#community reproduction

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"Though many respondents indicated that a couple could be shivareed only once, that rule does not always apply. When I asked for reasons why people would receive more than one shivaree, the responses were that different social groupings might organize events separately, or that they could be shivareed any number of times until their first child arrives. The latter explicitly links the shivaree with fertility, and makes it a negative incentive for reproduction. The connections to sex, gender, and sexuality are multiple. The noise that begins the shivaree is arguably male-associated; the best noisemakers are purpose-built by men or appropriated from tools used in male-dominated work. However, the tricks most obviously directed at women are planned and carried out by women. The shivaree is an example of women doing the work of maintaining mores and practices that are not necessarily in their own interests – or those of their female friends and relatives. There can be an element of collective delayed payback: if I had to put up with these pranks, I’ll make sure that you have to put up with them also.

But the consequences for women (and couples) who don’t fit in can be dire, especially in locations where they must depend on their neighbours and community for assistance. The seriousness of the test echoes the deep play of the Louisiana country Mardi Gras described by Ancelet, Sawin, and Ware. Failing the shivaree test means you are not part of the group. The anonymous Ontario woman above who ‘moved on,’ however happy she may be with the ultimate outcome of a professional career, may have had little choice. Those who can’t take the surveillance, gossip, and conservative mores of most rural communities generally leave them. But those communities – perhaps Avonlea, Saskatchewan, is an example – that appear to welcome outsiders, and whose shivarees are more friendly than they are edgy, survive and sometimes even flourish.

The fact that shivarees are now understood as intending to welcome newlyweds into the community, as I’ve stated already, does not mean that they never include dangerous and/or illegal actions, or insensitive and/or inappropriate ones. Like many other traditional practices, shivaree is good or bad, and its outcomes positive or negative, based on the specific congeries of individuals and community expectations with luck and good management. Just about any otherwise innocuous social event can turn ugly, and even the most serious political protests can remain decent and safe for all involved.

That being said, I doubt that I would appreciate being shivareed. I suspect I would not be considered a good sport in most rural communities. I value my privacy, I’m not particularly sociable, and I’m offended by the ritual debasement particularly of women in the sexualized pranks of some shivarees. I would find it overwhelming and frustrating that as a woman I would be expected to suffer in silence through an extensive series of pranks intended to test my ability to endure unreasonable provocation without protest. I’d like to think I would appreciate one or two jokes, and that I would understand them as part of tradition. I do think, however, that the women I’ve quoted above are justifiably upset about their shivarees. ... the debasement of the couple in shivaree pranks may relate to the idea that no individual or couple should be elevated over others, without some ritual action that pulls them down to the common level. But symbolic explanations don’t mitigate the individual effects of shivarees, nor do they comfort those who may be on the receiving end of specific practices.

Finally, because a practice helps to maintain a certain status quo doesn’t mean that the status quo is actually worth maintaining. The biological offspring of locals aren’t the sole route to community continuation. Groups can be reproduced by migration into them, for example. The division of insiders from outsiders that renders incomers a problem is not a reflection of their actual worth as human beings – or as potential community members. But there’s nothing fundamental to the symbolic means of shivarees that make them inherently problematic or otherwise."

- Pauline Greenhill, Make the Night Hideous: Four English-Canadian Charivaris, 1881–1940. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. p. 210-212.

[kingkrillin]

just need to share how much I dislike this post lol

people will fully expect trans men to put ourselves on the line for everyone else and meanwhile the only time they acknowledge our existence is to talk about how "low risk" we are (obviously untrue) or to volunteer us out as a community for potentially dangerous activist endeavors that they wouldn't risk doing themselves

"we need to get uncomfortable!" and what's actually being discussed is convincing a subset of the community to be uncomfortable on your behalf while you do nothing to show solidarity with us

[lilithism1848]

[liberate-women-now]

I think this is a purposeful misrepresentation of what feminists are actually talking about. Furthermore, this argument cannot simply be dumbed down to be just “clothing choices”.

Modesty culture encouraged by religion and sexual objectification encouraged by porn are both degrading to women as a class and are two sides to the same coin (the coin being patriarchy). You have to look at the effects these things have on women as a whole and not just on the individual. This is the flaw with choice feminism; every women’s individual choices can be said to be feminist because she “chose” them, without regard to where that choice actually came from.

It’s very clear from the above comic that the OP is purposefully rewriting our arguments to make it sound absurd. The act of being fully clothed from head to toe or butt naked is not what is being criticized; prostitution, porn, religion, and patriarchal oppression is what is being criticized. It’s worth criticizing and it’s worth dismantling.

[queerism1969]

[nadias-orizonta]

If nothing else, you're still here. I cannot stress enough YOU'RE STILL HERE!!! You were here last time, you survived long enough to still be here now. I'm proud of you! If they want us gone, make them work for it. If they want to take our rights, fight to hold on and if they win, fight back again and again and again!!! They take so much already, don't let them take your hope, don't make it easy for them, don't give them your heart, never give up your life!

The one thing they hate more than anything, is the fact that YOU ARE STILL HERE!!!

Let them seethe, let them cry, let them be consumed by the hate in their hearts, and let them be forgotten by all but the dirt they'll rot within.

Let them watch as all of their work amounts to nothing because WE WILL STILL BE HERE!!!!

[quantumfrail]

[dhddmods]

Intersex Guide!

Hello and happy pride! We wished to share a passion project we have been working on for months - a guide to intersex traits and variations! Please reblog to spread awareness.

Now, a question that many ask - what is intersex? Well, we will be answering that question for you here! Anything on this post that is written in red is NOT intersex, so if you wish to skip over any of it, you can. And if you wish to get straight into the intersex types, scroll down to the read-more and start from there.

Intersex, also known as the intersex spectrum, is a term used to describe when someone's biological sex - as in the sex they are born with/what they naturally develop during puberty - is not clearly defined as the typical male or female sex traits.

(This does not include someone that was born male or female, and later chose to have their sex traits changed due to being transgender, transsex, or altersex. It also does not include males that experienced circumcision/dorsal slits or penis splitting, females that experienced genital mutilation, or males & females that indulged in modifications such as piercings and beading.)

This only applies to primary sex traits - chromosomes, genitals, reproductive organs, and hormones. Atypical secondary sex traits (breasts, muscle tone, body/facial hair, deepness of voice) do not make someone intersex unless it is paired with "abnormalities" in primary sex traits.

Before you can understand what it means to be intersex, first we must clarify what it means to not be intersex.

A typical male has XY chromosomes, a penis, two testicles within the scrotum, and more androgens (mostly testosterone) than females. Upon puberty, they usually (but not always) develop more facial hair & muscle tone than females, and a deeper voice than females.

(Note: A penis has a phallus, a scrotum beneath the phallus, foreskin protecting the head of the phallus, and a urethra on the head of the penis. It is is straight or slightly curved when erect.)

A typical female has XX chromosomes, a vulva, two ovaries, a single uterus, and more estrogen than males. Upon puberty, they usually (but not always) develop larger breasts and wider hips than males.

(Note: A vulva has two labia, a single pea-sized clitoris, a single vaginal entry, and a urethra above the vaginal entry and under the clitoris.)

Here is a list of non-typical sex traits that, by themselves, are not intersex.

Accessory Breasts (Polymastia): Having more than two breasts. Accessory Nipples (Polythelia): Having more than two nipples. Athelia: Having only one nipple, or no nipples at all. Amastia: Having only one breast & nipple, or no breasts & nipples at all. Breast Hypertrophy/Macromastia/Gigantomastia: Having extremely large breasts Gynecomostia: Breasts on a male. The reason this is not considered intersex is because all sexes (except for people with amastia) have breast tissue, which can vary in size regardless of sex. Females can have small breasts, and males can have larger breasts than is expected. Hypotonia: Low muscle tone. Bicornuate Uterus: A heart-shaped uterus. Septate Uterus: A uterus that internally has a partition down the middle. Macropenis: A penis that is 7 inches/17.78 centimeters or larger. Macroorchidism: Testicles that are 4 milliliters or above pre-puberty, and above 30 milliliters as an adult. Macrovagina: A vagina that is deeper than 5 inches/13 centimeters. Labial Hypertrophy: Labia that is longer than average (above 2 inches/5 centimeters)

Now, onto the intersex spectrum! First, some notes.

-An intersex trait is a singular atypical trait. For example, someone with ambiguous genitals, but no other "abnormality" has an intersex trait. -An intersex variation is when multiple atypical traits are present, with at least one of them being an intersex trait. For example, someone with ambiguous genitals and fused kidneys has an intersex variation. Equally, someone with ambiguous genitals and cryptorchidism also has an intersex variation. -CTF stands for "close to female." CTF traits are when the traits are predominantly "feminine" (vulvas, uteruses, ovaries, estrogen as the main sex hormone, breasts, widened hips, XX chromosomes, etc.) -CTM stands for "close to male." CTM traits are when the traits are predominantly "masculine" (a penis, testicles, androgens as the main sex hormones, increased hair growth, higher muscle mass, a deepened voice, XY chromosomes, etc.)

Also, when we state that an intersex trait/variation is "fairly common", we mean that it is fairly common amongst the intersex population, not that it is fairly common in the general population. Being intersex is still classified as "rare" statistically speaking (as statistics define "rare" as 1 in 1,000 people.)

So for the sake of this post, here is how we are classifying the following:

"Fairly common" = 1 in every 5,000 (or less)

"Rare" = above 1 in every 5,000, up to 1 in every 100,000

"Extremely rare" = above 1 in every 100,000

Similarly, when we say "higher risk of _", it does not necessarily mean that risk is very high, just that its a higher chance than a person without that trait/variation. It could be as low as 1% higher of a risk. Every sex has its risks, whether its male, female, or on the intersex spectrum. To put it into perspective, females are at a higher risk of breast cancer than males.

Also, keep in mind that "may include" means that not all of the features will be present on every single person with that variation; in fact, none of the extra features could be present. However, for chromosomal variations specifically, it is highly likely that at least 1-5 (or more) of the listed extra features will be present.

And finally, when we say that "fertility is average", what we mean is that the gonads are fully capable of producing healthy average numbers of sperm/eggs, and/or the uterus is capable of carrying healthy babies. Struggles with the sperm reaching the eggs still might occur, but if direct insemination is done (as in the sperm is directly injected), then pregnancy should occur perfectly fine.

---

Penile Traits/Variations (not including those on the agenital spectrum)

Urethral Traits/Variations (not including those on the agenital spectrum)

Ambiguous Genitals

The Agenital Spectrum/Agenital/Agenitalia

An umbrella term, describing those born with no genitals, closed-off genitals, small genitals, or genitals that are missing typical penile or vulval traits.

(Anorchia & Monoorchidism fall under this as well.)

Gonadal Agenesis

An umbrella term, describing an individual that is born with an absence of one or both gonads (ovaries, testicles, or ovotestes).

Other reproductive traits/variations

Hypergonadism

An umbrella term, describing an individual that is born with gonads that produce high levels of hormones compared to males and females.

Hypogonadism

Primary Hypogonadism/Hypergonadotropic Hypogonadism: when its the gonads themselves that have low production levels. The brain is still communicating to produce the average male/female levels of hormones, but the gonads are failing to keep up with the brains-signals.

Secondary Hypogonadism/Hypogonadtropic Hypogonadism/ Central Hypogonadism: when the brain has low levels of communication with the gonads. The brain is failing to send out typical levels of signals to the gonads, and the gonads only produce hormones when a signal is received.

Other Hormonal Variations

Chromosomal Variations

And thats all!

Again, please reblog to spread awareness. Intersex people are highly discriminated against. Their bodies are still regularly mutilated at birth, in order to make them "look right."

This mutilation can cause complete infertility, a loss of sensation in genital areas (making sex unsatisfactory), gender dysphoria, body dysmorphia, and even chronic pain.

Additionally, intersex children are often bullied at school for looking or sounding "abnormal" for their age/gender. And as they grow up, they face the same difficulties transgender individuals do - judgement for not being a "real man" or "real woman" (or for being non-binary), difficulty dating, struggles finding jobs, complications in receiving proper healthcare, and they are at an increased risk of being abused and assaulted. Many are also left out of sports or kicked out of public bathrooms as well.

This is all due to the lack of education. Tolerance and acceptance needs to be taught to children. Many doctors have no idea how to treat intersex patients, as they didn't learn about their bodies, even in advanced schooling. We need to put a stop to this.

[benjaminallhope-fulltimemind]

This is far from surprising, Republicans love to talk a lot about how they care about life but they really don't. True care would be establishing a national childcare system, true care would be preventing school shootings, true care would be eradicating student lunch debt! But it was never about care but rather control, they seek to control women's bodies and use children as a cudgel like they do with other groups. Do not be deluded, Republicans will gladly strip women of their rights if we do not put up a united fight, they will strip us of all our rights if we do not vote them out of office. Vote blue and vote Democrat, it's the only feasible way short of violent tactics to prevent the loss of the rights we hold dear.

[queermousehole]

This is a beginner's survival plan for if 2025 gets put into place and just the next four years in general.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"What purposes could the charivari have served for its participants? Why would a wedding be the community’s business? The practice clearly speaks to extensive scrutiny and judgment of community members’ lives in socially close if geographically far-flung communities like those around rural Manitoba at the turn of the twentieth century and later.

Indeed, it was not only young rowdies who took licence to charivari, but men as old as forty-one-year-old Joe Wiggins and thirty-three-year-old Charles Bugg. Though the married Wiggins had intended to go but did not, all those identifiable men who actually charivaried McLaughlin were bachelors. We don’t know O’Hayes’s age and marital status, but by the 1911 census, apparently only Peter Griffith can be clearly identified as married. Among those arguably old enough to wed, both Joe Bosnell and Charles Bugg were still living with their parents. Bob Whelpton was apparently living elsewhere, but William Ernest may have been working as a hired hand in Dauphin Township. Marriage, as Cecilia Danysk argued, was fundamental to the economic and social base of early-twentieth-century Manitoba communities – the family farm – and had sweeping cultural implications (1995, 70). The proportion of men to women was skewed; women were in a minority, and thus there was no social stigma on bachelorhood, but marriage was a matter of considerable and broad community attention, as it is today.

Some might suggest that the payment in cases like McLaughlin’s would be in recompense for his taking a young woman out of the system of exchange involving young men. Women were a scarce commodity. Taking a second wife, especially so soon after the death of his first, showed insufficient attention to the concerns and needs of others. But that doesn’t explain the Snowflake/Purves charivari, involving a widow and widower. ....at issue is fertility. Even the current charivari could be argued as an encouragement to appropriate fertility; some folks in Ontario told me that a couple could be charivaried any number of times until their first child was manifestly on the way.

In this world, then, McLaughlin could be charivaried not only for taking a young woman out of the pool of eligibles, but also because the couple’s fertility could be in question, given McLaughlin’s previous marriage, and because any further offspring could cause succession problems. The reason charivari died out first in more heavily settled areas has less to do with the ostensible reason usually given – that the noise and drunkenness disturbed the public peace (though indeed, several ordinances were passed in towns and cities explicitly outlawing the practice) – than it did with the lower level of scrutiny of community continuation through family fertility. As larger, more urbanized communities became less closely knit, the ties among all individual members attenuated, with less responsibility placed on any particular group of individuals to maintain the status quo; charivari was no longer rhetorically useful. Charivari survives in rural areas in large part because it not only addresses community notions of appropriate behaviour (unquestioning hospitality, willingness to deal with the unexpected with aplomb, being a good sport, and taking a joke); it also addresses very real needs. By its ‘welcome’ – the term participants used most to describe the charivari’s purpose – it reminds young marrieds that their responsibility is to stay on the farm, continue to do the work their foremothers and forefathers did, and keep the community going by having children. It confirms their community membership and the responsibilities that go along with it (see Greenhill 1989b).

A final mystery, though, is the survival of the tradition of charivari in the Brookdale area of Manitoba in the face of such a tragedy. Surely, as the newspapers suggested, the death of a community member, especially a young one, might end the practice. And yet charivari continued there, at least to the early 1970s, though its form and intention altered considerably (as it has done across most of English Canada) from a statement of disapproval to one of commendation. The main point of the charivari became to party with and play tricks on the newlyweds, rather than to extract money from them. But crucially, as Kathleen Swanson said,

I think it was a mark of affection in some ways, because you didn’t do it to people you were uneasy with, and whose reactions you couldn’t predict fairly well. I think that’s also the reason why there was never any real damage beyond labels off the cans and that sort of thing.

As Charlie Simpson explained, ‘We had to go back and work together, maybe the next day.

The McLaughlin charivari and its aftermath show that traditions are remarkably resilient. Yet traditions also change; it’s more valuable in contemporary rural Canada to mark marriages – at least heterosexual ones – than to convey disapproval of specific matches. The tradition itself has a new purpose, that of marking the recipients’ change in personal status upon marriage. Yet it resists social change on a larger scale by implying disapproval of those who leave the farm or lead a lifestyle the community does not support. While very few Manitobans currently practise charivari, strong memories remain of events in which neighbours, friends, and families ‘made the night hideous.'"

- Pauline Greenhill, Make the Night Hideous: Four English-Canadian Charivaris, 1881–1940. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010. p. 108-110.

[mirrorballkt]

Feeling broken and hopeless, but knowing that community aid is the only way through. We have to support each other. Our lives literally depend on it.

When roe was overturned, I created a Jane network. It connects those in need of healthcare to those willing to help with a place to stay, finances, rides, etc all across the country. We have members in every 'safe' state to help. With a christofascist supermajority coming in January, it's more important than ever to hold on tight to community aid.

If you'd like to be added to the network as a volunteer, DM or text me the following - full name, location (general city is fine), any restrictions you have (Covid tested, vaccines, etc), what you'd like to help with (place to stay, travel, funding, etc) and your preferred method of contact! Every volunteer is fully vetted. I'm the only one with access to the doc so all the information is private.

If you are in need of help, email choicecollective01@gmail.com. Email with your location and needs, and i'll connect you with the person closest regionally to you or who can best help you.

[lilithism1848]

[liberate-women-now]

1. There is not a single radfem on this planet that discourages the use of sunscreen.

2. You straight up made up that “fact” about med school cadavers.

3. “Don’t let radfems kill you bc they’re anti beauty industry”. Aside from sun exposure, tanning beds are also a major cause of skin cancer but you don’t talk about that because it aligns exactly with harmful beauty industry practices.

Being anti beauty industry involves critiquing a culture that profits off of women’s insecurities and forced her to conform to beauty standards.

[pettytiredandjewish]

If anyone needs a hug- here’s a huge fucking hug 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

[queerism1969]