synecdoche

Yesterday my mom posted a picture on Facebook of my 5 year old brother Sam wearing a pair of shoes he picked out for his first day of preschool. She explained to him in the store that they were really made for girls. Sam then told her that he didn’t care and that “ninjas can wear pink shoes too.”Sam went to preschool and got several compliments on his new shoes. Not one kid said anything negative toward him about it. However, my mom received about 20 comments on the photo from various family members saying how “wrong” it is and how “things like this will affect him socially” and, put most eloquently by my great aunt, “that shit will turn him gay.” My mom then deleted the photo and told Sam that he can wear whatever he wants to preschool, that it’s his decision. If he wants to wear pink shoes, he can wear pink shoes. Sam then explained to her that he didn’t like them because they were pink, he liked them because they were “made out of zebras” and zebras are his favorite animal :) What does it say about society when a group of adults could stand to take a lesson in humanity from a class of preschoolers?

Yesterday my mom posted a picture on Facebook of my 5 year old brother Sam wearing a pair of shoes he picked out for his first day of preschool.


She explained to him in the store that they were really made for girls. Sam then told her that he didn’t care and that “ninjas can wear pink shoes too.”

Sam went to preschool and got several compliments on his new shoes. Not one kid said anything negative toward him about it.

However, my mom received about 20 comments on the photo from various family members saying how “wrong” it is and how “things like this will affect him socially” and, put most eloquently by my great aunt, “that shit will turn him gay.”

My mom then deleted the photo and told Sam that he can wear whatever he wants to preschool, that it’s his decision. If he wants to wear pink shoes, he can wear pink shoes.

Sam then explained to her that he didn’t like them because they were pink, he liked them because they were “made out of zebras” and zebras are his favorite animal :)

What does it say about society when a group of adults could stand to take a lesson in humanity from a class of preschoolers?

# art life childhood style culture society gender bias

Reblogged 4 days ago from heyfunniest (Originally from gerrardly) 273,534 notes

Let me tell you a story. The day after Columbine, I was interviewed for the Tom Brokaw news program. The reporter had been assigned a theory and was seeking soundbites to support it. “Wouldn’t you say,” she asked, ‘that killings like this are influenced by violent movies?” No, I said, I wouldn’t say that. “But what about ‘The Basketball Diaries’?” she asked. “Doesn’t that have a scene of a boy walking into a school with a machinegun?”

The obscure 1995 Leonardo DiCaprio movie did indeed have a brief fantasy scene of that nature, I said, but the movie failed at the box office and it’s unlikely the Columbine killers saw it.

The reporter looked disappointed, so I offered her my theory. “Events like this,” I said, “if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. Kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn’t have messed with me. I’ll go out in a blaze of glory.”

In short, I said, events like Columbine are influenced far less by violent movies than by CNN, “The NBC Nightly News” and other news media, who glorify the killers in the guise of “explaining” them.

The reporter thanked me and turned off the camera. Of course the interview was never used. They found plenty of talking heads to condemn violent movies, and everybody was happy.

— Roger Ebert  (via albinwonderland)

(Source: yeezytaughtme)

# guns violence news politics school shooting media pop culture culture society columbine roger ebert

Reblogged 2 weeks ago from alegbra (Originally from yeezytaughtme) 31,043 notes
girlgrowingsmall: On the left, a woman in just short of her undies running. On the right a woman in layers of loose clothing, completely covered except for her face and hands. And the woman on the right is in the lead. We see so many pictures of runners in the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere in which women are running in attire resembling that of the blonde woman. But there are other options out there. If the woman on the right can run in that with such a lead, so can you. Don’t feel like you HAVE TO workout in a sports bra and short shorts. If you want to, good for you. If you don’t, good for you, too. All that matter in your workout attire are comfort and safety. Everything else is personal taste. View Larger

girlgrowingsmall:

On the left, a woman in just short of her undies running. On the right a woman in layers of loose clothing, completely covered except for her face and hands. And the woman on the right is in the lead.

We see so many pictures of runners in the U.S., the U.K., and elsewhere in which women are running in attire resembling that of the blonde woman. But there are other options out there. If the woman on the right can run in that with such a lead, so can you. Don’t feel like you HAVE TO workout in a sports bra and short shorts. If you want to, good for you. If you don’t, good for you, too. All that matter in your workout attire are comfort and safety. Everything else is personal taste.

(Source: noyzhiphop)

# woman women olympics sports life culture diversity feminism history news

Reblogged 9 months ago from holisticjess (Originally from noyzhiphop) 75,650 notes