So I just had to join in on the Hawkeye Initiative bandwagon, it’s just so… full of empowerment.
And then I went totally overboard.
Even gave them suggestive captions.
I feel like a predator drawing this.
(but Tony’s face! <3!)
(via emer)
Source: i-am-albie
It is not aggressiveness that triggers conflict but conflict that triggers aggressiveness.
(via sociolab)
Source: thepovertyoftheory
Batman and Robin evolutionary psychology
There should be a sociology major drinking game.
- Take a shot when someone says that sociology is just “opinions”.
- Take a shot when someone says that sociology can’t measure anything.
- Take a shot when someone tries to use an n of 1 argument.
- Drink the whole bottle when someone says sociology isn’t a science.
- Cry into your pillow when someone says “what are you going to do with that degree?”.
Warning: I don’t recommend playing this game while browsing the sociology tag.
This is how thoroughly we women have been sexualized, that we cannot make the kind of noises that come with physical exertion without it being associated with sex. In fact, everything about our bodies has been sexualized in one way or another. If we groan during sport or we breast-feed in public, we are criticized for making people think about sex. If we talk openly about things like menstruation and poop and farts, then we are criticized for making people not want to think about sex.
Think about what it means to be ladylike and all of the adjectives that go along with it: elegant, cultured, classy, sophisticated. To be successful at being feminine means being successful at being private, keeping your body’s natural functions behind closed doors and never letting anyone know they exist. It means to be constrained, that you do not let your legs spread wide in public transportation and you do not make noises that are harsh on the ears. It means presenting a polished, shiny surface to the world at all times, one that allows others to project whatever they wish onto you while never showing too much of your true self.
When people refuse to buy something, or buy product B instead of product A for what they believe to be political purposes, they might affect the bottom line of a company. They might even provoke that company to make changes to their products or practices. That’s great! But what they’re also doing, and what is so dangerous about telling young people that “voting with your dollars” is the most important thing they can do, is leaving the bulk of the power in the hands of those companies. This limits our own power—our power to create and to innovate and to call for new opportunities and experiences—to the power to consume (or not consume). It takes all of our experiences and lives and wants and needs and desires and possibilities and puts them into a dollar, ultimately conceding that yes, the best we can do is give other people our money and hope for the best.
Telling people to “vote with their pocketbooks” reinforces the idea that money and power are irrevocably intertwined. We shouldn’t look to those among us who have the most disposable income or the biggest advertising budget or the largest market research team to be setting the tone of our cultural landscape. We should be setting that tone ourselves. Not all of us have money, but all of us have voices, and it would do us well to encourage young people to develop and strengthen their voices rather than wait until they have enough money to be counted (a day that, for many, will never come).
Why I Will Never Tell Anyone to “Vote With Your Dollars” (via sparkamovement)
Another reason why people need to stop acting like product (Red) or individual consumer choices can make substantive changes to greater structures of global power. It doesn’t make sense. They. Just. Want. Your. Money.
(via newwavefeminism)
When we vote with our dollars, those with the most dollars get the most votes.
(via greaterthanlapsed)
(via existentialcrisisfactory)
Source: sparkamovement
How do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?
- Bell Hooks
I’m kind of an extremist in that I believe everyone is making decisions based on the state of their body (how neurons are wired in the brain, what behaviors release dopamine, how the physical health of the body is affecting mood, etc).
I think we need to encourage healthy behavior, but our cultural ideal of “personal responsibility” is nothing more than a band-aid that ignores the biological realities of decision-making in human beings.
In order to change people’s behavior on a national or global scale, we need to better understand what physical, mental, emotional, AND environmental factors create unhealthy behaviors.
Even an “emotionally healthy” (however we define that) person would steal a loaf of bread to feed her kids - poverty is an environmental factor that makes crime completely logical.
Do you ever wonder what internet trolls’ home lives are like or what issues might be revealed if they went to a therapist?
In high school, I thought my suicidal friends were just seeking attention, because when I was feeling down I could just will myself to feel better. It wasn’t until I became clinically depressed many years later (thanks, as it turned out, to food allergies which caused unpredictable physical pain and anxiety) that I was able to understand that a lot of the time, it isn’t possible to fight the physical state of your body in order to “just get over it”.
These are just a few examples. YES I think we should encourage healthy decision-making, but we also need to teach the skills required to do so - and before we do any of that, we need to build a society that provides for everyone’s basic needs and focuses on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
(via amodernmanifesto)
Source: ancestryinprogress
Check out this interview I did with PMSClan about my upcoming Tropes vs Women in Video Games Project.
Erich Sherman: The last Tropes vs. Women series applied to all forms of media; what made you want to do a set of videos focused specifically on video games?
Anita Sarkeesian: I decided to focus on video games for this series because while I really enjoy gaming, I find myself increasingly frustrated with the awful representations of women. I believe that gaming is the medium of the future and as such I wanted to contribute to the already ongoing conversation about making games better. As the video game industry changes, transforms and grows there is a real opportunity for developers to create better representations that can appeal to people of all genders.
Can’t wait for this series to get made!
Crime doesn’t come out of nowhere - we’ve created a world where it makes sense.
(via amodernmanifesto)
Source: stfuconservatives
Did you know? Pink used to represent boys (because it was a lighter version of the strong and passionate red), and blue was used for girls. This color association is a social construct.
(via sociolab)
Source: loveyourrebellion
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