seananmcguire:

dubiousculturalartifact:

goharley:

luxwing:

luxwing:

Beauty and the Beast but they’re lesbians

And the Beast is still this 8 foot tall hulking monster with horns and massive claws and fangs and when she turns back into human she’s still buff as shit and her girlfriend is small and they open a library together also the candle and the clock are gay

This is what people mean when they talk about the “gay agenda”

if you want a story about gay people make your own don’t steal someone elses idea

Alright, listen up you sorry excuse for a burnt crepe

The animated version of Beauty and the Beast is dedicated “To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful.”

Why?

Because the lyricist for the movie was Howard Ashman, a gay man who died of AIDS, only a few months before the release of the movie.

The version of the story you love has always had queerness in it.

It’s a story written by a gay man dying of AIDS, of someone who was cursed, whose time was running out and their death was coming, and the world wanted to hasten it along instead of helping, instead of loving him and understanding that he was never truly a monster.

It’s never belonged to you, not all the way. The soul of the Beast is queer.

“Oh, but the original version of the fairy-tale”

Fine, fuck you.

Gay version of the Little Mermaid, then.

You know, the one which was written by Hans Christian Andersen, a gay man who watched the love of his life marry a woman.

The original version story ends in tragedy, but with the idea that while the mermaid could not be with the man she loved, she does eventually gain a soul and find peace, when he was a gay man in a time when that felt denied to him.

Disney changed the ending of the Little Mermaid, the lyrics of which were also written by Howard Ashman, and gave her a true happy ending.

Now, let’s honour the inherent queerness of the story and acknowledge that we are in a time when gay people can be happy, they can be with the ones who we love, and make that the story.

Damn right that’s part of gay agenda. Gays in space. Gay mermaids. Gay Beasts. Gays goddamn everywhere there’s a good story, because it’s about damn time.

Watch as we take over every story that you thought belonged to you and make them delightfully, blatantly, queer, just to fuck with you, specifically.

Happily ever after.

Also:

Fairy tales and Shakespeare cannot be stolen.  (An argument can be made, given the way Shakespeare magpied his way through folklore, given the way his narratives have slithered into Western consciousness, that at this point, they’re the same thing.)  They are works transformed by the telling.

Would you tell Disney they stole all their stories?  How about Robin McKinley?  Stephen Sondheim?  Me?  All the people who work in fairy tales, who use them as building blocks, as common ground to set a stage, we’re not stealing, we’re continuing a grand and human tradition.

This isn’t “the gay agenda.”  If anything, this is “the straight agenda.”  Laying claim to a thing that human nature itself says has to change and shift and flux and grow to survive, and saying “oh, no, if you change this one thing, this load-bearing thing, the story is destroyed.”

Fuck that.  Ain’t nobody strong enough to kill these stories.

kingcheddarxvii:

So, tumblr’s 10 year old today. instead of doin the usual routine and jokin about what an apocalyptic sci-fi hellscape it is and roast its management, I just wanna say; I appreciate this weird old place. I’ve had some great times here. some bad times, and some legitimately surreal times too. But I can sincerely say I don’t think I’d be the same person or met as many wonderful people if I’d never signed up for this weird, weird, weird, absolute nightmare of a blogging site. I… love you tumblr, somehow, and if I can’t say it today then I never will. Thanks tumbl. Please fix your site

medievalpoc:

voxiferous:

rgfellows:

So, in my art history class today, my professor was talking about something that is so fuckin awesome.

These are warrior shields from the Wahgi people of Papua New Guinea. The warriors paint them with imagery meant to symbolize animals who have traits they wish to embody in battle. These depictions are intended to give the person using it the powers of what they’re depicting.

Now. Look at this Wahgi shield:

Hmm. That looks a bit different from the others.

That looks VERY different. Why, it looks like

The Phantom… American comic book character by Lee Falk. And that’s because it is.

The Wahgi people were isolated from the rest of the “modern” world until 1933. They came into contact with WWII service men who shared some aspects of western culture with the tribesmen. In particular, they showed them the comic books they read while shipped out. The Wahgi loved them. In particular, the Wahgi adored the stories of the Phantom, who wasn’t even particularly popular in its home of America.

He is so popular that the few Wahgi who can read english will read the comics out loud in the village center and hold out the pages for everyone to see, so the whole tripe can enjoy them and marvel at the Phantom’s might in battle.

They identify with the Phantom because he came from a jungle territory, like them, wore a mask to fight, like them, and came from a long line of warriors, which the Wahgi, who worshiped their ancestors, deeply respected. Further, despite not really having superpowers, the Phantom is strong, clever, and incredibly fast. He was so fast that his enemies began to believe that he was impervious to bullets and could not be killed.

Therefore, the Wahgi began painting HIM on their shields to invoke HIS abilities in battle. There are TONS of Phantom-Wahgi shields out there.

So, you might think that you’re huge comic book fan, but the Wahgi have taken their Phantom fandom to the next level and have made the Phantom a fucking talisman to carry into battle for strength.

More pictures here!

You should really check out that link^^

This reminds me so much of Americans who like, bring Captain America shields to protests and stuff! Or even like, when councilman Lan Diep was sworn in holding Captain America’s shield:

There’s really no difference here, especially if you don’t use condescending, colonialist language like “tribesmen” and “These depictions are intended to give the person using it the powers of what they’re depicting.” Apparently the difference between “striving for ideals” and acquiring “powers” is whether or not you adhere to the dominant culture in the United States?

The problem here is this is how stuff like this is taught in art history classes, as if it’s somehow mind-blowingly quaint that indigenous people anywhere like a freaking comic book character, or use his likeness as a “talisman.” *eyeroll*

There’s an obnoxiously pervasive narrative I see all the time around indigenous peoples from all over the world, that instead of making conscious aesthetic choices, they have somehow been “tricked” into liking something inherently inappropriate or anachronistic.

I’ve seen this narrative pressed onto the Quechua and Aymara Cholitas of Bolivia, implying that they were “tricked” into choosing to wear bowler hats because some mythical western trader of long ago had a surplus of too-small hats:

Or in North America, a lot of traditional regalia like Jingle Dress, Fancy Shawl, Grass Dance or Ribbon Skirt is called “garish”, and I’ve heard non-Native people complain that it doesn’t look “Traditional enough” (!!!) because it uses bright or neon fabric, beads, and trim materials.

[sold out pre-made Jingle Dresses from Powwowfabrics.com]

Kiowa artist Teri Greeves designed this piece called Great Lakes Girls, a synthesis of traditional bead and quill-work that utterly transforms high-heeled tennis shoes designed by Steve Madden. The women depicted in Jingle Dress represent the artist’s husband’s Anishinabe people, and some of the materials used, like spiny-oyster shell, come from the southwest and are often used in jewelry made by Diné people.

The artificial conflict that a work like this creates in a non-Native viewer is based on the assumption that the “tradition” of indigenous peoples, and overall, our cultures, MUST remain static in order to be seen as “authentic” to the dominant culture. Even more frustrating, I often see the concept of Pan-Native culture and identities discussed as if this can ONLY mean a false sense of sameness imposed by colonialism and colonial structures, rather than an actual show of solidarity between Native peoples in philosophies, practices, and activism.

The lack of nuance around understanding these synthesized cultures leads to the delegitimization and erasure of traditions like the Mardi Gras Indians, Baby Dolls, Skull and Bones gangs, and their connection to both sacred clown traditions like Heyókȟa and West African dance and costume traditions.

I personally believe that decolonization and resistance can only be possible once the concept that appeal to (and categorization by) the dominant culture is a necessary step, is disposed of. I reject the notion that we must accept a binary existence of one or the Other, as if we can only be Historical or Modern but never both. As if a living culture is out of the question, or some kind of oxymoron.

But the biggest wall between the Self and the Other that I’m trying to break down here is the notion in the original post: that the academic teacher/learner and the “topic” are somehow eternally separated by both time and geographical distance. I’m sick and tired of being traumatized by being taught Who I Am and What I Believe by someone who doesn’t actually know, and doesn’t really believe I can exist in the same room they inhabit.

What this comes back to is a quote I posted a few days ago on how art/education/community intersect:

The word “art” is something the West has
never understood. Art is supposed to be a part of a community. Like,
scholars are supposed to be a part of a community… Art is to decorate
people’s houses, their skin, their clothes, to make them expand their
minds, and it’s supposed to be right in the community, where they can
have it when they want it… It’s supposed to be as essential as a grocery
store… that’s the only way art can function naturally. –Amiri Baraka