#its abt the support worker i was assigned

[dentixvoxel]

I've been feeling unreasonably stressed abt something that one really shouldn't be stressed abt but im just

[milkieways]

we are growing! 7/21/23

Honestly im feeling a bit all over the place, like, oof- what do I do first and where should I continue.. but things are moving forward even if we don't know the way. I appreciate my friends (the team / anyone whos working even just a bit into the game) ! BUUTT OKOKOKOK ! LETS GET A LIST OF STUFF THAT IS CURRENTLY FLOATING AROUND! - The town's name is Aiyana Gardens. ✨ - Here is a list of all of the characters so far: Star (protag, first person), Kishu Chi, Nocte Ventus, Markus Bowen, Lily, Daryo Anne "Incarnation", Yu Bou, Anemone (not official name), Manager Noe, J, Katie Anne, Angela and Oliver Miller. These are official characters that are being planned and then we have a list of possible characters implemented. Possible characters: Brielle Gilmour, Lee Gilmour, Skye Joss, Ryoko Tinselly, Chloe, Edward Sam, Misaki This is all subject to change but the first list is highly unlikely to change <3 Character profiles and desc will be coming in (yall can request specific posts abt characters as well!)

I✨ - Yu bou's VA is currently in the works! If his possible VA becomes his official, we have our first character with an official voice AND VA! WOOO ✨ - A general rule in this world is that everything around the world evolves around the idea of plants, characters are assigned to plants / are identified by plants except for some characters. ✨ - The Anne family is a famous family with one of the members living in the town

- The cafe's work system is being worked around, having multiple managers, workers and hours. So far, we have the hours and shifts: 7 am - 12 am. Morning shift is 7 am-12 pm, mid-day / afternoon shift is 12-6 pm and night shift is until 12 am ! Different characters are assigned to different shifts, still being discussed. ✨ -Our protagonist, Star, is a worker in the morning and night shifts, we have J, working morning and mid day shifts, (Anemone) is there as well working in the mornings and Manager Noe! ✨ -Working on getting character sprites for Markus and Yu Bou, drawn by one of our amazing artists >v< ari!! <3 ✨ -Star, Noe, Anemone, and a couple unnamed character development and details ✨ -Writing the "book" version of it so its ready dialogue ✨ -Looking for coders / programmers and general networking to find other people to help + abilities of ppl! ✨ - Doing research because I want certain amount of diversity and visual accessibility in the game (the cafe's design being accessible for example), as a disabled poc, lgbtq+ person, I'd love to create a media that shows more diversity for people like me and people from communities I know / come from :) ^ fair warning though because I am a third cultural person (basically having mixed cultures bc home country's culture, family culture and where I live culture) and I am yet to be learning more about other countries BUT I personally have a disconnection from stuff like that so getting feedback on cultural stuff would mean a lot! Despite this, my point still stands, the people and communities I've met plus myself have features I'd love to include! So, im open and planning sort of to make open discussions for this :) ✨ There might be some more stuff but I can't recall more rn so this is it for today <3 General reminder that while it seems that we r doing a lot of work, it will come in slowly, specially with me also being a college student + future full time student, but I appreciate all the comments and general support!! I literally am stimming everywhere and bouncing off the walls bc of this game and the development, emotionally everywhere haha. But yea!! <3 Might do an "about the creator" post and some about the team!! anyways, THANK UUU <33

[roakkaliha]

i need ppl who are starting or thinking of reconnecting to karelian culture to realize that we’re still facing racism, bc its becoming way too fuckin frequent for ppl to find out that karelians are indigenous n decide to reconnect to either feel ‘exotic’ or escape their white guilt, n then act surprised when they find out we face so much racism in our daily lives.

ever since i started reconnecting ive noticed ppl treating worse bc of it, like my interactions w my support person assigned to me by a social worker especially turned hostile the second i started being open abt it w them. ppl forgive them, ignore their racism towards me and even PRAISE their work in front of me, most of these ppl are school counselors, social workers, nurses and doctors, you know, ppl who white ppl expect to not Do That Shit or ppl who take pride in being anti-racist. its gotten to the point where im showing symptoms of selective mutism as a direct result of their treatment.

before i started reconnecting it felt like i had no emotions, now i feel like anger is my default state bc of all the shit ive experienced n watched others experience.

i know ppl whove been harassed, abused n assaulted for being karelian. i know ppl whove been yelled at n hurled slurs at in public for speaking karelian. ive seen so many finns say absolutely fucking vile shit abt us n not a single finn will stand up for us or even publically disagree. even self-proclaimed “anti-racist leftist activists” wont give a shit, actually theyre often the ones saying that shit. finns love giving posts spreading blatant misinformation n nationalist propaganda thousands of notes, while posts criticizing em or talking abt racist suomitumblrs get fucking nothing. at best they’ll like the post, but theyre too chickenshit to reblog to their finnish followers.

its so fucking tiring to watch suomitumblr refusing to deplatform popular racists in the community. its so fucking tiring to listen to finns brag abt how ‘everyone in finland has the equal chances of success despite ethnicity or skin color’, when youve seen your rroma friends be denied basic rights, when youre personally crushed by the knowledge that youll never as successful as finnish adult babies who ignore any and all accusations of racism or even just being told to do the bare minimum towards being actually a good ally, all bc your existense threatens their worldview.

its so fucking tiring when the amount of actual anti-racist finns youve met can be counted on a single hand.

ppl need to realize that existing as a karelian can be straight up traumatizing. its far from whatever Wannabe Exotic Free Opression Points bullshit ppl like to make it out to be.

actually make a fucking effort.

[jul-bilant]

Prince!Seungcheol

prince seungcheol

he was always the buzz around the whole kingdom *i mean y wouldnt he?? have you sEEN the guy????*

he’s always going around town, supervising incase any dumbass decided to sell drugs around the block or smth

(he once caught one and he didnt kno seungcheol was the prince and offered him marijuana and got arrested bc of tht and bc seungcheol got offended lmao)

and whenever he passes by, theres always gonna be some thirstyass girls staring at him like

“oMF SAMANTHA ITS PRINCE SEUNGCHEOL”

“SHUT UP JESS HE’S GONNA HEAR YOU DIMWIT”

or like

*runs up to him* “cAN I BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND??”

and tbh seungcheol just deadass rejects her but like,,, politely bc pRINCE MANNERS

and thats why he has two bodyguards with him at all times outside the palace now

anyways;;; prince seungcheol’s rlly rlly rLLY polite and well-mannered

he’s also a smart boi like

8 yr old seungcheol can solve 10th grade algebra, write a whole 10+ paged essay abt cytology and find the cure for cancer

kidding lol *nOT*

but srsly, this boi is smarter than yo algebra teachers like bi h

and he’s also sort of leader-like, so people already know he’ll be a great king one day

but he also has a kind heart and cares for everyone he loves and the whole kingdom

a 5 yr old girl once tripped over a rock infront of him and he took her to a bench, bought a bandage and aided her scraped knee ;-;

you can tell im soft for seungcheol hhhh

anyways, he’s been stressing out for a while because his coronation as king is nearing and it’s in a few months since his father died a year ago

and he needs to find a suitable partner

thats where you come in

you’re a maid in the palace

the maids have a thing where they check on seungcheol every two or three hours to see if he’s hungry, needs smth, or anything like tht

and this time, you were assigned to check on him

tbh you’ve never been assigned because it’s always the head maid that checks on him or that one maid thats always been the head maid’s fave

but not today

it was 10 pm and you went to see if seungcheol needed anything so you go to his study room

but before you knock, you hear something from inside his study room

it sounds like crying

and you know for a fact that thats seungcheol’s voice thats crying

you were at a loss of what to do, so it took you a while to do anything, but you decided to go down and tell the chefs that he was hungry just so you could bring him his favourite food to cheer him up

when you went back to the study room, you knocked

but he didn’t answer

it was quiet now, no more sobbing

so you opened the door

and saw seungcheol with his head down on the desk

you quietly wheeled the food towards his study table and put the tray on the other desk near the couch

you carefully approached seungcheol out of curiosity

his cheeks were stained with dried tears, but other than that, he still looked as handsome as ever

you grew concerned and took of the blankets from the bigass closet near the prince’s room and draped it over him

i mean, you were already there so why not lol

the next morning, seungcheol awoke to the smell food and a blanket around him

he grew confused but shrugged it off, he expected one of the maids to do these things

but he smiled knowing someone cares

meanwhile, the head maid came up to you and told you that you’ll be the maid who’ll regularly check up on seungcheol from now on since she was, quote-on-quote, “busy”, and her favourite maid had to retire for god knows what

you didn’t know why but you felt a sense of happiness and anxiety at the same time

so in the afternoon, you go to check on seungcheol as he’s in the study room, sorting out papers

when you enter the room after knocking, seungcheol kinda stares at you

not in the bad, offending way, nah m8

but like

‘holy shit this woman looks better than a grilled cheese sandwich’

which roughly translates to “prince seungcheol is making googly-eyes at maid y/n” ty v much

and he blushed a bit but hid it well when you approached him

“good afternoon, prince seungcheol.. i am maid y/n, i’ll be the new maid who’ll check on you from time to time from now on..” you inform him

he smiles

s m i l  e s

“thank you for informing me, miss y/n,” he replied

“may i ask you a small favor?”

you were like

‘w8 boi whut-’

but you just replied with an “ok”

“please tell the maid who draped a blanket over me and brought me food last night 'thank you’, and tell her it’s from me.” he smiled

you contemplated on telling him whether or not it was you,

which would be odd for other people, since they would of cOURSE take the chance and say that they did

but you had a sense of not taking credibility in most cases bc you like being humble and shiet so you nod and telling him you’ll inform her

“thank you, it means a lot to me..” seungcheol smiles

a few months after, you hear his royal adviser, which no one rlly likes tbh (tht includes seungcheol), scolding him because he has yet to find a partner

so you go check on him in his bedroom after knocking, and he let you in

you two had, undoubtedly, grown close

which is weird bc he doesnt really make friends w/ workers in the palace, much less be best friends with them

but thats what happened

he basically tells you everything from his dreams, to when his father passed, to how his cat scratched the curtain of the theatre room and etc.

so naturally, you started liking him

but of course, why’d the prince like a maid like you????

yall were just best friends

(like any other ff pfft)

you sat down on his bed, a concerned look on your face as he was on the verge of tears

“whats wrong?” you asked, even if you already knew what dampened his mood

“Mr. Song is pressuring me into getting married again, but this time he told me other things..”

you watch as a tear or two falls from his eyes

its really painful to watch him cry

“its okay… you dont have to tell me if you dont want to..” you reassured seungcheol but he just shakes his head

“no.. i think you deserve to know”

and he told you about how his adviser called him a worthless prince for not being able to even court a girl, telling him that if he was this indecisive, the kingdom would fall, and other hurtful things like that

at this point, he was crying the whole waterfall somewhere in the deep woods near the kingdom

“cheol.. i’m sorry you had to endure that…”

without thinking, you gently pulled him into your arms, pulling him into a warm hug

both of you were surprised, but didn’t waver away from the hug

for a second you thought 'omf why the fu c  k did i do that’

but you just shook the thought away, telling yourself that your best friend is in emotional pain and you did that for moral support

(which wasnt the only reason but you wanted to deny the others hhh)

but seungcheol on the other hand was lo si  n g his shit

on the inside, of course

he’s like 'omg omg omg she’s hugging me mOM-’

but thats where it dawned on him

he likes you

the next day, you knocked on the door of his study room

but it was silent, just like that one night when he cried himself to sleep

so you opened the door,

but he wasnt there

you panicked a little, thinking about where on palace grounds he couldve gone to

so you checked his bedroom, the kitchen, the theatre room, the throne room, the royal gardens, everywhere

but aside from finding his cat scratching the theatre room curtains, they were all empty

you asked the head maid where he was and she answered you with a shocked expression before replying

“you mean to tell me you didn’t know he was in the neighboring kingdom, meeting up with his arranged fiancee?”

fiancee

arranged or not, it still hurt to know that he was with the woman who he was going to marry

and that was not you

the head maid gave you the day off, since seungcheol wasnt here for the day

you dressed casually, a white, plain, sleeveless dress that goes to your knees, instead of the regular, convervative, longsleeved maid uniform you were obliged to wear when you had work

you took a walk around the palace grounds, eventaully stopping when you reach the rooftop balcony

the moon was already making an appearance, the night ready to take over the sky

you stay there for the time being, finding the night sky, stars and a few blobs of clouds enticing to the human eye

moments later, you find yourself holding back tears

you let out a few stray tears drip down your cheeks as you sniff, not bothering to wipe them away

you were surprised when a blanket was wrapped around you, and a familiar pair of arms pulling into a hug

“its cold, you shouldn’t be out here at this ti- ….why are you crying?” you heard him voice out the last part in a soft whisper, contrasting his normal tone of speech like how he talked a few moments ago

“n-nothing… its dumb..” you tell him, dismissively

but he wasnt having it

“come on, i’ll listen to you.. tell me whats bothering you to the point where you’re crying..” seungcheol wiped a few of your tears away

“i’ll be fine, cheol.. and.. aren’t you supposed to be in the neighboring kingdom until tomorrow?..” you asked

“yes.. but there was no reason to stay if i rejected the marriage.”

what

w h a  t

“you- what?!” you turned to him, dumbfounded

he chuckled

“yeah, i rejected the marriage. i have my eyes on another girl..” he confessed, not breaking the eye contact you both shared

“…quite literally..” he grinned

“she was there for me through everything, comforted me at the toughest of times, and brought me food and a blanket when i fell asleep at my study room..”

so he knew

you blushed, knowing exactly what he meant

he approached you slowly, and once he had you in his field of reach, he cupped your face and pulled you closer to him

“would you…” he paused

“…marry me?”

you smiled a gentle, assuring smile

“..of course.”

and in a fit of smiles and small laughs, seungcheol kissed you

[gordonwilliamsweb]

12 Months of Trauma: More Than 3,600 US Health Workers Died in Covid’s First Year

This story also ran on The Guardian. It can be republished for free.

More than 3,600 U.S. health care workers perished in the first year of the pandemic, according to “Lost on the Frontline,” a 12-month investigation by The Guardian and KHN to track such deaths.

Lost on the Frontline is the most complete accounting of U.S. health care worker deaths. The federal government has not comprehensively tracked this data. But calls are mounting for the Biden administration to undertake a count as the KHN/Guardian project comes to a close today.

The project, which tracked who died and why, provides a window into the workings — and failings — of the U.S. health system during the covid-19 pandemic. One key finding: Two-thirds of deceased health care workers for whom the project has data identified as people of color, revealing the deep inequities tied to race, ethnicity and economic status in America’s health care workforce. Lower-paid workers who handled everyday patient care, including nurses, support staff and nursing home employees, were far more likely to die in the pandemic than physicians were.

The yearlong series of investigative reports found that many of these deaths could have been prevented. Widespread shortages of masks and other personal protective gear, a lack of covid testing, weak contact tracing, inconsistent mask guidance by politicians, missteps by employers and lax enforcement of workplace safety rules by government regulators all contributed to the increased risk faced by health care workers. Studies show that health care workers were more than three times as likely to contract covid as the general public.

“We rightfully refer to these people without hyperbole — that they are true heroes and heroines,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci in an exclusive interview with The Guardian and KHN. The covid deaths of so many are “a reflection of what health care workers have done historically, by putting themselves in harm’s way, by living up to the oath they take when they become physicians and nurses,” he said.

Lost on the Frontline launched last April with the story of Frank Gabrin, the first known American emergency room doctor to die of covid-19. In the early days of the pandemic, Gabrin, 60, was on the front lines of the surge, treating covid patients in New York and New Jersey. Yet, like so many others, he was working without proper personal protective equipment, known as PPE. “Don’t have any PPE that has not been used,” he texted a friend. “No N95 masks — my own goggles — my own face shield.”

Gabrin’s untimely death was the first fatality entered into the Lost on the Frontline database. His story of working through a crisis to save lives shared similarities with the thousands that followed.

Maritza Beniquez, an emergency room nurse at Newark’s University Hospital in New Jersey, watched 11 colleagues die in the early months of the pandemic. Like the patients they had been treating, most were Black and Latino. “It literally decimated our staff,” she said.

Her hospital has placed 11 trees in the lobby, one for each employee who has died of covid; they have been adorned with remembrances and gifts from their colleagues.

More than 100 journalists contributed to the project in an effort to record every death and memorialize those who died. The project’s journalists filed public records requests, cross-connected governmental and private data sources, scoured obituaries and social media posts, and confirmed deaths through family members, workplaces and colleagues.

Among its key findings:

More than half of those who died were younger than 60. In the general population, the median age of death from covid is 78. Yet among health care workers in the database, it is only 59.

More than a third of the health care workers who died were born outside the United States. Those from the Philippines accounted for a disproportionate number of deaths.

Nurses and support staff members died in far higher numbers than physicians.

Twice as many workers died in nursing homes as in hospitals. Only 30% of deaths were among hospital workers, and relatively few were employed by well-funded academic medical centers. The rest worked in less prestigious residential facilities, outpatient clinics, hospices and prisons, among other places.

The death rate among health care workers has slowed dramatically since covid vaccines were made available to them in December. A study published in late March found that only four of 8,121 fully vaccinated employees at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas became infected. But deaths lag behind infections, and KHN and The Guardian have tracked more than 400 health care worker deaths since the vaccine rollout began.

Many factors contributed to the high toll — but investigative reporting uncovered some consistent problems that heightened the risks faced by health workers.

The project found that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance on masks — which encouraged hospitals to reserve high-performance N95 masks for intubation procedures and initially suggested surgical masks were adequate for everyday patient care — may have put thousands of health workers at risk.

The investigation exposed how the Labor Department, run by Donald Trump appointee Eugene Scalia in the early part of the pandemic, took a hands-off approach to workplace safety. It identified 4,100 safety complaints filed by health care workers to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Labor Department’s workplace safety agency. Most were about PPE shortages, yet even after some complaints were investigated and closed by regulators, workers continued to die at the facilities in question.

The reporting also found that health care employers were failing to report worker deaths to OSHA. The data analysis found that more than a third of workplace covid deaths were not reported to regulators.

Among the most visceral findings of Lost on the Frontline was the devastating impact of PPE shortages.

Adeline Fagan, a 28-year-old OB-GYN resident in Texas, suffered from asthma and had a long history of respiratory ailments. Months into the pandemic, her family said, she was using the same N95 mask over and over, even during a high-risk rotation in the emergency room.

Her parents blame both the hospital administration and government missteps for the PPE shortages that may have contributed to Adeline’s death in September. Her mother, Mary Jane Abt-Fagan, said Adeline’s N95 had been reused so many times the fibers were beginning to disintegrate.

Not long before she fell ill — and after she’d been assigned to a high-risk ER rotation — Adeline talked to her parents about whether she should spend her own money on an expensive N95 with a filter that could be changed daily. The $79 mask was a significant expense on her $52,000 resident’s salary.

“We said, you buy this mask, you buy the filters, your father and I will pay for it. We didn’t care what it cost,” said Abt-Fagan.

She never had the opportunity to use it. By the time the mask arrived, Adeline was already on a ventilator in the hospital.

Adeline’s family feels let down by the U.S. government’s response to the pandemic.

“Nobody chooses to go to work and die,” said Abt-Fagan. “We need to be more prepared, and the government needs to be more responsible in terms of keeping health care workers safe.”

Adeline’s father, Brant Fagan, wants the government to begin tracking health care worker deaths and examining the data to understand what went wrong. “That’s how we’re going to prevent this in the future,” he said. “Know the data, follow where the science leads.”

Adeline’s parents said her death has been particularly painful because of her youth — and all the life milestones she never had the chance to experience. “Falling in love, buying a home, sharing your family and your life with your siblings,” said Mary Jane Abt-Fagan. “It’s all those things she missed that break a parent’s heart.”

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

USE OUR CONTENT

This story can be republished for free (details).

12 Months of Trauma: More Than 3,600 US Health Workers Died in Covid’s First Year published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

[hannecicc]

Notes on resources - Assignment 2 Individual Component B

Takatapui – Part  of the whanau

“The term  ‘takatāpui’ embraces all Māori with diverse gender identities and  sexualities. Within that broad definition, takatāpui has deeper meaning for  those who have claimed it.”

Whakapapa – Takapui  “strive to see themselves reflected in the past”

Takatapui often have  to choose between being Māori or queer – being takatapui allows them to be  both – all of who they are

Takatapui is an  inclusive term – all ages and shapes, different iwi affiliations. Includes  all Māori regardless of their knowledge of te reo or tikanga

“Takatāpui communities  provide opportunities to learn and reconnect. We emphasise what unifies;  rather than what separates and divides”

Gender and sexuality  is part of a person’s wairua (spirit, soul) from a young age. You are born  with your wairua and it exists beyond death, this means that gender and  sexuality is not a choice. “Wairua can be damaged when whanau reacts badly to  a child who identifies in ways that are unexpected”

After colonisation,  with the loss of Māori culture, language and land the open sexuality enjoyed  by Māori clashed with the opposing view of the settlers and missionaries. The  latter were surprised the Māori didn’t punish those who engaged in this.

In 1858 Aotearoa  inherited the British legal system, and with it came the sexism and  homophobia that the Māori eventually inherited.

The leadership of  Māori women were also not recognised by the colonisers, and Māori women’s  control over their bodies and sexuality was taken away from them.

The nuclear family  concept reinforced heterosexual and monogamous relationships as the norm.

“Issues of gender  and sexuality cannot be fully resolved for takatāpui until the mana of Māori  women is restored throughout Māori culture and society.”

Māori shares a  legacy of colonisation – poor outcomes in education, health, employment,  social services and justice.

“Even within Rainbow  communities, the importance of being Māori to takatāpui and the appropriate  use of tikanga or Māori protocols is not well understood.”

“The more takatāpui  embrace their diverse gender identities and sexualities, the more resilience  and confidence they develop. The younger takatāpui are when they begin to  express their gender and sexuality, the less resilience they are likely to  have.»

Takatāpui  experiences a racist version of the discrimination that members of rainbow  communities face. Bullying in school, lacking access to health care.

“Being visible  allows takatāpui to find each other”

“The term  ‘takatāpui’ appears in the first Māori dictionary printed in 1832. Its meaning  was explained in the manuscripts of Te Arawa scholar, Wīremu Maihi Te  Rangikāheke (c1840s) in reference to the intimate relationship between  Tūtanekai and Tiki. It was found and promoted for contemporary use by  takatāpui academics Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Lee Smith from the mid 1980s.»

Citation: Kerekere,  Elizabeth (2015) Takatāpui: Part of the Whānau. Auckland: Tīwhanawhana  Trust and Mental Health Foundation

https://takatapui.nz/takatapui-part-of-the-whanau#part-of-the-whanau

 Who is Takatapui?  Maori Language, Sexuality and Identity in Aotearoa/New Zealand”

Te reo Māori is in  danger of disappearing or being reduced to a language of “ritual” – only 4-8%  of the Māori population is fluent

Takatāpui – a way to  identify oneself as both Māori and homosexual

"there is a  contextual connection between language, identity and authenticity when  takatdpui is articulated. In some discussions, fluency in te Reo Maori may  operate as an index of one's ability to be fully Maori, such that even the  insertion of a single term like "takatapui" into an English  conversational context carries politicized symbolic value through invoking an  association with an authentic cultural identity.” 234

Not all share these  views

Ethnographical  material produced on sexuality in the 70s and 80s have been problematic  because of its emphasis on different practises (than that of the western  world) which can perpetrate stereotypes and further strengthen the them vs us  mentality

“it is very  difficult to find an appropriate label in the English language for this  category of person, as any of the above English-language terms carries its  own historical, political and cultural baggage» - history and words 235

“At the same time,  some Native Americans have not been comfortable with the labels  "gay" "lesbian" or "bisexual" as these are  terms from the colonizer's language that don't properly represent who they  are” 236

One of the reasons  for why “two spirits” were popular with native americans was because it  encompasses both their sexual and ethnic identities. Inclusive of both men  and women.

Lack of anthropology  on homosexuality in Māori society

“First, the absence  of any mention of homosexuality in early documentation of Maori society has  more to do with the morals and values of the authors, that is, 19th-century  Europeans. (Arboleda and Murray, 1985: 130). Second, the absence of words for  homosexuality in te Reo Maori may indicate the possible absence of an  institutionalized homosexual role, but not necessarily of homosexual behavior  per se (131). And third, a number of neighbouring Polynesian societies have  well documented traditions of "gender-defined homosexual" roles,  increasing the likelihood that a similar role may have existed amongst  pre-contact Māori” 236

In a report gay and  homosexual were the most popular labels for Māori men, however they were way  less popular with them than with non- Māori. It was indicated that these  terms weren’t appropriate to Māori.

Historically Takatāpui  meant “intimate companion of the same sex”. Featured in Williams dictionary  (1844). In contemporary Aotearoa the word is used to describe same sex  attraction and embraces men, women and transgender people.

By the time of  writing the essay?journal etc takatapui had split definitions in dictionaries,  some using the old version and some the new. Question abt development of Māori  words. At this time takatapui had “not been adopted into everyday usage by  the wider Māori community”

“The emphasis on  language as a source of authentic "traditional" indigeneity is  often integrated into a political agenda for Maori sovereignty which I would  argue displays the influence of a discourse of modern nationalism and its  desire for exclusive linguistic purity attached to exclusive cultural purity.”

Language being fixed  or socially and contextually fixed

“While most  expressed no opinion about this (which I interpreted as acceptance or tolerance),  a few did say that they preferred the "original" definition of  "intimate friendship" and thought another word should be developed  for "gay" as they liked a specific non-sexualized term for  "close friend of the same sex" and preferred to be able to use it  without any assumption of a sexual relationship.”

Peoples relationship  to language and words

“The emergence and  increasing popularity of takatapui as a term during the 1980s and 1990s can be  linked to the combined influence of at least three socio-political movements  occurring throughout Aotearoa just prior to and during this period: gay and  lesbian activism, HIV/AIDS and the Maori political and cultural "renaissance."

No single influence lead  to the new meaning and use of takatapui

Gay and lesbian  activism was on the rise in the 70s and 80s and led to the homosexual law  reform bill being passed in 1986

Gay media around  this time didn’t mention any presence of Māori in leaderships roles in any of  the groups. Māori the author spoke to mentions that they did rally, while  others mentioned they were to busy trying to get by or found justice for Māori  people more important.

Clashes of identity

HIV/AIDS rose  through the 80s. Māori at this time were catching the virus at a much higher rate  than other ethnic groups, and was recognised as a threat to Māori people in  particular. Regional Māori led groups specified takatapui as their main target  clientele

Another thing that  happened in the 70s and 80s was the rise of powerful voices within the Māori community  was changing the political landscape as unsettling changes were happening in  the Māori society: shifts from rural to urban centres with little socio-economic  improvement. Differences between Māori and non-Māori in income, unemployment,  health and education. Due to urban shift less spoke te reo Māori.

With both the te reo  Māori revitalisation and the increasing circulation of homosexual culture in public  discourses happening around the same time, some segments of the Māori society  has been developing and adapting new sexual terminologies from te reo Māori.

“takatapui is a term  that incorporates both a sense of indigenous identity as well as  communicating sexual orientation.”

“while some Maori  men were supportive of the non-gendered specificity it encapsulated (because,  they said, all Maori of non-heterosexual orientation could find solidarity  through common identification as takatapui), others preferred to make a  distinction between takatdpui tane (men), takatapui wahine (women) and  whakawahine or whakatane (terms which translate roughly to  "becoming" or "making" woman or man, indi cating a  transcendent or permeable gendered identifica tion), indicating that a  powerful model of gendered dif ference or differentiated conceptualizations  of gender undergirded or bisected any construction based upon a uniform  "alter" sexual identity”

“And just to  complicate things, one sexual health worker told me that it was important to  distinguish between takatapui and tane moe tane (men who sleep with men), as  there are many Maori men who have sexual relations with other men but do not  think of themselves as having a homosexual orientation because they also  sleep with women.”

Some Māori see  takatapui as a synonym for gay, homosexual, poofter etc, and use it alongside  English terms they also use to describe themselves or others.

One mixed person  stated he wasn’t comfortable using takatapui to describe himself as he hadn’t  been greatly involved Māori affairs for much of his life. He didn’t want to  use te reo to describe himself until he had a better understanding of te reo Māori  and the Māori culture.

Him speaking te reo could  raise questions abt him for himself or other about his authenticity of being Māori.  Identity.

“said that he  utilized takatapui carefully and strategically, as he was aware of its  potential to create solidarity and to alienate, depending on who is being  spoken to.” Sexual health worker on the sensitivity around the term. 240

He would use  takatapui around Māori who were confident or comfortable with te reo Māori and were openly gay/labelled themselves thereafter. Whereas with Māori he didn’t think identified themselves as homosexual or didn’t feel comfortable or confident in te reo Māori or didn’t feel connected to a particular Māori community he would be cautious with using the word. He thought they might think he is trying to be superior through his use of Māori linguistic terms.

For some, fluency in  te reo Māori is an indicator of Māori-ness, their knowledge of cultural concepts and identity. Some feel they are seen as less knowledgeable if they aren’t  fluid and fear being alienated

Using the word has  potential different outcomes – unifying or fracturing identification

Te reo Māori faces a  daily battle as a minority language in New Zealand

Many takatapui/ gay Māori  has had negative experiences within Pākehā gay communities, some with their own families. Their relationships with other takatapui or gay Māori has  become an important primary support network

Some feel like they  are rejected by their peers for not being Māori enough

“Takatāpui is a term  that communicates more than just sexual identity and indigeneity; it is  also/always a political statement when it occurs in public (English) discourse as it conveys information about the current status and import of te  Reo in Aotearoa in relation to English, which simultaneously conveys a  political message about Maori cultural identity in relation to Anglo/Pakeha  cultural identity” 241

Ambiguity of the term?

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25606143.pdf

 AHUNGA TIKANGA  AND SEXUAL DIVERSITY

Past discussions of  tikanga and Māori sexual diversity has been focused on reconstructing the behaviour of pre-colonisation Māori culture. 21

“Māori who are not  heterosexual will be marginalised both as Māori and as sexually deviant  within dominant culture.” 23

Homosexual Māori might  not be able to rely on their family or community for support. They also might  not be able to rely on the queer community as they are Māori

Is the definition of  takatapui displayed on the williams dictionary accurate or is it tainted by  his Christian views?

Modern use of  takatapui is close to the English word “queer”

“According to Aspin,  men who identify as takatāpui tend to maintain strong relationships with  their whānau, and this  means they are  more immune to ostracism than those who are less connected» 23

Some who exclude  takatapui from their community cites tikanga as the reason

Author describes  four camps of opinions:

Intolerance: pre-colonisation  Māori were exclusively heterosexual

Celebration:  pre-colonisation Māori celebrated sexual diversity

Tolerance: heterosexuality  was the norm but homosexuality was tolerated

Acceptance: Sexuality  is not an issue

“When leaders in  groups such as the Waipareira Urban Authority or the Anglican Māori Tikanga  are some of the most outspoken advocates of intolerance, and other Māori  leaders refuse to argue against them, it is understandable that some of us  are unsure of our place in Māori culture. Likewise, queer culture is often as  ignorant of colonisation as mainstream culture, and just as inclined to  racism and exoticisation of non-white ethnicities.44 Many do not find this a  safe community in which to be Māori.” 29

https://stream.massey.ac.nz/pluginfile.php/3264433/mod_label/intro/Takataapui%20-%20McBreen%20-%201.pdf

Art

Queens of Panguru  – Māori Television (2017)

Reconnecting with  land, whanau and community

Episode 3

Maihi Makiha –  “before our sexuality, we are Māori, and we come from Panguru, and that’s it“

“what we do in our  beds, and what labels we stick on ourselves, that’s because of Pākehā”

“before we are takatapui,  we are descendants from here, we are Ngāti Manawa”

Episode 5

Talk with uncle ben  and chaz

Welcomes to land

Mihi

People coming back  to their whanau before they are dead -ben

“its an honour to be  here today amongst our family, regardless of gender we are still family” -ben

“it’s a little hard  because our upbringing was a man’s world” - chaz

“we are a little bit  biased towards what you stand for and, you know, you guys are family, and we  are not gold so who are we to judge?” -chaz

“if you three were soldiers  you would get a medal for bravery” -chaz

“actually, you guys  are the brave ones because you gus have had to make such a massive transition  spiritually and mentally” - ramone

“To me that is what  is happening to a lot of our young Māori that wants to come out, they are  scared to come out and tell us, because they’ll be disowned” -ben

Suicide rates up because  young Māori is afraid to tell whanau - ben