Now this is a beautiful family
Good representation isn’t just good writing and art, it’s something that actually helps people feel good about themselves, come out as themselves and love themselves. It changes and saves lives. If we only ever talk about trans and queer representation when we’re complaining about a lack of it or the bad or questionable representation, we’re only fighting half the battle, maybe even less than that. Let’s acknowledge and thank the people who work extra hard and oftentimes have to fight and risk their jobs and careers to get this kind of great representation on the pages of our comics.
Marie “Riese” Bernard (Editor-in-Chief ) and Alexandra Vega (Design Director): Co-Founders of Autostraddle, an independently owned online magazine and social network for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women (cis and trans), as well as non-binary people
“We’re not just writers who are hired to go into an office every day and write our stories,” Bernard says. “We connect with readers on and off-site, and we have camp where we meet people and have cabins and build a family in real life. We—the writers, the team—need the readers as much as they need us.”
LOOK IT’S US! WE ARE OF IMPORTANCE!
IMPORTANCE
i came out when i was 25 or 26 and ended a 9 yr marriage w/ kids, then moved across the country. i also went through a cargo shorts phase.
first things first, the feeling does fade, yes. i found that i needed some distance between my new life and my old life before i could feel safe in myself and my own intuitions again. and over time i even stopped seeing my old life as a mistake or something i could’ve done differently. i came to a place where i forgave myself for not fully knowing me yet, and i gave myself permission to keep surprising me, forever and ever. that was the hardest part — forgiving myself and starting to look at my life as one long journey, where things will keep changing and i’ll keep changing, and feeling calm about that. because we want stability, we want to feel like we have things figured out — and you do have some things figured out! — but also we’re here to learn and try things and fuck up and be real. whatever your life was before this day, it was real. you learned about yourself and now you’re trying something else. and this is real! and if something about this changes or becomes fucked, it was still real, it was still important, and you’ll still learn things.
it’s true that you can’t talk about the struggle of coming out as a teenager, and it’s awesome that when you did come out, it went smoothly! so no, you can’t commiserate on those things, but you still have super valid experiences that can help other people see themselves for who they are, and give them the courage to take risks in order to be happy. you still have that — let that be what you give people. ending a 13-year relationship and flipping your whole life around isn’t something to take lightly. that took GUTS. going after a life you truly want, going after your own happiness, is GUTSY. you’re a fucking badass. you have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself, and you’re doing that every day.
Laneia in response to a comment on It’s Our Birthday! Ask Us Anything At Our All-Day A+ Birthday Party! (via fuckyeahautostraddle)
Alice B. Toklas introduced the world to her friend’s recipe for “Haschich Fudge,” aka the original pot brownie.
A mortar? As in a mortar and pestle? This is some Laura Ingalls Wilder bullshit that I am not prepared for. Luckily, my sister actually has a mortar and pestle! Of course she does. She also has a weaving loom, embroidery hoops, and various other Renaissance princess paraphernalia
Sure, the heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune married a Prince, but on their wedding night, she climbed on an armoire and threatened to kill him if he approached her.
