children

Destination unknown?

Kuva | | Henna Timanttimetsä

Frozen Barbie: when empowered by looks your power is your looks your appearance. What kind of power is that?

| Henna Timanttimetsä

What kind of looks is empowering? We can imagine that, it is something that impresses one way or another. It can be a uniform kind of look, overly feminine, overly masculine, something that is controlled but emphasized toned exaggerated, arrogant, vulgar and self-assured, confident to the maximum. It is giving a power feeling and instant impression of size, message and direction. That one feels one has got power to seduce and influence with one’s posture, habitus, body form, color, age, presence, things that chosen and are shown, bare or hidden skin, that we pay attention to as sexy, appealing, that we notice as interesting. The visual of a woman is that she is sexual, she has as a cultural and biological being and construct a complex relationship to sexuality and sex, how is she showing  and manifesting her sexuality and is it her decision. She is sexualized plainly because she is a woman or a girl, mostly she can’t own and control her sexuality, define it or use it for her own ends.

Importance is on the visual of a woman because body is a turn on or off, it is her. An object of desire with subject attached to. Face being the key to that person who is an image and product. Sexuality is a play with roles, status, hierarchy, reality and illusion, it is to be liked and loved, accepted. That she is the kind to be liked and loved, maybe as a whole person, as the same as she looks, someone who is by definition beautiful on the outside is on the inside the same beautiful and whole, important. She is complimented for her looks first. Is the first thought of her always how she looks? That is the first thing women experience, are seen, talked about, are expected to be, beautiful and via that beauty be worthy of noticing and appreciation. Basically there is nothing wrong with the habit of telling people how good they look, when they have seen the effort and want to impress via looks. To be impressed by appearance is what happens instantly, we like or we do not. It is possibly never a neutral issue.

Iconic beauty queen and an image but she is a living person who says she is in control of what she does, how she performs and what she shows of herself. Someone who makes her living via her appearance selling her looks to be printed on ads and magazines, on the internet for all who wish this kind of content and get a thrill over it, a positive one. What is the positive here, the empowerment which is the abusing of people desires, insecurities, abusing the space for something selfish. What is it we are watching, what is it we have? What is the interest there other than sex? Our need to look at beautiful people empowers those who have the need to be looked at, admired for their looks, told how good-looking they are. Does empowerment move the other direction as well as beautiful people are idols for very big part because of their beauty?

Empowerment is born via attention, a rush and energetic turn on, highly sexual experience, perverted and natural. The flow of images of people and fame that may follow, dreams of fame, possibility of fortune, getting inside a jet set, becoming popular, comments given, all kinds of comments that feed the fame, outrage, hate, dislike, criticism, especially the negative emotional, irrational and rational outbursts of reactions, story of a person which is a picture, story which grows as the fame grows bigger. She and he who are gazed, compared, envied, copied, imitated, desired, put as posters on walls exploding the internet. Human form of perfection which for the eye is symmetrical and appealing, as I analyse the mediocre hyped human form that is placed on highest peak of our attention, to catch our attention. Constant policing as contrast, in comparison shaming of her means she is oppressed, oppressed on so many levels it is almost impossible to break the wall of bias and expectation of what a girl and woman are supposed to be and do. To be in control is not care of thoughts and comment. Permanent state of chauvinism and sexism infiltrated stay set as model for all which is understood by all, things seen as funny, harmless kept alive and going because it is impossibly tight grown, stuck and glued on us, and we wonder anything and anyone who does not want the same.

Running out of air. Where are the birds?

| Henna Timanttimetsä

Dino in the woods

Kuva | | Henna Timanttimetsä

Vision could not be more clear.

Kuva | | Henna Timanttimetsä

 

Morals at conflict, or is it interests? How much do we bend our morals to get what we want?

| Henna Timanttimetsä

What is morally right? Who gets to decide right and wrong? Is somebody else’s right more right than mine and which qualities define authority in this matter? Do we have universal understanding of right and wrong? Do morals and ethics have to be taught as I think absolutely yes, or do we understand what can and cannot be done since early on? Perhaps it is more than clear our ideas of wrong and right, truth and justice differ substantially all over the world. Education has an important role as do gender roles and religion. How a well-functioning equal society is made has got a recipe.

Difficulties to understand and accept each other can be unbearable and challenging inside one culture, among people who speak the same language, live in same country. We can be of same nationality but we do not speak the same language in the sense that we can be of different class, different background, opposite sex, different age, have different scale of education and knowledge over the world etc. Differences there are between people can make us disabled in regard of what comes to communicating and understanding each other, agreeing or not, respecting differing opinions and world views, accepting and wanting or not to understand the other point of view, other kind of experience. To be able to see another kind of perspective one has to have will to understand and listen, that requires humility and admitting value of that other to be heard and be regarded as worthy. This has to do with morals quite a lot. It requires will to do good for someone else and be compassionate. From where we come from dictates big part of how we see right and wrong and what one can do about one’s situation and how to operate in society. What kind of culture of morals, lack of morals, category of morals, hierarchy, nuances there are and are they understood in the same fashion, what kinds of choices people make around to cope, survive and live and how those choices affect one’s life and lives of others. Is there disrespect towards correct respectful ways of interacting, is there honor in doing right which benefits many instead of few? Is it more a rule to find short cuts, lie, cheat, steal, hide the truth, the mishandled. To have society which is accountable and responsible for the people is more likely to grow people who are accountable and responsible, this is my claim, not far from truth. Importance of showing that society takes care of all its citizens is crucial, that society is for the people and the nation is a home where it is safe to live and prosper. Knowing builds trust and hope that politicians and officials do as they say, are working for the people and not for themselves, that promises are kept, laws are obeyed, rich are on the same line when it comes to finding justice.

Morals spring out from many things we grow accustomed to knowing, seeing, witnessing and experiencing, how relations between people function, how society works, how do we get by, how well society acknowledges that it is good to do things well, that there is honor in honesty, in such a manner wide-spread honesty and trustworthiness that all of society benefits. That it is morally right that inequality is cut down to minimum, corruption is not a good way for administration or government to function, that those officials citizens should be able to trust do their work lawfully, obediently and with backbone knowing that their work is important part of keeping society less criminal, less corrupted.

Modern feminism seeks equality with men. But in a dysfunctional society, that is nowhere near enough https://aeon.co/essays/feminists-should-not-be-content-with-mere-equality

The Origin of the Species

Kuva | | Henna Timanttimetsä

Culture of shame rules with humiliation and fear. Too hard to handle.

| Henna Timanttimetsä
Girl who learns from early on that there is something wrong and it is with her because there is shame she cannot quite understand why or what but it is like an animal which is her and the ultimate evil and is because of her not knowing quite why. Any other person is above this shame and constant wrongdoing because they are bigger. It is something she did which was being born, her sex which she must be ashamed of, she feels constantly a look which is angry, looks upon her that are looking at nothing, hate in the look, in those looks, contempt and disgust or something to take away, burn and run. Shame which exists only because of her, her sin, her existence, her rottenness is brought by her upon others to be ashamed of and talk about to purify those who speak of her and look at her but don’t see anything but dirt, something to turn backs to. She becomes to feel guilty for what she is completely, that she has caused such horrible thing as she is, her becoming, anything she represents and is, is bad and all wrong, a mistake and accident. She has to hide herself. Best way to do it is to be silent, be as invisible as possible, as quiet as possible afraid that she will be revealed and hated again and again. The only one who does things wrong breaking the silence which cannot be broken because everything and the wall of silence and effort seen would be ruined. You must not cry or be sad, it would break the unspoken, it would tell how all is wrong. To be revealed is the worst thing to happen. To face the ill there is would be too much to take and shameful as is crying. Things that are wrong, emotions that should just be likable not to annoy and reveal anything that might be wrong, she does them things wrong anyway so why try anything but not to push that wall of shame and weeping. She is the wrong, she is the wrong, the out-of-place to be ashamed of who can break and destroy the comfortable silence and not having to face any negative emotions there are. There is nothing wrong with the environment but with her still. Easiness of finding a scapegoat and squeeze her into being as small as possible. All the blame there is is placed on her and she carries it all until it is too much. It is quite a burden to carry and to give, be pushed aside and forgotten until guilt finds you until you cannot hide.

 

Penalty of forever you will be branded.

| Henna Timanttimetsä
Woman sexually is a target. She is a target as a mind and size of small that must be taught into fitting ideological mold, bound and told what to do. Bad women do not do what they are told to do, which also becomes a silent mode of knowing what is expected of you, so to do what is unexpected is always a victory. When woman is sexually active and shows this in public she is a beast, a whore, stupid enough to do otherwise than what is expected of her and an out of control freak mostly who is seen in negative light and must be punished. Penalty is shame and leaving outside the group of those who keep themselves within comprehensive and civil boundaries which are set to females. It is no wonder outspoken and loud woman is seen arrogant and rude. Dressing provocatively is always a sign of certain kind of looseness, bad taste and wildness that is not permitted behavior for proper women who obey rules. Those rules which are for women are to maintain order and follow religious mentalities, know religious penalties, divisions and fears. What happens to a woman who is disobedient, goes where she should not and does what she pleases following rules of her own mind disrespecting traditional place of woman, normative behavioral rules and regulations of what is good to do and what is not. Good is keeping the society unchanged.

Man is manly when he fucks around, woman is doomed. Man is doing his manly fun, woman is doing out of stupidity and irrationality, out of sheer irresponsibility and ignorance, coldness and because women are not to be trusted. And because she is diminished into carer of man understanding his flimsy ways, still he is not weak, she is. He has got back up which is the whole of manhood and men who do what they urge to do and are allowed. It is no wonder women are weaker in this context of violence and minimizing. They have a heavy burden to carry and wall of prohibitions in front. They are not to lift heavy weights but they do so without anyone noticing the burden lifted weighs a ton or two. One burden is a burden of history and tradition which loads have not moved that much even though we like to think we have made progress. It is difficult for many to look at their genitals or say their correct names out loud. When asked whether women can say vagina and think it is perfectly normal without shame result is many find it awkward. Yes why on earth say vagina aloud in this overly sexualized world. We don’t say it we go around it. Still sex is the most talked about topic, topic that raises scandals, emotions, storms because of daring to address the issue or doing something that breaks the rules of obedient society where nothing much changes other than the gadgets.

To hear puzzling comment how can someone do art about menstruation and hang the picture on her living room wall is still a comment of this day. We think this issue is somehow settled, women bleed and it is normal part of their physiological and anatomical activity. Women and girls do menstruate monthly and in many countries it is a shameful dirty happening not beautiful or normally acceptable. I was ashamed of menstruating when I was in my teens. It was intolerable and difficult to understand why my body without my consent wanted to do voluntary bleeding from my vagina and that place felt dirty, unspeakable, it hurt like hell for couple of days and my whole body felt achy for nothing. It was like my body bullied me into being something else than what I was used to and comfortable being, boyish. The transformation into woman was something I found difficult to accept because the whole process was agony, scary, out of control and I didn’t see any point of it happening. It happened without my permission showing my insides as I felt turning inside out. To choose to be of one gender and sex would have been an ideal, I thought, because being a woman seemed an endless list of sexualized patterns, rules and ways I didn’t want any part of. To be a woman was to be under authority and rule which seemed and still is tyranny.

To do what is expected of me has shown to be impossible. Expectations are minimizing and denying and prohibiting me to find out what I can do and be. This is not anybody else’s decision but mine. I do what I find satisfying and my goals are set by me.