{{ NUMOL BITES }}

{ I Live In A Remote Hamlet And My Father Has Less Cows Than Your Father. }

jaded16india:

There is a way of reporting dusty news to arouse utmost sympathy. This method is so universal that dusty peepal use it too*: 

• Talk about cows goat sheep ram mice and how someone has more animals than the person you’re discussing.
• Talk about how squatting in this ditch is worse than say, That One; use pictures and say That One has more leg-room. This means peepals squatting in That One are less oppressed. This is also how you measure two forms of oppression, just fyi
• Talk about Remote Hamlet and how far from Civilisation It Is, this way nice imperial person can drool-dream about saving Remote Hamlet while sitting in the Center Of Civilisation.
• The Remote Hamlet should have at least one villain who wants to eat peepals for lunch or something. Otherwise no one will be interested in knowing about Remote Hamlet peeps.  

———

This is a seriously triggering interview with a rape survivor in the Times Of India which used the word ‘Hamlet’ instead of ‘village’ or ‘town’ that got me thinking about misrepresentation. I suggest not looking at this interview if victim-blaming triggers you. I had to wait about 11 hours before I could open that link and I was still shivering so a fair warning. 

(via oncejadedtwicesnarked-deactivat)

{ Lady Gaga’s transphobia }

genderbitch:

sirgrummore:

genderbitch:

“I really am a lady!” says Lady GaGa insisting that she isn’t a transsexual, as previously being speculated by various media.

Source

Cuz apparently trans women aren’t actually women. 

The way the article reads makes me question the writer almost as much if not more than Lady Gaga, although her wording is poor.

I’m highly suspicious of all celebrities, but Lady Gaga in particular scares me since she’s put herself out there are as a very public defender of GLBT rights. Not that I am against allies to this cause, and what good she has done I will celebrate: but on occasion I get a feeling on the back of my neck, that she walks a very fine line between being an ally for the transgendered and using the transgendered for publicity. Then again, I honestly don’t follow her as much as I once did, so I don’t know what she’s been up to in the most recent of recents.

Oh the person who interviewed her and wrote the article is just as much of a douche. Definitely.

{ Writing About Murdered Trans Women: A Handy Dandy Guide for Cis Reporters }

charlie-danger:

- First of all, transgender people are extremely rare, so don’t worry about getting the facts wrong or causing offense- chances are most trans folks are too busy being punchlines or the victims of brutal, systematic violence to pick up a newspaper.

- Since trans people are so very, very uncommon, include a brief explanation of transgender issues at the beginning of your article. Use phrases like “woman trapped in a man’s body” or “they believe themselves to be the opposite sex”.

- Relentlessly misgender the victim.

- Use “transsexual” and “transgender” as nouns instead of adjectives.

- Was the victim a beloved friend, daughter, sister, mother, partner or colleague? Who cares! You certainly don’t, and neither do your readers. Instead, describe any surgery or hormone replacement therapy she’s had.

- Did her neighbors or coworkers know she was transgender? If not: tell them! Record their reactions.

- Never refer a transgender woman by her real name. Always use the name she was assigned at birth, even if she did not identify with that name or had it legally changed.

- If possible, describe in great detail what she was wearing at the time of her death. Remember: nothing is too lurid or obscure! You’re a journalist, goddamnit, and this information is titillating important!

- Insinuate that she may have lied to or deceived her killer about her “real” gender.

- If you are unsure of something, DON’T LOOK IT UP. Research can only hurt your article. Rely entirely on your knowledge of transgender issues as seen on television.

- Don’t forget: headlines should be fun! Take this opportunity to showcase your sense of humor, or perhaps a skillful bit of alliteration.  Puns are especially appropriate.

most media = made of fail

(Source: birdr)

{ god dammit John King, stop doing play-by-play on the violence in Egypt like it’s a fucking football game. }

kashmiriyat:

I am very much against media sensationalism, especially the pick-and-choose nature of conflict reporting. This is because loved ones of mine have died in conflicts that nobody cares about, or at least very few people outside specialists and those with an interest in the region.

I believe that people should be aware of conflict, but that there is a way to report what is happening with kindness, dignity, and awareness and not with the internet to make oneself look good or intrepid or brave or whatever. The tragedy is not that Anderson Cooper got punched in what is essentially an urban warzone (Why did that even get coverage? Because he’s Anderson Cooper, that’s why). The tragedy is that Egyptian people are dying and being wounded because they want freedom. Or that the American government wants to install another government with another thug at the helm and very few people seem interested in talking about this or protesting it. That’s the tragedy. Media sensationalism is bullshit. Not to say that every reporter does so (obviously they don’t), but Western personalities entering areas of conflict, regurgitating some pre-planned bullshit about how sad it all is, and then disappearing rubs me the wrong way.

numol replied to your post: ok, i want to hear your deep opinions on Anderson Cooper’s finely-styled hair. nobody talks about important things like fine silver hair anymore.

i do tend to get caught up in the “OMG LIVE” sensationalism. i know it’s BS but i still get caught up in it because i am a naive country girl.

oh hell yes.

also, you just reminded me of an earlier post that radicallyhottoff reblogged that was about the exceptionalism inherent in the OMG AC GOT PUNCHED thing (just reblogged that too).

(via notforallthewealthofcaesar-deac)

{ as you read about the trail of Brisenia Flores’s murderers… }

radicallyhottoff:

Please note how rarely MSM is calling her murderers white supremacists and how rarely the organization they are a part of is called a hate group.

Notice how key phrases like “hotly contested issue” keep coming up as code words for “white supremacist violence.” Notice how the Minutemen are never called a terrorist organization. Notice how Brisenia is always mentioned in context of the little white girl shot during the Giffords shooting—as if Brisenia only became important and a tragedy *after* a white girl was killed. As if the only thing that could help us to understand the tragedy of Brisenia is first understanding a tragedy through a lens of whiteness. 

Remember that Brisenia was killed first. And that she was specifically murdered because of the color of her skin. 

What happened to Brisenia was an act of white supremacist violence. White supremacy is gendered male—and sees brown children as “anchors” and brown girl children as the next generation of resource drainers. Race IS gender. Citizenship IS gender. Border crossing is a direct threat to white supremacy. 

This is the truth we miss unless we teach other how to find it. 

(via so-treu)