The white man-boy is the most important cultural figure in America today.

Hyperbole?  Maybe.

But, allow me to make a case that the ‘white man-boy industrial complex’ is producing ways of being and knowing the world, particularly for white men, that threaten the social interests (if not rights) of women and people of color in contemporary American culture and little critical attention is being given to this phenomenon.

What do I mean by ‘the white man-boy industrial complex’?

I mean the lucrative constellation of industries that produce movies, television shows, music, books, magazines, advertising, and a range of other products that have made popular the idea that white guys today are refusing to grow up, retreating to fratriarchal spaces and ‘man caves,’ reviving racist and sexist humor with irony, and seeking liberation from women they imagine as trying to castrate them (usually metaphorically).

The white man-boy market was initially a niche, but now must be seen as defining ‘the mainstream.’  The white man-boy industrial complex sells its wares to white men of various social classes.  Socialized around the idea that masculinity is a style performed through conspicuous consumption, these men range in age from awkward teens, to twentysomethings who may imagine themselves caught up in a quarterlife crisis, to thirty- and fortysomethings who may be trying to ironically hold onto their youths while denying that that is what they’re up to.

I figure putting it as a link is best?? might be triggery to abuse survivors or people who just don’t do well with this sort of thing in general, but i’m pretty proud of how it came out

and i’m waiting on amy to text me the HD ones she took so i’ll update with those later but i think i did a good job and THERE’S A LOT MORE NUANCE THAN MY SHITTY CELL PHONE CAMERA COULD CAPTURE

i texted pictures to evan and his response was “IF YOU DIDNT TELL ME THAT WAS MAKE UP ID BE LOOKIN TO KILL SOME MOFO RIGHT NOW HOLY SHIT”

so yeah!

wtfsocialjustice:

I’m pretty sure it is but it is too pitch perfect.

omg poe’s law problems~~~

i really never know anymore

fuckyeahfeminists:

You know how people like to say the US is the “best country in the world?” well, check this out….

The report ranks 135 countries (which collectively contain over 90 percent of the world’s population) based on 14 indicators used to measure the size of a nation’s gender gap in four key areas:
1. Economic participation and opportunity, which includes female labor force participation, wage equality and the percentage of women in high-ranking jobs.
2. Educational attainment, which looks at female literacy and how frequently women are enrolled in higher education.
3. Health and survival, which is measured by comparing female and male life expectancy and mortality rates.
4. Political empowerment, which examines the number of women holding political office as well as the number of female heads of state over the last 50 years.

Well, last year the US ranked #17. Guess where we are now? #22. We dropped FIVE SPOTS IN ONE YEAR. This is in SPITE of even more mainstream coverage of these so-called “women’s issues.”

Now imagine if Romney takes the White House. Politicians who want to take away the rights to our bodies (which is key to our economic success), call rape a “gift,” will run around being unchallenged. We will only go down in terms of gender equity. There is a lot of work to be done.