gentlemancrow:

yes hello I have tried out adulthood and I have found it’s not really working out for me is it possible to get a refund

— The Winter of the Air (via rainydaysandblankets)

loveandjusticeinthenameofthemoon:

cosmicyoruba:

sunisup:

I’m reading up on the Memoirs of a Geisha controversy, since I’d neither seen the movie nor read the book, and the more I read about it, the more pissed off I get.  Basically it went down like this:

Japanese woman tells white American man about her past life as a geisha.  White American man then writes a novel that sells itself as an accurate memoir of Japanese woman’s life, but instead falsifies a number of her life events, misrepresents her trade, and exoticises her culture.  He also names her as a source even though she specifically asked him to keep her anonymous.  Japanese woman gets death threats.  White American man becomes bestselling author.

Then Japanese woman gets fed up and writes her own memoir to set the record straight.  Meanwhile, white American man’s book gets adapted into a film that grosses $162 million and wins three Oscars.

This is why I can’t stand Memoirs of a Geisha and will side-eye anyone who claims that book as a favourite.

I read Memoirs of a Geisha when I was younger and first started getting interested in the tradition. I enjoyed the book and I knew it was a fabricated story based on his ‘research’ but I didn’t at first realise how badly he had twisted the real truth about Geisha. I went to see the movie when it came out unaware how messed up it was… 

When I read about the disgusting things Arther Golden had done betraying Iwasaki and misrepresenting Geisha, I was shocked and ashamed for not realising. I went out and bought Iwasaki’s book. (In the UK it’s called ‘Geisha of Gion’ rather than ‘Geisha, A life’) and I really really enjoyed it. When she wrote about the terrible problems Golden had caused for her I was so angry for her.

Please read her book if you want to read a real story about Geisha.

theepichumor:

school

finals

papers

work

responsibility

life

Funny Stuff you like? 

doncornicar:

#FEMINISM

robcayman:

He and I have an agreement.

No pay, dragon slaying is it’s own reward.

Article in The Independent on cultural appropriation at a fashion show. While there is some genuinely decent commentary here, it’s a shame no ones commented on what I think is one of the biggest problems here - which is of the sexualization of native women/ culture.

matthewgublr:

I was having a pretty decent day until I thought of something stupid I said when I was 10

Reblog if I can message you ‘hi’ and start a friendship.

thescholar-and-thepoet:

bemusedlybespectacled:

were-lesbian:

strawberry-julius:

fleurdulys:

The Irritating Gentleman - Berthold Woltze

1874

this is so real tho

One thing hasn’t changed since the 1800s huh :’)

Also

This should not be relevant 138 years later.

Vipere-au-poing and me were wondering what the context could be.
It’s interesting to see she’s in mourning clothes so we can have a lot of hypotheses on this piece of art. The painting really focus on her black clothes, and maybe the man is only distracting her mourning. But we also have to remember the title is The Irritating Gentleman. 
Another hypothesis is that the black is for the loss of her innocence and that the girl could have just been raped and is once again being hit on by an unwanted man. Or she could be in mourning of the innocence she’s going to loose.
The flowers are known in art to symbolize passivity and femininity. They are associated with beauty, youth and spring of life, as well as spiritual perfection and peace. This would also be an element which could lead us to say her youth is beside her. She’s not wearing the garment of the peace of mind anymore.
The Irritating Guy wears a red bowtie, red being the colour of love, passion but also war and violence. It’s a very violent colour. The Girl on the other hand has pure blue eyes, symbol of credulity and naivety.
Also, her shadows is bigger than her and seems to have no pertinence with the light going to the left. It’s like it’s all around her. She’s only the shadow of herself in this painting. 
What do you think ? Is the guy only annoying ? Is he just hitting on her ? Is he a rapist ? And what happened to the girl ? What will happen ? 

Animal cruelty, neglect and suffering are reaching unprecedented levels in modern times

01.11.12

RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant issued a stark warning today, stating that animal rescue charities are being overwhelmed with animals in dire need, stretching them to breaking point – all at a time when public generosity is under real pressure.

At the RSPCA alone we’ve seen a massive 65 per cent increase in the animals abandoned over the last five years as pet owners struggle to make ends meet since the recession began. This equates to a potential 40,000 additional animals requiring care.

With household finances under increasing strain, many people are finding that they can’t afford to keep an animal. The number of new homes for rescued animals available to us is also falling, with nearly 4,000 fewer dogs and over 6000 fewer cats adopted by the public in 2011 compared to two years previously. That situation has deteriorated further in 2012.

Rising cost of caring for rescued and abandoned animals

Care costs for rescued and abandoned animals are also rising. The daily rate for a rescued animal in an RSPCA centre, including food, housing and staff care, is £15 for a dog and £9.40 for a cat. And both cats and dogs are now taking nearly ten per cent longer to rehabilitate and rehome than a year ago.

Meanwhile the number of abandoned and abused horses has soared. With over 600 horses in our care, the cost to the RSPCA is £3.7m for this year.

Find out more about the horse crisis.

With many of our animal rescue and rehoming centres already at capacity, we are increasingly reliant on private boarding to house abandoned and abused animals.

However, spaces are limited, meaning that we face a very real danger that within the foreseeable future, we may be forced to turn vulnerable animals away.

Since we reported our annual cruelty statisticsin April this year, we have seen more  evidence of rising animal cruelty and neglect, with a four per cent rise in cruelty cases so far this year.

We are currently responding to over 25,000 calls a week from the public and have seen a 23.5 per cent rise in cruelty convictions in the last five years. The first nine months of this year alone have seen 1,176 cruelty convictions by the RSPCA, a six per cent rise on the same period in 2011 (1,108 convictions).

We fight for justice for animals who have been the victims of cruelty and neglect. Read some of our animal cruelty cases.

As the number of animals in desperate need grows, our welfare expenditure - which relies entirely on public donations - is already exceeding forecasts set for 2012, as our rescue centres and inspectors are stretched to their limits.

And we predict a further 6,000 dogs and cats will be abandoned between now and the end of the year at a cost of nearly £5m.

As a result, Gavin Grant today calls for emergency help from the nation’s animal lovers, saying:

The recession may be over but these are very dark times for its silent victims, the animals. They have never needed our help so desperately. Preventing cruelty and helping the animals most in need are the RSPCA’s absolute priorities but the number of abused and abandoned animals is soaring. At the same time, we have more animal abusers to investigate, prosecute and hopefully prevent from hurting animals than anyone can remember. This is a real crisis and despite the immense dedication of our staff and volunteers, we are struggling to cope. We really need our country’s animal lovers to step forward and open their hearts, homes and purses in these extremely difficult times.

Can you help?

Please help support our vital work.

To donate to the RSPCA’s urgent Animal Welfare Crisis Appeal:

Text ‘Crisis’ now to 70007 to give £5 (Text costs £5 + one standard network rate message)   

or call the Emergency Appeal Line on 0300 123 8181 

or donate online at: www.rspca.org.uk/crisisappeal