“I Don’t Know What My Goals Are, No. Thanks For Asking.”

Things I've seen tumblr memeing about James Somerton doing à la "How did no one see how bigoted he was!" as if those things haven't been a significant part of tumblr culture for over a decade :

Presenting untrue and bordering on conspiratorial versions of (queer or otherwise marginalised) history without any sources

Completely disregarding and disrespecting any expertise on socio-cultural topics/humanities and distrusting academics and historians (incl. acting as if no academics or historians could be queer or marginalised)

Downplaying the role misogyny played in the historical oppression of queer women and concluding that queer men must have been more oppressed than queer women

Bi women are, at best, not as queer as "real" queer ppl, and at worst, simply equivalent to straight women

Despite nominal trans inclusivity, transmasculine ppl are functionally women when convenient (combined with the above, bi transmascs are functionally straight women)

Despite nominal trans inclusivity (bis), shamelessly attacking, threatening and actively endangering any trans woman who questions them or smth they find important (often by unfairly presenting her as violent or as a threat)

Having absolutely fucking wild and reductive takes about ace ppl, the oppression they face and their place in the queer community

Stating that marriage equality is an assimilationist fight while completely ignoring its direct roots in the horrifying consequences of the AIDS crisis for partners of ppl who died of AIDS

Praising western media creators from the past for queer coding even under censure and in the same breath condemning current non western media creators for being homophobic bc their representation isn't explicit enough

Blaming China for all existing homophobic censoring in western media

Assuming all queer media would be better told by western creators and by western standards

Only out queer ppl get to tell queer stories

Heavily criticising almost all queer media created by women or ppl they see as such (see above points about trans ppl) or involving/starring a significant amount of women for any perceived or real amount of "problematicness", but fawning over and praising and negating criticism of queer media created by and starring mostly or even functionally exclusively men (even when it could be argued that, you know, not involving/seriously sidelining women is a pretty clear example of misogyny which should probably be considered "problematic")

And I'm probably forgetting stuff or there's stuff I have internalised myself and don't recognise as an issue

Like idk but I feel like the takeaway from Hbomberguy and Toddintheshadow's videos should maybe be "be aware of such patterns in your communities bc they definitely exist" and not "this guy is uniquely awful" and I feel like a lot of the discussion I've seen surrounding this has been severely failing at that. Most ppl who've spent any significant amount of time on tumblr prob either have internalised at least one of those thought patterns, have had to de-internalise them, or have had to be extremely vigilant to not internalise them (which is done by, you know, seeking out other sources, which also seemed like an important takeaway from the videos)

when the character that is full of rage and grief is also full of kindness

Seems I’ve crossed a line again For being nothing more than who I am

tragic fictional siblings... save me...

tragic fictional siblings

save me tragic fictional siblings

Apparently some people think America Ferrera's speech in the Barbie movie is "corny" or "obvious" or something like that. But here's my personal perspective

First thing out of the way: I am nonbinary. I am not a woman. I am AFAB, though, and was therefore socialized like a girl and young woman, even if I felt like those words never really applied to me. Most of the time, though, other people who don't know me will see me as a woman. It's whatever.

No, this movie is not saying anything new. It is not a groundbreaking statement to say women face all these exhausting contradictions that cause them to bend over backwards to do the slightest thing.

But I don't think it's supposed to be groundbreaking. I don't think most people at the Barbie movie are going to have a huge revelation because America Ferrera said something that never heard or thought before. In the context of the movie, the character is speaking to a literal doll who has only recently learned that the real world is kinda shitty for a lot of people. Because this doll is literally something little girls project on, and little girls very often grow into women who deal with this shit. Yes, this is feminism 101, because it's speaking to a character who, until a day ago, lived in a matriarchal society where she never HAD to learn feminism 101. The oppression she faces is literally new to her!

And let's not forget that this is being said by a Latina woman in a blockbuster film. How often do you see that? She describes herself as a "boring mom with a boring job," and then she gets to rant about the fact that she's expected to always be extraordinary, but at the end of it all, she just wants her daughter to love her back and have a good day. And because of that, she's the hero of Barbieland!

Yes, it's cheesy. No, it's not subtle in the slightest. But sometimes, it's nice to hear someone say the words out loud.

And honestly, if you're going into the Barbie movie expecting subtlety, that's on you.

[CONTESTANT 02] - Ken

(Art by @groppy)

it's last match tonight, the biggest tournament series in the world. it's everything... and he's just KEN. as soon as we watched the movie, we knew we had to get him in there. looking at our audience, i'm surprised he didn't win it all. judging by how much production wanted him in, i thought he had at least the first round on lock. i grabbed him right after the movie ended, and he was more than happy to try to prove himself once again. with an inability to describe his own job, and a fractured masculinity, who knows what'll happen to him post-elimination.

...and no, this isn't product placement for mattel.

- Ryan Gosling, Barbie album artists, & toys/merchandise-based media.

(Drive, La La Land, Dua Lipa, Ava Max) (Transformers, Skylanders, Care Bears, Power Rangers)

- Heartbreak, unrequited love, and toxicity.

(I Will Survive, When I Was Your Man, You Belong With Me, Creep) (d3r - toxic, System of a Down - Toxicity, Love The Way You Lie, Bad Romance)

- Cowboys, horses, and masculinity.

(She’s a Big Boy, Old Town Road, Wild Horses, My Little Pony) (Man in the Mirror, Men At Work, American Males, Men In Black)

MP1: audio codec and container format

MP2: audio codec and container format

MP3: audio codec and container format

MP4: video codec and container format

MP5: actually, this one’s a gun

Sorry, I can’t hang out, I’m having my brain chemistry rewritten by the Crane Wives’ “it was a march we made towards ruin and despair/but we held hands all the while.” Yeah, no, it’s gonna be all day. Sorry.

DIFFERENT WOMEN'S BODY TYPES SHOULD BE REPRESENTED NOT BECAUSE YOU FIND THEM HOT OR SEXY OR WANT THEM TO STEP ON YOU BUT BECAUSE THEYRE NORMAL RAAAAAH RAAAAAAAAAH I DONT CARE THAT YOU WANT A BUFF WOMAN TO THROW YOU SHUT UPPPPPP RAAAAAAAAAHHHH