Thecloudthatbounced

this is the most AGGRAVATING application of the law of parsimony. how many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man

theres a knight in my backyard stabbing the ground with his sword trying to render my soil barren by killing the worms but luckily ive trained them all in classical ballet and they keep pirouetting away from the blade

Pictures by Maria Krumova

Despite the assertions of certain scholars, there is little evidence of heteroeroticism in Archaic Greece. Meager references may perhaps be found in the Iliad. While the epic is famous for the relationship between Achilles and Patroclus and its role in turning the tide of the Trojan War, Helen and Paris, commonly interpreted by modern readers as friends, may provide a parallel to these famous lovers. Instrumental to Helen’s escape to Troy with Paris was Aphrodite, whose erotic connotations are well known from Sappho’s poetry. It could be argued, however shocking it may be to our modern sensibilities, that Paris and Helen’s love was of a similar nature. Nevertheless, other possible mentions of “straight” people (I use quotation marks as such an identity did not exist in Ancient Greece) remain debatable. There is no evidence that Hector and Andromache’s love was anything but platonic; the intimacy of their exchange in Book 6 should not be taken as heteroerotic, as declarations of strong affection between friends were common in ancient times. Neither is their marriage proof of institutionalised different-sex unions based on attraction. It is well known that most marriages were concluded for practical reasons, and romantic feelings rarely, if ever, entered the picture. As such, the question of whether “straight” people existed in Archaic Greece cannot be conclusively answered.

Ableism in the Body Positivity Movement and why you should avoid doing and spreading it.

I want to start this off by saying that i am all for body positivity, it’s personally helped me when ive been in non-ableist spaces. This post is not  trying to say that it’s a bad thing overall. The idea and message is good, but the execution doesn’t always live up to that.

Ableism is surprisingly prominent in the movement, despite the name. It shows up in different yet very similar ways. 

The biggest thing is the focus on health. I constantly see people saying being fat is okay because you can be healthy and fat at the same time. This is true of course, you can be both. but why does health matter? Why does health determine respect. Why does health determine whether or not you’re valid?

I am not healthy. I never will be healthy. I am automatically unhealthy due to my disability. Putting focus on health creates two categories of valid and invalid. And the people who make up the majority of the invalid box are disabled.

Not to mention that some fat people are completely abled and still unhealthy. And those people are completely deserving of the same respect anyone else gets.

Another thing is food. People are constantly talking about how they eat the healthiest things and are still fat. Which is valid. But not universal. A lot of disabled people have to limit what they can eat due to their disability. A lot of disabled people have no choice but to eat “unhealthy”* food. This can be due to allergies, disabilities affecting the stomach or digestive system, and how much energy something takes to prepare. people who eat “unhealthy” things are valid and deserving of respect.

People put a bug focus on exercise and/or physical abilities. They talk about how a lot of fat people do actually exercise and stay fat, which is true and valid. But why should people have to exercise to prove that they’re actually valid and deserve respect. And they talk about how fat people can still do things that require a lot of energy and effort (the main things i see are long runs/marathons and yoga).

A lot of disabled people are physically incapable of exercise. And even if they can physically do it, it can be extremely dangerous. Same with a lot of different types of physical activities. This doesn’t make them less deserving of respect or make them suddenly invalid. All it does is show that different people have different levels of physical abilities.

Now, I’ve talked about why it’s ableist to do these things. By why is it important to avoid these things outside of that?

(tw for eating disorders in this next part)

I have an eating disorder. I wont go into specifics, but it’s a restriction based disorder. The ableism in the body positivity movement directly fed into it and made it worse. If you are constantly seeing things that either directly say or imply that your body is not valid, even in the eyes of people who seek acceptance for all bodies, you are going to thing that it does not matter what you do. I thought, and still do to be honest, that since I’m not even valid by the Body Positivity Movement’s standards, it doesn’t matter what I do to myself and i might as well try and be valid by societies damaging standards because that’s better than not being valid at all.

The ableism in the movement is making it counterproductive. And it’s dangerous.

*in quotations because i personally do not think food is healthy or unhealthy. too much water is unhealthy and can kill you.

art by Jenna Gribbon

Remember when they were going to censor the internet?

“October is about trees revealing colors they’ve hidden all year. People have an October as well.”

— Jm Storm (via wordsnquotes)

Earlier today, Nancy Pelosi thanked George Floyd for ‘sacrificing his life for justice.’ This reaction to the news re: Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict is appalling and completely tone deaf. It exemplifies just how out-of-touch our legislators are, especially the most powerful ones.

George Floyd didn’t sacrifice himself. He was murdered in a racist criminal justice system that people like Nancy Pelosi have enabled for decades. As long as these politicians are in office, we will not see the transformational change this country desperately needs. Please keep this in mind as you consider who to support in your local and federal elections. And remember true criminal justice reform will not happen unless we get on the front lines and demand it.