A boy sprawled next to me on the bus, elbows out, knee pointing sharp into my thigh.
He frowned at me when I uncrossed my legs, unfolded my hands
and splayed out like boys are taught to: all big, loose limbs.
I made sure to jab him in the side with my pretty little sharp purse.
At first he opened his mouth like I expected him to, but instead of speaking up he sat there, quiet, and took it for the whole bus ride.
Like a girl.
Once, a boy said my anger was cute, and he laughed,
and I remember thinking that I should sit there and take it,
because it isn’t ladylike to cause a scene and girls aren’t supposed to raise their voices.
But then he laughed again and all I saw
was my pretty little sharp nails digging into his cheek
before drawing back and making a horribly unladylike fist.
(my teacher informed me later that there is no ladylike way of making a fist.)
When we were both in the principal’s office twenty minutes later
him with a bloody mouth and cheek, me with skinned knuckles,
I tried to explain in words that I didn’t have yet
that I was tired of having my emotions not taken seriously
just because I’m a girl.
Girls are taught: be small, so boys can be big.
Don’t take up any more space than absolutely necessary.
Be small and smooth with soft edges
and hold in the howling when they touch you and it hurts:
the sandpaper scrape of their body hair that we would be shamed for having,
the greedy hands that press too hard and too often take without asking permission.
Girls are taught: be quiet and unimposing and oh so small
when they heckle you with their big voices from the window of a car,
because it’s rude to scream curse words back at them, and they’d just laugh anyway.
We’re taught to pin on smiles for the boys who jeer at us on the street
who see us as convenient bodies instead of people.
Girls are taught: hush, be hairless and small and soft,
so we sit there and take it and hold in the howling,
pretend to be obedient lapdogs instead of the wolves we are.
We pin pretty little sharp smiles on our faces instead of opening our mouths,
because if we do we get accused of silly women emotions
blowing everything out of proportion with our PMS, we get
condescending pet names and not-so-discreet eyerolls.
Once, I got told I punched like a girl.
I told him, Good. I hope my pretty little sharp rings leave scars.
"
—‘My Perfume Doubles As Mace,’ theappleppielifestyle. (via queenofeden)
Australian scientists have developed a pair of anti-shark wetsuits that make divers appear invisible by camouflaging their bodies in the sea and trick sharks into thinking surfers are poisonous. A team of researchers from the University of Western Australia joined forces with designers from Shark Attack Mitigation Systems (SAMS) to create the suits. The blue pattern of the Elude suit can’t be seen by the shark because the fish are colour blind. While the stripes on the Diverter suit mimic the colours of poisonous fish to warn the sharks off.
YOU SEE THIS IS FANTASTIC. THIS IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO. NOT KILL SHARKS BECAUSE THEY’RE CURIOUS AND ATTACK US. WE’RE IN THEIR WATERS. WE’RE MAKING THEIR HUNTING GROUNDS SMALLER.
“Anne Bonny and Mary Read were pirates, as renowned for their ruthlessness as for their gender, and during their short careers challenged the sailors’ adage that a woman’s presence on shipboard invites bad luck.”
I’m not entirely sure that the statue really needed to have a tit out.
How dare women try to have nipples.
Actually I’ve seen this before and I can tell you— it’s because these women were bad ass pirates and when they killed someone they’d expose one or both breasts so that when their victim died, (s)he knew that they were killed by a woman.
ACTUALLY Anne Bonny purposely wore loose fitting clothes and displayed her breasts openly at all times during battle - mainly because men were distracted by them, and she took pleasure in killing said men while they were too busy staring at her breasts. Mary Read dressed mainly as a man (after posing as her deceased brother, Mark, for the entirety of her childhood) and both ladies cross-dressed from time to time, hopping between ships. They were known as the ‘fierce hell cats’ due to their ferocious tempers, and were key elements to Captain ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham’s crew - they were the only two known female pirates in the Golden Age of Caribbean piracy. IN FACT, when the ship was captured by the British Navy, Anne and Mary were the ONLY TWO pirates who fought while the males of the crew hid - they were all tried to be hung as pirates but Bonny and Read were both pregnant and were pardoned.
Calico Jack was a lover to Bonny, and as he was to be hung, Bonny’s final words to him were, “Had you fought like a man, you need not be hung like a dog.” Bonny and Read were possibly two of the most badass fucking pirates and they were FEMALE. The more you know.
imagine a video game where you create a hero whose destiny is to save everyone, but throughout the game you start making harder and more questionable decisions, and the game gets darker and darker. and in the end you’re just standing there, clutching the controller and finally realizing you were playing the villain all along
every villain is a hero in their own mind, after all.
1. Your place is in the kitchen. If you somehow manage to find work outside of the home, it is because you fucked the interviewer.
2. You cannot participate in sports because no one will want to watch you play. Unless your uniform is a sports bra and spandex.
3. ‘You are not like other girls’ is the best compliment you can receive. Other girls are your enemies because they are your competition. Not in landing a job, but in landing a husband.
4. Homosexuality is okay in pornography. Love and marriage with someone that is of the same sex as you is not.
5. You were asking for it. Despite the fact that he was your friend, despite the fact that you were too inebriated to say ‘yes’, despite the fact that you were passed out. You were asking for it.
6. Wearing revealing clothes makes you a slut.
7. Don’t have sex because everyone will think you’re a slut.
8. The worst thing you can possibly be is a slut.
9. But you still need to be sexually alluring and available. Just not a slut.
10. It is your responsibility not to get pregnant and your responsibility alone. However, if you do get pregnant, you cannot get an abortion because that’s just being selfish.
11. You don’t want to have children? That’s not how things are done. You’re not living up to your role as a woman.
12. Being upset and cognizant of your feelings is a sign of emotional and mental instability.
13. Lose weight.
14. But keep your curves. You’re not a real woman without them.
15. You don’t own the rights to your body.
16. If you notice any discrimination based on your sex or gender, it’s better to keep quiet because you don’t want to upset anyone. Silence is better than making someone uncomfortable.
17. It is your fault for being born a woman. And you should be ashamed.
"
—absentions, Things society will try to teach my 16-year-old daughter (via absentions)
