“Imagine If Men Were As Disgusted With Rape As They Are With Periods,” Street Art Activist Elonë

Last Week Tonight s02e24

John Oliver discusses sex education

What’s problematic with this caste-is-dead narrative is that not only is it incorrect and untrue but also that it benefits the savarna in ways that keep the social stratification intact. By denying the current impact of caste on the Dalit’s access to resources, the savarna uses his/her caste privilege to compete for the same set of resources while justifying his/her resentment for affirmative action policies. In so doing, the savarna leverages the widely popular anti-government stand to criticise reservation schemes but continues to reap the benefits his/her caste privilege offers him - social mobility; access to education, healthcare, and career opportunities; possession of ancestral land, property and wealth; trans-national networks and partnerships; and the ease of social acceptance for his/her lifestyle, choices, behaviour and relationships. The savarna, in effect, looks as if s/he is liberal and modern - liberal enough to criticize the state, and modern enough to not believe in the caste system. But if the savarna is indeed that modern, should we not expect him to remove the sacred thread, or not speak in a dialect that gives his/her caste away, or not be particular about marrying into the same caste, or say no to caste-based rituals and festivals? If indeed s/he is that liberal, isn’t it only logical that we expect him/her to shame the state for not addressing caste-based atrocities, or not display selective outrage for only terrorist attacks and animal torture, and show action-oriented solidarity with anti-caste movements? Shouldn’t the savarna demonstrate his/her newly discovered modern identity, which s/he claims is very different from his/her conservative parents, in ways that are more credible and believable? And more importantly, should we not expect the savarna, especially the one who wears the progressive and politicized label, to primarily question his/her privilege and his/her family’s on account of being dominant caste? Most often, the savarna, regardless of his/her social labels, does not feel the need to live up to any of the above expectations; s/he believes his caste privilege also offers him immunity from all kinds of criticism. S/He is at liberty to pick and choose aspects of his identity and lead a lifestyle that is under no compulsion to corroborate his cover story. His/Her privilege allows him to practice caste under the guise of ‘cultural roots’.

Christina Thomas Dhanaraj, “Caste, Friendship, and Solidarity” (via asianamericanfeminisms)

Life mission :)

Don’t waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear.

Paulo Coelho (via z-philosophy)

Confirmed: NASA Just Discovered Earth Has A New Moon

One of the most amazing discoveries as of late is that NASA has just declared Earth appearing to have a second moon that has been orbiting around our big blue sphere for nearly a century now without our knowledge whatsoever.

Keep reading

The luminous haze that obscures our view of the constellations - light pollution -is one of the most prevalent forms of environmental alteration. Its impact is felt across a swath of life from the migration of sea turtles to the circadian rhythm of humans. 

A new atlas of light pollution created by an international team of scientists reveals just how pervasive this artificial glow is. The atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans.

Check out this interactive map and read more here.

WATCH THE FULL SPEECH: Caitlyn Jenner Takes ESPYs By Storm: ‘Trans People Deserve Something Vital. They Deserve Your Respect’

This diagram shows our cosmic address at a glance. We see our planetary system around the Sun, our stellar neighborhood in our galaxy, our galaxy in the local group of galaxies, and our group in the entire universe.

Learn much more in the Cullman Hall of the Universe. 

As a child, I once touched an untouchable. For this infraction I was forced by my grandmother to swallow cow dung as a punishment. I was also made to drink cow urine and bathe in Ganga water to purify myself. This experience ingrained in me what untouchability was in the minds of my community. These women here with me once cleaned human excrement from toilets, and this made them untouchables. They had to wear bells around their necks to warn families of their approach. They were forbidden from going to the temple, doing puja, even bathing in the Ganga. Their children could only play with the pigs and not with children of higher castes.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International, an India-based social service organization (via brahmaanda)

This Private 787 Dreamliner Jet Is Even More Luxurious Than You Can Imagine