I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee!

history meme || women [3/6]: flappers

Described by historian Joshua Zeitz as “the women who made America modern,” flappers were young women from the Roaring Twenties whose behavior was a significant challenge to Victorian gender roles. She drank, smoke, drove automobiles, danced to jazz, wore excessive makeup, treated sex casually, shortened her skirt, bobbed her hair, and otherwise flouted social and sexual norms. More importantly, however, she also worked outside the home and made her own keep, and otherwise was among the first to secure modern liberties women have today.

The flapper was, in many ways, the result of a larger social change. By 1920 women had achieved the right to vote and the 1925 Scopes trial rocked the stolidly religious American society. Increasingly, young women were discarding old and rigid ideas about gender roles and other Victorian norms in favor of consumerism and personal choice. By rebelling against Victorian morality in favor of a more sexually confident ideal, the flapper enthusiastically embraced a new era of modernity

history meme || moments [2/10]: the premiere of star trek

Star Trek (later called Star Trek: The Original Series) is an American science-fiction television show created by Gene Roddenberry that premiered on September 8, 1966. The show followed the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and her crew in the 23rd century. The series was little-known and suffered from low ratings during its run and was canceled after three seasons. However, after going into syndication it exploded in popularity and ended up spawning a hugely influential franchise consisting of five spin-off series, twelve theatrical movies, and countless books, games, toys and other products. 

The series was remarkable for the progressive nature of its cast and episode content. With its anti-war message and depiction of Starfleet as the humanitarian and peace-keeping armada of the United Federation of Planets, Roddenberry showed an optimistic view of what the future could be if humanity could develop and learn from the lessons of the past. From the start, Roddenberry intended the show to have a highly progressive political agenda. Two of the main characters were a black woman and an Asian man, who were written as realized characters instead of being reduced to stereotypes. The show also addressed such issues as racism, sexism, war and peace, human rights, imperialism, politics, and others through allegory, a tradition that continued in the later spin-off series.

history meme || women [2/6]: mary shelley

Mary Shelley is perhaps best known as the author of the novel Frankenstein. Written when she was nineteen and published when she was twenty-one, Frankenstein is regarded as the first true work of science-fiction and is so influential across literature and popular culture that it created an entire genre of horror stories, plays, and films.

Mary wrote the story while on a trip to Geneva with Lord Byron, John Polidori and her future husband Percy Shelley. The four had a competition to see who could write the best horror story, and Mary wrote the novel after dreaming of a scientist who created life only to be horrified by the result.

While Frankenstein is her best known work, Shelley was a prolific writer during her lifetime. Her work was heavily influenced by Romantic ideals and her commitment to political reform. Today, Shelley is regarded as a leading Romantic figure and significant for her political voice as a woman and a liberal.

history meme || objects [1/8]: paint

“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.” (Plutarch)

history meme || moment [1/10]: the Eagle has landed

On July 20th, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin make history as the first humans to step foot on the moon. The historic Apollo 11 spaceflight occurs  a little over eight years after Yuri Gagarin’s historic first flight into space, ending the technological “space race” between America and the USSR and delivering on former President Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon “before the decade is out.”

The lunar module Eagle landed at 4:18 PM EDT in the Sea of Tranquility (with only thirty seconds of fuel left), to the relief and uproarious excitement of Houston Mission Control. Almost seven hours later, at 10:56 PM EDT, Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the surface of the moon, proclaiming “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” as more than half a billion people watch on television. He is shortly joined by Buzz Aldrin, who describes the surface in the simple but powerful phrase “Magnificent desolation.”

The two men stayed on the surface for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking pictures. They leave behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on the Eagle’s legs. The crew safely returns to Earth on July 24th.

history meme || women [1/6]: nichelle nichols

Nichelle Nichols is best known for her portrayal of Lieutenant Uhura, the communications officer aboard the starship Enterprise in the 1960s television series Star Trek and six succeeding movies. Her prominent position as a senior bridge officer was groundbreaking, as she was one of the first black women in a major television series not portraying a servant. The role was so groundbreaking that when Nichols considered leaving the show during the first season, Martin Luther King Jr personally urged her to stay, citing her as a vital role model for black children and women all across the country, as well as for other children who would see black people as equals. The season three episode “Plato’s Stepchildren” features a kiss between her character and William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, popularly cited as the first interracial kiss on television.

Despite the cancellation of the series after three seasons, Nichols continued to work for minority visibility by volunteering her time with NASA to recruit female and minority personnel, an endeavor in which she was extremely successful. Through the program she helped to recruit Dr. Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, and Colonel Guinon Bluford, the first African-American astronaut. Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, has specifically cited the character of Uhura as her inspiration to apply for NASA and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg, who played the Star Trek: The Next Generation character Guinan (a role specifically created for her after she requested to be on the show), has also spoken of Nichols’ influence.

space…the final frontier
these are the voyages of the starship Enterprise
her continuing mission:
to explore strange new worlds
to seek out new life and new civilizations
to boldly go where no one has gone before

star wars art: 2011 blu-ray release

star wars art: 2004 DVD release