Katria

Sámi duodji/duodje/duedtie/vætnoe is the term for traditional Sámi handicraft and artscraft. Duodji has a long history, and a complex one too. It’s hard to define what duodji is. You can say that it’s just Sámi handicraft and artscraft. Yes, that is true, but it’s more than that. It’s the connection between the maker and the object, the connection between this form of art and the culture, languages and history.

Duodji is everything from knives, horns, skiis, and gákties, to belts, cups, shoebands, sleds and so much more.

Traditional Norwegian bridal-wear usually consists of the areas’ folkclothing, jewelry; and a bridal crown/headdress. There exist multiple bridal crowns in Norway, made out of: gold, silver, metal, feathers, beads, textiles, etc.

1 & 2 photos; brides wearing beaded bridal crowns from Hardanger (perlekrone frå Hardanger)

3 & 4 photos; bride wearing a flat, beaded bridal crown from Voss

5 & 6 photos; bride wearing (gold or silver) bridal crown from Sogn

7 & 8 photos; brides wearing bridal headdress from Setesdal

angie's little reminiscence from the latest chapter of ikebana (by @anthyscoffin)!! very intriguing read. distant memories are hard not to cling to, especially when it's one of the few good ones you can grasp of that person..

So, color me surprised when the first episode starts off with Utena seeing Saionji slap Anthy across the face and immediately going "whoa, hey, that's not okay!"

Which is a rational reaction! Vast majority of people, even those who benefit from and actively enforce patriarchy, would say it's wrong to hit a woman. This is exactly what happens in the show, too; the other duelists are shown chastising Saionji for his behavior and warn him to treat the Rose Bride with care (there's something to be said about how they talk about Anthy as if she's not there when she's right there in front of them but that's going offtrack). So, when Utena beats him in her first duel and "earns" Anthy, the viewers are immediately on her side despite the incredibly dubious nature of the dueling system.

In doing so, the viewer subconsciously rationalizes that the dueling system (patriarchy) is something that is in of itself neutral at worst, and is simply subject to corruption and evil by people like Saionji (misogyny) - when in reality, Saionji is a product of the dueling system, not an outlier "corrupting" it.

Even the show itself actively tries to distract you from realizing this; soon after his defeat, Saionji very rapidly devolves into a buttmonkey that no one takes seriously (except for Wakaba). And why would they? He's an idiot! Yes, he was dangerous earlier, but that's because he had power. Immediately after losing that power, he's nothing - and when he finally crosses the line and accidentally strikes Touga, he's punished with exile. In doing so, he cements himself as The Worst™ in the eyes of the viewers and characters alike.

But as you get to know the other duelists and especially when you finally meet Akio, you realize with slowly dawning horror that Saionji was not just far from the worst, but frankly, one of the better ones.

So what does that make him? A distraction. He's a straw misogynist who exists for the sole purpose of making other misogynists look better by comparison. He's the guy who slips on a banana peel when someone asks why Anthy and Akio spend so much time together.