#(as in becoming a higher percent female)

[bumblewarden]

so between the low dwarven fertility and the noble hunters and offspring inheriting the caste of their same-gender parent, would orzammar's noble caste be becoming increasingly male over time?

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lilli Petersen at HuffPost:

When Taylor Swift came out to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris last month, it was the Instagram post heard ’round the world (or at least ’round the TikTok FYP algorithm). “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift wrote immediately following the first, and only, debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump. She signed her message “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” — a knock at Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, who has used the term to demean women without children.

With her simultaneous endorsement of the Democrat and swipe at the Republican, Swift, at 34 arguably the most famous millennial woman in U.S. pop culture, also made herself the avatar of an ongoing shift in politics among her demographic of young women: For the past few decades, they have been tilting decidedly left. “It’s popping out in the polling because it’s more dramatic this year than it has been in other years,” said Elaine Kamarck, director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution. The Harris campaign has been assiduously courting women, and particularly young women. Harris regularly makes abortion rights a talking point in interviews and stump speeches, has embraced the meme-ification of her campaign (including Charli XCX enthusiasm and Swift-themed get-out-the-vote campaigns), and recently went on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” which began life as a relationship and advice podcast and whose audience is now over two-thirds female and over 90% younger than 45. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, has been... less deft. From Vance doubling down on demeaning childless women and suggesting they should have less voting power, to Trump promising to be women’s “protector,” to, really, just all of the plain ol’ misogyny, it’s not surprising the gender gap isn’t in Trump’s favor.

“You hear important people talking like this, and you say, ‘What the hell?’ You know, ‘People with children should have more votes than people without children.’ What?” laughed Kamarck. “Between Vance and Trump, they are articulating an amazingly old-fashioned notion of women’s role in society,” she added. The shift of young women leftward is not a particularly new trend. Women are regularly more liberal than their male peers, and young people are regularly more liberal than their older counterparts.

[...] She also noted that the research only focuses on women who were ages 18-29 at the time of polling, which means the data reflects the views of multiple generations, rather than the changing attitude of a steady cohort. The overall picture also shows some variance by race: White and Black women under age 50 have especially moved to the left, while Hispanic women have largely stayed the same or even shifted rightward. “But even with the ups and downs, we’ve ended up at a place that’s significantly higher, on a percent level, than it was in 2015,” Saad said. And while young women are shifting left, young men are staying relatively moderate. Sixty-three percent of young women in 2001-2007 had views closer to those of liberals than of conservatives, a figure that jumped to 78% in the 2008-2016 period and then to 87% in the 2017-2024 period. Young men, meanwhile, saw those same figures move from 47% to 57%, and then fall to 50% for the period from 2017 to 2024. The divide is becoming ever clearer as the 2024 election approaches. According to a fall 2024 Harvard Youth Poll, Harris has a 31-point lead over Trump among likely voters under 30 — and when it comes to likely female voters in that age group, Harris leads 70% to 23%. “Brat,” indeed.

[...] Young women, though, are more likely than young men to be involved in liberal-leaning social movements like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, environmental activism and gun violence prevention. Particularly involved are young women of color, who Kiesa notes have taken on “significant” leadership in activism work.

HuffPost’s Lilli Petersen explores why young women in the USA are shifting leftwards at a historic pace since 2015.

Read the full story at HuffPost.

[mariacallous]

As Moldova hurtles toward critical elections on Sunday, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Malicious actors, bankrolled by foreign sources, are working to sway the country’s public. And their target? President Maia Sandu — fighting not only for reelection but for her country’s future as a European democracy.

 As Moldova’s first female president, Sandu’s candidacy has become ground zero for a flurry of gendered disinformation attacks, all designed to undermine her leadership and derail the nation’s EU membership referendum, which coincides with the election.

This is no ordinary election. It’s an all-out assault on Moldova’s sovereignty, and at the heart of the battle lies one simple truth: Whoever controls the narrative determines Moldova’s future.

In a crowded field of 10 candidates, Sandu’s still expected to win the first round, despite being buffeted by efforts to weaken and discredit her and the women serving in her administration. These attacks are gendered, insidious and relentless, looking to exploit traditional gender norms in a country where 97 percent of the population believes women should be “cherished and protected by men.”

But this isn’t about traditional values — it’s about manipulating them to maintain Russia’s grip on Moldova.

Disinformation targeting female leaders isn’t just a women’s issue. It’s a democracy issue; it’s a human rights issue; and in the digital age, it’s also a matter of national security. These weaponized lies are meant to fracture the foundations of participatory governance and erode trust in democracy.

Our organization, #ShePersisted, has been tracking these toxic trends since 2022, identifying common gendered narratives aimed at women in politics across major digital platforms in countries like Italy, Hungary and Ukraine. Now, it’s Moldova that’s become the latest battleground in Russia’s destabilization playbook.

The parallels to the U.S. are striking here. Much like Vice President Kamala Harris, who has similarly been the target of disinformation campaigns, Sandu’s candidacy has been a lightning rod for misogyny cloaked in political rhetoric. And just as we’ve seen false claims about Harris’s identity and qualifications, Moldova’s social media platforms are awash with deepfake videos and conspiracy theories aimed at the sitting president.

Both women have dealt with an onslaught of digital attacks designed to weaken the public’s trust in their leadership — attacks that are gendered, racist and xenophobic — and it’s no accident these narratives spread so easily. Social media algorithms reward the most divisive content. For the Kremlin, manipulating online discourse by gaming algorithms is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel, all thanks to the oligarchs of tech that foster this environment, where digital distortions flourish in the name of keeping users hooked and advertisers paying.

In Moldova in particular, the malign actors are explicitly pro-Russian, using inauthentic and coordinated behavior to seed and amplify their attacks. And the campaigns are part of a broader strategy to destabilize the country, oust pro-European Sandu and drag Moldova back into Russia’s orbit.

The Kremlin’s use of deepfakes and false narratives — claiming Ukrainian F-16s will soon land on Moldovan soil and fabricating stories about compulsory EU-mandated “sexual education” — mirrors the chaos it tried to sow in the 2016 U.S. election. Its methods, however, have become more sophisticated. According to a joint statement by the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., Russia is now actively using “disinformation, criminal and covert activities, and corruption to undermine sovereignty and democratic processes” in the upcoming Moldovan elections.

Despite the red alert, though, it’s still largely U.S.-based digital media companies that are acting as modern-day conflict profiteers.

Earlier this year, #ShePersisted combined social listening with forensic data analytics to understand the toxicity directed at women leaders in Moldova. The results? A chilling glimpse into the future of global disinformation campaigns.

From deepfakes of Sandu resigning while wearing a hijab to offers of bribes for voters to reject Moldova’s EU integration, the manipulation is as multifaceted as it is dangerous.

In one case, exiled oligarch and opposition leader Ilan Shor — widely seen as “Moscow’s man in Moldova” — used Facebook to run hundreds of ads that were viewed 155 million times. And the fact that he could do this while not, in fact, being in Moldova is a testament to the power online infrastructure afforded him, as Meta has repeatedly failed to track and remove these coordinated campaigns.

But the threats aren’t confined to political manipulation. Human traffickers and scam artists are leveraging these same platforms to victimize Moldovans too. In a country where 80 percent of the population is deeply concerned about human trafficking, social media platforms have become the primary tool for traffickers, targeting vulnerable women and girls.

And what has Meta done? Almost nothing. Regardless of clear abuse, social media giants continue to prioritize profits over safety, allowing both gendered disinformation and criminal exploitation to thrive.

For Moldova, the road ahead is now fraught with peril— it’s a path the U.S. knows all too well. And as Sandu prepares for a tight election, the parallels between the challenges faced by women leaders worldwide are impossible to ignore.

Whether it’s Harris or Sandu, gendered disinformation is among the most powerful tools bad actors use to erode democratic progress around the world today. And if social media platforms don’t step up to enforce their own rules — removing posts inciting violence, disabling accounts that spread gendered falsehoods and curtailing the amplification of disinformation — they’ll continue to be complicit in corrosion of democracy.

Moldova’s election isn’t just a fight for one woman’s political future, it’s a fight for the future of democracy itself. Like any good fight, it requires action — in this case, both online and off. And if we fail to address the weaponization of gendered disinformation now, the next battlefield could be much nearer to home.

[whatiswritteninthestars]

My take on what’s been going on with the fandom regarding Melissa McBride. This will get me blocks I’m sure but you have to be careful who you trust. Listen to people but don’t think they are god. Even actors and showrunners have been known to embellish the truth. I do not believe for a second Melissa is being overrun and underminded. She already left the spinoff once and a lot was put in to getting her back on board. That’s not something AMC or Norman/Scott is going to jeopardize again. A lot of talk is going around about a pro Caryl showrunner and rumors of how the men are trying to block that from happening. For one if AMC wanted them they’ll sign them. They have the power over Scott. Another thing is they are not going to refuse to hire someone over their taste in ships. These are professional people who have done this job before.

Keep in mind about who you are getting the information from. If they use the line “you don’t have to believe me” chances are they aren’t being forthcoming. If they become aggressive when you don’t believe them chances are they aren’t being honest. This seems more about a fandom power play then it does as warning to Carylers to make a movement to AMC.

I’ve seen so much division in the Caryl fandom throughout several platforms. And it’s to much competition that often times makes it unbearable. There’s a few “leaders” who are constantly at odds with each other and fight for their place at fandom Queen. It’s childish and mean girl behavior.

FYI a true leader is someone who uplifts everyone regardless of how they feel about you. Not a dictatorship which some of you are guilty of. I’ve seen you guys shut down people and try to push them out of the fandom for having the same opinion earlier that you have now. So maybe think on that before you judge next time. None of us are ever 100 percent right all the time.

Some of you really need to let that high school mantra go. I don’t believe the ones being the loudest have any true connection to higher ups at AMC or the DD/BOC show. And I don’t believe Melissa is being strongholded. She is an EP and has a say in Carol’s story. AMC official accounts are using the Caryl hashtag. There’s a lot to look forward to. She’s been a part of the show from day one giving input and helping on and off screen even before she was an EP. Melissa was a huge part of season one even without the title. Actors have always raved about how she’s made them better and the same holds true with this show. So you all need to relax. Melissa is valued.

I can tell you this with certainty the one claiming to have this insider information is the same person who would dm a wide range of accounts that seemed to have information and beg them for whatever information they could. And when she got information she refused to share any. Which is what they are doing now. Talking about a female show runner but will not name names. Put your money where your mouth is if you think you have accurate information. And I will tell you this stalking and dming crew members or production members for a tid bit of information is not a source. It’s borderline harassment. You know who you are.

Now in closing this person also claimed that if Carylers were loud enough to AMC that the spinoff would not happen. Yes they were going to waste all that money or sets and contracts. Melissa was also already there when they were trying to make this movement lol. Stop acting like they are the Buddha to the Caryl fandom like you have no common sense and can’t function without them. There are many strong Caryl fans who don’t spread misery on a daily basis you can talk to. To calm your fears or just to talk about happier things to look forward to. These so called leaders seek out emotional people that they can control who are looking for guidance. This was once the greatest fandom in the land and could be again if we would break ties with the ones holding us down. So just think about that before being sucked down with the rest. Great things are coming. I promise you that.

[rideboomindia]

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[liannelara-dracula]

Hello! Lately I've been thinking so much about academic rivals to lovers scenarios with Reiji but I couldn't find anything similar to that to read :(

So, if you're comfortable with that, can I request some hcs for this trope?

Hi Love,

Oh, yes! This is a nice idea. It's a shame they haven't made it, in that case, leave it to me :). I've literally been wanting to do this so I'm happy you asked this!

-Liannelara

Academic rivals to lovers scenarios w Reiji

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Prompt

Requests are open

Rules

Warning:

*certain words have been censored for Tumblr guidelines.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

📘I think this girl was raised to believe that she had to succeed more than anyone and so she felt pressure from her parents who probably expected a lot from her so when she met Reiji, she met her match.

📘And she wanted to prove to her parents that she was better which was becoming difficult considering Reiji didn’t make mistakes.

📘So she was working harder and harder to be the top student.

📘Reiji had always been confident with himself and he never thought he'd have to worry about something like this.

📘He thought that his rival was only Ruki.

📘Which he was fine with because Reiji would never back down from succeeding in academics and showing off his skills.

📘However, Reiji never thought about having a female rival

📘I mean realistically speaking, he's sexist and will believe that a woman couldn't possibly surpass him in anything unless it was something feminine. 

📘So it's a shock to his system in a way but he is more so focused on the fact that he is being challenged by not only a human but a girl.

📘He will not stand for it, he must be above all else, especially a woman.

📘After all he’s Reiji, how could he miss something or not do something better than someone else?

📘I think it all started when she transferred to his school.

📘Teachers loved her, people tried to befriend her, and she joined the student council, which Reiji is not a part of.

📘She was doing so much in so little time and so she was admired.

📘Most of all she was very smart, especially with complex subjects such as math and science.

📘And she had some chemistry skills so this totally triggered him.

📘At first he thought nothing of it but the more she succeed he found himself being challenged and it was the same for her.

📘She’d miss a point and Reiji would get it or they were both right and it was a tie.

📘It got so bad that they would indirectly insult and get salty with each other and maybe even cheat a little.

📘In fact there were times when you two would argue with the teachers about which one of you had more precise answers.

📘And it would be a constant battle so much that teachers couldn’t even put up with it.

📘If the teacher tried to partner you two up in a lab it is nothing but constant bickering about how he thinks you burned the magnesium for too long or how you think he timed it wrong.

📘You both even argue about the process the whole time of how it should be done because you two have biased preferences.

📘“You’re always supposed to sand it down then roll it before burning it.” You’d point out.

📘“Not in this particular experiment.” He’d state.

📘“That’s your opinion, I feel that when I set the heat up first I get less percent error.” You’d argue.

📘“Perhaps it’s because of your inexperience.” Reiji would claim.

📘In P.E. you run for track and he feels the need to perform better than you there too. Even though you both probably hate P.E.

📘But because of his vamp speed and higher stamina, you can’t beat him. So in your case, you’d grow annoyed because he was better at it than you.

📘In fact he probably once stopped you during track just to taunt you, “it seems you do not perform as well as you’d like to on the field. How embarrassing it must be, though given your calves are short you are incapable of keeping up with someone taller. Did you not grow properly?”

📘Hearing this a pout grew on your lips which he loved seeing, “For your information height isn’t the only thing that contributes to someone’s speed. Of course, what would you know, you spent most of your childhood having growth spurts instead of knowledge expansion.”

📘If you were assigned a class presentation, he likes to be a dick and ask you complicated questions that may even reach out of the presentation's scope just to piss you off since they're complicated in nature.

📘“If you are not feel versed on the topic, perhaps you should inform yourself of it.” He’d answer smugly as your eye twitched at this before forcing a smile.

📘“Perhaps I will and then maybe you have to put your focus on Latin more.” You remarked, seeing he wasn’t as well versed in the language as you were.

📘You both ended up having a tie with Reiji at the science fair and this is where Reiji was shocked that his project and yours tied.

📘You had spent some many weeks talking smack to each other about your projects that even Ruki had to step in to make you both stop.

📘Although the judges had to come to a conclusion and so you probably one because your project was just more out of the box than Reiji’s. So you win the science fair and this is where Rei starts to be a bit nicer to her. After she wins, he probably goes over and shakes her hand, saying she won fair and square.

📘Rei's honestly not himself after this point because for her to beat him, he thinks she's something and definitely someone he's interested in.

📘This was really surprising to you, and he purposely made sure that you noticed this. Although Reiji was smart enough to know you’d be to taken back to say anything. So you instead stayed a little shocked and wouldn’t say anything because it just seemed so off to you.

📘Of course, little did you know that Reiji was intrigued by you now and would only be planning on getting your attention more often. And when possible get you to be shocked and display other facial expressions to which he found amusing.

📘So when he started to pursue, he started to do little things to get your attention, to which you were totally oblivious to.

📘He’d invite you to participate in the school's fair seeing you still hadn’t decided.

📘“As a student council member you should participate, however, if you are in need of company I suppose it cannot be helped.”

📘“Reiji?” You’d question, raising a brow in confusion.

📘“I will accompany you to the school’s festival.” He’d confirm, adjusting his glasses as he looked down at you, “Do you have any objections?”.

📘“Uhh, no. . . its just, well I--I never asked for help.” You’d stumble as you looked at him, a little confused as to why this was happening.

📘“I suppose it can atone for my prior behavior.” He’d reply, turning away to part ways with you, leaving you a little speechless again.

📘He once was able to get a coffee with you during break and talk about academic stuff too.

📘This is where he sensed your troubles and mostly about how nervous you were for one particular exam he mostly found this out by overhearing you with someone and because when he asked about it your heart raced a little faster in panic.

📘So finding the opportunity, Reiji offers to help you.

📘“If you feel uncertain of your knowledge you should be tested about the subject. Three o’clock, the library.” He’d say offering to help.

📘“Oh, no, it’s okay. I’m sure I’ll manage, Reiji.”

📘“Y/n, if I am not mistaken this is not the first time you have declined my offers in helping you. Continuing to do so makes you appear as though you have something to hide.” It’s true, you were avoiding these interactions with him because you didn’t feel right bothering someone.

📘“It’s not that I---well, if you’re alright with studying then I guess I will see you later then.” You’d say figuring it would be harmless.

📘“I will see you soon.” He’d smile, parting ways with you in the hall.

📘Which allows you two to study, it also means he gets to sit close to you in the library or at a table in a secluded area.

📘This is when he gets to adjust your grip on the pencil too and have the excuse to touch your hand and delicate fingers.

📘He also gets to hover over you as he’s pointing out things to you in the textbook.

📘This gives Rei the excuse to even lean in and be extra close to you with his chest brushing against your back and both of his arms on both sides of you blocking you from leaving.

📘And it's taking him everything in him to not steal a kiss from you.

📘He’ll get really close but make sure he doesn’t kiss you because he’s still waiting since it's not time yet.

📘In that study session and in a few other ones you two would exchange conversation about different things and he once got you to smile and giggle at one thing.

📘It was precious to him when you laughed that you covered your smile with your hand gingerly.

📘Studying with you became frequent between you both, even if you were in the library to return or search for a book and he was in the library casually minding his own business he’d find a way to get your attention.

📘He would do this by either clearing his throat and pretending like he doesn’t notice you or by walking by you to get another book and act like he doesn’t notice you until you bump into him.

📘When he gets you to interact more he will become more comfortable as well and try to keep you fascinated with things he knows.

📘He’ll share interesting things with you and this usually happens during study sessions.

📘Rei would show you one of his scientific journals and his discoveries. (and this is his way of flirting lmao)

📘He even shows you flowers and studies he’s done of them so you learn some interesting observations from him sometimes too.

📘“They are pretty, what is this flower called?” You’d ask, still looking at the plant in observation.

📘I know he plans most of his interactions but sometimes he just gets lucky and opens new doors and finds out more interesting things about his rival.

📘Some things of which he deems as “cute” or “worth tolerating”.

📘Like one time you got injured in P.E. and he took you to the nurses' office.

📘Another time you practically tripped and fell on him but he caught you.

📘At a school dance you stepped on his foot and he called you a clumsy dancer.

📘This kinda made you upset and get into a minimal argument.

📘“It is as if you were born with two left feet.” He’d say boldly.

📘You’d scoff as you both still continued to practice, “Do you ever have anything!--” you’d stop mid-sentence as Reiji twirled you around and dipped you, just to have you shut up.  “ . . . nice to say.” You’d say shocked and speechless, still being held in the same position, his hair falling into his face his arms still holding your waist.

📘A blush crept onto your cheeks as you tried to get out of his grip, “Reiji, let go of me.”

📘He’d chuckle before letting you go, “It’s fascinating to see the top student turn red.”

📘You’d glare at him, “Excuse me.” You’d say before turning away to leave.

📘But of course, there was no way our bae Rei was going to have it end there.

📘Oh no, it was only the beginning.

📘Even if he isn’t asking you things or exchanging conversation with you, you are still in classes with him and he loves to have his burning gaze on you.

📘So you have constant stares, which you used to not notice. And once you did you grew a little cautious of how you moved or where you’d sit because you could feel he was watching.

📘And let’s just say, it got to the point to which to were nervous about coming to class early since it would mean he’d pick a seat where he could see you. 

📘Or sometimes he’d be really bold and sit next to you.

📘Of course you couldn’t fully say this was true as there was no actual proof, because every time you looked his way he either turned away or acted like he wasn’t doing anything. Although you had a gut feeling.

📘Because when you came in early and sat in the front rows he’d side further behind at an angle to which he could get a perfect view of you reading and taking notes.

📘Even if you’re crossing your legs, to which he won’t admit is his weakness.

📘He was amused by watching you, especially because you hardly turned around to look at him. But he knew you were just too nervous to look but also engrossed in your work.

📘Although there were times when he caught you staring and he’d caught you a few times looking back, only for you to look away.

📘Reiji also grew to enjoy how you tried to get out of class as soon as possible, instead of asking the teacher questions so that you wouldn’t have to face him.

📘He loved seeing a girl so calm and collected become all nervous and apprehensive.

📘Any chance there was a project to be done with partners he’d stage it to have the teacher put you both together.

📘Which he’ll probably use his mind control for that.

📘And it’s just getting harder for you to avoid him, he’s bugged you during presentations. Like when you’re explaining he will have questions for you.

📘He’d bump into you in the halls more frequently too and then try to have conversations with you.

📘The study sessions got more personal, sometimes it wasn’t even studying which was very unlike you.

📘I think he asked you out in one of two ways, either he kissed you in the school hallway after asking for your answer to date.

📘Or you two were in the school garden and a flower petal got in your hair and being the gentleman that he is Reiji moved it out of your hair 

📘 “You don’t need to--” you’d mumble out as his hand touched your hairline, he took the opportunity to steady your features and tuck a strand behind your ear before putting his palm against your cheek only to lean in forward and crash his lips on yours.

📘He’d pull away a little after, his hand still on your cheek as he admired the way your eyes had fluttered due to being kissed and how they now opened after he pulled away. “Reiji . . .” You’d whisper, unable to make a sentence.

📘“Please consider my offer, Y/n.”

📘Omg this man is so gentle with the woman he loves, I cannot. 😭😭🤧My lil Rei.

📘Once you accepted you two then established things at your own pace, and you came to know more about his playful nature.

📘And his constantly teasing and cruel humor, as well as him calling you dearest or my dear.

📘To know more about what school with him is like, you can see that here.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

˗ˏˋ 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 ˎˊ˗ ©𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟔~Present

[devoted1989]

the dark reality behind dairy

By World of Vegan.

Within the dairy realm, two narratives intertwine: the plight of the mothers and that of their offspring.

Artificial insemination serves as a harsh introduction to the dairy industry’s cycle of exploitation. Unlike the natural way to get pregnant, female cows within commercial dairy farms are subjected to an intrusive process that blatantly violates their reproductive system.

This invasive procedure forces cows into a perpetual cycle of pregnancies, denying them the right to choose their mates or control their reproductive destinies.

Just like human mothers, a female cow has a nine-month gestation period. And after giving birth, calves typically nurse from their mothers for 6 months or longer.

But in the dairy industry, once her calf is born, she’ll experience a mere day or two of companionship—sometime less—before her calf is forcefully separated from her to prevent the loss of even a drop of valuable milk, which would cut into the profits of the dairy industry. This is the last time the mother will see her baby.

Like most moms, cows have powerful maternal instincts and are extremely distressed when their babies are taken away from them. Their anguished bellows can be heard for up to a mile away. Some cows are so distraught that they will even stop eating.

Post-separation, the mother cows are subjected to mechanical milking—a stark contrast to the nostalgic image of a farmer hand-milking a cow.

As soon as her baby is taken away, the mother will be hooked up to a milking machine to take the milk that her body made for her calf. In natural circumstances, nursing cows produce just 12 to 15 pounds of milk each day and calves nurse all day long.

But in the majority of today’s dairy operations, a mother cow will produce a staggering 50 pounds of milk daily. The pressure of her painfully loaded udder will only be relieved by mechanical milking twice a day, which often leads to mastitis and other excruciatingly painful conditions.

As time progresses, milk production wanes, initiating a vicious cycle of repeated artificial impregnation, bereavement, and mechanical milking.

This cycle persists yearly until these cows meet a grim fate—slaughtered as adolescents, their natural lifespan of 25 to 30 years cut short. Their bodies, devoid of milk-production utility, are often processed into meat products, most often burgers.

Shifting focus to their offspring, USDA statistics reveal that 97 percent of calves are separated from their mothers within the first 12 hours of birth.

Female calves, like their mothers, confront a bleak fate. Denied maternal nourishment, they are confined in solitary and often cramped pens, where they have no way to find comfort or nurse from their mother.

Replacing mother’s milk with a formula, they endure this existence for 6-8 months, foregoing a natural upbringing characterized by play, bonding, and freedom.

Once fertile, the cycle of forced impregnation, grief, mechanical milking, and eventual slaughter begins anew.

50 percent of the babies born will be male, and a male calf has little financial value to the dairy industry because he’ll never produce milk.

In most situations he’ll either be kept and raised for beef, slaughtered immediately for cheap veal, or sent to a torturous facility to become higher priced veal.

On a veal farm the baby calf will be confined in a small space in which he can barely move and fed an iron-poor diet until he becomes severely anemic. His muscles will atrophy, and at just a few months of age, he’ll be slaughtered. His tender, pale flesh will be sold as veal.

You may be surprised to learn that marketing buzzwords like “Organic, Grass-Fed and Free-range” you might see on meat, dairy, and egg labels don’t guarantee better lives for the animals.

The mechanics remain the same, including the unavoidable separation of baby from mother, painful surgical mutilations without anesthetic, factory-style milking, and premature slaughter.

These terms, designed to attract compassionate consumers, fail to dismantle the core mechanisms of exploitation.

Considering the immense suffering, is the fleeting gustatory pleasure of cow’s milk truly worth it? The array of delicious, plant-based alternatives renders this question obsolete. Opting for both taste and compassion aligns with our evolving food landscape.

Our grocery choices equate to votes for the world we desire. While personal, these choices transcend the individual, impacting the lives of others.

Opting for animal-based dairy entails contributing to a continuum of suffering. Awareness fuels change. Acknowledging one’s past contributions to cruelty ignites a journey toward more humane choices. Armed with knowledge, we navigate a path of greater compassion, for when we know better, we can genuinely do better.

[haggishlyhagging]

If the "infertility epidemic" was the first round of fire in the pronatal campaign of the '80s, then the "birth dearth" was the second. At least the leaders of this campaign were more honest: they denounced liberated women for choosing to have fewer of no children. They didn't pretend that they were just neutrally reporting statistics; they proudly admitted that they were seeking to manipulate female behavior. "Most of this small book is a speculation and provocation," Ben Wattenberg freely concedes in his 1987 work, The Birth Dearth. "Will public attitudes change soon, thereby changing fertility behavior?" he asks. "I hope so. It is the root reason for writing this book."

Instead of hounding women into the maternity ward with now-or-never threats, the birth dearth theorists tried appealing to society's baser instincts—xenophobia, militarism, and bigotry, to name a few. If white educated middle-class women don't start reproducing, the birth-dearth men warned, paupers, fools, and foreigners would—and America would soon be out of business. Harvard psychologist Richard Herrnstein predicted that the genius pool would shrink by nearly 60 percent and the population with IQs under seventy would swell by a comparable amount, because the "brighter" women were neglecting their reproductive duties to chase after college degrees and careers—and insisting on using birth control. "Sex comes first, the pains and costs of pregnancy and motherhood later," he harumphed. If present trends continue, he grimly advised, "it could swamp the effects of anything else we may do about our economic standing in the world." The documentation he offered for this trend? Casual comments from some young students at Harvard who seemed "anxious" about having children, grumblings from some friends who wanted more grandchildren, and dialogue from movies like Baby Boom and Three Men and a Baby.

The birth dearth's creator and chief cheerleader was Ben Wattenberg, a syndicated columnist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who first introduced the birth dearth threat in 1986 in the conservative journal Public Opinion—and tirelessly promoted it in an endless round of speeches, radio talks, television appearances, and his own newspaper column.

His inflammatory tactics constituted a notable departure from the levelheaded approach he had advocated a decade earlier in his book The Real America, in which he chided population-boom theorists for spreading "souped-up scare rhetoric" and "alarmist fiction." The fertility rate, he said, was actually in slow decline, which he saw then as a "quite salutary" trend, promising more jobs and a higher living standard. The birth dearth, he enthused then, "may well prove to be the single most important agent of a massive expansion and a massive economic upgrading" for the middle class.

Just ten years later, the fifty-three-year-old father of four was sounding all the alarms about this "scary" trend. "Will the world backslide?" he gasped in The Birth Dearth. "Could the Third World culture become dominant?" According to Wattenberg's treatise—subtitled "What Happens When People in Free Countries Don't Have Enough Babies"—the United States would lose its world power status, millions would be put out of work, multiplying minorities would create "ugly turbulence," smaller tax bases would diminish the military's nuclear weapons stockpiles, and a shrinking army would not be able “to deter potential Soviet expansionism.”

When Wattenberg got around to assigning blame, the women's movement served as the prime scapegoat. For generating what he now characterized as a steep drop in the birthrate to "below replacement level," he faulted women's interest in postponing marriage and motherhood, women's desire for advancing their education and careers, women's insistence on the legalization of abortion, and "women's liberation" in general. To solve the problem, he lectures, women should be urged to put their careers off until after they have babies. Nevertheles, he actually maintains, "I believe that The Birth Dearth sets out a substantially pro-feminist view."

Wattenberg's birth dearth slogan was quickly adopted by New Right leaders, conservative social theorists, and presidential candidates, who began alluding in ominous—and racist—tones to "cultural suicide" and "genetic suicide." This threat became the subject of a plank in the political platforms of both Jack Kemp and Pat Robertson, who were also quick to link the fall of the birthrate with the rise in women's rights. Allan Carlson, president of the conservative Rockford Institute, proposed that the best way to cure birth dearth was to get rid of the Equal Pay Act and federal laws banning sex discrimination in employment. At a 1985 American Enterprise Institute conference, Edward Luttwack went even further: he proposed that American policy makers might consider reactivating the pronatal initiatives of Vichy France; that Nazi-collaborationist government's attack on abortion and promotion of total motherhood might have valuable application on today's recalcitrant women. And at a seminar sponsored by Stanford University's Hoover Institution, panelists deplored "the independence of women" for lowering the birthrate and charged that women who refused to have many children lacked "values."

These men were as anxious to stop single black women from procreating as they were for married white women to start. The rate of illegitimate births to black women, especially black teenage girls, was reaching "epidemic" proportions, conservative social scientists intoned repeatedly in speeches and press interviews. The pronatalists' use of the disease metaphor is unintentionally revealing: they considered it an "epidemic" when white women didn't reproduce or when black women did. In the case of black women, their claims were simply wrong. Illegitimate births to both black women and black teenagers were actually declining in the '80s; the only increase in out-of-wedlock births was among white women.

-Susan Faludi, Backlash: the Undeclared War Against American Women

[transgenderer]

Kleine–Levin syndrome (KLS) is a rare neurological disorder characterized by persistent episodic hypersomnia accompanied by cognitive and behavioral changes. These changes may include disinhibition, sometimes manifested through hypersexuality, hyperphagia or emotional lability, and other symptoms, such as derealization. Patients generally experience recurrent episodes of the condition for more than a decade, which may return at a later age. Individual episodes generally last more than a week, sometimes lasting for months. Patients commonly have about 20 episodes over about a decade. Several months may elapse between episodes.

The onset of the condition usually follows a viral infection (72% of patients); several different viruses have been observed to trigger KLS.[2] It is generally only diagnosed after similar conditions have been excluded; MRI, CT scans, lumbar puncture, and toxicology tests are used to rule out other possibilities. The syndrome's mechanism is not known, but the thalamus is thought to possibly play a role. SPECT has shown thalamic hypoperfusion in patients during episodes.

KLS is very rare, occurring at a rate of 1 in 500,000, which limits research into genetic factors.[2] The condition primarily affects teenagers (81% of reported patients), with a bias towards males (68-72% of cases), though females can also be affected, and the age of onset varies.[2] There is no known cure, and there is little evidence supporting drug treatment. Lithium has been reported to have limited effects in case reports, decreasing the length of episodes and duration between them in some patients.[3] Stimulants have been shown to promote wakefulness during episodes, but they do not counteract cognitive symptoms or decrease the duration of episodes.

Patients with Kleine–Levin syndrome (KLS) experience recurring episodes of prolonged sleep (hypersomnia).[5] In most cases, patients sleep 15 to 21 hours a day during episodes.[6] Excessive appetite (hyperphagia) and unusual cravings are present in half to two thirds of cases.[6][7][8] About half of patients, mainly male patients, experience dramatically increased sexual urges (hypersexuality).[9][7] Several other symptoms usually accompany the syndrome, including marked changes in mood and cognitive ability.[5]Derealization and severe apathy are present in at least 80 percent of cases.[10] About one third of patients experience hallucinations or delusions.[7] Depression and anxiety occur less commonly; one study found them in about 25 percent of patients.[10] Individuals usually cannot remember what happened during episodes.[6] Repetitive behaviors and headaches are commonly reported.[7] Some patients act very childlike during episodes,[11] and communication skills and coordination sometimes worsen.[6]

The first time a patient experiences KLS, it usually occurs along with symptoms that are similar to those of the flu or encephalitis. In at least 75 percent of cases, symptoms occur after an airway infection or a fever. Viruses observed before the development of the condition include Epstein–Barr virus, varicella zoster virus, herpes zoster virus, influenza A virus subtypes, and adenovirus. Several days after symptoms first occur, patients become very tired.[9] In cases that occur after an infection, KLS usually starts within three to five days for teenagers and fewer for children.[16] In other cases, alcohol consumption, head injury, or international travel precede symptoms.[9][14] Lifestyle habits, such as stress, alcohol abuse and lack of sleep and stress, have also been proposed as possible triggers.[5] First episodes of KLS are preceded by a clear event in about 90 percent of cases.[8] Recurrences generally do not have clear triggers; only about 15 percent have a precipitating event.[17]

Population-based studies of KLS have not been performed. Its prevalence is about 1 to 2 cases per million people,[8] although recent studies conducted by a French research team point to a higher number of 3 per million people.[25] It occurs most frequently among Jews in the US and Israel. First-degree relatives of people who have the syndrome are much more likely than the general population to have it, although only in about one percent of cases do family members contract it. About 68 to 72 percents of patients are male. Patients with the syndrome are more likely than the general population to have genetic disorders, and about a third of people with the syndrome encountered some form of birth difficulty.[26] In a study of 186 older patients, about ten percent had preexisting psychiatric issues.[6] One study found that about ten percent of patients had a neurological condition before KLS developed.[8] The condition does not appear to occur most frequently in one season.[11]

??? extremely strange disorder.

[answersfromzestual]

"Understanding the Hair Growth Cycle and Causes of Hair Loss"

The hair growth cycle involves three distinct phases:

Catagen. The transition (catagen) phase signals the end of active growth. It can last several weeks.

Anagen. The growth (anagen) stage is when new hair fibers actively form within the hair follicles. What you might not know is that this process can last several years. TL;DR: Hair growth definitely doesn’t happen overnight.

Telogen. The resting period (or telogen phase) is when hair follicles become dormant. At any given time, up to 15 percent of the hairs on your body (including facial hair, arm hair and even chest hair) are in the telogen phase. This stage can last up to a year.

Shedding hair every day is normal — up to 200 strands, give or take. Shedding more than this might indicate an underlying hitch in the hair growth cycle.

External and Environmental Causes of Hair Loss

Many factors can disrupt the hair growth cycle and lead to increased shedding such as:

Poor nutrition

Infection

Medication reactions

Stress

Menopause

Constantly wearing hats

Tight hairstyles (ex man bun)

As for the case of male pattern baldness, hormones and genetics are at play.

Let’s start with how hormonal treatments can disrupt your T-levels.

Hormonal Causes of Hair Loss

There is a link between low testosterone levels and issues such as a lower sex drive and poor sexual wellness.

Low-T is a factor and can be caused by conditions like diabetes, autoimmune disease, and thyroid disease.

The following can also cause a temporary dip in testosterone levels:

Over-exercising

Poor nutrition

Certain medications

Testerone Hormone Treatment (often called HRT or TRT) comes with potential side effects, and in some people, it may trigger hair loss.

High testerone causes hair loss, so more T isn't better. Stay with your doctor's instructions. Don't mess around with your dose.

Genetics influence how sensitive your hair follicles are to circulating dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT is a byproduct of testosterone and one of the most potent androgens (male sex hormones).

Testosterone and DHT are interlinked, and when T levels rise, DHT levels typically rise as well.

Researchers noted in a 2017 study that was done in Germany, which backs up previous research suggesting that developing bald spots from male pattern baldness might have more to do with sensitivity to testerone than the level itself.

Testerone converts a small amount of what is in your body into DHT by way of the 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which is found in small amounts in the body.

Secondary sex characteristics: any physical characteristic developing at puberty that is not directly involved in reproduction.

Why do we have DHT?

In young males, the body needs DHT to ensure the healthy development of the genitals and prostate. Ftm trans people obviously do not have testicles or a prostate. We focus on secondary sex characteristics like voice, muscle mass, and body hair.

As an adult? DHT doesn’t really have a large job to do anymore. Therefore, it can cause problems, like hair loss. In fact, researchers have found more DHT in balding scalps compared to non-balding ones. But not every guy’s hair follicles are ultra-sensitive to this sex hormone.

The more testosterone, the higher the levels of DHT in your body. That’s not necessarily a death sentence for your hair, but it is a fact.

DHT can attach to receptors in the scalp and gradually shrink hair follicles until they can no longer produce hair — a process known as follicular miniaturization.

If you have a genetic predisposition to DHT sensitivity, too much of it can cause hair loss.

While TRT doesn’t directly cause hair loss, increased Testosterone can lead to androgenic alopecia if the patient has a genetic sensitivity to the hormone DHT (dihydrotestosterone).

Androgenic alopecia is also known as male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness. Is the most common cause of hair loss in men and women.

Diagnosing Your Androgenic Alopecia

The first step to avoiding hair loss on HRT is to identify whether you have a genetic sensitivity to DHT. If you don’t, then it’s unlikely that HRT (and a resulting increase in DHT levels) will trigger hair loss.

Male-pattern baldness most often occurs in an M-shaped pattern starting at the forehead. It may also manifest as a slowly growing bald spot on the top/crown of the head. If you notice either of these patterns in your hair, then it’s possible you have male-patterned baldness.

Because androgenic alopecia is a genetic condition, you can also look at your family line for any signs of hair loss, as well. A common myth is that hair loss is inherited from the mother’s side, but in actuality, both parents can pass down the genes that lead to androgenic alopecia. This condition is polygenic, meaning it comes from multiple genes rather than just one.

It’s useful to work with a knowledgeable provider when diagnosing androgenic alopecia. Defy Medical offers consultations to discuss this topic in detail.

DHT Blood Testing

If you’re experiencing hair loss but aren’t sure it’s androgenic alopecia, or if you don’t have any symptoms but still want to check, you can order a DHT blood test. This test measures your DHT levels to determine whether your levels are elevated. Elevated DHT levels along with hair loss often indicate androgenic alopecia.

How to Avoid Hair Loss on (T)HRT

If you do have androgenic alopecia, there are several treatment options to slow and minimize hair loss.

It’s important to catch hair thinning and hair loss as quickly as possible, so you can preserve hair follicles. It’s much more effective to slow hair loss than to grow hair back after it’s gone.

Sources:

https://www.defymedical.com/services/hair-loss/?_gl=1*synut2*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTA5NzY4NDUxNy4xNzEyMTU1NzIx*_ga_XWPYJFFXE5*MTcxMjE1NTcyMC4xLjEuMTcxMjE1NTc0MS4wLjAuMA..

https://www.defymedical.com/blog/how-to-avoid-hair-loss-on-trt/#:~:text=While%20TRT%20doesn't%20directly,baldness%20and%20female%2Dpattern%20baldness.

[runthepockets]

The thing about male privilege is that even though it provides you a lot of security that definitely helps in ways that non-males are barred from is that it's not all glitz and glamor. Yeah, a lot of rich white (cis) guys run the world and are very scary and powerful, but that's a very small percent of the population and they do very, very little for the common man as far as morale or finances go, unless he's like, a cryptobro (and even then....shit dude, I can't blame a guy for doing whatever he feels like he needs to do to keep his kids fed and never work again, having a job sucks dick. Being a provider in this economy, too? Fucking forget it).

The most male privilege gets the rest of us is like, managerial positions at 7/11, or the baggage handler department at the airport. And don't get me wrong I think we should be giving women positions of authority and higher pay just as often as guys do, but for the time being this is the world we live in. If you look like a dude, you get treated like one. I'm baffled by trans guys who argue back against this stuff and whine about how they "never asked for male privilege". It just is what it is. We have a level of sexual, financial, and social primacy over non-males. It's unavoidable. There are a lot of things I can do that a lot of my female friends-- cis and trans, black and white and latina and asian-- just can't. It doesn't mean you're gonna become a rapist or an abuser overnight, it doesn't disregard your personal hardships or your trauma with the medical industry and homophobic bullying or whatever, and it's not an immutable curse that makes you less of a feminist or an inherent danger to women. It just is what it is.

[astaldis]

My Febuwhump Masterlist

@febuwhump

Febuwhump Prompts Day 2 - Flinching, Day 5 - That's gonna scar

A higher authority: Cahir & Regis

"What if he's not coming back?"

"Don't worry about the Witcher too much, Cahir," Regis interrupts his young comrade in a raised voice so he would be able to understand him over the noise of the nearby waterfall. "He will be fine even without his sword and knives, I'm almost a hundred percent sure of it. It is a risk, of course, however, what is not? You took the risk in Belhaven and it nearly cost you your life, but you are still here, aren't you?" The higher vampire smiles at Cahir through pursed lips. "Which reminds me of my duties as a barber-surgeon. How's the head?"

"It's nothing, Geralt took care of it."

"Let me be the judge of that, son."

— When Geralt leaves Regis and Cahir to meet Avallac'h in the cavern below Devil Mountain, Regis takes care of Cahir's recent head wound. (Missing scene of The Tower for the Swallow chapter 7)

One-shot, Words: 1,690

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44138242

-----------------------------------

Febuwhump Prompts: Day 5 - That's gonna scar, Day 6 - Secrets revealed, Day 8 - Panic, Day 9 - Voice loss, Day 10 - Difficulty breathing, Day 11: Fever, Day 12 - Can you hear me?, Day 16: Semi-conscious, Day 18 - Can't stay awake, Day 24 - Bloody clothes, Alt. 3 - Soft Words

Not Dead: Cahir x Yennefer, Cahir & Triss Merigold, Cahir & Vesemir

Somebody is shaking him by the shoulder, lightly, carefully. A gentle hand touching his cheek. A touch like the flutter of a butterfly's wings in the darkness. No, butterflies don't fly at night, must be a moth. However, it feels too wondrous to be a simple, drab-coloured moth. Perhaps he should open his eyes to see for himself? But they feel so heavy, his eyes, heavier than the heaviest lead. He feels weak too, too tired to move a single muscle. Why is he so damn tired?

"Can you hear me?" A female voice like from afar.

— Cahir only almost dies at Stygga Castle thanks to Yennefer and Ciri. Travelling through space, Ciri takes the badly wounded knight to Kaer Morhen. Months later, Yennefer and Geralt arrive at the keep to check on their friend, only to find out that there are still some lingering after-effects from his injuries. (Sequel to the one-shot 'If I don't make it back from where I've gone')

Chapters: 11/11, Words: 22,951

https://archiveofourown.org/works/44249164

-----------------------------------

Febuwhump Day 23 - You'll have to go through me:

Where The Tulips Grow - Chapter 3: Yennefer x Jaskier

"Geralt, stop fretting and be reasonable. Half the continent is looking for Ciri! Every king between ten and a hundred either wants to marry and impregnate her, or kill her. Dijkstra has his spies everywhere, and so has the Emperor of Shitgaard. You stay here with Ciri, teach her all your Witcher tricks, and I save that bard of yours. You know I have done it before, even without my magic. With my chaos, it'll be easy as pie, you'll see. I'll only be a few days."

Swiftly, Yennefer kisses the white-haired Witcher on the mouth, hard and long, thus effectively preventing him from any form of protest. Which would be totally pointless anyway as it is a physical, psychological and metaphorical impossibility to win a fight like this against the black-haired sorceress once she has made up her mind. Which she has. Perhaps she is right, too, Geralt has to admit to himself ...

Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri learn that Jaskier has gone missing under suspicious circumstances. Circumstances that hint at a kidnapping. Yennefer leaves Geralt with Ciri and goes to save the bard. But not all goes as planned. The hero becomes the damsel in distress and Jaskier has to save the day. Post-season 2.

Chapters: 4/8, Words: 8,073 (Chapter 3: 2364 words)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45159151

-----------------------------------

Febuwhump: Alt. 10 - Inferno

Inferno: Cahir & Vilgerfortz/Tissaia de Vries

Suddenly, the fire in the background is gone, extinguished by an invisible force. The hill is shrouded in darkness. The sorceress pushes her hands out toward the advancing soldiers with a forward thrust of her arms. A powerful stream of bright yellow and purple flames explodes from her palms. The flames surge and roll down the hill, a creeping barrage, a deadly avalanche. It devours trees, men, every living creature in its path. An inferno of fire, of screams, pain and death.

— At the end of the Battle of Sodden Hill, Cahir watches the incredible inferno of flames that is devouring his army. Suddenly, there is a blast of magical energy ... (Missing scene from S2 E1 on how Cahir is captured by the Brotherhood. Prequel to "Not Cruel by Nature".)

One-shot, Words: 2,759

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45128743

[mariacallous]

In 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration made an unprecedented recommendation, advising that women should receive a lower dosage of the insomnia drug zolpidem than men. The rationale behind it was that medication seemed to affect women for longer periods, which could become a safety issue.

However, in 2019, research conducted at Tufts University concluded that the differential effect of the medication had nothing to do with sex. Rather, researchers found that what determined the rate at which the person cleared the drug from their system was their body size. The report concluded that the reduced prescribed dosage for women could in fact lead to underdosing and a failure to effectively treat insomnia. “They were using sex as a proxy for body size because we tend to collect data about sex; we don’t collect data about body size,” says Angela Saini, author of The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule. “This is the perverse way that sometimes medicine works: You base your diagnostics on the data you have rather than the data you need.”

Indeed, Saini argues that many of the prevailing gaps in health outcomes between men and women have nothing to do with biological sex. “It can be so tempting for scientists to look at a gap and want to find a simple biological explanation for it, but when it comes to gender and health those simple explanations often don’t exist,” she said.

Of course, sex differences do exist in aspects of health, such as reproductive health and physiology. However, what research suggests is that, in most cases, the health-related difference between men and women—from disease symptoms to drug efficacy—is really quite marginal. “The differences that do exist are down to gender,” Saini says. “Differences in the way people are treated and thought about and the assumptions we make about them.” That, according to Saini, is what explains many of the failures when it comes to women’s health.

Consider, for instance, the common misconception that women present atypical heart-attack symptoms, different from men’s. This prevailing myth was quashed by a 2019 study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, at the University of Edinburgh. The research, which involved nearly 2,000 patients, showed that, in fact, 93 percent of both sexes reported chest pain—the most common symptom—while a similar percentage of men and women (nearly 50 percent) also felt pain radiating from their left arm. “The problem of underdiagnosis of women is because health professionals and even the women themselves who are having a heart attack believe heart attacks are something that mostly happens to men,” Saini says. Estimates indicate that differences in care for women have led to approximately 8,200 avoidable deaths due to heart attacks in England and Wales since 2014.

“It’s not about men discriminating against women; this is often about women not being listened to—sometimes by other women,” she says. Another example that starkly illustrates how gender can affect health outcomes came from a 2016 Canadian study about patients who had been hospitalized with acute coronary syndrome. The research showed that the patients who experienced higher rates of recurrence were the ones who performed gender roles stereotypically associated with women—like doing more housework and not being the primary earner at home—independently of whether they were a man or a woman. “This was because people who carried out a female social role were more likely to be anxious.” Saini says.

If these disparities are caused by the way patients are perceived and treated, the solution, to Saini, is clear: “We need to be careful to diagnose the problem where it is, not where we imagine it to be.” She highlights the successful work of Jennie Joseph, a British midwife who, in 2009, founded the Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery in Orlando, Florida, to support women without access to maternal health care. Research has shown that Black mothers, both in the US and in the UK, are three times more likely to die than white women.

“Joseph lowered maternal mortality rates among minority women simply by improving the quality of their care, listening to their concerns, and responding when they say they’re in pain,” Saini says. “We don’t need technology to solve this issue. We just very simply can’t allow our biases and prejudices to get in the way.”

[kyousukeyaguchii]

TENNIS MATCH ANALYZATION

Hi I live in Qatar, where sports are big. On February 14, 2023, my family and I went to watch a tennis game held by the QTF (QATAR TENNIS FEDERATION). I'm not a big sports fan, but I'm familiar with a lot of them thanks to anime. I learned their basic rules so that I could understand what I was watching. I'm a Filipino student with no hobbies, and my father is a QTF volunteer. I used to despise going to games and stuff because I was forced to watch FIFA LIVE EVERYDAY WHEN IT WAS HAPPENING, which was a nightmare, but one night while watching I forgot to download my manga and decided to observe the game while writing it down. I enjoyed it and did it whenever I had the chance, though I deleted all of them after FIFA. But because I was forced to attend QTF, I decided to do so in order to relax. Now, I am not a writer or a die-hard sports fan, but I enjoy watching and learning about various sports. This is my first time writing for publication, and I hope you understand my main points. This is just for fun, and all of my observations are my own, so let's get started.

QTF 19:00 

Team 1 (aggressive) (forward but commits many fouls) (40 percent on net) (keen eyes and pinpoint accuracy) (in danger in third round) (I was caught off guard) (75 percent win rate)

Team 2 (defensive) (careful but not forward) (67 PERCENT on net) (tactical and absolute) (becoming aggressive in the seventh round) (65 percent win rate)

FIRST GAME (OVERALL ANALYSIS) (duo)

Prior to attending the event, I had no idea who the players were for. As I previously stated, both teams are equally matched, with strengths and weaknesses. For example, team 1 is aggressive, which could be both an advantage and a disadvantage. They are not afraid to take control of the court, but this leads to them committing fouls, allowing the opposing team to score by default. Team 2 is the tactician, which could be an advantage or a disadvantage. They are cautious and firm, and they use their eyes to spot fouls and score points. If the opposing team wasn't prone to fouling, they'd be in big trouble.

The reaction time is equally match, making them "blunder" for the same mistake after giving the ball back, instead of reacting for a second. In tennis, every second counts, especially in a fast-paced rally. Team 2 likes to spin the ball, which gives them an advantage, but if they use too much force, the ball will jump higher than expected and in the wrong direction. Many people blame the wind for this technique, but I know it takes years to perfect. Team 1 focuses on sharp serves and fast hits to make rallies enjoyable and long.

Now, as I was writing this, my family needed me to do something, so I was interrupted in the middle of my writing and had to stop. So I decided to just finish it at home, but because I didn't know the names of the players, I couldn't find the exact footage. So I'm devastated, but the match was a female duo, and I recall a Chinese player on team 1. I'll do more research and gather more detailed information the next time. I'd like to do my own match analysis, but I'm not sure which specific sports to focus on. I'm interested in boxing. I'm not sure what you think.

UPDATE: as ive heard team one won, and i kinda expected it <3

im new so i really dont know what I'm doing help please

[lincolncarlsonblog]

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[vegantinatalist]

and we still care about your mental health (largely because if youre unwell we will suffer for it), we just realized we cannot be the ones to help you because it isnt safe for you or us. you need to look to others your own size or larger. even many trained female therapists dont feel safe with male clients or dont take male clients because too many of them make sexual passes, attempt to cross boundaries and push buttons, react with aggression to vulnerable situations (which is of course expected and no ones demonizing you when we say we are not strong enough to contain the situation should it get out of hand) refuse to take accountability and work with the therapist etc. men dont just have 60 percent more muscle mass and 90 percent more upper body strength than women. the makeup of mens muscles is also different. men have more fast-twitch muscle fibres with a higher contractile velocity that results in more power and speed. It is not wise to make women a choice of guide for men through vulnerable and upsetting truths and places that can trigger anger, horniness, fear etc and you should not be looking to women to solve these types of mens issues. would you really want your daughter in a room alone with a man who was discharged from the army with ptsd and homeless on meth for the last 7 years and on the sex offender registry even if she was trained? because ive been there, and im telling you, it just hurts both sides. Having a MASSIVELY PROBLEMATIC LIBIDO AND IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR is one of the most common problems men with mental health issues have whether its due to mental breaks/schizophrenia, hyperarousal from ptsd or severe autism or what have you. And most of us are not even shaming you for it at all, many of us completely sympathize. We just recognize that we can not be the ones to help men and actually in many cases the best thing we can do for you is distance ourselves, create and protect our own spaces so we can heal and not become spiteful or become/continue to be your victims and worsen your self hatred. you need to hold MRAs accountable for not actually doing anything to help you and instead blaming women for all your problems.