“La Belle Dame sans Merci” by Frank Dicksee, 1902
This picture is fascinating to me because of its portrayal of a powerful female character who doesn’t fall into any of the typical modern ‘Strong Female Character’ cliches.
The woman is the powerful, sexually assertive and threatening figure here, while the man is the more passive figure, visibly vulnerable to her. However, this portrayal of a woman as assertive and powerful doesn’t rely either on sexualizing her or on presenting that power in masculine ways.
This Belle Dame is traditionally feminine, drawn in flowing lines and curves. She is sexually assertive but not sexualized. The man is armed, masculine, stiff and drawn in straight, square lines - all stereotypically masculine, but his body language and expression make it obvious that he is the submissive and less powerful party here. His vulnerability is not expressed by de-masculinizing him, just as her power is not shown by making her any less feminine.
Some modern artists could stand to take lessons from Mr Dicksee.
The way her small hands grip that warhorse’s reins with such perfect strength and control never ceases to amaze me.
Dat some fine ass art.
(via scarlettswhiispers)
High school, it seems, has changed. It has become competitive. Young men and women — 13 to 18 years old — must work more or less tirelessly to ensure their spot at a college deemed worthy to them and their families. So rather than living their adolescent lives — lives brimming with desires and vitality, with vim, vigor, and brewing lust — these kids are working at old age homes, cramming for tests, popping Adderall just to make the literal and proverbial grade. And for what? So they can go to a school that puts them in debt for the rest of their lives. School has become a great vehicle of capitalism: it quashes the revolution implicit in adolescence while simultaneously fomenting perpetual indebtedness.
Daniel Coffeen (via setbabiesonfire)
(Source: quotecatalog, via reagan-was-a-horrible-president)
(Source: magicboulevard, via ratchetivity)
“One Day” by Life Vest Inside.
This is beautiful. Please watch this, your whole day will get bettee
8 
i actually feed on intelligence
i love it when people know a lot about a lot of things
about music, films, religion, beliefs, history
i love listening to peoples opinions
i love big words
i want to suck in all these smart things like a sponge
I think this is why I was so infatuated with my boyfriend when I met him. It was amazing knowing someone that was into the things I was ^^;& I love him for that. He compliments me & I belive I do to him as well
(Source: pakao, via ratchetivity)
danceswithfaeriesunderthemooon:
In honor of International Women’s Day, we celebrate the incredible women of the Israel Defense Forces!
The IDF: not exactly ‘in honor of’ … anything.
BAM
I interrupt this post to bring you
the brave, strong, beautiful women of Palestine.
Stones and sandals against rifles and drones. You tell me who is more worthy of honour.
Fucking beautiful. Done and done.
Jeez those gave me chills. Israel smh
(via thegirlwiththerosetattoo)
I remember back in 7th grade I would sell my green vitamins, & say it was “weed” LOL!
Back when rap wasn’t about fucking women
5 Tehmina Durrani | The Woman Behind The Revolution [x]
Tehmina Durrani is a Pakistani author and activist. For 13 years, she was married to Ghulam Mustafa Khar, the former Governor of Punjab and one of the most powerful men in the country during the 70s and 80s. She chronicled her marriage in the 1991 book, My Feudal Lord, where she describes the abuse, torture, rape and humiliation she suffered at the hands of Khar.
She faced criticism not only for speaking out against Khar, but also for staying in the marriage for 13 years and having children with him. Reviews of the book to this day disparage her for not leaving sooner or seeking help or doing more to protect her children, despite Khar commanding tremendous power and influence. On page 156, she writes: “What could the police do? They would admonish Mustafa, but sooner or later I would be alone with him, in a worse predicament than before. My silence was not to protect Mustafa; it was to protect myself.”
In 1997, Ghulam Mustafa Khar’s son, Bilal, married a woman named Fakhra Yunus. She too suffered physical abuse at the hands of her husband and escaped after three years to return to her mother’s home. However, in April 2000, Bilal Khar tracked her down and threw acid in her face while she slept. After being released from the hospital, she returned to Bilal and reached out to Tehmina Durrani for help. Tehmina intervened and took Fakhra into her own house despite facing death threats from the Khar family.
Tehmina Durrani is now the author of several books and an activist for Pakistani women and rights of the poor. Her efforts to help Fakhra were detailed in a 2001 Time Magazine article entitled “The Evil That Men Do” which also contained this iconic graphic photograph of the two of them. Fakhra Younus committed suicide on March 17, 2012 at the age of 33. Bilal Khar was acquitted of all charges.
(Source: oh-whiskers)
