“My childhood was so awesome. Kids today don’t even know!”
Isn’t a flex.
It’s a lament.
More people should understand that.
Cereal boxes had toys inside.
Yes, it was a crass marketing for a sugar cereal made of chintzy plastic
Today you’re just expected to eat Capn Crunch because that’s what you do as a child, that’s what breakfast looks like. Which is… fine, I guess. Sugar still tastes good. That’s still a pleasure you’re otherwise asked to disavow by the protein shake nutribottles advertised on podcasts.
But it also means the idle minor joy of getting a random toy present, as a reward for nothing, just because you exist, is stripped. That random spark of joy is gone, replaced with nothing.
Where did the public pool go? the neighborhood park? the atrium food court public place to gather?
Same thing. All of them were just replaced with nothing.
Kids today have many good things. But it shouldn’t be a trade off. They should get to have instant messages with friends and go skating at the park. They should get to play amazing modern video games at home and go trick or treating for halloween. They should be able to have stickers and markers and macaroni art as well as youtube and streaming libraries and fortnite dances.
Fun should be allowed at every level.
Also. Kids now are just used to people constantly trying to sell them stuff.
When I was a kid, we had advertising on TV, radio, magazines, and billboards. It was easy to recognize and you could work around it. There were certain types of TV, like PBS or cable, that did not have commercials.
Now, kids are inundated with advertising constantly. YouTube and social media have replaced TV and radio for a lot of families, where in addition to ads every 1-3 minutes, many YT stars have sponsored bits in their videos. Social media constantly tries to sell you things. They have found a way to put advertising into the pumps at gas stations. There are so many things, like access to TV shows and Disney movies, that are locked behind a paywall. They can’t even read a newspaper if they wanted to.
I did a school visit a while back to a group of about 100 fourth graders to tell them about the library’s upcoming Summer Reading Program. They were totally unimpressed by me telling them cheerfully that if they met their reading goals, we would give them books for free. I thought they were just tired because it was close to the end of the day, and then one kid raised his hand to resignedly ask the question they were all thinking:
Kid: How much does this cost? Me: Nothing. It’s a free library program. Kid: Uh huh, like you are going to give us books for free. How much does it really cost? Me, confused: … nothing. You don’t have to give us any money at all. You just have to do the reading and fill out your reading log, and you will have earned the books to take home and keep forever. Kid, in disbelief: Oh come on. If you don’t charge us, how are you gonna make money? Me, taken aback: We don’t make money, we’re a library. Kid, exasperated: What do you mean you don’t make money? Me: We’re a public service, like the fire department or schools. You don’t have to pay to use those either. There is a ripple in the crowd as 100 disbelieving 9 year olds take this in. Other kid: How do you afford to do anything if you don’t make money? Like where do you get the money to do stuff if we don’t have to pay you? Me: Through things like government grants and taxes. Third kid: So let me get this straight. That means that if some people don’t pay their taxes – Teacher: Friend, this is a great conversation for Social Studies and not during library time! Ms. Intrepidheroine, would you like to show us the LEGOs you brought?
And that’s the story of how I realized that children absolutely expect you to try to sell them something if you come in to do a “special talk” even if it’s for a library.
Which is tragic.
Kids are aware from a shockingly early age that youtubers make money by getting people to watch their videos, and that their (the viewer’s) attention is a commodity. First graders have told me this (obviously not in those words but yeah).
Kids today are subjected, essentially, to the advertising standards of the 1950s because the FCC hasn’t enforced the advertising restrictions for TV on youtube.
I have a lot of posts on this, as I believe some degree of commercialization is good for kidvid (action figures and action cartoons were better when they were selling each other, fight me) and it is the source of a lot of the kind of ‘simple pleasure freebies" I feel kids are robbed.
But I think the 1980s kidvid rules were just about the right level of strict. No characters shilling directly to the kids. No promises of happiness or popularity. Ask for parents permission, not their money. No ads for the thing, in the show that is also an ad for the thing.*
But still with the kind of profit incentives that make the products about what kids would enjoy rather than whatever adults think they need.
Pictured: What Kids Want, What Adults Think they Need
Cuz I’m with Sid & Marty Kroft. Kids are in school all week, their entertainment should be fun.
Youtube kids are getting the kind of entertainment diet that my dad did, where the character you’re watching turns to camera to tell you that Captain Video wants you to have this cardboard space helmet. The thing Krusty the Clown is a parody of.
Only instead of selling cereal and plastic space guns, they’re selling crypto scams and energy drinks that can hospitalize their target audience.
And sometimes that pitch man is a kid their own age.
Is much more effective when its actually a fellow kid.
she knocked that smug look off my face but luckily i was wearing a second, smaller smug look underneath
This post is so incredibly dumb and everytime I come across it I just can’t help but laugh. This site is just magical. Where else will you get this nonsense?
enough reclaiming slurs, I think in 2023 we should reclaim nascar. they banned the confederate flag on all properties & their stance on lgbtq+ isn’t just performative bc in 2013 they fined a driver 10k for using a homophobic slur, condemned indiana in a statement for an anti lgbt law, and partnered w carolina’s lgbt+ chamber of conference in 2022. nascar was founded by anti-cop moonshiners/bootleggers who drove suped-up fords to out-run the police. #yaaascar
HELP
To this day, my favorite argument I ever had was with my Nascar-loving family about how a thin blue line flag on a Nascar is antithetical to the core tenets of Nascar. There is no organization more rooted in ACAB than Nascar. Literally, the only reason it exists was that a bunch of moonshining families had to build cars that could outrun the cops while on supply runs during the Prohibition Era. The goal was to make the car look like a regular vehicle so they could pick up supplies or drop off illegal alcohol without arousing suspicion. But if the cops were on you all you had to do was put the pedal to the metal and that little truck could outrun them with no problems. And of course, families would be in competition over who made the best alcohol, and whose car was fastest. So, they would have races on the weekends. When prohibition was lifted, the races continued. And that is why we have Nascar.
It really frustrates me how people look at American car culture and scoff at it. Formula One racing is more exciting and more dynamic to watch, but the history of it is not as interesting: a bunch of rich assholes who made specialized cars for racing. And to this day, it is still a rich man’s sport. Whereas Nascar was about a bunch of so-called hicks in the backwoods who used some basic hand tools and trial and error to make a junker into a racecar.
This is a comment someone appended to a photo of two men apparently having sex in a very fancy room, but it’s also kind of an amazing two-line poem? “His Wife has filled his house with chintz” is a really elegant and beautiful counterbalancing of h, f, and s sounds, and “chintz” is a perfect word choice here—sonically pleasing and good at evoking nouveau riche tackiness. And then “to keep it real I fuck him on the floor” collapses that whole mood with short percussive sounds—but it’s still a perfect iambic pentameter line, robust and a lovely obscene contrast with the chintz in the first line. Well done, tumblr user jjbang8
I hate that my aesthetic sense agrees with this but everything you just said was correct
I went back to dig up this post because I was thinking about poetry.
This is one of those non-poem things that are among my favorite poems.
As the OP stated, the use of alliterative consonants is aesthetically just great, especially the placement of the strongest use at the end: “fuck him on the floor.” The use of “chintz” is indeed great word choice.
Because I’m insane, decided to scan the poem:
Not only is the second sentence, indeed, perfect iambic pentameter, the entire poem is perfectly metered, though the first sentence has four iambs rather than five.
There are further things I love about this poem, though: I like the casual connotations of “keep it real” juxtaposed with “chintz.” It causes me to interpret the “chintz” more strongly as meaning something fake, a facade. There is also of course the coarseness of “fuck,” which is a contrast with “chintz” but a different kind of contrast, gutsy and carnal where “chintz” is flimsy and inanimate.
And then there is the storytelling: there is SO MUCH storytelling in just these two lines. To break it down: The speaker is having sex with a married man, in the house he shares with his wife, which is “filled with chintz”—something that here connotes fakeness, in contrast with “keep it real.”
The illicit encounter in the poem takes place within a house filled with facade, the flimsy construction of the wife’s marriage and domestic sphere, but the encounter itself is a taste of something “real.” That’s a story, and it’s just two lines.
This is EIGHTEEN SYLLABLES, y’all. The amount of meaning condensed into these eighteen syllables is stunning, and it is so elegantly done.
From a technical standpoint (and ive taken 300- and 400-level poetry classes so I can say this) this is damn near flawless as a poem.
Kept thinking about this ever since I saw it and had to do something
there’s art now
Ah dang to go further; the floor is framed as a refuge. As if there is literally no other space in this house that hasn’t been populated by his wife with flimsy inanimate fakery. There is no space for this man in this house save for the floor. There is no space for him on the sofa, oon the counter tops, and most notably, no space for him in the marital bed.
I’d also like to point out the use of the word “has.” The wife has filled the house with chintz. She isn’t filling the house with chintz. She doesn’t fill the house with chintz. She has filled the house with chintz. Use of the past-tense makes the wife a subtly removed element in the story, someone whose presence we see in the environment, but who is blissfully distant during the actors throes of passion. There is an element of physical as well as emotional separation from the wife that is catalyzed by being fucked on the floor. Use of the past tense is an end to the wife presence in the actors life, a carnal catharsis amid cold fragility and emotional distance.
This is my new favourite post in the world
everyone cheer for the one (1) time tumblr had reading comprehension
high fantasy setting where its a popular superstition (how much of it is actually accurate is up to u) that saying the name of any kind of inhuman mischief-bringer will summon them (speak of the devil and so on).
in most places its still common practice to use the regular respectful euphemisms: fair folk, good neighbors, etc. but somewhere down the line the folks in this particular area got kinda sick of being so formal about these creatures, so now its local practice to just aggressively mispronounce their names.
now instead of goblins gremlins and demons theyve got stories of gerblins gemmins and dimmons.
Quotes from The Revolution Cannot Triumph Without the Emancipation of Women (2)
“In order to fight and win, women must identify with the oppressed layers and classes of society, such as workers and peasants, etc. The man, however; no matter how oppressed he is, has another human being to oppress: his wife.”
“At this moment, we have little choice but to recognize that masculine behavior comprises vanity, irresponsibility, arrogance, and violence of all kinds toward women. This kind of behavior can hardly lead to coordinated action against women’s oppression. And we must say frankly that such attitudes, which can sink to the level of sheer stupidity, are in reality nothing but a safety valve for the oppressed male, who, through brutalizing his wife, hopes to regain some of the human dignity denied him by the system of exploitation. This masculine foolishness is called sexism or machismo.”
“And there is no lack of examples of men, otherwise progressive, who live cheerfully in adultery, but who are prepared to murder their wives on the merest suspicion of infidelity … And what should we think of those little men, also progressive, who get together in sleazy places to talk about the women they have taken advantage of? They think this is the way they will be able to measure up to other men and even humiliate some of them, by having seduced their wives. In reality, such men are pitiful and insignificant.”
“And, finally, what should we make of remarks about women made by all kinds of activists, the one more revolutionary than the next, remarks such as "women are despicably materialist,” “manipulators,” “clowns,” “liars,” “gossips,” “schemers,” “jealous,” and so on? Maybe this is all true of women. But surely it is equally true of men. Could our society be any less perverse than this when it systematically burdens women down, keeps them away from anything that is supposed to be serious and of consequence, and excludes them from anything other than the most petty and minor activities! When you are condemned, as women are, to wait for your lord and master at home in order to feed him and receive his permission to speak or just to be alive, what else do you have to keep you occupied and to give you at least the illusion of being useful other than meaningful glances, gossip, chatter, furtive envious glances at others, and the bad-mouthing of their flirtations and private lives? The same attitudes are found among men put in the same situation.“
”There is also a whole bevy of men who, publicly at least and in “proper” company, subject women to public humiliation because of some grudge they have not had the strength of character to surmount, thus losing confidence in all women, who become from then on “tools of the devil.” Or else they do so out of hypocrisy, proclaiming their contempt for the female sex too often and categorically, a contempt that they strive to assume in the eyes of the public from which they have extorted admiration through false pretenses. All these men end up night after night in brothels until occasionally their hypocrisy is discovered.“
- Thomas Sankara, Marxist president of Burkina Faso who implemented sweeping initiatives for the rights of women, including banning forced marriages and FGM and promoting female literacy and representation in government, until his murder in a French-backed coup in October 1987 that led to an utter reversal of his policies
Quotes from his March 8, 1987 Women’s Day speech 7 months before he was killed (highly recommend reading the full version, because GOD DAMN. GO OFF, COMRADE)
if I were a waitress I’d have a hard time because instead of saying “can I top you?” to women when their glass is nearly empty I’d ask “wanna take me home and make me your bitch?” and then th
Some of you fuckers need to learn self control
I need to be controlled by a woman
“Then get married!” Answered the 70 year old conservative man.
From a historical website about the history of Saris, from a person WHO MAKES THEM FOR A LIVING
“Visitors seduced by the vibrancy and mythology of saris can shop for one to take home. Unlike other traditional garments in some cultures, the sari isn’t reserved for people of one nationality or set of beliefs. “I don’t think it’s disrespectful for Westerners to wear a sari,” says Chishti. “It’s more of an honor.” There is nothing wrong with sewing a dazzling one into a skirt or displaying it like art on a wall, says Sethi.“
Website 2 - a website dedicated to asking “is wearing them disrepectful?”
Is it disrespectful to wear a sari? No, not at all. Based on any occasion, as a daily wear, when you are not Indian and irrespective of religion, it is never disrespectful to wear a sari. In fact, it enhances the situation particularly if you are attending an Indian wedding. In cases where a theme is already set and hosts do expect certain culture, check with hosts before wearing.
Website 3 - Google’s Arts and Culture website, dedicate to educating people about different things around the globe concerning art and culture
5. The sari is easy to wear – and can be worn by anyone
Wearing a sari is more akin to making a sandwich or sending an email than making a soufflé or launching a rocket. It has the appearance and reputation of being difficult to wear, but ask any one of the millions of women who wear one every day – it’s not. The sari transcends socio-economic divisions and is seen as an egalitarian garment…It can’t speak on behalf of all India but 95% of our survey suggested that {people from India} are open to anyone wearing saris.
(sari vs saree for reference sake is just a matter of preference for spelling).
Literally the only people fake outraged by this (I call it fake outrage because people only get “mad” about it when they see people online but totally forget aobut it in everyday life otherwise) are white girls on twitter, tumblr, and other social medias believing they are “coming in and saving the day on behalf of people from India”. STOP THE WHITE KNIGHTING.
For starters, Saris have over 100 different ways to wear them. To buy them traditionally tends to be very rare and expensive because of how hard it is to make these garments. Second, they’re becoming more common in areas close to India, like Sri Lanka.
Also, also, according to Hinduism reincarnation beliefs, we have the ability to reincarnate into any person on this Earth, so any skin color. Some people wear them to show their pride in Hinduism. Some wear it to honor India ancestors. Some wear it just because it is a beautiful piece of fabric.
Like anything, wear it with respect. Wear it with pride.
Reminding people again that you cannot steal what is freely given. It’s not appropriation if someone within the culture is like “here ya go, try this!”. I get that wearing stuff like a sari feels like you’re an impostor but the way to deal with that is to just do the thing that makes you uncomfortable.
I used to live in a city with a large Desi population, and loved going into the local shops to see the gorgeous clothing (and to buy silk fabric and ready-made trim!). I showed interest in a lehenga choli set and the ladies working there were. Thrilled. I ended up spending well over an hour trying on different ones because they were just bringing them over one after another, narrowing down the style and colors that would be flattering on me, showing me how to wear it properly.
I wore the one I chose to a convention, and encountered an Indian woman running a henna booth and selling some jewelry. At first I felt kind of embarrassed, like an imposter. (Should I (Latinx) be wearing this?) But she was also thrilled to see someone wearing clothing from her culture, and just… gave me a maang tikka, because it went so well with the outfit. (I ended up purchasing the necklace that went with it, so maybe it was a shrewd business move, ahaha)
It’s the same with kimono, people from Japan are so excited to see an American properly wearing one, even ‘just’ a yukata.
Appropriation is stealing cultural designs and motifs for your mass-produced fast fashion, taking money away from their artisans and devaluing their product. Appropriation is trying to divorce clothing from its cultural roots.
So long as it is common clothing (not sacred or having a special meaning), and as long as it is worn with respect (preferably sourced directly from the culture it comes from), we should be enjoying the beauty of other cultures by wearing it on our bodies. Sharing is not appropriation!
It’s important to recognize problematic appropriation but that does not mean we need to segregate every aspect of culture into neat racial categories
The fact that artists can spawn memes that people keep using and it doesn’t really increase awareness of them at all is kinda sad, I see people regularly mindblown that these and around a dozen other memes are all just from the webcomic Gunshow
It’s so crazy how “Don’t feed the trolls” was like the Motto of the internet & in forum culture of the 00s and early 10s and now you log onto a certain website and it’s just an endless sea of people pouring gruel into the troll trough day in day out and no one seems to realize or care that their internet experience being a constant deluge of misery and bad faith discussion might in fact be their own fault
Me seeing this for the 14th time in my 5 years on tumblr and seeing more notes and comments but still reblogging it since it’s literally a World Heritage Post
Bigotry is so funny sometimes. Like, half of the people who meet me hate my fucking guts and meanwhile I’m just a little lady, just a silly little girlie, a gal pal.
But they don’t want to fight sex trafficking. They want an excuse to go after every marginalized group they can demonize by suggesting or outright accusing said groups of being sexual deviants who all love the idea of sex trafficking. Point out that such claims is ludicrous? That just gets you accused of defending sex trafficking. And nobody wants to look like they’re defending sex trafficking, right?
(Sometimes they say “pedophilia” instead of “sex trafficking”, which is even more transparently not what they actually care about, given how many people in the same political party are fighting to make sure that they can continue to marry 14-year-old girls in the states that still allow that.)
this post is going to make me throw up hes a board hes flat theres nothing there why would you make an edit of this concave ass im sick of tumblr i hate all of you
How is bnha anime of the decade…… they aren’t even anime of the hour of the minute of the second
The notes on this post were so toxic that staff just axed em
1969………
Yes, when the original post is deleted from the server (not just the blog, but the Tumblr servers), there is no root post for notes to be added onto, and also no root post for time to be counted from, so it starts from zero. Most computer operating systems use Unix, which was launched in 1971 with t.he epoch date of midnight on January 1, 1970 as 1. Therefore zero is one second behind that date: December 31, 1969. Also, very unfortunately, this also means nobody except you and anyone you reblog it to will see this explanation, as you cannot open the notes to see comments when there are no notes.
How is bnha anime of the decade…… they aren’t even anime of the hour of the minute of the second
The notes on this post were so toxic that staff just axed em
1969………
Yes, when the original post is deleted from the server (not just the blog, but the Tumblr servers), there is no root post for notes to be added onto, and also no root post for time to be counted from, so it starts from zero. Most computer operating systems use Unix, which was launched in 1971 with t.he epoch date of midnight on January 1, 1970 as 1. Therefore zero is one second behind that date: December 31, 1969. Also, very unfortunately, this also means nobody except you and anyone you reblog it to will see this explanation, as you cannot open the notes to see comments when there are no notes.
How is bnha anime of the decade…… they aren’t even anime of the hour of the minute of the second
The notes on this post were so toxic that staff just axed em
1969………
Yes, when the original post is deleted from the server (not just the blog, but the Tumblr servers), there is no root post for notes to be added onto, and also no root post for time to be counted from, so it starts from zero. Most computer operating systems use Unix, which was launched in 1971 with t.he epoch date of midnight on January 1, 1970 as 1. Therefore zero is one second behind that date: December 31, 1969. Also, very unfortunately, this also means nobody except you and anyone you reblog it to will see this explanation, as you cannot open the notes to see comments when there are no notes.
