Hear my soul speak

Hi, my name's Laura. 35. British. Married to the most wonderful woman. I'm a shy introvert who's incredibly quiet and awkward in person. This blog is often nsfw with other random posts that interest me, make me laugh, or nourish my shipper heart.

[alishalane-deactivated20120426]

[landsccape]

[whentherewerebicycles]

Opinion | My Students Can’t Read

The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse.

this is making me panic how do we raise children in this educational & tech environment

[whentherewerebicycles]

“In July 2025, the journalist Mary Harrington argued in The New York Times that “thinking is becoming a luxury good.” The ability to read deeply and reason at length is fragmenting along class lines as ultra-processed digital media replaces text in everyday life, much as ultra-processed food has replaced cooking. Her longer treatment of the subject in First Things makes the more provocative case that we are witnessing the end of print culture itself, and with it the end of the cognitive substrate on which modern liberal democracy was built.

I see this stratification in the classroom and on the page every week. My students from districts that protected sustained reading through small class sizes, strict phone policies, and faculty who refused to teach to the test all arrive with their attention relatively intact. My students from districts that surrendered to devices and standardized testing arrive cognitively winded. A democracy that requires a literate electorate is now training one fraction of that electorate out of literacy while marketing to the other a “deep work” lifestyle as a luxury good. The students who cannot read a 20-page article today are the voters who will not be able to read a bill, or the jurors who cannot follow a closing argument, tomorrow.”

I have been banging this particular drum for a while now… the rich kids are going to get low-tech educations that prioritize critical thinking and deep engagement. the poorer kids are going to get “career readiness” training that urges them to use AI for everything and to give up on the hard work of sustained engagement with ideas

[perotovar]

k.d. lang — "Constant Craving" | requested by @deathswaywardson

[the-sappho-of-lesbos]

Source : Nothing But The Girl ; The Blatant Lesbian Image ; A Portfolio and Exploration of Lesbian Erotic Photography - Edited by Susie Bright and Jill Posener

[only-tiktoks]

[the-land-of-women]

‘I don’t feel like a girl’ ‘I don’t feel like a boy’ well great they’re not feelings, now you can stop worrying about it ❤️

[loserdogma]

“I don’t feel like green eyes. I don’t feel like brown hair.”

Like bestie, at worst you can superficially hide them for the rest of your existence; at best you can simply live and let be.

[ffuscous]

“Back Off Boys, They’re Butch!”

10 themed pin-up intaglio prints, each ~2”x3”

[theocseason4]

[femmesandhoney]

I've seen and reblogged this before but we should add fake nails to the list of makeup and femininity rituals that hold women back from the pleasures of living. the fact you have to actively spend time reteaching yourself how to do simple activities such as open a bottle or wipe your ass is fucking weird and a waste of time even if you manage to get it down. how in the world do you do any meaningful quality time? you can't do a lot of shit with those nails. you would have trouble doing many exercises that require a lot of hand movements and usage since you have to be hyperaware of your nails, you can't play an instrument, you can't easily read a book, you can't bake and cook complex recipes without worrying about the hygiene of your fake nails and them getting in the way of hands on dishes, you can't make any crafts, like what exactly are you allowed to do easily except maybe scroll on your phone? what ways does having these ugly ass nails actually enrich your life instead of being a huge hinderence. even if most women don't have their nails to such an extreme such as this lady, most of my friends who get fake nails still don't participate much in quality time and hobbies that might "chip or break" their nails they dropped ridiculous amounts of money for. its so unnecessary, women need to stop worrying about this shit.

[shadows-and-starlight]

Actively giving yourself a handicap, and for what?? To build a clown costume? Because all it does is make you look ridiculous doing things 🤡

[womens-suffrage-revival-squad]

all of that and for something that is so vomit-inducingly ugly too.

[the-rad-menace]

I feel secondhand embarrassment seeing women with such long nails. It's ugly, it's unhygienic, and most of all, it's fucking stupid to impede yourself like that. May as well put on some clown shoes and horse blinders too.

[miseria-fortes-viros]

ultimately the truth about frankenstein is that we are all grotesque amalgamations of the best and worst parts of everyone who came before us. and sometimes the people who are supposed to love us because of and in spite of this will not. and we can kill them with hammers for that. and i think that’s beautiful

[miseria-fortes-viros]

my brother in christ frankenstein is the title of the book

[warlockofagnesi]

COUNTERPOINT

[miseria-fortes-viros]

well i can’t argue with that one

[quacksmith]

Ah yes, Mary Shelley’s monster.

[miseria-fortes-viros]

no mary shelley is the name of the monster not the doctor

[villainessbian]

common misconception! mary shelley's monster was actually lord byron

[zeemczed]

I don't think anyone can contest that.

[c4zer]

oh ok

[jeniferprince]

Medusa and the blind woman in love

patreon // buy prints here

[dragon-in-a-fez]

the headline was funny but the full quote is killing me. why did she phrase it like that.

[radfem-alt-clothes]

You're reclaiming queer? Wow, thats crazy. I'm not. Do not call me that.

[kuutamosonaatti]

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) | dir. Céline Sciamma

[butchfever]

[hookedonyonics]

idk how to write this without sounding corny but social media isn't activism or whatever blah blah blah but every day I'm so thankful for every single woman on here who has ever reblogged a feminist post onto my dash, shared their insight about misogyny, challenged my biases, posted excerpts from feminist texts, reblogged posts to add additions to connect dots and open my third eye, linked articles about women's current events, etc etc

I'm sure it's often thankless and feels like it's not affecting anything but you never know if a lesbian in alberta who's never thought about that before or never had the facts to back it up might be reading :+)

some posts that have like shifted my entire way of thinking about something have like 500 notes. Like. Do they know they changed my life? Do they know they gave me the power to contribute a feminist perspective in a conversation on that subject? Like sure Feminism is organizing or affecting change or reading texts.. but I'm not doing those things 🤷‍♀️ I'm scrolling on social media. and these thousands of women are making it insightful, educational, and emotional ♀️