royalberryrambles

[royalberryrambles]

Stop using the word degenerate to mean horny challenge

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Really the kicker about discussing colonialism intrinsic to certain fictional tropes/archetypes/genres/what-have-you is that white bitches et al get SO mad about it. "Ohh so I'm not allowed to play farming sims? Wearing a silly hat makes me a fascist now?" I was just exercising critical thought but yknow what? Just for you? Yeah it does

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Look don't test me I'll block and turn off reblogs with a hair trigger if you all can't be normal about this but I do feel like it needs to be said that "do you think abortion should be allowed if the mother's reason for wanting it is—" the only acceptable answer to that question is Yes no matter what the end of that sentence is going to be. I do not care if someone wants an abortion for selfish reasons or bigoted reasons or cruel reasons or any other hypothetical strawman you can think of, there is no circumstance where someone should be denied the right to opt out of a forced pregnancy and birth. First of all, who's in charge of interrogating everyone seeking an abortion to make sure they're doing it for reasons Pure Of Heart? Second, why do you think Forced Birth is an appropriate punishment to inflict on anyone? If your answer to "should abortion be allowed when the motivation is—" is anything but an unequivocal "yes, and I don't care about the motivation" then you are not pro-choice

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Now a new study looking at 400,000 youths from 88 countries around the world suggests such bans are making a difference in reducing youth violence. It marks the first systematic assessment of whether an association exists between a ban on corporal punishment and the frequency in which adolescents get into fights. 

[royalberryrambles]

While we continue to donate to personal evacuation funds, I think it is crucial to keep in mind that these individuals as well as millions more in Gaza are currently actively in need of basic necessities like food, water, shelter, and medical care. Keeping this in mind, and recognising that there is no way to know when the border crossing with Egypt will reopen, I think our attention should also be on raising funds for organisations currently on the ground who will have the widest impact on the lives of Palestinians who are still enduring the genocide in Gaza.

Below are some verified donation links of organisations that are currently providing assistance for the people in Gaza directly:

Food, water, and shelter

Taawon has launched a campaign to provide support in Gaza through food parcels, shopping vouchers, fresh produce, water bottles and shelter tents.

Watermelon Relief is a project initiated and implemented by a group of activists in Gaza, who work to provide aid to displaced families in Gaza through meals, support and activities.

World Food Programme (WFP) managed to provide assistance to more than 1 million people in Gaza in May by delivering food in shelters, makeshift camps and shops.

Life for Gaza is an initiative through which the Municipality of Gaza aims to provide basic necessities for the people of Gaza such as water projects, waste collection and the reconstruction of roads.

Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) is working to plant farmlands in Gaza through their "Revive Gaza Farmlands" project, through which they had already started planting vegetables, fruits and leafy greens in Gaza.

Purchasing eSIMs is one of the only remaining ways to keep Gazans connected with the outside world, to get their stories out or even enable them to call for help after Israeli strikes.

The Sameer Project is a donation based aid initiative that provides tents, cash aid, diapers and formula for displaced families in Gaza.

Care For Gaza is an organisation that works to provide essential aid such as food packages and cash to deliver to displaced families in Gaza.

Palestine Children's Relief Fund, through their "Gaza Relief and Recovery" campaign, plan to provide essential medical supplies and treatments, as well as food and clean water.

Mutual Aid for the People of Gaza is a fundraiser managed by Mona in Gaza, who personally purchases and distributes basic supplies including food parcels to families in Gaza.

Help Gaza Children is another grassroots effort operating on the ground in Gaza to support families with food, water and clothing.

Medical care

Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) provides medical supplies and supports healthcare services in Gaza.

Gaza Wound Care is a medical team in a tent in Nuseirat, providing care to children and supporting pregnant women.

Children Not Numbers is an NGO dedicated to providing medical care for the children in Gaza including delivery of medical aid and medical evacuation for children.

[royalberryrambles]

who’s left- Mariame/Prison Abolition

by Flynn Nicholls

[royalberryrambles]

update on mohammeds campaign

thanks to all of your donations i was able to send $1,500 to mohammed almanasra @save-mohamed-family yesterday

mohammed told me this was the happiest he's been since the war started. he's had a lot of issues accessing the funds from the previous campaigns he set up so i can't express how glad i am that this worked.

prices for necessities are extremely high and this money will help him afford food for his family and medicine for his young kids who are suffering from skin diseases and injuries. here's some photos he's sent me of his kids condition, which thankfully he will be able to treat soon when he buys medication.

your donations are making a real impact on helping this family survive genocide. reminder that creating the conditions for famine and disease is also a tactic meant to exterminate people, and your donations actively work to provide mohammed's family with resources so they can survive this genocidal war. please keep sharing and donating to this campaign.

(this is #192 on the Vetted Gaza Fundraiser List)

$5,582 raised of $50,000

id really like for this to get to $6k by the end of the day- i think thats possible. every donation helps!

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"No one cares if women / transmascs / afab people wear pants and boy clothes!!!"

On my knees begging you to talk to people who grew up in religious fundamentalist communities and high control groups / cults

[royalberryrambles]

every time i see discourse about pedohysteria amidst a trans genocide i think about that news article from 2016 about the mexican immigrant who voted for trump because trump said he’d get rid of all the “bad hombres” from mexico, only to be deported himself because it turns out what trump was really saying was that he wanted to deport all mexicans, not just “the bad ones”

not just him, but there were many other examples too, like white conservatives who have mexican immigrant friends and family or people in the community important to them who were mexican immigrants, and they voted for trump because they thought trump was just getting rid of “criminals”, and then they regret it when their families and communities get torn apart by deportations of their spouses, their friends, their favourite restaurant owners, etc.

anyways, i hope young queers, trans people esp, understand that when conservatives talk about “pedophiles” and “groomers”, they’re not talking about actual child abusers, they’re talking about all queer people. they’re talking about all trans people. it’s why in florida, they’re categorizing “drag” as a child sex crime, and making sex crimes against children punishable by death. they’re trying to execute every single trans person, and that’s just the rhetoric they’re using

so stop buying into the pedohysteria. it’s easy to think “well, i’m not a pedophile, so i’ll be safe” when you don’t realize that in the eyes of conservatives, every single queer person is a pedophile and deserves death, and contributing to their rhetoric by trying to figure out which trans woman is a pedophile is just accelerating your own march to the gallows

[royalberryrambles]

Please sign the petition!!!

[royalberryrambles]

>Join a union

>Hear people constantly complaining that the current union leadership is super corrupt, it's all just the same ten guys making all the decisions in secret and nobody else in the union ever gets to know what's going on

>Go to the monthly union meetings that are completely open to all 1200 union members

>The only attendees are the same ten guys every month, giving detailed reports about everything that's going on

[royalberryrambles]

Btw

[royalberryrambles]

I have some thoughts about sexism and just overall many types of prejudices where sexism directly contributes to. But today I just want to focus on this really accepted trope that "women are smarter" and "men are idiots" then go from there.

Note: if you're a radfem who says this, you're not gonna like what I have to say and... honestly? I think you're the ones who need to hear this the most.

So for base context, I'm a trans man, born female transitioned to male. Let me tell you a few stories from when I was a little girl;

I was often told by family, especially women around me, that girls are smarter than boys and boys can't keep up with a woman. Which, to many, may feel empowering. Well, not to me. Why? Because the same people, women and men around me, all called me dumb, idiotic, a retard and would always point out how much I didn't succeed academically and how I was socially very slow. I didn't understand things like those around me, I wasn't witty, I wasn't a social butterfly who could care for everyone around me. Unfortunately, I was a girl who wasn't "the clever one". So, I was not smart girl, I was a far too average girl. And for girls, that's a crime you're not allowed to commit.

Now, let's turn the clock a bit into the future. I'm 21 and have come out as a transgender person. At this point it time, I have no real plans on transitioning and I'm not even sure of my gender, just that there is discomfort in my current presentation/ body that has always been there all along, now discovered through several years of therapy (that I had no support getting from family and had to organise myself btw), that was separate to 1) the sexism and 2) various layers of trauma I will not go into because it genuinely isn't relavent to this specific conversation. Many may go "oh you were running from being treated as a girl!" Well let me tell you a thing about presenting in a way that isn't perceived as "how girls should be allowed to act and dress and refer to themselves". You are not treated better or as a man. You are treated a lot worse than either one. Let me repeat; I was no longer treated as a woman, sure, but I wasn't treated as a man; I was treated as an even worse moral failing by general society, especially those with the opinion: "girls need to act this way" and "boys need to act that way". Ring any bells?

Now, let's turn the clock again, I'm 24 now and I look like a man, like a born male cisgender non-transgender man. People see me and say sir because I have a beard, people assume I am male 100% born that way. Now, how does this affect my treatment?

I'm a feminine man, so obviously I get called slurs and people assume I'm gay (I'm bi thank you very much), and I've had people laugh and shout "haha gAY!" because of how I walk, dress, etc (which I'm fine with this is me and I like how I am). However, I am given a new set of expectations; that I will automatically fail and it will be okay. That I shouldn't even try. Now imagine with me for a sec here, people expect you to do a thing and then they go "nah it's okay, you're a boy". It's humiliating and as demeaning as "oh you can't do this because you're a girl". It's just with mental tasks instead of physical this time. I'm no longer expected to be the clever girls and inevitably not meet expectations for not being born a genius capable of taking care of everyone around me. Now? Now I'm expected to be useless. I can't think for myself and when I do minor freaking shit it makes me such a clever boy like fuck off please that was average? I don't want coddling or pity for the mistake of having "a boy brain" or to be told "oh you're special because you're so smart" for seeing a fucking thing right in front of me because the other men in my life expected not to. Because when they don't someone else will and no one will care. Do people actually think men are dumb? No, they're just accepting the fact you'll do shit for them, just like how I used to as a girl who was told "oh you don't have to take out the trash dear" or "you don't have the mow the lawn, you have brothers". It's the. Same. Exact. Shit.

Oh yes, but how empowering it is to call women smart feble creatures who can only take care of those around them with their brain and boys are idiots who can only help with their brawn knowing full well the pressure this places on both and the expectations taken away from either that the other must compensate for unfairly. Oh yes, how feminist of you all! Not. It's sexist and it's gross.

Let's also discuss how this effects sexuality shall we? Again, as I said I am a feminine man who is averagely smart (so seen as clever) and averagely brawny (so seen as weak), and trans which means I'm a traitor to womanhood and clearly only feminine because "I am female" as many would want me to phrase it, but I'm going to say "I was born female and transitioned to male" because that's 1) more "biologically accurate" (hell even my hair texture is different to men and women's so let's not start) and 2) it's not up to the reader how I define myself. Again, you use your own language bit don't dictate mine and don't go saying I'm dictating yours because clearly I am not. This is my post, not yours. Anyway. Sexuality. So, before the whole transgender thing, I was asexual, then realised nah maybe I'm more of a lesbian, then changed to bisexual then back to lesbian all pre transgender stuff. This was all through and after therapy which is ongoing for multiple different reasons. Anyway, I know a thing or two about homophobia and aphobia, and also biphobia having been out as all three. And I have some things to say as far as the stated phrase discussed goes. Especially as someone who has kept their sexuality through their transition and only changed as I realised more about who I'm attracted to and not attracted to.

Let's start with how, as a girl, you're expected to be doing things for manipulative and scheming reasons, and yes this absolutely relates to the assumption that girls are the "brainy ones" because very often that's the "trickster ones" and "scheming ones". Women have always been assumed to be conniving in various folktales and just history all round, but it's accepted in modern day society not because we have a big society that believes in these folklore stories, but because we have this idea that women are all planning and scheming because "they're smart" and men are "dumb enough to be fooled". Of course, these definitely mix together, but don't tell me this doesn't make it even worse. Now, onto being asexual, then lesbian, etc as a young woman. See, people assume there has to be a reason why you're this (sort of like being trans, actually the treatment is very similar). For asexuality, you're scared of dating and you're traumatised, you're broken, and you're scared of men. You have to have had some reason thought out as to why you, a girl, could possibly be asexual. The reason is assumed, like any queer attraction, to be because you're unnatural and broken in the eyes of society. The other reason, usually because you're a girl, is because you're planning something and being "smart". Aka avoiding men. This also goes into being a lesbian, and why it's assumed "oh you just don't want to date men". It's assumed that women who don't date men but date women are only doing so for some mental reason, some sort of personal gain, it's all a scheme and a plan. And no I'm not referring to the whole predatory assumption which is held for both gay men and lesbian women and just us queers overall, but the specific notion that it's because women are "being smart and savvy and are doing the clever thing and being with women because they're smarter and cleaner and less work" and the whole "oh you're a girl so there must be a reason behind everything you do" besides just... "Girl is pretty and I want to kiss her", probably because women are assumed to be less sexual and must be innocent and soft by nature and aren't "supposed" to think about kissing and sex and tits. That's what men are expected to do after all. I'll leave the bisexuality one for last because I think I need to talk specifically because both at once, but first! Heterosexuality as a trans man.

The difference in going from a lesbian woman to a heterosexual man (the same exact attraction, just given different labels because of the genders involved) is astounding. And it's only as a woman to a man with the same exact attraction for women do you realise the double standards and how utterly absurd they are. I mean, sex and gender aside, this is literally the same thing. If we ignore who is having the attraction, both are the attraction to women. Somehow, being a girl or a boy changes how society treats you and the expectations and boy they annoy the shit out of me. And not even just for the reasons you expect.

For one, you can't just. Be attracted to women, there's this whole fucked up expectation of what dating means if you're heterosexual rather than a lesbian, and in this particular conversation, the brains vs brawn in a relationship is so...ugly and the expectations placed on me on either occasion just highlight how unsurprising it is that so many are in abusive relationship and have issues of codependency. It's so astoundingly fucked up that I actually think THIS is what really made me fucking hate this phrase in question. Before it was annoying, personally demeaning. Now? Now it's outright fucking dangerous.

It was expected when I was a lesbian that I was just being smart, making a smart choice to be with someone who *gasp* actually took care of themselves and could make decisions WITH me. Like. As if that isn't the base expectation of any relationship. If I'm a girl with a boy, it's assumed I'd be doing all the mental work and there would be no communication. Like, no really, there was an expectation all throughout my life that I would serve the husband as if he were a fucking child, but at least I could ignore this because "hey I'm not gonna have a husband". You know what made that obvious? When I was expected to end up as the husband and I had to sit back and think "wow you're all so utterly fucked up why is this seen as okay?" As a man, it is expected that whatever unlucky soul I were to date would do all the thinking for me and it's only because I'm smart (again average) that she'll actually have someone she could work with and communicate to instead of thinking for your decisions. Like. What the fuck actually? Actually especially people just at cafes, bars, etc who didn't know I was trans, like the fucked up expectations??? Even from WOMEN?? Like come the fuck on what is this bullshit? Why the fuck would I want to marry a woman only to make her my fucking servant and never talk through things and have her organise shit for me that's fucked. And you know what? I see it even more now, in my brother's relationship, in my dad, in my grandfather, in every single man and woman dating. It's sad. And it's not even an issue with just heterosexuals either it's just how it's expected men to be and women to be so any woman and man together "must have this dynamic". And god it's awful.

Now. Onto bisexuality. Shit, okay now let's start with as a man since I'm on the topic. You're expected to treat women the above way and then...there's being seen as gay. God being seen as gay as a man is not just a moral failing to society but seen as so inherently traitorous to masculinity that you can't help but sit there and think "it's hard to be a man" because the expectations are utter bullshit. Being a bisexual man kinda sucks actually, especially considering as well that part where no one really believes that bisexuality even exists as a thing except for other bisexuals and other queers who aren't exclusionists. But I digress, the really fucked up thing with this in regards to the main phrase (you know the one now I'd think), is that you're now expected to be all of the bullshit things. You're expected to be heterosexual, people know you like women so "why don't you just be normal?" but you also like men which makes you a fucking failure of a human being in their eyes. Also. If you're feminine that's even worse, especially if you also like women and you're feminine. These all together make you a really bad traitor to men in society's eyes because you're not doing what you're supposed to do even though society thinks you can and therefore should just be heterosexual. Also, did I mention how, despite all of this, you're an idiot who surely is just mistaken or making shit up? Same with being a woman and bisexual in regards to making shit up and surely you're just broken and need to be fucked. Actually that was a thing with asexuality, being a lesbian, I think just being a woman in general actually. But yeah, so like, you're a man for god sake just fuck a girl and you'd be cured of the feminity and the thinking for yourself thing and the liking other men (because that means we aren't just here to bully women and breed what the fuck that's not allowed) and damn. As a trans man? Oh it gets worse. Because once people realise you're "not a REAL man™" any femininity, attraction to men, or anything that is "unnatural for masculine manly men" to do, is attributed to womanhood and how you're a fake. See below for the added consequences of now being seen as a woman as well as being treated as a man who is bisexual. You get both! Because why just switch expectations when you can throw both to the "traitorous trans identified female scum who dared act like a man and lessen the value of masculinity for us real men" amirite?

So, how are bisexual women treated? Honestly? Like shit imo both from society and exclusionist factions in the queer community, but luckily they're way smaller than the majority who are accepting (it's kind of in the job description that we be accepting considering what we've all been through as a matter of course). But yeah that doesn't help when exclusionists are loud and also love to echo society especially with the sexism and, yep you guessed it, the Phrase™. There are so many difficulties with being a woman and bisexual, but the ones I'm gon refer to today are the expectations, which are that yep of course you're just using women but not to get away from men per se but to have a break from them, or to cheat on them. Same with dating men, you're assumed to be cheating on lesbians and it's a huge topic in these exclusionist factions to say "bi women are always cheating on us". In fact there's a whole general idea that bisexuals cheat as a matter of course (because there surely must be a difference between liking men and women compared to liking women and women, hmm gee I wonder what it is that we're assuming?) But anyway, again, I digress. The expectation to care for men like babies and then work with women is forever present and god it sucks ass. I wasn't even bisexual as a woman for very long but damn. The double expectation that you're only fucking women to get away from men and only fucking men because that's you're real sexuality is so fucking telling and is rooted in so much sexism and homophobia and biphobia. What's wrong with all of you, really, to think it's acceptable to say "oh yeah it's a normal attitude for a woman to run away from men but poor thing her natural state is to love the men she runs from". That is very very fucked actually and the expectation that you can "fix" this predicament by stopping women from ""running to women"" and just ""fucking a man"" is...yeah.

And just. The idea that a woman has to take care of he husband as a matter of course, to have that expectation and then also have the "you're planning something" expectation because god forbid a woman just do shit out of wanting to kiss a person and not have this clever scheme and reason for everything.

All in all this shit sucks. Why do we do it? Why is it so accepted and seen as a feminist progressive thing to tell women they're smarter than men and men are idiots it just creates so many fucking problems. Hell, I haven't even discussed disability and race yet. Do I even have the time and room for that discussion because it's even bigger than sexuality. I'm not even black so I'm probably not the one to discuss it, but disability? Oh I have experience there and I can say how much being a disabled woman sucks, but mental disabilities are the worst because it's seen as making you useless and disposable because you're too mentally average and not achieving enough constantly. Also how being a disabled man also sucks but at least with mental disabilities people don't expect shit to the point it overwhelms you, which is like the bare minimum btw. To not push to the point you force someone to breaking point is maybe just. What you ought to do in general maybe? Anyway, there's that, but also there's the whole bullshit of how physical disabilities mena you aren't strong enough and therefore also useless and the same shit repeats of being disposable and physically seen as a born traitor to masculinity again because you're physically not capable of achieving the set level of brawn demanded. And when you're a disabled woman who is physically weak? It's expected and you're not assumed to be disabled and you're not taken seriously, you're just a weak woman. Even chronic pain, breaking a leg, anything, it's all just you not being strong enough because you're a woman, not because of a fucking disability. And for men, god the mental health aspect is shit because it's assumed you're an idiot of course, but if you're smart and also just a low achiever because you're tired all the time and overwhelmed? God forbid you're also a fucking traitor and useless and disposable. But as if this damn phrase doesn't make shit worse. As if treating disabled women with this expectation that of course they're weak for womanhood and not their disabilities helps at all, as if assuming disabled women need to meet a certain standard to be human mentally and as if disabled women need to take care of abled men to have value. Fuck that. As if cleverness creates value and as is physical strengths creates value. Fuck both. And damn I haven't even talked about polyamory but that would be a huge post in and of itself so I'm gonna leave things here I think.

Anyway, that's my rant on this very stupid idea held by so many people and is seen as accepted and accurate in society. It is stupid and creates bullshit expectations and dangers, especially for women and especially for disabled people. And trans people, we also suffer just for being trans with this and yeah I talked about my experiences as a ftm man but mtf women also have it so fucking hard too. I'm tired of this phrase and I'm sure many of you are too, just too damn scared to admit it because society pressures us to conform or be thrown away like garbage. Fuck that and fuck the system, you're valuable regardless and there is no expectation you ought to meld into. Be you, and there will always be a community to support you, no matter how hard society fights against your existence.

[royalberryrambles]

Cover for an original story I'm writing! I'll probably have more news about this project soon.

[royalberryrambles]

Reiterating this today yet again but now also with the added cynical understanding that the majority of the population of this country are also letting us down.

More now than ever I want to make more progress on the stories that encourage people to think beyond what is simply popular and feels safe, to understand every one of us has an impact on the world and that no matter how small we feel sometimes, our little steps to make the world a better place aren't ever in vain.

I want to remind people to search for the truth and understand that sometimes doing what is right means accepting those who are very different from you and sometimes conflict with your own beliefs and way of life. I want to tell stories that encourage people to move pass pride and nationalism to find love and compassion for the world and those who inhabit it, regardless of borders or titles.

Living in Australia makes me want to hunt our politician and corporations for sport, and to make it worse, there's politicians who are worse everywhere else and make ours seem charitable in comparison. Also, as always, ACAB. At this point they're the government's hired mercs and thugs.

[royalberryrambles]

Reading about how intersex athletes have been treated is so fucking horrible. The countless lies and human rights violations. The discrimination and how it's ruined the lives of so many people is so awful. There has been no apologies from any athletics comptetions or organizations. They have blood on their hands. Just a tw for intersexism and mental health issues and suicide in the next paragraph because it can get pretty heavy.

Annet Negesa, who was a middle distance runner. She was suddenly barred from competing due to her hormones. No one told her why. She was then told she needed to take medication to lower her testosterone, then what she was told was switched. She was lied to about a surgery that she was told was like an injection and would let her compete again. She woke up with scars and had had a gonadectomy. That violation of basic human rights and medical ethics combined with inadequate postsurgical care basically ended her career. She deserves justice. She deserves apologies from the Olympics and everyone single doctor who was involved in it, and compensation and the promise that it should never have happened and will never happen again. She. Needs. Justice.

Pratima Gaonkar needs justice. She was a rising track and field star. After forced sex verificatiom she killed herself. The way media and news treated her after her death was disgusting. She deserves and needs justice. Her family deserves justice.

Santhi Soundarajan had her medals stripped and was treated as an outcast after forced sex verification showed she had androgen insensitivity syndrome. She was treated as an outcast, her gender was mocked. She's spoken out about how much discrimination she's faced, and how badly she's been treated. She now works as a coach, but was barred from competing. She deserves justice.

Caster Semenya deserves justice. Francine Niyonsaba deserves justice. Margaret Wambui deserves justice. Barbra Banda deserves justice. Beatrice Masilingi and Christine Mboma deserve justice.

The racism and intersexism and horrible human rights violations and medical abuse these women have faced for the supposed crime of being intersex and good at a sport is horrible. They deserve justice, but the organizations that perpetuate these atrocities don't seem to care. It's so fucking horrible.