“why can’t female heroes kick arse in heels” because it’s not practical and will literally snap your damn ankle you can scream weaponised femininity all you want but first off, you need to admit that they’re not an almighty symbol of empowerment, and secondly that if you do a job with a lot of physical activity in heels you’re risking your own safety. all these women fighting in heels on tv are going to end up seriously injuring themselves.
weaponised femininity is a concept made up in an attempt to get us to embrace the industries created to hold us back/profit from our insecurities so that we can continue to fit into the male expectation of what a woman should be and not question why we are forced to spend thousands on our appearance every year
just a small anecdote. I had a friend who worked in theater; she was the stage manager and an actress came to her in tears one day because the director absolutely refused to let her do a choreographed fight scene in less than 3 inch heels because “they’re platforms so you’ll be okay.” My friend, who is a woman’s size 10, brought her own heels in the next day and DEMANDED the director put them on and try the choreography before the actress did it. He finally agreed to change it, without putting the heels on.
so like I know you might think of “all those women on tv fighting in heels” as fictional woman who WOULD hurt themselves in real life, but its fiction so its okay…except those women are portrayed by real actresses who are actually fighting in actual heels, being directed by dudes who have never worn a pair of heels in their lives, alongside men who aren’t expected to constantly wear things that make their stunts 2x more dangerous than they have to be. Just a thought.
This is one reason female stunt doubles get injured so often.
Animal rights activists think those of us who do not agree with them just need some education. And by that they mean we should watch propaganda videos and read literature produced by organisations who stand to make profits from donations received by people they suck in with their sad animal stories. It is a good marketing ploy, I mean, what heartless person wouldn’t want to help a poor, sick, abused animal in need?? But please don’t get sucked into their trap. I actually volunteer MOST of my time to helping animals in need and I grew up on a farm. My whole family is still in the agribusiness and I’m going to be a vet. I’m currently studying animal science at university and vet nursing at a vet clinic. I don’t need to watch your stupid video. Maybe you should go to a farm. Talk to a vet. Volunteer at an animal shelter. Actually teach yourself something.
Don’t just watch a clip of some really sick pigs sitting in a pen and tell me not to eat bacon. What they didn’t tell you is that those pigs were just visited by a vet and are in that pen for quarantine reasons.
Don’t watch a clip of some bald hens and tell me not to eat eggs. What they didn’t tell you is that the so-called activists broke into the barn, pulled out the hens feathers and then switched the cameras on.
Don’t watch or share these videos if you weren’t there to see what happened before and after filming. You know people make a lot of money out of editing films right? And no, I wasn’t referring to the entertainment industry.
Also, when a farm is shut down because propaganda videos destroy a small, family business, those animals are not saved. They are killed. They are still sold onto another farm or to an abattoir. Shutting down farms does not save animals. If there is no money to be made from them, they still get killed. Don’t believe me? Just check the animal shelters in your area. Dogs and cats get killed by the tonne because there are too many of them. The supply outweighs the demand. If there aren’t enough people out there saving puppies and kittens, you can bet there will be even less people putting their hands up to save farm animals. Not that I believe people should adopt any animal just to save it from euthanasia, but I’m off topic.
It’s quite an interesting interaction when an ARA, whose education consists of “documentaries” and blogs from other ARAs, tell people like us, those who actually put our hands on the animals raised on farms, in labs, or with breeders, that we need to get educated.
I spend all my free time literally on a dairy farm taking care of cows and all my classes are on cows but please tell me I’m ignorant because I don’t buy into ur propaganda 🙄🙄🙄
I have a degree in zoology majoring in conservation, where I studied on an agricultural campus for three years. Where many of my classes involved helping on the farms we had with cattle, sheep, deer.
And I still get ARA try to tell me to go watch propaganda videos on Facebook with sad music.
friendly reminder that the only reference to non-straight people even existing in the whole of 7 harry potter books was that one time in ootp when dudley made fun of harry saying cedric’s name in his sleep, asking mockingly if that was his boyfriend’s name. that’s it. that one homophobic insult was all that jk rowling ever delivered in canon. whatever she says on twitter or in interviews does not erase the fact that she chose, and still deliberately chooses not to represent us in her works, even though the chance presented itself several times. she just can’t risk the love of all the homophobic white dudes who still idealize snape and lowkey agree with the wizard nazis
hey everyone, happy friday and welcome back to another excellent episode of Weird Biology!
this week, we’re examining a charismatic and almost perfect oceanic killing machine! you might be picturing a shark, but you’re wrong.
it’s the flamboyant, fantastic, and fucking ecological nightmare, the
NAAAAAANTS INGONYAAAAMAA
Lionfish are a group of 12 species in the genus Pterois (tare-oh-eese), meaning “winged”. these fish are among the most striking and beautiful in the ocean! they’re also full of poison knives, but more on that later.
also called Dragonfish, Firefish, Turkeyfish, Tastyfish or PEZ DIABLO (Devilfish, or “underwater satan” if you use Google Translate), Lionfish are native to the Southern Pacific and Indian oceans. they are mostly found on coral reefs, where they can grow up to 17 inches long and reach about 3 pounds.
3 pounds of pure whoopass.
small but mighty! SMALL BUT MIGHTY!
see, when it comes to sheer badass ability to survive anywhere, Lionfish are damn near perfect. most reef fish are specialized creatures with a fairly low set of tolerances. not Lionfish! for starters, they’re common in every level of the water column up to 1000 feet down. that’s impressive for a regular fish, let alone a reef specialist. they can also tolerate temperatures as low as 60 F, which again, fucking ridiculous. this fish could probably survive on the moon.
on top of that, their reproductive rate is insane. unlike many reef fish who follow a yearly cycle, Lionfish reproduce monthly. and every month a female Lionfish may lay- wait for it- 15,000 eggs. add in the fact that they have maybe three natural predators and it’s a wonder we aren’t knee deep in them right now.
good news! the Lionfish will submerge us before the oceans do!
Lionfish may look like delicate lacy parasols, but that bold coloration is actually Nature’s equivalent of wearing a bright orange hazard vest! but if we’re doing a direct comparison, in the Lionfish’s case it’s more like the equivalent of wearing a bright orange hazard vest while standing on the roof of a burned-out van, waving a submachine gun at traffic.
see, those lacy fins are are concealing dozens and dozens of long, razor-sharp spines venomous enough to incapacitate a human. any predator unwary enough to get a mouthful of the Lionfish’s poison shiv collection will experience immediate debilitating pain, paralysis, and almost certain death. (this venom isn’t strong enough to kill a healthy adult, but it really fucking sucks and can floor you for at least a day. do not touch.)
it’s time to play our favorite biology game, How Many Poison Knives Is This Animal Packing? if you guess wrong, you die.
Lionfish are voracious eating machines, in addition to being basically a floating wedding dress full of poison ice picks. they feed on fish, invertebrates, mollusks, and smaller Lionfish. these flamboyant cannibals feed by disorienting their prey with a jet of water, and then swallowing it headfirst like a Hardees breakfast sandwich.
and they’ll cram as many fish/shrimp/members of their own species into that ravenous maw as possible- a Lionfish’s stomach can expand to 30 times its original size on a binge! and in lean times, the Lionfish can slow its metabolism to a literal crawl. they can survive a three-month fast and lose only 10% of their body weight. jesus.
can anything stop these frilly nightmares?
SPOILER ALERT: no.
the question is unfortunately relevant. in 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida and demolished a public aquarium. Florida had bigger things to worry about, so nobody noticed that six Lionfish had been tragically swept out to sea. in the complete absence of natural predators, those six Free-Willied Lionfish (plus many others released from the pet trade) have become MILLIONS.
Lionfish have launched a hostile invasion of Carribean waters, and are now found from the Gulf Coast to North Carolina. this is a big fucking problem.
and that’s no joke.
apart from how dangerous they are, the Lionfish’s natural fish superiority allows it to easily outcompete meek and innocent native fish. this is putting stress on invaded reef ecosystems, and the problem is only getting worse as Lionfish continue to spread further north. Lionfish are even learning to tolerate mildly brackish water and have been found in estuaries four miles from the fucking ocean.
at this rate, we’re all going to wake up and find a Lionfish in our beds.
it’s their bed now. accept your inferiority before Earth’s true dominant species.
the fate of these oceans rests on the questionable shoulders of the Lionfish’s only (un)natural predator:
you.
the only current way to slow their spread is to just eat the absolute hell out of them. that’s right, Lionfish are edible. and not just that, they’re completely fucking delicious and heart-healthy! they’re called Tastyfish for a reason. and for all their prowess, Lionfish have yet to evolve a defense for projectile weapons. (that’s what happens when you put all your skill points into Melee, Lionfish.)
and remember: eating a Lionfish is taking part in the front lines of a battle for the future of your oceans. also, they’re just delicious.
so do your part, and eat up!
WORLD IS A FUCK, 410,757,864,530
DEAD LIONFISH
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thanks for reading! you can find the rest of the Weird Biology series here.
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IMAGE SOURCES
img1- Pensecola News Journal img2- Oceanea.org img3- Wikipedia img4- Don Johnson img5- Hakai Magazine
two weeks later and look who’s on the cover of Smithsonian!
I got to have Lionfish when visiting relatives back east and IT’S NOT A JOKE THSES THINGS ARE AMAZING THEY’RE LIKE LOBSTER BUT MORE OF IT AND SOMEHOW JUCIER.
And there’s no need to worry about overfishing them, at least not the invasive populations. Please, overfish those!
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