#anti bigotry

[tomlo]

Whether you play Magic: The Gathering or not or even know what that is... This post by MTGs head designer is just exquisite. Anyone who has ever complained about DEI need to read it. Everyone who has ever argued with someone complaining about DEI should read it since it's a brilliant example of how to explain it in simple but effective terms.

I want to speak out against the whole push towards DEI. I feel that ever since you made the push to make identity the forefront of a character it has hurt the stories you tell. Captain Sisay's race was never the focus of her character and she was a complete badass! And I fear if you did it over again Gerrard would be trans, black and disabled just because. It also cheapens the stories of world devastation when characters worry more about their gender than Bolas destroying everything.

The reason I started this blog is so we can have frank conversations about things, so please let’s talk about this.

Imagine if every time you turned on the TV or watched a movie, no one looked like you. For some of us, that’s never happened. We see ourselves constantly, so it’s hard to truly understand what not seeing yourself represented in media is like.

I do have a personal window to this experience. While I am white and male, there’s an area where I am the minority - my religion. Jews are just under two and a half percent of the US population. I have had many experiences where I’ve been in situations where everything is geared towards a group I do not belong to, and zero consideration is given that not everyone at that event is part of the majority.

You just feel invisible and like an outsider. It’s not a great feeling. And I just experience it a tiny portion of time, only things that are geared specifically towards something religious. Most minorities have this feeling all the time, whenever they’re outside their personal community.

Now imagine, after years of not seeing yourself ever, you finally see someone that looks like you, but nothing about the character rings remotely true. They don��t sound like you, they don’t act like you, the facts about their day-to-day life are just wrong. It’s clear whoever wrote the character didn’t truly understand the lived experience of the character, so the character feels fake.

You bring up Sisay. Michael Ryan and I didn’t technically create Sisay (she played a small role in the Mirage story), but we did do a lot to flesh out her character as the creators of the Weatherlight Saga. We turned her from a minor character into a major one.

And while I’m proud, in general, of our work on the Weatherlight Saga, I don’t think we did justice to Sisay as a character. Neither Michael nor I have any knowledge of what it’s like to be a black woman. Nor did we ever talk to someone who did.

And if you’re someone like us that has no knowledge of that experience, you probably didn’t notice. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.

Imagine if we made a movie about your life, and we just made everything up. We invented people you never knew, we gave you a job you never had, and we had you say things you’d never say. The movie might even be a good movie, but your response would be, but that’s not my life - that’s not me.

Now imagine we put the movie out, and people that never met you assumed that was what you were like. When people met you for the first time, they assumed things, because, you know, they’d seen the movie.

That’s what misrepresenting people does. It not only makes them feel not seen, it falsely represents them, spreading lies, often stereotypes, making people believe things about them that aren’t true.

Our move towards diversity is just us trying to better reflect the world and the people in it. We’re trying to do to everyone else what a certain portion of people get every day without ever having to think about it.

But why are we “making it the forefront of their character”? We’re not. We’re making it a part of their character. But in a world where you’re not used to ever seeing it, it feels louder than it is. Things that are a natural part of the world that you’re used to feel like the background of the story because you understand the context to it.

If a man kisses his wife before going off to a battle, that’s not a big deal. It’s just a thing a husband might do to his wife when he leaves. It’s not the forefront of his character. It’s just part of his life. But you’ve seen it hundreds of times, so it feels normal.

When someone does something that isn’t your lived experience it pulls focus. It seems like a big deal, but only because it’s new to you. It’s just as mundane a thing to that character as the man kissing his wife is to him.

Even the turn “pushing” implies that it’s unnaturally here, that we’re forcing something that naturally shouldn’t be. But why? That thing exists naturally in the real world, and it doesn’t make the real world any less. Maybe you’re less aware of it, but is making you aware of how others live their life “pushing” something on you?

How you live your life is represented constantly, everywhere. Why isn’t over-representing your experience at the expense of everyone else’s “pushing” it? Why is media only being the experience of those in power the “proper way”?

Having more depth and variety doesn’t lessen stories. It makes them deeper, more rich, more nuanced. In short, it makes them better stories. In my former life, I was a professional writer. I took a lot of writing classes. One of the truism of writing is “speaking truth leads to better stories”.

There’s another famous quote: “When you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” You’re used to being over-represented, so being a little less over-represented feels like something has been taken from you. But really it hasn’t. Having a better sense of the rest of the world comes with a lot of benefits.

I’ll use food as an example. Let’s say all you were ever exposed to was the food of your heritage. Yeah, that food is really good, but sometimes isn’t it nice to eat foods of other nationalities? Isn’t your life better that you have a choice? Isn’t your exposure and access to the food of other nationalities a positive in your life?

Exposure to variety is a positive. It allows you to learn about things you didn’t know, experience things things you’ve never experienced, and get a better sense of understanding of your friends and neighbors.

Our actions are not to harm anyone, and if you think that’s what we’re doing, please take a minute to actually absorb what I’m saying. You’ve spent your whole life metaphorically eating one type of food, and we’re just trying to show you how much you’ve missed out on.

And while this might not impact you directly, we’re making a whole bunch of people felt seen. We’re bringing joy. Think of it this way. We make a lot of cards. Not every card is for you. But if it makes someone else happy, if they get to include it in a deck, and it makes Magic better for them, how is it harming you that we include it? You have so many cards that you can play.

To this poster or people that share their viewpoint, the narrative that a gain for someone else is an attack on you is just not true. As I just pointed out above, you play a game all about personal choice, about players getting to choose how they play and enjoy the game. Why should life be any different than Magic?

Thanks for reading.

[cliban]

As I still see people reblogging this a) please check timestamps ^_^ and b) we ran her out and threw a big trans party instead. Congrats trans kiwis! We made her really really mad.

Hello and kia ora from Aotearoa! If you haven't heard, notorious transphobe Posie Parker has unfortunately been allowed access into the country to spout her bigoted rhetoric.

She has already toured Australia, where she was drowned out by trans voices telling her to go home and stop her spite and hate.

Now in Aotearoa, it's our job to do the same. Our counter-protests are on the 25th March, 11am, Albert Park and the 26th, City to Sea Bridge; Check out https://twitter.com/Transliberated for more information and organization.

Do not let us be the ones who let her speak over us. Hate does not belong here, and we can drown her out again; Our words are stronger than hers.

Be there. Make signs. Think up a chant. Bring your friends. Drown out the hate.

People of other countries, you can help out by spreading posts talking about this situation. Aotearoa does not get the publicity in our protests and progress that we need, so I am pleading with you; Please do not let this fly under the radar.

Trans people, allies, queer folk, from all around the world - My siblings - Please stand with us in this fight. Do not ignore us because we are a smaller country.

I'm not going to tell you to reblog, or that you're a bad person if you don't, but hey, please do! It'd be very appreciated.

Tēnā koe, thank you for listening.

EDIT: We have been informed that the Wellington meetup has been moved to City to Sea Bridge to avoid having to go through the terf space to meet with the others. Please stay safe, everyone!

[butterflyinthewell]

Make bigotry and fascism so unacceptable that people who abide those beliefs become too afraid to open their filthy mouths and let anyone know what they really are.

[lgbtqtext]

[vividdreamer]

let me offer up some wisdom to yall as someone who grew up surrounded by bigots in my family, college, work, etc. there were maybe 2 or 3 others who already believed in basic shit like marriage equality and medical privacy when i met them. as for the rest, i helped many of them gradually change their views.

here's what ive learned: their views on anything can be shaped through emotional manipulation. the clever cunts at the top know this. but as for us, we are too dependent on intellectual arguments. they are not working efficiently enough to challenge bigoted beliefs, because most of the time you are not talking to emotionally-regulated people. its fear-mongering that shapes their worldview. a fear response is a natural thing; it exists to keep you alive. most people cant process any information without checking to see if it scares them. they're supposed to learn how to regulate this to avoid reaching extreme conclusions. think first, react later. but we're absolutely shit at raising people with healthy mental development. some do find a way. but your problem is you need to learn how to address those who don't, or at least haven't yet.

if any information presented to them was crafted with a misleading and fearful narrative i.e. a sensational story that uses reactive language, irrelevant details, causal fallacies, etc, while excluding any fact or context that would have functioned as a barrier to these triggers....they are going to accept that narrative as truth if it scares them. trying to change their minds through facts and logic rarely makes a difference. infact, they're not going to trust the information you've offered up because they think THAT'S actually trying to manipulate them.

i fear we don't have time to teach millions of people how to think first, then react. healing has to come with intention anyway. but do you want people to switch to progressive politics or not? then you need to reach them at a place where they can still listen: their emotion. If you dont start talking to them through an angle that addresses their fears, we will be fucked. the ultra wealthy run the media, and they aren't playing fair. you cant keep praying people will open a history book, go to therapy (expensive and inaccessible for too many anyway) or develop their critical thinking skills. it may feel unethical (i personally dont think it is if you're not the one lying) but you need to utilize this because its not going away soon, and the right and centrists are going to keep using it to get what they want.

[merelygifted]

[fellowhood]

Fellow/Fellowhood/Fellowship (secular)

A Capybaran term that means: To be against the spread of misinformation but wanting to remain civil about it, to be against the harm to either side of discourse of any degree and to desire for common ground. Their focus is to make sure no one is harmed or dying first before discussing consequences and political change and often will ultimately argue for abolitionism, healing and unity for everyone.

A fellow may “consort with the enemy” if they see the individual has been harmed and needs support and assistance and they may “betray allies” if they notice that the allies are the ones who in this instance and context are the ones causing serious harm.

To a fellow if you are a person violating human rights then they often will critique you and if your human rights are being violated then they will defend you in that instance and will not differentiate if that person is the same person in different contexts. The harm that is being caused is often what a fellow will prioritise before the harm that could be caused.

Flags

And other memorabilia made by the lovely @spirits-art

Feel free to use for personal identification/non commercial purposes. If you wanna use for commercial purposes then please reach out to @spirits-art to discuss~ 😊

[correllian]

[hellyeahheroes]

[miraculousdeservesbetter2024]

I think both stans and salters need to understand that…

You CAN legitimately dislike the creator and still enjoy the show for what it is at least sometimes lol 😂

I mean, yes. Thomas Astruc IS the creator of the show.

However, it means that he IS, that doesn’t mean that he’s free from criticism. We aren’t obligated to go along with or agree with every single decision that he makes and praise it like it’s the best thing since slice bread. It’s not like we’re not “real fans” or “entitled” if we don’t or something? It’s just…not everybody thinks the same all the time. However, it also doesn’t mean that we like/support him just because we like some of his controversial decisions (Zoe Lee, not redeeming Chloe, the love square etc).

Because guys…

This isn’t about HIM! It’s about NOT being bigots, white knights, entitled pricks, or whatever hell.

I personally don’t like him, but there’s still things that I did like about the show. Let people have fun, geez…

[seriouslycromulent]

I think someone needs a little Bible Study, don't you?

I hesitate to share any part of the original hatemonger's video, but I think Monte Mader's response is worth hearing.

Granted, she's not the first to say the overall goal of the current GOP is slavery. (Many of us have been saying that for years.) But it's important that we keep repeating it until it is common knowledge.

[h--hannah--h]

something i’ve realized recently is that when i don’t attempt to avoid all media that’s “problematic,” i actually allow myself to understand the ways that media can be problematic far more.

before i started allowing myself to watch whatever, i was often making excuses for stuff whenever i liked it, like claiming that “south park is woke actually” (as many south park fans do) (although there are definitely some surprisingly progressive characters and episodes, not denying that).

but now that i don’t give a shit i’m both able to enjoy media more AND see the problems with it more. like i can watch south park but still acknowledge it’s very bigoted sometimes, and this also applies to media that’s not even really bigoted that much. like parks and rec has many problems that i would have deliberately ignored if i felt that everything i consume has to be morally pure, and the same applies to community, degrassi, and even dropout a little bit. now that i’m not scared of having to give stuff up, i’m able to see the flaws so much more easily!

something i’ve noticed with people who are super keen on attempting to only let themselves enjoy things that aren’t “problematic” is that they often end up with really weird exceptions to their strict rules and are overall very selective with how they apply their morals to media. not to mention it leads to people ignoring minor things from largely unproblematic media, like PandR, community, etc. when those minor things can totally add up.

although it’s definitely important to acknowledge that some media is entirely built off of a bigoted premise, so it can definitely be immoral to enjoy stuff like that. i’m not saying you shouldn’t criticize people who are weird about birth of a nation and think it’s a good movie, for example. there’s totally room for nuance there though. like one could argue that ableism is too essential to the premise of sheldon from big bang theory to ethically watch the show, but i also think you could argue otherwise and i’m definitely not gonna witch-hunt big bang theory fans

tldr; media consumption is not activism and you should enjoy what you want, while still thinking critically about how certain jokes, characters, or storylines may impact the way people see the world.

stop with the puritanical thinking!! it makes things worse!!

[s-ublimedyke]

if you’re going to make offensive jokes around me at least make them good so you can be reassured by the fact that you really utilized your one chance before i beat you to death

[helpmeimblorboing]

Liking a feminist post on Tumblr or Twitter is like opening Schrödinger’s box. There’s a 50 % chance it’s a TERF, or some other breed of hateful “feminist” and a 50 % chance it’s an actual feminist

[mizusjawline]

"We need to ask ourselves: When it is so difficult to find out where one thing starts and another ends, can then really continue to believe in the borders that divide us?" - Patricia Piccinini

[merelygifted]

Police investigate Musk salute projected on Tesla factory – DW – January 24, 2025

The British campaign group "Led By Donkeys" has claimed responsibility for the stunt that authorities say may have breached German laws on the use of symbols linked to illegal organizations.