Fun fact: Though being gay in the 40s sucked, being gay in the military was easier, and pretty common. There were apparently, at one point in time time so many lesbians in the military that when they tried to crack down on it, the girls wrote back and said “Look I can give you the names, but you’ll lose some of your best officers, and half your nurses and secretaries.” And they pretty much shut up about it unless you were especially bad at subtlety. (Source: Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers. A good source for gay history from 1900s onwards.)
Sergeant Phelps worked for General Eisenhower. Four decades after Eisenhower had defeated the Axis powers, Phelps recalled an extraordinary event. One day the general told her, “I’m giving you an order to ferret those lesbians out.’ We’re going to get rid of them.”
“I looked at him and then I looked at his secretary. who was standing next to me, and I said, ‘Well, sir, if the general pleases, sir, I’ll be happy to do this investigation for you. But you have to know that the first name on the list will be mine.’
“And he kind of was taken aback a bit. And then this woman standing next to me said, ‘Sir, if the general pleases, you must be aware that Sergeant Phelps’s name may be second, but mine will be first.’
“Then I looked at him, and I said, ‘Sir, you’re right. They’re lesbians in the WAC battalion. And if the general is prepared to replace all the file clerks, all the section commanders, all of the drivers—every woman in the WAC detachment—and there were about nine hundred and eighty something of us—then I’ll be happy to make the list. But I think the general should be aware that among those women are the most highly decorated women in the war. There have been no cases of illegal pregnancies. There have been no cases of AWOL. There have been no cases of misconduct. And as a matter of fact, every six months since we’ve been here, sir, the general has awarded us a commendation for meritorious service.’
“And he said, ‘Forget the order.’
– The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America
I’ve reblogged this before but it didn’t have these comments and HOLY HOT DAMN DID IT NEED THEM.
So, when someone sits down to write a fiction about Women commandos, and a Dudebro steps in to say “Huh, that is so unrealistic huh.”
Harold… oh, Harold…sit down, shut up, and stay out of our way.
History is infinitely gayer than a lot of people want to admit ❤
Reblogging again for the fuckboy who ignored it the first time
THIS IS SO IMPORTANT
*slow clap for australia* shit mates. Wow.
I will probably reblog this once a day
yeah australia represent!!
Lemme tell you a little about Australia’s recent history with household abuse and therefore; why we’re getting amazing campaigns such as this today.
You can trace it earlier, but the catalyst starting point of this story is about an 11 year old boy called Luke Batty, or rather his mother – Rosie Batty.
You see, a couple years ago in 2014, Luke’s estranged father and Rosie’s abusive ex bashed Luke’s head in with a bat during Luke’s cricket practise (of all things!), killing him. The seemingly randomness of the attack lead to the media hounding Rosie Batty. So Rosie, whilst distraught and grieving, used the media to speak up about domestic violence and how our cultures toxic masculinity has bred this abhorrent acceptance of domestic violence. People were shocked, here they were expecting to see this broken mother at a loss, but instead they got this strong, brave, powerhouse! She became an Australian icon nearly overnight, because no one had ever seen someone so blatantly honest and brave. Rosie became a household name – seriously, there is not a single person in Australia who doesn’t know who this woman is or what she has done.
So to make a long story short, Rosie was awarded Australian of the Year in 2015, she’s written book, spoken out, created the Luke Batty Foundation, and has literally flipped Australia’s head with it’s opinion on domestic violence and violence against women.
Our culture was so set on “men are tough, men are strong” etc. hell, before her our icons were bush rangers (such as Ned Kelly), sportspeople (such as Don Bradman and more recently, Adam Goodes – who is also an amazing human and a huge advocate for Aboriginal rights), people who basically represent the “ideal masculine Australian man”. Domestic violence was seen as a private issue, not one for people to intervene but now our culture is fishing and changing.
We’ve come so far, Police are dealing with a domestic violence case every two minutes meaning they’re taking the issue seriously, however this only goes to show just how prevalent it is. After all as of 2016 only about 24 million people live in the entire fricken country.
But guys, Australia is tackling the problem at the root of the cause, focusing on our nations obsession with toxic masculinity.
i can’t fucken believe that one of the main arguments against wind farms is that they’re an eyesore
do you know what’s an even bigger eyesore?
not having fuckin trees or coral reefs or glaciers or any number of incredible natural beauties because fossil fuels and pollution and global fuckin warming killed it all dead
“Why’d you let the planet die?”
“Aesthetic.”
Australian government goes on diatribe about how these are ‘ugly’, ‘awful’, ‘noisy’, ‘utterly offensive’.
Goes on to approve these.
I find turbines strangely beautiful, love seeing them in Europe, especially the Netherlands
stop thinking of them as your OCs. call them your characters. you made them. you wrote them. they’re as solid and important as anyone else’s. your work is not a self-indulgent exception to the content you “ought” to be creating.
call them your characters and write about them, and publish what you write, and don’t apologise.
intense, sweet and a cat person. Rowdy, I love you. Mr Eastwood, I admire most of your films, not at all sure about your attitude to women and your political views.
mici's campfire 