19 6 / 2013
This Is Not Fucking Harmless
I love Kickstarter. I think that’s clear to people who know me by now? I love it. There’s a dude named Brad Muir and he works at Double Fine and I love the games they make, so much. But before Kickstarter, every time a Double Fine game came out I was a little worried it would be their last, and I’d have to worry that if people didn’t buy it, who knows what would happen to that studio. Then they found KIckstarter and now they make games and people like me can front load the development cost for them and it is the absolute best arrangement for creative people who want a tool in the exhausting struggle of art + commerce. A friend of mine is taking a month off her job to write a children’s book because of this platform. It’s GREAT. I love it.
The outcome of this is that I spend a lot of time just browsing Kickstarter looking for something cool to either back or crow about online. I don’t really back much - I don’t have a ton of capitol to toss around, and I’m sure the fact that I have a lot of ideas and no money factors into my love of a platform that gives money to people with ideas - but I like to check it out. So tonight, I found THIS fucking thing.
This is a nightmare.
Watching the video, reading the description, it sounds fairly innocent but a little eye-roll inducing. It’s another book where some nerd, desperate to be liked by women (this is not an insult, we are ALL desperate to be liked by someone we want to have sex with) thinks he’s figured out some cheat code or check-list like routine they can run in a bar to make women sleep with them, as if women aren’t people but a series of subroutines or an obstacle course that they can optimize to get their dick wet as fast as possible. And he’s written that advice down! And he’s selling it! To you! You could learn his cheat codes. This is nothing new for the internet. In fact, a large swath of this book was published already on Reddit. What’s new is that he’s crowdfunding it.And sure, you might think this is sad or dumb or that this guy is just another lonely dude talking to other lonely dudes who’ll head out into the night with their fedoras to failure, right? Not a big deal? Oops, turns out we’re wrong, because here are some excerpts from what he’s already put on Reddit -
”5) Get CLOSE to her, damn it!To quote Rob Judge, “Personal space is for pussies.” I already told you that the most successful seducers are those who can’t keep their hands off of women. Well you’re not gonna be able to do that if you aren’t in close! ”
“All the greatest seducers in history could not keep their hands off of women. They aggressively escalated physically with every woman they were flirting with. They began touching them immediately, kept great body language and eye contact, and were shameless in their physicality. Even when a girl rejects your advances, she KNOWS that you desire her. That’s hot. It arouses her physically and psychologically.”
“Decide that you’re going to sit in a position where you can rub her leg and back. Physically pick her up and sit her on your lap. Don’t ask for permission. Be dominant. Force her to rebuff your advances.”
“Sex
Pull out your cock and put her hand on it. Remember, she is letting you do this because you have established yourself as a LEADER. Don’t ask for permission, GRAB HER HAND, and put it right on your dick.”
- Source
SO. Now I am no longer rolling my eyes.
This guy is no longer just being weird and creepy on the internet. Now he’s writing a book about how to sexually assault women, and he is using something I believe in (Kickstarter) to ask YOU for money to do it. I am offended as someone who believes in the platform, and more importantly I am offended as someone who believes women shouldn’t be treated this way, and that people who say otherwise CERTAINLY should not profit off saying they should.
This isn’t harmless. People come to these boards because they are scared of being humiliated, and they are saying to the world, “Tell me what to do, because I don’t know what to do.” And this guy has chosen to tell them, “You should be a rapist.”
There’s largely nothing we can do about people saying this shit on a place like Reddit - Reddit’s a mess for another time - but let’s get it off of Kickstarter. The project is funded in 10 hours - and unfortunately a lot of those are sleeping hours - but PLEASE report it to Kickstarter, please tweet @Kickstarter asking them to take it down, and PLEASE do not let something cool be used for the UGLIEST thing imaginable.
The Kickstarter - Report Button is on the bottom of the page
Please Tweet at @Kickstarter
Casey
19 6 / 2013
So you can be proud of being black, hispanic, or asian, but you can’t be proud to be white? Wtf is wrong with society?
white people are behind the worst genocides in history what your sus ass got to be proud of? the invention of graham crackers?
idk pretty sure we invented toilets or something
bitch we invented the soap to clean your filthy asses dont talk shit
Jessusssssssssss
Actually, white people invented the following;
Geography
Telescope
Microscope
Automobile
Television
Electricity
Aircrafts
Computers
The Piano
Electric Engineering
Telephone
Theory of Evolution
The Wormhole
First one’s in Space
First one’s on the Moon
Banks/Banking
The theory of Natural Selection
Theatre
Pencil
The Jet Engine
The discovery of DNA
The discovery of the Atom
The discovery of Cells
The Camera
US Constitution
Democracy
RepublicAnd yes, a white person did happen to invent the graham cracker.
If you want to cling to every invention that white people are responsible for throughout history as if it’s some sort of accomplishment of your own, then you should also accept responsibility for all the disgusting things that white people have done, correct? You can’t just claim the things that make you look good and disregard the history that makes you look bad. Take it all or leave it all.
Geography- The oldest known world maps date back to Islam in the 9th Century B.C.
Automobile- automobiles were base on chariots created by the Indo-Iranians.
Electricity- Nobody invented electricity, pendejo estupido. Electricity is a natural phenomena.
Computers- Computers were based on the abacus, created by the ancient Sumerians.
The Piano- The piano is based on string instruments created in ancient Mesopotamia.
The Wormhole- Einstein discovered this, and given that Einstein was a dedicate member of the NAACP and called racism America’s “worst disease”, I’m sure that he would not appreciate you using his discoveries to promote white supremacy.
Theatre- The earliest recorded theatrical event dates back to 2000 BCE with the “passion plays” of Ancient Egypt.
The Jet Engine- This is based on rockets invented by the Chinese in the 13th Century
The Discovery of the Atom- Atomism dates back to India during the 6th Century BCE
The Camera- Photographic cameras were a development of the Camera Obscura, a device dating back to the ancient Chinese.
The U.S. Constitution- The earliest known code of law dates back to the ancient Mesopotamians. The American Constitution is based on the Iroquois “Great Code of Peace”. And given that the original U.S. Constitution was used to enslave and murder thousands of people, maybe you shouldn’t be so proud of it.
Democracy- Based on the Sanghas of India during the 6th Century BCE
Republics- See above.
Nice try, white person. Practically everything you guys invented comes from PoC
Have fun with your Graham Crackers tho
(via lifescreamcomic)
19 6 / 2013
if you’re gonna put music on during sex make sure it’s a live album so people clap for you every five minutes
(via lacigreen)
18 6 / 2013
"
Holding on to transphobic cultural values while developing a fondness for particular trans women who you can try to fit into your curated cultural spaces is not only disingenuous, it’s actually unsafe for the trans women who you are inviting in.
When you tell someone a space is theirs, you better mean it!
"
(via lifescreamcomic)
18 6 / 2013
ALL THINGS THAT ARE GOOD: Fairy tales are NOT all straight white heroes and women sans agency! I swear!
I re-blogged a picture of a little girl, dressed as Tiana, hugging the face actress who plays Tiana at one of the Disney Parks, and noted that everyone should have their princess. And a few people have now contacted me basically going “no, only straight white people can have princesses if you stick with the classics.”
Um.
No.
I am a folklorist, and it’s time for some Fun With Folklore.
First off, very few Princesses/fairy tale heroines who are going to become Princesses because that’s what you do are actually defined by specific physical attributes. You have Snow White, who yes, requires the “skin as white as snow” etc, but that’s to make her an alien beauty and justify the actions of her stepmother. She belongs to the Aarne-Thompson tale type 709, which is commonly referred to as “Snow White,” but which contains a hell of a lot more, including “Bella Venezia”, “Myrsina”, “Nourie Hadig” and “Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.” All those links will take you to Wikipedia. Click them. Note that NOT ONE of those girls is defined by her appearance, beyond “incredibly beautiful.” “Nourie Hadig” is Armenian in origin; you can bet that girl was not white as snow. (Note that I do not actually care for the “Nourie Hadig” 709 variant, due to using a Roma girl as the main adversary, but that’s another story.) Any story you want to tell is going to have variants where the heroines are never described! You know why?
BECAUSE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE TELLING THESE STORIES UNDERSTOOD THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR CHILDREN TO SEE THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR OF THE TALE.
There are fairy tales about people with disabilities, ranging from the physical (missing limbs, missing eyes, missing tongues) to the emotional (girls who cannot smile, boys who cannot feel fear). There are fairy tales that end in same-sex marriage. There’s even an excellent fairy tale about gender identity, “The Princess Who Became A Prince,” in which our hero has always felt he was a boy, but tried to be a dutiful daughter, until a dragon stole a neighbor princess and he had to ride to rescue the girl in order to save the kingdom. One misaimed curse later, and wham, our new-minted prince is finally outwardly as he had been all along on the inside.
THIS IS JUST AS OLD AND TRUE AND SCHOLASTIC AS CINDERELLA AND THE OTHERS.
The “big fairy tales” of today are the ones that someone seized on as marketable. We have the power, as drivers of media, to say that we want more diversity. We want Princesses of every race, creed, and religion, and we have the folklore and fairy tales to make them real. We want our transgender Princess (although wow would the marketing be problematic). Saying “the classics” are 100% about straight white people reduces the past to a place where only straight whiteness existed, and where no other children ever needed stories. And that’s not what the past was.
Once upon a time has never stopped being right now.
(via canadrien)
18 6 / 2013
Looking at this makes me feel like someone’s groping around inside my skull… It gives me a weird feeling.
(Source: waywardchester, via heartslayers)
