Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
(tw!) “I was Raped at Disney World and Nobody Cared”
I couldn’t believe this when I read the headline. I would understand if it was difficult to handle a rape case that happened several weeks previously, but the way the company and its counselors shut her down and blamed her for it is absolutely disgusting and abhorrent. Leaves a really bad taste in my mouth about this program: note that it was very difficult for her to report the rape at all.For friends and others currently in the program or planning to be, putting my best vibes your way and hoping you never have to go through something like this.It took a lot of strength for this person to report what happened to them even after everything they went through.Go to title link above for full piece, a lot of it is in excerpts here below. Again: TW for rape, and rape cultureI had heard about the Disney College Program from a few friends that had an amazing time working for the company and thought it would be better than nothing. Add the unlimited access to their theme parks, warm weather, and four extra months to figure out what to do with my life and it sounded pretty ideal.I was accepted into the program and arrived in mid-August. After a few days of orientation, I started work on Main Street U.S.A. in the Magic Kingdom.Three weeks into the program, I was raped by one of my co-workers.I don’t feel a desire to share every detail from that night, but I’ll give you the bare bones: He and I went to a party together, we went back to his apartment later, and I said “no,” but he wouldn’t stop.For two months I kept everything that happened that night to myself. I told my roommates that things went fine and I had a good night. I didn’t know how to feel about what happened. In the beginning, I told myself it was a misunderstanding; maybe he hadn’t heard me. I blamed myself; I should have yelled louder. I should have pushed harder. I should have punched him and ran out of the room. I always thought that if I was ever raped I would beat the guy up. Does that mean I wasn’t raped?I finally decided to talk to someone after the first time I ran into him outside of work. He showed up at my friend’s Halloween party dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, which made seeing him that much more unnerving. I spent the rest of the night watching him hit on girls, worrying, and wondering whether or not I should tell my co-workers what happened.I made an appointment to see one of the counselors in Disney’s Employee Assistance Program. I tried to be optimistic.Of course they’ll listen to me. It’s Disney, a company built on childhood innocence and happiness. Wouldn’t they want to fire an accused rapist immediately? (Spoiler Alert: No.)I recounted everything that happened that night while the counselor stayed silent and seemed at least mildly sympathetic. When I told her we had been drinking, her face changed from “concerned” to “you made a mistake.” Still, I told her, I said “no” the entire time and he never listened.The first thing she said to me was “Well, now you know not to be hanging around boys in the middle of the night. You know what they want.”Take a few seconds and re-read that. Now let’s unpack it.A certified counselor was insinuating that it was my fault that my coworker decided to rape me — as if I should have known better than to interact with any man after dark. Not only that, but she was advising me to approach every interaction with a man as if he is a potential rapist, including every man that works at Disney World. If I react to a man with anything less than hostility after sundown, whatever happens is my fault.I told her that “no” means “no” whether it’s day or night. That was apparently too radical an idea for her, as she said nothing in reply. She continued to make excuses for my rapist.
I’m so sorry this happened to you,
ATTENTION FANNIBALS
This Thursday, to celebrate our Season Finale, we’re giving away some delectable Hannibal treats.
Stay tuned, details to come…
Want.
I adore the way fan fiction writers engage with and critique source texts, by manipulating them and breaking their rules. Some of it is straight-up homage, but a lot of [fan fiction] is really aggressive towards the source text. One tends to think of it as written by total fanboys and fangirls as a kind of worshipful act, but a lot of times you’ll read these stories and it’ll be like ‘What if Star Trek had an openly gay character on the bridge?’ And of course the point is that they don’t, and they wouldn’t, because they don’t have the balls, or they are beholden to their advertisers, or whatever. There’s a powerful critique, almost punk-like anger, being expressed there—which I find fascinating and interesting and cool.
Lev Grossman (via theadventuresofcargline)
This is very true - I’ve seen innumerable fanfics of people saying, “I could do this better than they did.”
And quite frequently, they do.
(via lil-miss-choc)
One of the other gender studies majors in my class did her thesis on fanfiction as resistance. It was pretty awesome.
(Source: hp2012.org)
Later, after Trek was on the air, the producers used the network’s concerns about sexuality to their advantage — they would deliberately put sexy stuff into episodes for the network to freak out about, so the censors wouldn’t notice other things. For example, in the episode “A Private Little War,” the producers deliberately put in a scene of Kirk having an open-mouth kiss with a half-naked woman, so the network could throw a fit about that — and not notice the blatant Vietnam allegory.
10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Original Star Trek (via mediahascookies)
THIS IS WHAT STAR TREK IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT
(via bookishbutcorruptible)
When JJ Abrams decided that he didn’t like the “philosophy” of Star Trek, this is some of the stuff he was knocking.
(via grouchythefish)
Unnecessary “fillers” in our speech. I’d rather have “like” than up-talking, though (if we had to choose one, that is). Ewwww, up-talking. Then again, a combination of the two would render me homicidal maniac.
Like, did you ever notice? That, like, the speech patterns people, like, think are stupid? Are, like, commonly associated with, like, women?
And, like, there’s this thing? Where, like, women aren’t supposed to be, like, assertive? So they, like, qualify their speech? Because, like, we’re not supposed to, like, stand by our opinions?
1) humiliate women so they don’t feel qualified to speak authoritatively about anything
2) humiliate women for speaking in such a way that reflects how you treat her
3) laugh, you are superior because you don’t use words like “like.” It isn’t as if being a huge stupid asshole has ever made you worse than a woman who speaks with verbal tics.
I won’t deny what I’ve been since birth.
I’ll die drowned by your standards.
AFI <3 (via this-celluloid-dreamer)
Twinkle twinkle little slut,name one person you haven’t fucked.
Twinkle twinkle little prick, slut shaming makes you a fucking dick
teen wolf: a show where men talk about doing stuff while allison does stuff
(Source: pumpkintears)
(Source: pleasestopbeingsad)
The Baddest Mer-bitch of them all.
Who is this babely woman and why don’t I know her?
Everything I need.I wanna put this on a flag
yes.
