Also, I forgot to update with my blood test results — everything came back negative, although I’ve no idea what they were actually testing for and hence how comprehensive they were.

Currently housing a cold and dwelling on how absurd it is that I turn twenty-one next week.

especially with regard to appearance. Anyone who considers themselves ‘natural’ and thus inherently superior to others is pretty damn likely to have done one or more of the following:

• Used soap or shower gel
• Washed their hair with shampoo or conditioner
• Brushed their teeth with toothpaste
• Used face wipes, cleanser, toner or moisturiser
• Clipped or cut their nails
• Cut their hair
• Dyed their hair
• Plucked, waxed, shaved or bleached body hair
• Used deoderant
• Wore clothes

Not to mention eating processed food, taking medicine, etc. So the idea that a bit of fake tan and painted eyebrows transforms somebody from this ~pure state of natural beauty~ into a cheap, pathetic excuse for a person is completely unwarranted, not to mention outright dehumanising.

“There is no African, myself included, who does not appreciate the help of the wider world, but we do question whether aid is genuine or given in the spirit of affirming one’s cultural superiority. My mood is dampened every time I attend a benefit whose host runs through a litany of African disasters before presenting a (usually) wealthy, white person, who often proceeds to list the things he or she has done for the poor, starving Africans. Every time a well-meaning college student speaks of villagers dancing because they were so grateful for her help, I cringe. Every time a Hollywood director shoots a film about Africa that features a Western protagonist, I shake my head — because Africans, real people though we may be, are used as props in the West’s fantasy of itself. And not only do such depictions tend to ignore the West’s prominent role in creating many of the unfortunate situations on the continent, they also ignore the incredible work Africans have done and continue to do to fix those problems.”

— Uzodinma Iweala, “Stop Trying to ‘Save’ Africa”

(Source: ryanmichael-s, via a-thousand-desires)

“Have you ever noticed?—people, no matter how beautiful or desirable, invariably will, if observed closely while going about their daily business of keeping alive, begin to seem like monsters.”

— Donald Antrim, The Verificationist

(Source: mythologyofblue)