Gonna pull my hair out at all the misinformation I’m seeing about supporting the strike on this website this morning 🙃

Sono Chi No Sodomy

Renegotiating Gender Politics of Anime and the Complex Queerness of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Now, I’ll be the first to admit I’m a dumb baby newcomer to anime. And I’m not gonna pretend that I have any authority at all here. I think letsplayer Arin Hanson once tweeted about “The Weeb” being like chicken pox – you’ll be okay if you get it early but if you contract it in your twenties you’re basically doomed.

When I was 13 I never let my sister off the hook for being into Inuyasha. One day, I walked into the anime club at my highschool and just belly laughed at the dorks who dared to enjoy things. I’m a recovering fuckhead, and boy do I feel bad about the assholey things I thought and said.

The sneerishness stemmed from this idea that ALL anime was sexist, racist, and sexually obsessed with underage girls. To me, the entire country of Japan was ideologically written off as an ethical dystopia. That was when I still thought of myself as a real hard manly masculine boy, with long hair and motorhead on loop loud enough to drown out any opinions but Lemmy’s. I had things to prove! Boycott Japan! I’m very insecure!

Of course, things have changed (I hope). It took me many years of hurting and deriding really wonderful people to come to terms with how fucked up my thinking was. Studio Ghibli flicks became something to share with my partner, and then I happened to sit in on a pal watching subbed Attack on Titan. I had realized how much incredible stuff, how many fantastic worlds I was missing out on. How I didn’t need to worry about authentically being my true analog self if I was just fucking enjoying something.

***

When I first heard of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, it was through the tweets and tumblr posts of femmes and queer folk. That should have been a tell…

I had previously looked into the entirety of the Fatal Fury anime films because of cartoonist/roadwarrior/bisontaur Coelasquid waxed on about the pretty bara boys. That was kinda my first introduction to enjoyably dumb thousand-punch-a-second anime, but I was more interested by the way in which Coelasquid read into the schlock, seeing more complex narratives and richer characters than at face value. I began to see this blatantly masculine-centric misogynist text as more complex than what was intended.

Fragile and Close to the Edge were cornerstones in my musical childhood, so the roundabout meme (playing on the first couple series’ “to be continued” sepia freeze frame) was enough to get me interested. Also, I had just finished One Punch Man, and that left a big ol’ fist-shaped hole in my heart, so I was down for some new hyper weeb fighty fights.

Eventually I took it upon myself to find some Jojo episodes, starting S1E1. I got about six episodes in, and kinda lost interest. I think I got to about the episodes that involved the warriors devout to Mary queen of Scots. I can’t remember exactly why I fell off the wagon (anime Queen Mary really spoke to me). I probably had shit to do, and life gets in the way. Excuses excuses.

It was around this time that Lego Bionicle had received its half-hearted and ultimately futile reboot. By way of a 4chan /toy/ thread I came across the tumblr bionicle fandom, and then was redirected to someone’s twitter which had some fireemoji 100emoji fireemoji shitposts. She also posted jojo stuff non-stop. Which was cool. I didn’t mind not “getting it”; it was all so absurd that it was kinda just a joy to have on the feed.

It also piqued my interest as to why someone so into a weird niche robo-tiki fandom would be into this big boy barafest. In Bionicle, there were very few female characters. The extant few were actually pretty well written, but this left a big population of masculine heroes with a fandom hungry to ship romance into. I remember one person posting “If they didn’t want bionicle to be so gay, then why did they write men almost exclusively?”

“Alright”, I thought. “If they’re on the same wavelength regarding avatar-but-robots, Jojo might be cool.”

So I picked up where I left off, and was hopelessly hooked. I finished part 1, was admittedly chuffed by some pretty fun plot twists, and I absolutely got into Joseph Joestar in the part 2. The outfits, posing, and artistic obsession with lips, hips, and eyes were all so decadent, and the absolute disregard for toning it down really got me into the series.

Simultaneously, I was watching Steven Universe and absolutely adoring the story for its inclusive, positive social activist platform and it’s kindness. Each episode basically became my time for cry. I was also finishing up a cultural anthropology degree that would sustain that allowed me to unpack all the self-loathing I had as a teenager. I came out of that degree a kinder, more open minded person.

I was in a mire of anti-bigotted pink futurism. So why the fuck was I so into this show about big muscular boys punching big muscular boys? Well for one I started realizing things about myself but ALSO:

In some sense, the absence of women as plot characters had left the shipping possibilities open. As previously mentioned: all men, all gay. I noticed hard aesthetic resemblance to hyperbutch homo-ero british and American schlock portraits of the 60’s and 70’s. In many ways, yes, it is a male power fantasy. But in other ways it is absolutely a bergerian spectacle of pecks and soft lips and sad eyes and thighs and midriff and chiseled V. It’s an animated pinup mag.

I saw more porn of the characters than battle portraits. The fanart knew what was up. The fanfiction was dripping. Jojo is so sexually charged, and more importantly, sexually charged for a specific audience.

Now you could probably write a paper drawing a lineage from Charles Atlas through the dark ages of comics and into jojo, but I feel that’s more of an artist-centric industry perspective. The fact that Jojo sits comfortably in Shonen Jump, with a reader base insistently for boys, raises some exciting questions. I mean, it’s definitely not classically bishounen - there’s no accessible femme softness playing into romantic hetero dating scenario.

I think what, in the very least, feels revolutionary about Jojo is its unapologetic, unspoken, and hard sexualization of male forms. There’s really not a lot of actual fighting going on - so much frame time is spent ogling these tight bodies. You know this sexuality is for someone, and that someone is heckin’ queer and/or heckin’ female.

Furthermore, this powerful sexual decadence is fairly uncommon for non-hetero male eyes. It’s cruder and far more raw than your average bit of media meant to titillate boy-lovers. I can really only think of Magic Mike XXL as an equivalent.

This isn’t what your average dudebro wants to be. There are examples of male power fantasy you could point to, but deep down you know: jojo is for the loins of the spectator. There’s something incredibly subversive about putting the power of sexual spectatorship in the hands of women and queer folk. Tailoring to that spectatorship.

Yeah okay. That could just build off of the cliché of the big beefy hunks that naughty suburban blondes get flustered over after their 4th glass of white wine. But hear me out: Jojo’s not at all getting his beautiful body out of this queer reading.

For example: there’s a theme of piercing in Jojo. Bits of wood and shrapnel in bodies, the Pillar Men’s betrothals to Joseph (which y’know, gg ez), Dio’s obsession with fingering people’s necks… etc. Unlike the invincible bulletproof armour-bodies of Superman, Goku, etc etc, these bodies are fleshy and soft. They are vulnerable, even if the character himself is stoic enough to tough it out.

Men’s bodies, in the patriarchal scheme of things, are not supposed to do that. They should be hard, to pierce the bodies of the subjugated (read emasculated/females) that defy them. But here we are, Araki, with the men who can be penetrated, curiously burning gender roles and expectations with violence in a very violent narrative. Far from subtle, sure, but it’s nothing to ignore.

If the Jojoboys were really just a heteronormative eye candy for thirsty women, I don’t feel like male penetration would have been as pervasive. The male would be doing the penetrating, but no real males would be penetrated, especially not the protagonists.

To build on that, the garish, revealing fashion doesn’t point to male power. There are no massive pauldrons or chestplates, everything is laid bare, sensuous and exposed. These adjectives tend not to be associated with hegemonic masculinities. Nor is the world of textiles and high fashion seen as a socially acceptable male venture, as much as a trivially feminine pastime. There is genderfuckage abound in this hard boy cartoon.

***

I overheard someone talking about how they tried watching Jojo and they couldn’t understand for the life of them why any self-respecting femιnist would be into this mess of tropes. I’m not gonna argue against that. The whole argument for Jojo as a progressive show sounds like someone covering their ideological ass. I’m in no way suggesting that Jojo does the same work for femιnism that shows like Steven Universe and Avatar/Korra might be doing.

The point I’m trying to bring home is that I came of age thinking that anime was inherently sexist. That idea came from a whole lot of not listening to the people who were actually experiencing real sexism. Especially in those incredible cultural circumstances where the distinctions between content creator and content interpreter become blurred, it’s always worth it to investigate what identities, intentions, and libidos are involved. Something that seems like run-of-the-mill propaganda might actually be backfiring in a more progressive direction than media with actual progressive intentions.

I set a reminder on my calendar to cancel Amazon Prime before my subscription ran out in July about a year ago. It was not exclusively a noble decision; I wasn’t really using it all that much, and nearly everything I bought, I could have found at the litany of convenience stores near my apartment, a privilege that not everyone shares. Plus, all the Prime shows kind of sucked!

But there was also an increasing ickiness to paying $100 a year to line the pockets of the richest man the world has ever known, a man who has continually thwarted his underpaid employees’ efforts to improve the dire circumstances of working for Amazon. More than any other company’s, the Amazon-branded cardboard boxes that lined the package room in my building seem sinister, despite their literal smiley faces.

This isn’t anything new, of course. People have been aware of Amazon’s shittiness for decades, from its monopolistic practices to tax avoidance, poor treatment of both white- and blue-collar workers, union-busting, environmental damage, and most recently, the year-long publicity stunt of HQ2, a bad-faith ploy to extract private data from US cities that ended with Amazon plopping its supposedly economy-boosting offices into the two most established markets on the East Coast.

But despite the fact that most of this is old news, this year, something is different. Having covered Black Friday for the past few years, I’m used to the infinite roundups of Amazon’s best Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals — which, to be sure, won’t be going anywhere as long as publishers are able to monetize them. But what I hadn’t seen as much before this year were media companies openly discouraging readers from shopping at Amazon, like this Ringer piece on how to wean yourself off by using other online retailers, and the story from the tech site Gizmodo, which previously called Prime “the best deal in tech,” calling for a Prime Day boycott.

|￣￣￣￣￣ | | cancel ur | | amazon | | prime! | |_____________| (__/) || (•ㅅ•) || / 　 づ

— yohuna (@Y0HUNA) November 19, 2018

Journalists and writers have also become far more willing to vocalize anti-Amazon sentiments. On Thanksgiving, Jia Tolentino of the New Yorker tweeted that she had canceled her Prime subscription during a week when many on Twitter encouraged their followers to do the same.

Tolentino tells me that even though she felt her own Amazon patronage was inexcusable ever since Mac McClelland’s 2012 piece about going undercover as a warehouse worker, the final straw was the 10-figure tax breaks the city of New York promised to Amazon for HQ2. “I had directly contributed to this situation and I felt like shit,” she says.

Another writer, Julia, who asked me not to use her last name because she works for a production company that could conduct business with Amazon Studios in the future, says she canceled her subscription after seeing the film Sorry to Bother You, which offers a stark critique of capitalism.

“I had Amazon Prime for about a year, and during that time, I watched my whole approach to consumption change,” she says. “A stack of boxes started to accumulate next to my recycling bin, and I was sort of horrified to realize how greedy I’d become. We’ve all become so accustomed to getting whatever we want, whenever we want, at little to no cost. But when anything is that cheap, there’s always someone paying for it.”

A good day to cancel your Prime account, New Yorkers (and everyone). I know you can do it. I believe in you. You, unlike so many people in the country, can literally walk down the block and get a roll of toilet paper if you want. And I heard Homecoming is bad.

— Emily Yoshida (@emilyyoshida) November 13, 2018

The efforts of those who speak out against Amazon seem to be influencing others as well, even if it’s contained within the echo chamber of Twitter. Podcaster Kyle Amato says he finally cut the cord when Marian Bull, a writer and ceramist, offered a free handmade cup to anyone who canceled their Prime membership last week. “I was being a hypocrite if I just kept using Prime while speaking out against Amazon proper,” he says.

To be clear, a massive exodus of Amazon Prime is still far from our present reality. By all accounts, the number of Prime subscribers is growing, and as of this spring, there are more than 100 million of them worldwide. The phrase “cancel Amazon Prime” peaked on Google Trends in December 2017 and has been in decline since then. And yet the tide appears to be turning, in part due to a slew of negative press, condemnations from politicians, and very public worker strikes.

“The backlash has actually grown slower than I would’ve thought, given that Amazon’s labor abuses have been well-documented for a long time,” says Tolentino. “The worker strikes have done a lot. But Amazon succeeds in large part because the entire labor economy is overheating and everyone’s safety nets are disappearing: people are so busy, people have less and less money to spare outside rent and health care, and so it’s easy to just close your eyes and cut corners by getting that free shipping when you can.”

I know for a lot of people not using Amazon is really difficult and a lot of these issues are a matter of collective action and not like, ordering bulk lightbulbs elsewhere, but boy I’d love it if more people would find Amazon alternatives

— Jaya Saxena (@jayasax) November 21, 2018

And for many, that free shipping and convenience is a lifesaver. In a recent Twitter thread, social work student Carey Kirijo explained their complicated feelings about the wave of people publicly canceling their Prime subscriptions, noting that for those with disabilities or mental health issues, as well as those who live in rural areas, the decision is much more fraught.

Kirijo explained that their disabling mental illness sometimes prevents them from leaving the house for long periods of time, and social anxiety means that tight aisles and bright lights have the potential to trigger panic attacks, which makes online shopping a huge help.

“I really, really love online retail as a tool,” Kirijo says, “But I think that with the lack of regulation, especially massive corporations like Amazon, there are opportunities for retailers to take advantage of workers and the system as a whole. Amazon workers should be allowed to unionize, and other steps should be taken to protect working conditions. We need to be having this conversation about Amazon, and I’m happy we’re having it, on the understanding that Amazon probably isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

And there is the other question: Even if lost subscribers becomes a major problem for Amazon, it won’t undo the damages its success has wrought on the world. A New York Times investigation earlier this fall explained that in a rush to compete against Amazon, other retailers like Verizon have exploited warehouse workers, too many of whom have fainted or even experienced miscarriages while on the job due to grueling conditions.

What, then, could Amazon do to answer for its crimes? “If Amazon warehouse workers were unionized, and if the Postal Service union were able to successfully advocate for better conditions for the delivery drivers who are overwhelmed with Amazon packages, that’d be good,” Tolentino offers.

“I think we’ll have to sacrifice a lot of conveniences to allow for humane conditions at Amazon,” Amato adds. “It’s such a beast at this point. It either needs to be broken up or nationalized, and I’m not sure where to start. I can only fight with my wallet.”

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Original Source -> Slowly but surely, the Amazon Prime backlash is coming

via The Conservative Brief

How Should We Feel About Comebacks in the #MeToo Era?

The ranks here at FASHION are not filled with men. Shocking, right? But there are one or two (there are actually, literally, two). Naturally, when a question about male/female dynamics arises it’s only fair that one of them stand in for the members of his gender and provide some insight. Our last topic of conversation was about the concept of ‘the redistribution of sex’ as a response to the incel movement and today we’re talking about the comebacks of men who’ve fallen from grace in the #MeToo era. Two of our staffers—from the men’s corner, Greg Hudson, and from the women’s, Pahull Bains—talk it out.

Greg Hudson: A few weeks ago there was a story that got passed around about how disgraced interviewer and person I first heard about in a Treble Charger song, Charlie Rose, was going to be making a comeback by hosting an interview show where he talks with other men who were taken down by the #MeToo movement (not without reason). The news was not well-received. And while that example seemed particularly tone deaf (but really, tell us more about how hard it was to be called out for abusing your power…), generally it didn’t seem like enough time had passed for these men to be talking about reclaiming their Patriarchal Thrones. I had been meaning to talk to you about it, actually, but then the news cycle moved on and there were other things to be outraged by.

There are always more things to be outraged by.

If you were on the Internet last week, particularly the parts of the Internet frequented by older millennials, you would have seen the new Backstreet Boys video. They released a single! The first time in like five years! And they dance, even though they are very clearly not Boys anymore!

You’ll recall–or maybe you won’t–that Nick Carter was among the first chunk of allegations after the Weinstein story broke. A former member of the girl group DREAM, which I oddly don’t remember (were they the American equivalent of Sugar Jones?), accused Carter of raping her nearly 20 years ago. He denied it, of course, saying that he thought they were in a consensual relationship. She even filed a police report though.

Then! Netflix released the new season of Arrested Development starring Jeffrey Tambor, who was accused of inappropriate behaviour by women on the Transparent set and was fired from the show because of it, despite the fact that he was the Trans Parent at the centre of the family drama. Not only has Tambor returned to our screens, but according to an article on Deadline yesterday, Netflix has submitted his name for Emmy consideration.

And finally, Deadline recently published a story about Pixar’s John Lasseter preparing to take his old job back after stepping down for six months because employees had complained that his hugs and touching made them feel uncomfortable.

So, my question: is this how comebacks will happen? They’ll just sail by, covered by other band members, cast members, and corporate bureaucracy? Is it because these cases were never proven, or never as credible as other ones that these men just pick up where they left off? Does this prove that all the fussing men were doing about potentially ruined careers was all just so much male bluster and threatened privilege? Or is it a question of fame: the higher they were, the farther they fell, and the harder it will be to come back. Nick Carter, for example, always seemed a little close to the ground, so his fall was never going to be too serious.

Thoughts?

Pahull Bains: I actually did NOT know about the accusation of rape against Nick Carter!!! But right off the bat I guess I should point out that… this has all totally happened before? Lets count the men who’ve done some–very publicly known–awful and even illegal things, and yet continued to work another day (or, you know, decade). Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, Mel Gibson, Chris Brown, R Kelly… Of all of them, Gibson’s probably the only one who pulled off a “comeback,” whereas the others were sort of steadily working right through, or soon after, their respective scandals. So I suppose the question is: why should this time be different? Or maybe even: should this time be different?

I know the world at large has been describing this moment in time in rather hyperbolic terms—watershed, sea change, reckoning—and perhaps we need to take a moment to step back for some perspective. Like I said, this has all happened before (the accusations, the outrage, the comebacks), albeit not in the heightened atmosphere of “a movement.” Things do seem different this time around though. Thanks to the current zeitgeist, we’re even re-litigating (in the court of public opinion, at least) some of those old high crimes and misdemeanours, most notably with Woody Allen and R Kelly. But the thing with both of them is: it’s the public, as a whole, that seems to be shunning them, even if the dudes who call the shots (aka the studios, the record labels, the production companies etc) seem happy to maintain the status quo. So what does it mean when a behemoth like Netflix not just welcomes Jeffrey Tambor but puts his name up for a major award? Is the corporate bureaucracy just testing us? Trying to see how far they can push us before the inevitable boycott hashtags sweep Twitter? The only thing that brought down Bill O’Reilly, after all, was advertisers pulling out from his show after being flooded with tweets, calls and emails. I can’t help but feel that these comebacks are going to be quietly, deftly attempted in various ways and with various men, just to see what the public pushback is. And in many cases, the public isn’t going to care. Or rather, is going to be too weary to care, too weary to summon their outrage for yet another cause. Like you said, some of the comebacks are going to sail by, and some aren’t, and I think the powers that be are willing to take a few gambles to see what works and what doesn’t.

GH: Have you seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi? One of the reasons some people didn’t like it–not counting the dudes who complained about the audacity of a woman daring to be the main character in a Star Wars movie, without wearing even one metal bikini–was because of the Canto Bight scene. You’ll recall that the entire subplot–where Finn and Rose try to find a code breaker so he can something something, it’s not important–ends in failure, and so some people felt that the movie was wasting their time. It’s a fair complaint, narratively speaking, but thematically, those characters had to fail in order to Learn an Important Lesson.

I wonder if this is an analogy for this moment. I think it’s possible to look at these accused men slowly coming back to prominence as a failure. Like, we thought we could fight the system, but the system is too powerful. Aside from the men who may be formally charged, inevitably all the others will find work again. But maybe it’s not a failure. Maybe the whole movement has at least taught people an Important Lesson.

But, can we really learn a lesson if there are no lasting repercussions? My one concern during all the allegations–and admittedly it wasn’t a pressing concern–was that there didn’t seem to be any path toward redemption. There was no way to change. It felt like any man who did something wrong was to be banished forever. And, to be fair, I can find articles that basically say just that.

The only problem is, we’re getting the final answers without seeing the work. Maybe these men deserve redemption because they learned their lesson, apologized to the victims, worked on themselves, all that good stuff. Or maybe they deserve their careers because they were innocent all along. Or, maybe they’re just benefitting from inertia and male privilege. We don’t know, and that’s frustrating. We do know that the conversation has changed, and that’s something. It feels like a loss, but maybe it’s not?

My only other observation about this: quality matters in journalism. One of the things that depressed me the most about Trump’s win was that it seemed to prove how impotent the media was. Basically every newspaper and magazine endorsed Clinton and roundly rejected Trump. The Atlantic endorsed a candidate for only the third time in its LONG history. And it made no difference. The Asshole won.

But with this movement, the better researched stories, the ones with the most detail and–not for nothing–the serious ones: the people at the centre of those stories seem to still be keeping quiet. At least for this week.

Should we–and by we I mean not me, because I’m, you know, a straight white man–define what winning looks like? Then we’d at least know how to feel when more men started coming back.

PB: Good question. But before I get into that, I just want to say that redemption is possible. BUT we’re sharp enough to sniff out the truly reformed cases from the ones that are just doing it to weasel their way back into the public’s good graces. Harvey Weinstein, for example, has been assaulting and abusing women for decades; he’s not going to be miraculously transformed overnight and we’d be silly to think he can. Someone like Dan Harmon, on the other hand, was thoughtful and introspective about a subordinate he chased and behaved poorly with for years, and it did genuinely seem like he’d seen the error of his ways. So there are Lessons being Learned, and they’re moving the conversation forward, which we both agree is only a positive thing. As time goes on, I think we’re all also getting better at understanding nuance and context; the defense of Aziz Ansari from various corners of the Internet is a good example of that.

Back to whether the learning of these lessons makes any difference at all: while I think it’s far too optimistic to think that the #MeToo awakening is going to bring about unwavering, unalterable change, it’s also defeatist to think that nothing has changed. Like I said, these comebacks have happened before, and they’re happening now, right before our very eyes. The main difference that I sense between then and now is that people are less willing to take shit. We want better of our celebrities, of our idols, of our colleagues, of our friends. And with the Internet, there’s a sort of strength in numbers; we can collectively demand better, and our combined voices carry real weight.

I think what winning looks like in the context of the long game of the #MeToo movement is an attempt, even if not always successful, at challenging the power of certain kinds of men in civil society and popular culture. Some might return, like you say, to their Patriarchal Thrones, and some might even find themselves in the White House (it’s STILL hard to believe) but at the very least, those thrones have been indelibly smeared, and the reality of their wrongdoings will follow them forever, no matter what. Lets face it: even if Charlie Rose comes back, no one’s going to ever look at him in quite the same way again. So while we might lose some battles, in the long run the war, I think, will still be won.

http://ift.tt/2rhtmyO

Britney Spears was the hottest thing in the world for a long, long time. If you’d like us to be more specific, Britney Spears was the hottest thing in the world from 1999 – 2006. Her debut album …Baby One More Time became the best selling album from any teenager ever. Have you seen her music videos? Girlfriend may not have the best voice, but her music videos are legendary. Britney in a schoolgirl outfit? Britney in a red latex catsuit? Yep, we’re sold. Her world tours were crushin’ it. She performed during the Super Bowl Halftime show. She was on magazine covers. She earned Grammy nominations. She dated Justin Timberlake. She kissed Madonna at the VMAs. She was It. Then, 2007 happened. If you Google “Britney Spears 2007,” you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about. It was a year that included Bald Britney and her trusty umbrella. Many people didn’t think there was any coming back from that, but Britney came back. She now has a wildly popular residency in Las Vegas that is reportedly earning her $475,000 a show. She managed to not shave her head, get arrested, or get married in the past few years. It seems that Britney is back. However, she can never truly be back. Her breakdown is something that taints her image, no matter how much effort she puts into rehabbing it. Yes, she looks great and performs with the same fire she once had, but we can all still recall Bald Brit with her umbrella. Prior to 2007, Britney was on top of the world and there were no bat-shit crazy photos to blemish her image. She was truly perfect. That was when Britney was in her prime. Here are 18 photos to remind you just how on top of the world ol’ Britney was at such a young age.

#1 Wearing A Very Practical Metal Shirt This shirt is not practical in any regard. In fact, we’re betting that a chain mail shirt is pretty uncomfortable and quite chilly. Also, the fact that it’s only being held together by two delicate chains means Britney can’t do much in it. A slight breeze passes and Brit could be showing much more than she wanted. Practicality aside, this photo is vintage Britney. Between the purple eye shadow and glossy lips, she is reminding us just ridiculous some of her looks were… but she still looked perfect. She actually thrives in these early 2000s styles. Oh, and her body is amazing. We’re pretty sure that belly piercings surged 200% from Brit flaunting her always-taut stomach, and belly button ring. Unfortunately, getting a belly button ring doesn’t automatically make you as hot as Britney. There is only one Britney.

#2 As A Gladiator With A Belly Ring Back in 2001, Britney struck an endorsement deal with Pepsi for a whooping $8 million. Considering how iconic the Britney/Pepsi advertisements were, $8 million was actually a steal. While they worked several different marketing spins, the most memorable is Gladiator Britney. How could you forget this commercial? Some people (totally me) would watch TV just hoping this commercial came on. In it, Britney, Beyonce, and Pink come into a gladiator dome and sing “We Will Rock You.” This is all while drinking Pepsi, of course. A mandate for casting must have been something like, “Singer with abs of steel.” All of these ladies have washboard stomachs. While Britney rocked her sexy-Gladiator look, our favorite part is that she’s still wearing her belly button ring. You can take Brit out of 2001, but you can’t take the belly ring out of Brit.

#3 Britney Spears, Sweet As Pie When Britney Spears first hit the scene, she really milked the wholesome thing. In fact, the “…Baby One More Time” music video was originally supposed to be cartoonish to appeal to a young audience, but Britney had a better idea. She pitched her own concept of it being at a school with lots of dancing. They obviously went for this idea, since it is now what we know as the iconic video. Hold on, Britney is even more genius. Upon looking at the wardrobe, which was a t-shirt and jeans, she then pitched the schoolgirl idea. Again, they went for it. It gets better. She thought the uniforms were too dorky and suggested everyone tie up their shirts. Basically, Britney was the mastermind behind the whole music video, which launched her entire career and brand. People often underestimate Britney, but girlfriend is in tune with what to give the public. This photo is from a shoot with Timothy White in 1999. She’s obviously still milking the sweet as apple pie thing, which was always part of her appeal. Britney was always both the girl next door and, uh, the type of girl who dances with a snake around her neck.

#4 That Rolling Stone Cover In 1999, Britney graced the cover of Rolling Stone for the first time. It would become an iconic photoshoot, both for her and Rolling Stone. This particular photoshoot really encapsulated what was so interesting about Britney. She was 18 years old and somewhere between being a girl and a woman – y’know, as she would sing about later. The cover photo (above) showed the teenage Britney in her underwear while holding both a telephone and a Teletubby. It is rubbing both her sexuality and innocence in your face. It was about this time that the American Family Association condemned Britney. They said that the photoshoot was disturbing because of the way it mixed young innocence and adult sexuality. Uh, that was kind of the point, guys. The AFA urged people to boycott Queen Brit. Obviously, the AFA didn’t make that much of a dent on her career.

#5 That Other Rolling Stones Cover Britney Spears went on to grace the cover of Rolling Stone several times. She’s worn a t-shirt and jeans on the cover, a bra and jeans, an American flag shirt and red leather pants. She also wore just underwear and what seemed like a bed sheet. In 2003, she graced the cover in the above photo, which really, really showed off the curves of her body. 2003 was way past the days of her youth. She had already publicly broken up with Justin, supposedly for cheating on him with a back-up dancer. Britney was no longer the girl in a school uniform. She was a woman. That year also saw the release of her 4th studio album, In The Zone. This album would produce four singles: “Me Against the Music,” “Toxic,” “Everytime,” and “Outrageous.” While everyone remembers Britney’s “Toxic” video (how could you not?), it was her “Everytime” video that really had critics talking. In it, Britney plays a star, who suffers under the stress of the media, dies, and is resurrected into a baby who was born at the hospital. It was oddly prolific considering how Britney would soon struggle under the weight of stardom.

#6 No One Has Ever Looked As Good In A Green Bikini You don’t see many green bikinis. Green can be a difficult color to pull off, especially in bikini form. Britney’s always-tanned bod and honey blonde hair makes it easy for her to look good in just about any color. Seriously, she can wear anything from a red latex catsuit to this green bikini. It also helps that her body is perfectly sculpted. This picture is included because it is, again, vintage Britney. While she is flaunting her amazing body, her face is anything but sultry. She is wearing minimum makeup and has the wind blowing through her hair. Her mega-watt smile isn’t seducing anyone. It more looks like a carefree smile of someone about to jump into a lake. Yet, she’s still seducing anyone who looks at this photo. It’s this duality that made Britney a star. Oh, also she’s rocking her belly ring because duh.

#7 Classic Britney With Crimped Hair Britney with the crimped hair was everything. She somehow pulled off crimped hair, even though no one pulls off crimped hair. This resulted in a ton of people copying her style – think of her herds of young girls who crimped their hair in the early 2000s. Little did those young girls know that Britney with crimped hair is much different than the rest of the world with crimped hair. She rocked crimped hair at awards shows, photoshoots, and in music videos. This photo is a great example of Brit rocking something that would look good on no one else. If you ever saw a girl in real life with half-curled and half-crimped hair, you’d just think she looks… well, she wouldn’t look like Britney. That’s for sure. For whatever reason, Britney looks hot. It also helps that she’s wearing a tiny jean skirt and midriff-bearing tank. Also, I spy a belly ring.

#8 No Biggie, Just Chillin’ In A Field Of Flowers This photo may be the height of Britney doing the wholesome thing. She’s just chillin’ in a field of flowers. She looks just about as youthful and innocent as anyone can possibly look. See? This was her appeal. You’d see this photoshoot, but then you’d also see Britney shimmying in a schoolgirl outfit. It was all so confusing, and all so hot. The issue with this specific appeal is that it’s difficult for someone to keep up long-term. Britney Spears is now 35 years old. She can’t do that sweet, small town girl thing anymore. We all know Britney has been through some shit. In a genius way, Britney does dip into a mature wholesome angle through her social media posts. On her Instagram, she posts photos of her family, photos of goofy selfies, motivational quotes. Britney will even post pictures of goddamn kittens on Instagram just ’cause she thinks they’re cute. It’s a new version of her wholesomeness, as she can’t play the wide-eyed young thing anymore.

#9 That Performance With A Snake We couldn’t not include this photo for several reasons. First of all, look at her. The “I’m a Slave 4 U” period was when Britney’s abs were at the top of their game. We know, we know. Girlfriend always had abs. That’s true, but at this point in her career, she was cut. There is barely any fat on her entire body. This particular performance was at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. We could focus on how hot she is, because duh. Instead, let’s talk about what a performer she is. Girlfriend went on live television with an albino python on her shoulders. I probably wouldn’t put an albino python on my shoulders… like ever, especially not on live television. Britney is a badass, who is willing to do anything to give fans a show. This is why she has endured as one of the most successful singers of all time.

#10 The “I’m A Slave 4 U” Music Video Britney’s performance with the snake outshined the “I’m a Slave 4 U” music video. I mean, she was carrying a snake around on live TV. There was obviously a ton of buzz around that. However, the music video is not to be overlooked. Britney pumped out several iconic music videos in her time, but this may be the sexiest of all her videos. First, there’s her body. Like we said, this was the top of her ab game. There is also the fact that everyone is dripping in sweat in the video. It looks like a hot yoga studio. If you think about it too much, it’s not actually very sexy with all the sweat, but at face value it’s hot. The sweat was apparently tasty too, since someone straight up licks Britney’s face in the video. Lastly, sweaty Brit was wearing her underwear outside of her pants. That may not have been all that practical, but she was sex on a stick. If you had to show an alien one music video to describe what “sexy” is, it would be this video.

#11 Can We Talk About Her Necklace? This picture has so much Britney going on, it’s amazing. First of all, her half-crimped hair again – YES! We don’t know who kept telling her to rock this hairstyle, but we’re so happy about it. Also, we have no idea what her shirt is doing. It’s pink and see-through. In fact, you can see her bra though it. We’re not even sure why she’s wearing a shirt. Half the time, she’d be in bikini top, so what’s up with the see-through shirt? We don’t know. Okay, moving on. We’re super into whatever denim she’s rocking below. It looks like it’s folded down, so it may be shorts, a skirt, or jeans. We have no idea. Does it matter? Nah, not really. She still looks hot. Finally, we have her famous belly ring. It may be the most famous belly ring in all of history. No, seriously. Has anyone ever rocked a belly ring more? We don’t think so. Oh, and the lips necklace! What is that! It’s so bad and so Britney. We love it.

#12 Covered In Toilet Paper… And Still Hot What is this picture? We don’t know. There are the two things making Britney almost unrecognizable – her head is turned. We know it’s Brit (in 2016), but we are only getting the side profile. The second thing is the lack of the belly ring. Where is her famous belly ring? Was she like, ‘Oh, I’m mature now. I better take my belly ring out, even though I’ve been photographed with it in for, like, a decade’? We don’t know her thought process and we’re slightly disappointed that she doesn’t have her belly ring in. It’s the hottest stomach piercing in history. Moving beyond that, her body still looks phenomenal. Like, absolutely amazing. As good as in her prime. However, who the hell styled her? Why is she wearing a bunch of fabric wrapped around her body? She looks like a girl who wrapped toilet paper around herself so she could be a mummy for Halloween. She’s so hot that she still looks good with fabric dripping off of her body.

#13 A Very Cropped Crop Top Alright, this might be the hottest Brit. This was after she shed her good girl image. She didn’t go full-on X-Tina, aka Christina Aguilera circa Dirrty. Also, have we ever uncovered the mystery as to why X-Tina spelled “dirty” as “dirrty”? Why the extra R? The X-Tina era was a drastic change. What was so fascinating about Britney was that she shifted into womanhood all while still being Britney. Much of her brand was still the same, but she has just shaken free of the schoolgirl we were introduced to in 1999. If any picture shows Britney fully indulging in her sultry, southern side, it’s this photo. She’s wearing the most cropped crop top of all time. She’s still sporting her signature tanned skin, blonde hair, and tight stomach. Oh, and of course – her belly ring! Yas, queen of belly piercings. We love it. Her denim shorts are super short and unbuttoned. We get it, Brit. You’re sexy. Your necklace is longer than your shirt. You’re a woman now.

#14 When Britney Won The Super Bowl There was nothing better than Britney in 2001. Between her Pepsi deal, her hit albums, and the fact that she was the hottest thing in the world, Britney had it all in 2001. All included the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Of course, Aerosmith and N Sync were the headline performers. But, for the finale, Britney, Mary J. Blige, and Nelly joined them to perform “Walk This Way”. Some of the performers she shared the stage with are legendary, but look at her abs! This was 100% Britney. She had random braids in her hair, a cut up shirt and shiny NFL pants on. OH, and she also rocked a random sock on her one forearm. It was weird, but Brit pulled it off. The best part was that this was while Britney and Justin were dating. If you watch the performance, she even smiles every time he sings. Was there ever a cuter couple? Also, belly ring!

#15 The Most Epic Jumpsuit Of All Time We’d love to post the entire “Oops!… I Did It Again” video, because it was epic. Britney. In a red latex catsuit. Say no more. She also rocked a white, cropped turtleneck outfit too, which was totally hot. No one remembers the white turtleneck number, though, because the red catsuit was everything. Apparently, the catsuit was Britney’s idea. See? We told you that she had a sixth sense about what would hit. Per Brit’s orders, the costume designer had to stay up all night to make her catsuit. Uh, thank heavens they did, because it will go down in pop culture history. This video was also at the edge of her wholesome image. With lyrics in this song like “Oops! You think I’m in love/That I’m sent from above/I’m not that innocent” Britney was both indulging her audience in sweetness but easing us into her sexy transition.

#16 Whoopsies, Forgot To Button Her Sweater Here is Britney Spears looking hot as hell. Slightly past her wide-eyed, innocent phase, she was embracing the sultry side, all while wearing a cardigan. Of course, she forgot to button her cardigan, whoopsies! Her shorts (or skirt?) was the shortest thing in the world. She could have been wearing underwear. Her body was flawless. And, you know what we’re totally going to point out right now, right? Her belly button ring! Always and forever. Forget The Beatles. The best group in history is Britney, her abs, and her belly ring. Also, here is a prime example of how Brit mixes the sweet and sexy today. She posted this photo on her Instagram recently, with a caption that read: “My friends sent me this picture today… and it’s weird because I just realized it’s one of the only pictures I’ve ever taken upside down!” The photo is hot, but the caption said something about how goofy it is because it’s upside down. That’s Britney – she posts something smokin’ hot but is like, ‘Golly gee, y’all, I’m upside down!’

#17 When She Was Like, “Hey World, I’m A Woman!” While this picture gives you the gist of the performance, if you haven’t seen it, check it out. Britney comes out wearing a suit and singing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” She then removes her suit to reveal a nude, sparkly outfit and sing “Oops!…I Did It Again.” Her performance is flawless. Does she have the pipes that some of the other greatest pop stars have had? No, not by a long shot. But try, just try, to take your eyes off the screen as Britney performs. She is entertainment at it’s finest. Also, can we talk about how genius Britney was? She used this performance to rebrand herself. Before this, she was the schoolgirl from “…Baby One More Time.” She was bubble gum. She was southern sweetness. She was apple pie with a belly ring. This was her saying, “I’m a woman and I’m sexy.” She was done with being seen as the good, little girl. Using a VMA performance to rebrand would be a move that Miley Cyrus stole from Brit. Why did Miley follow in Brit’s footsteps? Because it friggin’ worked. No one thought Britney was a sweet, young girl after watching this performance. She was powerful, sexy, commanded the stage, and owned everything she touched.

#18 Sugar And Spice, Naughty And Nice We’ll finish with this photo, taken before her 2000 VMA performance. It’s the most perfect example of the Britney paradox. It’s both innocent and remarkably sexy. She is wearing a pink tee shirt that’s tied up. With the addition of her black, leather pants and tight stomach, she’s walking sex. However, her face is fresh and happy. She isn’t batting her eyes at the camera. She’s smiling like it’s the goddamn prom. This is what Britney Spears tapped into in a way that no one will ever be able to tap into again. It was a different America. It was an America that was reeling from the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair. Sex was not being served up in such a blunt way, especially by a teenage girl. Then came Britney Spears. Since Britney, we’ve had different versions of pop stars. Taylor Swift taps into the wholesome aspect, but fails to be even a teardrop as sexy. Lady Gaga can do theatrics like Britney, but nothing about Gaga is ever wholesome. Katy Perry is sexy and rocks bubblegum pop tunes, but taps into a pin-up vibe instead of innocence. This mixture of sexy and sweet is what made Britney so desirable and entertaining in her prime. While we still love Britney, nothing will ever top Britney in her prime. It was truly lightning in a bottle.

Source: TheRichest

#OscarsSoWhite Was Important But The Oscars Were Not

In todays social media driven, viral culture, its not uncommon for a singular story to dominate the news cycle, only to be completely forgotten about shortly thereafter. If you haven’t overdosed on flakka or been poisoned by lead, think back to a couple of weeks ago when Jada Pinkett-Smith and Spike Lee announced, via their Instagram accounts, that they wouldn’t be attending Sundays Academy Awards over the exclusively eggshell pigment of the nominees.

Thanks to social media, their boycott then became a movement with momentum. #OscarsSoWhite, the movements popularly elected Twitter banner, was trending for a matter of weeks which is basically the highest validation something can receive nowadays. Joining their call for more diversity in films were: black people tired of not being represented in films, black actors tired of being racially type casted, and white actors apparently tired of being over-represented.

The movement to boycott the Oscars got so popular that some called for Chris Rock (the man doesn’t need an introduction), to join the cause and step down as host. As a result, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, issued a statement saying that she was heartbroken over the lack of diversity and that she would do everything in her power to fix it.

All of this and more, came to a head Sunday night at the ceremony. Leonardo DiCaprios prayers were answered and Chris Rock showed up, making the event a go. This was despite George Clooney among others, but namely George Clooney, being absent.

With his opening monologue, Rock wasted no time in addressing the racist elephant in the room. While his opening monologue was comedically brilliant, it will be remembered as the best opening monologue of all time because it summed up the current state of diversity and representation in the entertainment industry so well. Like much of Chris Rocks comedy, the genius of it lay in between the lines. Sure the punch lines slayed, but the subtexts made you really think.

ith his opening monologue, Rock wasted no time in addressing the racist elephant in the room.

In regards to the shows opening sequence, which included snippets from many of the years snubs, Rock said, Man, I counted at least 15 black people on that montage. Im here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White peoples Choice Awards. In this choice line, Rock prophetically calls out the Academy for its after-the-fact attempts at diversity. I say it was prophetic because it just so happened that every commercial belonging to an Academy sponsor featured a mixed race or black family. However, the most painfully contrived example of pandering came at the end of the show, when Public Enemys played over the credits. My eyes were rolling so hard, I almost passed out.

After letting the initial shock, caused by directly calling the Oscars racist die, Rock pointed out the inherent irony of the #OscarsSoWhite movement by saying: Why are we protesting? The big question: Why this Oscars? Why this Oscars, you know? Its the 88th Academy Awards. Its the 88th Academy Awards, which means this whole no black nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. O.K.? You gotta figure that it happened in the 50s, in the 60s you know, in the 60s, one of those years Sidney didnt put out a movie. Im sure there were no black nominees some of those years. Say 62 or 63, and black people did not protest. Why? Because we had real things to protest at the time, you know? We had real things to protest; you know, were too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won best cinematographer.

This is what makes Chris Rock a genius. His comedy operates on multiple levels. What hes saying, most clearly, is that the Oscars have never been diverse. But what hes really getting at is the systematic racism in Hollywood. Through further implication, hes also exposing the nearsightedness of people who don’t agree with the #OscarsSoWhite message. People in other decades never protested the obviously racist Oscar ceremonies, because they had other things on their plate like trying not to be killed. But that doesn’t make the Oscars any less racist.

That being said, the Oscars aren’t diverse because Hollywood doesn’t offer good roles to black actors on a regular basis. Not because the voters are racist. When he hilariously pointed out that he didn’t want to lose another job to Kevin Hart, the implication was that as two comedic black actors, theyre offered the same roles. It also says that there aren’t enough jobs in Hollywood for the both of them. He revisits this point later when he says that Jamie Foxx was so good in that Hollywood killed the real Ray Charles because they didn’t need two of these.

That being said, the Oscars aren’t diverse because Hollywood doesn’t offer good roles to black actors on a regular basis. Not because the voters are racist.

Rock then offered a caveat to the criticism of the Oscars by specifically addressing the people who started the movement. But what happened this year? What happened? People went mad. Spike got mad got mad, and Jada went mad, and Will went mad. Everybody went mad, you know? Jada got mad? Jada says she not coming, protesting. Im like aint she on a TV show? Jada is going to boycott the Oscars Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihannas panties. I wasnt invited. Oh, thats not an invitation I would turn down.

While he agrees with Jada and Spikes message, hes a comedian and cultural commentator, so hes paid to tell the whole truth, even when its unpopular. Jada is basically a television actress who is paid millions of dollars. Will, her husband, is an actor who has reaped the rewards of being the most bankable black actor in Hollywood not the most prolific. The Smiths are not a relatable family with relatable problems. Moreover, is also not exactly the movie to scream racism! over either. Its a PG-13 Sports drama not exactly Oscar material. That being said, Rock doesn’t mention Spike in any of this because was a great movie. But Spike Lee is wellSpike Lee. His films are too controversial, too real, to win Academy awards. Im not saying that its right but the Academy doesn’t often reward risk takers.

Rock then goes on by saying, Not everything is sexism. Not everything is racism. The Academys membership is mainly comprised of old, wrinkled, white men. So whats happening here isn’t exactly police brutality racism, its more, old-lady-clutching-her-purse racism. Its the summation of unconscious bias and the result of archaic perceptions of highbrow art.

This is what an organization that is totally out of touch with the public, looks like. This is what Rock is getting at when he points out that Hollywood is home to the nicest, most-liberal, white people; theyll vote for a black president, yet they wont hire black actors. Despite their liberal sensibilities, their whole way of thinking about entertainment has been shaped by an archaic system that deals in white stories. After all, the institution theyre part of still refers to movies as motion pictures.

This is what an organization that is totally out of touch with the public, looks like.

How many old people do you know saw How many old people you know of, know who the hell the N.W.A. are? As for yeah, its possible Oscar material, but its also a Netflix movie. Why the hell would the Academy of Motion pictures nominate a film thats made by the same company (Netflix) thats ravaging their industry, for anything? Oh, thats right, they wouldnt.

Despite the Oscars boycott, the general point of the #OscarsSoWhite movement is accurate. As Chris Rock puts it: We want opportunity. We want black actors to get the same opportunities as white actors.

It seems that the only way a black person can be nominated for something is by playing a mammy or a slave. While its truly fucked up, its nothing new, and blaming The Academy misses the point.

Who we should really be mad at, are the studios. The studios decide what gets made and what doesn’t. Theyre the ones who only want to make films dealing in the stalest of stereotypes. Theyre the ones who only want quality movies made with all black casts.

When Rock talked about Paul Giamatti playing someone who hates black people one year and playing someone who loves black people another, hes inferring something about the industry. He later says it out right: white actors get great roles, real roles, all the time. Black actors dont. They are confined to the archetypes and stereotypes created by the older generation.

Only in a Hollywood thats racist can an insane monologue about fucking fried chicken happen ina movie that won a bunch of Oscars (Only in a totally out of touch Hollywood could that god-forsaken movie about that white guy who saves the inner-city black kids from themselves, keep being made. You know the movie that Im talking about. The one with that white guy the black kids dont trust him at first, because of their rough upbringing and all that bullshit, so they treat him badly. But eventually he wins them over and they learn to trust him. He then teaches them about the beauty of learning or creative expression. He gets them out of the projects, they teach him how to dance. These movies are tired, embarrassing, and insulting.

However, the studios are only interested in making money, so they dont care about the cultural or societal repercussions that their trash movies are having on America. Theyve been doing it for so long that these stereotypes have become embedded in movie-watching language without most people even knowing it.

Its not an accident that we dont have an Asian American or Native American Ryan Gosling type of actor. To these old, white, wrinkled men, white is the norm. White culture and white people are considered the mainstream audience, which is where most of the money is to be made. Thats why the media has labeled Eddie Murphy and Kevin Hart, two of the biggest actor-comedians of all time, cross-over artists. As in, they successfully crossed over from the niche (black) market to the mainstream (white) market.

Getting mad at the Academy Awards is pointless. Yes, theyre celebrating their craft but its also an award show of made-up importance. All it is, is an event where beautiful people, who are already worshipped by the culture, further exacerbate their self-importance by giving each other golden statues of no inherent value. It only takes about $100 to make one of those creepy things. Giving them any more attention than that is a waste of time and energy.

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