink wardrobe. At that time in my life i was absolutely NOT considered a tomboy; i was a typical little girl.

To your modern eyes, inundated with the sharply gendered clothing of today, the girl in the ad didn’t even read as a girl whereas in 1981, she did. And i’m wondering who is in the more constrictive box, girls then or girls now?

Also i saw these from the same campaign and they are adorable!

puttingherinhistory

How terrible is it to know that as a society we’ve probably gotten worse with pushing gender norms on kids instead of better.

When I was in uni in one of my soc classes we read an excerpt from The Beauty Myth which talked about this, how when women started gaining more political/social/financial power in society the patriarchal started lashing back by buckling down on beauty standards and enforcing femininity. Beauty standards and the expectation for girls and women to be feminine has definitely gotten worse the past few decades as direct retaliation against women and girls for gaining more power, it’s a way to keep women and girls in “their place” in one way while they’re reaching for progress in other areas. If you’re interested in learning more about this phenomenon, I suggest giving The Beauty Myth a read

susansontag

growing up I always heard “when boys are mad at each other they just punch it out, whereas girls are catty and hold grudges” and the latter was always presented as the less favourable option. obviously I’m not excusing cruel behaviour, words do hurt, but I think it’s a great example of how boys’ bad behaviour starts to be forgiven or not taken seriously so early. male violence is the cause of so much suffering in this world, towards women, children, and other men. this is not disconnected from behaviour exhibited and internalised in childhood. maybe we as a society should show a bit more concern to boys seeing violence as an acceptable outlet for their emotions rather than placing the brunt of this critique on girls who might say cruel things about each other but rarely lay a finger on each other physically. just a thought

albertserra

This one does hurt I won’t lie

albertserra

lilisouless

Wylan: I lost Jesper in this crowd (uses hands as a megaphone) Wylan Van Eck is an ugly bitch!

Jesper: THAT BITCH IS NOT UGLY!

Matthias: I can't find Nina; Matthias Helvar is ugly!

Matthias: ....And waffles suck!

Nina: HOW DARE YOU INSULT WAFF-oh i found you Matthias,my one true love

Inej: I can't find Kaz ; Ine-

Kaz: WHERE IS SHE?

Inej: I didn't even yell

thursday

DAY 15

GIVE IT UP FOR DAY 15

fnaf-thechoco-deactivated201503

You can only reblog this 12 times a year

Make the most of that

jijarugen

Every month I reblog this and every month I’m baffled that it’s already the 15th.

pumpkindobby-blog

I’m scheduling this for every month

passive-deter-cotton-deactivate

it’s the 15th let’s go

burbarians

half way through the elections :)

passive-deter-cotton-deactivate

omg don’t remind me

vympr

i love reading sad books bc when your own grief is stopped up inside you like a clogged drain you can grieve for a character on a page and understand that you're also grieving for yourself a little bit

yuizuh

Rb if you’re grateful for all of your followers

even if you have 1

Even if you have 10

100

1000

Etc.

friendlymathematician

Men: Men have a better sense of humour than women.

Men when women make a joke: Was that by accident? Do you know you just made a joke?

cressjacquine

congrats to this post

for finally fulfilling its destiny

#we still have twenty days to go lol #but today was still great #2/2/22

ASDFGHJKL

I ORDERED THE SIX OF CROWS COLLECTORS EDITIONS AND THEYRE HEREEE.

AHHHH IM LOSING ITTT

marauders4evr

It occurs to me that there are people who weren’t on this website in 2012 and therefore never saw the magical gif that you can actually hear:

It’s been over five years and that still impresses the hell out of me.

worldheritagepostorganization

World Heritage Post

nitewrighter

“The prince just fell in love with Cinderella because of her looks!”

Wrong. Okay, picture this–

So there’s the prince, okay? He’s like, smack dab in the center of the ballroom, and he is like, horrifically aware that this whole ball thing is a result of his dad falling into a panic about the royal lineage or whatever and he’s stuck listening to highborn girl after highborn girl, all lined up, introducing themselves like, “Oh yeah my family’s been a longtime supporter of the crown, and I think you’re cute, *cough* I’ve been told I have child-bearing hips *cough* Who said that? Anyway–” and Princey boy is just smiling through it, he has been the center of attention for entirely too long, he misses his emotional support horse, and is just internally like “Someone please kill me now.” And then… he sees her–This isn’t a love at first sight thing, this is a ‘what the hell is going on over there’ thing, because this girl has not gotten into the Debutante line for a solid 45 minutes.

She’s just at the hors d’oeuvres table going HAM on the prosciutto-wrapped asparagus, and like, she’s polite about it, she’s happy to move aside for other people grabbing punch and canapes (and she’s really so sweet with the wait staff, it’s kind of cute because they’re like… definitely not used to being acknowledged) but it’s like, “Damn girl, did you not eat today?” and then the prince is kind of stuck with the uncomfortable thought of ‘how many girls starved themselves to fit into a corset for this.’ And then the Prince realizes he’s missed the past 4 Debutante introductions because he’s watching Mystery girl hork down crab rangoons. So he’s like, “Excuse me” and manages to break free from the never-ending parade of girls who will hop on his dick for status.

And as he’s approaching Mystery Girl, it’s kind of hitting him that something’s not quite natural about her. Not fake, but not quite real. But at the same time this whole evening’s been just a whole circus of people acting fake as hell, so like, someone seeming a little off doesn’t seem bad, necessarily. And he sidles up to her like, “Hi,” and she’s like, “Oh–hey, have you tried the tapenade?” and she points to one of the plates, and at this point, he could hit her with the “You don’t know who I am, do you?” deal or the “Very funny, I see your play” deal, but at this point it occurs to him that, no, he hasn’t had anything to eat throughout this whole damn ball, partially because of being stuck in the debutante parade, partially because of nerves, and there’s something so disarming about the question that he grabs a crostini and she still seems so food-focused that it doesn’t seem possible that this is a play. So they both grab little plates and ditch the party.

She pretty much clears her plate in under two minutes and then has half of his plate, he’s cool with it, mostly he’s just absolutely fascinated listening to her.

See here’s the thing about Cinderella:

1. She doesn’t know he’s the prince. Like yeah, he’s been at the center of the room, but she’s kind of spent half the party eagerly looking around everywhere she’s allowed to go (”Have you seen rose garden? Have you seen the solarium??” further confirmation that she doesn’t know who she’s talking to) and the other half stuffing her face with food.

2. She assumes she’s never going to see anyone here tonight again, and no one recognizes her, so she has no filter.

So she’s just talking about whatever with this guy. He seems cool. She talks about her friends, who are rats. She makes little outfits for them. Sometimes they bring her little gifts. She is already the coolest person the prince has ever met because of this. She pretty much offhandedly talks about whatever is fucked up about the kingdom that would take his advisors two hours of hemming and hawing and watering down to address. She just says it like it’s nothing, just funky little things she’s observed, and again, she’s not aware that he’s the prince, but it’s still pretty damn bold to bring up at a literal royal ball.

She… seems to have the majority of graces that lots of girls from Respectable Families™ have, but there’s something strange about it, something simultaneously broken and hardened, like the way you can see where ice has thawed and re-frozen. Also the way she talks about her family, and the way she avoids talking about her family– is raising several red flags, not in the “Oh this is another person trying to take advantage of me” sense, but in the “Oh fuck, something’s gone really wrong and you need help” sense and also lowkey a ‘damn is she even getting fed?’ sense. But he can’t say, ‘Hey, that’s not fucking normal for people to say that to you or treat you that way. We need to get you out of there,’ without sounding crazy himself, so for now, he’s just going to chill, make sure she’s comfortable, and keep enjoying the evening. She’s somehow befriended like 4 of the waitstaff so they’re willing to cover for them while they disappear for a little bit, and they get plenty of time to talk, but eventually it hits her that she hasn’t danced yet and she’s like “Come on! I bet we can make the prince jealous!” and he just bursts out laughing at that like “hell yeah, let’s make the prince jealous. He’s a real asshole.” Like clearly she’s having a good time, so who is he to make it weird? So they head back to the ballroom and they dance. And our girl, Mystery Girl, Cinderella, while they’re dancing, becomes acutely aware that everyone is staring. That doesn’t seem quite right. Like, yeah she’s hot, she knows she’s hot, but at least a good third of the party should still be focused on the prince, right? Where is that guy, anyway?

Oh.

Oh wait.

Oh shit.

And Princey Boy actually picks up on her realization and they whisper argue for like 3 minutes. “Why didn’t you tell me?! Now I feel like a goddamn idiot!” “I dunno it was nice being treated like a normal person” “Well me treating you like a normal person makes me a goddamn felon or something did you consider that?!” “Hey–Hey–it’s cool–you’re cool–I think you’re amazing, and if anyone says shit about you, I can shut it down.” “Well I don’t like that! That’s fucked up!” “I agree. It is fucked up, but I believe in you, and I think you should have a chance, and I’m here to back you up. I know power is fucked up right now. I know. But are you cool with working with me to change that?” And our girl Cindy pauses on that for a couple seconds, because.. she’s just spent hours with this guy and like.. she knows he’s a good guy, she knows he means well, so she’s like, “I don’t know how long I can actually work with you.” and the prince is like “Look, I know your home situation is complicated right now, but I really think we can–”

And then the bell starts ringing.

It’s midnight.

And then she takes off in a panic, and our prince just met the coolest person ever, and like, he’s pretty sure whatever situation they’re headed back to is fucked up, and all he’s got going to find her is a shoe. A shoe.

semifinaldestination-deactivate

I can’t believe a bunch of men were like “actually, women have it easier when it comes to mental health because everyone already assumes you are weak, irrational, crazy, and stupid 🥺” and a significant amount of feminists were like oh shit good point