Interviewer: What’s the secret to your marriage?
Paul Newman: I don’t know what she puts in my food.
Photo from Dr. Martin Luther King’s memorial service, 1968, displayed at the Muhammad Ali Center, Louisville, KY.
The Supremes.
(Source: alicenter.org)
Justin “Scrappers” Morrison, his son Camper, and their dog Bamboo in a backyard cabin in Portland, Oregon. Photo by Carlie Armstrong.
FACT: Every queer is born with a unicorn-like horn at birth which is commonly cut off so as to not give their mystical prowess away to commoners.
(Source: factsaboutqueers)
Esme Barrera, Girls Rock Camp Austin volunteer and camp counselor, was murdered this New Year's Day.
When I heard the news, the first thing that came to mind was the murder to Mia Zapata from the Gits. The similarities stood out to me—a woman walking home late at night—Esme from a party, Mia from a bar, the way the two women loved music and used it both to inform and to uplift, and the seemingly random nature of the crime. Except neither crime was as random as we’d like to think. In fact, Esme’s killer attacked two other women that same evening. Mia’s killer had a history of violence against women, including battery, assault, and domestic abuse. Violence against women and girls is endemic in this country and if we think we’re safer now in 2012 than we were in 1993, when Mia was killed, then we’re only deluding ourselves. If we want to honor Esme’s memory, we should try our best to stop violence against women in our communities. A woman who gave so much of herself to others, working with special needs kids as well as young musicians, deserves the kind of memory where you do something, instead of just standing by. This year, when I watch the girls learning how to punch and kick in self-defense class at Girls Rock Camp, I will think of Esme, and how empowering young girls is not just a theoretical framework for feminist thought; it’s a survival tactic. We hope that someday, we’ll have the power to save every girl’s life. I didn’t know Esme personally, but from what I’ve read on the internet, “Esme got it. She knew rock and roll was eternal. As long as we’ve got the sound, we’ll never lose her.” -Alyx Vesey. I’d like to add that the kind of supportive, really positive feminism that volunteering at Rock Camp instills in us will continue as well, and that whenever we teach self-defense, or offer to walk a female friend home late at night, or stand by watching just to make sure a drunk guy shouting at his girlfriend on the street doesn’t hit her, or comfort someone who’s been hurt, we are honoring someone’s memory.
I just had to bold part of this. Thank you, Amy.
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What we are wearing is political and has really high stakes! The conditions of production of the actual materials we wear are life and death, and the consequences we all face for how we use clothing, grooming and style to craft our appearances are life and death. I’m thinking about racist laws that have attempted to ban sagging pants in some jurisdictions or use certain colors of clothing as methods to identify and criminalize youth of color for purported gang membership. I’m also thinking of the long history of sumptuary laws, and the horrific regulation of gender-related clothing and grooming items that trans prisoners are constantly fighting. Fashion is definitely a political question.
It’s interesting because fashion and style is a site of liberatory feelings at times—moments of pleasure, mutual recognition, belonging, escape, and rebellion. But there is also the broader context of extreme violence and coercion in which we dress ourselves. There is the constant danger of feeling wrong, being punished, and being stared at. These two elements are often happening simultaneously. I think about this when I engage with people who I know are making choices about their appearances that are both highly endangering and also feel urgently important or wonderfully expressive. It is amazing how much so many people risk to wear their look. Certainly, many trans people exemplify this, risking extreme violence walking around offending gender norms and being beautiful.
Dean Spade in an interview with Queer Couture (via besttumblr)
how many tumblrs can one guy have?
The answer is 2. I don’t update Agender frequently enough, but I have a running list of topics for posts I want to write… when I find the timetimetimetimetimetimetime.
