insight/incite/in sight

(via skillfulwatercarrier)

bonbons:

sheburnsmyeyes:

im-foreveryoung:

complete protection from zombies

complete protection from zombies

complete protection from zombies

complete protection from zombies

complete protection from zombies

complete protection from zombies

omg i’m building a house like this haha

plus rooftop garden! LIVE FOREVER.

omigod WHAT I NEED THIS *shifty eyes* amazing! no zombies be eatin my brainz, no sir.

awwwww~

curate:

What it says is what we’ve seen repeatedly: that Terrorism has no objective meaning and, at least in American political discourse, has come functionally to mean: violence committed by Muslims whom the West dislikes, no matter the cause or the target. Indeed, in many (though not all) media circles, discussion of the Oslo attack quickly morphed from this is Terrorism (when it was believed Muslims did it) to no, this isn’t Terrorism, just extremism (once it became likely that Muslims didn’t). As Maz Hussain — whose lengthy Twitter commentary on this event yesterday was superb and well worth reading — put it: (via The omnipotence of Al Qaeda and meaninglessness of “Terrorism” - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com)

here’s a picture of my dog when she was a puppy!!!! <3 <3 <3 felt like sharing some cute puppy images… hehe. she’s a brittany spaniel.

queerinsurrection:

philosophecards:

queerinsurrection:

philosophecards:

I’ll take the state of pure penetration over the state of pure consciousness any day, thank you.

This post is not directly aimed at the author of the meme above, but this piece has sparked a meditation on “jokes” and the deployment of cultural images that work to perpetuate violence in multiple ways.

The ways in which Buddhism has been fetishized and co-opted by Western cultures is incredibly frustrating, not just because hipster white kids think it’s cool, but because it goes hand and hand with colonialist and imperialist “civilizing missions” aimed at demystifying the “Orient.”  Orientalism, in a quick blurb, has effectively created a legitimizing discourse and force for the dominance and “rape” (in the Fanonian sense) of an entire land / group of people through the feminization and degradation of “Oriental” culture and peoples.  Simply put, the “mysteries of the Orient” and the castrating lens of white patriarchal dominance has led to insane amounts of imperialism and militarism in the area (Vietnam War, the coasts of China in the late 19th century, Mongolia, the Phillipines, etc.).

To use this Orientalist position and consolidate it within the woman, bourgeois body in this meme is to perpetuate Orientalist discourse, in tandem with misogyny.  This meme also legitimizes rape through humor, humor aimed at both the Buddhist body—aka the exotic, mysterious, Oriental body—and the female body.

Humor works through contradiction, humor only makes sense if there is a norm to be upheld.  To laugh at this meme is to believe that indeed Buddhist positions are nonsense, illegitimate, and abnormal (of COURSE pure penetration is better than pure consciousness as the author describes).  Thus, the norm that is upheld is that women—and by extension, “Orientalist” positions and bodies—should be penetrated through a rape-like fashion.

This is why racist, misogynystic, homophobic, etc. jokes are not innocent: they work to establish and reinforce the status quo.  Jokes are harmful because they do not attempt to challenge the violence of the norm.

I have very little tolerance for humor that is created at the expense of an entire group of people, whether I am a part of that group or on the exterior. However, I see this as a moment of education, and a potential to build awareness and solidarity with multiple groups of people who are affected by this type of bigotry.

Seriously though, stuff like this makes my innards swirl.

PhilosophEcards Response:

First, I want to thank Queerinsurrection for taking the time to write such a well-thought out response to this.  I am a firm believer that social change and finding authentic modes to fight oppression require dialogue and an acceptance that sometimes you are ignorant to particular things, especially when one’s body is privileged.  I’m a white, middle class gay man with limited knowledge of eastern philosophy.  I’ve read some about Buddhism, but I would never call myself an expert.  

However, I’m a huge fan of sexual positivity.  You may have noticed that a lot of my posts are sexual because I don’t think that sex in the form of authentic eroticism and mutual pleasure is ever a bad thing and instead it is very empowering for men and women (Lorde - “The Power of the Erotic.”)  Obviously there are serious distortions within sexuality currently that must be acknowledged regarding male domination of female bodies and the marginalization of queer sexualties.  However, I have a hard time seeing the solution to this predicament saying “sex talk is not allowed, especially from heterosexual men.”  That’s entirely sex negative.

I do not see how this is an advocacy for rape.  All that was said was “you’d enjoy getting filled.”   I see it as a blatant sexual advance, but nothing about this seems to be about coercion of sexual pleasure, and as the writer, I had no intent at all about that kind of message, nor would I ever advocate any form of sexual violence.  In fact, I’m a victim of sexual assault, but that doesn’t mean I can’t find sexual advances pleasurable, rewarding, and a creation of  intimacy that can provide empowerment inside and outside of the bedroom, shower, living room, backseat, etc.  The assumption that one person saying another would enjoy a sexual encounter is a legitimization of rape seems a little far-fetched and quite sex-negative.  Inherent in this assumption is that man would force himself upon woman in the event she said no to the potential pleasure.  You’ve locked the female into two positions: Either say yes, and be exploited because heterosexual sex universally must always be rape and subjugation, or say no, and clearly he will rape her because his interest in her enjoyment  is superficial and will inevitably be violated.  I hate saying things are heteromale-bashing, but that’s how this line of criticism is coming off.

I do think your diagnosis of the hypersexualization of oriental bodies is quite interesting and I have had an unfortunately low amount of exposure to that literature basis, but it has inspired me to look into this kind of literature a bit more.  The choice I made to create one of the figures to be Asian was because it is Eastern philosophy.  As you said yourself the problem is that it has been co-opted by “white hipsters”; I recognize that not just white hipsters are interested in Buddhism but it’s a little silly to not assume Buddhism doesn’t have ties with Eastern ethnicities.

And it is here that I think I should mark something very important that I learned from this project: someecards.com is terribly heteronormative, racist, and sexist in their card selection.  This was the best one I could find that could reflect a sexualized discussion of Buddhism. I also have a hard time finding ones that would reflect semblances of queer intimacy.  If someone has a suggestion for another site to use to expand the options, please, please, please let me know!

All this aside, I’m left with a question from this criticism: Would it have been acceptable if the same thing was said by two men or two women in the picture?  To answer yes seems to indicate the impossibility of heterosexual relations that respects the pleasure of both man and woman.  Some women do like getting “filled”; I know plenty of them, and they have healthy, erotic relations with their loved heterosexual partners.  Some of them like to be talked dirty to.  Some talk dirty themselves.  I think reciprocity, consent, and mutual pleasure are the standards we need; not a proactive denial of all sexualized encounters with women.  

But the thing about art focusing on philosophy and social issues, especially of this kind where there are so many divergent interests, beliefs, and methodologies for combatting oppression, it’s important that we do not shy away from dialogue like this.  That is why I reblogged.  And, time permitting, I am usually more than willing to have a similar discussion with others.  It’s a productive process for me to share my views and simultaneously question privilege that I think is a responsibility of mine.  I simply hope to provide a more entertaining route for these issues, but toes will always be stepped on in some way I feel.

Just remember: nothing but love, comrade.

I am all for sex positivity, and I do see where you are coming from.  However, sex positivity does not mean that sex is better than no sex.  To me, sex positivity means respecting the sexualities of others and embracing them.  From my own definition, this meme is therefore not sex positive because it shames asexuality or celibacy (the “Buddhist” sexuality implied within the meme), thus creating a hierarchy of what is constituted as “sexuality” itself as a category.  If we are going to use Audre Lorde’s “Erotic as Power,” I think that she would argue that the erotic isn’t necessarily pure sexual energy but rather, the intimacy that we share together as a species that has been used against women by patriarchy—through the pornographic, the domestication of labor, etc.  Therefore, the erotic doesn’t represent sex positivity insomuch as it represents the core of (female) empowerment, which could be a multitude of factors.

Rereading my argument, I was more pointing to the way in which language and discourse (cultural productions, in the Foucauldian sense) function to reproduce violence(s) upon multiple bodies, especially with the formulation of “jokes”.  This is why I was pointing to Orientalism so strongly, you cannot understand the meme without understanding Orientalism—a concept that has pervaded almost every aspect of our lives, especially in the post-9/11 era.  The identity category “Buddhist” is race-ed and class-ed through Orientalist discourse, therefore in order to understand the meme—and the humor—you would need to have an essentialist understanding of the category of “Buddhist” as asexual, as non-Western, as feminized, as mysterious / wise, and so forth.

In pointing to these types of epistemes and knowledge formations, it also highlights the labor that goes in to the construction and production of the meme / humor. The West / East binary is upheld through the (de)sexualization of the Buddhist figure and the perceived dominance of the (Western) male (Stuart Hall has written extensively about binary forms of representation and regimes of representation).  This upholding of power structures—through the means of a joke, meme, language—is what I am trying to highlight.

I do agree with you in terms of sexual ethics and appreciate your project!  I wish everyone was as critical, engaging, and open-minded as you are.  I might have jumped the gun on the insinuation of rape in the meme so I appreciate you calling me out on it.

I also greatly appreciate your critique of heteromale shaming.  I think it’s a horrible habit that feminists and critical theorists have formed—myself included—that essentializes a whole bunch of shit.  I do think that the image of the white heterosexual male is symbolic of violence, but not neccessarily representative or totalizing of all white heteromales—if that makes sense (sorry it’s late haha).

I hope this cleared up some of my statements.  I do discourse / epistimology analyses—which often get metaphysical and tied up in theory—so I need to improve my clarity when I make arguments. If you want more things to read about Orientalism, post colonial studies, historiography, media studies, or literary theory, let me know and I could point you to a bunch of awesome things!

cameron, dear, your analyses are always so clean! ^^

rockyrivera:

gimme.

‘course, with my tragus piercing i’m not really supposed to wear ear buds for a while…

OMIGOD WHY AM I NOT IN LA RIGHT NOW?! X_X nuuuuu

sahra nguyen:

I’ll be performing here tomorrow night—this is one of the biggest and oldest open mics in the country.  I’ve been in such covert mode since I moved back to LA, this will actually be my first time performing to a large crowd in Los Angeles. I’m excited!

Tuesday Night Project presents:

The 1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Cafe
Family Day!
July 19th, 2011
…
Hosted by: Johneric Concordia

Guest DJ: DJ Gingee – http://gingee.bandcamp.com​/

We’ll also get to hear a little from Sefa Aina and Daphne Kwok, two of the White House Initiative appointees for AA/PI communities, about the work they’re doing and how it affects all of us!

Featuring:
- Audrey Kuo – http://audreykuo.wordpress​.com/
- Hexatones – https://www.facebook.com/p​ages/The-Hexatones/2269887​13985399
- Sahra Nguyen – http://www.riotinthesky.co​m/
- Mista Cookie Jar – http://www.mistacookiejar.​com/
- Cold Tofu – http://www.coldtofu.com/
- SKIM – http://skimvillage.wordpre​ss.com/

Featured Live Artist:
Franz DG – http://franzdg.blogspot.co​m/

Featured Vendors:
LoveJoy Expressive Arts & Wellness Community – http://getdownwithlovejoy.​com/
Heartwork by Loralei Rose – http://expressyoursoul.wor​dpress.com/heartwork-by-lo​raleirose/

Open Mic sign-ups at 6:45pm with Narinda

Live broadcast begins at 7:30 PM at:

http://www.tuesdaynightpro​ject.org/watchlive