The Hesitant Betrothed by Auguste Toulmouche (1866)

I have always adored this painting. Having the central female figure stare with awareness at her viewer is a very powerful move, and something not often given to women in paintings. It creates an engagement with the viewer, she sees you and she knows you are watching her. She is no longer an object in an image, she is a person.

You know she gon’ kill the man she has to marry

I like how everyone else is totally excited the women are congratulating her, the little girl is so into being a flower girl.

And she’s there in middle going “THIS IS SUCH BULLSHIT.”

“the hesitant betrothed” there is NOTHING HESITANT about that expression

Whoa. This is really dramatic and unexpected :)

The “Fuck This Shit” Betrothed

This is the ‘Isn’t It A Tragedy She Was Widowed So Young’ Betrothed, is what it is.

Are straight white people okay????

What is this?!

People like this exist. Interesting.

this story has a part 2

THERE IS A PART 3 WITH GUEST RESPONSES I REPEAT THERE IS A PART 3 THIS IS NOT A DRILL

“I don’t care if you’re gay or brown or a woman, but I’ll gladly walk over your corpse to get my cut.”

i used to say i was financially conservative. then i found out it didn’t mean pouring money into proven investments like education, infrastructure, job education, and preventative medicine. 

You just thought they meant conserving money (sensible and reasonable, also what the words mean and what a decent person would assume), not conserving power structures, the status quo, and systemic oppression (evil in a bucket). There’s no shame in it.

crows have been documented holding ‘funerals’ for many years. however, researchers suggest that they may not be mourning; evidence indicates that crows may be examining the body & surrounding area for potential threats to the rest of the flock.

source: (x)

So it’s not a funeral…

…….it’s a fucking autopsy and criminal investigation.

You might even call it

a murder investigation.

Ominous positivity

You will be okay. You have no choice.

Vegans of tumblr, listen up. Harvesting agave in the quantities required so you dont have to eat honey is killing mexican long-nosed bats. They feed off the nectar and pollinate the plants. They need the agave. You want to help the environment? Go back to honey. Your liver and thyroid will thank you, as well. Agave is 90% fructose, which can cause a host of issues. Bye.

Beekeeper here! Just wanted to say that the fact that vegans won’t eat honey is very silly. Harvesting honey does not hurt bees. The invention of modern moveable-frame hives means we can remove a selected frame, extract the honey and return it without killing a single bee.

If we destroyed the colony to harvest honey there would be no bees for next year, and beekeepers are incredibly careful to keep their bees healthy and thriving. We take *excess* honey that they don’t need, and it stops the hive from becoming honey-bound, meaning that there’s so much honey the Queen has nowhere to lay eggs. And if the winter is harsher than expected and the remaining honey store runs low, we feed the bees plenty to make sure they survive. We also make sure that pests are controlled, bees are treated for disease, and the hive is weatherproof and in good repair, all things that wild bees struggle with.

Keeping bees in properly managed hives where they don’t starve or die from preventable disease is much better for them than being left to fend for themselves, and they’re far too important to be left alone.

All the fruits and vegetables that vegans *do* eat couldn’t exist without bees, and the hives which pollinate those crops also produce excess honey which the beekeepers can sell to help keep themselves and their hives going.

TLDR: BUY THE HONEY, HELP THE BEES.

Keira Knightley when she’s offered projects that take place in modern day society

i can’t wait to still be followed by 38493790243 porn bots after december 17th because tumblr has never competently implemented anything before

Good luck to everyone who has finals this week or next! Don’t forget water and snacks, and be sure to take some breaks so you can let your brain chill in between study sessions!

i just read a washington post article on romcoms aging poorly due to the pushiness (and oft-stalkery conduct) of the male characters therein, and it got me thinking about pride and prejudice, and specifically darcy saying, “one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”

because, like, that’s the seldom-portrayed romantic dream in the patriarchal hellscape that is our world, isn’t it?

a dude being willing to say, “i understand if you don’t feel the same way about me, and i’ll leave you alone forever about this if my attention is unwanted.”

so simple, yet so wonderful in its basic human decency

and dudes to this day wonder why women still swoon over darcy

Note also: Elizabeth turns down Darcy’s first proposal, and in the process, accuses him of doing some stuff he did not do (and also some stuff he totally did).

The next day, he surprises her on her walk. He hands her a letter, asks that she read it, and then takes off.

When this happened to me after I had turned someone down IN REAL LIFE, the letter contained a passionate argument to the tune of “actually you’re wrong and you do like me and you should go out with me” and it was creepy af.

Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth starts with: “Be not alarmed, Madam, on receiving this letter, by the apprehension of its containing any repetition of those sentiments, or renewal of those offers, which were last night so disgusting to you”. He goes on to set the record straight about the stuff he didn’t do (as well as the stuff he did) which is *actually relevant* to Elizabeth. And he, as promised, doesn’t romance her further.

It’s totally bizarre that even now, this can be considered unusually great dude behaviour.

Darcy’s first proposal: “You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

Darcy’s second proposal: “One word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”

His whole arc in the book is about learning to consider other people’s feelings and not just his own, but the fact that it’s expressed via who gets to talk and who is told to shut up is so, so telling. The first time around, he imposes his voice on her whether she wants it or not. The second time, he asks how she feels, and in exchange, offers her the gift of his silence.

And yeah, the fact that dudes still! have! not! learned! this! lesson! is exhausting.

How surprising is it that Pride and Prejudice was written by a woman, when many romantic comedies are produced and directed by men?

Answer: not at all

200 years later and the world is still full of guys who think they’re a Mr Darcy when they’re actually a Mr Collins.

my b

hot take: ‘chivalry’ is fine as long as it’s adapted to 21st century values. if you are a male, you SHOULD be aware that your female friends face certain issues that you as a male dont. acting on that awareness in a way that keeps your female friends safe, isn’t a bad thing.

like… opening doors isn’t rly chivalrous when it’s just a thing you ought to do for everyone. but real 21st century chivalry might be, like, standing between your female friend and the guy that’s trying to get her drunk, or offering to walk her home when it’s late.

if the ‘chivalry’ inconveniences everyone involved and you’re just doing it for your over-inflated male ego — ie, “no you’re the girl here, you HAVE to let me hold this door for you and do all these things for you even when you can do it yourself and im just slowing you down” — then it’s just outdated misogyny.

Chivalry was literally designed to make nobles aware of their power and influence so they don’t unintentionally harm people when trying to do their job of leading and protecting people. Modern chivalry should carry on that sentiment of men and white people becoming aware of their own power of privilege and influence to help and protect the lives of their peers.

*Not to inflate their egos, but because it’s the good thing to do and makes the world a better place to be.

Chivalry, at its core, involves being helpful to people who don’t have your advantages. 

It involved generosity and protecting those weaker than oneself: including opening doors when doors were made of badly fit heavy wood and often got stuck,and women, especially undernourished exhausted-from-childcare women, had a harder time opening them. It involved not lying, and following through on your promises. (A guy who is consistently late with the accounting reports, which delays the whole team, is not dedicated to chivalry, no matter how polite he is on a date.) 

Chivalry is a code of ethics that involves dedicating one’s strength and skills in service to others; it’s not based on gender roles. 

Chivalry is a code of ethics that involves dedicating one’s strength and skills in service to others; it’s not based on gender roles.

Ooo I reblogged this once already but these are great additions

Muggle World: We’re sorry, Harry, you won’t get to compete in the contest. There must’ve been a glitch in our systems. You weren’t supposed to be in the draw at all, you’re too young.

Wizard World: Send this child to the death games! The goblet has spoken!

the Wizard World is a lawless hellscape

Tumblrites who have never seen their site of choice imploding before: OMG IT’S THE END OF TIMES.

Some of us fossils, who have lived through Bebo, Myspace, Angelfire, Geocities, Yahoogroups, Delicious, Livejournal:

All this has happened before.

All this will happen again.

UHM.... SO....

IF YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO POST YOUR NSFW ART….

….yeah.

This is real.

I need a word that encompasses ‘maybe touched’, ‘profoundly weirded out’ and ‘…oh’.

And gleeful as fuck.  For truly, the internet is for porn.

lmao I logged onto tumblr the first time in like six months just to reblog this and lol

because wow, what weird, what universe, some strange >_<