This Is A Ghostly Web-footed Gecko, They Can Be Found And Perfectly Camouflage Among The Powdery Reddish

Dragon Jewelry That’ll Make You Feel Like The Mother Of Dragons by Aelia Petro

Canadian graphic artist Aelia Petro prides herself in constructing unique jewelry inspired by high fantasy and one of our favorite mythical creatures the dragon. The handmade pieces are composed of polymer play, entirely sculpted by hand and hand painted.

The dragon draped necklaces give us serious Game of Throne and Daenerys/Khaleesi vibes. You can find other jewelry items, including bracelets, rings, hair clips, brooches and magnets in her Etsy shop.

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Society as a whole has yet to understand that gender is non-binary. Tumblr at least can be a cathartic place to deal with those stigmas and misunderstandings. One comic uses numbers to beautifully show how binary gender is bullshit.

I’m 16 and I’m pregnant. My mother doesn’t believe in abortion. What do I do?

Someone asked us:

I’m 16 and pregnant. I hate to say it but I wasn’t smart when it came to protection. The problem is, my mom doesn’t believe in abortion. What are my options. I’m so scared that I’m going to be forced to have a baby I’m not ready for. I’m 16. I don’t even have a drivers license yet. How am I suppose to raise a baby. My mom is very unsupportive. How am I going to do this?! What are my options. If I do have to have this baby what can I do?? I’m so scared. I feel like my life is falling apart.

I know that’s hard to believe right now, but you’ll get through this. You’re in a tough situation — no doubt about it. But you’re already reaching out for help. That’s a great first step, and we’re here to help you.

When you’re in a situation that feels overwhelming it helps to take things one step at a time. It sounds like the first thing you need to do is talk with someone in person about your options. You seem pretty sure that your mother doesn’t believe in abortion and wouldn’t support you if you wanted to have one. I can’t tell from your message what exactly you want to do — if you want to keep the pregnancy and become a parent, have an abortion, or give the baby for adoption — but if talking with your mother won’t be helpful, talking with the staff at your nearest Planned Parenthood health center will be. First they can talk through your options with you, and then get you started on the right option for you depending on what you decide (prenatal care or abortion).

If you want to have an abortion, you may not need your mother’s permission. That depends somewhat on where you live. Some states don’t require permission from your parents at all. Other states do. But even most of those states have a way for you to have an abortion without a parent or guardian. That process is called judicial bypass: It’s when a judge says it’s okay for you to get an abortion without involving your parents in your decision.

It may sound scary, but the staff at your nearest Planned Parenthood health center can help with that process. So call them and make an appointment.

Once you’ve made your appointment, your second step is to find a way to get there. You said that you don’t have a driver’s license. For that and other practical reasons, you may need to let someone in your life that you trust know what’s going on, someone who can give you a ride. Otherwise, can you walk or take public transportation? Can you take a taxi? The health center staff you speak with on the phone may have some suggestions or directions for getting there.

The rest of the steps you need to take are going to depend on what you decide to do. But remember, the staff at your nearest Planned Parenthood health center will help you every step of the way.

Last piece of advice: don’t delay! If you’re pregnant, regardless of whether you’re going to have an abortion or stay pregnant, it’s important to get started on that path ASAP, to make sure you stay healthy. You can do this!

-Emily at Planned Parenthood

5 Myths About Men with Eating Disorders

By Jason Deng–In his song with Lil Wayne, “Nothing But Trouble,” Charlie Puth sings, “These Instagram models are nothing but trouble.” The song’s about the dangers of judging a book by its cover (i.e. judging someone by their IG pics). It’s about the unhealthy emphasis our generation places on physical appearance. And it’s primarily about women.

But men also struggle with looking “attractive.” Whether that’s trying to be a thin “hipster” or a sculpted “jock,” it’s a legitimate struggle. And sometimes, that struggle comes with hours obsessing over your reflection in a car window, counting calories only to spit them back out, feeling uncomfortable in your skin but wanting nothing more than to retreat into it. That’s how it was for me.

Unfortunately, when eating disorders come up in the news, it’s rarely about men. But men DO struggle with EDs, and when they do, it sucks every bit as much as it does when a woman struggles. It’s important that people are aware of this. Here are five common myths about men with EDs to help clear the air:

1. Anorexia is a girl’s disease.

No, it’s not. A 2012 GQ article noted that recent studies suggest that 20%—even 30%—of anorexics are male. Framing EDs as a female-only disease is the quickest way to isolate men with EDs and prevent them from getting help.

2. Men don’t/shouldn’t care about how they look.

Because of all the pressure on women to look “pretty,” people automatically assume that men don’t care about how they look. Worse yet, that assumption enforces a notion that men shouldn’t care about how they look, or that at least their attractiveness should be effortless. But it isn’t.

3. Dieting is something only women do.

While I was struggling with my body image, one feeling that I acutely got was that only women are allowed to care about eating healthy. Men are supposed to be “chill” with eating pizzas three times a day, seven days a week. Going on a “diet” to become healthy is “unmanly.” This simply isn’t true, and anyone can tell you that pizza all day every day is the quickest way to clogging your arteries. Men, like women, can and should care (within reason) about what they eat.  

4. The manly way to lose weight is to exercise.

This goes hand-in-hand with myth #3. While men may be criticized for dieting, they can only be praised for exercising. Sayings like, “be a man,” not only hinder a man’s emotional capacity but also suggest to him that as long as he is a “strong man,” then he is doing something right. But overexercising can not only leave you injury-prone, it can even result in organ failure.

5. It’s possible and healthy to look like fitness models.

It doesn’t take long to find the fitness models on Instagram. Terms like “dedication” and “willpower” dominate the captions, and if you buy this supplement, then you TOO can look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unfortunately, the fitness industry is full of lies. Most male models can only look the way they do by turning to drugs, even though none will ever admit it, since it’s more profitable to say their physique is the result of purely “hard work.” It’s no wonder that “bigorexia,” also known as muscle dysmorphia, is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Charlie probably wasn’t thinking of EDs when he wrote those lyrics, but he did get a couple of things right. The emphasis on physical appearance is trouble. It’s literally killing us: women AND men.

A friendly reminder from the Campaign for Southern Equality.

Things brown/south asian tumblr will probably never address:

Antiblackness that actually involves the input of black south asians & black people in general

Ignoring the fact that South Asia is comprised of 8 countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka.

Lack or complete ignorance of north east indian culture and peoples.

Cultural hegemony India tends to have over representing South Asia

Discussion of caste which doesn’t reduce it down to an old practice that doesn’t actively shape an individual’s life in a variety of ways that are not exclusive to socioeconomic struggles.

How the discussion of the South Asian diaspora focuses mainly on those living in the West.

Hindutva

Steve McCurry making a name for himself off of the exploitation and exotification of South Asian faces and bodies (see: Sharbat Gula: known globally merely as “The Afghan Girl”

Ignorance of the issues Adivasi peoples face across South Asia.

Exploitation of the bodies of South Asian women for surrogacy by Westerners.

Savarna appropriation of Avarna arts redeeming it anew with culture now that it’s been mutilated by forward castes. (ie: Appropriation of Sadir into modern day Bharatnatyam)

The creation of good and bad brown/south asian dichotomy in the West Post 9/11 (ie: Indian peoples are characterized/seen as intelligent spiritual peaceful people while Pakistani and Afghani peoples are characterized/seen as violent terrorists or oppressed women who are labeled under islamophobic terms such as “radical muslim”

The lack of discussion about the South Asian diaspora in the Caribbean and South America.

Discrimination against Black African students living in South Asia.

Portrayal of Hinduism & Buddhism as peaceful religions while Islam is portrayed as violent and backwards.

Complete ignorance or writing off of Southern & Northeast Indian cultures by North Indians and Northern South Asians alike as not being authentically Indian or only discussing it when talking about the different regions of India.

Shadeism

How Bollywood has stolen, appropriated, and made racist caricatures of Indians and Non-Indians who are not Savarna North Indians. (See: Chennai Express, blackface meant to represent native Hawaiian peoples seen in the Hawa Hawai song in Mr. India, Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen, etc)

Misogyny and sexual violence against Dalit women.

Erasure of brown skin in South Asian media, replacing brown skinned South Asian women with extremely light skinned South Asian or white women calling them the ideal faces of South Asian womanhood and beauty.

Feel free to add to this

Our new survey data is clear:

Most people have not received any education about what consent is, what it looks like, or how to do it. This needs to change. 

Education about consent is sexual assault prevention.

Richard Feynman (above) included a poem in his address to the National Academy of Sciences:

I stand at the seashore, alone, and start to think. 

There are the rushing waves mountains of molecules each stupidly minding its own business trillions apart yet forming white surf in unison Ages on ages before any eyes could see year after year thunderously pounding the shore as now. For whom, for what? On a dead planet with no life to entertain. Never at rest tortured by energy wasted prodigiously by the Sun poured into space. A mite makes the sea roar. Deep in the sea all molecules repeat the patterns of one another till complex new ones are formed. They make others like themselves and a new dance starts. Growing in size and complexity living things masses of atoms DNA, protein dancing a pattern ever more intricate. Out of the cradle onto dry land here it is standing: atoms with consciousness; matter with curiosity. Stands at the sea, wonders at wondering: I a universe of atoms an atom in the Universe.

Image source

Stephen Hawking’s quote speaks to the heart of why basic income has become such a popular idea in one vital industry in recent years.

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