Rise Up, Oh Heart, For There is Another Battle to Win
Dec 22
Anonymous asked: hello! have you seen the post floating around abt the national museum of american jewish history in philly? they are apparently looking for queer jewish stories and i was not sure if it applied to you? the post is a bit old but anyway~
Okay, so, the not-so-complicated story of my religious history is: I was raised Jewish for years, but I converted before I reached the age of studying for my bat-mitzvah. It’s still a really big part of my identity because…like…it just is, you know? I still have teachers and rabbis to make proud, even though I’ve fallen out of touch with most of them and the others have since died. So…like I don’t know if that post applies to me either, tbh.
Is there a way to boycott A&E (the network running it?) Or can we send lots of angry letters?
I already don’t watch them but it would be good to know who’s putting ads in that show and boycott them. Getting advertisers to back out is the most effective thing.
oh dear fucking god.
This is a list of A&E’s sponsors if anyone’s interested:
You can also contact A&E directly at feedbackaetv@aenetworks.com.
hey guys. so as abhorrent as this is on its surface, there are a lot of things about this that are being misinterpreted due to its awful marketing
important things to know about this are:
1) it’s a documentary, not a reality show
2) it’s about how the toxic influence of bigotry is passed between generations, and focuses on four people born into the Klan who are trying to leave it
sometimes you fight, not because you think you can win, but because you need to be able to look back later and say, “i fought.”
“In King Lear (III:vii) there is a man who is such a minor
character that Shakespeare has not given him even a name: he is merely
“First Servant.” All the characters around him – Regan, Cornwall, and
Edmund – have fine long-term plans. They think they know how the story
is going to end, and they are quite wrong. The servant has no such
delusions. He has no notion of how the play is going to go. But he
understands the present scene. He sees an abomination (the blinding of
old Gloucester) taking place. He will not stand it.
His sword is out and pointed at his master’s breast in a
moment: then Regan stabs him dead from behind. That is his whole part:
eight lines all told. But if it were real life and not a play, that is
the part it would be best to have acted.”
You know what line gets me every time I watch MAD MAX FURY ROAD?
“Do not, my friends, become addicted to water. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence.”
Think about that. “Addicted to water.” It makes it sound like water is an extra luxury that people don’t need but are greedy for, something they should be able to go without, and if they are desperate for it, it’s their own fault, and not the fault of the man who has all of it, and withholds it.
Think about how the people in power tell us not to be greedy for the things we need, like healthcare, like a living wage, like the right to be free of fear and violence in our own communities. The people in power tell us not to be greedy for these things, when they themselves already enjoy them freely, and withhold them from us.
Don’t trust the narrative that tells us we’re being greedy by asking for things that we need.
Don’t trust the asshole sitting on a grassy hilltop with his hand on the spigot telling us not to be greedy for water.
Anonymous asked: Lurker again. First of all, I'm sorry I pissed you off. No, I absolutely did NOT realize that that would be the reaction. If I did I would have gladly STFU'd. I am sorry I added additional stress. As for why this particular post/explanation, I guess I've just read too many things about sexual assault recently and was in a bad mood myself (not excusing, just explaining). Again, I'm sorry I shat all over your day. I will refrain from commenting in future and remember to watch my tone elsewhere.
Hey, friend, I appreciate the apology. I totally get where you’re coming from, I have days like that too, and I think it was really adult of you to acknowledge it, so major props, my friend. Apology accepted, and I’d like to extend my own for getting cranky about it. I hope your mood cycles up again, and don’t hang yourself out to dry for this, okay? Like, for me. It’s not on you that I reacted badly–I’ve just had…a long damn semester. A long damn year if we’re all being honest, 2016 continues to kind of kick the shit out of me and everyone I love. And you too, it sounds like! So, like, don’t crucify yourself for a slip of temper, and make yourself a warm drink and here, have a video to improve your day.
Anonymous asked: Lurker here. I saw that post about "Baby It's Cold Outside." I still hate that song, because when you know the history, it just makes it more obvious why evil old farts think women are lying in the modern day about date rape. Because back in THEIR day, that was what consensual sex had to look like. TL,DR: Still hate this song.
Okay, look buddy, I’m not disagreeing with your ABSOLUTE PREROGATIVE to hate the song. You 100% have the right to stand by that, and I would never disagree with it. Your statement here is also completely accurate, and speaking as someone with a long ugly history of sexual assault (do you lurk enough to know that too, or are you just losing your temper?) I even agree with it. It was this attitude that you had to at least claim that you’d resisted in order to protect your reputation (”At least I can to say that I tried”) even if the sex was consensual that feeds into our modern culture’s total denial of date rape claims.
That being said, the specific song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is radically different if you evaluate it as a song written in “their day” as opposed to the way most people do it, as a song written in our day. Culture is written in songs and stories, and this song speaks to a part of culture that is different today, that’s why it’s interesting. I’m not saying you have to like the song, nor am I questioning any skeeved-out feelings you have toward it, but there is a lot to be said for knowing one’s history in order to progress forward rather than backward, socially speaking.
Finally, may I ask why you felt the need to tell me specifically this thing? Because if you do lurk so often on my blog, as your intro implies, I don’t know what in particular you hoped to convey other than making me a little ill-tempered, because regardless of how you meant it, this ask comes off as fairly rude. And, as I have so frequently mentioned over the last few days, I am tired and stressed out about my family and generally exasperated with humanity. Like. You had to know I’d be inclined to take something like this a little poorly.
Santa is on strike due to global warming. All presents this year will be delivered by Sasha the Christmas Tiger. Milk and cookies may not be sufficient.
