#gender and diversity

[the-crooked-library]

so within the universe of Dune, gender roles abide by a rigid false dichotomy created by the bene gesserit - men lead the noble houses, while the women may join their order, and the powers of both are kept intentionally separate. at the same time, the plot demonstrates repeatedly that the role of paul atreides as a character is that of the border between the concepts juxtaposed within dichotomies: he is both an outerworlder and fremen, both harkonnen and atreides, both a duke and a disciple of the bene gesserit.

as such, it follows that within the in-universe gender structure, he occupies the roles of both male and female, thus being functionally and societally nonbinary. in this essay, i will -

[dhddmods]

Acknowledging that certain traits are commonly desired by feminine or masculine genders isn't exorsexist & intersexist...but treating them as always feminine or masculine is.

If a perisex trans woman desires estrogenizing HRT because they desire breasts & widened hips, which are commonly associated with femininity, that isn't exorsexist & intersexist. However, it is exorsexist & intersexist to say that estrogenizing HRT, breasts, and widened hips are inherently feminine.

If a perisex trans man desires androgenizing HRT because they desire a beard and bottom growth + metoidioplasty, which are commonly associated with masculinity, that isn't exorsexist & intersexist. However, it is exorsexist & intersexist to say that androgenizing HRT, a beard, and a penis are inherently masculine.

Feminine-associated traits aren't inherently feminine. Masculine-associated traits aren't inherently masculine. It just depends on who has them.

Keep non-binary and intersex people in mind. Remember not to gender HRT, top surgery, or bottom surgery.

Remember that not all transfems and intersex fems want to look or function like perisex cis women. Remember that not all transmascs and intersex mascs want to look or function like perisex cis men.

Remember that transandrogynous, transneutral, transnull, transgenderless, transxenine, transoutherine, transaporine, multigender, and mixed gender people exist.

[goblintelligence]

It is okay to not have bottom dysphoria. At all.

You are not less trans, you are not perverted, you are not your agab because of what's on your bottom half.

And it's also okay if you change your opinion on this later, but it's very valid if you don't, it's not a bad thing to be content with your bits.

[kookoofufu]

[nothorses]

What do you think gay men are attracted to in men that they can’t be attracted to in women?

It can’t be anything about femininity or masculinity obviously. That’s both sexist, and cultural so can’t be what drives men-only attraction.

It can’t be anything about stated identity because someone could lie just as easily as they could tell the truth in such a statement, and it makes no sense because homosexuality and heterosexuality exists in other species with no stated identities. It’s not like other animals without gender are all pan.

Saying idk it’s the vibes or some indescribable trait men have that women can’t but “I can’t explain” is a nonanswer.

Soooooooo what is it? Or do you think any sexuality but bi/pan is just cultural performance or an identity rather than an inborn orientation?

- [ ]

I think trying to find one perfect answer that applies universally is the critical mistake here. I mean, I am a gay man. I say this because as of yet, that's the clearest answer I have for myself personally; maybe there's a possibility I experience attraction to a woman at some point (maybe I already have???), but I don't really have clarity on that right now, and it doesn't serve me to shape or explain my identity around "maybe"s.

Trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that attracts me to other men, specifically, is also like... not that useful. I used to find myself really attracted to feminine men specifically; not feminine women, not masculine women, not masculine men, not androgynous anyone, but feminine men. Specifically, men who were feminine in a very particular, long-hair-certain-attitude kind of way.

Recently, I have found myself appreciating, more and more, a certain kind of masculine body type and gay masculinity that I was never really interested in before. I find it incredibly hot. A lot of that coincides with things I appreciate about my partner, too, and things I find myself appreciating more about my partner as time goes on- as well as things my partner expresses appreciation for about me!

And I haven't even touched on attraction to nonbinary folks here because, like, it's a massive spectrum. "Nonbinary" means something different for every individual nonbinary person. To my mind, of course there's a possibility I experience attraction to a nonbinary person; how they identity, present, and what attracts me to them are all even more impossible to know for certain than the "maybe"s and the "why"s around my attraction (or lack thereof) to men and women.

My relationship to my own orientation was vastly different pre-testosterone versus post-testosterone, too. I was much more reserved and uncomfortable with relationships and attraction before I started T, and the only dynamic I ever felt was even a little bit tolerable was one where I was the "masculine woman" in a lesbian relationship. I didn't realize until very shortly after starting T that, actually, I like men. A lot. I felt comfortable with my body and my masculinity in a way I never had been before, and I felt comfortable in relationships with men; I no longer felt like I was The Woman By Default in contrast.

And that's all just me! This is my personal, specific, individual relationship to attraction, and how gender- both others' and my own- factors into my relationship with orientation.

I don't think it's necessarily inborn, or completely unchanging for everyone. I also don't think the same factors apply for everyone. I think a lot of different things can be true for different people, all at once, and it's not really useful to try to pinpoint a specific, universal explanation for orientation.

Everyone has a different relationship to orientation and gender; everyone will be influenced differently by cultural factors, by their own ways of processing and understanding the world around them, by the ways different aspects of their culture, identity, personality, and inborn traits and how they all interact with one another, and sure, maybe even by biological factors and tendencies.

Trying to solve this puzzle for the entire world of diverse human beings isn't going to make it any easier to understand yourself. Focus on what this all means for you, personally, and accept that you will never, can never, fully and perfectly understand anyone else's internal world and workings. Things get a lot easier when you can let go of that & just appreciate the diversity of human experiences, y'know?

[utilitycaster]

ok because Nein + Bells Hells + Shattered Teeth has a decent chance of being Ludinus related I looked up the Clone spell in 5e and it only kicks off if the soul is willing to return. This is fucking wild, because the thing is, it does make logical sense given the order of events in C3 (ie, Bells Hells defeated Ludinus first and then unleashed Predathos): he'd have a clone as backup in case he was killed before his plan went off, and at the time of death, Predathos was still unreleased, so his work was not done so he would not peacefully pass on to the hereafter. So basically this guy just like. came back to life literally as Bells Hells were doing his work for him, and we don't know how much he knows but I assume he knows something via scrying. and then he simply didn't cast nondetection, and I think that's the part that has me like. bro what are you doing. Like either he is actually fine with the gods remaining in a different form - now with no known means of destroying them - which means he effectively just threw, what, a millennium-long apocalyptic temper tantrum with a body count well into the thousands and I guess tuckered his bitch ass out; or he thinks the gods are gone and is just chilling out drinking tea waiting to see if Caleb and Beau hunt him down, which, loser behavior.

[vaguely-concerned]

johanna hezenkoss, ghilan'nain, isseya, zara renata, aelia... anaris, elgar'nan, illario, solas, that rogue dude from taash' storyline what's his name, calivan, tarquin, viago, spite*....... veilguard is such a great game not only for evil women in stem and blood magic but also for men who are just little haters

*extremely a little hater almost definitionally, only incidentally the shape of a man so y'know grey area here

[possibly-a-secunit]

[drgnflyteabox]

Hmrrmmm reader running a women's rehab / shelter for current / former sex workers in poverty, offering safety / food / shelter

Hrmmrmm Alejandro helping them when he can... he's so busy but he's got a soft spot for you so you know you can go to him for help :')

Alejandro who knows you have a history and doesn't push, but you genuinely feel safe with him

Alejandro who would never have anyone on his team that would be creepy or assault any women / victims but knows why you and the others are wary of men, so its only ever his most trusted who visit you or help you :')

Idkkk I need more Alejandro and unfortunately for me I'm into gentle masculine men and I feel like Alejandro would be so masculine but so gentle:') a little old fashioned, but it's appreciated when you haven't been treated well:')

When he greets you its kisses on your cheeks and eyelids, holding your hands, so sweet and tender :'D he and his vaqueros donate food/etc and you cook pastries for him in return

Sigh

[darkwood-sleddog]

iditarod has me biting my nails this year:

-unusual race route (only musher in the field to take this route before is Mitch Seavey in 2003)

-Paige Drobny of Squid Acres Kennels has been holding a tight first or second place position within the race for awhile and has already completed both her mandatory rests. Paige's closest top placement so far is 5th place. If she were to hold on to her lead and win it would be the first time a winner has been a woman since 1990 Susan Butcher

-Quince Mountain racing in his first Iditarod, currently in last. Crossing my fingers he stays in the race.

-six mushers have scratched already.

[littencloud9]

🔥+ bsd female characters (or wlw ships or characters from other media!! go wild i’m just curious)

- @ixapixie

IXANE MY LOVE!!

my opinion is that bsd female characters are not badly written you guys just hate women 💔💔 okay like. i think when people think of ‘well-written female characters’, they have so much unfair criteria in place. if the woman has any relationships with male characters, she’s automatically seen as like, having her whole life centered around the man?? even if it isn’t true???? so for example yosano and ranpo (one of my fav bsd dynamics), there’s plenty emphasis on how much they treasure each other, how yosano was saved by ranpo, how ranpo relies on her greatly (see: stuck in poe’s book episode). not only that, but yosano’s backstory with shunzen explains so much on the way she views life and death, and her complicated dynamic with tachihara because of that is so interesting. but people either A) turn it around and say yosano’s character is centered on ranpo/shunzen (untrue), or B) just call yosano a girlboss and nothing else. LIKE!!!

lucy is another huge example of this. her character arc is one of the most interesting imo, how she went from wanting a saviour to being her own, how she created a new life for herself, how she’s afraid to be open and yet still carries love in her heart. and yet people say her character revolves around atsushi and nothing else 😭😭

sure maybe bsd women aren’t perfect, and it would be nice to see them interact with one another more (i’d love to see more higuchi and gin, or more lucy and louisa for example), but judging their characters on the pure basis of whether they interact with other women is like. not as woke as people think it is

tldr a female character having compelling dynamics with male characters does not diminish her weight as a character, female characters do not necessarily have to be physically/mentally strong to be interesting, and i fucking love bsd women

from this ask game

[jewish-microwave-laser]

lost a mutual to tme/tma rhetoric. the binaries are still very strong in the queer community and don't y'all forget it

[dhddmods]

Stop gendering brains.

We are so sick and tired of the "male-female brain" and "cis-trans brain" arguments. Its so intersexist, altersexist, transphobic, and misogynistic.

Yes, cis endosex males and cis endosex females on average have minor differences on the size of their brains and the amount of grey matter they have. But thats on average and is based on hormone production and genetics.

Saying you can tell a male vs female brain is just as logical as trying to determine male vs female bones. Its not possible. You can guess based on averages, but those averages don't give you any precise answer.

Yes, on average trans endosex people will have different levels of corticol thickness in comparison to cis endosex people, but again, thats an average and determines nothing.

Obviously gender is a mix of social constructs and psychological factors. But not all psychological factors can be seen with a brain scan. You can have gender or sex incongruence without brain scans showing anything "different."

Bioessentialism is a load of nonsense. Stop trying to inflict binaries on everything.

[pseudophan]

checked my youtube stats for this year and i was gonna post it but it's too embarrassing to share i'm afraid. youtube is overrun by white men and i fear i am the problem

[tubbytarchia]

me when a female character I like gets labelled a mom for the 17th time