This year I learned that I’m fat. Same thing I learned last year and the year before and the year before and ect. ect. The only difference is that this year I said, “Yes, and?” Same thing I did last year and the year before and… oh wait.

Seriously though this year I learned that my “yes, and” sass inspires people, and I think that’s pretty neat, because honestly, telling me I’m fat just means that you’re only capable of pointing out the obvious and not capable of even attempting to be the kind of human being who can actually talk to people and appreciate who they are instead of zeroing in on the size of their stomachs. You’re not capable of understanding that someone’s waist size is not a hindrance to their character. And frankly, if you’re put off by someone you don’t even know because they’re bigger than you then you’re the one with problem. Same thing goes for everything that makes us different, because its those differences that make this world an interesting place to live in.

Diversity is beautiful. Don’t hate on people who are able to smile and love themselves, because in this judgmental world, smiles are the bright spot that we need. If you have nothing better to do than to tarnish someone’s smile, then that’s the true definition of the word “sad.”

I hate the mindset of, “We need more diversity” then something comes out that attempts to have some diversity and the response is, “Well it’s not representing ALL diversity therefore it is shit.”  

Do we need more diversity in our media?

Yes.

Do I expect one show to have every single type of person in it?

No.

But I just want SOMETHING, you know?  So when a show like Urbance has an awesome looking dark skinned cast (which, yes, skin color is a thing in the black community where people who are darker than others don’t think they’re as attractive, so yes, thank you, for cool looking dark skinned characters) that’s reason to celebrate, not crucify it because, “It’s missing some stuff” or “are they really PoC because future world where everyone looks like that.”  

Everything is missing some stuff, the point is to try.  You don’t have to cram in every kind of minority, I just want some representation that’s different than the norm.  I’m black and part of the LGBT community, I’m not going to get pissed off if I find a great cast of black characters but none of them are gay.  I can remember growing up watching great shows that had a predominately black cast that didn’t touch on LGBT issues, but hey, that didn’t mean that they didn’t touch on issues that were important to me.  Same can be said for every form of media you can think of.  I’ve seen great shows that empower women of color but not lesbian women of color.  I’ve seen great shows that talk about LGBT issues but don’t talk about race.  The point is to celebrate the series that try to have diversity, even a little bit, and not just the one sassy black friend or the hip swinging gay guy, but actual characters with a story to tell (and that’s characters with an “s,” as in more than one)  

So let's not give these shows a hard time because they don’t have every single minority group in one sitting, especially when the show is still developing and could very well introduce said person who is part of said group that’s missing.  

geekygothgirl:

feministcaptainkirk:

badlywrittenproblogs:

antfish:

breathelikefire:

black—lamb:

feministingforchange:

feministcaptainkirk:

Spot the lie. Oh wait, trick question

This is SPOT ON!!!

pretty much

Spicy Mayo

No. This is wrong. How does not “seeing race” make someone an ignorant asshole? What’s wrong with this is that it’s doing the same thing white people are doing, and if it’s wrong for white people, it’s wrong for all people. Fuck labeling myself or anyone else. I’m a human, my species has invented telecommunications, space flight, simulations of a human brain, and gone to the fucking moon. It sucks that ancestors were used for backbreaking labor without pay, but whites weren’t the only one’s that did it. I’m not saying that it was right, because the worst thing to do other than genocide. But Egyptians had slaves, maybe not in the massive quality as the whites, and that’s a huge fucking number, but it happened. The cop issue sucks so much it’s like an overgrown dyson vacuum cleaner, but that’s where we vote the people who will bring us change. It sucks to be a minority country, I wouldn’t understand the shit people have to go through and I’m sorry, but racism has to end for everyone. Otherwise the side will tip, and it will be the same thing just opposite. And is bringing someone’s pain and dropping it onto someone else the right thing to do? No, it isn’t. That’s what bullying is, and no one likes a bully.

The problem with saying “I don’t see colour” is two-fold: first, your belief that not “seeing” people for the diversity they represent makes you a good person. It doesn’t (and going about the world thinking you’re better than those who do actually makes things worse), The second part — and the crux of this matter — is that not seeing people for their diversity of backgrounds means you’re actively and consciously ignoring the (historical and current) context of their lives.

It’s akin to telling someone who was wrongly imprisoned for thirty years, “hey, you’re out of jail now, so stop talking about it!” As if ex-convicts are not discriminated against or stigmatized in society, including those who were wrongly imprisoned.

Don’t deny your white privilege. Acknowledge it and dismantle it.

You’re right, though. No one likes a bully. Which is why no one likes white people.

Also I love how these idiots are always like NON WHITE PEOPLE HAD SLAVES TOO and they drag up stuff that literally happened thousands of years ago but when black people talk about American slavery and its continuing impact on American blacks to this day thanks to the institutions that followed it (an incomplete list including the exclusion of blacks from the Homestead Act, sharecropping, Jim Crow laws, and anti-drug laws among others) it’s always OH MY GOD THAT HAPPENED SO LONG AGO JUST GET OVER IT when American slavery was only officially abolished in 1865, which for those of you playing along at home who can do math, is just over 150 years ago. And they always act like the abolishing of slavery lead to instant equality for American blacks when yeah, look at our fucking history. As a country America has actively worked to stigmatize and devalue black people and white people (myself included) have benefited immensely from that. Drop your “colorblind” bullshit. White people are the only people who can afford to be “colorblind” and say things like “race doesn’t matter” because for us, it doesn’t. Too bad it’s not the same for everyone.

Reblogging for the commentary.

Also reblogging to say what I always say about “I don’t see color” which is: I get what you’re saying but no.  There’s nothing wrong with seeing color.  There’s nothing wrong with diversity.  Our differences make us beautiful.  See them.  Appreciate them.  Respect them.  It’s perfectly fine to see color just don’t be a dick about it.

That’s a good point, anon, and I feel the same way.  I follow a lot of cosplayers and I love the work that everyone puts into their costumes.  At the same time, it’s nice to see plus sized cosplayers, black cosplayers, all sorts of cosplayers doing their thing and getting recognition.  It’s nice to see a variety.  I feel like that with everything, really.  Black Disney princess?  Yay!  GLBT dating options in video games?  Score!  Female action heroes?  Yes please!  I’ve always felt like that.  Representation is so important  :)  

blackfangirlsunite:

freshmouthgoddess:

yet… with the internet you have a lot lot of Indie producers doing things .. from clothes , to web series to books yet.. they don’t get as much support …as much promotion as white media creators …you say you want it yet you’re not buying in droves ..like the white stuff… so do you really want it ….. are you reading books by poc, watching web series in big numbers ??_

Idk what people you follow but there are entire blogs dedicated to promoting POC run web shows comics an such people get funding and willing to help it could be better of course because nothing will ever be enough but it’s there and there is change being made

Reblogging for that comment because, yeah, more support would be great, sure, but there is support and blogs and groups and pages and all sorts of things and its important to mention that  :)  And interestingly enough, it’s not just minorities who want more diversity.  I had a white girl comment on something I said on my cosplay page about wanting diversity and I’ll never forget what she said.  She said, “I get tired of seeing the same white girl all the time, I want something different.”  So it’s not just us who crave diversity anymore, and I think that’s pretty rad.

fyeahsuperheroes:

professorthorgi:

This Wednesday, Marvel comics released All New Marvel Now #1 which featured the first super hero appearance of Kamala Khan, the new Ms Marvel who will be getting her own series next month. She is the first female Muslim character to receive her own series from either of the big companies, and because of this some people are saying this is all a stunt, that this is just something Marvel is doing to get attention. And you can say that all you want, but today two Muslim women who had never come into my store before came in and asked for the new book with Ms Marvel in it. We gave it to them and they started flipping through it and they both had the biggest smiles you could imagine on their faces. In fact I would describe both of them as being “giddy” even. So you can say its a stunt all you want, but end of the day thanks to the new Ms Marvel, those two ladies now have a super hero that they’re excited about, and that’s pretty awesome. 

REPRESENTATION MATTERS

It really, really does.

It’s that feeling you get when you’re a young girl playing video games where you have to save the princess always or the entire cast of fighters is men… then suddenly Chun-Li is there in the roster.

It’s that feeling you get when you’re a young, black girl and you see a black lady shopping in a mall in the cartoon that looks cool and suddenly she transforms into Storm.

It’s that feeling of being the overweight kid but seeing women like Queen Latifah, plus sized, female rapper, actress, not seen as lazy or pathetic , but actually successful and beautiful.    

It’s that feeling you get when you flip through a comic or watch a cartoon or anime or movie or whatever and a boy kisses a boy, or a girl kisses a girl, and it’s o.k.  It’s quite all right.  It’s fine.

It’s being thirty and cosplaying Tiana, and walking past the little black girl with her dad, and she stops and stares up at you.  And you smile and you kneel down and you hug her.  And her dad smiles at you.

Representation matters  :)