stfuconservatives:

An Atlantic Monthly article saying what I’ve been saying for a long time: unpaid internships are terrible and should be illegal. There is no reason businesses should expect unpaid labor from anyone.

Full disclosure: I worked an unpaid internship at a major newspaper in college. I was very lucky that I still had time to go to class and work a part-time (paid) job waiting tables at Chili’s. And that my parents paid my rent, bills, tuition and books.

That internship has given me a leg up in my career ever since. And you know what? That’s unfair. It’s not that I didn’t work hard at it or deserve the internship. It’s that I was privileged enough to be able to afford to take it. Only students who could afford to work for free could take an internship like that. It was a gigantic newspaper and could have easily, easily afforded to pay us minimum wage. But they didn’t, because they didn’t have to.

The most galling is when internships are offered in exchange for college credit. At many universities, students pay per unit. So in order to take an unpaid internship, they have to pay more in tuition. Essentially, they’re paying to work. At least my school only charged a flat tuition rate per quarter.

But there is a silver lining to my tale of privilege. At every job I’ve had since then, whenever someone mentions hiring interns, I personally insist we pay them. On three separate occasions I’ve made paid internships available to people when my bosses wanted them to work for free. If you have ANY chance to do the same, please do. Businesses, if you can’t afford to pay your employees, you don’t get to have employees.

I’m not saying interns should get a salary and benefits or anything. But minimum wage and a modicum of decency should be standards for all workers in America, no matter what level they’re at.

-Jess

Being unable to do an unpaid internship for financial reasons is the story of my life and is frustrating and makes me feel like a failure, to be honest.

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

stfuconservatives:

Seriously. -Jess

As Flavia pointed out on Twitter, Johnson asks, “What if in this case, human rights and women’s rights conflict?” To which I replied, “It’s no surprise that Johnson doesn’t think women ARE humans.” And Flavia, “that’s her belief system in one single sentence you know”

Charming.

Gosh, I just have this weird excess of freedom.

Yeah, ok. 

(via keepyourbsoutofmyuterus)

http://instantchewbacca.com/

(Source: harrisonfords, via koschei-the-deathless)

ethiopienne:

nanner:

stfuconservatives:

Two of my dear friends have started a Tumblr with job postings. From their blog:

“Looking to exchange labour for currency in our hegemonic capitalist society? We’ve got you covered. Expect postings for all manners of employment, especially for nonprofit and academic positions. Submissions always welcome.”

I know lots of my readers are on the hunt for a job, so… go forth and labor!

-Jess

Servicey!

Signal boost.

(via racialicious)

pattycakez:

My dearest twenty-one year old girl,

This letter may come as a hurtful surprise to you, but please, keep reading. I know that right now you don’t understand boundaries between a man and a woman. You’re not even sure yet why, when and how they exist. And right now you’re naive to the fact that in friendships, emotions and pasts and physical touch can be confusing and messy and lead down hurtful roads. You’re a “guy’s girl”. We all know one—the kind of girl who thinks that most women on this earth except for her are catty and jealous and can’t be trusted.

There’s a reason why, right now, I’m referring to you as a “girl”.

There is an unhealthy balance in seeking out more friendships with the opposite sex than your own. Let’s be honest—guys and girls were made opposite sexes for a reason, and it wasn’t to just be friends. Is it possible to maintain friendships with each other? Absolutely. But we should learn our limits in those friendships, especially in those crucial teens and twenties when we are figuring out ourselves and the world around us.

Darling—no man, no matter how good of a friend he is to you, should be the one you confide in about all the turbulent places this world will take your sweet heart and mind. He cannot be your validation when your self-esteem has been challenged, and he will not be able to speak into those inherent longings inside you that only a woman would understand. Remember that who you need to be filled with is the One who made you, not the one standing in front of you.

While you are not responsible for the choice a man makes to lust, don’t intentionally drive a man in your life to do so. And if you find out he is struggling, don’t bring him down or punish him. Encourage him to seek help and show him grace.

That guy you’re talking to whose heart is wrapped up in or committed to someone else? Take a step away, love. Offering parts of yourself to someone who can’t offer anything back will only hurt you in the long run. It is not up to you to change his heart.

Be wary of what you post online and how much of yourself you’re letting the world in on for free. Those photos of yourself and the guys you’re with do not do justice to the heart beating inside of you. Think of everything you want to give your future husband and don’t give those things away to people who aren’t him. When you meet that man who you want to spend the rest of your life with, you’ll want him to trust you with other guys and know he is getting all of you.

Now here’s one you’re really not going to want to hear— If one of you in an opposite sex friendship is dating someone, don’t spend ample time alone with each other. And don’t seek out the wrong kind of relationship advice from your opposite sex friends. You know the type—when you really only want to hear what will validate you and not what is best for everyone involved.

Love your brothers as Christ would—equally and unconditionally. Respect their hearts and the place they are in, but show the same care and give the same encouragement to all.

If one of your friends is struggling, walk with him in encouragement, love, and lack of judgment, but also direct your friend to mentors, counselors and disciplers who have the wisdom and experience to establish long-term help.

Recognize spiritual warfare in one another and pray against it. Fight for each other’s hearts in Christ.

Seek out other ladies. Surround yourself with strong women who have been there and done that, or who can speak true feminine wisdom into this season of your life. Don’t boast in “men just understanding you better.” Men and women were not created with the same hearts. Cherish the femininity in yours and find good women to share it with.

And remember that you are worth so much more than what you’ve already lost. Your God is the Father of redemption, and you are one of His delivered. Let your friendships with the men in your life reflect that always.

Love,

Yourself, four years wiser

[Because sometimes the very words we need to hear are our own]

I am not going to address any of the more religious parts of this, because that is far, far removed from my experience and knowledge.

But I have a real problem that someone thinks that they know who I should be friends with, what those friendships should be like, and how close I should be with them, based solely on our genders.

Aside from it being kind of intrusive, here are some obvious wrenches in this framework:

• I have a friend who’s genderqueer. Am I allowed to confide in them?
• It seems like the biggest issue has to do with opposite gender friendships not being able to always be completely platonic. What if one or both of the people in the friendship is gay?
• As a self-aware and grown-up human being, I am capable of managing my friendships, and if I’m having difficulty with that, there’s probably something more going on than whether any of my friends are men. That is to say, if there’s something not good going on with my friendships with a man/men, then there’s got to be an underlying problem with me or with him/them that absolutely will not get addressed if the issue is approached with gender being the problem. 
• My value as a human being and as a potential partner does not depend on what I’ve shared with others. I am not less whole or less worthwhile for having shared, whether that implies sexual behaviors or having close friendships.
• People are not their genders. People DO their genders. It’s not that people’s personalities are not influenced by their genders, but this entire framework rests on a very shake ground consisting of gender essentialism and then taking that to be the all-encompassing and defining part of someone’s character. 

(Source: shannonicole, via soniarice)

karnythia:

There’s a petition to get her job back. I signed, please consider doing so too.

What the hell.

I feel so, so lucky to have gone through a public school system where something like this would never have happened, where it would have been much more likely for these kinds of initiatives to spread through schools/the county.

(via valeria2067)

aperfectillusion:

Step 1: Go someplace public with your laptop.

Step 2: Click HERE

Step 3: Press f11

Step 4: Start typing frantically.

Step 5: Make sure other people see your screen.

Step 6: ???????

Step 7: Profit

(via koschei-the-deathless)

"

The problem that needs to be fixed is not kick all the girls out of YA, it’s teach boys that stories featuring female protagonists or written by female authors also apply to them. Boys fall in love. Boys want to be important. Boys have hopes and fears and dreams and ambitions. What boys also have is a sexist society in which they are belittled for “liking girl stuff.” Male is neutral, female is specific.

I heard someone mention that Sarah Rees Brennan’s THE DEMON’S LEXICON would be great for boys, but they’d never read it with that cover. Friends, then the problem is NOT with the book. It’s with the society that’s raising that boy. It’s with the community who inculcated that boy with the idea that he can’t read a book with an attractive guy on the cover.

Here’s how we solve the OMG SO MANY GIRLS IN YA problem: quit treating women like secondary appendages. Quit treating women’s art like it’s a niche, novelty creation only for girls. Quit teaching boys to fear the feminine, quit insisting that it’s a hardship for men to have to relate to anything that doesn’t specifically cater to them.

Because if I can watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and want to grow up to be an archaeologist, there’s no reason at all that a boy shouldn’t be able to read THE DEMON’S LEXICON with its cover on. My friends, sexism doesn’t just hurt women, and our young men’s abysmal rate of attraction to literacy is the proof of it.

" — The Problem is Not the Books by Saundra Mitchell  (via albinwonderland)

(via fattiesinlove)

As if you need another reason to stop shopping at UO… 

delicatetbone:

womanofkleenex:

sugarbooty:

End of Gender: Urban Outfitters Epic Fail

This week Urban Outfitters added yet another epic fail to the clothing company’s laundry list of misdeeds.

UO has been selling a greeting card that reads: “Jack and Jill, Went up the Hill, So Jack could see Jill’s fanny, But Jack got a shock, And an eyeful of cock, Because Jill was a closet tranny.”

Angry Redditors called UO’s nursery rhyme “blatantly transphobic” with its use of the much-debated “t-word”and its objectification of trans bodies.  But that’s not the only reason why UO’s “charming” card is such a slap in the face. 

For years UO has been gobbling up gender-bending style and regurgitating queer fashion for the masses.

In 2009 the New York Times identified androgyny as the “it” fashion trend of the coming decade.  Psychologist Dr. Diane Ehrensaft told the Times a new peer culture made gender-bending “not only acceptable, but cool.”

The cool-factor of androgyny has been amplified in recent years by icons like Lady Gaga, who performed in drag at last year’s VMA’s and played up media rumors that she is intersex in her “Telephone” music video (the pop star has since revealed that she’s not).  Androgynous models like Andrej Pejic have been walking the runway for Marc Jacobs, and the andro-hot heroine of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has inspired a clothing line at H&M.

UO stores are cropping up in suburban malls everywhere, selling hip, gender-neutral accessories like beanies, tees, hoodies, plastic-framed glasses, and skinny jeans.  Last year the comapny, which includes Anthropologie and Free People, opened 57 new stores, competing with preppy retailers like American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and the Gap. 

UO stands out with is self-proclaimed “funky” (queer?) threads.  I’m not suggesting that all “funky” and “androgynous” fashion is queer fashion, nor am I suggesting that all queer folks wear the same things.  But come on now, where do you think UO got the idea for this photo in their winter catalogue?

In a culture that punishes princess boys and fears Chaz Bono, why is androgyny considered fashionable, even sexy?  And how did gender-neutral/gender-bending clothing go mainstream?  It’s no secret that what scares, sells.  So when the queers go bump in the night, the scaredy cats behind UO swipe our clothes and duck under the covers.

UO has no problem taking without giving back.  The company has been outed a number of times in the past few months, first for ripping of independent jewelry designers, then for selling culturally-appropriative “Navajo” clothing and accessories.  But sometimes, UO co-founder and CEO Richard Hayne is in the spirit of giving, so hedonates to anti-gay politicians like Rick “gay sex equals man-on-dog humping’” Santorum.

Hayne might think the gays are scary, but his customers are probably less likely to be spooked.  Now more Americans support gay marriage than ever before, and among the young, “funky” folks who buy their leggings and Bill Cosby sweaters at UO, I’d guess that the percentage is probably higher.

Since the gays aren’t so scary anymore, UO has resorted to a “tranny” jokes to get that extra “edge.” And it’s just not funny.

While the the young and hip prowl the streets in their androgynous attire, it might look like the “end of gender” is near. But as Coco Chanel reminds us, fashion fades. UO’s darling greeting card brings us back to harsh reality: When it comes to understanding and respecting the spectrum of identities beneath the clothes, we have a long, long way to go.

- Bitch Magazine

This is a really smart post.

I hate UO’s politics/actions and as much as it pains me to not shop there or at anthro - fuck them.

…unacceptable.

(via racialicious)

hufflepuffkeeper:

bakelistbake:

Blueberry lemon tea cake…good for breakfast. Fruit for breakfast?

Click here for the recipe, and to read more.

STOP. I need this! 

(via amadgirl-withablog)

White people who believe in color blind racial ideology are actively placating the status quo, encouraging racism, and reinforcing white supremacy. 

xtremecaffeine:

dumbthingswhitepplsay:

sourcedumal:

Source 1 

Source 2

There you have it. We’ve known this for ages, but a wonderful black woman has proved it through white-people approved studies.

You’re not just racist. You’re active racists.

(via stfuconservatives)

msamberhazard:

msamberhazard:

tal9000:

transawareness:

The above article is an update.  Her mother went to appeal to keep her out of the psychiatric ward and lost.  She will be institutionalized because of her expression of her gender.  She will be held until she conforms to male gender and then released to foster care, not her mother who was supporting her.

Please, if you haven’t signed the petition, sign it, reblog it, ask your friends to sign it. We’ve managed to get 40K signatures for a pageant model, we’ve only gotten 11K for a little girl about to have her life ruined.  Lets get on the ball and spread the word.

Sign It.

I literally just repeated the f-word until I ran out of breath.

Let me catch my breath. I may go on a cursing spree again as soon as I get it back.

DIE CIS SCUM!

Seriously people…

WHY THE FUCK AREN’T PEOPLE REBLOGGING THIS??

(via stfusexists)

stfusexists:

It appears so. Just when you think you’ve hit bottom…

WHAT.

stfuconservatives:

Before I get any more Asks about my feelings re: Katniss and Jennifer Lawrence, read this. I’ve gotten messages saying “they auditioned for talent, not skin color” and “Katniss wasn’t Black in the books.” No, folks, no. The point, you have missed it. The casting call was for whites only and that’s why I have an issue with it.

Katniss is described as olive-skinned with black hair and gray eyes. In terms of ethnic population, the Appalachian region has plenty of people who could be described as olive-skinned, particularly Native Americans and Italians who immigrated in the early 1900s. There are people today who are white who have an “olive complexion” — most folks with southern Italian or Greek backgrounds, for instance. So yes, Katniss could be played by a white person and still be honest to the books. But the fact that the casting call was for whites ONLY means that Native, Hispanic, and biracial actresses weren’t even considered for the part. They cast a blonde, blue-eyed actress and dyed her hair.

I have no issue with Jennifer Lawrence. She did a great job. But don’t pretend she was the only person who could have possibly played this role. If they’d auditioned actresses of every race and ultimately decided on Jennifer Lawrence, I’d have a lot less of a problem with it. But they didn’t. They didn’t even consider non-white actresses for her, and probably not for Gale either (who’s supposed to look a lot like Katniss).

-Jess

Exactly.

"I have a profound respect for a principled pacifism and for anybody whose desire to avoid war at all costs is coupled with a robust peace-making agenda. There are valid and important criticisms of U.S. actions and motivations abroad from people who loathe war and are willing to work to stop it.

But that’s not what the libertarians are doing. They’re not pacifists. They’re non-interventionists. They offer a stomach-turning false pacifism that only pretends to care about “Muslim men, women and children” for long enough to advance isolationist policy goals. Their willingness so stand against any particular war ends the moment the U.S. disentangles itself. Their mantra isn’t “Peace now.” It’s “We can’t be fucked to care about other countries.”

When you believe in peace for the sake of peace, we’ll talk. Until then, let’s not bullshit each other." —

Squashed: “LIBERTARIANS, STOP TRYING TO PLAY THE PACIFIST CARD. YOU ARE NOT PACIFISTS.”

Brilliant

(via anticapitalist)

Look who was the only Representative to vote against divestment from Darfur.

(via stfuconservatives)