historicalslut:

“Men who want to flirt with women have to realize: Women live in a state of continual vigilance about sexual safety. It’s like having a mild case of hay fever that never goes away. It’s not debilitating. You’re not weak. You’re not afraid. You just suck it up and get on with your life. It’s nothing that’s going to stop you from making discoveries, or climbing mountains, or falling in love. Sometimes you can almost forget about it. It doesn’t mean it’s not there, subtly sucking your energy. You learn to avoid situations that make it worse and seek out conditions that make it better. If a female stranger is wary around you, it is not because she suspects you are a rapist, or that all men are rapists. It’s because a general level of circumspection is what vigilance requires. Don’t take it personally. If this frustrates you, try to remember that women are blamed for lapsed vigilance. If a woman does get raped, everyone rushes to see where she let her guard down. Was she drinking? Was she alone? Was she wearing a short skirt? Did she go to a strange man’s room for coffee at 4am? A woman must be seen to be vigilant as well as be vigilant. If she is deemed insufficiently vigilant, she will be at least partly blamed for any sexual violence that befalls her. If she’s regarded as downright reckless, that “evidence” can be used to completely exonerate her rapist. If it comes down to a he said/she said dispute over whether sex was consensual, as so many rape cases do, the dispute becomes a referendum on whether the woman seems like the sort of reckless person who would have sex with a stranger. If a woman does go back to a strange man’s hotel room at 4am, even if she only wants a coffee and conversation, she’s more or less given him the power to rape her. No jury is going to believe she went up there for anything but sex. So, don’t be surprised if a stranger reacts badly to that suggestion.”

—

Attention, Space Cadets: Do Not Proposition Women in the Elevator

dank-potion:

• I’m not racist, some of my best friends are bl-
• I don’t hate the LGBTQ community, but I feel like marriage is betw-
• I’m pro-life because it’s wrong to kill a ba-
• I’ll start showing women respect when they act-
• If your people want equality, they have to-

golden-zephyr:

I recently posted information about a Roma rights activist, Toma Nikolaev, who is facing extradition from the UK back to Bulgaria, where his life is in danger. There is a petition (here), but it is well documented that LETTERS, actual physical letters written by MANY people are a better source of providing justice. So, I ask you, no I humbly BEG you to help Toma (and ALL Roma rights activists, myself included) by writing a letter to the addresses below. 

I have included the blurb from the petition website as an inspiration to form a letter. I will probably include the text as it stands, along with some more personal information about why it’s important not just for Toma.

Toma Nikolaev is a well-respected Roma rights activist and former candidate MP. Persecuted in Bulgaria due to his criticism of the apartheid that excludes most of Bulgaria’s 700,000 Roma, he was directing editor of the bilingual newspaper DeFacto until its closure.

Fearing for his life after a bomb was placed near his home, Mr. Nikolaev sought asylum in the UK. A long, uncompleted process followed during which Nikolaev continued to help fellow Roma. He joined the campaign to save the Dale Farm community, which was broken up by the riot police assault on the estate on 19 October 2011.

On April 8, 2012 Toma Nikolaev attended a sit-in front of the Bulgarian Embassy in London to mark Roma Nation Day. Shortly after he was arrested under a European warrant and he spent three days in custody before being released on bail. He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court at 9:30am on 22nd May.

This is the first time a prominent Roma political activist has been brought before this court, which is reserved for extradition and terrorism cases.

Mr. Nikolaev faces extradition back to Bulgaria, where he would have to continue a prison sentence imposed for his criticism of the government .

The Roma in Bulgaria make up 8% of the population, live mostly in segregated neighbourhoods and are suffering 70% unemployment. In this condition of social exclusion, Roma activists are subject to judicial and police persecution, as well as violence from nationalist and racist movements, in particular the Atak Party. That is why we believe it is unsafe for Mr Nikoleav, his wife and children, to return to Bulgaria
and appeal to the Westminster Magistrates’ Court to dismiss the extradition proceedings brought by the Bulgarian state and allow Toma Nikolaev to remain in the UK, where he wishes to apply for political asylum.

Our appeal is also addressed to Queen Elizabeth II, and the Government and Parliament of the United Kingdom. We are asking them to intervene in the case of Toma Nikolaev, thus offering the European Union and the world an example of civility and respect for human rights. We also urge the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres; the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Navi Pillay; the European Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muiznieks; the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, and all civil society not to remain indifferent to a paradigmatic case of the current conditions of the Roma people and those who defend their rights. 

We hope there will be a just and humanitarian verdict in the case of Toma Nikolaev, and extend to all recipients of this appeal our best regards.

Addresses to send letters:

Westminster Magistrate’s Court:
Postal address - 181 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5QJ.

Navanethem Pillay 
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Email addressinfodesk@ohchr.org

Palais Wilson 
52 rue des Pâquis 
CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland.

or 

Palais des Nations 
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
 

Antonio Guterres
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse.
 

Nils Muiznieks
European Commissioner for Human Rights

Council of Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex, FRANCE
 

Martin Schulz
President of the European Parliament

Rue Wiertz 60
1047 Bruxelles
Belgique

notime4yourshit:

For those that need to be caught up:

Ramarley Graham: Site. Petition.

Rekia Boyd: Site. Petition. Facebook.

Trayvon Martin: Facebook.

Eric Perez: Site.

Neng Yang: Petition. Facebook.

Shaima Alawadi: Petition. Facebook.

Vern Traversie: Petition. Facebook.

Naomi Whitecrow: Petition. Facebook.

CeCe McDonald: Site. Petition. Facebook. Tumblr.

Agnes Torres: Petition. Facebook.

dearcoquette:

Dear Coquette,

I just did some reading about men’s rights activists and I’m a little freaked out. What are your thoughts?

I don’t want to paint all men’s rights activists with the same brush, but most of what gets labeled as men’s rights activism tends to be a very crude form of reactionary gender politics fueled by flagrant misogyny, (metaphorical) impotence and narcissistic rage.

Gender dynamics in Western societies have been slowly and steadily shifting towards legitimate equality over the last century or so. After four waves of feminism, there was bound to be some blowback. That’s all this is, really.

It’s toxic stuff, but there’s no need to let it freak you out. In the grand scheme, the dark side of men’s rights activism is little more than a temporary subcultural side effect of broader social progress. 

I’m not saying it’s harmless. It’s potentially quite dangerous, but as long as no men in your life have made it a part of their identity, it’s not something you have to fear.

That’s kind of the point, really. These men are pathetic. They aren’t worthy of your fear, and deep down, a lot of them resent the hell out of the fact that they aren’t feared (or loved) by women. It’s not that women don’t want them. It’s that women don’t need them. Women are indifferent to them, and that indifference is worse than rejection or betrayal.

Pay close attention to the rhetoric coming out of the movement and you’ll notice that it’s fundamentally a reaction to indifference. To the ego, there’s nothing worse, and to the male ego, female indifference transmutes into emasculation. That in turn develops into a sort of chronic narcissistic injury where all women are to blame for the loss of their manhood.

It’s twisted, but that’s really what’s at the emotional core of these guys. Their involvement in men’s rights activism is based on a very personal and individual reaction to their own wounded male egos. The politics is just window dressing.

That’s an important distinction to make. Despite what the most vocal men’s rights activists would have you believe, this isn’t a collective movement based on a set of unifying ideals. Not really. Any unifying ideals are an afterthought, mere packaging to wrap around a lot of repressed anger and misogyny.

In that regard, the movement as a whole is not greater than the sum of its individual members. It’s just a bunch of dudes who happen to be resentful of approximately the same thing. They aren’t really victims of some greater societal injustice, so ultimately it’s all bound to fizzle.

That being said, it’s not fair for me to summarily dismiss all men’s rights issues because of the questionable character of certain men’s rights activists. A number of the issues themselves have some merit, especially those in regard to gender neutrality in the practice of divorce, paternity, and child custody law. 

Of course, the legitimacy of any particular issue doesn’t legitimize men’s rights activism in general, and it sure as hell doesn’t excuse the movement’s undeniable undercurrent of hatred towards women.

I am so in love with this woman.