Why do we do this thing where we're like "You wouldn't do this to another marginalized community."
I just saw a video of a bi person going "people act like the only bi woman is white and middle class, but they don't do that with lesbians or gay men." I immediately thought "Yes they do, though."
I've seen people say it with "You wouldn't say it about Jews" as a talking point against racism, with examples that I've definitely seen happen to Jewish people. "You wouldn't say this to a Black person" about comments I've seen Black people receive.
"Don't tell me I can heal my invisible disabilities with enough willpower, you wouldn't say that to a wheelchair user!" - they do though.
It's rare that a bigoted mindset doesn't replicate itself across groups. There are specifics for each marginalized group, but if a shitty attitude exists towards one, it most likely exists towards others. If you haven't seen it - it's likely your positioning.
If you want to discuss an issue you experience, you don't have to use another marginalized group as an example of someone who has it better. If you're wrong and they do suffer, you just contributed to erasure.
Honestly, this shit with Hogwarts Legacy is just like what happened with Chick-fil-A like ten or fifteen years ago. Some of y'all might be too young to remember it, but it went almost exactly like this shit today, only the target was technically gay people (not like we aren't all lumped together when push comes to shove, but gay was the political scapegoat in US politics at the time, as trans people were still on the fringes of social awareness).
It came out that the people who own Chick-fil-A were donating to organizations in other countries that were actively working to get gay people there killed, and were also very monetarily invested in stripping gay people of any legal rights they'd amassed in the US. So a lot of queer folks were asking for allies to boycott Chick-fil-A to show solidarity.
And it turned into a giant fuckin circus for bigots to rally around. There was even a support Chick-fil-A day, I remember it because I was a server at the time and our restaurant was empty most the day - while the line for Chick-fil-A down the road was like a mile long consistently.
But while that was obviously annoying, that wasn't what hit people the hardest. Cuz we expect clowns to wear the shoes, right, it's not shocking.
What disappointed people, or really demoralized a lot of young queers at the time especially, was the allies who would still go there. Because they like the sandwiches or fries or whatever. The people who'd march with them in the parade or be supportive of marriage equality, who would then turn right around and give their money to people who were trying to actively harm their friends.
Because the chicken was good.
I remember a friend of mine being really just absolutely broken up over that, trying to understand some of her friends reasoning and at the time I couldn't give her an answer. I could now, though.
And it's this:
Talk is cheap.
It costs nothing to say things. A person can say whatever the hell they want, any feel good flowery thing, and it doesn't really cost them.
But when they are asked to actually give something up - or put their money where their mouth is and just....can't do it. Well then there isn't much else for them to say, is there? At least nothing that's worth anything.
Some people had to find out the hard way that the choice between a chicken sandwich and funding people who did not believe in their dignity as a human being was, in the eyes of certain allies, apparently really hard. Too hard, in fact.
These allies would march in the colorful parades and go to the bars for drinks, but in the end, you couldn't actually depend on them to inconvenience themselves. They were fair weather allies, and they were there for the party and that's about it . They wanted entertainment, and it didn't matter if that came from having fun gay friends or a tasty sandwich.
This is the same thing, really, or pretty close to it.
These types of people just wanna have fun. Either you, their friend or whatever, are fun or the game is fun, and if you stop being fun by incidentally making them feel a little guilty about where they spend their money , then they might just choose the thing that doesn't make them currently uncomfortable.
And I'm not saying these people who say trans rights online but who also really, really want to play wizard game and already have are horrible people or anything - they're just not very good. They have no real character. And unfortunately there's not much you can do to change that, other than investing time and energy in people who do.
There's this book I read as a kid. I don't remember what it was called and I don't remember the author.
It was about this princess who had long, curly red hair. I don't remember her name. She had three older sisters, two of which were twins. She was being tutored by the eldest's love interest. I don't remember why, but her family got put under a curse, and her eldest sister turned into a weeping willow tree and the twins into swans. So she had to run away, and she cut her hair to pretend to be a boy. And there was a girl named Megan or Meghan with her (the only character whose name I remember), and Meg(h)an had blonde hair that was slowly turning black because she was infected with evil raven magic. I don't remember how it ends.
Anyway, it's not so much that I want to read it again but more that it bothers me immensely that I can't remember what book it was.
I tried to look up what book this could be. There are endless books about older brothers being turned into swans, but I couldn't find anything where it happens to older sisters. The tree one got me a lot of recommendations for parks and botanical gardens. And the hair search returned a bunch of articles about Megan Thee Stallion.
So I have no idea what book this could be.
But I did find a website that might be able to help you out
People do not owe you an explanation or justification of their existence. If you don't understand, do your research. Don't demand for someone to be your teacher and then go full bigot when they say no
I have to say, Kirkwall seems like such a nice, respected, not-at-all-terrifying town.
Come join me for some Dragon Age fun!
Not even going to bother with my hair today. It does what it wants without regards to anyone else
Why am I laughing so much at this
Some good feminist YouTubers for y’all!
Annamarie Forcino
Tara Mooknee
Shanspeare
Chad Chad
Noah Samsen
Ro Ramdin
Samantha Lux
Kat Blaque
Jessie Gender
Ethan Is Online
Feel free to add!
Can we all please acknowledge that Brittany Murphy was an extremely talented actor with an absolutely impressive range? And that she also had an amazingly kind and sweet personality?
I mean, can you imagine any of the films she was in with someone else in her roles? Clueless, Cherry Falls, 8 Mile, Girl Interrupted, Prophecy 2, Riding in Cars with Boys, Uptown Girls, etc.? Didn't think so. She made those roles. Those movies would have been made so much less by her absence. Even when she was given roles that had no depth or nuance, she gave it depth and nuance through her performance.
While we're at it, let's also acknowledge how horribly she was treated by the media. Like, tabloids just made up stories about her being an addict, having an eating disorder, being difficult on set. None of that was true. But she was constantly hounded about it and it was devastating for her mental and physical health. All of these lies became the common perception of her. People just accepted it all as truth.
She was an all-around wonderful person and artist. But she was destroyed by assholes deciding that she was an easy target. Even when she died, these vultures made up shit about how she OD'ed (she didn't) or died of an ED (she didn't). They couldn't even let her rest in peace.
I keep hoping that someday we'll stop letting media outlets do this to women, but I keep getting shown that there is no end to it. As long as people are getting "tea" they'll keep letting women, and even young girls, get victimized and traumatized.
My computer has been moved. Unfortunately, that means no stream tonight.
BUT you will get to see my awesome poster wall when I stream tomorrow!
Messy bi who dresses like a four-year-old despite being in my 30s
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