the fact that everyone is going “annabeth was only cast as black for diversity points” literally proves that leah is going to be an amazing annabeth bc thats literally annabeth’s whole problem, that people judge her by her appearance and not by how competent she is
Then these same Black men have the nerve to call us angry and overly emotional, when they’re the ones that shoot, steal, and kill as soon as shit gets hard. Black women are the strongest women I’ve ever seen in my life; yet we’re the most taken advantage of. If a Black man, let alone any man, had to endure what Black women endure on a daily basis from the moment they’re born to the moment they pass over, they wouldn’t last ONE DAY.
Fucking right I’m angry. I’m pissed that young Black women and girls are being killed, raped, molested, dismembered, trafficked, abused, assaulted, and taken advantage of, and not a single sound is being made. Not one protest to stop the rampant sexual abuse in Black homes. Not one peep about missing Black women and children. Not a fucking sound regarding the constant ridicule Black women face on a daily basis not just by society, but by the very same BLACK MEN AND WOMEN WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE IN COMMUNITY WITH. And since they do it, other communities think it’s okay to perpetuate this same abuse. I’m so fucking sick of it.
Honestly, if it weren’t for Black women society would’ve collapsed on itself and everyone fucking knows it. Yet these Black men keep expecting us to coddle them when they’re getting shot and harrassed by police officers for shit they brought upon themselves. I ain’t marching nor defending anyone if it isn’t Black women and children, you got me fucked up.
With Leah Sava Jeffries taking on the role of Annabeth Chase, I want to remind everyone to give her extra love and support as fans of book-to-screen adaptations have an atrocious history of being cruel to black girls in these stories.
I’d suggest watching this video essay on what happened regarding the Hunger Games trilogy. It’s crucial that Leah feels loved, supported, and encouraged - and that this never ever happens again.
Black men start caring for and supporting Black women challenge.
Sadly, the most primitive need of every human is to put down other humans to make oneself feel better by comparison. It’s like we need to know somebody’s life sucks more than ours to feel remotely good. So many times I’ve read about African and Muslim men in Europe importing wives from their home countries, just to have a bride who doesn’t know the local language and is completely reliant on her husband. A great many women also jump at the chance to put other women down (probably because there aren’t that many men who “rank” lower than women). Anyway, this is sad.
So many times I’ve read about African and Muslim men in Europe importing wives from their home countries, just to have a bride who doesn’t know the local language and is completely reliant on her husband.
Woah, are you for real?! Because that is just saddening and heartbreaking. Do you have any articles where you found this that are proof of that?
We really need to start praying for the well-being of all Black girls and women. Seriously.
I can recall two books – both autobiographical – that addressed this phenomenon (albeit briefly). I do not have them at hand (won’t be back at my apartment until weekend), so I can’t double-check if what I remember is true (it has been almost a decade). I will edit my post if it turns out my memory had failed me.
First – “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, 2007 (a lot of information is on her Wikipedia page, so I’ll be brief here). At one point in her life (after moving between various African countries) she had gone to Germany to visit relatives and subsequently fled to the Netherlands to escape an arranged marriage. Eventually, she became an advocate for asylum seekers. To me, her story is mostly about learning to critically view your own religion and culture, though sexism is very much a strong theme.
Second – “Tränen im Sand” (“Tears in the sand”) by Nura Abdi, 2005. This one does not appear to have an official English translation, although extracts have been translated and quoted in scientific papers on female genital mutilation. Basically, Somali girl immigrates to Germany. Marries another immigrant. Has children. Husband takes second wife. The author, at some point, decides to become independent. She opens own bank account and takes over the government aid her husband had been receiving for their children. Husband is mad. Tries to abduct children, but fails. Woman makes life for herself. I honestly don’t remember this one very well, as it didn’t impress me quite as much as the previous one.
CORRECTION: The second book I had had in mind was “Mutilée“ (“Mutilated”) by Khady (also known as Khady Koita). Apparently, the English language version is called “Blood Stains. A Child of Africa Reclaims her Human Rights”. She was born in Senegal, underwent genital mutilation at 7 and was forced to move to France as a teenager to stay with a cousin, whom she was forced to marry. She has a Wikipedia page, which you can look up. Other points I had mentioned were correct. I apologize for my original mistake.
Besides those books, I have heard bits and snippets here and there, but those were subjective opinions of people in my surroundings (Poland).
@thisismisogynoir I had made a mistake. I had looked through my library and it turned out the second of the books I had named in my post was not the one I had actually read. I have since edited my post to include the correct information. The good news is, the book I had actually read has been translated into English, which means it should be easier to access (the English title is “Blood Stains. A Child of Africa Reclaims her Human Rights” and the author’s name is Khady Koita). I apologize for the original mistake. Have a good day ^_^.
Awesome! Thank you for correcting the mistake. You have a good day, too!
YES! I hate the idea that you have to straighten your hair for a celebratory or professional event, as if straight hair is inherently prettier! Screw that! I am never straightening my hair for any reason at all.
when someone is a christian they are not constantly asked their position on the holocaust the transatlantic slave trade the extermination of native americans or any of the thousands of atrocities committed by christians so why do muslims get asked about terrorism and jewish people about israel and are grouped in with specific bad people while christians are not required to explain themselves??
goyim and non muslims can and should reblog
[christians and all sectors of christianity that means you]
That quote ‘women are unaware how much men hate them’ and it’s pretty apt right now.
Over the last few years I’ve spent time looking in manosphere circles and this stuff has been brewing the last few years.
There are compilation videos on YouTube by MGTOW (men going there on way) of women that they hate. Mostly tiktoks about dating and feminism. The comments are full of men who talk about how much they hate 'modern women’, they hate that were in the workforce, they hate that women have 'high standards’ for dating, the gate childless women, they hate career women, they hate single mothers, they hate religious women 'chameleons’ they call them, they hate slutty women and they hate that we can divorce now. A lot of them hate their own female relatives.
It’s a real visceral hatred. One comment was a guy saying he only spoke to women when he imagined them as an inferior being. Another said all he imagines when women speak was whether or not his dick fits in her mouth. They discuss rolling back the clock on women’s rights or talk about women causing the downfall of the west.
They lament the lack of pure women, saying even 18 year olds are 'ran through’, used up, smashed, have '1000 cock stare’, unable to pair bond, hypergamous whores. Women over 30 are dried up hags who are hysterical, bitter Karen’s destined to either die with cats and wine or divorce rape a beta.
When you look at their profiles a lot seem to normal guys. You wouldn’t spot them in the wild. And there is a lot of them. People obsess about white male republicans but a lot of them aren’t. A lot of these manosphere channels are run by black men. A lot of comments are left by Indian men who complain about Indian women getting 'tainted’ by Western feminism. Stuff like fresh and fit is a starting point but these guys get crazier the more you follow the algorithm. Some are religious but a lot aren’t. I saw a lot of 'i hate Muslims but Islam is right about women’.
There’s a black manosphere guy who films foreign women in his Uber and asks them 'why aren’t American women feminine anymore?’ and puts up the videos despite them saying they’re uncomfortable
They share tips on getting a young, untainted wife from poorer countries. A lot share videos of their trips to South America or Asia surrounded by young women (sometimes VERY young).
You also have the tradmen, who claim to care for women but also believe they are inferior and illogical, best kept at home to serve and raise babies. They will say they value women’s natural role’, but it’s telling that this role requires financial dependence and an inability to leave no matter what (these guys get angriest about divorce). These are the ones who feel most cheated that an income is no longer all a man really needs to land himself the attractive 20 something he feels he deserves.
Then you have guys really angry about the dating market, whine about Chad and Stacey, the 80/20 rule, height standards and hypergamy. They talk about living for the day women 'hit the wall’ and they can laugh at their teenage crush getting older and less attractive. I’ve seen comments where they hope women ask them out, so they can have the satisfaction of turning them down cruelly.
They can’t be normal about anything. One Brit talked about going for a walk, and said all the 30 something women he encountered looked miserable. A woman posts a video of her dog and they assume she’s fucking it (dogpill they call it, pornrot more like). A woman posts a video for women about life over 30 and they swarm the comments to say how unattractive she is and that women expire.
There are lots of alpha male type accounts on twitter, usually fronted as fitness advice for men. But there are a lot of posts about women being illogical, childlike, simple minded and often just evil. Lot of younger guys follow these and again, chat about how to bring women to heel.
I know as a woman that being aware of this is very straining for mental health. But I don’t think pretending these guys are a handful of gross yet mostly harmless trolls is a good idea. And they aren’t just cis white men in their mums basement either. The subway shooter was deep in this manosphere stuff, as was the Toronto van killer, yoga shooter and more I’m sure.
A lot talk about wanting sons, but also how they’d never ever want a daughter. The hate is that deep rooted. The she’s someone’s daughter’ isn’t going to help them see women’s humanity.
Keeping women dependent is what a lot of these guys want. And some don’t even want a wife out of it, just putting women back 'in their place’ is enough to make them happy. They love watching videos of women being upset, revel in it.
Removing the right to abortion is one step, they are already talking about repealing women’s right to vote and a lot want women out of the workplace.
Like idk what the solution is, but these guys are out there and would like to get more extreme.
~Meas a black woman reclaiming hyper femininity (in the least toxic way possible), and living as the ultimate girly girl with a heavy vintage vibe, will always be the most powerful thing for me. ~
Women of color, especially black women, who have healthy, empowering, confident, and secure relationships with femininity are unstoppable and able to obliterate radfems with one look of rainbow and glitter laser beams.
I second this fully.
Now I’m just picturing a Black girl in a pink dress shooting glittery rainbow lasers out of her eyes at a crowd of radfems. If only genies were real so I could make this actually happen.
OMG YES!!!! THIS IS WHAT I WANNA DO LUNA GIVE ME THOSE ABILITIES!!!
What’s better— the thread is filled with people giving some good advice on how to respect a woman’s boundaries and how to ask what she would be okay with, publicly. Lots of trans girls thanking him for being so patient and thoughtful with his words, and lots of people cautioning him that his purpose as a boyfriend would be to keep her safe, even from his own friends and family if need be. A+ shit right here.
This is so FUCKING cute help me
hey, trans girls who are into guys? THIS is what you deserve. don’t you ever believe that you have to bend over backwards for men to like you, that you have to accept being disrespected and mistreated, that you’re something to hide or be ashamed of. you’re beautiful, you’re a fucking princess, and you deserve someone who sees that and loves you deeply and unconditionally, who will choose you over the world and fight the world for you. THIS is the kind of guy.
Rick Riordan’s response to the racism and hatred directed at Leah after she was cast as Annabeth:
“Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase”
“This post is specifically for those who have a problem with the casting of Leah Jeffries as Annabeth Chase. It’s a shame such posts need to be written, but they do. First, let me be clear I am speaking here only for myself. These thoughts are mine alone. They do not necessarily reflect or represent the opinions of any part of Disney, the TV show, the production team, or the Jeffries family.
The response to the casting of Leah has been overwhelmingly positive and joyous, as it should be. Leah brings so much energy and enthusiasm to this role, so much of Annabeth’s strength. She will be a role model for new generations of girls who will see in her the kind hero they want to be.
If you have a problem with this casting, however, take it up with me. You have no one else to blame. Whatever else you take from this post, we should be able to agree that bullying and harassing a child online is inexcusably wrong. As strong as Leah is, as much as we have discussed the potential for this kind of reaction and the intense pressure this role will bring, the negative comments she has received online are out of line. They need to stop. Now.
I was quite clear a year ago, when we announced our first open casting, that we would be following Disney’s company policy on nondiscrimination: We are committed to diverse, inclusive casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to disability, gender, race and ethnicity, age, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other basis prohibited by law. We did that. The casting process was long, intense, massive and exhaustive.
I have been clear, as the author, that I was looking for the best actors to inhabit and bring to life the personalities of these characters, and that physical appearance was secondary for me. We did that. We took a year to do this process thoroughly and find the best of the best. This trio is the best. Leah Jeffries is Annabeth Chase.
Some of you have apparently felt offended or exasperated when your objections are called out online as racist. “But I am not racist,” you say. “It is not racist to want an actor who is accurate to the book’s description of the character!”
Let’s examine that statement.
You are upset/disappointed/frustrated/angry because a Black actor has been cast to play a character who was described as white in the books. “She doesn’t look the way I always imagined.”
You either are not aware, or have dismissed, Leah’s years of hard work honing her craft, her talent, her tenacity, her focus, her screen presence. You refuse to believe her selection could have been based on merit. Without having seen her play the part, you have pre-judged her (pre + judge = prejudice) and decided she must have been hired simply to fill a quota or tick a diversity box. And by the way, these criticisms have come from across the political spectrum, right and left.
You have decided that I couldn’t possibly mean what I have always said: That the true nature of the character lies in their personality. You feel I must have been coerced, brainwashed, bribed, threatened, whatever, or I as a white male author never would have chosen a Black actor for the part of this canonically white girl.
You refuse to believe me, the guy who wrote the books and created these characters, when I say that these actors are perfect for the roles because of the talent they bring and the way they used their auditions to expand, improve and electrify the lines they were given. Once you see Leah as Annabeth, she will become exactly the way you imagine Annabeth, assuming you give her that chance, but you refuse to credit that this may be true.
You are judging her appropriateness for this role solely and exclusively on how she looks. She is a Black girl playing someone who was described in the books as white.
Friends, that is racism.
And before you resort to the old kneejerk reaction — “I am not racist!” — let’s examine that statement too.
If I may quote from an excellent recent article in the Boston Globe about Dr. Khama Ennis, who created a program on implicit bias for the Massachusetts Board of Registration for Medicine in Boston: “To say a person doesn’t have bias is to say that person isn’t human. It’s how we navigate the world … based on what we’re taught and our own personal histories.”
Racism/colorism isn’t something we have or don’t have. I have it. You have it. We all do. And not just white people like me. All people. It’s either something we recognize and try to work on, or it’s something we deny. Saying “I am not racist!” is simply declaring that you deny your own biases and refuse to work on them.
The core message of Percy Jackson has always been that difference is strength. There is power in plurality. The things that distinguish us from one another are often our marks of individual greatness. You should never judge someone by how well they fit your preconceived notions. That neurodivergent kid who has failed out of six schools, for instance, may well be the son of Poseidon. Anyone can be a hero.
If you don’t get that, if you’re still upset about the casting of this marvelous trio, then it doesn’t matter how many times you have read the books. You didn’t learn anything from them.
Watch the show or don’t. That’s your call. But this will be an adaptation that I am proud of, and which fully honors the spirit of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, taking the bedtime story I told my son twenty years ago to make him feel better about being neurodivergent, and improving on it so that kids all over the world can continue to see themselves as heroes at Camp Half-Blood.”
Everyone’s talking bout Leah Sava Jeffries as Annabeth, But can we talk bout my Boi Aryan Simhadri as The Goat Himself!!! My lil brown boy heart is leaping with joy!!!
Sure, I try. But when your point is not against something I was saying but something I did not disagree with, I‘m afraid I fail to understand what you want from me.
@thisismisogynoir I know that black female representation is important. That’s why I reblogged it. That’s why I put my addition in the tags to emphasize that that’s the post that’s important. I was just reacting to the question (why did nobody complain that Percy is blonde?) because I did complain. But I knew that that was not the point of the post and that’s why I put it in the tags.
And I never said anything about a white boy being “properly” blonde as he “should“??? I don’t know why you reproach me with that???
This is not an aggressive post. I can tell you were kinda angry and that was not my intention. :)
Nah, it’s okay, but I’m talking about the fact that the first thing you mention is Percy’s blond hair. My point is that the focus of the discussion should be on Annabeth being Black, not who is blonde or who is not blonde. That’s all.
Also you could’ve just replied to the post itself or reblogged it instead of making your own so that most people can see both sides? Making a singular post with little to no context seems like you’re trying to make people biased. Just a thought.
I’m wearing a black dress with little flowers on it (I love it so much), striped ankle socks, some bracelets, and my watch, and my hair’s just down right now
