what was once before you, an exciting, mysterious future, is now behind you. lived, understood, disappointing. you realize you are not special. you have struggled into existence, and are now slipping silently out of it.
‘Why is my Curriculum
White?’ is a national movement aiming to challenge the persistence of
Euro-centric hegemonic narratives across curricula. This movement aims
to encourage a broader diversity of course content and perspectives, to
help provide a richer and more global education.
i wish some people would realise that *destroying the nuclear family* means the liberation of woman as a class, the destruction of heterosexuality as the material base for the categories of gender, communal parenting, decentering romantic relationships as the only space for happiness, freedom, and spontaneity, etc… and not like……. being part of a fucking polycule and pressuring people who want to be monogamous into having sex they’re not comfortable with
“ ‘La Bestia!’ said our landlady, gingerly fingering an envelope with his huge crest of a tiger rampant on it, something of fear, something of wonder in her face. And I could not ask her why they called the master of the place, ‘La Bestia’ - was it to do with that heraldic signature? - because her tongue was so thickened by the phlegmy, bronchitic speech of the region I scarcely managed to make out a thing she said except, when she saw me : ‘Che bella!’ ”
The experiences of conventionally attractive people and conventionally unattractive people can be so jarringly different and it really deserves some conversation. But I hate how the only mention of this comes from incels or anti-feminists or other right aligned losers with not an ounce of nuance in their bones lmaooo
Like, your physical attractiveness can shape not just your interpersonal experiences but also real tangible things such as but no limited to whether or not you get a job or being believed as a victim or what kind of roles you can get as an actor or perhaps the length of a sentence or how much help is offered to you in a time of need etc. etc.
I think about this shit so much. And it’s weird to have a conversation about because other males and attractive females usually don’t get it.
And by the time these “unattractive” people get out and make friends sometimes a life full of outside-looking-in hasn’t prepared them for frequent social behavior. They lose twice.
Also, people use theirsocial circles as status symbols pretty much right after puberty. So say an unattractive person makes friends with someone popular in a class. That friend isn’t going to make plans to hang out with them outside of that setting.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs even says belongingness is a human fundamental for fulfillment and purpose in life. You can only imagine how hard it must be for people who are also homeless.
I’m currently in a class that discuss the rhetoric of beauty across cultures and some of the articles we’ve analyzed dealt with how some cultures, in particular east Asian ones, emphasize appearance as an indicator of skill and worth. Often, people get plastic surgery for their jobs, to the degree that not getting one puts you at a disadvantage.
Theres a little less nuance but the idea that beauty is an indicator of worth is so concrete that people are permanently changing their appearance to good results, they actually do get the job over conventionally unattractive people. At this stage, being unattractive is equivalent to being lazy because the ability to alter your appearance is there, but you aren’t taking it.
And that brings up classism in all of this because let’s look at who can and cannot afford image altering procedures and products
I mean there are actual documented effects of this. For example, “the halo effect” in psychology is about how people tend to judge those they find attractive as more competent and kind and not to mention less attractive children are going to be thought of a less well behaved by their teachers…it’s even has institutional implications as fat women tend to receive longer prison sentences compared to thinner women! (I will add sources later). Attractiveness is definitely a form of social capital many people can’t access
I think about this a lot in terms of how it intersects with misogyny because in patriarchy your value as a woman is predicated on your appearance. I can’t tell you how many times men have straight up ignored my existence or treated me with absolute disrespect–and I’m not talking about just in romantic contexts–this isn’t about feeling entitled to sex with men, it’s about being treated like less than human. I’m not saying I never benefit from benevolent sexism, but not the most excessive forms of it. Beyond dealings with men, being unattractive is also really lonely and impacts you socially for sure.
