ScarletMoth's Xanga

More badly typed words about Germany and traveling

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:51:25 GMT

Sorry I never update I'm just really not feeling xanga often. Tumblr is my new home. :P
BUT, I stay anonymous on my other blog (at least as far as strangers go) so I might still use this one for more personal blogs etc... as I am doing now! I won't labor and bore you with promises to keep blogging here though because everyone knows I'm really shitty when it comes to making promises about doing things on the internet. Anyhow, more about Germany etc., which will likely resemble every blog ever of the 200302230 people that move to different parts of the world every day. But I mean whatever, it's all good.

(Ludwig's Castle & view from there)

I have now been living here about 4 months. Almost to the day, actually. Like 4 months 4 days.

I have also gone to several other countries and cities, and although I could tell you super fun things about Spain and Italy etc., I have this to tell you: If you want to see more punk/goth/alternative subculture stuff, go to Barcelona. Then Berlin

And then just don't go anywhere in Italy for that. :P I mean, I'm sure it exists there and I hardly for there for a long time, but I never saw a single person that appeared to fit it. I just found it interesting how much that regionally varied because in Barcelona it was like, every time I got on the underground I would see someone. Really common there.

Going to other countries makes me realize that although I'm horrible at German I definitely understand it and read it better than, say, Italian. I couldn't even read a menu when I went to Italy. Well okay that's a lie because half of it is like "Pizza" and I made sure to memorize the word for tomato, but like you'd see that "this pizza has erwehrtrt and htertwerwqheqw" and I'd be like "No I seriously... have not the slightest idea what erwehrtrt is. I hope it's not meat?!" It was disorienting.

(shots from Rome and Florence- last one is the Colosseum)

This has nothing to do with Germany but it's surprising how internet reliance can make you forget how to perform simple tasks. Our internet- which connects the phone line as well- went out one day and I wanted to call a store to see if they had my phone charger but me and the host mom couldn't use the internet to find out the number to the store so I didn't go. It occurred to me hours later that going next door to for a phone book might have worked... but phone books seem so archaic it's like expecting me to search for a typewriter when my computer breaks and I need to write things down. Or more accurately, clay tablets and wedge shapes (HOLLA BACK, CUNEIFORM).

(Christmas Market in various places)

I probably could have written a whole fascinating post about Christmas differences (here, Weihnachten) but, whatever. Briefly, they have a whole lot more individual practices for december, while in my part of US America it was more like.... Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, done. Saint Nick or someone left chocolate outside our doors one day, and Christmas lasts two days (25/26), and Christmas Eve night is when everyone opens gifts, and there is also St. Marten's day where the kids act out St. Marten and then walk around with little ehm... what is the word... lamps? They've made in Kindergarten, and they do that (walking) for like half an hour while the adults talk and drink Gluhwein, which is hot spiced wine and is basically the thing that has always been missing in my life other than a siamese cat and an attractive adoring boyfriend. It is seriously such a life highlight. And is also very popular at the Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmarkt, I think) which- at least the big ones- go for about a month, every day, and you walk around, buy stuff, drink gluhwein, there's a bunch of cute little things that happen as well, etc.

(Salzburg, Austria- in other shots it's more clear that the 2nd one is the Sound of Music place. In the first you can see the fountain they run around, unless I'm getting my fountains confused, at any rate it was right in that park ;D. the thing they skip through is to the right, you can see it)

Also funny is that instead of the threat of coal there's like... some guy who will take you away in a bag?? I wish I remember his name, it's on the tip of my brain, but the one kid I watch was super concerned about it and kept asking questions about how long he would take you for, what exact behaviors caused one to be taken away in a bag, would her friend Greta be taken away for biting someone in Kindergarten, etc. I mean, I felt a little bad she was so worried, her mom kept telling her that she was a good girl so she shouldn't worry, haha.

Using public transportation all the time isn't too bad and it's a lot less responsibility than a car. The more I use it, although it can take a bit longer, the more I'm like "I never want to deal with owning a friggin car." Which then leads me to wonder which US cities even have a decent public transport system, and how my home city of Buffalo should get on this ish because it's such a great thing to have and would connect the whole city up.

(Holocaust site/memorial in Munich [Dachau])

Several weeks ago in language class we got a new student from Vietnam. It was a real weird moment when the teacher asked her to put a pin on the map to show where she came from, like we all had done earlier in the month. She could not find her country- and at first I thought maybe it was because she was accustomed to a different map orientation, which seemed unlikely since it was, after all, a map of the entire world and not just Europe or something, but even after the teacher directed her to South East Asia she wasn't sure which one was hers and had to try to read the descriptions. Idk, it just struck me as very, very odd/incredible that someone would be confused by a map in terms of simply pointing out where they're from. And I don't mean that in a mean way, just that, she seems reasonably well educated, and presumably well-off enough if she was able to move to Germany (and moving way across the globe I would have thought usually involves some amount of orientation knowledge of where you're come from??), so it's a weird gap of knowledge.

(All pics except the last are from Barcelona (that one was taken in Montserrat, an hour outside Barcelona). I went by myself for 5 days and it was probably my favorite visit location so far. )

People here (usually) eat pizza with forks and knives. Now that I'm used to it though I kind of like it because then I can pretend it's healthier, since everyone knows things you eat with a fork are more likely to be a vegetable.

Probably sort of common knowledge or maybe I said it in the last blog, but Kindergarten here is the equivalent of pre-school in the US. And public grade school also operates a little differently, at least where I live (basically all these things can only be said for where I live, as a reminder, I really do not speak for all of Germany haha.)- it only goes from like 8-12 or something and then the kids are supposed to come home (or in my case, stay at afterschool for an hour and a half). My host mom finds it incredibly inconvenient because it basically supposes that the mother will spend several hours with the child doing homework; in other words, a system that is somewhat dependent on everyone being a stay-at-home-mom.

ETC ETC ETC or as it is in German... USW (und so weiter...I think. haha.)

Living in Germany: Basic Observations

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:23:47 GMT

So I told people before I left for Germany that I would blog about it but wasn't sure I actually would. While it's fascinating to me, and perhaps interesting to those I spoke to, it's not something incredibly new. Any blog of the hundreds of people that come to live in Germany every year will have many of the same observations and I don't want to redundant.
But okay, I'll do a little blogging because why not.

Wies'n Oktoberfest! Took us 2.5 hours to get into this beer tent and we got there at 10:15am!

I am living (and working) in Munich.   A lot of things are different in Germany than they are in America/Buffalo, NY... this is probably a pretty duh statement.   I have been here about a month, and will be here at least a year. The more easily observed things:

-Escalators stop moving when no one is on them.    They start moving when you get to the bottom or top

-The s-bahn system (like a subway?) took a little getting used to because it lists one of the very last stops as the direction.   Now that I'm used to this way I can't actually remember how it was in NY, but I remember it wasn't like... a system where you had to memorize the names of random places you're never going to go to, just so that you know if that's the U5 heading toward home, or toward the city (Wolfrathausen and Holzkirchen are usually what mine say to get to/from home, but even the directional city they list will change sometime, so it'll say "S7 Aying" and this means exactly the same thing as "S7 Holzkirchen").

-Window blinds- at least in my house, and others I've been to- are automated.   At a certain hour every night, they will draw out of the wall (freaked me out the first time I heard them)

from when we went to Salzburg, Austria (right across the border)

-eggs are not refrigerated.   In general, the layout of grocery stores is a little different than what I'm used to.   Still logical, but sometimes I just like knowing that this item is placed next to this item... you know?   I think it's funny that they also sell eggs pre-hardboiled (and dyed colors so that you know the difference)

-Most houses are constructed out of cement, and wood is considered to be an inferior building material

-Most people speak English here, although no one will speak it unless you specifically address them with it.   Obviously Germans prefer German.    My German is pretty awful, I'm trying to get better but it's difficult to use it in conversation since I can labor over asking a question the right way but as soon as someone answers they might as well be saying, "whrd2323 jfjJINN?"   And then I'm like "Wie bitte... ah... Sprechen Sie Englisch?"

Marienplatz is pretty well known, at the center of the city

-I'm always very interested in the parts of language that aren't necessarily... translated, but as still a very real reflection of culture and language.   Like the word "genau" is used here very frequently in conversation.   It most nearly means "exactly," but I feel like there is something lost in straight translations like this.   Because in English we don't say "exactly" anywhere near as frequently.    I guess it's probably not that interesting but it makes me wonder if in German culture there is a slightly stronger emphasis on letting people know when they're "correct" ?

-People don't do as much stranger-pleasantry here.   I didn't notice until my host mom asked me if I noticed if people smile more or less than in Buffalo, and I wasn't sure which was the right answer so I said that Buffalonians are known for their friendliness, and then she told me how one thing she hated about German culture is how people won't smile or say hi to you if you smile at them while biking, walking or on the subway, whatever.    So now I do notice, but I guess I sort of prefer this way.   It's not that I don't smile- I usually do, especially if someone smiles toward me- but I like that I don't feel obligated to do it and that everyone is kind of like, "For reals... who cares about that."

town in the alps one of my kids has hockey practice in, once a week

-Kind of sad, but no one thinks America is as great, as America thinks it is.    They seem to view America as a falling power, experiencing the sort of ups and downs every country over here has had for the last several hundred years.    Since my host mom is originally Canadian I read a Canadian news magazine during the week, and I read an interesting piece that critiqued the system of checks and balances in America as spreading power out so equally that it takes forever to accomplish simple legislation, and consequently the country cannot move/change fast enough politically.    Which I think a lot of us in America would agree with, but the article also pointed out that our entire check and balance system centers around the dated idea that the biggest threat to our country is a monarch or emerging dictator, and so our entire government is, at its very core, not able to adequately respond to our more present and real threats.    It was just a very different way of looking at the constitution from how we were taught it in school.

we went to the munich zoo

-toilets do not usually flush via a handle, but by the same mechanisms room lights employ (a sort of...balance beam?)

-pretzels are super popular here (Bavaria- lower Germany).    They usually cost about .50 euro.   It's also popular to have them split down the middle and buttered, which is more like 1 euro.   In Salzburg, Austria they had some delicious looking gigantic, head sized pretzels in all sorts of sweet flavors for 3 euro (still regretting not buying one!).

-There are a fair number of Turkish people living in Germany, so there are a lot of Turkish Imbisses.   (Restaurant/cafe?   Not sure exactly how that translates)   You can get a vegetarian kabob which is like... a bunch of good stuff in a pita.

-Cafes/Backereis/Konditereis are enormously popular here.     I limit myself but try to go to a different cafe at least once a week to try the different breads, sweets, and coffee.   Coffee is a little more expensive per cup, on average, than in the states, but it also is usually better quality.    The bakery goods are both cheap and delicious.

-Starbucks is very popular here as well, although I don't even know how they do it.   Their prices are the same as in America, but we use the Euro here, so they're actually making a lot more money from every 4 euro frappucino.    They also are kind enough to have a free takeaway city map in their stores, that points out where all the Munich Starbucks are located, haha.

where I wait for the s7 to get into the city

-Tax is included in the price of everything you buy and they round the numbers, which is incredibly brilliant because you don't have to do random head calculations trying to figure out the cost of everything, and you also end up with a lot less small change (which I imagine saves the government money since metal change tends to be costly to produce!).
And tipping isn't mandatory- they generally recommend that you round up for bills (like for a 6.50 euro dinner bill, you'd pay 7) but if you don't do it it's not horrible or anything.   This also makes restaurants a lot more enjoyable for me because I don't have to be trying to figure out how much I'm really going to pay in taxes and tip when I'm looking at what to buy (always an issue in America!). The price is exactly the price as stated.

More observations to come later...
~M

Disney Anti-Rape

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:46:47 GMT

A group of photo-captions I did for my tumblr, of Disney characters talking about rape culture and slut shaming. I've always found it kind of funny the way some of the stories we have romanticized and idealized most in our culture can also best illustrate why a woman might be walking alone at night, or why wearing "revealing" clothing doesn't mean a person "should expect bad things" to happen to them; who would blame Ariel if she were raped?

Should there be gay characters on tv?

Sat, 13 Aug 2011 03:52:28 GMT

absolutely not! Let’s get rid of all the straight-acting characters too! That way we’re just left with discovery channel (sans the shows that involve animals mating, of course, because that is so wrong) and occassional HGTV. This will not only be good for kids, but good for Christians, who do not like sinners shoved in their faces, especially when we’re defining “sin” as “very specific aspects of what we consider sin and actually we’re okay with most sinning and will not protest it.” Because as you’re probably aware, when the gays are away, 99% of television shows are always about people who do not sin and who live very moral lifestyles.

That is why my kids, when they watch wholesome, non-gay tv shows, have never realized that people sometimes cheat on tests, in work, on their partners; they've never realized that some people murder other people when they get upset, and sometimes get away with it; this is why they are unaware there are atheists as well as other religious denominations in the world that I would not approve of; they’re clueless about how people can make fun of others and say incredibly nasty things about people they don’t even know; and luckily, they have NO IDEA that people are ever lazy or don’t do what they’re supposed to do.

Because, well… thank God themes like that are never used for storylines on television shows that people routinely watch. Because that would probably throw me into a moral crisis or something, where I would have to admit that the idea of gay characters being an offensive thing on tv, even for a hardcore Christian, is incredibly ridiculous.

—A response to some of the more ridiculous hate discussion. Personally, I don’t really think Bert and Ernie have to be “declared gay,” because it’s not like romance has ever been super prominent on Sesame Street, and it’s been just more of a running joke that they’re “lovers.”

I do, however, think it is both funny and sad that gay characters are perceived by some people to be dangerous/gay agenda-d/offensive/horrible. I mean, just an episode of Law and Order SVU (<3) is probably going to expose your kid to a lot more “offensive” ideas but no one’s going to war over the fact that it’s been airing during all times of the day for, what, a decade now?

Even if you don't like gay characters, you have a choice to not watch the show/s, or to not allow your children to watch the show/s. TV watching is not some God-given mandate- you don't have to do it just because it's there. Let everyone have the ability to make that decision about what they care to watch.

a picture and a story about race relations

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:04:54 GMT

My last blog tired me out from all the replying, so I'm going to do the lazy thing and re-blog what other people have done 5x better than I could. I'm tired of people not getting it so I can't really guarantee replies on this one, especially as I am already tired from doing real work, in real life. :P

piece below: taken from here

Best Explanation of White Privilege & Institutionalized Racism I’ve Heard In A While.

(taken from The Color of Wealth)

A racially mixed group is gathered in a church basement for a workshop on the racial wealth divide. A trainer from United for a Fair Economy has just presented the facts that a typical white family has about $121,000 in assets, compared to the typical family of color, which has about $17,000 in assets.

In response, Ed [Ed being... the xanga collective? ;D], a middle-aged white man, raises his hand. “I hear what you are saying-that white people tend to have more money. But I don’t like what you are implying-that I should feel guilty about it. I swear, everything I have, I worked hard for.”

Ed has a point. He says that he studied hard in college, worked hard at every job, and saved steadily until he could by a home. For the past several years, he and his wife have been contributing to a retirement account.

The trainers ask him who helped him become prosperous, and he says,”No one.” When the discussion turns to affirmative action, he says he opposes racial preferences and government handouts.

But then the trainers lead the group in an exercise in which participants pull milestones of their family’s history on a giant timeline on the wall.

It turns out that Ed’s great-great-grandfather got a farm in Nebraska through the Homestead Act- a program available to whites.

His father, a World War II veteran, got a Veterans Administration mortgage and went to college on the G.I. Bill- programs black G.I.s couldn’t take full advantage of because of housing and education discrimination. Thanks to those boosts to earlier generations, Ed’s college tuition as well as the down payment on his home could be paid by his parents.

It may be true that he studied hard, worked hard, saved- and so can claim some credit for his assets. But how much of the credit is his? How much is due to public investments in his family?

A Latina woman, Larisa, asks Ed, "What about me? I studied hard, worked hard, and saved just like you. But I didn’t get the same rewards. Doesn’t that mean your money comes partly from your race?” Ed admits that it does.

--Kind of simplistic, but I think it makes a good point of the systemic operation of racism, and how it, and white privilege as well, isn't always overt and intentional. Also addresses the concept of "The American Dream," and how we don't all have as much equal access to that dream as we think we do. Racism and privilege- they're something you're a part of whether you like it or not. And no, obviously Ed isn't supposed to represent all white people, yes, not all white people are as successful as Ed, as I guarantee someone would accuse me of saying if I didn't point it out. He simply illustrates a larger point.

PS. I forgot to say this the last time because I didn't realize how many people were unfamiliar with the concept, but white privilege isn't a diss. I have white privilege, because I am white. It's not something you do, it's something you just are. Privileged.

White privilege: stop denying YOU HAVE IT.

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 09:38:47 GMT

So I just read through some commentary on PinkLeopard's blog, and I have to say, some of you have a serious case of the Do Not Get Its when it comes to how racism works in America.

Privilege is systemic, not individual- this applies to race privilege, gender privilege, class privilege, orientation privilege, etc. Yes, it is true that most of us HAVE EXPERIENCED someone hating our color regardless of who we are. However, that DOES NOT- does not does not does not- mean everyone is facing the same level of racism in America. For you to say this labels you quite automatically as Someone Who Doesn't Get It.

It doesn't matter how many black girls called you ugly for being white, or how in high school some people made fun of you for being pale, or how you aren't able to "pull the race card" without being called racist (because your race has never been systematically oppressed) and so blacks are racist when they do. No one is trying to tell you that your experiences don’t count or that they aren’t real- just that they don’t negate the larger issue. This is bigger than you are.

Examples of how this is bigger than you are:

-in America, 2/3 (66%) of crack users are white or latino, yet more than 80 percent of those sentenced in federal court for crack-related crimes are black. Our country definitely has a problem if even the way we enforce law and order is racially tinged so that black people are more likely to be arrested, tried, and found guilty for the same exact crime as a white person. As a white person you are more likely to get away with a crime simply because you are white and people are less likely to perceive you as dangerous and guilty. You haven't done anything to ask for this privilege, true, but it is there working for you without you even being aware of it.

-In America one often repeated social experiment is the "race and dolls" in which young children are given dolls that are white and black and asked which ones they identify with/which ones they find beautiful- children, regardless of race, are more likely to find the white doll more beautiful. In a recent experiment similar results were found-

"A 5-year-old girl in Georgia is being asked a series of questions... the girl, who is white, is looking at pictures of five cartoons of girls, all identical except for skin color ranging from light to dark.

When asked who the smart child is, she points to a light-skinned doll. When asked who the mean child is she points to a dark-skinned doll. She says a white child is good because "I think she looks like me", and says the black child is ugly because "she's a lot darker."

This is not because of any "biological" urge for children to find a white doll prettier- it is because they are already absorbing at a young age that their skin color is "less pretty" based on subtle clues and hints in their environment. This girl is not a racist little girl- her mom cried when she heard her say this. It is something she picked up without realizing it through media and dialogue. Privilege is not having to make an effort to make your children believe their skin isn't ugly.

-"A 2007 study in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that 75 percent of white families with kindergartners never, or almost never, talk about race. For black parents the number is reversed with 75 percent addressing race with their children."

Privilege is not having to feel that it is necessary to have this discussion.

PinkLeopards may offend you and denigrate members of your race, although if you read closely I think it really seems as if she's against racist whites, so why are you offended?

But anyhow- even if a black person says something totally, completely racist to you, I'm sorry, but it is not the same. You do not have to shoulder the burden of an entire society that is deeply imbued in white privilege. Someone calling you a whitey or a cracker does not have the same incredibly twisted historical weight as you calling a black person the N word. Yes, you have been given privilege you have not asked for... accept that this is true and try to fight it from now on. You cannot deny privilege because it is granted to you whether you ask for it or not.

Yes, everyone should stop being racist in general, definitely, but I think it tends to erase an important distinction when people just say, “Let’s not discuss the details and complexities of this, everyone just be nice!”

People are smarter than that. They can handle complex discussion. In order to dismantle all types of racism and oppression we will have to examine each type on its own rather than lumping it all under an umbrella. We will have to stop seeing all discussions as necessarily being accusations against us just because they identify certain privileges that we have.

privilege denying guy meme :)

Some daily examples of White Privilege, from Peggy McIntosh's famous article:

-I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.

-I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group

-I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

-I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having coworkers on the job suspect that I got it because of race

-I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes or not answer letters without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.

(**I highly recommend checking out the full article**)

Edit: Also I realize maybe some people don't fundamentally grasp what white privilege is. It seriously is not a diss, it's just something you have. I have white privilege, because I am white. This is about people who deny they have it.

Well DUH sluts are gross, AMIRITE?

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:03:49 GMT

This is my general response to the kids who keep writing blogs that are ALL like, "Look, I know no one wants to say it, but let's be real. Obviously if you wear skimpy clothing you have to take some responsibility for your rape if you're raped. I don't understand why sluts want people to not call them sluts. Like really, that's what you are."

In particular, this one blog on tumblr- you can read the full version here- had memorable lines such as,

"I hate that quote 'Well behaved women rarely make history'. Every feminist loves that one. Women who don’t behave produce serial killers. They neglect/abuse their children, destroy their bodies, become objects because they’ve fucked too many guys to count, spread disease."

it went on and on and on (and on) for a while with this sort of logic. Then some of:

"I’m glad all you women think slutting around is great. Getting drunk and passing out among guys who you’ve never met in your life. Wait until your daughter grows up with a role model like you.

I miss the days where people valued the purity of a woman. When women had class and good reputations to uphold rather than bragging about how many guys they’ve slept with and how much they can fit down their throat. But they hate the word slut."

"I think women back in the day had more respect from men than they do now." (Also, apparently women who have lots of sex are guaranteed to have daddy issues)

There is so much I could say to all this. But at the end of the day, they don't really listen. They never do. So I decided that, if you can't beat em, join em! Here's my resounding blog of agreement! WOOHOO DOWN WITH THE SLUTS!!

Yeah girl, good for you! DUH women are objects if they have too much sex! Of COURSE it’s completely legit, and polite, to slut shame people! And take quotes too seriously- I mean seriously, “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll land among the stars”? WHAT UTTER CRAP- there is a direct correlation here to women abusing/abandoning their children! Like how are you going to aim for the moon unless you have a cannon or a super stressful space related job? And so your kids will be in day care ALL the time. NEGLECT! The fact that you like this quote says a lot about you and your stupid slutty ways!

And heck yes I will tag this as “feminist” even though I wouldn’t bother taking the time to read anything anyone is really saying about slut shaming, because why listen to dumb sluts when I can instead judge them and pretend that there was ever a time when women adhered to standards of purity! What? No, I can’t be bothered with that book in the library about the history of human sexuality. What? No, just because I’m getting all these ideas from Victorian era fictional renderings of adult life, there is nothing mythical or classist about my argument! I mean, so what if poor women were never considered pure to begin with back then? I'm descended from like, a Countess, anyways. What? Shut up about Jessica Valenti and the Purity Myt h already.

God, you feminists and your concern that one day the tide will turn against me and my daughters, sisters and lovers just because we can’t uphold every unnecessary sexual standard. Geez, why are you always bringing up the fact that sexuality is often racialized as well? Why should I care that women of color are hypersexualized in our culture and they are always considered to have a “lack” of purity regardless of whether or not they have had lots of sex? Why should I care that slut shaming runs deeper than just who has sex with who and can impact my life irregardless of how much sex I have?

Why won’t you just listen to me? I told you. Sluts are dumb. Men respect women who slut shame. Back in the good old days, they may not have "respected" us enough to give us the right to vote, sure okay, but they definitely had a lot of RESPECT for what we didn't do with our vaginas, and honestly, in the end that's what people will remember about you. So God, get over it already, and go slutshame someone in a blogpost because this is what pure, classy, role model, good reputation women do, you know? This is how we define ourselves.

--this was a modified version of a blog I ran on my tumblr-

Who "enjoys kissing ashtrays", indeed?

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:25:41 GMT

Who enjoys kissing an ashtray?" Is one of several judgments rolled out like dough in a pizzahut in this blog.

I hate when people say this. Just because they're smokers, doesn't make them inanimate trash objects. Yes, some people like kissing significant others that smoke. No, you shouldn't be shaming them for it just because it's not your cup of tea.

I get sick of people getting sanctimonious about this- the minute you call them out for being total and complete rude douches they turn around and go, "I'M JUST TRYING TO BE HELPFUL BECAUSE IT CAUSES CANCER."

There may not be a cure for cancer but sometimes there's no cure for rude people, either. If you don't approve of someone's lifestyle choices, there are nicer ways to say it. We all do things that are bad for ourselves, others around us, and the environment, sometimes. Everyone has littered, or purchased animal meat when they could have gone veggie (it takes up a lot more resources and causes a lot more pollutants to eat meat), or accidentally forgotten to bring our reusable bags into the grocery store.

But for some reason when it comes to things like "accidentally not recycling that container you used," no one is going to be all up in your business like they will be if you're a smoker and they'll feel entitled to write entire posts about how you're disgusting, kissing you is disgusting for everyone, and how they could never respect you as a person/could never believe you respect your own self and body.

#money can buy you ciggies but it can't buy you class

being a Disney Princess

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:56:15 GMT

As you might be aware of from my last post, I have another blog on tumblr that revolves around putting a feminist spin on Disney movies. So since I've started doing that, I've been thinking more about what exactly bothers me about Disney's princess franchise.

I actually like Disney movies (Jasmine is my favorite Princess!), but I think it’s possible to separate pleasure of the narrative from critique of the message. Personally, I don’t always agree with the critique of how Disney creates a “princess ideal” for girls and that this in itself is bad, because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting/pretending to be a princess.

The thing I see as being wrong is the way Disney (at least for most of their earlier films) defined princesses as not doing anything/being practically mannequin people for dresses, whose single greatest desire was to “get married” and marriage was a device that pretty much resolved all conflict within the plots/their character. And although their current princesses are more diverse and complex, they still market their multi-million dollar princess franchise as largely being about what the princesses wear and look like.

(screenshot from the first page of the Disney Princess section of their website)

I mean, historically, princesses, even when they weren’t head-honchos in patriarchal set-ups, have never been that passive and it completely re-writes their role as being sub-par, empty-headed, and non-political, which is ignoring the entire identity of what it is to be a princess. "I want to be treated like a princess" is a phrase we hear often, but what are we really saying? We're not saying, "I want to make or influence important political decisions for a country," etc. Why has princess, in modern language, come to convey "I want others to place me on a pedestal and shower me with material goods that I have earned simply because I am 'a princess'?"

Out of curiosity I googled to see what Disney was doing with their brand. I came across their official "Which Disney Princess are You?" Online quiz, and went through the questions. They're not horrible, but they set up a boring outline of what concerns their princesses most: "Name the ultimate royal bash" is one question, with wedding being the second option. Considering the age of most of the princesses, the fifth option, Sweet 16, is probably a better choice! They range from innocuous to questionable, my favorite being, "What says 'Princess' More?"

Even though it's important to keep in mind the targeted demographic (girls ages 5-12, approx.) I feel like it's still an incredibly... limited choice of options for girls who see, or want to see, princesses as being more than just powerless pawns.

Yep, nothing says "Princess" like "True love's kiss!"

My point here is that if we allow princesses to be defined in an airheaded way, and then go along with Disney's marketing plan that all little girls aspire to be these princesses, we are setting ourselves up for trouble. We should always question the morals and parables behind the narratives being handed to us, no matter how simple or innocent they may seem. The Disney Princesses are not evil, violent, or cruel, and they all have several positive/aspirational characteristics, but they can, as a group, subtly and subconsciously influence the way we view women both as individuals and as participants in political spheres. This might sound far-fetched, but just think about it: they have already helped change the way we use the word princess, a word that has been operating within our language for hundreds of years.

PS. Finished the quiz- I was "Totally Curious like Ariel!" I guess that's accurate enough, eh? What princess are you? Or what princess... aren't you?

Feminist Disney

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:34:38 GMT

Does anyone else here keep a tumblr? I am there as FeministDisney. This post is less to promote myself though and more to share with you what I've been doing on there. It's probably part of the reason I've withdrawn from xanga a bit, but then I always do that periodically. Anyhow, about half my posts are re-captioned scenes from Disney movies. I try to imagine what the princesses (and other characters) would be like if they were allowed to speak beyond the limited context of Disney’s movies and develop into fuller characters capable of a range of normal human emotions and opinions.

So here's a bunch I've done, let me know which ones you like or don't like? ;)

there are more on my site but that's the gist of it!