Pictorial message - Illustration, 1979.
Have you ever Jean-Michel Basquiat post-modern vegan Issey Miyake? Because to be honest, Comme Des Garçon aesthetic abstract expressionism will always Egon Schiele my ethereal Japanese typography Duchamp.
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How could I forget to Bjork my vintage Dazed&Confused sweatshop-free Non-GMO zine scans? If Tao Lin conceptual installation polaroids have taught me anything… its to never forget avant-garde Tracey Emin Yohji Yamamoto experimental noise surrealism… also Jeff Koons sucks.
re: the article on ellen page’s imperial gaze. i didn’t reblog it because the writer makes the mistake of imposing ‘queer’ in a funny way upon japanese people in japan.
she does something really fantastic with her analysis but makes the mistake of participating in what she rightfully says is unethical and ahistorical:
“Queer, not meaning “gay, lesbian, bi or trans.” Queer, meaning otherwise. Queer, meaning belonging-in-difference. In chaos and cacophony. Queer, meaning a horizontal political vision that frustrates a gay rights agenda by resisting conformity and instead providing an escape from global dispossession through alternative styles of pleasure, affinity, desire, and vitality.”
this is a near perfect description of what many non-western societies have to deal with under imperial scrutiny from the west re: imposing gay, trans, bi, and lesbian identity as they are understood here upon non-western societies without regard to how they personally conceptualize themselves, minus the weird postmodernism ('in chaos and cacophony’? ok girl lol). the author is saying that the 'fujoshi’ phenomenon in japan does not exist within the confines of gay, bi, trans, straight and lesbian identity as they are understood by and large in the west, that you won’t be able to adequately analyze it through the eyes of a queer theorist whose political locus is shaped by the west and prioritizes that hegemonic view, and that it disrupts what western queer rights activists and theorists define as sexuality that resists mainstream expectations, which they then impose on other societies in their rhetoric about human rights (we have a right to imperialize this country because we’ve deemed them homophobic/transphobic under the guise of 'saving’ the society), academia/theory, and 'civilization.’
what she should not have done was impose 'queer’ there herself, just like how other western queer theorists shouldn’t impose 'straight’ and 'cis’ there. neither of these labels may apply and that’s what’s difficult for many queer theorists around these parts to understand. the tumblr response to the article ('fujoshi are straight!’) was worse than the flaws in the article as those flaws could easily be removed without detracting from the central critique, so i didn’t reblog any of it cuz yall are geeks lol. but those are m'thoughts i like writing about homonationalism.
a list of untranslatable words ☕️
cafuné - brazilian portuguese: the act of running one’s fingers, gently but deeply, through someone else’s hair
積ん読 (tsundoku) - japanese: the act of leaving a book unread after buying it, typically piled up together with other such unread books
木漏れ日 (komorebi) - japanese: sunlight filtering through the trees
mångata - swedish: the roadlike reflection of moonlight on water
verklempt - yiddish: a person who is too emotional to speak
liefdesverdriet - dutch: the heartache caused from an unrequited love and the mental pains one endures; the physical pain of depression
fika - swedish/finnish: gathering together to talk and take a break from everyday routines, usually drinking coffee and eating pastries
幽玄 (yūgen) - japanese: an indescribable sentiment, can only be described as a painful awareness of the mysterious beauty and human suffering
l'esprit de l'escalier - french: the moment one finally thinks of a witty remark, far too late, after the opportunity has passed
kilig - tagalog: the feeling of butterflies in your stomach, usually when something romantic or cute takes place
いるす
(irusu) - japanese: pretending to be absent from home when someone is at the door
habseligkeiten - german: personal belongings, small treasures and property, which define our happiness and sentiments
nefelibata - portuguese: cloud walker; name given to the quixotic dreamers, they appear spacey, otherworldly, but intelligent
σοφρωσύνη (sophrosyne) - greek: self-control, balance, wisdom & grace;virtue that follows the aphorisms “nothing in excess” & “know thyself"
hiraeth - welsh: homesickness for a place which never even existed. Connotations of sadness, yearning, profound nostalgia and wistfulness
torpe - tagalog: being too shy to pursue amorous desires
waldeinsamkeit - german: the feeling of being alone in the woods
litost - czech: the humiliated despair we feel when someone accidentally reminds us, trough their accomplishment, of our inadequacies
dustsceawung - old english: contemplation of the fact that dust used to be other things - the walls of a city, a book, a great tree…
duende - spanish: the spirit of evocation; the mysterious power a work of art has to deeply move a person
gattara - italian: a woman, often old and lonely, who devotes herself to stray cats
tоска - russian: a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause, a longing with nothing to long for, nostalgia
φιλότιμο (philotimo) - greek: a complex array of virtues; expressed through acts of generosity & sacrifice w/o expecting anything in return
gezellig - dutch: abstract sensation of individual well-being that one shares with others;cozy ambience, anything pleasant, homely, friendly
Y'all should also stop admiring that Japanese rising sun flag. That represents Japanese imperialism which resulted in so much pain and hurt in Korea and China. Some clothing brands have it printed on their stuff. Some of y'all have it tatted on your body(like Jhene Aiko) but it’s like wearing the Nazi symbol on your chest. Don’t just love anything because it “seems” cool
Rising sun flag is a completely different case. First, it dates back to Edo period. Second, it has been in continuous use since as an army flag since 1870. It is not associated with any single regime. If I were to compare it to another flag, I’ll be either union jack or stars and stripes, both having a history of imperialism associated with them. @nenilein, @saotome-michi, you are more competent than me in the field, do you want to comment?
You’re right in that the Rising Sun flag has a longer history and is thus unlike the Nazi Swastika, which was specifically used during Nazi rule rather than during the entire existence of the German Military, but OP is right too. It’s a reminder and symbol of war crimes that hurt many ppl and thus, not something you should wear lightly. If you wear the Rising Sun in China or Korea, you will definitely upset ppl.
Yes the Rising Sun flag is still in use today and its design incorporated into a number of Japanese brands, but it regularly faces controversy. Just April of this year, South Koreans were outraged when they saw Japanese soccer fans at the Asian Champions League raise the Rising Sun Flag in support for their national team and demanded it be banned. In Japan, anti-korean&chinese nationalists, such as the Zaitokukai, wave the Rising Sun Flag in their marches. Japanese ppl who are more knowledgeable about the history of their flag, may refrain from ever using it.
So OP isn’t wrong for wanting ppl to know about the flag’s negative connotations. It definitely is connected to Japanese imperialism and will forever be a hated symbol to the ppl who suffered under them.
Exactly. There’s no good reason to use it outside Japan, and the people who wave it around a lot inside Japan are bigoted fascists that no one should want to be associated with.
The original swastika (the one whose right facing version was appropriated by the Nazis) has been used in Buddhism for a couple thousand years so you can still see it in Japan and many other Asian countries, but in a different and nonpolitical context, like marking the locations of temples on a map.
…In fact, the hymen is not a vagina-blocking membrane, and it doesn’t ever “break.” The hymen is actually a thin corona of membrane about 1 to 2 cm inside that vagina (this site has an illustration of what hymen’s typically look like). It is highly elastic and in most cases perfectly capable of stretching enough to fit a penis without tearing. In most women it doesn’t show any obvious changes after penetration, so there is no way to determine by the state of the hymen whether a woman has ever been penetrated by a penis or not.
…Not only is the hymen not what most people think it is, but the majority of women - about 60% - don’t bleed their first time. Probably that’s why the long list of excuses above for not having an “intact” hymen developed. For those women that do bleed, the bleeding has nothing to do with the special anatomy of virgins but is more likely due to inadequate lubrication and loosening of the vagina…
…It’s unclear where the myth started, but there are texts debunking the myth as early as the 3rd century (by the Greek physician Soranus, to be specific), and yet the myth of the hymen as vaginal gateway persists. It has proved incredibly resilient in the face of evidence to the contrary. As I mentioned, most women don’t bleed when they have penetrative sex for the first time, and you’d think guys would notice that there is in fact no barrier. But instead of questioning the idea that the vagina is blocked by a membrane that breaks upon penetration, we’ve invented a number of reasons why the membrane would cease to exist without sexual intercourse.
…So why does the myth have such a strong hold on us? It’s true that some women do bleed the first time they have sex, but women can bleed from sex at any time if they aren’t sufficiently aroused or the penetration is rough enough. The truth is the cherry myth allows us to think there is a way to tell virginal women from those who’ve had sex. A woman’s virginity is held to be worth much more than a man’s, and women are expected to preserve it, in some cultures, until marriage, or at least until meeting someone “special.” Being able to prove a woman’s virginity therefore is valuable and we’ve held on to the idea despite the truth.
R @cajsawessberg @sickymag @thewannerstedt @martinsundqvist #illustration #carloshache (en New York, New York)
I found this Youtube channel run by a Japanese chef and it’s actually better than porn? First all all his cinematography is off the charts. Youtube videos have no business looking that good. Second of all, everything he makes looks SO TASTY, and he explains the recipes in such a simple, soothing, manner. Third off all, he does this all while his two adorable kitties watch??? Like… they are so intent on what hes doing but they never run around or hop on the counter???? He has a stool for them to sit on as he makes his recipes Im gunna die
Look at this and tell me it isnt the best thing on youtube
he and his (American) wife have a youtube vlogging channel all about being an international couple and they have thREE CATS THAT HE COOKS WITH
You should see the video where he restores a knife…
Incorrect, he has two cats he cooks with, Haku and Nagi. If Poki were permitted into the kitchen when Jun cooked, he would immediately throw himself into the pan, determined to eat whatever was in it.
Poki is my favorite cat. uwu
poki sounds like my cat jasper
how did he film such a lovely video by candlelight? i’m impressed! also it’s so restful, and he has beautiful hands, and the kitties are so cute. it made my morning. thank you for sharing.
Poki is actually in his newest video:
My terrible trash cat finally graduates to being in cooking videos <3 Im so proud of him <3
Poki I’m so proud of you!
Liberalism is not an answer to the rise of xenophobia, white nationalism, and fascism in America. It never has been. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who put Japanese-Americans in internment camps. It was John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson who gave legitimacy to Hoover’s counter-intelligence programs in order break the revolutionary potential of Black, Brown, and Native liberation movements. It was Bill Clinton who gave teeth to an incarceration system which destroys communities of color. And it has been Barrack Obama who has deported and detained more Latinos than all other presidents combined. Liberalism has always been a reluctant and feckless coconspirator. None of this is a defense of conservatism, it is, as Steven Salaita put it, “an invitation to discover (or create) a politics that doesn’t necessitate dispossession,” to build progressive and radical solutions.
- Ben Stein: Barack Obama is the most racist president there has ever been.
- Me: Twelve of the forty-three men to serve as president have owned slaves. Eight of those twelve have owned slaves while they served as President. Five of those eight personally owned more than a hundred slaves. Franklin Roosevelt forced Japanese people into concentration camps. Five US presidents have been alleged to be members of the Ku Klux Klan with varying levels of participation in their activities. George Washington made a habit of punishing his slaves for attempting to escape or general "misbehavior" by trading them for casks of wine or barrels of rum. Thomas Jefferson's horrific racism could, and probably should, be the subject of a 12-volume series of books. I'm pretty sure Andrew Jackson just straight-up liked murdering people and coming up with creative ways to murder people, especially Native Americans. Abraham Lincoln was, at the time of his election, probably the least racist president so far, but he was still pretty racist. Ulysses S. Grant famously kept trying to solve problems by expelling all Jews from the area and hoping the problem would go away on its own. "Most racist president ever" is not exactly an easy contest to win.