Myths for a Disenchanted Generation
- Helena wasn’t Batgirl, she was The Bat. Some may even say that she was Batman when Bruce was too busy moping in Paris.
- And she was The Bat because Gotham was NML’s and NML’s was, in short, complete chaos.
- Also because, again, Bruce was too busy moping in Paris or somewhere else in Europe idk and Gotham needed a Bat. And so Helena became The Bat.
- She wasn’t fired because she was violent (though that much about her was true back then). She was fired because she failed to live up to Bruce’s ridiculously high and impossible expectations that not single one of his favorites would have ever been able to live up to.
- Like, seriously, Bruce fired her because she couldn’t take on a hundred people on her own, and all of ‘em at the same time.
- Bruce may be Batman but not even the Batman can do that.
- And yet he expected Helena to. So he fired.
- Also he’s an asshole and he left her alone knowing she’d fail because he wanted her to fail. So he could have a “good” excuse to fire her. So not only did he shove the Batgirl title on her without her permission or Barbara’s, but he also manipulated her left and right throughout that arc.
- Did I mention that Bruce is an asshole because he is.
- Especially to Helena.
- Arrow’s Helena is not crazy. Not that I’m giving the show any kind of credit considering that their Helena is a bastardization of the character, but in the Arrow verse she is not. crazy. Violent? Yes. Willing to kill? Yes. Kind of out control? Yes. But then again, so is the main character in that show as well as the mc’s partner. So, no, if fandom isn’t calling them crazy, then Helena shouldn’t be called crazy.
- Also, fuck Arrow. And fuck the writers for the blatant misogyny and complete lack of consistency in those Helena episodes.
- Helena Wayne and Helena Bertinelli are not the same person. These are completely different women whose only similarities are their first name and their superhero name. And despite everyone’s confusion and similarity, not even their uniforms are the same. Moreover, condesing these women into one single character caters to the idea that DC’s trying to make everyone buy into that female characters are completely, one hundred interchangeable. And that’s not the case, at all. Acting like Bertinelli and Wayne are the same person is a complete and utter disregard of both of these women’s background, history and fandom. Frankly, it’s a little offensive, too, but I’m also super tired right now so I could be wrong!!!
- (I am not wrong.)
- In short: Helena B. and Helena W. are not the same person even if DC keeps trying to tell everyone otherwise. Also, they are both pretty great. Also, Helena Bertinelli was constantly treated like shit by writers, fandom (though Helena W. is currently receiving a v poor treatment by her current writer, too, bc lol paul levitz problems). Her character (Helena B’s!) was often disparaged and ignored and generally treated badly because she’s a girl who dared to defy Batman, and also dared to have sex with more than one person, including everyone’s favorite Boy Wonder Dick Grayson.
- so u know, super fun!!! to read about what an awful person Helena B was because she dared to have sex!!!
- it was also super fun seeing the two people who became her best friends, eventually, slut-shame her because, again, having sex with more than one person is bad!!!
- Comics/Misogyny otp
- (did you catch my sarcasm up there bc you were MEANT TO)
- ‘Huntress is poison.’ fu 2 chuck dixon.
- oh man this got way too long.
- anyways, no one deserves helena bertinelli.
- she’s too good for everyone.
- so is helena wayne.
- the end.
(Source: xenophillius, via firefly-in-the-dark)
{TW: graphic descriptions of violence} 82 days of silence: Why weâre speaking up for Marco McMillian
It’s been 82 days.
Eighty-one days since the body of Marco McMillian, a black mayoral candidate, who was also gay, was found on the Mississippi River levee, unclothed.
After 82 days of utter apathy from our collective community—the black community, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, our allies, and communities at the intersection—we are breaking the silence and calling out the paralyzing hypocrisy plaguing us.
Lives are at stake
On May 9th, in response to the autopsy results of the late Marco McMillian, the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), Parks & Crump law firm, and the McMillian/Unger family demanded a federal investigation at a national press conference held at the family’s home in Clarksdale, Mississippi. It was on their front lawn, with an oversized portrait of Marco behind us, that we declared that we will stop at nothing until the Department of Justice takes over the investigation.
As I’ve previously noted,justice sluggishly shifts when the lives of our black boys and girls are at stake. The public outcry is even more hushed, if at all audible, when it is a life of a black LGBT person on the line.
On March 3rd, four days after McMillian’s lifeless body was found, his parents released a statement saying that he had been beaten, dragged and set afire. But the Coahoma County coroner, Scotty Meredith, said McMillian was found with “two little bitty burns” and that “there was no beating, although there may have been an altercation.”
Brutalized, tortured and left for dead
March 5th, NBJC, the nation’s leading black LGBT civil rights organization, submitted a letter to the Attorney General Eric Holder, calling for the Department of Justice to launch a federal investigation.
Seventy-five days after Marco was found, we received an autopsy report detailing injuries the family outlined in their statement two months ago. The same statement that the Coahoma County coroner challenged by saying, “I don’t know where that is coming from.” Contrary to the coroner’s attempt to minimize McMillian’s murder, the young superstar aspiring to be a public official was brutally murdered.
It was not a random act of violence. He was brutalized, tortured and left for dead.
The report states that the victim died from a lack of oxygen. It goes on to detail that blunt force trauma most likely contributed to the Clarksdale mayoral candidate’s death, but what exactly caused the asphyxiation remains unknown. The report also notes that there were abrasions and lacerations on McMillian’s head, back and legs and multiple “areas of second and third degree burns,” and that the manner of death was a homicide.
Where’s the outrage
While an arrest has been made in this disturbing case, after 75 days of silence and virtually no public outrage, we are left with more questions than answers.
Back in March, the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Office announced that a suspect, Lawrence Reed, faces a murder charge in the death. Reed, 22, was found in McMillian’s wrecked SUV. He later provided authorities with the location of the victim’s body. Some say the two were romantically involved while others are pleading the “gay panic” defense, insinuating that Marco McMillian made unwanted advances to the murder suspect, Lawrence Reed.
Not only was this defense dangerous, it was problematic. It reeked of victim-blaming and ignored the egregious acts of violence committed against LGBT people of color.
According to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), violence against LGBT people is on the rise, with people of color and transgender women as the most likely targets. Of the victims murdered in 2010, 70 percent were people of color. And those are just the cases we know about. Other findings indicate that identifying as gay, or offenders perceiving individuals to be gay, may increase hate violence murder risk.
Details don’t add up
The details just aren’t adding up. The McMillian/Unger family agrees.
In a heartfelt plea to the sheriff’s office on May 1, Patricia Unger, mother of McMillian, explained that she feels the investigation “has not been conducted in an ethical manner.”
“Please know that I am not questioning your expertise,” she wrote to the sheriff. “I am merely trying to find answers to questions that I have about the murder investigation of my only child.”
Unger pointed out that the sheriff refused to discuss the case with her husband because he didn’t want any leaks to the media.
No mother deserves to be held hostage by a lack of information around the death of her own son. No mother deserves to suffer in silence while being ignored by those who are entrusted with the justice system of government.
We can no longer be silent
The conflicting reports, the current racial and anti-LGBT climate in Mississippi and the lack of state protections for LGBT individuals are justification enough for a federal investigation. Again: Marco was brutalized, tortured and left for dead.
In the state of Mississippi, hate crime statutes do not include sexual orientation and gender identity, resulting in no state legislative protection for the LGBT community. According to a 2011 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report, there has been a spike in Mississippi anti-gay and racially-motivated hate crimes.
Sometimes silencing others—and the truth—makes people more comfortable. For 82 days, the silence around Marco McMillian’s murder has spoken volumes. We’re standing firmly, visibly, and loudly with his family so that their concerns do not go unaddressed.
Sharon J. Lettman-Hicks serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), which is a national civil rights organization dedicated to empowering black LGBT people. NBJC’s mission is to eradicate racism and homophobia. For more information about NBJC, visit www.nbjc.org.
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(Source: mabaris, via fearandlothering)
“not natasha,” a photographic essay on eastern european sex trafficked slaves by dana popa
(documentary, the real sex traffic; film, lilya 4-ever)
(via queeniman)
(via yourhandiheld)
Rami Kadi
Again Lebanon and it’s designers :) Rami Kadi and his beautiful creations.
About:
Born in the US and raised in Lebanon, Lebanese designer Rami Kadi’s passion for designing was obvious very early on.
It was only natural that Rami enrolled in fashion design school, Esmod Beirut in 2005, from which he graduated with honors and distinctions in 2008.
He then gained experience working with world renowned Lebanese designers Rabih Kayrouz and Georges Chakra.
In 2008, he was selected by the Starch Foundation, (founded by Rabih Kayrouz and Tala Hajjar), which promotes promising fresh fashion graduates, to showcase his first and second collection .
His work gained instant success and recognition, which led him to co-open in 2010 “Madame Muguet”, a luxury multi-brand boutique, where he stocked his own designs and those of other equally talented Lebanese designers.
His intricate couture designs, his attention to luxurious handmade details and his impeccable craftsmanship attracted a highly discerning local and middle-eastern clientele.
His rise to an elite circle of couture designers was astonishingly quick for someone his age and in May of 2011, Rami Kadi opened his first flagship Boutique and Atelier in Beirut, where he showcases his Ready to Wear, Couture, Accessories and Bridal collections.His webpage is currently down, so visit his facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rami-Kadi/216237908390979
(via thedressingupbox)
By far the cutest little guy on the USS Enterprise
I HAVE NEVER REBLOGGED SOMETHING SO FAST IN MY LIFE
(Source: stay-strong-and-prosper, via elenilote)
there are tons af actors out there who rightly do not want photos of their kids circulating on the internet. and then there’s this asshole
(Source: darren-criss)
(Source: keemswagmasta15thprestige, via babypeachy)
