im feeling very sad for feminism today… i think where we went wrong was trying to commodify and commercialize feminism with these “girl power” and “the future is female” t shirts which were created by this minimalistic pastel aesthetic and kind of softened what previously was a very anarchist and rebellious movement (see early 90s feminist rock bands which glamorized the opposite of femininity with shaved hair, unshaved pits and legs, no makeup)
and now we have artists like ariana grande, nicki minaj, fifth harmony, daya, etc (this isn’t a callout post for them i don’t care about them as individuals i’m just commenting on a trend in pop culture perpetrated by the music industry) who put out music with feminist sentiments but absolutely no evidence of actively rebelling against societal expectations for women. “i don’t need boys i don’t need to be pretty i don’t need to be sexy” performed in scantily clad clothing with makeup sponsored by perfume and makeup companies is proof that capitalistic pressure has kind of destroyed the rebellious nature of the feminist movement.
so now we have a generation of girls raised on the internet convinced that performing femininity and caking their natural face in makeup in order to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty, placing their worth in their physical appearance inherently by paying money in order to appease some made up standard of what is acceptable for women, and they’ve convinced themselves that this, this conformity of expectation of feminist for women, is inherently feminist?
like it sucks like you guys know feminism is a counteractive movement right? like you know to be feminist is to rebel right? it’s not enough to consume pretty, neat, but wholly hypocritical ideals of feminism. it’s lazy. we have a generation of girls who want to adhere to expectations for women, who want to become that ideal that men have constructed, but now because they “reclaimed” it, that’s feminist?
like no sorry you Can do those things you Can put on makeup and shave and look pretty and girl you Can but don’t pretend that’s feminist it’s literally not. you’re not helping feminism the commodification of feminism is not helpful. men are not upset by you saying “the future is female” when you still look pretty and pink and non-threatening. we aren’t liberated by expectation just because you are now accepting of it. feminism is not complacency.
this post doesn’t apply to the reclaimation of femininity in the context of trans women which is a whole other discussion but generally i think the idea still applies. thanks
and like you know what else sucks? the fact that women are going to reply to this saying “SOMEONE doesn’t know how to apply makeup” as if that’s some burn like no i never felt compelled to because makeup clogs your pores which makes you break out which makes it easier for the makeup industry to sell you shit for your skin which wouldn’t be happening if you didn’t put that shit on your face. acne is natural, washing your face is natural, but clogging ur pores that much is not. it’s an industrial decision.
also like women today who love makeup And feminism mocking gnc women sound exactly like men in the 70s who protested feminism on the basis that it makes women “man hating lesbians” so congrats?
die mad about it but makeup and shaving isn’t feminist even if it’s a “personal choice/preference”. it was socially ingrained in you from birth to perform this way so the easiest choice is to accept it but it isn’t feminist.
maybe it’s just the lesbianism but over the course of the last few months, as ive grown more secure and more at home in my sexuality, ive found increasingly that the things i like most about women are the things society hates most about us. i like our muscles. i like our bellies and the way the skin folds on the stomach. i like our shoulders, wide and strong, or small and weak. i like strong jaws and confident eyes and loud voices. i like obnoxious laughs that snort and chortle and fill the whole room with bubbles that snap and pop like bubblegum let loose. i like strength, i like a woman who takes up space, who spreads her legs and stomps her feet and grins toothily at her friends. i like a woman with dimples. i like a woman with freckles and blemishes and acne scars, with stretch marks and hairy legs and curves where they don’t like them and straight lines where they do. i like a bony girl, i like the way the clavicle looks, i like the gap between the neck and the shoulder, i like the way sunlight catches on the sweat hanging from the peachfuzz on the upper lip…i like a lot of things about women that society told me to hate about us…realizing i was a lesbian revealed to me the beauty in “ugly” things that i had never considered before. none of these traits is something i “work past” when falling for a girl — they are things i love just as much on a woman as society loves a woman’s long hair or perfect curves. the so-called “"imperfections”“ only serve to captivate me more.
the “your top songs of 2018″ spotify playlists are out so u know what that means! send me a number between 1 and 100 and i’ll tell u what that song is on my playlist
ᵘʰʰ hello good evening everyone, welcome to the mckittrick hotel, yeah! uh, it appears as though we’re actually about to start the show! so if you could take a moment to turn off your cell phones,and actually put them in such a condition that they do not make sound, vibrate, OR emanate light. any one of these three things could be a disaster for all involved, so make sure they are COMpletely….off. UH in the event of an emergency, you can simply…ᵐᵃᵏᵉ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵉˢᶜᵃᵖᵉ ᵒᵘᵗ ᵗʰᵉ ˢᵃᵐᵉ ᵈᵒᵒʳ ʸᵒᵘ ᶜᵃᵐᵉ ᶦⁿᵎ
marin and margeaux had a chance to hook up once while he was in chicago for a few days with maddie but didnt because marin found out that he smokes and that’s canon, baby
Atomic Blonde - Set in November 1989 on the eve of the collapse of the Berlin Wall, this spy thriller follows M16 agent Lorraine Broughton as she attempts to recover an important stolen item. Along the way she encounters Delphine Lasalle, a rookie french agent. The usage of two different contrasting themes of lighting in this movie is very striking.
Carol - Based off the 1952 lesbian romance novel “The Price of Salt,” Carol is set in New York City in the early 50s. It follows the love affair between Therese Belivet (an aspiring photographer and department store worker) and Carol Aird (a wealthy mother going through a divorce.) It’s a stunning portrayal of gay friendships and romance during a violently homophobic time.
Desert Hearts - Released in 1985 and set in 1959, this romantic drama is often hailed as the first film to present a positive portrayal of lesbianism. It follows Vivian Bell, a english professor in her mid thirties hoping to obtain a quick divorce and Cay Rivvers, a younger and free spirited sculptor.
Farewell, My Queen - French romantic drama set in 1789 during the last three days of Marie Antoinette, seen through the eyes of a young servant who reads to the queen. It discusses rumours of the queens alleged orgies with women and has a very subtle, entirely queer tone.
Heavenly Creatures - Psychological drama documenting the real life Parker-Hulme murder case. The plot centers around the obsessive and concerning relationship between two teenage girls, Juliet and Pauline. It covers their meeting in 1952 all the way through to the murder they commit together in 1954. The girls bond over a shared history of disease, and begin to indulge in delusions of a rich fantasy world and cult-like religion. Its a frightening look into the lives of the two seemingly normal teenager girls who teamed up to kill Pauline’s mother and only served five years for their crime.
San Junipero - Not technically a film, and not technically set in the past but I think it still counts! This episode of black mirror is praised for having a more hopeful & uplifting tone than the rest of the series and is first set during the 80s, following a lesbian named Yorkie and Kelly, a bisexual woman.
The Girl King - Biographical drama portrayal of the life of Christina, Queen of Sweden. Christina is a brilliant, powerful, and striking figure fighting conservative forces in her country. The film tracks her mission to modernize sweden and follows her awakening sexuality, yet another thing that sets her apart from former rulers.
The Handmaiden - South Korean erotic psychological lesbian revenge thriller. I can honestly say this is one of the most well directed and captivating lesbian films ive ever seen. Sook-Hee, a orphaned Korean pickpocket becomes the handmaiden to a wealthy Japanese Heiress and with the intention to assist a conman in relieving her of her inheritance. It’s loosely inspired by Sarah Waters novel “Fingersmith” but set in Korea under Japanese rule. The male gaze towards lesbians is a reoccuring theme and is accurately portrayed as a disgusting and vile thing in a way i didnt expect a male director to be able to manage.
The Hours - British-American drama based off the novel of the same name. It follows three different queer women of three different eras, all connected through Virgina Woolf’s novel “Mrs. Dalloway.” Clarissa is a bisexual new yorker in the early 2000s, planning an award party for a poet with AIDS. Laura is a pregnant 1950s housewife trapped in an unhappy marriage and Virgina Woolf is a novelist in 1920s england struggling with mental illness under the watchful and suffocating eye of her husband.
The Miseducation of Cameron Post - One of the newest releases, this film just came out this year! Set in 1993 and based off the novel of the same name by Emily M. Danforth, teenager Cameron is caught in the backseat of a car with the prom queen. Her aunt (a devout christian) ships Cameron off to a religious gay conversion camp called God’s Promise. The film documents the struggles, pain, and violence of existing in a space with no place for you.
