Rachael Stephen's Blog, page 12
May 29, 2015
May 25, 2015
"He said my writing does not show him Africa. Keep in mind this American man has never visited any..."
He said my writing does not show him Africa. Keep in mind this American man has never visited any country in Africa. He said I was writing about Africans driving and listening to Sade in air-conditioned cars. He just couldn’t identify with such. He said it like I should apologize for ever portraying my people as some modern day normal Africans. It is as though if Africans are not killing each other or dying of a disease; then our stories are not valid. As a Nigerian, I have never witnessed war and I know what listening to Sade in an air-conditioned car while in crazy Lagos traffic feels like, yet an American who has never stepped foot in my continent tried explaining my country to me. He said, “I am sorry, this is just not believable….” and then as I tried to hold my anger, I understood the ‘burden’ of writing an African story.
The anger most African writers feel when others seem to know so damn much about our own motherland. The terrible idea that Africans are a certain way is disheartening. I remember how my friend in Lagos laughed as I told her about the American. She laughed loud at his foolishness and cursed him in Yoruba. You cannot tell me what an African city looks like, you cannot tell me what a Nigerian city looks like. You cannot tell me how to write about Africa only if it shows her people as helpless, only if it feeds into your stereotype. How can a foreigner tell us about our own land? They want to shake their head, read only about struggles and discuss it in their book clubs. The audacity of a foreigner to tell me how to write about my people.
”- Ijeoma Umebinyuo (via scapetheserpentstongue)
May 20, 2015
underorange:
jimintomystery:
I’ve had this rant building for a while, so here goes.I have no use...
I’ve had this rant building for a while, so here goes.
I have no use for works that must depict increasing cruelty to hold an
audience’s attention. If all you have to say about suffering is “can you
top this?” I am not impressed. And I resent the implication that this makes me too weak-willed or emotionally involved to properly form an opinion.There is a fine line between doing something brilliant that generates controversy, and generating a controversy in the hope of appearing brilliant. The former should not be used to make excuses for the latter. The mere act of pushing the envelope does not, in and of itself, result in an artistic triumph above criticism. Indeed, the point of pushing the envelope would seem to be to risk failure, incite emotions, and invite criticism. If you poke the bear, you don’t get to whine that the bear is taking it too personally, or that the bear should wait and see where you’re going with this.
It’s a free society and stuff, so I’m not gonna tell anyone they can’t wallow in their sadism or creepy shit. But people who do that crap don’t get a free pass, that says it’s ~*~art~*~ so nobody can say anything bad. Art is supposed to pull you in and tell you something. If a work tells me “this artist is just trying to fuck with people,” it’s not my job to apologize and learn to enjoy that.
well said.
May 15, 2015
jenniferrpovey:
thymoss:
railroadsoftware:
no one ever says that Rome needed help from aliens to...
no one ever says that Rome needed help from aliens to build their empire
#l laughed for days when i found out that #ancient egyptians used water to reduce friction and move blocks for distances #and that this was literally DEPICTED ON THEIR HIEROGLYPHICS #but ~western archaeologists~ #thought that the pouring of water depicted ~superstitious rituals~ #jfc
As an archeology major, I can vouch for this being absolutely true:
Any time we see something we don’t understand, we mark it down as ritual purposes. It’s actually a catch-all euphemism for “We have absolutely no clue what these people were doing here yet so until we work it out we’ll pretend it was something to do with their religion.”
And yeah, sometimes it is a white people thing. When white people went into Canada the natives introduced them to the delights of maple syrup. The white people asked “Well, how did you ever work out this sap was edible and delicious.”
The native people responded, “Oh, well, Squirrel showed us.”
White people: Hahahaha They’re off on that totem animal spirit guide thing again.
It wasn’t until this century that scientists actually observed squirrels in that area cutting holes in sugar maples, waiting for the sap to crystallize, and eating it.
The native people were actually being literal and the white people thought they were being metaphorical. Sigh.
"Men’s Rights Activists have called for a boycott of Mad Max: Fury Road, describing it as “feminist..."
-
Aaron Clarey, a blogger [who] focuses on men’s issues, wrote that he was initially excited at
the “explosions, fire tornadoes [and] symphonic score of Fury Road,”
because it “looked like a straight-up guy flick.” But Clarey (who hasn’t actually seen the film yet) describes being
mortified when discovering from critics, who hailed Theron’s performance
and the well-rounded nature of her role in the film, that Fury Road was
not your average action movie.
WHO HASN’T SEEN THE FILM YET.
He hasn’t even seen the film, and he’s losing his shit.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh, you stupid, stupid, stupid, sad little manchild. Grow up, darling.
(via wilwheaton)
May 14, 2015
jollysnidge:
I keep thinking how much more powerful the Spiderman origin story would be if Peter...
I keep thinking how much more powerful the Spiderman origin story would be if Peter Parker was an African American kid, whose Uncle Ben was shot by police while being arrested for a minor parking infraction. There is no formal investigation, and Peter decides to put himself on the line to prevent it happening again. He tackles the white crimes that go unpunished, punishes POC criminals fairly. He is the leveler, always fighting to be without bias, to be just. To protect people like his uncle.
This not only mirrors so much of what’s happening in America, but feeds right into the complex relationship between Spiderman, the authorities and the media.
Peter Parker is a brilliant student, awkward, a nerd, but is branded a thug, a gang member, a criminal, because of his appearance. The media latch on to that and misrepresent him totally.
The police, humilitated by the fact that he refuses to work with them and often punishes cops themselves for brutalizing innocent people, or guilty people who still deserve better treatment than they get, attempt to hunt him down.
May 13, 2015
darksprawn:
i know dwayne ‘the rock’ johnson doesn’t know me but i consider him a friend
i know dwayne ‘the rock’ johnson doesn’t know me but i consider him a friend
May 11, 2015
actualmenacebuckybarnes:The Myth of the Extraordinary Woman doesn’t challenge sexism. Having one...
The Myth of the Extraordinary Woman doesn’t challenge sexism. Having one female character in a group of male characters who deserves to be there because she “earned their respect” by “being the best” does NOTHING to threaten the patriarchy, because it’ll just isolate her as an aberrant case. MOST women are useless, but THIS ONE is special.
You know what does threaten the patriarchy? Communities of women. Older female mentors taking younger ones under their wing. Presenting a united front to sexism. Women who don’t even WANT to join the boy’s club, who seek the approval of other women, and value THEIR opinions over gatekeeping sexists.
May 10, 2015
Magpies are magicians and crows are witches
Magpies are magicians and crows are witches
zoeylamoureaux:
Los Angeles–based designer Emily McDowell was...
Los Angeles–based designer Emily McDowell was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 24, enduring nine months of chemo and radiation before going into remission.
“The most difficult part of my illness wasn’t losing my hair, or being erroneously called ‘sir’ by Starbucks baristas, or sickness from chemo,” McDowell writes on her website. “It was the loneliness and isolation I felt when many of my close friends and family members disappeared because they didn’t know what to say, or said the absolute wrong thing without realizing it.”
The 38-year-old designer has been cancer-free ever since. But the emotional impact of the experience lingered, inspiring her to design a newly launched series of Empathy Cards—emotionally direct greeting cards that say the things she wanted to hear when she was ill.
The blurbs about each card are great to read (click on the photos), as is the Slate article describing the inspiration for the card line
