Francisk:)

I’ve done this to several men, and they catch on rather quickly. You’ll be able to have a conversation right then and there, and it works long term too - they might’ve forgot their manners by the time you talk to them again, but by repeating this, they’ll eventually learn to let you talk without you having to do this at the start of every convo. Source: I have a very stubborn older brother, who eventually learned too.

1. When they interrupt you, stop talking. Don’t try to raise your voice or battle them. Be completely quiet and wait.

2. Ignore everything they’re saying. Do not actually listen - just wait until they shut up. Don’t make a point of anything they say, do not answer to anything they say, do not refer to anything they say here. Literally do not listen a single word. Let them rant as long as they want.

3. When they finally shut up and wait for your reaction, say: ”I wasn’t done talking.”

4. Start over whatever you were saying when they interrupted you. I don’t care if it was a 10-minute explanation of rocket science. Start. Over. Repeat you original thought, but do not add anything related to what they just said while talking over you. That gives them the idea that it’s okay to interrupt you, you’ll still listen and pay attention and they’ll get their point clear without having to listen to yours. (It’s especially funny when you get done and they expect you to keep going talking about whatever they talked over you. The face when it sinks in that you didn’t listen a single word is glorious.)

5. If they interrupt you again, return to step 1. If you find yourself repeating the cycle over 3 times, tell them: ”you’re not letting me speak. Either you listen and wait for your turn, or our conversation ends here.” If they try to make excuses, laugh it off or keep interrupting, end the conversation. Prove them that if they wont let you speak, they’re not worth your time.

Why does this work? First, because sometimes talking over is internalized and men don’t actually notice they’re doing it. Being vocally called out makes them realize it and pay attention to it - especially if it happens more than once. Secondly, by refusing to aknowledge anything they say when they interrupt you, they’ll soon realize they will not get their own point across if they keep doing that. Peoole and especially men have the need to be heard and paid attention to when they talk - when you make it clear that by talking over you, they will not have your attention, they’ll learn to wait until you’re done, because they know that’s when you will be paying attention and actually listening.

This Aquarium Picks The Naughtiest Penguin Of The Month

We thought that cats were absolutely shameless creatures but it turns out that penguins are no better either. 

Even little kids have a wage gap

Boys, on average, spend two fewer hours doing household chores per week than girls do (they play two hours more).

If they live in households where children are compensated for doing chores, boys make and save more money.  

A 2009 study conducted by University of Michigan economists found a two-hour gender disparity in responsibilities per week in a study of 3,000 kids.

75 percent of girls had chores, while just 65 percent of boys do

This disparity in chores and free time continues into adulthood all over the world.   According to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), men “report spending more time in activities counted as leisure than women. Gender differences in leisure time are wide across OECD countries.”

Year after year, studies repeatedly confirm these patterns.

The problems women face with unequal pay and housework duties actually start in childhood.

The fact that boys’ chores appear to be more profitable makes the childhood chore gap even more disturbing. Turns out, parents tend to value the work that boys do more. 

Gender stereotypes dictate these patterns. 

After 20 painstaking years of research, Eva Ramon Gallegos, a Mexican scientist has finally developed a cure to eliminate 100 percent human papillomavirus and prevent the spread of cervical cancer among women. (x) (x) (x) Y’all they cured HPV

I can’t even put into words how upset I am about this. Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation has been open for almost twenty years, and is the only place in North Texas that takes in literally any type of bird if it’s been injured, orphaned, or otherwise incapacitated. They’re finally out of funds, and if they can’t come up with anything by April 2nd, they’re going to be forced to close their doors.

They’ve never turned away birds. Not when it’s a surprise 200 baby cattle egrets that’ve been orphaned because city planners thought they could cut down their homes and no one would notice. Not when it’s raptors with one good eye and in need of seven different antibiotics. Not even when it’s ducks that irresponsible parents won’t let their kids keep after easter. This is where anyone let me first get up close to birds. I mean, I’ve known I wanted to work with birds and wildlife since I was seven- I’m twenty four now, and halfway through an environmental science master’s and it’s a big reason I kept going.

I’ve been going to this place on and off for ten years, I was THIRTEEN when I started volunteering and seeing all the terrible things that happen to the birds that come in. Not just…hit by trucks, or caught in a hailstorm but parrots that have been left in foreclosed houses for weeks, and roosters that have come out of cock fighting rings and would otherwise be put down because the SPCA and humane societies don’t think they’re salvageable. There’s an emu that was raised there as a baby because no one wanted her. Her name’s Riley and I can’t even begin to comprehend what shutting the doors to the center would mean?

They don’t get government aid. They’ve been funded by the public donating and Kathy, the lady who owns the place, going through her retirement funds and savings and her social security to keep it running. She’s finally run out of money. Please,  just reblog? Even if you can’t donate anything- and I know it’s a lot to ask for poor teenage/college kids to donate money that they don’t have, or struggling artists I know but maybe someone who can spare something will see it eventually? They need $200,000 to keep open for a year to continue to help 4000 birds a year.  

Just, thanks for reading, guys. Here’s the gofundme link: http://www.gofundme.com/l8aj7k

Their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rogers-Wildlife-Rehabilitation-Center/398035120217303

Two school age kids: “Oh look at the big white puppy!”

Their mother: “Come here, let me explain something to you. That dog is a Service Dog. Whenever you see a dog in a store like this you can’t distract it cause it’s working.”

Two kids: “What do you mean he’s working?”

Mom: “He helps that girl. You know how at school your teacher tells you to be quiet so you don’t get distracted doing your work? It’s the same thing with that dog. You can’t distract him.”

Two kids: “What does he help her with?”

Mom: “That’s her business. Your business is to not distract him so he can work.”

First, characters like Katara - who has her own brother treating her similarly in Book 1 - and Suki, who taught me so much about being confident and strong, about finding my own skills and strengths, and not letting myself be put down or told no by the boys and men in my life. Katara was told she couldn’t fight simply because she was a girl, and outright refused to accept that limitation being forced upon her. Suki was treated as less skilled than she was because she was a girl, and outright proved that she was just as strong as she said she was. But then, at the same time, they showed that you can be and do all of this without losing your femininity, or becoming unattractive to boys, like girls are made to believe will happen if they come across as too smart or too strong or too independent. Hell, it was Suki’s strength that made Sokka fall in love with her, if you ask me.

Then there’s Toph. Now, I’ve always been a bit short, a bit stocky. I’ve never really been into fashion or make-up or anything like that. They’ve just never really appealed to me. And in every other show I remember watching as a child, every female character was into that, even just a little bit. Except Toph. Toph was short. Stocky. Tough (pun intended). Sarcastic. Smart. Strong. Independent. She absolutely amazed me. She was so confident in her abilities, in who she is, and she was never afraid to stand up to people who tried to tell her ‘no’. And then, on top of that, the show let her be sensitive, let her have moments of vulnerability, which told me that no matter how strong or confident you are, you’re still allowed to cry, and be afraid, and be open and honest with your friends, and you won’t be any weaker or lesser for it.

Mai was one of my favourite characters, and I could never figure out why. But now I realise it’s, again, because she was so different to the kinds of female characters I would usually see. Mai was blunt, sarcastic, deadpan. She was deadly, powerful, skilled. But she was also beautiful, and she was kind and gentle and open and happy when she was with Zuko. She loved Zuko, and Zuko loved her, and the fact that she was unconventional didn’t affect that in any way. I’m a bit of a loner, and I’m quiet, and I don’t especially enjoy socialising, so seeing Mai, a character who was much the same as me in those aspects, still have such beautiful, happy relationships - Zuko and Ty Lee - was such a comfort.

Which brings me to Ty Lee. She is the complete opposite of Mai. She’s loud, cheerful, colourful, active. The positivity that she radiated always inspired me, encouraged me to try to find good in the bad. She was pretty much the definition of 'girly’ - an expression which made my blood boil as a child - but she was still one of the most badass characters in the show, constantly immobilising even the most powerful characters. But the one thing about Ty Lee that always stuck with me was her loyalty. The scene when Ty Lee stops Azula from hurting Mai - again, immobilising arguably one of the most powerful characters in the show - even though she knew that doing so could even cost her her life, has always been one of my favourite scenes in the whole series. Here are two girls who are completely different to each other in every conceivable way, who prove that these difference shouldn’t and don’t matter - if you love someone, you stick with them, no matter what. If you want to be friends with someone in spite of your differences, you can be.

Even Azula taught me so much. She came across as a villain for the majority of the show, and she is definitely one of the best villains I’ve seen in anything, ever. But there were moments that showed how sensitive, and how afraid Azula could be. When she spoke about her mother on Ember Island, it was with longing and sadness. When she was reprimanded by her father in The Phoenix King, she looked terrified. When she drove Mai and Ty Lee away and they betrayed her, she lost her mind from loneliness and fear and hurt. And her defeat in the finale - I’ve genuinely never seen a defeat like it in anything else. She didn’t remain cocky or confident that this wasn’t the end, she didn’t go quietly and angrily, she didn’t swear revenge. She admitted defeat in tears, because she was terrified and ashamed, because she had let her father down, because she was just a child. There are many things that I find inexcusable. But Azula’s character taught me that not all bullies are inherently cruel or malicious. Sometimes, they’re a victim of cruelty or fear or pressure, and they feel the need to lash out in response or as a defence, and maybe a little bit of kindness can go a long way in helping them - if Ursa had been that wee bit kinder to Azula, maybe Azula wouldn’t have been so driven to please Ozai, maybe she wouldn’t have become so obsessed with power, maybe she could have gone down a similar path of redemption as Zuko.

Honestly, the women in Avatar taught me so much, so many genuinely valuable life-lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. But not just the women - the show also completely obliterated toxic masculinity.

Aang was powerful as shit, but never once shied away from being kind or sensitive or honest - all the things that boys are taught are too 'girly’, Aang embraced as vital parts of who he is. Sokka was a sexist ass at first, but learned that he was wrong to treat women as weaker than men, and changed how he thought and acted towards them, becoming stronger and kinder and smarter in the process. Zuko tried so hard to be strong, and to keep getting stronger, but he understood that Azula - his younger sister - was stronger than him, and in time he learned to accept it, even asking Katara - another girl who is younger than him - to help him take her down, acknowledging both Azula’s and Katara’s strengths. Then there was the fact that he had such an open, loving, sincere relationship with his mother, and never once tried to pretend otherwise. Then there’s fucking Iroh. Iroh is just. We should all aspire to be like Iroh. He wasn’t afraid to be kind and sensitive, to be humble, to sing to children and share tea and advice and joy with strangers. I honestly attribute just about every good quality I have to Uncle Iroh and his life lessons.

Avatar as a show taught me so much about equality between genders, about discovering yourself, about finding your confidence and strength, about friendship and loyalty and love…