No Sympathy For Josephine Anderson.
No sympathy for Josephine Anderson.
Don't get me wrong, Rusty Hearts can be good at writing. It's just that sometimes she forgets that too.
I want to focus on the two big mothers in the comic so far: Shez's mother, Meriam, and Jaden's mother, Josephine. There are several key differences in not only the way they are portrayed, but also in how they're perceived and intended to be perceived, especially the surprising deficit of sympathy the narrative gives Josie while Meriam is awarded "mother of the year" by everyone.
TLDR: Josie is allowed to be human. Meriam is a saint.
Josie is called out on her shortcomings as a mother, from parentifiying Jaden to favouring her younger brother, Jacob. Josie is allowed to argue, fight, and act unfavourably towards her daughter, and the narrative rightfully shows Jaden and Josie's relationship as strained.
That can't be said the same for Shez and Meriam.
Rusty Hearts has Meriam's trauma be "higher" "more painful" than Josephine. Because Meriam is an abuse survivor, she can do no wrong and isn't a bad mother when she does the EXACT SAME THINGS Josie is criticised for!
But because Josephine's suffering is supposedly lesser, she's open to criticism and being called a "flawed mother". But not Meriam. Meriam is the greatest mom of all time.
Let's compare:
- Josephine favours Jacob over Jaden. That's a parenting Flaw.
- Meriam favours Shez over all her other children. That's correct. Shez deserves to be favoured.
You could argue that Jacob never put himself in the line of fire between an abuser and his mother, and that's why it's unfair of Josie to favor him. And I'm not disagreeing with that. Shez did a lot for her family, and deserves to have recognition for her sacrifices. The problem is that how Meriam does it...sucks.
Meriam is willing to shut her third-youngest daughter out, comparing her to Shez. The rest of her daughters can walk out, as long as Shez is alright. This is an example of "hurt people hurt others", and how Meriam is slowly propping up Shez as this beacon of protection, one all her daughters should look up to. That's objectification: Shez is losing her identity as a human to be the great saviour of Meriam.
Interestingly, Josie's pedestal on Jacob is an interesting foil to this dynamic. Jacob is, like Shez, a sort of reminder of the trauma suffered by her. Jacob was born on the day Jacobus, Josie's husband, died. Jacob is said to look like Jacobus.
Josie simply favours Jacob on principle. Not only is she a boy mom, but he's the ghost of he husband she lost early. His face bears the similarities of the love of her life. that's fucked up, dawg.
And I'm not denying it's fucked up! It is! Very much so!
....so why doesn't she get any sympathy for it?
There's sympathy for Meriam being hurt, and as a result pedestaling Shez, but there's no sympathy for Josie being hurt, and therefore using Jacob as a way to reflect that grief by showering him in love.
...why?
Either way, their siblings get hurt. Rocky sees her family fall apart as Rissa walks out and Tina loses one of her sisters on a past she was too young to remember. Jaden gets more labour, emotional and physical, because her mother can't let go of her dead father.
But there's no sympathy for Josie.
And here's my theory as to why.
Rusty's view on straight relationships is, to put it lightly, very flawed. She sees men as horny, violent, aggressive villains that women should stay far from, and in several cases that's true and shouldn't be ignored.
That's why no women who knowingly and willingly has a healthy relationship with a normal-ass man who knows women are humans (who do exist, surprisingly, my dad is one) will be portrayed as "good women". They're "flawed", they're criticised, they are bad to Rusty, they need to be saved, which is PRIME VICTIM BLAMING, RUSTY. THATS NOT SOMETHING A FEMINIST DOES.
Rusty does a lot of things that feminists don't do. One of them is transphobia. The other one is prioritising victims, the way she does it.
Again, a comparison:
- Jaden is parentified by Josie because Josie has no resources outside of her mother to take care of their house after her husband DIES.
- Shez is parentified by Meriam because she's the eldest daughter, and of course the mother is too weak to escape her abuse without the help of her CHILD.
But Meriam isn't allowed to just be a hurt person with depth, she's the great mother who was hurt by men. She's Rusty's ultimate radfem victim. There's no depth to her abuse- it's just something she should have expected, partnering with a man, but she's a great mom for teaching Shez to never, EVER, associate with men. It's Rissa's fault for being straight. Tina is being brainwashed. Meriam is the greatest mother, and anyone who disagrees is in favour of domestic abuse.
Josie is a flawed mother. She made the mistake of partnering with a man rather than fulfilling her education, and then said man...died. What a horrible father. Dying.
Josie is wrong to compare Jaden and Jacob, even when Meriam does it. Josie is wrong to parentify Jaden, even when Meriam does it. Josie is wrong to scream at Jaden, Josie is wrong to still love her husband, Josie is....human.
And that's the true tragedy of Meriam, in my opinion. She's not allowed to just...be hurt. Make bad desicions. She's the fantasy of saving an abused mother, and that makes her this...victim, completely stripped of anything than her victimhood and her role as "mother".
Josephine, Jaden, and all the Andersons are Rusty's best characters, but she can't imagine, at all, an actually good story that doesn't perpetuate her politics. It's all wasted potential on a writer who can't even write, and surrounds herself with an echo chamber of her own yes-men and dickriders, never taking criticism for an option.
So yeah. That's it. That's all.
There is no sympathy for Josephine Anderson, according to Rusty Hearts.
No sympathy.
More Posts from Derkuningas and Others
I don't understand the obsession with sex and all things physical in terms of showing attraction.
It's one of those mentalities that let porn take such presidence in our society- that sex is fundamentally, something everyone shows to prove they're "attracted" to something. And that later leads to the degradation we see later on in r*pe fantasies and exploitation that have been, in fact, popularised by pornography.
Sex in modern society is just a way to present control; over women, over other people, and as we saw earlier, over minority groups people see as "needing to be fixed". Sex has fundamentally become the ultimate show of power, and a lot of things aren't helping it.
Sex as empowerment needs to be followed up with the reminder that it's just *sex*. Love and appreciation don't have to be physical to be truly meaningful. And it gets lost in so many of the muddled discussions between the hard-core "Abstinence"-ers, the perversion, and the objectification that often ensues in a discussion regarding sex and how we perceive it.
Ultimately, stigmas regarding sex *need* to be broken down. Sex education, sex workers, all of it needs to be discussed and examined because if we keep this all under wraps, we're not letting the right people have the discussion. We ultimately tear ourselves apart using either hushed tones or bigotry against topics regarding sex and sexual attraction.
that's just my two cents, anyway
Save My Family from the War Nightmare in Gaza🚨🚨
،🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
Hello I am Mohammad Tayseer, 34 years old, Palestinian living in Gaza. I am married to Basma Ramez, and we have two children: Jude, who is 4 years old, and yazan, who is 2 and a half years old.
Our life was normal and full of optimism, and we had big ambitions.I worked in smartphone programming at City Phone. I was happy with my job, and our dreams were focused on building a bright and beautiful future for our children. We had a large, beautiful home that sheltered us, full of many wonderful memories.
But suddenly, without any warning, war destroyed everything beautiful in our lives. Our home was demolished by a missile, leaving nothing behind, and my company was also damaged. I lost my job, and we became homeless and without income.
Pictures of a house when it is partially destroyed
Pictures of the house after it was hit by a missile and completely destroyed
We tried to flee more than five times to safer areas in search of security, but safety in Gaza has become nearly impossible. Death and destruction are everywhere, and our children live in a constant nightmare. Opportunities for education and entertainment have vanished, and basic necessities are scarce. We live in poverty and despair.
We are now seeking a chance to live in a safe place outside of Gaza. However, our only hope now is to escape this ongoing hell and find a safe haven for our family. This requires significant financial costs, as border crossing fees amount to $5,000 per adult and $2,500 per child, a sum I cannot afford on my own.
Every donation, no matter the amount, whether $10 or $20, will have a significant impact on our lives. Your contributions will help cover the costs of travel and living in a safe country. We hope to start a new life away from fear and destruction and give our children a new opportunity to dream and hope. Our children deserve to live in safety
My Campaign was Reblog by some and Vetted
vetted by @lonniemachin 🌹link🌹
vetted by @northgazaupdates2🌹link🌹
Vetted by @mushroomjar 🌹link🌹
Thank you to everyone who supported us❤
lady no offense but you've been nothing but combatant ever since you've been here. Also- we all saw your first post. Why the fuck did you delete that one?
There are girls calling me ragebaiters already for just asking for proof that they're qualified to hate with as much vitriol as they do. XOXO.
theres a LOT on that post thats kinda wrong, but you do realize radfems dont care if they reblog from trans identified people, right? like they do not follow the "block and stay safe" mentality, if they like/agree with a post they just reblog it, even if the op disagrees with them on other topics. saying they "accidentally" reblogged something of yours implies that they try to avoid reblogging from people who say theyre trans, when they very much dont
that was the part you didn't have to focus on
Also, don't you think it would save you a lot more time and mental energy if you actively stopped constantly reblogging and replying to the hatedom?
i genuinely hate how people have to sit and write a post that stands out while boosting a fundraiser because most people won't bat an eye at the misery and inhumane conditions Palestinians are living in.
i see people making art and telling others to use it because fundraisers with art are generally reblogged more often. i see people using colored text in order to make the post more eye catching.
palestinians on instagram are using popular audios and stitch trending reels at the beginning to make the world pay attention to them. imagine having to make something look entertaining in order to survive.
they are living under constant threat of israeli airstrikes, bombing, scarcity of food and disease. many have lost a lot in the past few months.
palestinians on tumblr are posting their pictures and the horrible conditions in which they are living. they travel long distances for internet connection only to be called a scammer by some privileged ass who cannot locate gaza on a map.
here are some verified gfms. please share the linked posts. it's the bare minimum we can do from the comforts of our home.
@amjadshiltawu: link to the post
vetted
@dima96yousef: link to the post
vetted
@tamer200333: link to the post
vetted
@ahmed8311: link to the post
vetted (#161)
@saratahrawi: link to the post
vetted
Happy New Year, From GAZA 🌨️ ❄️
Hello 👋, My name is Momen Al Madhoun / I am a digital artist / a devoted husband / a father of two children " Ezzdeen & Amir " I live in Gaza City in the heart of the Genocide, working tirelessly to amplify my voice to the world through my artwork. I walk long distances to access electricity and internet, creating under harsh conditions to ensure my voice reaches the Tumblr community through my art. I hope you support me to continue surviving and ensure the safety of my family. Thank you for your time. Stay safe 🙏
Gofundme Campaign Link
clap it up that's my main yall whooooo
happy birth green girl
As a rule of thumb, don't reblog donation posts or people asking for donations unless they've been vetted and reblogged by Palestinian bloggers. We usually go to lengths to verify this shit because we know scammers have been faking to get people to send them money, using the urgency of our genocide as bait.
It's disgusting this is what we're dealing with, but people are losing money because of some truly evil people out there.
Accounts don't just randomly spring up on tumblr without gofundmes while asking for someone to help them create a campaign. Fuck out of here with that shit.
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