Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.

11 — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:16:15 GMT

the point of social activism isn’t equality or loving each other, it’s about breaking down dangerous power systems when are people gonna get this — neptunain

How rape trials should go.

11 — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:12:43 GMT

Lawyer: Did he rape her?
Witness: Yes, but she was drunk and passed out.
Lawyer: That's not what I asked. Did he rape her?
Witness: Yes, but she was wearin-
Lawyer: I didn't ask what she was wearing. Did he rape her?
Witness: Yes, but-
Lawyer: I didn't ask anything else. It's just a simple yes or no answer. Did he rape her?
Witness: Yes.
Laywer: Yes, he raped her.
Rape is rape is rape, no matter the context.

source

11 — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 18:13:48 GMT

Bookish pet peeves | Katytastic source

Jon Stewart on the child immigration debate

11 — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 18:15:04 GMT

source

Don't be that guy.

11 — Sat, 02 Aug 2014 18:12:51 GMT

"Not all men are like that."

That’s fine. What are you doing about the ones that are?
source

Sexism is a social desease. Our desease.

11 — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 18:16:29 GMT

source

A brilliant metaphor.

11 — Thu, 31 Jul 2014 18:15:14 GMT

source

SALAD DRESSING COMMERCIAL

11 — Wed, 30 Jul 2014 18:14:52 GMT

source & video

George Takei describing being sent to an internment camp during World War II

11 — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 18:11:39 GMT

I was a five-year-old. My parents told—my father told us that we were going on a long vacation to a place called Arkansas. It was an adventure. I thought everyone took vacations by leaving home in a railroad car with sentries, armed soldiers at both ends of the car, sitting on wooden benches. And whenever we approached a town, we were forced to draw the curtains, the shade. We were not supposed to be seen by the people out there. We thought that was the way things happened. We saw people crying, you know, and we thought, “Well, why are they crying? Daddy said we’re going on a vacation.”

— George Takei, describing being sent to an internment camp during World War II

funny about that

11 — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 18:13:44 GMT

it’s funny, people will generally allow you to have an opinion on goods and services that you consume

like I’ve never seen anyone respond to, say, a negative review of a sofa with “if you don’t like it then go build one yourself”

and yet if you express the desire for more/better representation in media someone always shows up to tell you to write something yourself

source

7 Awesome Benefits of Birth Control Besides the obvious one…

11 — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 23:42:47 GMT

Published: April 25, 2013 | By Esther Crain

You already know that birth control offers ridiculously reliable protection against unplanned pregnancies—assuming you're using it correctly, that is. But BC actually has a lot of other amazing social and lifestyle benefits, too. Researchers at the family planning organization the Guttmacher Institute recently crunched the numbers, finding that women who regularly use contraception tend to have more years of education under their belt and greater economic stability—and they also form romantic partnerships that are more solid when compared to women who aren't contraception-covered. The best part is, these aren’t the only perks. Check out some of little-known health benefits of birth control, particularly the hormonal kind.

It can treat endometriosis
Having endometriosis means that uterine tissue migrates out of your uterus and attaches itself it your ovaries, fallopian tubes, and/or other parts of the pelvic cavity. Depending on the severity and location of these tissue buildups, they can impede ovulation or fertilization, says Proudfit. It can also hurt like crazy, to the point of vomiting and debilitation. Going on the pill, however, reduces monthly uterine buildup and shedding, slowing or stopping the migration and growth of uterine tissue to other parts of your reproductive tract. This means that women who suffer from endometriosis can wait longer before trying to get pregnant, because the damage to their reproductive system is minimized. Plus—no more devastating pain.

It can help with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
Women with PCOS have a hormone imbalance that leads to erratic or skipped periods, excess facial hair, obesity, ovarian cysts, infertility troubles, and other side effects. The hormone combo in the Pill rights this imbalance, so your flow comes regularly and side effects subside.

It can ease killer cramps
That monthly pain that keeps you tied to the couch with a heating pad pressed to your abs is caused by chemicals called prostaglandins, which trigger muscle contractions. When you get your flow, your body cranks up prostaglandin production to help shed the uterine lining. Going on oral contraceptives, however, reduces the amount of prostaglandins your body pumps out, so you experience less discomfort. Ob-gyns have prescribed the Pill off-label for years to treat women with debilitating cramps, and a 30-year study published in 2012 study in the journal Human Reproduction bears this out.

It smooths out your skin
Combination contraception lowers your body’s levels of testosterone, which all women make in small amounts. That spells good news for your skin since the hormone is the culprit behind certain acne breakouts and excess body hair growth, says Proudfit.

It shields you from anemia
Women who suffer from heavy periods lose excess blood every month, and that can lead to anemia—a condition characterized by fatigue and weakness. Going on hormonal birth control makes periods shorter and lighter, so you lose less blood and aren’t robbed of your stamina, says Proudfit.

It offers some protection against Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease is a serious infection of the upper reproductive tract that, if left untreated, can compromise your fertility. The progestin in hormonal birth control makes cervical mucus thicker, says Proudfit, and research suggests that this forms a roadblock that makes it harder for PID-causing microbes (from bacterial STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea, for example) to enter your cervix. Keep in mind, though, that the only form of birth control that can protect against STDs is condoms. So unless you’re monogamous and are totally sure your partner is STD-free, condoms are a must, even if you're taking hormonal birth control.

It can cut your odds of some cancers
Women who go on the pill, ring, or other combined estrogen-progestin methods for 15 years slash their lifetime risk of developing ovarian and endometrial cancers by approximately 50 percent, according to a 2010 study. The thinking here is that hormonal BC blocks ovulation and evens out natural hormone imbalances, leading to less exposure to potentially damaging hormones, says Christine Proudfit, MD, an assistant professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. One caveat: Some research suggests that taking oral contraceptives may slightly increase your risk of breast and cervical cancer, so you'll want to talk to your doctor about whether hormonal birth control is right for you if you have a family history of either disease.

COME ON ILENE, I'M BEGGING YOU PLEASE!

11 — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 18:11:31 GMT

The sex drive of men is something we are all comfortable with in this country. It’s funny and hormonal and slapstick (American Pie), it’s potentially uncontrollable, maniacal/homicidal (American Psycho), it is adulterous and is insatiable (American Beauty), it is fun and social (American Graffiti) and it is entrepreneurial (American Gigolo). But women? No. NC-17. XXXX. Stop it with the moaning.

source

More on "Evidence"

11 — Sun, 27 Jul 2014 11:49:52 GMT

Melissa McEwan:

The next time I am met with a demand for “evidence” when I report incidents of harm as a result of oppression, this is going to be my script: “I am giving you evidence in the form of my lived experience. In so doing, I am asking you to care. About me and about the other people to whom these things are also done. If you care, you will listen. If you don’t, I am politely requesting you be honest enough to simply say that you do not care, instead of obliging me to engage with you in a mendacious argument designed to publicly justify why you won’t.”

White washing.

11 — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 18:13:46 GMT

whats it with people calling japanese characters from japanese anime who live in japan and speak japanese and have japanese names white

source

I have an idea for a social experiment.

11 — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 11:22:57 GMT

gtfocupid:

I have an idea for a social experiment.

I started using OKcupid a month or so back, and in order to see what other guys were doing, to see what I was “Up against”, I asked a female friend of mine to join up as well, and send me the sort of messages she received. Unsurprisingly, things got pretty creepy pretty quickly, and I felt bad for having convinced her to do it. So i gave her a picture of my face doing something odd, and told her she could send it to anyone who was particularly creepy.

It started out as a joke, but then she told me that she had sent it to at least 20 guys, and they had fucked right off immediately, either thinking she was a man, that she was “Spoken for”, or just because they didn’t expect it. It was both highly amusing and depressing that my face had become a sort of symbol of her ability to say “NO” and be listened to, but it gave me an idea.

I’m interested to see if other women who are also having these troubles on the internet, and are tired of dealing with them rationally and instead just want to fuck around, would be game to also send that pic of my face to unwanted admirers. My last name is Middleditch, so perhaps we can call it “Getting Ditched” (Or MiddleDitched, I’m not that fussed).

Anyway, here is the picture, I hope you consider this worthy of your time. And perhaps, if this somehow takes off, I’ll get to see more responses from unsuspecting Fellows.

All the best

Jennifer Dziura, When Men Get Too Emotional to Have a Rational Argument

11 — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 11:22:57 GMT

Jennifer Dziura, "When Men Get Too Emotional to Have a Rational Argument":

I wish to dispel the notion that women are “more emotional.” I don’t think we are. I think that the emotions women stereotypically express are what men call “emotions,” and the emotions that men typically express are somehow considered by men to be something else.

This is incorrect. Anger? EMOTION. Hate? EMOTION. Resorting to violence? EMOTIONAL OUTBURST. An irrational need to be correct when all the evidence is against you? Pretty sure that’s an emotion. Resorting to shouting really loudly when you don’t like the other person’s point of view? That’s called “being too emotional to engage in a rational discussion.”

Not only do I think men are at least as emotional as women, I think that these stereotypically male emotions are more damaging to rational dialogue than are stereotypically female emotions. A hurt, crying person can still listen, think, and speak. A shouting, angry person? That person is crapping all over meaningful discourse.

Speaking in flagrantly racist terms is one of the least sophisticated manifestations of racism today

11 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 18:12:36 GMT

One of the most sinister things about normalized racism is you don’t have to have bad intentions to be racist, you just have to remain ignorant.

source

informative masterpost on contraceptives!

11 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:20:33 GMT

pro-choice-or-no-voice:

To start off Birth Control Appreciation Day, I decided to make an informative masterpost on contraceptives! I hope this helps anyone who may want more information on their birth control or someone trying to decide what kind of birth control is best for themselves! Happy (birth control) hunting! - Paige
DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRTH CONTROL:
Birth Control Pills - [x] [x]

Mini Pill (Progesterone-only Pill) - [x]

The Patch (Ortho Evra) - [x] [x]

The Shot (Depo-Provera) - [x] [x]

Birth Control Sponge - [x] [x]

Vaginal Ring (Nuva Ring) - [x] [x]

Spermicide - [x] [x]

Implant (Implanon and Nexplanon) - [x] [x]

IUDs (Mirena, Skyla, and ParaGard) - [x] [x]

Condoms (Male and Female) - [x]

Withdrawal (Pullout Method) - [x] [x]

Diaphragm - [x] [x]

Breastfeeding - [x]

Cervical Cap - [x] [x]

Sterilization (Male and Female) - [x]

Abstinence - [x] [x]

Fertility Awareness-Based Methods (FAMs) - [x] [x]
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL:
Do certain medications make my birth control less effective?

Can I delay or eliminate my period with my birth control?

Will my pregnancy tests come out with an accurate result while I’m on birth control?

Can I use several birth control pills at once in replace of an emergency contraceptive?

Does birth control cause weight gain?

What should I do if I miss a pill?

What should I do if the condom breaks or slips off inside of me?

If I’m on the ring or the patch and I forget to replace it on the right day, do I need to use backup?

I’ve heard that the birth control ring can pop out. What should I do if this happens?

Can birth control increase my risk of getting cancer?

Can you change your mind after having a tubal ligation or vasectomy?

Is it normal to spot or bleed in between periods while on birth control?

Does certain hormonal birth controls affect my blood pressure?

Can being overweight affect my birth control’s effectiveness?

Can certain birth controls lower my libido?
EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTIVES:
Types of EC: Plan B / Ella / ParaGard IUD - [x] [x]

What are emergency contraceptives?

How do they work?

How well does it work?

What are the side effects?

When should I take an emergency contraceptive?

Are emergency contraceptives less effective the heavier you are?

If I am under the age of 18 in the US, can I buy emergency contraceptives without my parent’s knowledge or consent?

If I take an emergency contraceptive today, am I covered if I have unprotected sex tomorrow?

Will taking emergency contraceptives too many times affect my fertility?

To find more questions and answers about emergency contraceptives, you can go here.

Información anticonceptivos de emergencia es disponible en Español, aquí.
OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH ALLERGIES AND/OR CERTAIN 
PREFERENCES:
Condoms for people with latex allergies.

Condoms for vegans. [x] [x] [x]

Other vegan contraceptive options.

Different types of birth control without estrogen.

Contraceptives without any hormones.

Birth control methods that are useful to people with religious concerns. [x] [x]
OTHER BENEFITS OF TAKING BIRTH CONTROL:
Taking oral contraceptives can help lower the risk of endometrial and ovarian cancer.

Using birth control helps treat acne.

Birth control can help treat the pain caused by Endomitriosis.

Contraceptives offer relief to people with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

Anemia can be avoided/treated by using birth control.

Irregular periods can become more regulated by using birth control.

The pill can lead to fewer ectopic pregnancies.
MYTHS ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL (All the myths below are dispelled 
through the links given):
Emergency contraceptives and birth control pills cause abortions.

Free contraceptives and/or condoms makes people participate in risky sexual behavior.

The pill makes you gain a lot of weight.

Douching after sex prevents pregnancy.

You have to start your birth control on a Sunday.

Taking the pill for a long time can make you infertile.

Hormonal contraceptives protect you from contracting STIs.

You don’t need to be on birth control while breastfeeding.

I won’t get pregnant my first time having sex.

The Pill is effective immediately after you take it.

I won’t get pregnant if I shower or pee after sex.

My body needs a rest from birth control at least once a year.

Emergency contraceptives are affected by alcohol.

#MemeGOP #UniteBlue #Scotus #HobbyLobby

11 — Fri, 25 Jul 2014 11:20:33 GMT

source

Radioactive Blackness And Anglo-Saxon Aliens: Achieving Superhero Diversity Through Race-Changing

11 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 18:13:51 GMT

This is cultural bias in effect. General (generally white) audiences never question why characters are white and blond. If a character could be white, that’s usually justification enough. Whiteness as default becomes logical and comfortable. Only non-whiteness requires an explanation.

Indeed, if a character is not white, some people will cry out that their racial identity is the product of political agenda-driven tampering. If a character is white, the same people will comfortably assume that he or she came out of the box like that.

It should be noted that we’re not even talking about the broad US census category of “white”, which covers people whose families hail from Europe, North Africa or the Middle East — including many people with tan, olive or ruddy skin.

In comics, whiteness is predominantly represented by the pale pink complexions of Northern Europeans — the color once problematically referred to as “Flesh” on Crayola crayons, until Crayola changed it to “Peach” in 1962. Real world white comes in many shades, but in comics all white people seem to trend towards hex color #FFCFAB. (Individual colorists may of course bring more nuance to their work, but how many white superheroes can you name who are consistently portrayed with bronze or olive-toned skin?)

Superhero comics don’t actually favor whiteness; they favor a subset of whiteness that borders on Aryan idealism. We ought to regard that as uncomfortably fetishistic, because it’s an aesthetic that the industry has chosen.

All fiction is manufactured. Authors make their worlds and choose what goes in them. It is always possible to contrive a fictional justification for a character looking whichever way the author wants, up to and including finding a way to make a white person the hero in a story about, say, feudal Japan, or ancient Egypt, or Persia during the Islamic Golden Age. A white hero is not the most likely scenario, but it’s always a possible scenario, so in that way it always becomes justified.

The decision to cast Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch has been called out by message board posters as evidence of an agenda at work — but white heroes in these non-white settings are rarely called out as similar evidence of an agenda. It’s all artifice, it’s all contrived. Fiction exists in service to an author’s design. All fiction serves an agenda, whether it’s articulated or not.

Andrew Wheeler, Radioactive Blackness And Anglo-Saxon Aliens: Achieving Superhero Diversity Through Race-Changing

bunnies!

11 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 11:25:38 GMT

source

Pregnancy is life or death, and sometimes both.

11 — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 11:25:37 GMT

Pregnancy is life or death, and sometimes both. The brutality and beauty of the way we all come into the world — every last human being — is something truly fragile and beautiful. And mysterious. For all the science we throw at it, with all the control we like to believe we have over our lives, this is the one thing that can’t quite be nailed down. It’s a roll of the dice, every time, even for the healthiest and luckiest of us. — Tara Moss

riiiiiiight.

11 — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 18:13:16 GMT

source

THIS IS A PICTURE THAT SOMEONE TOOK WHO WORKS ON AN OIL RIG IN TEXAS.

11 — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:23:17 GMT

ba614

THIS IS A PICTURE THAT SOMEONE TOOK WHO WORKS ON AN OIL RIG IN TEXAS.

HE WANTED TO GET A SHOT OF THE LIGHTNING THAT WAS FLASHING BY.
HE WAS UNAWARE OF THE TORNADO UNTIL THE LIGHTNING ILLUMINATED IT.

This has been called a one-in-a-million photo; taken south of Ft. Stockton, Texas.

Erin Gloria Ryan - Why Women Aren’t People (But Corporations Are)

11 — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:23:17 GMT

Erin Gloria Ryan - Why Women Aren’t People (But Corporations Are):

For years, it seems that the men who run things in this country have been dancing around the implication that women aren’t people, at least when put up against other, more important things like men, corporations, zygotes, and male feelings. But now, finally, in the year 2014, two generations removed from the first Supreme Court case that established that states can’t make it illegal to purchase contraception, five dudes on the highest court in the land have put this in writing. It’s not that women don’t matter, it’s that they matter measurably less than a corporation’s "conscience."