…you Are Welcome Here!

In this household we stan all types of boobs

This is what the Earth looks like from the surface of our red neighbour, Mars!

Happy Earth day everyone 🌎🌍🌏 Hope you’re all staying safe!!

Image Credit: NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover

Medusa with the Head of Perseus, Luciano Garbati, 2008

I firmly believe that how feminist a book is is better demonstrated by its background characters rather than its mains

The way I see it, whenever I get nasty looks for my body hair (from other women) I just think to myself, one day they're going to forget or they'll be drained, or they're in a rush to go somewhere, or whatever have you, and they're gonna be tired and they're still going to want to shave. And I like to think that if they don't shave for whatever reason that day, maybe they'll think of that girl that didn't try at all, and they'll feel more comfortable. Whenever I use to see women unshaved, I first judged, and then I would feel envious. Like, how does she not care? How does she not want to hide? But those women eventually gave the courage to give up shaving as well. And I feel so much better for it. I use to think I was trans, but ever since I let myself be human and natural a lot of my dysphoria went away- bc I was human, for once. I think you letting your natural hair grow can only positively effect the world ❤️

i’m not crying, you’re crying

This is Omega Centauri - the largest globular cluster in the Milky Way! 🌟🌟🌟

It has nearly 10 million stars and some scientists believe that it may have formed as a remnant of a disrupted dwarf galaxy! Strange… 🤔🤔🤔

Taken by me (Michelle Park) using the Slooh Chile One telescope on August 11th, 2020 at 00:07 UTC.

You don’t have to love your body. You don’t even have to like it. But you have to find ways to live with it, as well as you can, and be kind to it whenever possible.

Your body is not the outward expression of your soul. It is not a reflection or a representation of your worth or your True Self. It’s just inhabited meat. It’s a flesh machine with planned obsolescence, and you have to take care of it.

It’s good to love your body, if you can. It will enhance your timed experience of the world if you can appreciate it without too much resentment for the ways it fails or disappoints you. But if you cannot love it, strive at least for neutrality. Make truces with it, however uneasy, and treat it with the respect you would show to any other animal shape.

Space

A woman isn’t a doll by Julia Tsvetkova

real women have body hair – and it’s normal real women have periods – and it’s normal real women have body fat – and it’s normal real women have imperfect skin – and it’s normal real women have wrinkles and grey hair – and it’s normal real women have muscles – and it’s normal

On 20 November 2019 Russian activist, artist and feminist  Julia Tsvetkova was arrested and put on house arrest two days later, charged with “production and dissemination of pornographic materials”. She was also accused of spreading “homosexual propaganda” to minors, and was later fined.

On 9 June, prosecutors confirmed that Tsvetkova was still due to stand trial, provoking real life protests and online outrage. Tsvetkova would be forced to answer for several cartoonish drawings of naked women  with captions that read “Real women have body fat – and it’s normal” or “Real women have wrinkles and grey hair – and it’s normal”.

If convicted, Julia faces prison terms up to 6 years. 

(source)

A common theme I see amongst young feminists, who are starting to understand the depths of male violence against girls and women, is a feeling of such hopelessness that it concentrates into a feeling of bodily inferiority; a feeling of being weaker, being rapeable, being impregnatable. And sometimes even, in turn, hating oneself and ones female body.

I want every woman out there to know that the physical ability to commit violence upon another person is not a superior trait, despite what generations of men would like you to believe.

Men give violence and brute strength value. So let's talk about where we should be giving value to the female body.

First, the reason men are on average stronger than women is also their downfall. Testosterone is a hormone that gives the ability to build muscle and maintain little fat. To simplify how it works, it burns hard and fast to build. This means that it burns hard and fast through the body as well. Mens bodies breakdown quicker- hearts fail, muscles degenerate, etc. They die younger than women.

Essentially, female bodies are more flexible and have a better endurance. This is because our bodies and systems are built for longevity - not power. Mens bodies are built for power and quick burn.

Our uteruses (and other hormonal regulatory systems in our bodies!) love us dearly. Our bodies regulate hormones, limit testosterone, and ensure we don't burn out quick. We experience menopause and men don't. We've been taught this is a bad thing.. But our bodies slow down and stop the hormones that would burn us out, and mens bodies don't. Menopause elevates our lifespan and quality of life.

In fact, this reproductive/regulatory system is so important, we have fat deposits that protect these organs. This allows us to be healthier for longer, too!!

It also helps a ton that we have a boosted immune system, much better than our male peers. On top of that, we have higher pain tolerances! We are better equipped to fight off things that ail us, and persevere through things that would bring us harm.

So we know women live longer, and in better health - but why is that? Is it just testosterone? Is it just to get pregnant? No! Our bodies don't exist to sustain a baby (though they can, and the fact that all life on earth exists because of women is an astoundingly powerful truth) they exist to sustain us - because we were and are community leaders, healers, caretakers, providers - we are immensely valuable.

Why, evolutionarily, are we this way? Because older women bring more value to communities than older men. Look up the Grandmother Hypothesis in evolution studies; it says menopause evolved because it allows women to live longer, because women (specifically grandmothers!) are key to community survival and kin relationships. Older women are key to our species survival; not just for the lifes they may or may not create, but for the relationships, the community, the reasons we live.

Some other miscellaneous thoughts...Sexually, we are the sex that has an organ made entirely for pleasure. We are the sex capable of multiple orgasms, and stronger. That's worth some thought.

So how do men play into all of this? Men are a genetic mutation of us that exist to provide sperm, if we'd like. Men who had more testosterone became stronger than men with less (therefore better at hunting, building shelter), making them more desirable mates, meaning that the next generation of men was stronger as well. And there they placed the value in strength. Which translated to the value of violence.

So the next time you find yourself valuing the capacity for violence, instead look to value the capacity for creation.

Womanhood is made vulnerable by males who choose violence. And that's why our work as feminists is so important. But I promise you - your body was not designed to receive conflict, but to outlast it. You were designed to build something better.