No… I am still not over it. Like Noah in “The Notebook” or the election results in Nevada and Georgia by mail-in ballot. “It was never over, it’s still not over.”
Giving you a nice little part two to the last post looking at white culture: Shrek and Breaking Bad specifically, we are moving on, taking our next classic: the surprisingly progressive, feminist stance for Game of Thrones. As protocol, we are just not going to acknowledge the last few episodes. These showrunners–These are the two white men we should be holding most accountable for our problems. Fuck Christopher Columbus and our white savior mentality. D&D or Dooney & Bourke or whoever the imagineers of HBO’s destruction and mutilation of George R.R. Martin’s literary tact of “A Song of Ice and Fire”, deserves to be accountable for their sins, Black Mirror style. I’m thinking that episode where they wake up in a dystopia and can’t remember why they’re there, but are being hunted.
If we were a novel country really intent on our military prestige, we could be using role-play scenarios like Black Mirror to reform our prison population, because our current criminal justice system is fucked, for the record. That’s the type of conversion therapy I’d really like. Take all the actors and actresses who enjoy being characters for all of those Halloween horror nights at theme parks, slap them into role-play scenarios, then teaching empathy (but with your rape culture or conversion therapy mentality and we’ll hold the same empathy that the Trump administration or GOP held for literally anyone other than themselves in the past year towards whether we should “tell them” its just a set up, ya know?) I like toying with emotions and really drilling in the reality for people. Why shouldn’t rapists, domestic violence abusers, murderers, politicians who use their status for individual financial gain and purposefully mislead the citizen’s they were elected to represent, have to enter a Hunger Games style arena for the amusement of normal, working class individuals who aren’t sociopaths. THAT is the type of MMA, Gladiator-Coliseum television show that I would actually endorse. But only if it involves healthy life lessons and it’s really a trap and we pardon people based around the mentality they employ over their actions or who they (try) to kill. In my reality, technology has advanced enough so we can just pause their actions or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban time-turner style it so we can adjust the outcomes and save the good (Buckbeak).
For legal reasons, I feel like I should stress that is a joke. I’m well aware, however much I loved the movie “Law Abiding Citizen”, that subjecting the people who hurt you to the same abuse you were subjected to is not the way to go to employ change. Take the kid in grad school who went on a coked out rampage in my apartment, only to threaten to shoot me and then physically intimidate me in my apartment complex (where we BOTH lived and also my employment) AND out at the local bars. Who accused me of “being too dramatic” for involving the police. THEN he even hired a lawyer to try and turn my own family member’s against me via facebook messenger. COULD I have demanded he go to actual prison instead of just being arrested and having to post bail, do community service, anger management, and domestic violence abuser’s classes? Yes. Could I have gotten him kicked out of school as well so that he had no chances of future employment while these charges were on him and no outlet for education? YES. Did I? No. I think we should all thank me for taking the civil route and not following my impulse of choking him out and throwing him in gator infested waters. Why the fuck do your parents endorse and excuse that behavior? What the fuck did you tell them to manipulate the way they looked at me in court with such vile contempt? Like I was somehow lying or downplaying it?
The Queen’s Gambit parallels life. It’s chess, not checkers. And just because you’ve excluded women up until this point, doesn’t mean life isn’t a woman’s game.
By now, we all know my love of Arya Stark. I most closely identified with her character, which will come as no surprise to any men who have dated me, or probably even if this is your first introduction to my sunny disposition and podcast or blog.
Arya studied her world, seeing how men were treated compared to herself. Played along as best she could while remaining true to her intuition. Understood the deep bonds with animals, particularly those equally stubborn, rogue, yet righteous. She left, wandering around the Earth frequently, covering it before it covered her. She wore several faces, capable of blending in strange cities with false identities seamlessly. She was dangerous, an assassin, though never unprovoked or unjustly. Her steel disposition was exactly appropriate given the conditions in which she was raised, the inability to express herself and the limitations placed upon her simply by being smaller, more vulnerable in sheer physicality. Just by being a woman.
However, let’s take a look at the men and the women Arya and the rest of the Game of Thrones characters of strong moral character, fuck.
Let’s start with Arya and everyone’s good ole fan favorite, Gendry. The white male brunette symbol of unbothered naivety but determined to do the best right thing as he can see to it from his current position and financial status. He followed Brienne of Tarth, learning from her, so we know he isn’t against a nomadic lifestyle or following the lead of a female. Instead of traveling around the world with Arya, though, he is so intent on attaining his own lordship, that he passes her up. He literally chose land ownership over her. I’m gonna say it. She will never fuck him again. This is not gonna be someone she comes back and fucks every few years when she’s in town. She moved on. He made his choice, and “that’s just not her”. Let’s be real, Arya, probably aligns more so with the women in Dorn.
Let’s next consider most white male’s favorite character, Jon Snow. Oh, my dear, Jon Snow. First, Kit Harrington is a fucking babe. I was introduced to Game of Thrones by my ex boyfriend, the one who I broke up with at his sister’s rehearsal dinner. (Which was well deserved, I’ll explain some other time but he doesn’t deserve the spotlight currently.) House Stark, the noble, hard, and real history of the land, combined with House Targaryen, the fiery, passionate, fantasy brought together as one. It’s no wonder that people rallied behind his character development. I, myself, would love for porn to be legalized and sex work to not be so taboo so we can get the fanfic version of the pornographic romance novels all of these women write because, LADIES, that is hot.
As an aside, men are only visual creatures because we have conditioned them to be. Allowing toxic masculinity is female’s downfall as well as men’s and I’m gonna start pulling out Kanye’s “slavery is a choice” comment because it IS a choice to remain ignorant and sheltered in today’s day and age with the internet at your fingertips. It is a privilege to not question your reality, because ignorance is fucking bliss. And that’s because reality is fucking scary. Nobody said this would be easy. There is a reason our default of “women” in the USA is one who is insecure, who questions their worth, who feels unsafe alone in public, who compares themselves to every other woman around them, but it LITERALLY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. THAT IS THE PRODUCT OF GENERATIONS OF FEMALE SUBMISSION AND REFUSAL TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AS INAPPROPRIATE IS ACTUALLY BECAUSE WE ARE STILL DOING THINGS FOR SOLELY MALE SATISFACTION.
But the same mentality that convinced men that their entire lives were devoted to growing up, going off to war and dying, leaving women to raise the children and fend for themselves, have now changed so they’re actually returning home, picking up a playboy magazine and convincing their wives to get fake tits and put actual foreign objects that have to be changed every decade or so into their bodies to be more “FASHIONABLE” and “appealing” FOR THEIR OWN PLEASURE. Then, these SAME MALES then won’t pick up a book and learn about how savagely you want them, the allure of the crest of their cock dripping in your cum looks in the moonlight.
When you entertain that mentality, you are allowing it to continue. Stop entertaining it. Stop entertaining phrases like “do you believe in climate change?” like it’s Santa Claus. Stop allowing the bar to be on the actual ground for men and then for them to dig a Stanley Yelnats-style hole and somehow lower the bar EVEN FURTHER and then have you just accept it because “your clock is ticking”. LADIES. LEVEL THE FUCK UP. We did not grow up watching The Lizzie McGuire Movie just to settle for Paolo. I guarantee you condition them for it to be the NORM for them to actually have to fucking work to be an acceptable, equal partner. THEY CAN DO IT. We are participation trophy-ing our white men and it has got to stop, for their own good. They do not deserve you. Accept that and wait or move on and find someone who actually does.
Live up to your full potential as a human.
Not as a rehabilitation center denying yourself of the light that you provide for others that you somehow have convinced yourself isn’t possible for yourself.
Back to Game of Thrones. And Jon Snow / Aegon Targaryen.
Ygritte, a feisty little wildling. Kissed by fire. Jon Snow was literally the first semi-civilized man from a non-wild society that she encountered. And that turned her on. He was also “the bad guy”, technically, which, as we all know, is definitely a turn on. Nothing like a little rebellion against the patriarchy to get a girl going. So she fucked him. Ygritte is about to be every fucking person out of quarantine who has actually been following guidelines. The STD rates are going to SKYROCKET. I can see it now. It was either Jon Snow or men who made casual rape threats just because they could, which she knows weren’t REALLY “casual” and were secretly indications of what they would try to do the first chance they got, forcing her to fully embrace her wildness and literally always live in a state of survival mode, even amongst her own people. Hats off to you, man. Jon Snow had some TOUGH competition. I will give it to Jon Snow, in his defense, for following his intuition and going down on her because he “just wanted to”. Gotta love a good spontaneity and desire to work for someone ELSE’S pleasure. 10/10. However, in typical white male fashion, he fucks her once and then leaves. A technicality to a “hit it and quit it”.
Jon Snow, much like Elsa from Frozen, was just pulled by some higher calling and felt like he had to venture into the unknown. It’s why Ygritte was drawn to him, so we don’t fault him for leaving her. She knew that was his character, she just didn’t know him prioritizing honesty to someone else, himself, would take priority over her. This is something, as a human with PTSD, that I also understand. The idea that your life has to “mean something” is one of the greatest human challenges, and one I grapple with constantly (even harder than Jon Snow did with scaling the wall). Why else would you have experienced the sheer number of things that you’ve experienced, been born into? And America loves a good underdog story. Still, Jon Snow took advantage of the opportunity to fuck her and ignored the reality that he had no intention of being with her and they had opposite political views that were soon coming to head. We can like who he is and still condemn the way he treated her, for whatever reason. She would’ve left for him if he had just explained. She was loyal, to HIM, not to the wildlings. He just didn’t want to bother explaining because he didn’t quite understand it himself.
So then Jon Snow watches while Ygritte dies in his arms. Ironic that she is killed by the same person who later goes on to stab Jon Snow himself. Hindsight bias and all. And Jon loves her, and he knows his life won’t be the same without her. So much so that Kit Harrington went on to marry her in real life because at least he’s not as much of an idiot as his character was. He didn’t want to lose a good thing while he had it.
Then, Jon swears off women and all, starts his new life, eventually reclaiming his title of Lord of Winterfell and King of the North, only after getting his bitch ass rescued by Sansa and all of her hard political work with one of the most DEVIOUS people in the entire universe, who she traveled solo with for MONTHS (YEARS), who SOLD HER OFF TO A MAN WHO RAPED HER, and Sansa KEPT playing the game of thrones because you either win or you die. Sansa is a domestic violence HERO. She is a fucking G. Anyone who wonders why it takes women so fucking long to come forward, or why you think they don’t speak up, or won’t be believed, or why they only come forward when the harsh realization that, because they don’t, this jackass who made their life hell may solidify himself in a position of power, PLEASE fucking watch Game of Thrones and tell me what the fuck else Sansa should have done. She is hugely under appreciated and the media does NOT cover the reality of her storyline. It’s “uncomfortable”, ya know? She was the next legitimate female in line to her familial heritage, did her fucking duties and listened to her elders, and then her step sibling just shows back up, claims the title over her head, and just expects her to blindly trust his word when there’s not a damn chance Sansa can trust any man’s word ever again, family or not.
We simply don’t give Sansa enough credit.
So Jon, with Sansa’s help, becomes King of the North and can finally wage war on the white walkers, which IS in fact the more pressing matter than who actually lives in Kings Landing, so props to him. He also managed to convince Queen Daenerys that she should not take her army towards Cersei and she should instead do what all great leaders are actually supposed to be capable of, which is recognizing the reality of life versus death IS more important than pursuit of royal titles or the pursuit of re-election. We should point out, though, that there was significant sexual seduction on Jon Snow’s part (just by the nature of how hot it is when a man is doing the right thing for the greater good.) So who can blame Daenerys for surrendering to the penis. Cardi B live tweeted about how hard this was just a few weeks ago.
Although, since Jon Snow technically bent the knee and it was also AFTER he already agreed to help her, this meant that not only was Daenerys his aunt, but she was also his superior. I’m sure pornhub had a FIELD day with that one. As a white, blonde, college girl, horse girl, athlete with abs, a big butt, small tits, the fetishization of literally EVERY SINGLE THING about me is ridiculous. If I’m in a full lab coat, it’s sexy. If I’m running on the side of a road, it’s sexy. All because I fit these stupid categorized ways for men to express sexual rage and convinces themselves that cumming a tablespoon of secreted fluid that holds your shitty genetic code somehow makes you powerful, which is just, sad. Not to mention new science suggests the Y chromosome, responsible for housing the male DNA, is structurally weaker, as are the balls to a vagina. Yet “men” are the stronger sex. Woohoo! Trump should be a good reminder that just because you declare a point over and over again, doesn’t make it true. The louder you are, the less power you usually ACTUALLY command. Our military leaders could remind themselves of this and that their goal should be to NOT go to war. So at this point, why are women NOT exploiting it for financial gain? This is the USA baby, if I can make money doing something, and marriage is an economic proposition for a woman, why would I not? How is prostitution in general even still illegal with Florida’s shoddy massage parlors, frequently visited by politicians, Texas’ strip club culture in general where pretty much anything goes, Only Fans, and the amount of men who have porn addictions?
Daenerys was smart. She was more lethal, less encumbered, and more desirable, single. A reminder to all (white, blonde) women everywhere. I would actually be genuinely interested to work on a research project assessing the analytical trends over how different pop culture and entertainment influence preferences throughout time. In reference to pornhub, seeing the trends and cyclical patterns around new HBO shows with increased nudity (because, for some reason, we think the human body in its natural or sexual state is somehow inherently scandalous and dirty, thus making it more enticing) as well as the trends in the sex toy industry, health outcomes of the locality (STD rates, pregnancies, domestic violence trends), and religious norms or societal construct acceptance as a function over time. I imagine it’s like that “molecular cell” version of dynamic societal structure–moving parts working seemingly separate yet coming together to function as a whole and represent a larger picture. You reach a certain action potential of influence and suddenly the behavior is predictably distinct and incapable of returning to its ground state until it has run its course.
…However, within cells and healthy functioning human bodies. The cells that are responsible for purposefully proliferating uncontrollably and spreading diseases are the cancerous ones our immune system (hopefully) gets rid of.
Let’s take a closer look at Dany. Emilia Clarke. Mother of dragons. Exiled into the free cities as a youth, she broke the captivity of the enslaved all over Yunkai, Mereen, and the Great Grass Sea kinda like how I imagine Abraham Lincoln navigated slavery negotiations in the Northern United States. Baby steps, with progress–ya know? Replacing one corrupt ruling class with another that just enslaves the original masters does nothing in the grand scheme of things. She was content, though, sitting and ruling there with her three lil dragons and endless war because, ultimately, she was an outsider and white blonde woman and would never be accepted. History shows us that won’t really help you in the long run and turmoil was inevitable at some point. *The USA and our military power has entered the chat*. She responded to bullying with bullying, because sometimes there is no clear way to achieve “justice” and a bitch just needs some time to really think about what we’re supposed to do next.
I honestly think by the time Dany meets Jon, she has classically conditioned herself to getting off to men who tell her “no.” Which, I understand, COMPLETELY. Power is sexy. Why do you think we had such an insurgence of BDSM crazes after Fifty Shades of Grey made it more “socially acceptable” to be outwardly sexual with your intrigue by power? Or how, the fact that it was directed FOR WOMEN’S ENTERTAINMENT, was such a NOVEL thing, that it caused a HUGE cascade of changes in cultural norm and societal outrage, to a degree? Dwight Schrute was right about nostalgia and he was also right about the harm in empowering young girls with things like The Girl Scouts, because once they recognize their worth it is FUCKED for all of you. And the attempts to belittle powerful, strong women? Or how powerful women were condemned as witches? There’s a reason Khaleesi was a sex symbol. The art of seduction, the allure of power, and every so often, wrapped into the body of a devious analyst incapable of ignoring the horrors of the world because just being a woman means you were subjected to them, even from your facade of a pedestal, however temporarily, and your outward physical appeal offers you a natural in and ability to manipulate circles you would otherwise have to ask to be amongst? Dany’s success has all come after men have repeatedly told her “no”, and we don’t expect her to find the well-respected king in front of her, also a chosen leader amongst his followers, telling her “no” to REALLY drive her wild? She stood no chance and her entire life she was conditioning herself for this to be her weakness.
By the time she meets Jon, Dany had lived a life in servitude to her narcissistic brother, who she was smarter than and, being a woman, had always had to learn patience and tact. Her brother sold her off, to a hot ass dude, atleast, but, again, a guy that raped her mercilessly and ran the risk of having a reputation as a savage murderer, so she had to play her cards VERY carefully. My favorite part of “The Handmaid’s Tale” is the Margaret Atwood quote about how “men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.” Granted, Dany handles her own, the Stockholm Syndrome turns to love (which is really just a survival tactic because she had no other option so your mind just learns to accept it) and, when Khal Drogo dies, Dany maintains power after her little Harley-Quinn-esque stunt with the fire. Dany at some point takes a STRICTLY cuckold lover in the form of Jorah Mormont, who understands and does not expect Dany to love him back. This is the kind of unrequited love we WANT white men to endorse. Yassss king, go off and cure your mysterious illness and come back with your newfound freedom to live under my servitude and expect nothing but greatness from me. Absolutely nothing sexual in nature. You’re not friendzoned. It’s just, like, “off” the table. You’re not a “simp” for respecting women, by the way, in case I haven’t said it enough. Bitch, let me be your khaleesi and go off to war alongside me, understand I have a greater purpose that does not include your cock inside of me, and live your life driven by the enjoyment of finally serving good.
If you happen to fall in love with me in the process that is the price we pay.
What is so difficult about that for men to understand?
Obviously, we see why two white male writers decided they just had to kill her off so haphazardly and abruptly and to this day have no explanation for why they felt it was necessary to cram an entire movie into each episode instead of just advancing the plot and providing the details we wanted. We can’t empower females THAT much, though. The story makes WAY more sense with this rushed, botched, unapologetic mentality. Literally nobody is to blame in that except for the writers and producers. The actors actually felt like THEY were being attacked in interviews after the season finale. Your characters WERE FINE. We just wanted THREE MORE SEASONS worth of information from them.
Dany also has an absolute banger of a slampiece in Daario, though, and I’m not sure if it’s just my weakness for white brunette men with longer hair and armour but damn. He did peacock a little too much for my liking, but again, like Dany, unfortunately into it. However, let’s give her props for knowing those men do not make good husbands and you should not give them equal ruling power. Dany still agrees to the marriage of Hizdahr zo Loraq who ultimately tries to kill her, though, so her judgment, when influenced by other men in her cabinet, is at least “off”, at best. Her intuition told her not to trust him, just to throw it out there, she just ultimately listened to the advice of her advisors and how being married would make her more “likeable” for the citizens to accept. All fitting conversation, particularly since a woman (or person in general) is most likely to be murdered by someone they actually know, which turned out to be the exact scenario that ultimately unveiled itself in the coliseum, so anyone with even a hint of true crime obsession should have expected this. It was still disappointing because, c’mon Dany, I know it wasn’t the threat of tribal gang rape with a misstep, it was just swift death or imprisonment to be kept as a figurine as long as her beauty lasted, but the red flags were there. Marriage was an economic proposition from him from the beginning. He had no interest in you or your motives. Only your power. And you deserve to be wholly admired. Do not settle.
So, enter, Jon Snow. The first guy to tell her no and that he won’t bend the knee. Ironic, given his willingness to bend the knee for Ygritte. He-yo. However, Jon Snow, man of his word, already has people who are counting on him, so that Stark loyalty holds out and he will not be swayed by the dangerous waters of Daenery’s WAP. Dany, loving a good “reverse psychology” move, suddenly feels compelled to do exactly what he wants. He wasn’t intimidated by her, like most other guys, and he called her on her bullshit. He made her shift her perspective. And, because she is a reasonable woman whose character was horribly butchered by a bunch of people maddened to sell out for Star Wars who ultimately got cut from that project so karma is a bitch, she listens to reason and agrees. Then, because honesty and accountability is sexy, she fucks the shit out of him and his muscular ass on her ship. You know she probably fucked him on one of those dragons too, off screen. Her own version of the mile high club. A very exclusive club. I’m an equestrian and I’m just gonna say there’s a lot of similarities in the hip action of riding horses and riding dicks and it’s annoyingly accurate because men then proceed to fetishize everything “country” about me and send me snapchats of their boots and a Bud Light ( as if my beer of choice isn’t Bud Heavy) when they aren’t even DIRTY BOOTS. They’re perfectly clean because these men AREN’T COUNTRY AT ALL and just associate horse girl porn with me. Or, because I’m a horse girl, and had access to riding crops at a younger age, understand what power they wield and how to employ them. Because I’m not exclusively a sexual freak, though, unlike American men seem to be because sexuality is still so repressed with our Christian influence, I can separate it and not get turned on by the idea of literally just riding my fucking horses. Just like Daenerys can ride her dragon into battle and have practical weaponry that isn’t sexual by default, it just “can be” by occasion.
On the theme of flying dragons, just think of what we will be able to do with AI porn in the future in reference to fantasy novels? This is why we should invest in the gaming communities. Because our time could be invested in lifelike fantasy porn and even better Lord of the Rings series over leaking celebrity nudes through a hotel door lock or fake smoke detector. I’d rather have a ridiculous amount of sex-crazy furries postgaming an EDC carnival with sexual promiscuity than construction workers who catcall me and follow me on my walk from my apartment, where I live alone, to my college class in the same hospital they’re employed to work on. You try to tell me the millennial youth waited in line overnight in freezing temperatures to be the first in a theatre to see Princess Leia, Legolas, Hermione, yet there would not be a market for really well-done porn parodies or movies that are actual stories and the sex is both realistic and artistic and contributes legitimately to the story and relationship? Legalize porn. Require diversity in male-dominated industries and consumer-protection laws. This is what I was born for. I will Lady Gaga the fuck out of the porn industry as the actress, costume design, director, producer, lawyer, everything. I will be my only fan.
I’m kidding (not really). Dany, whether it’s the impending doom of an upcoming battle or the enjoyment of the one time when, at his “manliest”, Jon Snow has to surrender fully to her in order to cum, keeps Jon Snow wrapped around her finger, for a time. In typical white male history, he looks the other way during a few tyrannical missteps and abuses of power, but then, only once his own loyalty is questioned, does he step forward to condemn her use of violence. In doing so, daggering her under false pretenses. I will agree with Jon Snow in that leaders should have to deal the hand of violence themselves. At the very least, I’m with Jon Snow that they should be held accountable for the violence they are responsible for, whether they cause it indirectly or not. In the US, our politicians serve the many faced god and only emerge as it benefits them before retreating into their wealthy, luxurious seclusion of mystery. That or they go to war under the premise of terrorism but really benefitting the oil industry in Texas and once their term is over they just conveniently step aside and comfortably attend Cowboys NFL games with Ellen Degeneres. Every once in a while, though, we still get a real Tywin Lannister (Jeff Bezos) content to rule over the peasants in flea bottom from his golden toilet, fully capable and having the funds to personally change their conditions but choosing not to, pretending that the dynasty he created is NOT problematic in major ways and is just a clever use of the system, embraced by white men everywhere who refuse to actually google the difference in minimum wage from ten years ago compared to now and cost of living to account for inflation with what a public state college cost them back in the day. Most of the time, the men in our lives are the Jon Snows, though. The signs were all there, he was always going to be the hot, powerful woman’s downfall, and he only ultimately stepped forward when the woman both no longer benefited him in any way and he could no longer ignore his problems and hope they solved themselves.
Why are we supposed to idolize this man, as white women?
That’s allllll I’m saying to this.
I just think we, as a collective whole, should step back and really look at white culture and see the kind of things we continue to encourage and promote.
Jon had told Dany “no”, before. He could have done so, PRIVATELY. Granted, the burning of the Tarley’s was a bit off kilter but Europeans will line up to view public executions for fun. These were men at war, and whether they were related to Sam or not, they were stubborn, adamant men who refused to listen to reason in false shows of bravado, but, like Bronn points out, all men will shit themselves when they die all the same. The only part about Jon Snow disagreeing with her that she kept getting annoyed with was when, as natives to the land she was supposedly born into but then OUTCAST from, because she was persecuted BEGINNING AT BIRTH by people who wanted her dead, her only allies she had in this supposedly homeland (that is completely foreign to her) kept criticizing her in front of a group of other natives who also had armies nearby and doubted her claim to the throne. She was right to be both paranoid and a little pissed. Jon didn’t want to explain his logic behind her being a “different kind of ruler”. Logic, which, need I remind you, she CONSTANTLY spoke passionately of herself, on SEVERAL occasions, so assuming she was just ignorant to it after risking life and limb and entire army to fight the Night King for these ungrateful fucks, is a little, out of character.
Even factoring in Missandei’s murder, the death of one, and now two, of her dragons, and what an incorrigible twat Cersei Lannister was, we were expected to believe that a white woman whose character trajectory lies in daddy issues and distinctly making a point of NOT living up to her mad king father’s name STILL TURNED OUT BAD? After all of that trauma?
Jon Snow could’ve snuck into her bedroom, taken her aside in the hall, literally anything else to explain his own tactics or methods of invasion and instead he stood by then let her fall upon his dagger and we were supposed to think it was the “right” thing.
Tragic that our bar for men is so fucking low.
Let’s switch directions again and give a special shout out to Melisandre. Amazing sexual goddess, she would 100% be on witchtok if she had tik tok. A real horoscope hippie woman, probably sells essential oils on instagram while also having paypigs in her DMs, the usual. A true mark of ageism in Hollywood when she’s weakest at her ugliest and oldest. Her power is hidden in all of her gems. Not to derail the conversation–but did you know jewelry and gems were common gifts for women for generations because, since women weren’t allowed to even open their own bank accounts until like the 1970’s, if they had to leave abruptly, they could steal away with their valuables and have something to sell off and afford to survive, or bribe would-be captors. However, that bath scene with Melisandre should also be a solid reminder for all men that women can look VERY different with filters, make up, and plastic surgery.
What I, personally, would like, is for women to not feel like they need to do so many things, particularly not FOR MEN.
Working in the medical industry, I struggle because I am all for plastic surgery. My sutures for Mohs have often been compared to a plastic surgeon’s closures. I was so flattered. However, getting surgery to change an insecurity does not change the REASON for the insecurity.
Why do you feel like something is wrong with your body?
Why is our “default” woman in society somebody who is self conscious, doubting his/her/themselves?
This affects men too, so I want y’all to listen and think before you ever encourage, or dare, SUGGEST to a woman that she gets plastic surgery or some medical procedure that could significantly alter her nerve endings and jeopardize her life.
This isn’t anti-trans in any way, either, for full disclosure. At no point in the future do I want to embody any kind of JK Rowling energy post 2010 to this planet. I fully understand body dysmorphia and how problematic it is for society. We have the medical procedures in place, we might as well use them if it makes people feel more comfortable in their natural selves. That is not what’s under discussion. Feeling “uncomfortable” in your body so that you can accept yourself is VERY different from being socially bullied into feeling like you need to physically change yourself FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF OTHERS, particularly, men and lovers.
When you begin the process of questioning your gender identity, you have regular visits with healthcare providers, access to hormonal treatments, close monitoring of how your hormones are affected and changing throughout the process, and, most of all, THERAPY. You have to talk about why you identify differently or what caused these feelings to emerge. Yet, when women are constantly going through hormonal changes and fluctuations beyond their control, and we place them in environments with unrealistic expectations for them compared to virtually any male in the vicinity, why do we not expect them to get some type of body dysmorphia, as well? Why do we cater to the fact that they’ll pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to PHYSICALLY CHANGE THE WAY THEY LOOK, not for themselves, but for the attractive allure of MATING, just like Melisandre’s horny ass did? Why do we allow them to get pretty significant, although routine, medical procedures, “for fun” “because they can” without asking why they should. I know women who OPENED UP CREDIT CARDS to pay for cosmetic procedures. Who fucked men they didn’t even LIKE, to get cosmetic procedures. Who got cosmetic procedures FOR MEN, only to find them uncomfortable, if not deadly, just for those men to cheat. We fully enable that cultural mentality. We allow it to be the norm for women to cater to men on a silver platter, to adjust their sexuality for the male gaze. We actually do not question or protect consumers in any way, shape, or form, and consumers are, historically, most commonly women, so why should we? They’re paying customers, they have the expendable cash.
We allow women like the Kardashians to exploit it. How could we not though? Kim changed her male-driven audience and playboy/sex tape exposure to a female, young adult, housewife, and queer audience. Which is hard for me to judge them, because I’m all about self growth and I really try to find common ground over the fact that they’re just people in the USA trying to make a dollar in a capitalist society. They once exploited the male gaze for the money of men, though, and now exploit women, children, and youth feeling like they need to pay for make up to create entirely new characters for themselves in order to be loved. We idolize athletes for throwing a ball at a target at a certain speed. For perfecting the skills at their disposal that society told them to hone. Why should we not love a woman’s creative concept in visual, life form–themselves as their own muses? Why do we admire it for an artist to see the worth in something else but consider it narcissism to be self-confident and invest in yourself? Particularly in a society that places individualism above all else–why are the women treated differently for such?
The same fan base that mocks the Kardashians and complains about how prevalent they are want to hear Tomi Lahren’s view points on every serious political topic in the news, so they can simmer down. We don’t come for Jeff Bezos with the same energy we come for the Kardashians, and they at least do a lot to address women’s fertility struggles, co-parenting and abnormal family dynamics, the criminal justice system, while also capitalizing on the beauty and fashion industries and things like fit teas which exploit the USA’s poor educational system, lack of health, sustainable industry, and consumer welfare. Kourtney, the only sane one, literally was mocked for wanting to enjoy her cash money millionaire status and just be a fucking mom. I really do try to find the good in everyone. However, sitting out this election silently because your husband refuses to go on medication and runs for president, likely in some back-alley deal to secure funding for his Yeezy Christian campaign and school, was a hard one to look past. Kanye thinks he’s some kind of Lebron, when really he just wants people to worship HIM. Lebron you can tell is a genuinely good dude and family person. That is a man of some character. The fact that he also has talent? Incredible. That’s also how you can tell Lebron is an athlete, because he knows when he’s no longer physically performing to their liking, his “fans” will turn against him. Kanye, however, just switches musical genres with a “the customer is always right” mentality and is following the money all the way to the megachurches. Much like the Rock, I hope Lebron has nothing but good energy headed his way. Kanye, though. Musical GENIUS. Mozart of the rap genre. Absolute nightmare narcissistic jerk in every other realm. He and Kim’s marriage works because, at least at one point, he loved Kim as much as she loves herself. As she should, because, again, you SHOULD love yourself. It’s not narcissistic to inherently love yourself and be proud or share what you do or even capitalize on it. The narcissism is both in the intent behind it and what you choose to do with your time once you DO have that platform.
Industries like fashion, make up, interior design and homemaking, etc. are some of the only female dominated industries because they were the easiest transitions in the American economy from housewives. Kylie Jenner being a billionaire in an industry that exploits the need to change yourself or mask how you look doesn’t interest me–however empowering she finds it. For the beautiful, artistic looks, sure, but that’s the outspoken minority of influencers and not the majority of her product users or consumers. I honestly find it incredibly sad that the media bullied her so much that she has sought out that much work. Now, Kylie Jenner funding a tech firm for women to just be engineers and creators for problems unique to women that largely go underfunded? How about a research center aimed at women in science who can study and hypothesize without having to answer to the elitist “professionalism” of the stem community or wear high heels and skirts instead of athleisure? How often would you wear make up if you weren’t interested in being perceived a certain way, for someone else’s, but PARTICULARLY the male gaze? How many pairs of high heels would you insist on wearing, despite their discomfort? How many beauty products would you buy and then spend HOURS doing, convincing yourself that you’re “investing in your skin” while really you’re just investing in vanity? How much more productive would your time actually be if you invested it in something other than the pursuit of a mate or the religious study of a Hollywood white-washed protagonist that you’ve somehow deluded yourself into thinking wasn’t a liberal?
I’m not undermining these industries either. I’m just saying finding your niche in an industry that is already dominated by people “just like you” isn’t novel in any way. You’re not bringing something new if you just want to be the objectively “best” new artist. If you like make-up, be a fucking biochemist and learn how to make the actual make-up and what effects different product lines have on skin and things like THAT. If you’re a hairdresser? Get a chemistry degree and learn how the products you use ACTUALLY affect the biological condition of your hair cells. Or how much of it is complete bullshit. Empowering women means not being dependent on males, for ANYTHING, or the need for partnership in general, for anything, including a paycheck or catering solely to that male audience. Go into science and stem and make these industries and our country more ethical, diverse, and profitable without almost exclusively benefitting massive corporations and generational wealth. Which, in the Kardashian’s defense, they have a lot of fucking kids, they need a lot of generational wealth. Stop continuing to push the confidence good skin, hair, or pants that actually have pockets feel BECAUSE OF HOW THEY MAKE YOU FEEL IN FRONT OF MEN, instead of focusing on how it makes you feel about yourself. At the end of the day, spending hours of your time in front of a mirror, identifying and covering your imaginary perceived flaws, just to be “socially acceptable” is not “empowerment” in any form.
Toxic masculinity is being threatened because the push-up bra, fake tit, Barbie mentality of US frat culture is being called into chaos with movies like “Bombshell” and their precious Margot Robbie going off the rails with Harley Quinn once Birds of Prey was written for WOMEN, and not men, so, naturally, the men were a little butthurt. They wanted her onscreen, visually appealing for their gaze, and naivety. When she wisened up, dressed for practicality, and beat them at their own game, they lost interest. And Margot Robbie probably LOVES to play these characters fooling men at their own games. Sexuality is a weapon, it is toxic masculinity’s weakness and it pisses the ever loving fuck out of men for realizing, not that they are powerless to it (because they aren’t) but that women are only willing to do it as long as they still benefit from it. And gone are the days when women want to sit around all day and wait for a man. They have goals of their own, ideas, innovations, things to offer the world other than exclusively children and their bodies. THOSE are the women we should be highlighting. But when every industry, private corporation, wealthy family in the USA is historically controlled by a minute portion of our citizenship, largely, white, religious families, you’re still catering to male mentality as long as you play into it. And the most annoying part is that you have to play into it if you want to get your foot in the door sometimes. You can’t just topple structures from outside–catapulting insults, hurling scientific notations and theories and evidence just for them to barricade themselves within their palaces. You have to Trojan horse the fuck out of life. Gain their interest, or at least curiosity, and sometimes even just fear will work. Methodically plan your ruse. Execute flawlessly. You can burn the place down around you, emerging from the flames like Daenerys, or haphazardly leap out in faith, expose your own vulnerability, but know that doing so is necessary to let you sink the dagger in.
Call Her Daddy splits and some guys are still clinging to Dave Portnoy because he was the Spartan warrior that led them to victory that an average looking white guy perpetuating the Johnny Knoxville/ Jackass style of drinking culture with the ego of Dan Bilzerian, who goes on to publicly humiliate Sofia Franklyn in a hate campaign akin to the Monica Lewinsky takedown by the media and Hilary Clinton back in the day, all for just knowing her fucking worth and what the money actually was–her image, likeness, persona, and talent, and yet, that man is still somebody you like. That is exactly how Donald Trump became president because TFM and TSM became a cult mentality, particularly for the SEC, college football and the NFL became modern day slavery and exploitation of someone, commonly black men’s, bodies for physical power and financial gain, only a minute portion of which is being routed to the actual man in question, though. You wonder why professional NFL players won’t let their own children play? Do not get me started on the influencer parade that has become a once comedic podcast. Flaunting drama, insecurity, and sexual deviance for solely external validation and financial profit over using it to become a better person is straight up not the move.
But how can I assert that when we live in a capitalist economy and money is power? When you don’t need an education to be financially successful, but the point of being and becoming financially successful enough so you can ACTUALLY enjoy who you are as a person should not be a “far off dream”. Who you are as a person should affect your influence in this world, and unfortunately our society focuses and highlights and continues to fund the negative. Look at fucking Logan Paul fighting Conor McGregor? Don’t even get me started on how MMA is one of the least reputable sports in my opinion, because we should never “glorify” barbery just because your pathetic upbringing made you have to literally fight to survive so much so that you’re willing to risk and endorse significant brain trauma because you bring so little to the table elsewhere. Why is that our choice for society? Why is it SO EASY to become rich and powerful from being a shitty fucking human? Change our fucking tax break system, for the love of god and tax the fucking rich so scientists can afford to eat and healthcare officials can pay their bills DURING A PANDEMIC AND JUST IN GENERAL.
HOW THE FUCK DID YOU ALL THINK AMERICA BECAME “THE BEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD”? (Which, by the way, is NOT the case.) Do you think it was solely because we had jackasses who were so desperate to assert their dominance and worth, which, you sit on a throne of fucking lies because seriously how the fuck is the legacy you want to leave behind in the world you being such a fucking twat that you videotape a dead body for a prank youtube channel in a foreign country that we BOMBED THE FUCK OUT OF DURING WORLD WAR II AND HORRIBLY ALTERED FOR GENERATIONS TO COME AND WHO ALREADY HAS A SIGNIFICANT SUICIDE PROBLEM? You literally do not deserve to have a fucking platform and you think that, because you can control the minds of those who are naive or caught up in the entertainment value of it, that you know all BECAUSE you’re financially successful.
The people who are actually smart and deserve these kinds of platforms are not those who are so egotistical that they refuse to use it to re-examine their own beliefs. They use it “solely” for entertainment or an escape because that’s probably how it functions for them to avoid confronting the emptiness within them. It gives the false pretense that athletes or the NBA should somehow have ANY sway in reopening the economy when, in reality, the government should be more than competent enough to be able to pay individuals to literally stay the fuck home for a few weeks. Pause all of these imaginary payments on bullshit businesses, properties, or items that were just created as ways to harness capitalism. None of it matters. Your small business SHOULDN’T go under because you literally shouldn’t have to leave your house. In a country with insecure and unaffordable housing, lack of emphasis on healthcare and generations of propaganda on how universal healthcare was “unrealistic”, as well as absolutely no evidence of our default “trickle down economics” was working because, surprise, surprise, it was never going to, our ability to avoid the realities of the world and conveniently turn on a baseball or football game (sports that very few, if any, other countries play), watch reality tv about drinking, partying, and dating as if those are actually the only things important in this world, and numbing ourselves to the bleak outlook of the society around us because we’re too afraid to fail at changing it, needs to be confronted. We cannot keep idolizing symbols who are literally just dribbling a fucking ball over the people who keep our society functioning in the background, the actual essentials, the ones who let you forget the hard stuff because you don’t personally have to focus on it. Not the ones who give you the distraction. Those people should absolutely not have to live in poverty just because they “chose” to help people. What the actual fuck is wrong with all of you?
And you conflate the fact that you attribute money and financial success to power and education, that someone like Dave Portnoy, a guy who made it rich just enjoying college sports, hot women, and different pizza, is some symbol of what YOU, too, can accomplish. If this pot bellied lunatic who looks like one of Vinny from Jersey Shore’s distant cousins, or maybe even one of the country style wannabe-suburban blue collar men Snooki would’ve smushed back in the day. I don’t listen to the platform much, since I’m an actual adult (in age, not mentality) and don’t think it’s really the move to empower fraternal culture mentality like that. Especially not after my ex boyfriend’s entire family was part of a very much alive and thriving chapter of KA at Auburn, whose founder was ~actually~ Robert E. Lee. A fact they GENUINELY enjoy sharing and take pride in. Which is difficult, because, despite not being a sorority girl myself, a lot of my friends are. I enjoy the opportunity for creative outlets it provides: the parties, themes, and functions. The idea behind groups of women or men united with a common goal and becoming a better version of themselves? I like that! But that’s usually NOT the norm in how they function.
How is it that children in Germany grow up visiting actual concentration camps, learning the horrors of their history so that it doesn’t dare repeat itself, yet the American education system is framed in such a way that we think racial segregation happened MILLENIUMS ago and children in Florida reenact the civil war for fun and not for educational purposes to remind them of how inappropriate eugenic based motivating factors are? We had a fascist government and nearly half of all voting Americans were too blind by the Republican cult mentality of always “standing your ground”, “defending their stance” that they don’t realize developed nations are supposed to have actually competent governments that can coordinate and provide things like healthcare, safety of all citizens, affordable housing. Almost every Jewish symbol in our country, including the sole Anne Frank memorial has been vandalized this Hanukkah by white supremacists. How the fuck did some of you grow up reading Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings and NOT realize who the bad fucking people in this country are? Hint: it’s generally not the political party accepting the results of a fair and honest election in an honorable manner, employing a diverse staff, and trying to work on things that actually fucking matter in keeping society functioning over falsely thinking that just because you make a paycheck and have an opinion, that it should actually matter at all. Just because your stupid made up wall street job of managing imaginary accounts that are supposed to correlate to your worth and productivity as a human being is not a legitimate job and you feel like your life is a made up lie, so instead of working on being a better person, switching into a field that actually helps people, whatever, you just fuel your life with drugs, money, and enough women to avoid the reality that you might be a little gay yourself (you’re at least curious), or you DO in fact feel inadequate about the size of your dick, or OWNING this reality in a way that helps those who follow you not have to go through the same torment you went through. Or at least feel like they’re not alone.
The men of Dorn, tying it back to Game of Thrones, were not brutishly toxic males, and they also lived in sandy beach havens where the sun always shone. Oberlin oozed sex appeal more than Michael Scott caked in cheese puff dust. He was masculine without trying. He also enjoyed the pleasures of other men. Shoutout to my fellow bi/pansexuals. Yet, the power lay within the sand snakes, the devious vipers dripped in gold and poisons. The women. They would’ve been the arsenic poisoner had they been cast in Chicago’s “Cell Block Tango” (A song I have personally had on “repeat” since Donald Trump started denying the election results, just saying). Only, the men of Dorn could fucking recognize their venom and instead of keeping them submissive by making prostitution illegal for anyone who couldn’t pay off the officers or get lawyers to bully others into submission, or even being taken advantage of by the officers themselves. The men in Florida would rather keep things like prostitution and drugs illegal–even though the economy suffers and their tax dollars pay for someone to be in jail for soliciting themselves… all the while they purchase a $40 meal at Applebee’s and think it entitles them to sex in real life. In reality, the ones in power or those like Dave Portnoy, who continue to support politicians who act like this, are the ones who know they won’t actually get laid if women actually understood what pathetic options are available (and their wealth didn’t mean anything) and flaunted in front of them.
Honey, save yourself the trouble and just talk to lonely pay pigs on the internet. At least they’re aware they are both pigs and will pay you adequately for your time. You can always just tell people that you’re an accountant.
Bottom line, the white men in Game of Thrones other than Samwell Tarly and Jorah Mormont were mostly trash–about what I expected, ratio-wise, ya know. A few final thoughts,
I would probably fuck Bran in his wheelchair. Something about him being all-knowing just makes him look like a human encyclopedia of knowledge and gets me all hot and bothered. Plus, he’s one with the trees and I have this weird love for trees because I feel at home amongst them. We can all blame Orlando Bloom as Legolas awakening my bisexuality from a young age and growing up knowing the trees around our house, built on a slope, was purposefully done so because the trees protect our house both from lightning and the F5 tornado that came through in 2002. I feel safe amongst them, they offer security, they cradled my car when I totaled it and went 30 yards into the treeline but protected me. I am the Lorax of the 21st century and I will never not speak for them. To answer your questions, yes, I will rewatch Lord of the Rings and do episodes on my perceptions for each movie as well. Quarantine needs this.
How cool is it that Ravens were used by George R. R. Martin too, and ravens can genetically pass on grudges towards individual humans for GENERATIONS, Maleficent style? This is why people need to study science and focus less on dating. So we can save the world and make really cool, entertaining educational shows thanks to all of our cool new animal facts.
Let’s have Disney order a live-action of The Little Mermaid with those merpeople who work at Witchee Wachee Springs in Florida and just have season after season of deep-sea Barbie-meets-Below-Deck-meets-NCIS exploring the oceans that we have NO CLUE what is in? Can we just take a brief pause to imagine our own version of Ariel navigating shark infested waters with her Jar Jar Binks version of a sidekick in Flounder through the different oceans around the world in the modern day? She could come upon submarines carrying kilos of cocaine to Miami, Chinese submarines lounging where they shouldn’t be (realistically, more like American), seven new species of whales! Disney could totally take Ariel and make her into a Wonder Woman-esque super hero of sorts but noooooo. She has to warn about the perils of signing an NDA or failing to thoroughly read and consider a contract that the other party is aware is taking advantage of you the entire time–as if we didn’t watch that play out in real life with Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun. Whether it was my parent’s divorce or this, I have successfully and thoroughly been forewarned about entering a legal contract with a man, so shout out to her. Taylor, thankfully, had the FUCKING BADASSERY to stick it to “The Man” (pun intended) and use her voice and awareness and knowledge, and CONTINUES to use her voice and awareness and knowledge, to speak out against injustice, to understand and utilize the power of her platform for good, and to always be true to herself and openly vulnerable, in soft and hardened pain. No. Instead, we just get stuck with a centaur version of a manatee who gives up everything for a man that was too visually driven to realize she literally did not speak. It is truly no wonder the men in our country struggle to understand consent or intimidation or all that jazz.
Alright that about sums it up for this. I still love Game of Thrones and have long given up on ever living to read the Winds of Winter, but I’m sure I’ll be back to expand on this topic eventually.