1579th.

"I wanted to show that men and women can be friends without having a relationship. Theirs is a story about partnership, equality, and a strong bond between partners. It's important for little girls to know not every story has to be a love story and for boys to know that soldiers aren't the only ones to triumph in war." - Guillermo del Toro


Photo is "Labyrintho del Pan" - from Tristan-Despero.

1578th.

"Two weeks ago a man in France was arrested for raping his daughter. She'd gone to her school counselor and then the police, but they needed 'hard evidence.' So she videotaped her next assault. Her father was eventually arrested. His attorney explained, 'There was a period when he was unemployed and in the middle of a divorce. He insists that these acts did not stretch back further than three or four months. His daughter says longer. But everyone should be careful in what they say.' Because, really, even despite her seeking help, her testimony, her bravery in setting up a webcam to film her father raping her, you really can't believe what the girl says, can you? Everyone 'knows' this. Even children. Three years ago, in fly-on-the-wall fashion of a parent drives everywhere, I listened while a 14-year-old girl in the back seat of my car described how angry she was that her parents had stopped allowing her to walk home alone just because a girl in her neighborhood 'claimed she was raped.' When I asked her if there was any reason to think the girl's story was not true, she said, 'Girls lie about rape all the time.' She didn't know the person, she just assumed she was lying ... No one says, 'You can't trust women,' but distrust them we do. College students surveyed revealed that they think up to 50% of their female peers lie when they accuse someone of rape, despite wide-scale evidence and multi-country studies that show the incident of false rape reports to be in the 2%-8% range, pretty much the same as false claims for other crimes. As late as 2003, people jokingly (wink, wink) referred to Philadelphia's sex crimes unit as 'the lying bitch unit.' If an 11-year-old girl told an adult that her father took out a Craigslist ad to find someone to beat and rape her while he watched, as recently actually occurred, what do you think the response would be? Would she need to provide a videotape after the fact? It goes way beyond sexual assault as well. That's just the most likely and obvious demonstration of 'women are born to lie' myths. Women's credibility is questioned in the workplace, in courts, by law enforcement, in doctors' offices, and in our political system. People don't trust women to be bosses, or pilots, or employees. Pakistan's controversial Hudood Ordinance still requires a female rape victim to procure four male witnesses to her rape or risk prosecution for adultery. In August, a survey of managers in the United States revealed that they overwhelmingly distrust women who request flextime. It's notable, of course, that women are trusted to be mothers - the largest pool of undervalued, unpaid, economically crucial labor." - Soraya Chemaly


Photo is "Abuse" - from oomizuao.

1577th.

"I'm here to tell you the story of crazy love - a psychological trap disguised as love. One that millions of women, and even a few men, fall into every year. It may even be your story. I met Conor on a cold, rainy night. He was smart and funny, and he looked like a farm boy. He loved everything about me, and he believed in men in a way that no one else ever had. There was not a hint of violence or anger or control at the beginning. Conor first physically attacked me five days before our wedding. It was 7a.m. I still had on my nightgown. He put his hands around my neck and he hit my head repeatedly against the wall. He proceeded to beat me once or twice a week for the next two and a half years. Why did I stay? The answer is easy. I didn't know he was abusing me. Instead, I was a very strong woman in love with a deeply troubled man, and I was the only person on Earth who could help Conor face his demons. The other question everybody asks is: Why didn't I walk out? To me this is the saddest and most painful question. Because we victims know something you usually don't: It's incredibly dangerous to leave an abuser. Over 70% of domestic violence murders happen after the victim ended the relationship. I realized that the man who I loved so much was going to kill me if I let him. So I broke the silence. I told everyone: the police, my neighbors, my friends and family, total strangers, and I'm here today because you all helped me. We tend to stereotype victims as grizzly headlines, self-destructive women, damaged goods. 'Why does she stay?' is code to some people for, 'It's her fault for staying,' as if victims intentionally choose to fall in love with men intent upon destroying us. Abuse thrives only in silence. You have to power to end domestic violence simply by shining a spotlight on it. We victims need everyone. We never every one of you to understand the secrets of domestic violence. Show abuse the light of day by talking about it." - Leslie Morgan Steiner


Photo is "Crazy" - from cadydid.

1576th.

"In his defense, Tolkien was writing in 1937. The world is a different place today, and I keep repeatedly telling people that in this day and age, to put nine hours of cinema entertainment in theaters for young girls to go and watch, and not have one female character for them to watch is subliminally telling them, 'You don't count. You're not important, and you're not pivotal to the story.' And I just think they were very brave and very bright in saying, 'We won't do that to young female audiences who come and watch our film.' And not just the young female audience, but even a woman of my own age. I think it's time we stop making stories that are only about men- especially only about heroic men." - Evangeline Lilly


Photo is "Tolkien's Desk" - from 89ravenclaw.

1575th.

"Sleep late, have fun, get wild, drink whiskey, and drive fast on empty streets with nothing in mind except falling in love and not getting arrested." - Hunter S. Thompson


Photo is "Girls just wanna have fun" - from ByLaauraa.

1574th.

"Drunk text me. I want to be the one you think of when you can't think straight." - Claire Luisa


Photo is "Drunk Text" - from Teh-Melly.

1573rd.

"The stereotype of the ugly, unfuckable feminist exists for a reason - because it's still the last, best line of defence against any woman who is a little too loud, a little too political. Just tell her that if she goes on as she is, nobody will love her. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always believed that part of the point of feminist politics - part of the point of any sort of radical politics - is that some principles are more important than being universally adored, particularly by the sort of men who would prefer women to smile quietly and grow our hair out." - Laurie Penny


Photo is "Feminist" - from Rorke.

1572nd.

"Have you ever heard the phrase cockblocking? You know, you're at a bar, talking to a girl, and what happens? Her less attractive friend comes over and ruins everything. Cockblock. Well I have to tell you something guys: I have been the less attractive friend, and you were NOT cockblocked. I was following orders from my better-looking friend that she did not want to fuck you ... Girls have two signals for their friends: 'I'm gonna fuck him' and 'HELP'." - Amy Schumer


Photo is "Cockblock" - from BomBomPPGFan.

1571st.

"A study on masculinity and aggression from the University of South Florida found that innocuous - yet feminine - tasks could produce profound anxiety in men. As part of the study, a group of men were asked to perform a stereotypically feminine act - braiding hair in this case - while a control group braided rope. Following the act, the men were given the option to either solve a puzzle or punch a heavy bag. Not surprisingly, the men who performed the task that threatened their masculinity were far more likely to punch the bag; again, violence serving as a way to reestablish their masculine identity. A follow-up had both groups punch the bag after braiding either hair or rope; the men who braided the hair punched the bag much harder. A third experiment, all the participants braided hair, but were split into two groups: those who got to punch the bag afterwards and those who didn't. The men who were prevented from punching the bag started to show acute signs of anxiety and distress from not being able to reconfirm their masculinity." - Doctor Nerdlove


Photo is "The Aggression" - from Uribaani.

1570th.

"You don't have to get a job that makes others feel comfortable about what they perceive as your success. You don't have to explain what you plan to do with your life. You don't have to justify your education by demonstrating its financial rewards. You don't have to maintain an impeccable credit score. Anyone who expects you to do any of those things has no sense of history or economics or science or the arts. You have to pay your electric bill. You have to be kind. You have to give it all you got. You have to find people who love you truly and love them back with the same truth. But that's all." - Cheryl Strayed


Photo is "Expectation" - from agyany.