#transphobia georg

[evilsanlang]

we already know but it's been even clearer these past days how the majority of this userbase sees black people and lgbt people as completely different, separate groups. because why did I have to see someone compare tumblr's current transmisogyny rampage to george floyd's brutal murder and justify it with "I couldn't think of better examples, and trans women also get killed only by homophobia/transphobia instead of racism!" couldn't think of a better example as if staff didn't scorched-earth countless black bloggers who spoke up about ferguson. can't possibly fathom the violence black transfems face because apparently they can only be black or transfem. I'm so tired

[aibidil]

I've decided I want to restructure my life to be as year 2000 as possible. Not fashion; everything else. So far I have the following, please reblog and add more ideas.

Buy CDs and DVDs (preferably from the grottiest little local shop you can find, run by a 60yo man who chain smokes and has an encyclopedic knowledge of all music/film), go to Blockbuster with friends on Friday night, for the rest, Napster illegally download

Start carrying the good camera again, not relying on the phone for photos

No subscriptions for delivery of basic items (Deodorant? Toilet paper? Electrolytes?). No, you cannot have a recurring transaction on my credit card, fuck off

Don't use AIM social media when out of the house (texting is ok, reading is ok)

Doctoring photos is ok but only if you use your illegally downloaded copy of Photoshop (and your self taught Photoshop skills) to do it

Web 1.0 supremacy; fuck apps. Bring back kitschy animated word art on websites

Insist that politicians like George W. Bush are the worst and do not allow relativism to make you forget or temper that basic truth

Amazon.com is a pretty cool website you might've heard of? For finding books you can't get locally, like books by indie authors who only publish there. It isn't anything else.

Browsing local bookstores and going to bookstore release parties whenever possible

The average amount spent on cable TV in the US in 2000 is $60/mo, and if you can afford it, that's what's reasonable to spend on cable/streaming, no more (video rental/DVD purchase not included)

Going to the movies (sneak in the snacks to save $)

Desktop setup: the ultimate computer setup involves a huge fucking monitor (ok if it's huge in width now, rather than depth as it was then), a computer that doesn't move around the house with you, a full size clicky keyboard with separate number pad, and components that never need charging. Ideally this is in a shittily renovated basement or even in the middle of the house/kitchen

Magazine subscriptions are sweet. Might I suggest Wired or Teen Vogue?

Queer rights: legal/marriage equality is important, yeah, but more important is challenging heteronormativity. Fuck it all up. Have you read Michael Warner's The Trouble With Normal?

Taxis and public transit and asking friends for a ride to the airport. Fuck the gig economy

Big pants

No ChatGPT. If you need help writing something, ask a friend

Reality TV can be fun, but only if you're watching with a group and being really unhinged about it together

The News is something that happens max twice a day (newspaper in the morning, up to an hour of evening news, preferably PBS NewsHour, which is free on YouTube)

There's no such thing as a weight loss drug

Going to a friend's house to play video games together

Things I'm keeping from 2025:

GPS

Tasty non-dairy options

Medical breakthroughs

Wearing a mask when sick or when illness is prevalent

High-rise trousers

Neurodiversity as a concept, and improvement in our understanding of disability

The limited strides we've made wrt fatphobia, transphobia, ableism, racism, homophobia, etc

Indoor smoking bans

[cas-writes-stuff-ig]

Cheering Her Up

f!/nb! reader x regina george (you love to make Regina feel better)

She calls you "duck" (ITS FUNNY/CUTE I PROMISE)

closeted bi Regina, and openly enby/lesbian reader

reader binds their chest with transtape/kt tape

secret relationship

cheering her up

Regina is taller than you

CONTENT: SO SO SO SORRY I KNOW IM WEIRD

Word Count: 1853

(Originally supposed to be a one shot)

kind of alludes to sex but not explicitly

Regina lets you write your own diss in her Burn Book, so Gretchen and Karen don't get suspicious as to why you're not in it. (a bit of transphobia and homophobia, t-slur/d-slur)

Past bullying and some self-deprication

Reader is a weirdo but Regina likes it

Reader likes classic rock and old hits, Regina pretends to despise it

She lashes out at you but its all good in the end :)

Reader likes to sing

Part 2 of Cheering Her Up (A Party)

a/n: this is a huge self-insert for me, I was really vibing to Bob Seger earlier (btw this is the second thing ive written in like 5 years spare me)

ALSO feel free to message or comment any feedback is appreciated 🙏

——————————————————————————————

Before the sophomore year, you were sure Regina totally despised you. She openly criticized any gay person she came across. Sophomore year, you were seated next to her in math and history, and you felt like you were going to be destroyed.

But when you came over to her house for a project, she asked "You have your first kiss yet?"

It caught you off guard. "Uh, no. Why?" your voice squeaked, although you knew she was a bitch. You were attracted to her.

She got close to your face and smirked, you could feel her breath on yours. "No reason," She grabbed the back of your head and kissed you. You didn't kiss back out of shock and Regina pulled away and went red, she opened her mouth to say something to excuse her actions, but you leaned in and kissed her again. That moment opened a whole new door for both of you.

After that, you and Regina got really close. Outside of the school halls, and in the comfort of Regina's mansion, you were secretly her best friend but also her friend with benefits. She isn't out yet either, she still has too much pride to be seen with a loser, but you don't mind waiting for her.

She was slightly nicer to you than others at school. She was actually pretty kind to you behind closed doors. She cared about you even if she never said it out loud. So about a month after you started hooking up, you were at her house and she handed you her Burn Book which was open to a blank page with only your picture on it. "I don't want Karen and Gretchen to get suspicious as to why you're not in it."

You could deal with the insults and the taunts, it never bothered you that much, so you wrote something that used to bother you 'Y/N L/N is a tranny dyke'.

The thing that did get to you was in 8th grade when you confessed to a girl, and she told everyone in your PE class that you watched girls change in the locker room. Everyone shunned you after that, but you grew thick skin. In freshman year you found your place amongst the loners and the nerds. You were content with it.

"Are you sure you want that in there?" Regina asked, what you wrote about yourself was harsh.

You nodded "Regina, I'm out of the closet already. It's a secret everybody already knows" You closed the book and handed it back to Regina and she tucked it away. "If I walk like a duck, swim like a duck, and quack like a duck, I'm probably a duck" She laughed at your joke, and you corrected yourself smiling "I mean dyke"

"You're so stupid" Regina replied, but it wasn't mean or full of scorn, she just shoved your shoulder. She changed your name to "Duck" in her contacts.

A week later you found out what your contact name was, you laughed at her a little and she got defensive "I'll change it then" and you quickly stopped laughing and took her phone.

"No no, keep it, please Regina it's cute" You yanked her phone out of her hand and tried to keep it away from her. You laughed again and ran around her room holding her phone, but she cornered you, pushing your chest, then your back hit the wall. You were breathless from running and grinned, though her face was stern. "I'm sorry, Gina. Please keep it, it's fine really"

The look on her face made you lose your confidence and you backed down, and handed her phone back, "Thanks loser" She tucked it back in her pocket, and she had a smug smile. "You're lucky I'm in a forgiving mood today" and tilted your chin up and kissed your lips.

After that day, it became one of your inside jokes, and "Duck" became one of your nicknames.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

That summer she invited you over to swim at her pool for the first time. "Hey loser, hurry up" she opened the door and led you to her pool.

You brought your only swim trunks and taped your breasts back to go swimming. She was in a tight bikini and she slipped in the pool, you took your shirt off, and she was staring at your body.

You weren't sporty, but you went to the gym, it's not like you had rock-hard abs, but you were toned and Regina hadn't seen you like that in the sunlight before, you beamed as you basked in the warm sun.

"Hey Duck, get in here" she beckoned you, you seized an opportunity to make a joke.

You bent your knees and flapped your arms a little walking back and forth at the edge of the pool "Quack quack" You giggled out. Regina cracked out a smile that evolved into laughter, her laugh warmed you more than the sunlight.

When you slipped into the pool, she was still laughing at you. "You're such a dumbass"

She splashed water at you when you tried to come and hug her in the pool. "Hey!" you yelped as the water got in your face and you splashed back.

After you just relaxed in the pool, you floated on your back, eyes closed, and sun-kissed skin. You didn't notice how Regina looked at you, but you heard water swish as she walked toward your floating body. You cracked an eye open, the sun was behind her making her look ethereal. Regina's blonde hair glowed, she looked like an angel, not the bitchy Queen Bee at school.

"Hey," you tried opening your eyes but just squinted.

She leaned down and said "Hey" back in her sweet voice and kissed you gently.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The summer pushed you closer together, of course, she had her fair share of parties she went to with the Plastics. You were there at parties too, but you both only shot each other glances. The days she hung out with the Plastics, you missed her company.

You got your license over the summer and when you got the message that she was back home, you hopped in your Mini Cooper and drove to her house and picked her up. Though she usually drove you around in her Jeep.

"Where we heading today?" you asked as she hopped in the car

She ignored your question and her attention was on your music "Earth, Wind & Fire's 'September'? Really?" she criticized your music taste.

She buckled in and you said, "What's wrong with my music taste Regina?"

"God you really are a loser" she insulted, you could tell she was in a mood today. You were a little hurt but tried not to take it personally. "7-11 can you grab me a Diet Coke?" you nodded and started driving.

You skipped to the next song and what played was Bee Gee's "More Than A Woman" You smiled and sang along to it. Hoping Regina would get the hint you were singing it to her.

"Suddenly you're in my life, A part of everything I do. You got me workin' day and night. Just tryin' to keep a hold on you..." Your fingers tapped against the steering wheel and you moved your shoulders to the beat of the song.

She just groaned and pressed her temples, you thought she really hated it but from the corner of your eye, you saw a corner of her lip lift slightly. After seeing that you sang your heart out a little more at a red light you turned to her momentarily "More than a woman. More than a woman to me" and grinned wide.

"Hey! Keep your eyes on the road!" she pushed your head to look back at the road.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

At school when Junior year started, Regina and you acted like you two were nothing, you both devised a facade as to why you interacted at all. It was a half-truth, everyone at school thought Regina paid y/n to do their math homework. But you only did that sometimes, and usually just helped her.

Today when you met at her house she was upset about something. "Regina, what's wrong?" you asked worriedly.

"Nothing, stay out of it" she snapped at you and she stomped up the stairs to her room.

You followed her "Regina come on," she turned on her heel and looked at you angrily and lashed out.

"Why are you even here? You're not dating me, stop acting like it" She yelled at you.

You paused and your heart faltered "Regina..." you said quietly. She turned back around and she slammed her bedroom door. Regina crawled in the sheets and just went to sleep. You didn't follow her in. But you walked downstairs to her kitchen and opened her fridge.

When Regina woke up she smelled some kind of pastry downstairs and light music. She opened her door and crept down the stairs, as she approached the kitchen, she heard your humming.

The next song started to play, your back was turned and you were using her mom's apron and mittens, pulling out a batch of brownies from the oven. When you sang alone, you were cheesier and poured your heart into each song, then you placed the brownies onto a cooling rack on the island counter and pretended to hold a mic.

"Still like that old-time rock and roll. That kind of music just soothes the soul" You closed your eyes and turned around still pretending to hold a microphone "I reminisce about the days of old, with that old-time rock and roll" Regina just smiled stifling laughter.

But when you started playing air guitar, at the part with no lyrics. You heard her giggle and your eyes shot open, face reddening "Regina! You're up!" she just laughed at your incredible dorkiness and walked up to you, this was the highlight of her day.

You brushed off your embarrassment from getting caught when you saw how happy it made her. And you walked closer to her and continued to mouth the song and dance around her. Still wearing her mom's frilly apron. You took her hand and spun her around and she still laughed at your silliness.

You stopped and walked back to the counter where she followed, "Brownies?" you smiled.

"Yeah, sure" She sat down at the table and you cut two pieces out.

When you handed her a plate, she looked up at you and spoke softly "Sorry about earlier..."

You smiled softly and took her hand as you sat next to her "Its okay, don't worry about it" You let go of her hand and then asked, "You feeling better now?"

"Yeah, thanks duck" She leaned towards you and kissed your lips. "You're so fucking corny" Regina pulled away.

You smirked "You secretly love it"

"I do" She responded, you almost choked on your own spit at her admission. She reveled in your panic and took a bite of the brownie you made her.

Only you could make her smile like this, and laugh like this, you knew that, and you had your silent victory.

Part 2 of Cheering Her Up (A Party)

[f1amour]

— 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚 𝐨𝐧𝐞🏎️ 🏁

・❥・about me ! cherry 🍒, she/her, libra, 20’s, mexican, lover of music, poetry, and formula one

𖤓 requests are open: please send requests i have no idea where to start 𖤓

this blog is 18+ only ; minors do not interact.

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— 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 !

formula one. charles leclerc, carlos sainz jr., lewis hamilton, george russell, lando norris, oscar piastri, max verstappen, daniel ricciardo, mick shumacher, alex albon, logan sargeant, pierre gasly, sebastian vettel, fernando alonso

— 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 !

angst, fluff, smut, social media au’s, text au’s, poly relationships + threesome, cheating, age gaps, and some tropes for example: enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, strangers to lovers, fake dating, childhood best friends, grumpy x sunshine, brothers best friend, best friends brother, etc. if there’s a trope not listed but you want to know if i’ll write it just send an ask!

— 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 !

any dark themes, incest, sexual or physical abuse, self harm, dubcon/noncon

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my blog is a safe space for everyone. racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, kink shaming, or any other forms of hate and discrimination will not be tolerated here + do not send me asks regarding your dislike for certain racers any asks/messages with any hate will be deleted and blocked.

[omgthatdress]

omfg. I was going out a limb trying to defend Emilia Pérez and Karla Sofía Gascón sawed it off. Turns out she's a huge racist.

Like okay, here's the thing about Emilia Pérez as a movie: you have to accept that it's gonna be weird and kind of ridiculous. I mean it's a fucking drug cartel trans woman musical. It's a very bold artistic choice and it's the kind of bizarre shit that I will always love. Once you make peace with that, it all kind of works as a movie. I actually rather enjoyed it.

I thought a lot of the transphobia claims were over-blown but I've shied away from saying a lot about it because most of the people saying that are trans and I don't wanna cis-plain movies to them. But also like I think people are waiting for the perfect trans representation movie, which somehow perfectly captures their experience as a trans person and is still universal to every other trans person on earth, and that is never gonna happen. Sometimes a movie is just a movie. It's a sympathetic portrayal of a trans woman as a human being, and Karla Sofía Gascón may be a shitty person but I thought her acting was lovely.

As far as the "Vaginaplasty" scene, you read the part about how it's supposed to be camp and maybe a little ridiculous, right?

And as for its portrayal of Mexico..... yeah it's pretty bad. I think it seeks to humanize a bunch of stereotypes and deal with a lot of heavy duty social issues but in the end says very little about them, and that's the movie's biggest shortcoming.

But Zoe Saldaña was fucking amazing and I really want to see her win an Oscar for it. FOR REAL.

Anyway I hope The Substance wins fucking everything this year.

[afacetomeetthefaces]

@netflix more media outlets are baffled by your cancellation of this incredible piece of queer art:

Netflix’s recent cancellation of Dead Boy Detectives is about more than a TV show – it’s about the fight for queer art and representation. In a world of attacks on queer rights and queer folk, including rising transphobia, Dead Boy Detectives is a desperately needed piece of queer art. Created by Steve Yockey and based on DC Comics characters, the show follows ghost detectives Charles (Jayden Revri) and Edwin (George Rexstrew), psychic medium Crystal (Kassius Nelson), and friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura) as they solve supernatural mysteries and confront their demons, literal and figurative. The show centres and celebrates queerness and tackles serious issues regarding violence, justice and accountability. It’s also an exemplar of diverse media representation and inclusion, with three of the four main characters people of colour. It captured a loyal fanbase, excellent critical reception and reviews (including a 92% approval rating and 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes), and good streaming metrics, staying in the top 10 shows on Netflix for three weeks. It was even submitted by Warner Bros. (one of the show’s production companies) for Emmy nominations in several categories. Still, Netflix recently cancelled the show after one season – to date with no official explanation for the decision – leaving fans, cast and crew shocked and devastated.

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

Hey ! I saw you requests are open

I wan wondering if you would write something of the line like Regina had a transphobic family etc. this is why she was mean ?

And r and Regina are like in college or something and the others saw r and Regina somewhere and were shocked to find out they were together ?

Second Chances

|| Regina George x nonbinary!reader

|| Warnings: transphobia mentions, reader & Regina are in college, y!drink means your drink, shorter than my usual stories

|| Summary: College AU. Regina asks reader out to a cafe date. Regina apologies to reader. They run into Gretchen and Karen after leaving the cafe.

Requests open!

~~~

To say you were surprised when Regina George asked you out on a date... would be an understatement. You were beyond shocked. You knew her reputation in highschool as you had both attended NorthShore High together, you fell into the "art freaks" clique. Being best friends with Janis and Damien because they were the only ones that didn't judge you for being nonbinary. During the burn book situation there were some not so ally-ship comments in there about you. So yeah... when Regina asked you out it definitely came as a shock. You quickly realized she was serious, though. Which leads you to where you are now.

Sitting across from Regina at a small cafe table. In an awkward silence. You sip y!drink and glance out the window, which makes Regina sigh. Knowing what she should say.

"...I'm sorry." Regina says with slight hesitation. Taking you by surprise yet again. Getting hit by the bus really did change Regina George.

"Repeat that?" You can't help but smirk at her, needing to hear her say it again. She narrows her eyes at you.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not going to say it's okay, because the way you and your friends treated me was far from that." You tell her, she nods slowly and lets you continue talking." I will say that I'm willing to give you a second chance. If being with me is actually something you want and not some other sick twisted joke."

She grimaces hearing that. Though she couldn't fault you for thinking that way, she probably would too if she was in your place. "This isn't a joke, I promise."

You lean back in your seat and take another sip, keeping you eyes on Regina. Trying to find any hint of sarcasm.

From there, the rest of your date flows rather smoothly. Regina even gets you to laugh at one point after telling some joke. Your laugh makes the blonde blush and her shoulders relax. When you're both done your drinks, the two of you walk out of the cafe. Hand in hand as you head for Regina's jeep.

"Regina? Oh my God, Regina!" You hear a familiar voice call, Regina turns out and sees Gretchen and Karen running over to you guys. She glances at you and you give her a slight nod, letting her know it's okay. You didn't mind if they were there, so long as they weren't... well, what they used to be like." You should have told us you were in the area! We could've hung out!"

"I'm actually spending the day with Y/N." Regina replies, a slight blush on her cheeks. You give her hand a gentle squeeze and smile.

"Y/N?" Gretchen looks confused when she seems to notice you standing just slightly behind Regina. You give her an awkward wave.

"Hey, Gretchen."

"I'm so lost." Karen pipes up, staring at the two of you. Gretchen nods in agreement.

"I asked Y/N on a date." Regina explains, their eyes widen and they look between the two of you. A blush deepens on Regina's cheeks. You wondered what she was thinking.

Gretchen continues to look stunned, like the surprise pikachu face. "Really..? Um, how'd it go?"

"It was fun." Regina gives you a small smile and you nod your head, not really wanting to interrupt them.

"I thought we didn't like Y/N? Did I miss something?" Karen says, you tensed slightly and Gretchen nudged her arm," What? What'd I say?"

The blonde sighs. "I know we were a little... transphobic. I'm hoping to make it up to them."

"Uh huh... well, stay in touch! I want like all the updates! Oh! And make a groupchat with us and Y/N!" Gretchen says as she smiles, pulling you into a sudden hug. The suddenness making you let go of Regina's hand as your eyes widen. Gretchen even picked you up off the ground slightly with the strength of her hug. You give her back an awkward pat.

"What is happening..." You ask yourself in a mutter, Regina stifles a laugh.

"I'll make sure to do that once we get to my dorm. I'll see you guys around.'' Regina says, Gretchen lets go and waves goodbye as her and Karen go back to walking wherever they'd been headed before.

You and Regina get into her jeep and head to Regina's dorm.

[liongoatsnake]

Alterhuman Review: No I Am a Wolf

Author: A.M. Lang

Illustrator: Patricia Dishmon-Caraballo

Publication Date: January 2022

Official Book summary:

George can’t be bothered with mundane human tasks; he is a wolf. Wolves and kids have many differences but they also have some things in common. Embrace your child’s wild side with this cute story plus animal facts.

So, we've been aware of this children's book for about half a year now. Upon first seeing it, we feared this might be a Johnny The Walrus by Matt Walsh situation. (That is, a thinly-veiled transphobic dig at the existence of transgender people, that accidentally also hits the alterhuman community due to its content, wrapped in the guise of a children's picture book.) But after gathering up courage hope, we finally bought a copy not to long ago. This book is NOT anything like Johnny The Walrus by Matt Walsh. No transphobia here and this book is also accidentally very alterhuman affirming as well.

The book consists of 21 illustrations with text. With each turn of the page the reader sees the left page showing George (the book's character) as a boy having to do ordinary human boy things (brush teeth, put on clothing, bathing, etc.) with text telling George to do said task, while the right page shows a wolf in George's place along with an affirmation "No, I am a Wolf" (usually, several scenes are instead in the positive, "Yes, I am a Wolf") along with additional text saying what a wolf would or would not do. The book ends with George being told: “Good night, my little wolf.”

While the author likely meant to create a cute children’s book showing a child imagining himself as an animal in the way that is common and normal among children, the book also happens to be very alterhuman. As someone who lives with a full phantom body, the illustration of a wolf stuck in situations doing everyday human things, like brushing your teeth, certainly felt very “yeah it be like that.” So, in summary, cute children’s book that is accidentally very alterhuman and is not transphobic at all! Yay!

[ayeforscotland]

George Galloway is 100% a dodgy political worm, but unfortunately was the best anti-genocide voice Rochdale had to vote for after Labour smeared its candidate and other members for antisemitism. A conspiracy theory against 1 government ≠ hatred for an entire religion

While his stance on the Iraq war and Palestine is admirable, I still think he’s a slimy political opportunist.

His campaign material differed depending on whether it was sent to a Muslim household or not. While Muslim voters received a letter, focused entirely on Palestine, other voters received a British nationalist, family values, transphobia, and anti-Muslim dogwhistle filled letter.

[chaifootsteps]

(Transphobia by Viv)

“Well you feminists think men are teh most privileged group why would you wanna be one 😒”

She’s such a sorority girl she wants to be Regina George so bad but Regina would punch her. How does a woman end up like this, There are cis men who understand and support what feminism is too Viv, any answer for that? I shudder to imagine how an anti feminist woman like this who won’t even admit men are privileged by patriarchy, would write a story inspired by Beatrice in Stella, a woman she has already given up on who had millions of stolitz fangirls who want her dead. Who she encourages. She’ll probably give Stella lobotomy and maybe Via one to match. As Andrealphus calls them both stupid cows and Via enjoys her 8 year old selves interests again, everyone wins!

I checked the writer team (notice how it says team, not the three stooges in KFC) and the lead writers are mostly male. How is it that some men in this world comprehend that male privilege and sexism exists when Viv doesn’t and is “red pilled”? Even kiwi farms said Viv is more misogynistic than most incels and some said ‘even I wouldn’t go that far’

When Kiwi Farms of all places thinks you're going too far, you've done something very wrong.

[ozzyfromthecafeteria]

highschool simulator

r slur counter: 579

at minimum 16 racist insults made in the hallway during passing period

overhear ableist remark directed to someone else

consider pulling the fire alarm

overhear ableist remark directed to me

transphobias georg

overhear several queerphobic statements from a group of people who pause and glare at me as i walk by them

consider pulling the fire alarm

get shoved either into lockers or the wall because the people in front of me walk slowly or have entirely stopped just to have a conversation and the people behind me are getting agitated

15 missing assignments

overhear another of those stupid, “they’re putting litterboxes in schools for furries and delusional r-slurs who think they’re animals!”

consider pulling the fire alarm

finally manage to make it home without tearing someone’s face off

[talenlee]

The Unutterable Smugness Of Being

A complaint I heard a lot, about ten years ago, was that Online Atheists were ‘smug.’ This was seen as a major complaint about us, which didn’t really do anything to bring our attention to the very real problems we had with misogyny and racism and transphobia and islamophobia, but it also worked as a really good kind of social brush to tar a group with because even now, you’ll hear the word used like it’s an automatically necessary descriptor: ‘smug internet atheists.’

Good news, I have no desire at all to ask you to change your mind on internet atheists, because there sure are a bunch of them who seem to be complete tools. Again, the ones I think of as tools, I would probably recommend that it’s much more important to confront them on, again, the racism and the misogyny and the transphobia and the islamophobia and then on the misogyny again because that… that sure is the actual problem, but I’m not seeking to claim unsmugness.

Just, like, what does ‘smug’ mean?

I got started on this thread when I realised if I had to see another well intentioned atheist youtuber bring up a clip of Mike Winger to provide an illustration of a Christian apologist delivering a particular family of bad point, I was going to stop watching them altogether. Not because what they did was fundamentally a bad thing, that they were somehow platforming a bastard, but because Mike Winger as a person to me, is painfully, unpleasantly smug and condescending and almost always, completely and utterly wrong.

I find Mike Winger really smug.

Smug in this context isn’t really a fact or a testable trait. I don’t think people mean smug as smug as like, the dictionary word. Smug means, in the dictionary, that someone is ‘highly self-satisfied.’ This is a complaint I hear a lot about a type of person, usually a type of person I am, usually around me, without actually realising I am a member of that community, which often results in me asking some questions making a mental note about someone to never bother talking to again and peace the heck out. Pretty consistently, I hear it used as a way to describe someone who is right but do they have to be an asshole about it? Or, someone who isn’t right enough, like Jon Stewart when he derided George W Bush for being bad at being a president, was just ‘smug’ about it.

You do know one of the people that atheists present themselves as against is the pope, right? Like, it is a not insignificant thing that there is a man whose job title is ‘the voice of god on earth,’ who is the head of a corporation and a country and who oversees what his church claims is 1.3 billion people. That organisation claims that membership and boasts of its charity work running 5,000 hospitals worldwide, which is a heck of a number, but also seems pretty titchy when you line it up alongside the claimed populace of 1.3 billion. For comparison, India, population 1.4 billion, is estimated to have around 70,000 hospitals. And I know it’s a cheap shot to bring up the way that the Catholic church compares badly to a country, but it is a little weird, right, for a thing that’s ostensibly empowered by god itself and headed up by, again, the voice of god on earth, to boast about 5,000 hospitals when a mere country, a country with comparatively few Catholic people, is able to lap that number ten times and change? Is it smug to think that India builds more hospitals than the Catholic church does? Is it smug to think that owning a golden throne is still bad even if you don’t sit on it?

At that point it’s kinda a positional thing, an aesthetic, right? It’s not what’s said, it’s the overall demeanour of the person saying it. And the thing that messes me up on this front is that like, atheists are people primarily responding to the most powerful social organisations in their societies, who in addition to their positions of actual literal privilege and prestige, are making claims about knowing the creator of the universe personally and being able to make value judgments about who you should or shouldn’t marry or why, based on that insight. Right?

You know they’re still mad about gay marriage, don’t you?

Okay okay, but like, ‘what is smug,’ it’s being highly self-satisfied. And I find Mike Winger smug. Well, yeah, and you might wonder ‘who is Mike Winger?’ He’s a Christian apologist. He has an audience for his youtube channel in which he delivers a really badly made point across ten minutes or so about his faith, usually in an attempt to ‘address’ some problem with his opposition, which, like

You gotta remember that a lot of the time it’s gay marriage.

Now this is entirely a point. This is, strategically speaking, a thing that Mike Winger is actively trying to do. Mike Winger has an affect and a disposition that comes from the overt position that he is an expert in the most important thing in the world, and that he is humble about it, and that everyone who doesn’t agree with him just chooses not to agree with him. And this is where a lot of these professional wheezes wind up falling into a problem of just being bad at their jobs, because rhetorically, they’re not making good points or making them well, because you can always see the seam when they have to ignore the actual argument and make it about something else. Winger believes that Atheists don’t really mean it, even if they think they mean it, because they don’t really mean it, because he says they don’t really mean it.

And remember: atheists are the ones he even complains about being smug.

What I would ask, is if you’re someone on the sidelines, who doesn’t know what the discourse atheism is engaged with, and if you’re not familiar with the parties involved, is to interrogate what the smugness is that you dislike. Delivery? Aesthetics? And if that’s the case, sure, don’t engage with it, seems like a great reason to not bother. But it’s really important to remember that one side of this argument has golden thrones and laws made for their benefit and billionaire lobbyists and asserts it knows the future and is willing to support genocides to make that future happen and that they’re good people for it and that maybe that’s kinda highly self-satisfied too.

Oh and stop responding to Mike Winger, the man is at best an insincere liar and deserves to be spat on in the street.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[wild-forest-bee]

idk how to navigate this discourse bc i can tell people on both sides are on the defensive, and there are so many strawman arguments that im tempted to go "nobody is saying trans men/women arent oppresed, only that....." but i cant bc theres always some Transphobia Georg fighting for first place at the oppression olympics and shitting on others. of course i can only talk from the trans masc perspective, but sharing ones perspective doesnt mean im erasing someone else's.

trans women are under fire and i thought that was obvious enough not to question

i also never thought id see the day trans women told me they have to approve of the term used by transmascs to talk bout something specific to us

[wingsoverlagos]

Lewisohn vs. Shepherd

I'm still at work on the whole Kim Bennett thing, but here's a quick Lewisohn vs. post to spice things up. Actually, the book from which I was cross-referencing was due at the library, so I started work on this, quickly realized the source was also readily availble online, but decided to finish it anyway.

The source at hand is Jean Shepherd’s October 28th, 1964 interview with the Beatles, published in the February 1965 issue of Playboy. You can find a transcribed version here or a scanned copy here. It’s a great, quick read - seven pages sparkling with Beatles wit and a concerted effort by George to convince the interviewer he's in love with Ringo. Small tw for transphobia in the form of a tired pronoun joke at the expense of April Ashley.

Tune In pulls three quotes from Shepherd's interview. Two of them are below the cut - their are minor changes (one exceedingly minor) to those quotes, but the first quote I'll address is taken wildly out of context. It's not the most offensive distortion of history that Lewisohn has put forward, but its maddeningly blatant - and pointless.

Tune In 26-20 vs. Shepherd 1965, p.54

The quote of interest is highlighted in green, but I included the preceding paragraph because the context matters greatly here. The Beatles & Brian were down in the dumps, having struck out with every record company with any semblance of artistic merit. Lewisohn highlights that John and Paul in particular were down in the dumps, but that “their young friend George stayed optimistic. He rallied them, he showed them that while they might be thinking the worst, he was remaining hopeful.” His evidence for this is the quote highlighted in green, in which John says Brian and George knew they would make it big.

Well. Let’s check the source.

If you look at the quote, once again in green, it’s almost correct—Lewisohn drops “our manager”, but it’s close by Tune In’s standards. Take a look at what’s around the quote, and you’ll see it’s taken wildly out of context. John isn’t talking about George’s confidence in the Beatles ability to score a record contract in 1962; he is unambiguously referring to George’s confidence that the Beatles will succeed in America in 1964. And that confidence didn’t stem from “the Beatles’ mantra” that “Something’ll turn up”—George thought they’d be successful in the states because he was aware of their U.S. record sales.

The thing that gets me here is that it’s so unnecessary. As a historian writing for a general audience, the Beatles must be a dream: you have a core group of four complex, interesting, musically gifted people whose personal and artistic growth played out in the public eye, exhaustively documented. They were surrounded by a supporting cast of vibrant characters to root for or revile, who all played a role in a story brimming with friendship, romance, rivalry, wit, and tragedy. There's no reason to rewrite history for the Beatles - their story can be both factually correct and narratively compelling, yet Lewisohn joins a storied list of authors who have felt the need to gild the lily.

What does this add to the Beatles story? How does it benefit the narrative to portray George Harrison as a plucky kid from an afterschool special, cheering on his elders with unflagging optimism when things look bleak? It’s trite, and it’s fake. It's not the Beatles.

This isn’t the most earth-shattering act of historical revisionism Lewisohn has committed to print, but its brazenness is galling. In the introduction to Tune In, Lewisohn states, “I’ve wanted a history of deep-level inquiry where the information is tested accurate, and free of airbrushing, embellishment and guesswork, written with an open mind and even hands, one that unfolds lives and events in context and without hindsight, the way they occurred…” And yet we get this. He knowingly took this quote two years and a whole Atlantic Ocean out of context, and he had the audacity to tout his book as “tested accurate, and free of airbrushing, embellishment and guesswork.”

He's pissing on our feet and telling us it's raining, folks.

Tune In 29-4 vs. Shepherd 1965, p.56

An impressive number of little deletions and changes for such a small quote.

Tune In 33-1 vs. Shepherd 1965, p.54

This one almost isn’t worth mentioning. The only change is the emphasis removed from Ringo’s “them” in the original quote.

Sources:

Lewisohn M. 2013. The Beatles: All These Years Vol. 1: Tune In. New York (NY): Crown Archetype. [ebook]

Shepherd J. 1965 Feb. Playboy Interview: The Beatles. Playboy 12:51-60. Accessed online 2024 Mar. Available from: https://imgur.com/a/HY2Ji

[annabelle--cane]

would you be willing to give us a little introduction/guide to getting into joe iconis' musicals(/concept albums? frankly i'm deeply unfamiliar with everything other than bmc)?

I'm not as familiar with the rest of his work as some other people on here, but the things I am most familiar with and really like:

love in hate nation: a musical about a decaying girls' reform school in the 1960s. I really really love this show, it speaks a lot to many of the experiences I had as a queer teen girl and I think the music Bangs, but as a heads up it's one of those media properties where it's like "content warning: everything." major themes of suicide/self harm, incarceration, antiblack racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and medical/psychiatric abuse, with less strong but still present incidences of sexual abuse/csa specifically.

two player game: cabaret anthology album with george salazar, personal highlights include "lisa," "the answer, and "song of the brown buffalo."

album: massive 44-song long cabaret anthology with a frankly ludicrous number of broadway big names. it's hard to pick out highlights from a track list this big, but to name a few: "ammonia," "lydia's song," "jeff," "the actress," "helen sharp," "[run away from you]," "joey is a punk rocker," "social worker," "velociraptor," "flesh and bone," "party hat," "amphibian," and "last on land."

[horizon-verizon]

"...we just hate the way Emma talk about this character feels like a mockery" Isn’t that just most of the cast, though? Most of them don’t bother to read the source material. Then they show up to interviews without a real understanding of their character arcs or endings and just throw out headcanons. Annoying? Yes. But it happens. It was annoying when Tom said Aegon was an empath (and his fans went wild, claiming he’s the only one who "gets him"). Emma, for the most part, provides a fairly neutral take on Rhaenyra. Sure, they’ve had moments where they veer into headcanon territory, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen. Then again, who wouldn’t start slipping after being asked the same question a thousand times: “What do you think your character felt when…?” 🙄 Out of the whole cast, Matthew Needham is one of the few who actually seems to understand his character. He doesn’t mock the role, try to justify actions, or force “good” qualities over the bad ones; he just presents his character as it is.

Anon talks about this post.

I haven't watched any interviews after the puppy one, that one with the black backdrop where Fabien and Matt were uncontrollably laughing, and one group one where Matt said he'd protect Emma in a different time period. And I haven't gone back for S1 interviews, so I wouldn't know about Emma's patterns there too well. But I have had the impression from clips on TikTok that it is as you describe, to the point that some people thought that they were a little wishy-washy to please the actor of Alicent (forgot her name) bc they were in their begiining of their friendship and we were all still in the midst of the show's pushing antiDaemonism/pro-Alicentism for Rhaenyra's popularity, which...never made any sense.

Important to note some things that other anon said:

A)

[...] we just hate the way Emma talk about this character feels like a mockery If Emma hates girlie stuff and thinking wore a skirt is their highest achivement? Its fine. But their fans had use the book to justifying that they are right while this character were nothing like in the book, it's better for them to throw fire and blood and embraced that their character love their stepmother.

B)

there's a lot of queer/minority actors in hollywood did all of them act like Emma? Emma didnt look like how George describe the character and didnt acting and behave like her, this one is older than her stepmom, the question is is this really the character? It is so understandable that Ryan and Miguel chose Emma through audition in Zoom meeting at the pandemic and it shows.

I forgot about the [bold] line above in the first quote or my eyes skipped it, but this presents as approaching transphobia/enbyphobia bc I'm not sure how Emma's supposed hatred feminine socially-coded feminine clothing impacted how the costumers created the clothes or how the writers decided to write a lot of show!Rhaenyra's subpar approaches to the war preparations. And Emma not looking like how GRRM describes Rhaenyra should really only refer to her (Rhaenyra's) clothing, bc acting is a priority over looks when considering fancasting. The person can be the "perfect" mirror of the official small-mouthed, plump Rhaenyra but if they can't act or portray Rhaenyra's character it's been a complete waste, esp when it's the MC. Makes the whole thing far less enjoyable or plain intolerable. And in general, fancasting/casting is not going to be perfect in terms of looks fitting those either detailed to T in the original text OR imagined so by one set of the audience from some deatils of the text anyway. It's not ever going to fit everyone's perfect idea of what the character looks like OR, again, fit the exact truely detailed accout from the text itself. No one looks like a "canon" Targ except maybe an albino, and even then we know Targs typically had "gold" (yellow/blonde) AND "silver" (white, NOT gray!) hair tendrils or has purple eyes (not dark blue that could pass as such, true purple).

So again, what we should consider is how the actor acts, what is written for them to base such acting on, and finally how the costumers/producers decided how this character dresses.

So there appears to be just some more possible transphobia here.