The Loo aka ‘The forgive the male characters their transgressions whether they’ve earned it or not (and usually they haven’t) hour.’
I don’t know if it really matters, but since Raven believes she is dying, her ‘forgiving’ of Murphy can be seen more about her wanting closure rather than a reflection on whether he has earned that forgiveness or not.
That said, in the narrative, it does look like Murphy is absolved and this is a pattern in the show that can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.
There’s a reason why Moana was neck-to-neck with Frozen’s record at the box office, Hidden Figures made more at the box office than Rogue One, and Ms. Marvel, Monstress and the upcoming America are bringing more fans to comics.
There’s incredible power in not only seeing yourself reflected in media, but seeing that representation done right as well. It reminds you that your experiences are worth being treated with respect, that there are more choices open to you than you might think, and that you can be seen as a whole person, not just through the flattened lens of white supremacy. Luke Cage broke Netflix because so many people were watching the series, after all (and yet frustratingly, predictably, Marvel decided to ignore every lesson from Luke Cage’s success in making Iron Fist but that’s a rant for another day).
Escapism isn’t truly escapism when you keep finding the same microaggressions, erasure, and stereotypes in the stories you love and are trying to escape into, and we ignore this truth at our peril because it’s never “just a story.
“Finding Yourself in Fandom” by Michi Trota (Uncanny Magazine)
*standing ovation*
(via medievalpoc)
reblog if you’re one of the LGBTs that stole the rainbow from God
I am still fairly certain the worst example of cultural appropriation ever was elites turning Christianity into nationalist, supremacist propaganda to naturalize their own power while forsaking the poor and scapegoating the marginalized. Give it back. Then we can talk rainbows.
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The worst kind of appropriation of Audre Lorde is taking place these days by folks who use her quotes (out of context) to serve their own anti-intersectional projects. As self-care has become a trending topic in social-justice circles, different venues have taken up Lorde’s famous saying on self-care without critically reflecting on how Lorde’s need for self-care stemmed from living and surviving under racist heteropatriarchy.
THIS.
Appropriating Audre: On The Need to Locate the Oppressor Within Us | Bitch Media
I remember when the Domlijah tinhat websites full of “evidence” first appeared. I wasn’t very familiar with RPF fandoms or with tinhatting, and I thought: “Wow, that evidence does look kind of suspicious.” It was only years later, when I saw the exact same “evidence” in every other tinhat fandom and realized that it will always look the same. Yes, Larry too. Yes, Johnlock too. Yes, J2… err… too.
But you know what? If you’re having fun, who cares?
The actual problem with tinhatting isn’t that you’re wrong or that it’s silly to think that actors are sending secret messages with their shirt colors. The actual problem is that tinhats end up disappointed, frustrated, furious, crushed.
Some groups, like TJLC, are known for treating other fans horribly or for harassing the people who make the media they like. That’s awful. Stop that.
But even when tinhats are perfectly nice, they’re still setting themselves up for heartbreak when the canon or the celebrities’ real lives fail to live up to the fantasy. Eventually, no matter how awesome your canon and the people who make it are, they will let you down.
Don’t invest so much of your soul in being proven right that you can’t handle being proven wrong.
Thank you for sending this ask, I really appreciate it. I know from a certain perspective I can seem a little… prescriptive? But like I’ve said: I’ve been the younger fan, and the much-younger fan. In 99% of those experiences, especially with older fans, have been… you know, there’s really no word for people who are generous with their lives and their attention in that way. Especially in setting the example of how to not lose your sense of joy and wonder about fannish things, and by fannish things I mean, essentially, stories. Though the dude who insisted I “swap” for his first-row ticket for at least a few songs, because it was my very first Bowie show, I guess that was fannish, too*. People can be angels.
But there’s always the 1% of experiences – either happening to me, or happening to my friends – which make you realize the potential for that dynamic to be exploited in the worst ways. Not only don’t I want to contribute to it, I also want acknowledge that happens and it’s not acceptable**.
Though I became a hell of a lot more relaxed about my own participation after 3×07. If some straight dude in his forties has the fucking nerve to say this story ends in death, again, I figure I’m allowed to come in with a counterpoint (no matter how minor).
And I just really love telling stories. So, yeah – thank you.
*he was 30-40 years older than me and very, very gay. (total groupie, had seen upwards of 100 shows and once personally gifted Bowie with soap on a rope.) I had literally met him a few hours before the show, and it’s still one of the nicest things anyone has done for me.
**looking back I realize that, in my personal experience, it only ever involved guys with much younger girls, but it’s still a valid fucking issue.
‘how to not lose your sense of joy and wonder about fannish things, and by fannish things I mean, essentially, stories.’
We might not be able to stay young, but no one said we had to grow old.
I have just witnessed the single greatest post on the internet
GO OFF
I don’t think people understand. Like when you’re queer you’re constantly surrounded by heteronormativity. From the moment you walk outside there’s a strict underlining that says men should be with women. You go to the store and find ads made to identify with women and men in strict gender roles for marketing’s sake. You see ads of only men with women. And if a man or woman deviates from these roles they are quickly ridiculed as if to remind you that as a “deviant” you are laughable. I mean you sit down and crack open a history book to find every president in history, including the current president, has at some point been willing to deny you basic human rights so long as they got elected at the end of it. You find that around the world there are people literally being mutilated and executed simply for being what society considers an abomination. You open a Bible and often see condemnation before you see deliverance for something you didn’t choose. And even if you realize the underlying message of love and acceptance in the Bible and can recognize/reconcile your faith then you will find large groups of people who try and invalidate your faith despite being sinners themselves.
So yes. When Lexa dies its not just the character I’m upset about. It’s the fact that for three minutes out of forty three minute episodes, Clarke and Lexa would find a quiet moment to smile. To feel. To make a suffocating world that much more breathable for me. And that was real. And Jason Rothenberg and everyone else failed to uphold that. They failed to see that killing her just moments after making love is the same as ridiculing Girl A because she doesnt buy Product X to impress Boy B. Or disregaurding the oppression of my community because it didn’t fit with an agenda. Or condeming someone for something they didn’t choose to eternal misery. It’s all related to the core principle that they chose their overwhelming irgnorance and willful misunderstanding over respecting me.
And I not only think they don’t understand. I think at some level, when they crawl into their heteronormative beds, unquestioningly enjoying their heteronormative routine, praying their heteronormative prayers, on some level they just don’t care. LGBT fans don’t just deserve better. We deserve respect.
Sincerely,
AvatarUncanon
The Doctor Is Out 
