Submissions

Before I go on, I want to be very clear that when I talk about the idea of reclaiming symbols stolen by Nazis, my stance is that we should not try to reclaim them. Because once white supremacy has tainted something, it’s like spilling soup on the ground – we can’t get it back.

But I am speaking to white people only here.
1. They are my people and therefore my responsibility. Other communities are perfectly capable of governing themselves based on their collective circumstances and histories.
2. Because there are modern religions who are not in any way related to Christianity or its crimes which have also used or use versions of the swastika, which is a very ancient symbol. There are some Buddhists and Hindi who are working to reclaim the symbol for them. I am not speaking to these cases, either.

And onto ….

After an unfortunate conversation on Facebook in a private group I’m in, I had some thoughts:

1. No, I am not jumping to conclusions. This man *chooses* to dress in a way that signals “skinhead” and I am responding based on my cultural understanding of what those symbols mean.

2. No, it is not the same as if I accused someone Muslim of being an extremist. For one thing, folx who choose to follow Norse paganism are not an oppressed class. In the United States, Muslims are. For another thing, most Muslims are practicing what their families have been practicing for hundreds of years. Norse neopaganism is very new and Old Norse has not been active for hundreds of years.

3. PS. Wanna guess who it was that brought back Norse paganism?

4. No, there is no real difference between neo-Nazis or Nazis or skinheads. A nazi is a Nazi is a Nazi. I will not be taking questions.

5. No, my “Eat the Rich” face mask that you went and found on my Facebook profile when you decide to do some light stalking because you didn’t like what I had to say does not make me a hypocrite. Me wearing that in public does not oppress the rich, nor does it signify that I am an unsafe person because I am in no way a threat to rich people. And the sentiment is not a threat to anyone else so exactly who is being harmed when I wear the mask?

6. No, calling out Nazi symbols is not the same as transphobia for fuck’s sake.

7. Why. The. Fuck. Do you want a Hitler mustache? Why is that the part of 1930s fashion you, as an apparent connoisseur of 1930s fashion, absolutely must have? Why can’t you avoid a Hitler mustache while enjoying 1930s fashion??

I rarely know how to do the right thing, socially. But I am hearing BIPOC, Jewish and Trans activists asking white people to speak up in white spaces. And so I did. And let me tell you, the other white people were not into it. It’s so strange, and frankly confusing, some of the arguments they made. Like I am not even kidding about #7. That’s the hill you’re prepared to die on? For reals?

Anyway, it threw me until I realized: that’s exactly how this works. The system trains us to react to protect it without thinking, because once we do the thinking, we can see the system is toxic and needs to go. So when a person pushes back against it, the system remains protected. If I call out white supremacy, white supremacy will fight back.

People were claiming I was the bully for making assumptions, for judging a book by its cover. For making assumptions about the way this person looked. But what assumption am I supposed to draw when I see somebody who looks like a Nazi? Some books should be judged by their covers. Like, if you see the Necronomicon, fucking do not read it aloud, just lock the cabin door behind you and find a different AirBnb for next weekend.

I thought we were kicking Nazis. If I go out in my Nazi kicking boots am I expected to interview every nazi-looking person I meet to assess whether they actually are a Nazi or not?

With white supremacy on the rise (even Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken about it recently), why do you choose a look that could get you mistaken for a Nazi? Why do you want to present as something so dangerous and evil? Why can’t you find a new look? New symbols? Human beings are so creative that we were able to put human beings on a whole other rock in space and you can’t find a new shape?

If it looks like a Nazi, it’s a fucking Nazi.

It’s time to choose your uniform; what side are you on?

Hello, friends!

I’ve been pretty devastatingly disabled for the last two and a half years, as many of you know. It’s been particularly difficult to recover because of the particular hellscape that is medical and mental health care in the United States. I’ve only recently been able to access a doctor who recognizes my ADHD and is willing to treat it – but I have to pay out of pocket to do so. In any case, whoa boy has Adderall been changing my *life*. Suddenly tasks that used to make me feel like I was drowning, feel reasonable. It’s incredible to simply be able to say “I should do laundry” and THEN I JUST DO THE LAUNDRY. What? That’s not to say I’m all better. I still struggle almost daily with depression, anxiety, long-term autistic burnout, and, yes, the ADHD as well. I feel on the upswing for the first time in two years, but I know it’s still quite a ways until I am back to my old self, and even longer before I am back to my old self AND ALSO treating and correctly accommodating for the neurodivergence I spent 41 years undiagnosed with. Undiagnosed without? That sentence was kind of a journey, and I apologize or something? haha

All that said, I have slowly been getting back to work here and in our social media spaces. I have been publishing both infoposts and Badass Bitches posts. I have been posting at Tiktok (both personal and professional stuff) and sharing some of those in reels at Instagram. And, you may notice, I’ve removed ads from this website. In truth, this was primarily because earnings have changed and it was no longer worth it to have the code all fucked up because of ads doing nothing for me, monetarily. But it’s always been a goal. I had just hoped to be more financially stable when I finally got to this place, haha I’ve also been trying to relearn how to manage the design aspect of this site, but two years of my brain being mush has apparently rotted all that I previously knew so it’s taking some time to relearn it and I apologize that things are kind of wonky for now. Wonky but functional is like my whole aesthetic.

Thanks for sticking around. I’ll soon be actively asking for submissions again. And if you happen to have sent a submission in during this time when I was not functional (but always wonky!) please be patient as I *will* get to it.

Healing from a mental health crisis without social or familial support is a long process. Thank you so much for sticking through it with me. Love to you all.

This one began as a project in my Women’s Studies 102 class that I took as part of my WS minor a few years ago. We had to create a zine on a feminist topic and my group did body image (of course lol). I wound up creating this idea of a timeline showing how popular body shapes have changed over the years. I think it’s a powerful concept to keep in mind as we go through the work of learning to love, or at least accept, the bodies we live in. The idea that we could go from a curvy af Gibson Girl to a straight, skinny Flapper within just 20 years blows my mind. Because unlike clothing, one cannot change the shape of their body at will.

Before I go on, I want to just ask that you keep in mind that a body’s primary function is to serve the person who lives in it. I know it may not always serve it perfectly, or even well enough, but if you are reading this, it is serving you. It is for you to experience the world through sense. It is for you to think and learn and grow. It is for you to give and receive pleasure. It is not for others, ever. You may very well choose to share it with others in various ways (sex, pregnancy, or more). But it is always primarily for you. The fact that society has made us all believe it is meant to look a certain way is simply toxic and manipulative. And you deserve better. That’s why we’re here doing this work.

OK here we go!

1890s – The Gibson Girl

The “Gibson Girl” is named for Charles Dana Gibson whose illustrations made these bodies iconic. The waists were made to appear extra tiny because of the use of corsets and other illusions (1).

A Belgian actress and model, Camille won $2,000 in the early 1900’s in a contest to find a real life Gibson Girl (2).

1920s – The Flapper

By the 1920s the flapper was all the rage with her straight, flat-chested, boyish figure, and short bob hairstyles.

The Gibson Girl shape was often synonymous with Suffragists (2). The flapper was also a style identified with independent women (3). What do other body shapes of different eras symbolize?

1950s – The Sexpot

To this day, we consider Marilyn Monroe to be the epitome of classic beauty and femininity with her curvy figure and blonde hair. We often try (incorrectly) to compare her size with modern sizes, or her body with modern celebrities (4).

Marilyn is remembered as a ditzy, superficial, social climber but she was actually a highly intelligent, resourceful, and independent woman who worked for equity in her industry

1960s – The Stick Figure

Only about a decade later, we swung wildly back to straight and skinny bodies like Twiggy’s, an English teenager who became one of the first international supermodels.

Twiggy was associated with the Mods of the UK, and like all youth counterculture movements, the Mods pushed back on archaic societal ideals. Not unlike the Flappers of the 20s.

1980s – Fitness Curves

By the 1980’s we wanted curves again, but in the decade of Jazzercize and fitness videos, women were expected to be physically fit as well. Or to appear that way, at least. Eating disorders were on the rise in the 70s and 80s (5).

1990s – Skinny Again

Bodies like Fiona Apple’s or Kate Moss’ of the 90s are often called “heroin chic” which is cringeworthy. Bodies of all sizes, shapes, colors, abilities, and in all states of health are good bodies!

Besides, heroin addiction is nothing to be flippant about!

2010s – Gibson 2.0?

In the 2010s, women were expected to have extreme curves and *also* a thigh gap. What in the misogyny??

Think about how the Kardashians are percieved for their bodies. How have our attitudes towards body shapes and the women who live in them changed over the last century?

Remember that your body doesn’t exist to be viewed, but to carry you through your life.

All Bodies are Good Bodies:
fat bodies, skinny bodies, curvy bodies, straight bodies, trans bodies, disabled bodies, intersex bodies, bodies of color, tall bodies, short bodies, ALL bodies

Sources:
1. Chopin, Kate. “The 1900’s Answer to Barbie- the Gibson Girl.” Kate Chopin, Loyola University: New Orleans, http://people.loyno.edu/~kchopin/new/women/gibsongirl.html.

2. “The Prince Of Pilsen: The People In The Piece.” The Play Pictorial. XXII (IV): 144. August 1904. https://books.google.com/books?id=YVIZAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA144#v=onepage&q&f=false.

3. History.com Editors. “Flappers.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Mar. 2018, https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/flappers.

4. Berlin, Erika. “What Dress Size Was Marilyn Monroe, Actually?” Mental Floss, Mental Floss, 30 July 2015, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/66536/what-dress-size-was-marilyn-monroe-actually.

5. Deans, Emily. “A History of Eating Disorders.” Psychology Today, Psychology Today, 11 Dec. 2011, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201112/history-eating-disorders.