I haven’t used Tumblr in a long time, but as it’s one of the only places to get a voice heard, I’ve come back for this.

I’ve been replying, and posting, and making a lot of loud comments about wanting the actress who is cast as She-Hulk to be a woman over 6’. My voice is getting lost in a lot of the “oh this is political correctness gone mad!”/“get woke, go broke” malarkey, so I’m going to once again express why this is important.

I am a tall, cisgender woman, born in the 1980’s. I spent my entire childhood, being reminded how much of a freak my height made me. Anytime I saw someone like myself on screen, they were the butt of a joke, or a trans panic storyline. My height was such an issue for me as a child, seeing women like me was so rare unless they were these jokes, that I genuinely thought my parents had lied about my gender so they could have a daughter. That is how much I saw that as the only representation.

I wanted to be an actress as a child, went to drama lessons, took it at GCSE, would have gone on to do it at A-Level etc had I stayed in school. It was all I wanted. I ended up dropping out of one drama class because I was only given male characters, trees or the wooden woman on the front of a boat as roles. I auditioned for school plays, for musicals and was told I couldn’t be in them as I would pull focus with my height. I couldn’t play the leads because “who wants to see a tall Sandy?” I gave up on these dreams because my height was labelled an obstacle by people.

The comic characters I saw as I got into the stories were all tall, amazing women. I felt better. One of these has made it onto the screen anywhere near my height, Jean Grey in the original X-Men films. While the women who played my tall heroes, such as Valkyrie and Captain Marvel did an amazing job, there is that tiny sting there, that reminder that they could have been like me.

I was 26, before I saw a character like me on the screen, who was loved, respected and admired by the world. She got jokes made about her, but she fought back, and won everyone’s heart. She was a badass who used that to her advantage, and fuck, she made me feel like I mattered. I’m talking about the amazing Brienne of Tarth. That is just how recently it’s been since I saw anyone like me given a level of respect in something. I met Gwendoline Christie a few weeks ago, and I started crying telling her just how much her being there made me feel like for once, the world saw me as a real person and not a joke. I have met a lot of actors, through cons, premieres, everything but she is the first person I ever cried on. When Game of Thrones ended, I panicked because shit, she’s gone. I have nobody left.

We constantly cry out for representation for people, but somehow when I do it, someone will inevitably turn it into “well [XYZ] are ignored too, so I don’t see your problem”, or tell me that not enough women like me exist to deserve to be seen. This isn’t just my problem though, I’m not the only woman of my height who goes through this. I had a discussion with another actress over 6’, who told me that she felt the same, she had these issues as well. She told me that she wanted to be the role model that she never got to see growing up.

Those replying to me have made the point that Jen could - and probably will - be CGI’d. That’s excellent, but guess what? I’m 6’ 1, and I am not CGI. Shocking, I know. Start with a woman over 6’ and build the CGI on that. Easy.

I don’t think I’m asking for the world here, just the understanding and acknowledgement that in this situation, a woman over 6’ is what the role deserves. Women, girls, we deserve to see ourselves just as much as everyone else does.

So my friends, please, please, when looking at your Jen fancasts, go for the actresses 6’ and up.

(And just to make it abundantly clear, while I made the point about being cisgender myself, I am 100% including trans women as the tall women who deserve to see themselves as well. My last tall woman post got that posted onto it as an addendum by someone else, and honestly it hadn’t occurred to me that someone might have assumed it discounted the trans community.)

I look so young and soft and glowing. Let’s pretend I was born in the 90’s, shall we?

raythrill:

What’s present time anymore

ufo-the-truth-is-out-there:

The Universe is a beautiful and mysterious place full of wonder:

emstonesdaily:

I just live my life how I live as a person. I certainly am not, like, a saint or an angel by any means. I’m not anything like that. But I live just how I live. I mean, I have a little paranoia, but that’s about it.

ensignspace:

The Crew + Van Gogh:

• Nyota Uhura + Branches Of An Almond Tree In Blossom (in red), 1890
  

whenanangelfalls:

Padmé Amidala’s costumes featured in the Smithsonian traveling exhibition Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume