But one of the really maddening things about Tumblr is like this wilfull blindness to look at anything historical (because Old stuff = Conservative and = Bad?) and to try to reinvent the wheel with building blocks.

Yes! Except that there's a weird dichotomy in Tumblr culture where you can only choose between "everything historical was bad and oppressive, don't look at it unless you're going to condemn" and "you know that thing from history? Actually it was completely amazing and feminist and perfect and pure." Use whichever supports your purpose.