#ALSO SORRY THE TONE OF THIS POST IS LOW KEY CONDESCENDING I DONT MEAN IT 😭 its to lighten the mood and establish im exaggerating

[driftwooddestiel]

people on tumblr love to reblog that one post thats goes “It's just a joke dude. It's just one of the most digestible and powerful forms of persuasive rhetoric my guy” and then five posts later complain about how people need to stop making joke retorts or ‘owns’ toward conservatives, homophobes, etc because it isn’t gonna change their mind and everyone doing that is stupid and thinks that their Le Epic Own is going to change the world. and im sorry but its like. Okay i think you might be missing something when you read that first post. like i dont know how to tell you this but ummm. well. sometimes jokes… have a purpose… and affect people’s opinions…

and sometimes. well sometimes when people make jokes they aim those jokes to certain audiences. and when people ‘own’ conservatives and the like they often are not necessarily intending to make that specific person change their mind. like maybe what theyre doing is giving a nudge to more neutral types. or something. idk man i just think MAYBE sometimes actually jokes can have a legitimate impace on the political world. and maybe if you refuse to acknowledge that on any level other than like. edgy humour normalising prejudiced beliefs. well you’re doing yourself and your own ‘side’ a disservice and youre also ignoring all the other ways that bigots use comedy to enforce their beliefs. so yeah

[fairycosmos]

sorry im not a native speaker of english so i dont understand, is it rude to tell someone "i like your confidence" or "i wish i had your confidence"? genuine question cause im afraid i might have said it to people in my life without knowing what it implies? also same about "u make me feel better about myself"? sorry if im intruding on ur personal post i just want to know if that translates differently than i thought. (If u feel like it maybe u could explain in general or hypothetical example? U dont have to talk about ur personal life if u don't want to) <3

it’s ok! so usually you can just tell by their tone of voice/by context if they’re being genuine so don’t worry - you wouldn’t have seemed mean if you meant it sincerely. but a lot of ppl say those things in a passive aggressive way. “i wish i had your confidence” sometimes means they’re thinking negatively of you, they think you’re being brave just for existing how you naturally are. they’re implying that they would never embarrass themselves like that. they’re sort of low key laughing at/pitying you. it can be really condescending. and “you make me feel better about myself” in certain contexts can mean “i think you’re ugly/cringe so i use you to boost my own confidence.” it’s a really subtle thing and it’s not always the case of course. but i notice it a lot lol