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ismnotwasm
ismnotwasm's Journal
ismnotwasm's Journal
June 17, 2015
http://www.themarysue.com/bitch-planet-tattoos/
Why "Bitch Planet" Is Inspiring Women to Get Badass Feminist Tattoos
Bitch Planet, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro’s feminist, sci-fi twist on the prison exploitation genre, is only four issues in, but it’s already inspired a legion of women to permanently brand themselves Non-Compliant. The letters “NC”—in De Landro’s recognizable design—are tattooed onto the inmates of Bitch Planet, an interstellar prison for women who have been deemed Non-Compliant by the very literal patriarchy that runs the Earth.
On Bitch Planet, the answer to “What are you in for?” could include theft, assault, cheating on your husband, refusing to conform to rigid beauty standards or engaging in gender terrorism (I don’t know what that is, but it sounds awesome).
Soon after the first issue hit stands, the NC logo became a rallying cry for women who are too brash, feminist, opinionated, angry, fat, dark-skinned, queer, gender-non-conforming—or in a word, “non-compliant.”
“We live in a world where we are constantly labelled, and being able to label myself as non-compliant gives me free reign to live without worrying what people think of me and stop from being held to society’s current standards and their labels. Getting the tattoo, for me, was me getting a permanent reminder of that,” says Liesl Dittmann, 22, a genderfluid telecaptioning assistant and comic shop worker in Utah.
On Bitch Planet, the answer to “What are you in for?” could include theft, assault, cheating on your husband, refusing to conform to rigid beauty standards or engaging in gender terrorism (I don’t know what that is, but it sounds awesome).
Soon after the first issue hit stands, the NC logo became a rallying cry for women who are too brash, feminist, opinionated, angry, fat, dark-skinned, queer, gender-non-conforming—or in a word, “non-compliant.”
“We live in a world where we are constantly labelled, and being able to label myself as non-compliant gives me free reign to live without worrying what people think of me and stop from being held to society’s current standards and their labels. Getting the tattoo, for me, was me getting a permanent reminder of that,” says Liesl Dittmann, 22, a genderfluid telecaptioning assistant and comic shop worker in Utah.
http://www.themarysue.com/bitch-planet-tattoos/
June 16, 2015
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/15/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-top-hedge-fund-managers-make-more-/
Hillary Clinton: Top hedge fund managers make more than all kindergarten teachers combined
I found this interesting since I keep hearing about Hillary and her "corporate masters". In fact if I hear that more more time-- and I will -- I expect a strong bout of nausea. Anyway politifact came up with this little assessment of her comparison statement. This is a woman who cares very much for people, and the comparison is an apt one.
Our ruling
Clinton said, "The top-25 hedge fund managers (are) making more than all of America's kindergarten teachers combined."
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that America’s 158,000 kindergarten teachers together make $8.5 billion a year.
There are a few possible problems with the data for hedge fund managers’ earnings, but there’s no denying it’s significantly higher than a kindergarten teacher’s compensation. A rough estimate for the top-25 hedge fund managers shows they collectively earned $11.62 billion in 2014, and that was a bad year. In 2013, they earned approximately $21.15 billion. So using the smaller number, kindergarten teachers come up shy of hedge fund managers by about $3 billion, a huge margin.
We rate Clinton’s claim True.
Clinton said, "The top-25 hedge fund managers (are) making more than all of America's kindergarten teachers combined."
Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that America’s 158,000 kindergarten teachers together make $8.5 billion a year.
There are a few possible problems with the data for hedge fund managers’ earnings, but there’s no denying it’s significantly higher than a kindergarten teacher’s compensation. A rough estimate for the top-25 hedge fund managers shows they collectively earned $11.62 billion in 2014, and that was a bad year. In 2013, they earned approximately $21.15 billion. So using the smaller number, kindergarten teachers come up shy of hedge fund managers by about $3 billion, a huge margin.
We rate Clinton’s claim True.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/15/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-top-hedge-fund-managers-make-more-/
June 14, 2015
http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/06/13/james-boulware-another-male-rage-bomb-goes-off-in-dallas/
James Boulware: Another male rage bomb goes off in Dallas
After last night’s events, Boulware’s father told local media that, while he didn’t think what his son had done was right, “we all have a breaking point, and they pushed him past it.”
But Boulware, it seems fairly clear, was already plenty broken long before “the system” got to him. And no matter how sad or angry he was about losing custody of his son, nothing justifies a violent attack on innocent strangers with assault rifles and explosives. Most people, even if they were pushed far past their breaking point, wouldn’t respond with attempted mass murder. We are not all rage bombs waiting to go off.
And that’s when this post comes back around to the Men’s Rights movement. No, despite his anger at the police and courts for “taking away his kid,” and his penchant for calling people “BITCHES” in comments sections he doesn’t seem to have been a Men’s Rights activist.
But his was the kind of rage that Men’s Rights activists like to “warn” us all about; his violence was the sort of violence that MRAs all too often excuse.
I’ve written many times before about the way the Men’s Rights movement has lionized Tom Ball, a New Hampshire man who committed suicide several years ago by lighting himself on fire outside a court building — in hopes, as he explained in a long and inflammatory manifesto — of inspiring other men to start fire-bombing courthouses and police stations to avenge the wrongs allegedly inflicted on men by the family courts.
But Boulware, it seems fairly clear, was already plenty broken long before “the system” got to him. And no matter how sad or angry he was about losing custody of his son, nothing justifies a violent attack on innocent strangers with assault rifles and explosives. Most people, even if they were pushed far past their breaking point, wouldn’t respond with attempted mass murder. We are not all rage bombs waiting to go off.
And that’s when this post comes back around to the Men’s Rights movement. No, despite his anger at the police and courts for “taking away his kid,” and his penchant for calling people “BITCHES” in comments sections he doesn’t seem to have been a Men’s Rights activist.
But his was the kind of rage that Men’s Rights activists like to “warn” us all about; his violence was the sort of violence that MRAs all too often excuse.
I’ve written many times before about the way the Men’s Rights movement has lionized Tom Ball, a New Hampshire man who committed suicide several years ago by lighting himself on fire outside a court building — in hopes, as he explained in a long and inflammatory manifesto — of inspiring other men to start fire-bombing courthouses and police stations to avenge the wrongs allegedly inflicted on men by the family courts.
http://wehuntedthemammoth.com/2015/06/13/james-boulware-another-male-rage-bomb-goes-off-in-dallas/
June 13, 2015
DECOLONIZE ALL THE THINGS (Great Blog, great Blog post)
DECOLONIZE ALL THE THINGS
The reflections of a Black Feminist Biocultural Anthropologist & Sociologist in a Constant State of Rage
Gender is the range of physical, mental, and behavioral characteristics pertaining to, and differentiating between and across, masculinity and femininity. In Western societies, the accepted cultural perspective on gender views women and men as naturally and unequivocally defined categories of being with distinctive psychological & behavioral propensities that can be predicted from their reproductive function. (The idea that women do feminine things, men do masculine things & it is just ‘natural’) (Doing Gender, West & Zimmerman, 1987:126)
What is SEX/BIOLOGICAL SEX?
Sex is a determination made through the application of socially agreed upon biological criteria for classifying persons as females or males. The criteria for classification can be genitalia at birth or chromosomal typing before birth, and they do not necessarily agree with one another (Doing Gender, West & Zimmerman, 1987:127).
What is SEX CATEGORY?
Placement in a sex category is achieved through application of the sex criteria, but in everyday life, categorization is established and sustained by the socially required identificatory displays that proclaim one’s membership in one or the other category. Sex & sex category can vary independently; that is, it is possible to claim membership in a sex category even when the sex criteria are lacking
What is patriarchy?
Patriarchy (rule by fathers) is a social system in which the male is the primary authority figure central to social organization and the central roles of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property, and where fathers hold authority over women and children. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination. Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage. Patriarchy can manifest itself socially, politically, and economically.
http://decolonizeallthethings.com/teaching-tools/patriarchy-gender-lesson-plan/
June 13, 2015
How it Feels When the Media Declares Your Teen Daughter a Whiny 'SLUT'
Last summer, then-17-year-old New Yorker Winnifred Bonjean-Alpert was arrested and detained for 18 hours for telling her friends—other teens at a party— that they didn’t have to show police officers their IDs. Now, her mother, a civil rights attorney, is attempting to sue the city over the alleged police misconduct. Tabloid coverage of the story has been especially charming.
The New York Daily News headlined its writeup of the suit “Former star of ‘SLUT: The Play’ wants to sue city for $2 million over wrongful arrest.” The ever-slack-jawed Daily Mail gave Winnifred the Daily Mail headline treatment, proclaiming, “Private school educated Brooklyn actress, 18, and her defense attorney mom sue NYPD for $2 MILLION over ‘mistreatment’ during underage drinking bust.” The New York Post really went for it, covering the pending litigation with a headline that reads, “OMG, the cops busted me for drinking and I’m totally having my mommy sue.” Most aggregations of the story I’ve seen today feature photos of Winnifred in a bikini skimmed from her Facebook page. The Daily News has a photo of Winnifred with a portion of her nipple exposed (they’ve done the classy thing and pixellated it, which is a good thing because Winnifred was underage in the photos).
To include images that Winnifred published to social media is annoying, but within their rights as the best newspapers upon which to wipe one’s ass in the absence of Charmin. But for Winnifred and Jeni, who have now found themselves caricatured and maligned as a spoiled teen harlot and her enabling opportunist mother, respectively, witnessing the obtuse disinterest in facts in favor of a sexist narrative is frustrating at best and enraging at worst.
Winifred is used to being in the public eye; in 2006, she was among the women and girls featured in the documentary Sexy Baby, and for that she was honored at Jezebel’s 5th anniversary celebration as one of the Jezebel 25. Since then, she starred in the critically acclaimed SLUT! The Play, a production about a girl who is raped at a party and has her reputation maligned as a result. Winnifred is also a mouthy, staunch feminist: qualities that her mother is proud she exhibits.
http://jezebel.com/how-it-feels-when-the-media-declares-your-teen-daughter-1710982452
The New York Daily News headlined its writeup of the suit “Former star of ‘SLUT: The Play’ wants to sue city for $2 million over wrongful arrest.” The ever-slack-jawed Daily Mail gave Winnifred the Daily Mail headline treatment, proclaiming, “Private school educated Brooklyn actress, 18, and her defense attorney mom sue NYPD for $2 MILLION over ‘mistreatment’ during underage drinking bust.” The New York Post really went for it, covering the pending litigation with a headline that reads, “OMG, the cops busted me for drinking and I’m totally having my mommy sue.” Most aggregations of the story I’ve seen today feature photos of Winnifred in a bikini skimmed from her Facebook page. The Daily News has a photo of Winnifred with a portion of her nipple exposed (they’ve done the classy thing and pixellated it, which is a good thing because Winnifred was underage in the photos).
To include images that Winnifred published to social media is annoying, but within their rights as the best newspapers upon which to wipe one’s ass in the absence of Charmin. But for Winnifred and Jeni, who have now found themselves caricatured and maligned as a spoiled teen harlot and her enabling opportunist mother, respectively, witnessing the obtuse disinterest in facts in favor of a sexist narrative is frustrating at best and enraging at worst.
Winifred is used to being in the public eye; in 2006, she was among the women and girls featured in the documentary Sexy Baby, and for that she was honored at Jezebel’s 5th anniversary celebration as one of the Jezebel 25. Since then, she starred in the critically acclaimed SLUT! The Play, a production about a girl who is raped at a party and has her reputation maligned as a result. Winnifred is also a mouthy, staunch feminist: qualities that her mother is proud she exhibits.
http://jezebel.com/how-it-feels-when-the-media-declares-your-teen-daughter-1710982452
June 11, 2015
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesstjamesvi/male-privilege-from-a-trans-guyas-perspective-1mcmp#.weqABVZzM
25 Examples Of Male Privilege From A Trans Guy’s Perspective
This is so excellent!
1. I’m suddenly funny.
I’ve always been dry, sarcastic, and satirical with my humour. In Ye Olden Times, I was considered unfunny at best – and a bitch at worst. Now that I’m a short white guy, people automatically peg me for a comedian and laugh at the bulk of my mouth zings. But nothing has changed. I’ve even recycled some of my old material that people didn’t find funny before just to make sure.
2. Yet I’m still taken (more) seriously.
I’m still amazed at the amount of people that now immediately shut their mouths the second I open mine. Believe me, my ideas haven’t improved at all. I’ve even tried to derail serious conversations with ludicrous stuff just to see what would happen – and I’d still be regarded highly.
3. I rarely get interrupted.
I used to be interrupted so often while presenting as a woman that I in turn started to talk over people as a form of conversational survival. Unfortunately, because it became so ingrained in me, I still find myself doing it from time to time even though it’s rarely necessary anymore.
4. I get paid more.
The proof is in my paychecks. Actual, numerical proof.
5. It’s easier for me to be poor.
Aside from usually getting paid more, it’s been easier to find work when the person doing the hiring is a white guy. It’s like helping out a buddy or something.
I’ve always been dry, sarcastic, and satirical with my humour. In Ye Olden Times, I was considered unfunny at best – and a bitch at worst. Now that I’m a short white guy, people automatically peg me for a comedian and laugh at the bulk of my mouth zings. But nothing has changed. I’ve even recycled some of my old material that people didn’t find funny before just to make sure.
2. Yet I’m still taken (more) seriously.
I’m still amazed at the amount of people that now immediately shut their mouths the second I open mine. Believe me, my ideas haven’t improved at all. I’ve even tried to derail serious conversations with ludicrous stuff just to see what would happen – and I’d still be regarded highly.
3. I rarely get interrupted.
I used to be interrupted so often while presenting as a woman that I in turn started to talk over people as a form of conversational survival. Unfortunately, because it became so ingrained in me, I still find myself doing it from time to time even though it’s rarely necessary anymore.
4. I get paid more.
The proof is in my paychecks. Actual, numerical proof.
5. It’s easier for me to be poor.
Aside from usually getting paid more, it’s been easier to find work when the person doing the hiring is a white guy. It’s like helping out a buddy or something.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/jamesstjamesvi/male-privilege-from-a-trans-guyas-perspective-1mcmp#.weqABVZzM
June 10, 2015
http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/girls-underestimate-their-stem-aptitude
Girls Underestimate Their STEM Aptitude, Boys Overestimate
I grew up in a house with two engineer parents — a challenge for an eventual English major. Too much dinnertime discussion of programming languages or acronym-heavy projects either gave me vertigo or made me fall asleep in my mashed potatoes, so I tried to make sure our conversations didn't include much work talk. But my mother and father worked at the same company (and still do), so their shared experiences would often come up. Even as I tried to tune out, it was easy to notice that my dad's relationship to his workplace was much different from my mom's. She frequently spoke of being the only woman in large meetings or on business trips, and while she's far from a social-justice warrior, she would occasionally talk about sexism in the industry. A study from Florida State University may explain why my mother is such a rarity as a female engineer, even as efforts to get women more involved in math- and science-related fields have gone on for decades.
The documentary Code: Debugging the Gender Gap reports that less than 20 percent of computer-science jobs in the United States are held by women. While the film holds up hostile work environments and even sexual harassment as reasons why women are reluctant to enter the field, the study found that 12th-grade girls are also inclined to underestimate their abilities in science and math. Boys, meanwhile, overestimate them.
"Our results indicate the potential for more women to move into [physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science] if they perceive their mathematics ability as strong, and open to growth," said Lara Perez-Felkner, co-author of the study.
The true value of stereotypes can often be difficult to ascertain, because so many stereotypes are self-fulfilling. Girls, raised on the idea that they're better suited for the humanities and that boys are more inclined toward hard sciences, often take the path that societal norms suggest to them. With something like math and science skills, it can be hard to separate how much of the gender gap is caused by socialized behaviors, and how much of it (if any) is caused by natural, biological difference. Math takes practice, and those who feel less encouraged to practice probably won't do so, even if their innate propensity for math wizardry is high. At the same time, boys with a knack for writing, music, or the visual arts may be stuck toiling away in STEM classes without realizing where their true potential lies.
The documentary Code: Debugging the Gender Gap reports that less than 20 percent of computer-science jobs in the United States are held by women. While the film holds up hostile work environments and even sexual harassment as reasons why women are reluctant to enter the field, the study found that 12th-grade girls are also inclined to underestimate their abilities in science and math. Boys, meanwhile, overestimate them.
"Our results indicate the potential for more women to move into [physics, engineering, mathematics, and computer science] if they perceive their mathematics ability as strong, and open to growth," said Lara Perez-Felkner, co-author of the study.
The true value of stereotypes can often be difficult to ascertain, because so many stereotypes are self-fulfilling. Girls, raised on the idea that they're better suited for the humanities and that boys are more inclined toward hard sciences, often take the path that societal norms suggest to them. With something like math and science skills, it can be hard to separate how much of the gender gap is caused by socialized behaviors, and how much of it (if any) is caused by natural, biological difference. Math takes practice, and those who feel less encouraged to practice probably won't do so, even if their innate propensity for math wizardry is high. At the same time, boys with a knack for writing, music, or the visual arts may be stuck toiling away in STEM classes without realizing where their true potential lies.
http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/girls-underestimate-their-stem-aptitude
June 10, 2015
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/10/why_libertarianism_is_so_popular_on_the_right_its_the_last_bastion_of_white_male_dominance/
Libertarianism is for white men: The ugly truth about the right’s favorite movement
Why are libertarians so overwhelmingly white and male? This is a question that Jeet Heer of The New Republic explored last Friday, after a new CNN poll found that presidential hopeful Rand Paul, who happens to be the favorite among libertarians, is very competitive in the primaries amongst male voters, but almost completely rejected by females. This is a problem that has long haunted conservatism, but it is even more drastic for ultra-right wing libertarianism.
In a 2014 Pew poll, it was found that about one in ten Americans describe themselves as libertarian, and men were more than twice as likely to be libertarians. In a 2013 Pew poll that Heer states in his article, it was found about two-thirds (68 percent) of American’s who identify as libertarians are men, and 94 percent are non-hispanic whites. Compare this to “steadfast conservatives,” who were found to be 59 percent male and 87 percent white, or “business conservatives,” found to be 62 percent male and 85 percent white, according to another survey done by Pew. Clearly, the entire conservative movement is dominated by white males, but libertarians are the most male-dominated.
Obviously this is a major problem for anyone who is hoping for libertarianism to take off in American politics. So why are libertarians mostly white guys? Heer points out a few different possibilities that some libertarian writers have offered. One of them being that libertarianism has attracted many male-dominated subcultures, like computer programming (think Silicon Valley), gaming, mens-rights activists, and organized humanism/Atheism, and another, argued by Katherine Mangu-Ward, that libertarianism has long been a fringe movement, and fringe movements tend to be dominated by men.
Okay, so libertarianism attracts nerdy white males, but surely these are not the only ones making up the dedicated crowd? While looking at the larger conservative movement, it becomes a bit more clear that the hostility towards government and collective movements in general tends to attract white males who want to preserve their dominance in a society where they are quickly becoming minorities.
In a 2014 Pew poll, it was found that about one in ten Americans describe themselves as libertarian, and men were more than twice as likely to be libertarians. In a 2013 Pew poll that Heer states in his article, it was found about two-thirds (68 percent) of American’s who identify as libertarians are men, and 94 percent are non-hispanic whites. Compare this to “steadfast conservatives,” who were found to be 59 percent male and 87 percent white, or “business conservatives,” found to be 62 percent male and 85 percent white, according to another survey done by Pew. Clearly, the entire conservative movement is dominated by white males, but libertarians are the most male-dominated.
Obviously this is a major problem for anyone who is hoping for libertarianism to take off in American politics. So why are libertarians mostly white guys? Heer points out a few different possibilities that some libertarian writers have offered. One of them being that libertarianism has attracted many male-dominated subcultures, like computer programming (think Silicon Valley), gaming, mens-rights activists, and organized humanism/Atheism, and another, argued by Katherine Mangu-Ward, that libertarianism has long been a fringe movement, and fringe movements tend to be dominated by men.
Okay, so libertarianism attracts nerdy white males, but surely these are not the only ones making up the dedicated crowd? While looking at the larger conservative movement, it becomes a bit more clear that the hostility towards government and collective movements in general tends to attract white males who want to preserve their dominance in a society where they are quickly becoming minorities.
http://www.salon.com/2015/06/10/why_libertarianism_is_so_popular_on_the_right_its_the_last_bastion_of_white_male_dominance/
June 9, 2015
I STAND BY IRENE GALLO (blog post)
For those unaware of this story, the post provides some background--but hey, what misogyny right? Meanwhile my semi-conservative daughter, who is into hunting and fishing explains to me how award winning female hunters get rape threats because they are award winning female hunters. This shit is everywhere. To me, seeing the massive reactionary defense of misogyny by progressive (and I don't give a good goddam what gender you are) people is even more disturbing
Here are the deets as I see ‘em –
Irene Gallo is the creative director of Tor Books, and associate publisher of Tor.com. She has been a boon to authors and to that publisher. And Tor.com is amazing and lauded for its quality and its bravery of material exactly because she is the type of person who helped foster that environment.
The Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies were the slate-making Hugo-hammer that fell hard like a meteor against this year’s award season. To mix my metaphors, they stormed the beach of the awards they imagined they were being kept from (despite having had nominations in the past), and took a bunch of noisy defecations in the sand in front of people. And, when called upon it — “Hey, you’re shitting up the place,” they only doubled down, as folks of that ilk tend to do.
Irene Gallo made a statement on her personal Facebook page (note those words: “personal Facebook page”) that said the following when asked to explain the Sad/Rabid Puppies phenomenon:
“There are two extreme right-wing to neo-nazi groups, called the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies respectively, that are calling for the end of social justice in science fiction and fantasy. They are unrepentantly racist, sexist and homophobic. A noisy few but they’ve been able to gather some Gamergate folks around them and elect a slate of bad-to-reprehensible works on this year’s Hugo ballot.”
This, of course, made the assholes angry. Because when you call assholes assholes, they tend to flail around and make louder asshole noises — it is the asshole’s natural defense mechanism.
The result was that the publisher of Tor, Tom Doherty, felt the need to pen a public letter of apology to the other spurned authors and readers (translation: the Sad and Rabid Puppies) assuring them that this has been dealt with because Irene Gallo is a naughty, naughty editor (/clucktongue). You can read that message here: “A Message from Tom Doherty.” You should note that someone thought it was a very good idea to leave the comments open (!) and there are now 100+ comments gurgling in that septic system. You can read them if you care to remind yourself what sometimes gets clogged in the pipes below this here Internet.
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/09/i-stand-by-irene-gallo/
Irene Gallo is the creative director of Tor Books, and associate publisher of Tor.com. She has been a boon to authors and to that publisher. And Tor.com is amazing and lauded for its quality and its bravery of material exactly because she is the type of person who helped foster that environment.
The Sad Puppies and Rabid Puppies were the slate-making Hugo-hammer that fell hard like a meteor against this year’s award season. To mix my metaphors, they stormed the beach of the awards they imagined they were being kept from (despite having had nominations in the past), and took a bunch of noisy defecations in the sand in front of people. And, when called upon it — “Hey, you’re shitting up the place,” they only doubled down, as folks of that ilk tend to do.
Irene Gallo made a statement on her personal Facebook page (note those words: “personal Facebook page”) that said the following when asked to explain the Sad/Rabid Puppies phenomenon:
“There are two extreme right-wing to neo-nazi groups, called the Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies respectively, that are calling for the end of social justice in science fiction and fantasy. They are unrepentantly racist, sexist and homophobic. A noisy few but they’ve been able to gather some Gamergate folks around them and elect a slate of bad-to-reprehensible works on this year’s Hugo ballot.”
This, of course, made the assholes angry. Because when you call assholes assholes, they tend to flail around and make louder asshole noises — it is the asshole’s natural defense mechanism.
The result was that the publisher of Tor, Tom Doherty, felt the need to pen a public letter of apology to the other spurned authors and readers (translation: the Sad and Rabid Puppies) assuring them that this has been dealt with because Irene Gallo is a naughty, naughty editor (/clucktongue). You can read that message here: “A Message from Tom Doherty.” You should note that someone thought it was a very good idea to leave the comments open (!) and there are now 100+ comments gurgling in that septic system. You can read them if you care to remind yourself what sometimes gets clogged in the pipes below this here Internet.
http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2015/06/09/i-stand-by-irene-gallo/
June 2, 2015
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/29/senior-graffiti-lisbon_n_7471078.html
Senior Graffiti Artists Shatter Every Aging Stereotype, One Street At A Time
A Portuguese initiative to help bridge the gap between generations is getting senior citizens involved in the community in a very unique way. LATA 65 is an urban creative art workshop set up primarily for older people. Lisbon has a major street art scene and the program was set up to help the seniors not only understand and embrace street art, but also to help shatter stereotypes of both young and old.
"People worldwide are not used to seeing seniors painting in the streets or even thinking they could be interested in urban art or trying it," program founder Lara Rodrigues told The Huffington Post in an email.
Rodrigues says the program has encouraged seniors to get involved in the arts while also helping them understand the meaning behind the graffiti they see around the city. So far, over 100 seniors have participated, ages 63 to 94, and the workshops will continue.
If the art is any proof, the participants are clearly enjoying themselves. "I often say that the spray can has something magical I can not explain," Rodrigues says. "Everyone likes to experiment and the elderly are no exception." Just goes to show, you're never too old.
"People worldwide are not used to seeing seniors painting in the streets or even thinking they could be interested in urban art or trying it," program founder Lara Rodrigues told The Huffington Post in an email.
Rodrigues says the program has encouraged seniors to get involved in the arts while also helping them understand the meaning behind the graffiti they see around the city. So far, over 100 seniors have participated, ages 63 to 94, and the workshops will continue.
If the art is any proof, the participants are clearly enjoying themselves. "I often say that the spray can has something magical I can not explain," Rodrigues says. "Everyone likes to experiment and the elderly are no exception." Just goes to show, you're never too old.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/29/senior-graffiti-lisbon_n_7471078.html
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