(Source: notcitizenshipandsocialjustice)
In movies, if you’re tall and thin and Black and not too bad looking, you’re usually a prostitute. If you’re fat, you play mothers, and if you’re ugly, you play maids. - Madge Sinclair
Mammy or Jezebel
"[TW: rape culture]
How porn is implicated in rape is complex and multilayered. Clearly, not all men who use porn rape, but what porn does is create what some feminists call a “rape culture” by normalizing, legitimizing, and condoning violence against women. In image after image, violent and abusive sex is presented as hot and deeply satisfying for all parties. These messages in porn chip away at the social norms that define violence against women as deviant and unacceptable, norms that are already constantly under assault in a male-dominated society. In most mass-produced images a woman has no bodily integrity, boundaries, or borders that need to be respected. Combined, these images tell us that violation of these boundaries is what she seeks out and enjoys. This is one among many rape myths that porn disseminates to users. Embedded in porn are numerous other myths, all of which seek to present sexual assault as a consensual act rather than an act of violence."
How porn is implicated in rape is complex and multilayered. Clearly, not all men who use porn rape, but what porn does is create what some feminists call a “rape culture” by normalizing, legitimizing, and condoning violence against women. In image after image, violent and abusive sex is presented as hot and deeply satisfying for all parties. These messages in porn chip away at the social norms that define violence against women as deviant and unacceptable, norms that are already constantly under assault in a male-dominated society. In most mass-produced images a woman has no bodily integrity, boundaries, or borders that need to be respected. Combined, these images tell us that violation of these boundaries is what she seeks out and enjoys. This is one among many rape myths that porn disseminates to users. Embedded in porn are numerous other myths, all of which seek to present sexual assault as a consensual act rather than an act of violence."
— Gail Dines, Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality (via wretchedoftheearth)
(via ethiopienne)
"One of the ancient ploys of the film industry is to make a film about non-white people and find a way, however convoluted, to tell it from the point of view of a white character."
—
Film critic Roger Ebert on Hollywood in his review of “Flowers of War”
“Can you think of any reason the character John Miller is needed to tell his story? Was any consideration given to the possibility of a Chinese priest? Would that be asking for too much?”
(via racebending)
(via fuckyeahcracker)
"When feminists can see the problem with all male panels but can’t see the problem with all white television programmes, it’s worth questioning who they’re really fighting for."
— Reni Eddo-Lodge (via rayemanadvoratrelundar) (via norma-desmond)
(Source: thefword.org.uk, via youngbadmangone)
Check out more infographics and stunning stats on gender disparities in film and TV (even children’s shows).
(via youngbadmangone)
How quickly some people forget they have rights and are willing to trash them.
How quickly they succumb to irrational FEAR.
How quickly they like to play the victim.
How quickly they turn hysterical, paranoid, and pathetic.
How quickly they’re willing to do anything an authority figure tells them to do, no matter how ineffective or abusive that thing might be.
How quickly they’re willing to live in a fantasy world where “Terrorists Are Hiding Around Every Corner”, Oh My!
:)
"It [Israel] doesn’t like journalists telling the truth and communicating facts and footage – the evidence of what it does. The most prominent example of that is from May 2010 [Israel attacked a Gaza flotilla], when Israel deliberately destroyed the memory cards of journalists… Israel also jammed communications, including satellite communication and cellular communication… So Israel is simply trying to suppress the truth."
—
Harry Fear, a filmmaker who is currently in Gaza, on Israel’s bombing of two media centres which hosts international media outlets including Britain’s Sky News, Italian RAI, German ARD, Kuwait-TV, Sky News Arabia, MBC TV, Al Arabiya, ORF. The strikes injured 6 journalists, one of whom had to have his leg amputated following the attack.
The Israeli Army later told BBC that they knew foreign journalists were in at least one of the buildings before the attack, and satisfied with this knowledge, they went ahead with the strikes.
(via israelfacts)
the media’s making people of color look bad? No! No! I don’t believe it!
Joking: no really, does anyone else feel uncomfortable that the Treyvon Martin issue was blown out of the water in an Emmit Till fashion? I mean kudos to that issue being brought to light but…you have to wonder why. The recent breakout story about the woman who was attacked by the KKK and set ablaze-there are now reports that this might have been fabricated.
And he’s right, what famous names do we have right now, let’s go through the list just at the top of my head: Beyonce, Rihanna, Oprah, Al Sharpton (even he’s lost some of his recognition), Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Nikki Giovanni, Maya Angelou, Obama (of course), umumum…ohwait what about inventors, activists, artists, playwrites, successful CEOs who haven’t “sold out to the man.” Right…we don’t hear about them…coincidence? Neverrrrr.
I’d hate to become one of those Al Sharpton types, the type who believes he is a freedom fighter for the black cause and who wrangles about the most trivial of altercations among African Americans and other groups.
But sometimes, it seems like I might be heading down this path.
On Oct 21, Louisiana native Sharmeka Moffit, 20, called police claiming she had been set ablaze by three men wearing hooded attire at a park in Winnsborro, La. She said the men also sprayed her car with the letters “KKK” and a racial slur.
On Tuesday, however, Franklinton Police reported the incident may have been fabricated by Moffit, stating her fingerprints were linked to the cigarette lighter and lighter fluid was found at the scene of the incident.
The media went wild. People from around the state and country, including media personalities, blasted Moffit. They called her names ranging from liar to deranged to foolish.
Some older people I spoke with, though, thought the facts of this story were a bit sketchy. Maybe Moffit was crazy or maybe this was a cover-up to protect white supremacist men in a rural town about 60 miles from Jena, the scene of another racially charged conflict back in 2006 and 2007.
Though much information is still desired, this story is a classic example of the distrust between older African Americans, the media and law enforcement.
The media refers to mass communication in its entirety, including newspapers, magazines, television, radio and social websites such as Twitter and Facebook. According to Umar Bey, author of “We are The Washitaw,” this influential and inescapable entity maintains negative stereotypes attributed to African Americans.
“The media has been destroying the image of people of color, particularly black people, since it came into existence. Look at the first 11 minutes of the nightly news,” Bey said, referring to the usual crime segment at the beginning of the program.
Bey added that the media is a complex propaganda distributor fed to the masses.
Though I disagree with some of Bey’s views, the media does distort African American images.
We rarely hear of the contributions of black inventors and intellects to American society. The popularity of black entertainers and athletes trumps that of scientists, astronauts, professors and other intellectual people of color. We see more of Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Lebron James, rather than the likes of President Obama, Cornel West, and Saundra McGuire.
We idolize the ones with the gold chains, but sometimes these entertainers sport the other types of chains –as witnessed by the recent arrests of former LSU football players.
The distrust between African Americans and law enforcement in this country goes back to the time of segregation when police helped white supremacists maintain Jim Crow Laws. In the South, many of the law enforcers themselves were part of these white supremacist groups who tortured black communities.
In some instances, such as in Bogalusa, African Americans had to take up arms to defend their communities — a role that should have been played by law enforcement.
Even still, cases such as Emmett Till and Rodney King remind the community of the one-sided hand of justice in this country. This may be the reason why black parents go to lengths to sternly discipline their children so they would stay out of the legal system.
I can vividly remember my frequent whoopings from my mother. She said “I do this because I love you,” and then went on to punish me. Child abuse? Maybe. Successful implementation of discipline? Yes.
Today, people of color have more of a presence in media than ever before. Personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Nelson Mandela are adored across racial lines. The trust in the African American community for the media is better than it has been in the past.
But in the case of law enforcement, I see no love gained. It is not a white and black issue, but an issue of prosperity.
As long as there are have and have not’s, with many of the have not’s being blacks, law enforcement will continue to be an enemy to the black community.
In capitalist America, we are to love and pursue money. If your education is mediocre and you lack the discipline to work 9 to 5, then get-rich-quick schemes become more appealing. Too often, members of the black community fall victim to this quest.
As the saying goes, “Never bite the hand that feeds you.”
But sometimes, it is necessary to examine the hand and ask where the food comes from.
