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Are you familiar with POOR Magazine? Spend some time there.
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A+ tweet:
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How attached is your cat to you? (I mean, it’s a video of one cat, but I was super entertained by the whole thing.)
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ORAL HISTORY OF THE THREE NERD VILLAINS FROM BUFFY.
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It’s a 30 Rock GIF quiz. I missed two. It’s killing me.
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Caitlin Moran really blew it at a Sherlock event.
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A dinosaur pet guide.
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Want to be an air traffic controller? The government is hiring off-the-street (rare!) beginning Feb. 10th, and if you’re under 31 and have a high-school diploma and 2 years work experience doing anything, go to USAjobs.gov and set up an account (keyword: Air Traffic Control.) The job won’t be up yet, but setting up an account now will make it a lot easier when it posts. My friend, an air traffic controller herself, encourages everyone to look into it: the money is good, and gets REALLY good over time, and then you have to retire at 56 when you start to fade into age and death.
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Tags: feminism, link roundup, the internet
Not sure how I feel about the try-hard “AmeriKKKa”-style topic headlines but I love “Become a Revolutionary Donor”…
Po’Lice
HELLTHCARE
Also they’re still keeping the flame alive for NAFTA-hating after everyone I know just gave up and moved on!
Oh man, that Caitlin Moran thing took over my dash yesterday. I’m conflicted about seeing so much of it. On one hand, I could do without the feelings of rage and betrayal. But on the other it’s pretty awesome to see everyone (and not just the Sherlock fandom–we’re getting support from all corners) pulling together with words of support and encouragement for all fic writers and readers.
Does it sound horribly arrogant and petty to say “Nyah nyah, I never liked her from the start!” because I really, REALLY didn’t. I felt like there was something off and fake about her from day one and although it’s sad the way she showed her true colors, I can’t help feeling just a teensy bit smug for never jumping on her bandwagon.
This quote from a fanfic writer’s open letter to Caitlin is SO GOOD!
“Making fun of fangirls for being too emotional while giving sports fans a free pass is misogyny. Using the same glass-wearing, inhaler-wielding, plain-looking stereotypes of nineties sitcoms on fangirls while geeks are hailed as the new hipsters is misogyny. And passing off erotic fanfiction or fanart as immature and grotesque in a society that still struggles to accept female self-stimulation as normal and natural, as opposed to male masturbatory practices, is misogyny.”
Yes yes yes yes yes. I used that exact Tumblr post to talk about this issue on my LJ. And because I am *just that small of a person* I hope she doesn’t ever appropriately apologize and loses the vast majority of her following as she continues in a downward spiral of hate and hypocrisy.
I almost bought her book a week ago. I’m so glad I didn’t.
I’m shocked at how angry I am – I don’t even like slashfic and I kind of warily skirt the edges of fandom without getting involved in anything – but she was such a classic juvenile bully and for no real reason. Also, way to read a room, lady. Mock the fans at a very fannish event. That will go GREAT FOR YOU.
I bought it a while back, but I got it from a charity shop. I felt vaugely guilty til I realised how awful she is. Fuck, no, she doesn’t deserve those royalties.
Her book is so disappointing because the chapters about her life/family (and especially the early ones about growing up with a zillion siblings) are very funny. But then the “feminism” chapters are… a bit not good. I wish she’d just written a memoir and left it at that.
I mean, she’s already spouted ableist, racist, victim-blaming and transphobic crap. This is of a piece with that.
Whoa, really? Since I got turned off by her early on, I haven’t followed anything she’s said. Wow, that’s just… that’s just so many levels of bad. How has she not alienated more of her readership already?
oooh 30 rock quiz. which gifs did you miss?
Mallory didn’t miss any. I’ve blocked out the two I missed. Heartbreaking. Failure.
I missed four!!!! brb I gotta go rewatch every season of 30 Rock
I missed one. Damn you, snart!
I got them all!! This totally makes up for my shame over missing two of the Simpsons ones last week.
I got them all too and that is my sense of accomplishment for the day.
DAY 2, STILL SUPER FUCKING PISSED OFF ABOUT THE CAITLIN MORAN THING.
Like, I still find it a little weird when creators acknowledge fandom – Orlando Jones is delightful but I get massive don’t cross the streams!!! feelings every time one of his Sleepy Hollow tumblr posts crosses my dash – but that’s at least by choice. Forcing them to read fic that was pulled randomly and out of context, and specifically chosen to embarrass as many people as possible? UGGGGGGH. GROOOOOOOOSS.
For. Real. And she continues to tweet horrible things (http://fireplum.tumblr.com/post/70222347586/an-open-letter-to-caitlin-moran) despite (literal!) world-wide protests and call-outs. Her denial and disregard for her actions are reaching politician levels. Caitlin Moran has shown she’s a sadistic bully and I want to wash her mouth with soap every time she claims the Feminist label. Because FUCK YOU, Caitlin. You are *a bad feminist* if you are a feminist at all.
that open letter was SO GOOD. thanks for linking!
I’m not too deep into the Sherlock fandom, despite loving the BBC series, so I was unaware that this had happened until this link roundup. Anyone mind if I unpack here? No? Good.
1. I have been heavily involved in the fic communities of two fandoms, both now in the past. One was massive; one small. Just like the author in question, I would be *mortified* if the fic I was involved with had been shared with canon creators and mocked publicly, even if said fic was well-received in the fan community.
2. On the other hand, I put it on the internet. I think what Moran did was pure awful all around, but can the author really have a reasonable expectation of a hard and fast line between canon and fandom?
I think it’s one thing to have people read it on the internet. It’s quite another to foist it off on the actors at a public event, for the sole purpose of mockery. I think saying that ‘what can you expect?’ to acts of deliberate meanness just makes the world a little bit shittier every time it happens..
PREACH
I wasn’t really saying “what can you expect,” more saying that it’s more productive to focus the conversation on what a mean, nasty, sexist little move it was on Moran’s part (like CleverManka so nicely states below) and less on the question of privacy in a fandom (which, since I read about this, I have seen several people do).
Re-reading what I posted above, I wasn’t clear. Sorry for that. I was just trying to unpack exactly why we’re all going to tp Moran’s house tonight and what can be let go.
Ah, well then. I think we are in agreement. I do agree that some of the ‘for fandom eyes only’ crowd comes across as a wee bit naive.
I think part of my discomfort with people trying to draw lines around their internet communities comes from calling out men on sexism only to be met with pleas of the contextual appropriateness of their “joke.” Fuck you context – you can’t control things once they get loose on the web. You can, however, condemn people for being jerks.
Sign me up for the TP party, please. I’ll look into airfare costs.
I haven’t been to England in a couple of years. This will be lovely!
“can the author really have a reasonable expectation of a hard and fast line between canon and fandom”
No. But this isn’t about fandom and canon. This is about misogyny and bullying. Fans should be able to have reasonable expectations not to be publicly mocked and humiliated for their enjoyment of something. Putting something on the internet, something created out of love and joy, and then having it ripped apart and ridiculed? That is not something anyone should expect to happen to them, regardless of whether their creation conforms to canon or not.
I’m not in Sherlock fandom, but I was super involved in fandoms in my younger teen days. Re: your last point – TECHNICALLY I think fans can’t have an expectation of total separation, but honestly the sense of fandom I get across the board is that it’s kind of a safe space. Smart authors/actors, even if they’re a little weirded out by the stuff fans create, will appreciate its existence but simultaneously stay the eff out – they’ll guard the boundaries, but not step inside, if you will. Caitlin Moran pulled fandom outside of itself with that trick, and I think everyone is so uncomfortable with it because her actions go explicitly against the “safe space” rules, if you will. It was pretty malicious.
Here is a really fantastic rebuttal of the “well you put it on the internet what do you expect” argument: http://acafanmom.tumblr.com/post/70305287645/cosm…
I’ve been seriously considering some pathway to an ATC job for a while now, but there’s still a couple things I’m concerned about. It’d be great if your friend could weigh in…
I heard the location is pretty much out of your control- lots of small regional airports and military bases need ATCs and they are far from the bustling cities that I’d like to live in (also where those six figure jobs are at). This includes a mandatory training in OKC, on the job training placement, etc. I’d like to stay in Chicago, but I doubt they’d take a greenie at Midway, even.
What’s the burnout rate? It’s a stressful job (it seems like a fun kind of stress to me, but I might be crazy?), so I kind of expect the turnover is fairly high. What do people do afterwards? Go back to whatever industry they were in before? Basically, I’m being a cynic and worried about not being able to handle the job (assuming I even make it in! hah) and then being stuck without many options.
we need a gal air traffic controller series
Actually though. I weirdly find myself interested in this.
I don’t know how similar it would be, but for what its worth – my husband looked into this in Canada, and the location thing was the biggest no go for him. There was no way around it and the moves were out of your control and seemingly pretty arbitrary.
My friend’s dad was an air traffic controller and lovvvvvvved it and did it for decades and was forced to retire at 56 and got super depressed for a while because he loved the job so much. He’s a huge type A personality.
That dinosaur pet guide!!! I love it into little tiny bits. ::skips off, singing “I Want A Compsognathus For Christmas”::
I Want A Compsognathus for Christmas,
Only a Compsognathus will dooooo!
No Suchosaurus, No Brontosaurus-us-es
I only like Compsognathus-us-es-es!
And Compsognathus like me toooooo!
My cat follows me everywhere. It’s actually kind of annoying sometimes.
My cat would definitely not act like that cat in the video. He is super shy, and it takes him a while to warm up to strangers.
Both cats follow me when I leave the house. Bonny hides under cars and wails for me until I either get back or she gets too hungry to ignore it.
Yesterday I went to a freinds house in the same neighbourhood and she was crying so loud that complete strangers started to check under cars because they thought there was a hurt cat nearby.
My cat follows me around the house, whining for attention if I’m doing something else. On the other hand, when I confronted him with that video, he responded by trying to gnaw on my hand and I’m considering that an admission of guilt.
I have so much love for the nerd trinity. I mean, I LOVE that they are all from previous points in the series (or at least siblings of previous characters), I love that Jonathan is an Oscar-winning screenwriter, I love that Andrew has rolled with his role and I love the character in the s8 and s9 comics, and, well, I love that Warren got SKINNED ALIVE.
Guys, I have so many Buffy feelings. They’ll never die.
We need more Buffy posts on this website.
“The saddest fact I’ve learned is: Nobody matters less to our society than young black women. Nobody.” Wow. Just wow. I only knew a little about what R. Kelly has done/is probably still doing before reading that article (enough to make me very uncomfortable when self-proclaimed feminists – or anyone else – praised his work without even acknowledging it), which only proves Mr. DeRogatis’ point. He is absolutely fucking right that if R. Kelly had raped even a single underage white girl, the level of media coverage – and the outcome of the trial – would have been very different. We are failing as a society when something like this can happen.
That piece is so brutal, and so important. I feel like a lot of hipster press (ok, mostly Pitchfork), give R Kelly a pass because liking him or commenting on his genius treads the ever-beloved line of “ironic or honest”. You know what? Dude raped multiple little girls, girls who couldn’t drive or graduate from high school or consent on any sort of equal footing to a famous millionaire adult male. IDGAF how “awesome” or “groundbreaking” “Trapped in a Closet” is, you’re giving money to this known rapist asshole.
I hesitate to put a ton of credence in what I hear on the internet, but someone I know (on the internet, of course) said she’d worked with public school kids in Chicago in 2006 and one high school on the South Side had an R Kelly policy– the cops and administration kept him out of a few-block radius, and he wouldn’t get arrested. Eventually they had to expand it to include his flunkies.
I have heard similar stories from folks I know IRL who grew up on the South Side in the 90s.
I was sickened by the parts of the story (among others) that talked about him meeting high school girls by visiting their gospel choir, or everyone knowing why he hung out in the school parking lot. The media failed these girls by not reporting on the story or taking it more seriously when it came to light, but they were first failed by the very adults who were supposed to protect them, who knew what was happening and did nothing. And I can’t help but feel that as long as we all keep buying his albums and publicizing and praising his work without any discussion of his crimes, we are confirming the implicit belief that led to all of this – that young black women are essentially expendable, that their lives and well-being are not worth as much as a hit single or a lucrative music festival.
Yeah, that piece made me wish I could take back every time I was like “look at this weird-ass thing R. Kelly is doing, hahaha isn’t he so bizarre and hilarious!” because the more I think about it, the more I realize that he’s probably doing the weird shit on purpose to distract from the fact that he is RAPING LITTLE GIRLS. Jesus fucking Christ.
Ugh, me too. I had no Idea about any of this, any it is really, really horrifying that I have watched/enjoyed some of his work.
I think it is really difficult and I didn’t want to call myself out on it either until this summer when DeRogatis, who sometimes just infuriates me with his music opinions but I get it he is a critic, did some really great interviews on Vocalo (VOCALO FOREVER) when R. Kelly came to Pitchfork. And also just seeing people I knew with their “lulz look at the hipster pins with the daterape jokes! hahaha” and becoming infuriated.
I mean, I think it was when he was really explicit about saying: this is a multimillion dollar festival in Union Park, barely a mile or so from where those girls still live, and all these partying kids just could not care less.
Feelings. Chicago feelings. I have lots of them. I think this is good though that we are talking about it and we should KEEP TALKING about it and you know, pushing people we know on this.
I’m with you on this. I had no idea about the extent of his behaviour. I’m a believer in considering the art to be separate from (but intertwined with) the artist but I sure as hell don’t want to have any more discussions about this man or his music anymore that don’t acknowledge and question his unpunished criminality.
Exactly! I can understand and respect wanting to see art as separate from the artist (though I myself find that difficult on an emotional level), but the very least, the bare fucking minimum, that we can do is refuse to consume and analyze his art uncritically. And to anyone who questions why we would feel the need to bring it up every time we talk about R. Kelly, I can only refer them to all of the people who like his music but have no clue what he did. If his deeds aren’t to be punished, they need to be remembered.
Yeah, he’s the worst and I wish I could take back everything good I’ve ever said about Ignition Remix.
I’ve always been pretty uncomfortable with R. Kelly. I knew about the publicized charge and that he was acquitted, but something always seemed off about him. He’s exalted among hipsters who either don’t know or don’t care enough to look beyond the manufactured hype surrounding him. He’s performing in Detroit on NYE and my friend asked me to go with her and I was like HELL NO.
The kitty experimental design was totally lame! When the dog owner came into the room, the “stranger” wasn’t playing or interacting with the dog at all. When the cat owner came back into the room, the stranger was actively distracting it with a toy! Plus, I’d like to see an experimental control where a second stranger enters the room instead of the owner. You know a golden lab would be all over anybody who walked in the door, indiscriminate balls of happy that they are. I’m chalking this up to anti-cat bias.
So … is there going to be no place on The Toast to talk about the Beyonce album? Because…. I have So Many Thoughts, many of which contrast her blatant objectification of her own body with her overall message on Feminism and Jay Z’s domestic violence line in “Drunk in Love” which is actually horrific and I love that song / Bey / Jay so much!
Yes! I had that same reaction about the objectifying her body. I’m not the greatest at differentiating between the male gaze and an acceptable gaze but I definitely got the male gaze here. Would love someone to talk about it!
DEAR TOAST,
You are perfect for posting about POOR Magazine. I don’t even understand how you can be as perfect as you are.