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Lizzo calls out fat phobic and racist hate following new song release

Lizzo calls out fat phobic and racist hate following new song release
Aug 18 2021 Share

After releasing the new song ‘Rumors’ alongside Cardi B, artist addressed the wave of hate comments directed at her bodyside and race on a video viewed more than 10 million times. The song itself addressed the criticisms she received before, with one verse asking ‘Why you spending all your time trying to break a woman down?’. The three-time Grammy winner opened up how she was less tolerant of hateful comments after working so hard on her latest music. 

She opened up how despite her trying to spread positivity, the world doesn’t love her back and that when Black women don’t fit into the box society desires, hate is unleashed upon them. Cardi B, her collaborator, also stood up for Lizzo, pointing out the rampant racism and fat phobic comments. Some called Lizzo a ‘mammy’, a racist caricature of an ‘overtly happy and plus-size Black woman. Lizzo continues to produce art to empower women just like her and, despite having their toll, stands up to the hate as a true inspiration. 

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Photo Source: New York Post , Sky News

“You’re not like other girls” is not a compliment | by Għajjejt u Xbajt

Aug 18 2021 Share

Or – “the only way I feel as if I can compliment you right now is by putting down other women and the basic ways in which I have been taught that they act by popular culture and society, because I do not know how to compliment you for the individual that you are, and need someone else to be put down in order to show you that you are special”.

At its core – this sentiment originates within a very specific negative societal view of anything that is deemed ‘girly’ or feminine, or primarily enjoyed by feminine humans. Maintaining an aversion for the way “most women” or “most girls” act is something that is cemented within us from a very young age. Through pop culture and music and comedy routines, we are taught that if one acts ‘like a girl’, then they are doing something inherently cringe, and therefore is something that should be avoided, or that should be highly praised when avoided.

‘Ugh, you run like a girl.’ –

‘Ugh, you play like a girl.’ –

‘Ugh, you cry like a girl.’ –

‘Ugh, only girls watch that movie.’

Consider the teenage girl. No consumer demographic is drowned in more vitriol than teenage girls, and the content that they consume is often immediately written off by many adults as being unworthy of note, and undeserving of success. Profitable franchises like Twilight, for instance, have often been mocked and considered low-brow purely because it was perceived to have had teenage girls hold its success on their backs; boy bands like One Direction have been laughed at because their primary fan base has always been considered to be teenage girls; To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before as a TV series was considered cringe before it even came out on Netflix, because it was predicted to only attract teenage girls – even though this is exactly what led to its success also being predicted. Although society seems to be aware that there is so much power within the sphere of pop culture held by the teenage girl’s brain, it nonetheless seems to only be comfortable with and encouraging of them whilst it is possible to make money from that which they enjoy.

Society tells the teenage girl, “we want you to buy things and be open about your passion for this piece of media, but we also want you to grow up to be unlike other girls, because girls are basic and inherently cringe.” The teenage girl, forever in limbo, stuck between the capitalist ploys of society and the internalised misogyny it teaches them to hold dear.

So the teenager grows up to believe that they are supposed to seek out to be “not like other girls” – to relinquish all they used to like in their youth and impress their romantic interests by loudly and proudly exclaiming that they would never like to be considered as even remotely similar to the basic girls that they have been taught to despise. “You’re not like other girls” suddenly becomes the compliment to level all compliments, and one is able to hold it like a trophy over the heads of anyone else who dares to stoop so low as to enjoy feminine things.

“She is one of the guys”. The ultimate crown.

The thing about internalised misogyny is that it knows no gender. Many people do not consider the phrase “you’re not like other girls” to be something that perpetuates sexist ideals, because many women say it about themselves, and often go through a period of time where they take pride in distancing themselves from other women, in order to stand out. You may ask, how can it be wrong and sexist if all genders say it, and even sometimes believe it? Misogyny exists everywhere, and harms all of us in many ways, because the patriarchal society tries its hardest to make us hate many traits typically related to our gender, particularly those that exist within the nuances of femininity.

Ultimately, the statement ‘I’m not like other girls’ really does hold so much power within the minds of people, particularly young adults, when it really means nothing at all. Being unlike other people is not worthy of a trophy, but is ultimately inherently true. Nobody is like anybody else, because humans are all varied and gorgeous and strange and silly and different in almost everything they do. No two humans are the same, so being unlike someone else is just being a human person. If someone goes on a date with a young man one night and then starts dating a young woman the week after, they are going to be dating two entirely different human beings – no matter who they are or what they like.

Therefore, the notion of being ‘not like other girls’ holds no more or less aim than to enforce the idea that women should be forever at odds with each other, holding their internalised misogyny like a spear between themselves and all the other women they could be building relationships with – but are instead now trying to be different from. What a waste. Women are not one single thing that society can simply create an ‘other’ from – women are as varied and complex as any other gender, simply because they are human. Beautifully diverse as humans, above all else.

Loving and respecting other girls and women is the ultimate compliment, and is endlessly attractive, because respect and love are both beautiful things to feel and exude. It is not necessary to drag other women down in order to lift oneself up, nor to allow oneself to seem singular in the eyes of other people. One may do that by simply being themselves – in all their varied passions and identities and loves and characters and humanness.

 

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A post shared by GĦAJJEJTUXBAJT (@ghajjejtuxbajt)

Enjoying girly things is not a necessity for any human being, but it is also not something that in any way makes one weak or lesser than – no matter one’s age, gender or sexuality.

Let us move towards seeing joy in being exactly ‘like other girls’ – because girls are awesome and different and cool, and as amazing as every single one of them that exist.

#għajjejtuxbajt

Matthew Grech’s comments on Buttigieg’s parenthood news spur outrage

Matthew Grech’s comments on Buttigieg’s parenthood news spur outrage
Aug 18 2021 Share

Following the news that Maltese-American congressman Pete Buttigieg and his husband have become parents, ex-gay Matthew Grech took to the Facebook comments section to criticise this very fact. He opened his comment by stating that this is not a family God will ever recognise as legitimate and that those countries which introduced the right for LGBTIQ+ members to be parents need to confess in front of the creator. 

Matthew Grech’s comments on Buttigieg’s parenthood news spur outrage

Grech states that they are mocking God’s design and that any homosexual bond is ‘perverted’ in the eyes of God. He announced what he deems to be the good news that when one confesses his sins, Jesus will show mercy and accept them. He ended his homophobic comment by stating that not all that glitters is gold. The comment was met with much disdain and criticism, despite the rest of post containing very similar condemnations of Buttigieg’s otherwise wonderful news.

#MaltaDaily

Photo Source: Fox4News, Matthew Grech FB

57% of Maltese youth blame the government for country’s grey-listing

57% of Maltese youth blame the government for country’s grey-listing
Aug 18 2021 Share

A Misco survey revealed how 60% of 563 respondents are concerned that Malta is on the FATF’s grey list. According to the survey’s findings, youth place the blame on the government whereas the older generation tends to favour the government. 42% of those between ages of 55 and 64 blame the government whereas 29% give blame to the opposition. 48% of those over 65 blame the government whereas 24% blame the opposition. 

Around 76% of youth between ages of 25 and 34 blamed the government, with 57% of those between 16 and 24 doing the same. The opposition received the blame from 20% of the 25-34 year-olds and 33% of 16-24 year-olds. 43% of those interviewed expressed serious worry over Malta’s grey-listing, whereas 17% expressed mild concerns, 24% not worried, 11% not concerned and 5% did not respond. 

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Photo Source: The Telegraph, Robert Abela FB