| — | The Sociological Cinema (via queerintersectional) |
Nicki Minaj casually dismantles sexism while applying her eyeliner
This was, legitimately, my very first impression of Nicki Minaj. And this is the reason why, to this day, I have the utmost respect for her, even though I don’t like all of her music.
I watch this every time it pops up my dash and it never stops being excellent.
This did everything BUT make her look stupid.
E
Nicki Minaj…couldn’t she write a song about this instead of some of the crap she spews? My respect level for her went up significantly. She should show more people this side of her.
I feel that people have so much respect for this because so few famous women come out and complain about the unequal treatment they experience. Nicki Minaj has been greatly affected by being in the public light. Before her MTV status she was openly bisexual and had plenty of raps about being dominant sexually and what not. She later stated that she made it up her sexuality to get attention. She objectifies herself all of the time and has had plastic surgery. I respect what she said only because so few women actually say how they feel about unfair treatment of women.
Islam and gender inequality are complex issues. I think Inna and Laila are both wrong and I think they are both right. To say that being Muslim and being a feminist don’t conflict is like saying that being gay and being christian don’t conflict. Tons of people hold both of these identities, but they conflict not because of personal cognitive dissonance, but because of what society has told us those identities mean. Many people are feminist AND catholic but they recognize that the powerful people (i.e. priests, cardinals, the pope) under Catholicism who DEFINE Catholicism for everyone else are sexist, corrupt, and exclusive. I think the dominant class will find whatever justifications it takes to maintain their power, including twisting Bible and Q’uran verses into an institutionalized social structure. Islam is not inherently radical or fundamentalist. In fact, the Middle East and Western Europe have completely switched in terms of… tolerance. During the medieval era, the middle east was extremely secular and philosophical. The scholars of the fertile crescent outperformed those of ancient Greece and Rome. Western Europe, victim of political and religious corruption, went on crusades to force convert people of far away lands they thought were “unholy”. In other words, the crusaders were the medieval terrorists. Political turmoil has revolutionized and flipped upside down the politics of Iran and other surrounding countries during the 20th century. The secular fertile crescent has turned into a location of political turmoil, partly because of colonization (Thanks crusading westerners). This political turmoil has caused those with the most strength and power to take advantage of the nation’s weakness. Naturally those people were the men and the rich. In order to solidify their governments, the political leaders manipulated and twisted religious texts to correlate with their own ideals. It is genius. If you are against the government, you are against Allah, God, Jehovah, whoever. So is the oppression of women really about Islam or Christianity? No, its about patriarchy. Religion was added to dilute the issue the way it was added during segregation in the ’60s and the way it is being done about gay rights now. When you say women must be subservient because of a religious text, that integration is wrong, or that same sex relationships are crossing God, you are only lying to yourself. It is no surprise that many of the most oppressive governments are also the most “religious.”
In regards to hijabs, that’s even more complicated. Its kind of like a quote i posted a while ago, “What is the real meaning of a woman’s “consent”….. in a society in which men as a social group control not just the choices open to women but also women’s motivation to choose?” I respect women who cover themselves up because they are aware of how society sees them. They know that people will treat them poorly for what they wear and they want respect just like men. But my question to women who wear head coverings is, even though you may not have worn it as a child, how much of deciding to wear it was influenced by other people? Even though I have chosen to have long hair, I know that I have long hair because society tells me that is beautiful, and beautiful people are treated better. We do not live in a vaccuum and everything, I mean everything, is gendered.
no no it’s not “the opposite sex” it’s “the opposing sex” because they are our enemies and should be hated.
we attack at dawn, ladies.
| — | Nicholas Kristof, Half the Sky (via thepeacefulterrorist) |
| — | A girl in my creative writing class said this in response to a story we read about witnessing intimate partner violence and it really fucked with my head because I’ve never, ever, ever, thought of it that way (via rebelsoulz) |
Arab Women Against Islamism
FEMEN!
Seriously, though. Can we stop posting pictures of FEMEN saying they’re Arab/Muslim women, as if they represent all Muslim women? Shit is fucked up and needs to stop.
Who says they represent all muslim women? Is activism not allowed unless it represents every single person who is even mildly related to the targeted group? This anti-femen backlash is ridiculous. There are things to discuss but the knee-jerk “argh fuck femen” reaction is really not productive.
What would the reaction be if these women were muslim? Do they then represent all muslim women? Would the solidarity actions all of a sudden become meaningful? Is the only connection to another human being allowed based on race/religion/culture? Are these women not allowed to feel empathy for other women in a different and more oppressive culture?
Muslim women are telling FEMEN that they do not want them to represent them. Yet FEMEN continually disregards them. THAT’s the issue.\
Solidarity is important. But so is respecting the voices of your sisters, regardless of how oppressed you think they are.
I haven’t seen anything from Femen telling muslims women to shut up or stop expressing themselves so I’m not sure how Femen is disregarding muslim women. Especially since they are showing support for muslim women in oppressive cultures.
Why can’t Femen protest the treatment of women in oppressive cultures in the middle east? I saw some of their protest images that I thought were kinda racist and/or insensitive but that is a different issue than what you are discussing. Please elaborate.
Just throwing it out there that Inna Shevchenko kinda overstepped herself in saying: ”They write on their posters that they don’t need liberation but in their eyes it’s written ‘help me’.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/05/muslim-women-against-femen-facebook-topless-jihad-pictures-amina-tyler_n_3021495.html
Otherwise I enjoy all of this dialogue going on.
