im in your vents teehee :3

I was told by my professors that Kitty Genovese was a 28-year-old unmarried woman who was attacked, raped, and brutally murdered on her way home from her shift as manager of a bar. I was told that numerous people witnessed the attack and her cries for help but didn’t do anything because they “assumed someone else would”. Nobody intervened until it was too late. 

What I was not told was that Kitty Genovese was a lesbian who lived more or less openly with her partner in the Upper West Side and managed a gay bar. 

Now… is it likely that people overheard Kitty’s cries for help and ignored them because they thought someone else would deal with it? Or, perhaps, did they ignore her because they knew she was a lesbian and just didn’t care?

Maybe that’s not the case. Maybe it was just a random attack. Maybe her neighbours didn’t know she was gay, or didn’t care.

But it’s a huge chunk of information to leave out about her in a supposedly scientific study of events, since her sexuality made her much more vulnerable to violent crimes than the average person. And it’s a dishonour to her memory.

RIP Kitty Genovese. Society may only remember you for how you died, but I will remember you for who who were.

One shouted out his window for the attacker to leave her alone, which did successfully scare the man off temporarily.

Another called the police but, seeing her still on her feet, said only that there had been a fight but the woman seemed to be okay.

And when Kitty Genovese was finally attacked in a vestibule where she couldn’t be seen from outside, Karl Ross, a neighbor, saw what was happening but was too frightened himself to go to her rescue–so he started calling other neighbors to ask what he should do. Eventually one of them told him to call the police, which he did, and the woman he called, Sophie Farrar, rushed out to help Kitty even though she didn’t know whether the attacker was gone.

Kitty Genovese died in the arms of a neighbor who tired to help and comfort her while they waited for the police and ambulance to arrive. Kitty was in fact still alive, although mortally wounded, when the ambulance reached the scene.

The man who saw the final stabbing? Who panicked and called other neighbors first instead of the police? The man who said, infamously, that he “didn’t want to get involved” because he was reluctant to turn to the police for help? He was thought to be gay himself. He was a friend of Kitty and Mary Ann’s. After being interviewed by the police he took a bottle of vodka to Mary Ann and sat with her, trying to comfort her.

So, no. I don’t think the evidence indicates that Kitty Genovese’s neighbors let her die because she was a lesbian, because Kitty Genovese’s neighbors tried to help.

See also: Debunking the Myth of Kitty Genovese (The New York Post)

A Call for Help (The New Yorker)

At the time, the NYPD was coming under quite a bit of criticism about rising crime rates and the seeming ineffectiveness of the police’s response to the problem. In the Kitty Genovese case, even though people did in fact call the police, it took about an hour for them to show up and the first detectives didn’t arrive until three hours later (at which point they mostly spent their time interrogating Kitty’s girlfriend about their relationship, because for “some reason” they considered her to be the most likely suspect for the murder. In fact, the police wouldn’t catch the actual killer until six days later when he was picked up for having a stolen TV in the trunk of his car, at which point he admitted to having committed a total of three murders). It’s not an accident that one of the things to come out of the Genovese case was the establishment of the 9-1-1 system, because at the time that the attack happened, you had to call the specific number of a particular police precinct and it was up to the duty sergeant on the desk to take action - which was usually to send someone out from the precinct to the address reported, because cops on foot patrol wouldn’t be outfitted with two-way radios for several years. It’s more than a little convenient that at a time when the NYPD is coming in for public scrutiny about its ability to do the basic job of responding to reports of crimes in a timely fashion, the Police Commissioner happens to hand the City Editor of the city’s most prominent newspaper a story which puts the blame for the slow response on the apathy and inaction of New Yorkers, neatly absolving the NYPD for its ridiculously poor performance in this case in particular and its response to the rise in crime in general. 

it's barely depicting the vulva (the external hole is visible in ONE panel, from a distance, and otherwise you are only seeing the internal organs), and its clearly health information. calling it a "cartoon of a vagina" is kind of obscuring the specific context of it being a very tame medical diagram showing how to do something that many people do every month starting from middle school.

tumblr's definition of "mature":

What is considered Mature Content? Content not suitable for all ages, including text, images, audio, and videos containing nudity, sexual themes, strong language, or mature subject matter is considered mature. Posts that contain mature content must have a Content Label applied, and it is your responsibility to label your content appropriately. [...] What counts as sexually explicit? Visual depictions of sexually explicit acts or content with an overt focus on genitalia are not allowed on Tumblr. This includes sexual intercourse, masturbation, sexual interactions with toys, and content involving bodily fluids. We also don’t allow content where aroused genitalia is visible or the primary focus, even if partially covered or beneath clothing.

tumblr's official age requirement is 13+ and plenty of 13 year olds use tampons. so there's no reason to me that image isn't suitable for all ages (13 year olds should not be protected from basic sex ed), it isn't sexually explicit, it doesn't even have an "overt focus on genitalia" despite being about genitalia, and the actual post is also just about nonsexually caring for a neovagina. "mature" is very clearly a label meant for erotic content, not non-erotic sexual education.

Disney is a priority boycott target for the BDS movement! Don't watch any more Marvel movie trash, the MCU has been collaborating with the Pentagon to make Western imperialist propaganda since Iron Man 2008!

something something star trek

started drawing the elvish guards for fun and ended up redrawing one of my favorite chapters of the saga and top 1 nasuada funniest moments TO ME

bonus 1: random art of the six known elves (yes i spent a lot of time drawing blödhgarm oooops i love him okay)

bonus 2: eragon overreacting randomly when he smells blödhgarm's scent #okay #feminist + that scene where they go to nasuada's pavilion in full formation #slay (kinda funny how arya was always acting as the 13th guard)

It's called the bathroom in your house.

Both male and female people have used that bathroom. For some folks, daily.

Nothing bad happens.

You have total privacy while in there because you can completely shut the door.

Now imagine that, but in a public building. Just a bathroom like the one in your house (without the tub/shower). With a door that fully closes and locks.

They're the ONLY surviving NONDAMAGED form of the show. In the late 90s, the masters from which the show is printed were damaged with a red-pink hazy filter.

So. Good luck buying them even if you find them. They're some of the most valuable collector's items in the entire franchise.

Without piracy, there would be NO UNDAMAGED COPIES OF SAILOR MOON AVAILABLE TO ANYONE ANYWHERE, PERIOD.

You want to ban books. Like the nazis did.

Books about small, trivial aspects of your life can be beautiful! Why are you saying they can never be?

I have no idea what this writing advice means. You never outlined an actual test. You never clarified what to do or even, really, what not to do.

You people are all idiots. The advice is obviously that you should write things you haven't experienced.

You people are all idiots. The advice is obviously that you should only write what you have personally experienced.

You people are all idiots. The advice is obviously that you should add more detail in your writing.

You people are all idiots. The advice is obviously that you should add less detail in your writing.

You people are all idiots. The advice is obviously that there needs to be a plot.

You people are all idiots. The advice is obviously criticizing the specific person that really annoyed me in my writing class.