Wait, they don't come from eggs?

wickebine:

lawsonry:

The following is a long, passionate response of mine to another male in one of my sociology classes.

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glorious person

A great comparison between two lines of thought: one rational and the other banking on the social programming he admits is mutable. 

lazdo:

litemagic:

it’s just really weird. I’m positive it’s tied to the other ways in which the show is ridiculously male-gazey and objectifying, often literally in that regard.* The men are drawn with a high amount of realism. They have defined noses, distinct facial lines and real-world proportions.

Then look at Motoko. Overly large eyes, small mouth, and her nose is literally a shaded check mark. It’s a jarring difference that becomes especially pronounced in scenes like this where they’re literally placed side by side.

And it’s so weird because she really is a Good Character. She’s stoic, smart, meticulous, powerful, independent and queer. She is the leading force of the show and is the hero more than any other member of Section 9. And yet she is also the most male-gaze sexualized by far. It’s less pronounced in 2nd Gig than it is in Stand Alone Complex, but 2nd Gig has its own problems in that regard.**

* this is another post entirely, though.

** and so is this.

I don’t know, that seems to me like a very first-wave-feminist way of getting to “it’s sexist,” isn’t it? Ghost in the Shell is actually very clever in just how feminist it really is. Without saying one word about women’s bodies, it writes a metaphorical novel on it.

Motoko’s body is literally an object. In this way, we’re guided towards not seeing her as sexual at all. Arms and legs fly off. People’s brains get transported from one container to the next. Motoko’s character and sense of self is far more guided by her mind than her body. This theme is more noticeable in the movie than in the TV series, but I think it’s still applicable to both.

Both still challenge what relationship your body actually has to who you are and what it means to be a person. TV series Motoko is more flippant about this relationship, whereas movie Motoko is very cynical about it. Regardless, both are unphased by gender expectations or sexual situations. Both of them are struggling with the reality of existing as a soul merely inhabiting a metal mannequin, while at the same time being treated a certain way based purely on the qualities of that metal mannequin.

It’s because GitS deals with issues like these with such skill that Motoko’s contrasting appearance with those around here is more meaningful than just wanting to have a hot anime chick. All of what I said above, by the way, applies equally to Batou, whose appearance is similarly bizarre in comparison to the characters with human bodies.

I agree with the above comment. 

Motoko designed her own shell (cyborg body). She wanted to look like an off-the-rack ‘pretty girl’ cyborg, so she had the “redcoats” (cyborg doctors) make hers meet military specs. So that design is deliberate, and she uses it to her advantage when people underestimate her because she presents as female.

More than that, Motoko has multiple shells. Her braincase has been in male-type bodies. Her partner is a hulking mountain of man named Batou, and while his design is so masculine it’s almost grotesque, we don’t know anything about Batou’s past. All we see is his present and usual male-type shell. His past is never fully explained, but it has been left deliberately vague—was Batou born with a female body? We don’t know, but since Batou identifies and presents as male, and thinks of himself as a man, everyone treats him as such. The question of “but what genitalia did Batou have as an infant?!?!?!” never comes up. It isn’t considered something worth thinking about. Why would you? Why would anyone? 

In addition to this, Motoko being pretty helps viewers get into the show. When Motoko uses her shell like a shell and not a living body, it often makes men uncomfortable. Male gaze objectifies women’s bodies, and the show/movie shoves this in their faces. Racks of male and female type bodies, individuals swapping genders, ripping off their arms, exploding brains and people whose shells are genderless… The universe of Ghost in the Shell is cavalier with our sensibilities surrounding gender and our concept of the self. 

Plus, the tachikomas are criminally cute.

nicknapolitan:

frivolousandfickle:

Man: Hello, I’d like to report a mugging.
Officer: A mugging, eh? Where did it take place?
Man: I was walking by 21st and Dundritch Street and a man pulled out a gun and said, “Give me all your money.”
Officer: And did you?
Man: Yes, I co-operated.
Officer: So you willingly gave the man your money without fighting back, calling for help or trying to escape?
Man: Well, yes, but I was terrified. I thought he was going to kill me!
Officer: Mmm. But you did co-operate with him. And I’ve been informed that you’re quite a philanthropist, too.
Man: I give to charity, yes.
Officer: So you like to give money away. You make a habit of giving money away.
Man: What does that have to do with this situation?
Officer: You knowingly walked down Dundritch Street in your suit when everyone knows you like to give away money, and then you didn’t fight back. It sounds like you gave money to someone, but now you’re having after-donation regret. Tell me, do you really want to ruin his life because of your mistake?
Man: This is ridiculous!
Officer: This is a rape analogy. This is what women face every single day when they try to bring their rapists to justice.
Man: Fuck the patriarchy.
Officer: Word.

This… is complete crap.

Also, there is no patriarchy, so, please, shut the fuck up.

First of all, I don’t understand how the image is supposed to be insulting. I understand that the guy means it to be insulting, but it’s not. I am gay. If your machine can tell you that from over there, get a patent, it’s a keeper. It works. 

But really, this is what I meant when I said I was disappointed when I looked at some of the responses to my sexual assault tale. Homophobia and misogyny. The guy (I assume it’s a guy) who wrote this votes. Sigh.

This is the ignorance we must change. 

(Source: dogsfromeggs)

I look at the people who have reblogged A Modern Sexual-Assault Tale. I have noticed a contemptible trend. Women reblog it, male users (generally) don’t. They will ‘like’ it (too worried to reblog it and have your male friends call you names?) or they will argue that it vilifies men. 

How does it vilify men? It doesn’t. In our culture, men are so used to being pandered to that the moment something doesn’t centre around men or men’s needs, they immediately call it misandrist, or anti-male.

Men are raped. Men are the victims of violence. This is absolutely horrible!  NO ONE, male or female, should be sexually assaulted, raped or attacked. However, our patriarchy-infected culture tries to make women the gate-keepers of men’s morality. The responsibility of preventing sexual assault falls on the victim, not on the attacker. Needless to say, this is unspeakably unjust. 

Pointing out that women are treated unfairly by the patriarchy is not an attack on men or masculinity itself. 

Sometimes I shave my legs

Sometimes I don’t.

I object to the idea that men are owed the sight of shaved legs and armpits. I feel scorn when their faces wrinkle with a newborn’s petulant whine. 

If I shave my legs, it’s because I like how it looks, how sheets feel on my shins in bed, how I feel sleek, and because I like the satisfaction of making my body look how desire. 

If I shave my legs, I do it for my sake. 

If I don’t shave my legs, it’s because I like how it looks, how sheets feel on my shins in bed, and because it reminds me that I’m a primal, ass-kicking, sarcastic mammal, fresh off the assembly line of the meanest sonsofbitches evolution smashed together. I’m a mammal. I sweat, I have hair, I relish good food. 

And when it comes down to it? I’d rather have erratically shaved legs than a feeling of guilt for growing hair.