Party and Bullshit

Oh My Good God I Love Shirley Manson

Mon, 06 May 2013 05:59:38 -0400

SUCH A GREAT READ (reposted from her facebook)

There is something about the way the media and Beyonce are publicly duking things out currently that bothers me so much I can’t stop thinking about it.

I speak to the recent spate of media outlets who have gone to great pains to print “unflattering” photographs of Beyonce performing on stage.

As though it was a mortal sin that a woman should be caught “in public’ looking anything less than perfect.
I can’t even begin to describe how utterly reductive, offensive and dangerous this kind of thinking is.

But what has bothered me even more than the media’s relish in printing unflattering photographs of one of our era’s most accomplished entertainers and one of the great beauties of our age was Beyonce’s reaction to the attempt to diminish her.

What did she do?
She banned photographers from the pit. The ultimate checkmate in her mind no doubt.
However in doing so it feels to me like some kind of an apology. As though she’s ashamed of photos that portray her as anything less than perfect. As though in not being perfect at all times she is failing us and herself.

At seeing the aforementioned “unflattering” press…….why she didn’t flick her famous mane and say “Blow Me” is anybody’s guess.
Who knows what her motivations were but I am somewhat baffled to even begin to understand why this unstoppable force, this incredible performer, this fully empowered business woman and successful star has allowed herself to be flapped by what the media has deemed “unflattering” images.

It is almost as though she is allowing herself to be tempered and controlled by petty bullying.
Because make no bones about it…..that is what this whole carry on is about. A cheap attempt to “shame” her.

When I have complained about stuff like this on facebook before I have met with a variety of accusations that I am somehow “victimizing” women by even bringing up the notion that women are subjected to different expectations and more exacting standards than their male counterparts.
But until women are accepted as they are and not as others believe they should be, I will continue to rail and rail against what I see as deliberate attempts to subjugate our sex.

What is so insidious about western culture of course is that the sexism that endures is rather subtle for the most part. Western women enjoy more freedoms now than ever before and we have it so good compared to some other women in the world.
And for that reason and so many others I am utterly grateful and relieved to be living in a relatively emancipated country.
We are not being forced to cover our faces and our bodies entirely at all times, we are not being sold at the age of 9 years old into a life of sexual slavery, we are not forced to the ground and mutilated at the whim of an elder without anesthesia in completely unsanitary conditions.

However we are still expected to drop our family name when we get married and take that of our male mate, we are still frowned upon if we leave our child at home to return to work after childbirth and yet we are sniggered at if we remain at home and don’t return to a “worthwhile” career which we are generally paid less for as our male counterparts….
I could go on and on. The list is endless.
My point? Oh yes my point!
My point is……we still have a ways to go gals and guys.
And if you’re all right jack….well good for you, happy for you and all but please…..take a moment to think about all the other millions of women around the globe who aren’t.

I stumbled upon this amazing passage by my girl crush and current obsession Cheryl Strayed and identified with it so strongly I’m passing it along to some of you who I know will find your own truth in it.
I pass it on to you here because there was a time when women were keen to call themselves a feminist. There was even a time when forward thinking men would be clamoring to name themselves one.
It feels to me now that an amazing heist has occurred under our very noses and we were oblivious to it.
The word feminism was been deliberately obfuscated so that it has lost all of it’s thrust,it’s positive meaning and it’s power.

This is what Cheryl Strayed had to say that rang my bell so loudly.

” It’s true that in all the most important things I am—feminism is at the center. It’s a description so clear and permanent it seems to me it’s inked on my ass whether it’s literally there or not. I’ve been a feminist since before I knew what a feminist was. It’s an indelible part of my identity and it informs everything I do.

It takes guts to be a feminist. It takes nerve to remind people that our world is colored by gender and gender bias, by inequality and ugliness and violence. It is a difficult business, emphasizing that these things matter, that they are not special interests or fleeting causes, that we are informed and affected by them whether we realize it or not, that we carry them with us not because we choose to but because we have to.

It takes guts, too, to care. To admit that you want the world to change, deeply and radically into one that values women and values feminism.”

(Ooh my girl crush is so articulate and clever.)

Thanks for taking the time to read this and hear me.
I appreciate it more than you will ever know.

With love love love
as always
Shirley Ann Manson
(Artist and Feminist)
x

😜 Shorts from Paris, bad attitude courtesy of Philadelphia!

Fri, 03 May 2013 21:37:36 -0400

😜 Shorts from Paris, bad attitude courtesy of Philadelphia!

For the first time in about 8 years I had a real summer...

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:25:00 -0400

For the first time in about 8 years I had a real summer vacation. No working. No Interneting. Just party and bullshit forreal. I spent the last 3 months full on Planes, Trains, and Automobile style: Traveling to new places, meeting new people, making new friends, hugging my oldest and most favorite ones… sharing secrets, telling stories, loving on my family, staying up late, sleeping in, eating some seriously good food, getting drunk, laying in the sand, napping in the sun, kissing my boyfriend, hiking up mountains, floating down rivers, swimming in oceans, lakes and hopping into ponds. Smothering my nephews with all of my affection, camping under the stars, driving my first pick up truck, watching the sun rise then watching it set, getting dirty, getting all dressed up, playing cards, talking shit over dominoes, reading books (Game of Thrones, Nerds!), getting stoned, taking mushrooms, holding hands, dancing, laughing, singing at the top of my lungs with the people I love the most and just totally fucking off. It really was one of the greatest 3 months i’ve ever had … and I hope everyone’s summer was as fun as mine! Alright, off to the Korean spa to get summer scrubbed off of me and get back to real life. (for all the Belly fans!)

My chola goth best friend, Rosemary, in high school. My little...

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:19:56 -0400

My chola goth best friend, Rosemary, in high school. My little Lydia Deetz! 🚬🚬🚬 (Taken with Instagram)

Wife beaters @gaysar and thom!!! (Taken with Instagram)

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 01:18:43 -0400

Wife beaters @gaysar and thom!!! (Taken with Instagram)

"… I was born to hustle roses down the avenues of the dead"

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:29:50 -0400

“… I was born to hustle roses down the avenues of the dead”

For T. Hearing him say it makes it that much better.

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:28:43 -0400

For T. Hearing him say it makes it that much better.

Ruff Ryder (Taken with instagram)

Sun, 27 May 2012 22:03:45 -0400

Ruff Ryder (Taken with instagram)

Sometimes I really just want to call Security!!! on every bum bitch I know!

Tue, 01 May 2012 04:09:32 -0400

realitytvgifs:

EVELYN LOZADA 4EVERS!

3 grandmas watching the Kim K and Ray J sex tape! “what is...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:48:00 -0400

3 grandmas watching the Kim K and Ray J sex tape! “what is she doin? she’s just layin there” “the end is purple!”aaahahaha so cool….. thank you DLISTED

Me and my little brother @m_eazy215 in little Mexico. NBD!...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:42:53 -0400

Me and my little brother @m_eazy215 in little Mexico. NBD! (Taken with instagram)

Shrimp cocktail on saltines. Mexi’s in San Pedro (Taken...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:24:13 -0400

Shrimp cocktail on saltines. Mexi’s in San Pedro (Taken with instagram)

Taken with instagram

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:39:43 -0400

Taken with instagram

Planned Parenthood is on Tumblr!

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:12:00 -0400

THIS IS GREAT!

plannedparenthood:

Planned Parenthood is excited to be launching our new Tumblr that’s all about sexual and reproductive health – bodies, birth control, relationship issues, “is it normal for this to do this?” type things. In the coming weeks and months we’ll be sharing what we know, answering questions, and just… tumblring.

We hope you like it! And we hope it helps.

420 at the pool with my ladies and my legs

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:58:00 -0400

420 at the pool with my ladies and my legs

we love you forever, mehdi!

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:13:00 -0400

we love you forever, mehdi!

THIS MADE ME CRY! So Beautiful. I want to hug Henry and listen...

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:27:14 -0400

THIS MADE ME CRY! So Beautiful. I want to hug Henry and listen to music with him. Proof of the power of song.

My baby in a tux (Taken with instagram)

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:55:06 -0400

My baby in a tux (Taken with instagram)

It’s been a while since i’ve posted anything cause...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:56:23 -0400

It’s been a while since i’ve posted anything cause I’ve been busy and also cause I’m a shit head lazy blogger. Anyway, my besties and Sweatheart bandmates, Thom and Rose, came out to LA for a few weeks to visit and of course we schlepped our asses to Joshua Tree to smoke opium and find our spirit animals. None of which we actually did. We DID however smoke tons of weed and film an action movie. No seriously. We spent our entire day at Joshua Tree National Park making this. You can’t take us anywhere….

Hennessey Youngman on Damien Hirst....

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:01:00 -0500

Hennessey Youngman on Damien Hirst. LOLROFLSMDHAHAHAHDAFJDKS;AHFJDNCA;HF