Hello Lovelies!

4 weeks to cut down a bit for Cali & Vegas 😏 lets see what I can do with this starting point🔥 #minicut #iwantmyabsback #vegasprep

A common theme I see amongst young feminists, who are starting to understand the depths of male violence against girls and women, is a feeling of such hopelessness that it concentrates into a feeling of bodily inferiority; a feeling of being weaker, being rapeable, being impregnatable. And sometimes even, in turn, hating oneself and ones female body.

I want every woman out there to know that the physical ability to commit violence upon another person is not a superior trait, despite what generations of men would like you to believe.

Men give violence and brute strength value. So let's talk about where we should be giving value to the female body.

First, the reason men are on average stronger than women is also their downfall. Testosterone is a hormone that gives the ability to build muscle and maintain little fat. To simplify how it works, it burns hard and fast to build. This means that it burns hard and fast through the body as well. Mens bodies breakdown quicker- hearts fail, muscles degenerate, etc. They die younger than women.

Essentially, female bodies are more flexible and have a better endurance. This is because our bodies and systems are built for longevity - not power. Mens bodies are built for power and quick burn.

Our uteruses (and other hormonal regulatory systems in our bodies!) love us dearly. Our bodies regulate hormones, limit testosterone, and ensure we don't burn out quick. We experience menopause and men don't. We've been taught this is a bad thing.. But our bodies slow down and stop the hormones that would burn us out, and mens bodies don't. Menopause elevates our lifespan and quality of life.

In fact, this reproductive/regulatory system is so important, we have fat deposits that protect these organs. This allows us to be healthier for longer, too!!

It also helps a ton that we have a boosted immune system, much better than our male peers. On top of that, we have higher pain tolerances! We are better equipped to fight off things that ail us, and persevere through things that would bring us harm.

So we know women live longer, and in better health - but why is that? Is it just testosterone? Is it just to get pregnant? No! Our bodies don't exist to sustain a baby (though they can, and the fact that all life on earth exists because of women is an astoundingly powerful truth) they exist to sustain us - because we were and are community leaders, healers, caretakers, providers - we are immensely valuable.

Why, evolutionarily, are we this way? Because older women bring more value to communities than older men. Look up the Grandmother Hypothesis in evolution studies; it says menopause evolved because it allows women to live longer, because women (specifically grandmothers!) are key to community survival and kin relationships. Older women are key to our species survival; not just for the lifes they may or may not create, but for the relationships, the community, the reasons we live.

Some other miscellaneous thoughts...Sexually, we are the sex that has an organ made entirely for pleasure. We are the sex capable of multiple orgasms, and stronger. That's worth some thought.

So how do men play into all of this? Men are a genetic mutation of us that exist to provide sperm, if we'd like. Men who had more testosterone became stronger than men with less (therefore better at hunting, building shelter), making them more desirable mates, meaning that the next generation of men was stronger as well. And there they placed the value in strength. Which translated to the value of violence.

So the next time you find yourself valuing the capacity for violence, instead look to value the capacity for creation.

Womanhood is made vulnerable by males who choose violence. And that's why our work as feminists is so important. But I promise you - your body was not designed to receive conflict, but to outlast it. You were designed to build something better.

Shapley 1 Nebula

This symmetrical nebula is 8700 years old and surrounds a binary star system. It bears resemblance to a smoke ring, but with a diameter of roughly two light years, it is much larger than any you would see on Earth. 

Image credit: NASA

The Tarantula Nebula

You can never escape creepy crawly spiders, not even in the endless vacuum of space. One hundred and eighty thousand light-years away, the Tarantula Nebula is waiting for you to fall into its starry web.

Image Credit: NASA

I think this is the most beautiful representation of a woman’s reproductive system, that I have ever seen till date!

(By Jennifer O’Toole: @cellsdividing )

Her official website: https://www.cellsdividing.com/

These 🌹💐🌹💐💐🌸🌺🌹🌺🌷🌸💐🌺🌹🍫🌹💐🍫🍫🌹🌺🌸🌷🍫💐🌸💐🌺🌹🍫🌷🌷🌺🌸🌷🌺🌸🌺🌹🌹🌹🌷🌺🌺🌸🌺🌹🌹🌷💐🌸💐💐🌺🌹🌸💐🌸🌹🍫🍫🌺🌷🌹🍫🍫🍫 💐🌷r for my mutuals on this valentines day <3

Space

a lot of detrans women seem to very quickly be bombarded with questions about what they're going to do to look more feminine again...seems kinda fucked up.

like a community of women isolated and alienated as a result of gender roles (among other issues but that's the key one here) and we're just gonna chuck a couple more gendered expectations at them?

people asking if detrans women will get reconstructive surgery or laser hair removal, offering them make-up tips or talking about reclaiming femininity...it really seems like the opposite of the unconditional acceptance detrans women need.

(i'm talking about this from the perspective that pushing femininity onto ANY woman is inherently harmful, rather than a detrans position. but another harm caused by this is of course that detrans narratives are being pushed into another box. no two detrans women have the same experiences, positive and/or negative, with transition; or relationships with their bodies. women can absolutely love their post-transition bodies, or have mixed feelings or feelings completely unrelated to transition or just feel completely neutral about their appearance. but whatever the needs and motivations of individual women, femininity is harmful to its core and shouldn't be encouraged as a "counter" to transition in any way.)

bottom line is, (de)trans women don't become more or less female at any step along their (de)transition. they are and were women all along because womanhood is not an identity, it's just female reality.

This is Betelgeuse! ✨✨✨

Although it’s not the brightest star visually, in the infrared wavelengths it is the brightest! If Betelgeuse were to supernova and die, then it would be as bright as a half-moon for 3 months! 🤩🤩🤩

Taken by me (Michelle Park) using the Slooh Canary Two telescope on October 12th, 2020 at 1:56 UTC. 

Oh, am I taking a lot of shirtless photos lately? I’m mostly just asserting the normality of the naked female body. It’s gotten real hip and trendy in our community right now to talk about “not being defined by gender.” I understand the sentiment; we’ve all been fed a lot of shit about what it means to be female, to be a woman, for so long that it just seems to be inherently true instead of fabricated by patriarchal society. I can understand wanting to stand strong, be seen, and say “these assumptions do not hold true for me.” The problem is, when that’s framed as the individual being “not defined by gender” or simply not being female, it throws other females under the bus. It says “I am not this way, but this is true about women, so therefore I am not woman and not defined by being a woman.” I’m gonna stand here instead and say that I manifest my own reality, but my reality and manifestation are not in any way limited by the fact that I am female. I refuse to conform to these bullshit expectations the same as I refuse to throw the female sex under the bus by claiming separation from my sisters. I see the strength in all of you, I see your determination and perseverance and willpower. I stand with you, in solidarity, always ✌🏻️