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amorhedera6 · 5 months

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i have so many thoughts about paulkins kids. there are many options, and lucky for us, we know that paulkins exist in every universe.

in one, when paul and emma aren’t yet dating but are “intimate” emma misses her period. she goes to a doctor and gets confirmation. she panics because she and paul aren’t serious yet, but she realizes how happy the idea of having a family with him makes her. they have a daughter, addison jane perkins-matthews, that everyone calls a.j. she has emma’s hair and paul’s blue eyes, and she loves to swim.

in another universe, they don’t have a kid until they’ve been married for a few years. it took them a while to get there, with emma wanting to take things slowly and paul waiting for her no matter what, but he takes her name and they become the perkins’. when they have their son, they name him matthew after paul’s family. he’s got paul’s lighter brown hair and his blue eyes, but he still manages to look more like emma. he was made for the kitchen, and loves loves loves cooking and baking.

there’s another universe where emma and paul have twins girls, elizabeth and olivia. the two could not be more polar opposites, with lizzie being less feminine, loving soccer and sports, and livvy being so extremely femining, wanting to be a fashion designer, but they are always there for each other. the two love each other and always manage to support each other’s passions.

in another universe, they have a family of five, brianna, christopher, and freddie. bri is an artist, always painting and drawing. christopher loves to dance, and to paul’s horror joins theatre in high school. paul learns to love performances when it’s his son, seeing the joy and determination in his face. freddie loves to read, will devour a book so quickly it’s actually a little frightening. paul and emma watch their kids fight across the dining table and smile fondly.

sometimes, they don’t have kids at all. emma’s commitment issues making her hesitate, or her issues with her own parents (which i am headcannoning). maybe paul, who only ever says “kids, someday, maybe” decides he only ever felt pressured into wanting kids. sometimes only one doesn’t want kids, sometimes both, but either way they always respect it.

sometimes they take too long. paul pines for years, emma doesn’t want to label it, and by the time they’re ready, they’re told emma can’t have kids.

there’s a universe where they keep a foster home, their house a revolving door for kids who need a place to stay. they look out for each and every one of them, giving them a place to feel safe and good people to look up to.

there’s a universe where they adopt a pair of siblings who lost their parents too young, the older maddison always having to look out for her little brother michael. maddie never had time to have a hobby, or a passion, but in their safe space she can admit to herself that she wants to be a filmmaker. mike adores his older sister, and loves to play the guitar.

in one universe, they adopt a toddler who was mistreated by his guardians. harry took a while to warm up to them because of this, but they helped him adjust and recuperate and grow from it all. he grew up to be a botanist, loving learning about biology from his figurative grandpa hidgens.

basically, i just want and need happy ending paulkins who have a happy domestic little life and shit.

#starkid #hatchetfield #paulkins #paul matthews #emma perkins #the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm #black friday #bf #nightmare time #nerdy prudes must die #npmd #forever and always #professor hidgens #henry hidgens #im not apologizing #i needed to get this out or it was gonna keep rattling around in my brain forever #but just know that aj and matt are my favorites #The Rambles

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thestobingirlie · 9 months

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interesting thoughts about steve re: the triangle and being the boy that helps nancy relax. i agree completely.

for me, as someone who was very much into stoncy and now leans more stancy (they are so cute holy shit), i have always been fascinated with the similarities and differences between steve and jonathan.

it is so clear to me, that jonathan could never truly take care of her in the way she needs, not on his own. not as a husband (in the future). nancy is very much the caretaker in that relationship, and natalia said so herself. i do love jonathan, and he is a strong caretaker for will and joyce obviously, but when it comes to nancy—he is unfortunately a burden to her in a way that steve will never ever be *or* even let himself be. jonathan has so much emotional baggage. its heartbreaking of course but its baggage that he makes no effort to tame or heal (besides smoking i guess), and i would argue he is absolutely selfish for fostering a committed relationship with nancy and expecting her to deal with that on top of her own issues. (i do get though that teenagers are selfish naturally.) but he knows he isn’t ready to support a girlfriend, he knows that. he also has to know how much heartbreak the inevitable end of his relationship will cost her, especially since she began her relationship with him in what was arguably the most depressed point in her life in the second season. jonathan, god bless him, is self-pitying but not proactive (see: following around your girlfriend with your tail between your legs like a wet sad dog wordlessly begging its owner for food) (but hes my wet sad dog). he is her perpetually passive accomplice and while that may be appealing to nancy when she’s in tunnel vision mode, even she is shown to be resentful of his inability to step up for her. he is malewife in the absolute worse way (i promise i love you jonathan).

then let’s think about nancy’s other dumbass malewife. steve is absolutely her caretaker, and let’s be real that is what she needs, whether or not she knows it (she does deep down). i dont mean that in a “nancy can’t take care of herself” way but in a “he wants her to have fun” way! he’s got to have a ton of shit haunting his dreams at night but like ken in barbie (lmao), does not let her see his pain. he is so selfless, always making sure he can be a light presence for her, a calm easy presence. jonathan doesn’t do that. jonathan doesn’t know how to take control of a “nancy wheeler is so deep into this truth journey she might get herself killed” situation—i see the (bad) “feminist” take often that steve holds her back and jonathan supports her but that is such watered down feminism. nancy is a badass but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t put herself into danger (she does.) and jonathan isn’t a feminist hero for supporting her dangerous endeavors (though ofc most of her endeavors save everyone’s ass).

any way: essay complete. i just really am falling deeper and deeper in love with stancy because i realize that nancy, as my favorite character, needs taking care of! like noooo one takes good care of her! let her bejeweled (taylor swift ref lmfao)!

i think what it comes down to for me, is that jonathan’s priority will always be will, and nancy deserves someone who will prioritise her.

jonathan’s gone through a lot of abuse, he’s been majorly parentified. he doesn’t put his own happiness first, and i think as a result, he doesn’t put nancy’s first. he thinks they’ll both be miserable and hate each other and their kids in the future, but he’s still with her. because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”. and i really, really don’t see him working through that anytime soon. especially not if he’s still in a relationship with nancy.

but steve. he makes her laugh! even in terrible times. we see this calming and happy effect that he has on her in s4. he tries. even if it wasn’t enough when nancy was deep in her grief. he was trying.

like you said, nancy deserves to be swept off her feet and romanced. for someone to want to take care of her. for someone to want a future together, instead of resent one.

i think it’s insane to say it’s anti-feminist to ever question a woman lmao. steve wants nancy to be safe, that means he doesn’t always like her plans. her plans often put herself and others in danger because she gets all in her head. i think she needs someone to stand up, and lay out what might be wrong with the plan. to go toe to toe with her.

(and the irony of people criticising steve for not immediately liking nancy’s plan in s4 when that plan did not work lmao. two people died. and neither of them was vecna.)

obviously all three of them are imperfect. they’re teenagers! they’ll fuck up and do harsh things. but what matters is that they care about each other. steve cares about nancy, so he laid out his feelings, and stepped back. jonathan cares about nancy, and he kept secrets, didn’t explain to her what he was feeling, and allowed this… resentment almost, to fester. he’s an avoider! it doesn’t mean he’s a terrible person, but it does mean he shouldn’t be in a relationship.

#steve harrington #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #stancy #anti jancy #stranger things #asks #anon

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secretariatess · 3 months

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"Feminism failed me because now I have to work a nine to five job and I'd rather be a stay at home wife."

Or maybe we've fostered toxic work cultures that have created a "grass is greener on the other side" situation, or maybe we push our children so fast and hard into a career path without slowing it down to ensure our kids know of all their options instead of diving headfirst into a path they might not care about and thus leading to resentment of their work, or maybe we're getting lazier and lazier generations who feel like they shouldn't have to put in a standard amount of work and being a stay at home wife sounds like a dodge of responsibility, an easier route . . . .

. . . and on top of that, maybe we've romanticized the 1950s and the "traditional household" that we've decided to ignore that the culture was forced in order to get women back into domestic labor after running America while the men were at war so that men could get their jobs back, and have forgotten the commonality of domestic abuse and how ads would brazenly joke about it while victims felt like they had to keep quiet in order to maintain the image of a happy family as well as the alarming rate at which women were taking "mommy's little helpers" to help them with their lifestyles, and we've disconnected the fact that the 50s was followed by the wildness of the 60s and 70s as well as feminist movement wave which maybe indicates that the 50s was not the happy little decade in which men and women were in their "correct gender roles" and trying to replicate that era could possibly be a big mistake . . . .

Maybe the issue we have with feminism gaining women the right to work wasn't that it got us the right to work, but rather that it played into the idea that men and their traits are the standard of being human, and in order for a woman to be successful she has to display those traits instead of taking traits of women and standing on those as women's strengths and arguing for how work can be better when women and men use their feminine and masculine traits together because we're both human, and masculine traits are not better than feminine ones, and vice versa.

Maybe the problem faced by those who actually want to work stay at home lives are not hindered by feminism, but rather a failing economy caused by a government for a multitude of reasons, and not because the government created feminism to get women working to tax them too.

Maybe the problem here isn't people going against gender roles, but rather a multitude of many other factors, and it's a lot simpler to fight and blame the other gender.

I have many criticisms of feminism, particularly modern feminism. But feminism in general won women many victories over the decades, and there are a lot of things we women can do now that our female ancestors would have died to have. History might not be as sexist as we remember it, but sometimes I think we forget how unkind it was to women. Wishing feminism didn't come about or make the advances it did might be a little ignorant of the problems it saw women face and sought to correct.

Maybe it's not our "biology" to follow traditional gender roles, and we must return to that.

Maybe there's something we keep hopping over that recognizes men and women as individual humans first, with different skills, strengths, ambitions, and goals.

#I used to like listening to conservative speakers #but every time they brought up conversation about gender #it seem to revolve around men being the leading providers and women the following homemaker #and they keep pulling examples of women being unhappy with their work #and stay at home moms echoing their sentiment #I don't have an issue with stay at home moms #I have an issue when it's pushed as what women were really made for #and things like men were made to lead #no #women were made with varying strengths and talents (including strength in leadership) just as men were #which lends them to be able to pursue different things and not just homemaking #I don't think we really have anyone who has a balanced take on genders anymore because we have to have one extreme or the other #matriarchy or patriarchy #and the fighting of the two for a hierarchy creates a confused jumble of a mess #incorrectly called egalitarian #As someone who considers herself conservative in more ways than one #I'm done with the conservative take on gender roles #there's no balance #there's no consideration for other factors

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officialromaniantranslatiuni · 9 days

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happened to stumble upon a sociopath who thinks she invented ecology and neo-feminism and i need to vent a bit

coming from someone (yeah same old story) who had struggled with infertility for years and who is very set on adopting and has been since I was a teenager: someone being a horrible parent and birthing an army of children just to use them for financial benefits (children for whom others fought to keep them afloat and to be taken away by the system) doesn't have to automatically deny someone else's reproductive rights

"why pay money and struggle so much to have a biological baby when there are so many children in the system?"

BECAUSE

JUST BECAUSE

"it's selfish to go through 4 years (or more) of treatments with 0 painful results when you could have used that money to adopt a child"

that's not your fking problem!

marilu started this journey when she was 21-22 and the process of adopting a child is a nightmare here (tho I've heard that it got a bit better I the past years? Not 100% sure) and maybe her financial status would have helped, but the work/travelling thing and marital status... not much (again maybe things have changed but I do know someone who died of breast cancer before the adoption was finalised and her husband was no longer allowed to get the child)

an example: 2 girls (the eldest between 9-12 and the youngest 7-8) from my school were finally taken by a foster family from their mom because they were forced to beg and steal, they were malnourished, abused and the eldest had just been sold to a 28 year old man as a "wife" and all the efforts from the school regarding their protection and well-being were in vain (the clothes were destroyed by their mom because she needed them to look raggedy for begging, the house gifted by the mayor with furniture from the parents of classmates and everything else paid by the townhall was destroyed and turned into a brothel, etc)

anyway long story short - the woman had over 10 kids in total and she did this to ALL of them until they were old enough to say that they want to be taken away (only one baby was taken with the other siblings and I've met her before meeting the youngest siblings and mother and she's doing amazing - now she's about 16)

not once did anyone dare to disrespect or deny her reproductive rights and TRUST ME she is a vile woman and this goes far behind any trauma or upbringing

she was suggested means to stop making babies she despises and uses anyway but she denied and no one dared to force her to have her tubes tied or anything else

ALSO she has close family who are middle class and had kids in the same class as her kids (some even keep in contact with the 16 year old girl) and they didn't do anything for her or her children (technically, they have the money and everything to take in the girls but they refused because they were not their concern)

this fine apparently

but a 21 year old girl struggling with fertility issues for 4 years and deciding at 25 to give up for her own physical and mental wellbeing is a monstrosity

middle aged sabrina (the embodiment of uwu feminist uwu on threads who hates kids and doesn't want to adopt anyway) can judge and laugh at a young woman and call her one of the reasons why orphans become "delinquents" (thanks for assuming that orphans become delinquents by default)

fk this shit

you can judge marilu for being out of touch with reality or selfish or bratty or whatever

but her body and women's bodies in general are none of your business even if you are a woman yourself

#marilu dobrescu #reproductive rights

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ridiculous-disaster · 10 months

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Why did we need another season, I know it’s disappointing but please. We have like twenty heroes all at the same time. This should have been the end. Hawkmoth is dead, mayura is fine everyone is happy. All arks are basically finished. The yes Lilla would have been slightly disappointing but it would be better then dragging this further then it needed to. But no because greed I guess.

I am honestly worried that Chloe is coming back. Right now I can pretend that she was sent of to a boarding school like Zoe was and found people who care for her. What Andre did is so disgusting, he knew is was abusive and he did it anyway because “you can be terrible together”. Don’t get me wrong Chloe is a bad person and deserves punishment, but not this. Punishment is taking away her wealth, grounding her, or anything else a loving and/or sane parent does. This is not a good solution and even if Chloe becomes a better person she should not go back to Andre, this girl would do better in foster care. Saying that a child would do better in foster care is the worst statement to someone’s parenting. But Chloe is a child and foster care could allow her to see the type of family she needs.

I don’t want the terrible messages to continue on, enough damage has already been done to kids. From making stalking a sane thing to do. I am tired of the double standards, Marinette is excused by her trauma but Chloe isn’t? I am tired of this shows treatment of Adrien. He was a main character, not anymore, he wasn’t even relevant enough to be in the final fight. This isn’t “feminism” or “girl power” it’s just bad writing. And I am tired of people saying it isn’t. Feminism is about empowering women, not putting men down.

I’m tagging this as a spoiler as I don’t completely know the rules and it’s better safe then sorry.

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #miraculous #ml ladybug #marrinette dupain cheng #mlb spoilers #zoe lee #andre bourgeois #chloe bourgeois

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pro-birth · 1 year

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I’m always intrigued by the liberal feminist tactic of just…ignoring women when it suits them.

So I’m reading “The Bonobo Sisterhood” by a Harvard lawyer and professor who specializes and has worked in the activism field. Cool! The book is about how patriarchal violence relies on male-to-male partnerships that promise not to intrude on the other’s sexual coercion, so we should mimic the bonobos who have strong female alliances that fight against males that act up. Also cool! I was especially drawn in by her phrase “the patriarchy is not inevitable.” Anyone who acknowledges a widespread problem while still offering a solution (instead of being a straight up nihilist) will always catch my attention, so I figured: why not! Let’s give this book a read.

I don’t regret reading it, but it’s always frustrating to start a book that interests you that ends up showing it’s movement’s underlying bias.

Example 1 - claims that women (cis or trans) do not riot (or are socially conditioned to not riot)

But guess who DOES riot?

Radical feminists!

And trans women!

Guess what the author is?

A liberal TRA feminist!

So in her call to bring up a sister hood even if we don’t like certain women…she ignores the existence of one branch of feminism she dislikes (radfems) and overlooks the violent tendencies of another branch of “sisters” (Autogynephilics harming other women, trans women in LGBT riots, the drag queens who attacked that one shooter at their club [note: i love them, they're cool], etc).

Example 2 - She cites Castle Doctrines as proof that past laws that give men the rights to their wives and homes as their own castles and subjects to rule over have poured over into gun rights laws that give people the right to kill intruders on their property. Her only explanation of this is that one dude shot his ex through the window when a cop came to pick up her kids. Something that would never stand in court as self defense.

And yet...while calling guns phallic and a part of the patriarchal violence culture, she excludes cis women, wlw, and trans women who have regularly used guns as a form of self defense.

Because she's -- you guessed it -- a biased liberal feminist.

I may not finish this book. Because I already care about and foster a sisterhood that looks out for other women, and it has no room for people who erase women like me.

#ranting

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horizon-verizon · 1 year

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I despise the fact that they made Rhaenyra Viserys's cupbearer before she became his official heir. And that she served the other council members.

This is more than a matter of "it wasn't in the book", where Rhaenyra became Viserys' cupbearer when she was 8 and while before Aemma died and she became heir:

At eight, the princess was placed into service as a cupbearer…but for her own father, the king. At table, at tourney, and at court, King Viserys thereafter was seldom seen without his daughter by his side.

("A Question of Succession")

And of course we see both book!her and show!her sit at the council more after she's heir and Viserys marries Alicent. But we don't see Viserys really let her down easy or encourage her right her as much as he could (considering he named her heir!) when they hear of Daemon getting the egg. Second episode, where Rhaenyra speaks of using her, Rhaenys, or Laenor -- most likely Rhaenys or her -- to meet with Daemon and take back the egg. And the too-loud silence that followed

So Rhaenyra serving the council members doesn't even make any cultural/contextual sense!

To be someone's cupbearer is to serve them. It was an honorable thing to do, but looking back princesses and princes don't serve anyone except the ruler/their other parent (the royal consort) except in special circumstances. And only their king/ruling father's/Queen/ruling mother could ever put them in a position of becoming a cupbearer for anyone.

If a princess would ever be told to serve random ass men (even noble) in her ruling parent's council or elsewise, it would be some form of punishment (if told by the ruler, and even then that parent must be big mad to do that, or not like their kid very much, and canonically Viserys always adored Rhaneyra...as the quote above suggests), it is because (like Daeron) she is told to be a fostered child of another lord for an alliance (and this mostly happened to boys, not girls ), OR she is a hostage, implying a dangerous situation where the parent is being held in check.

Of course, I think that the line blurs when we're talking children being sent away for safety and them serving their hosts, but I also believe that is still a special circumstance as the context is still war/danger and making sure to maintain that bond with said host while under their roof AND if it is made clear that such services/actions would be performed, so as to not invite degradation for the royal.

So with all of that in mind...why does this girl stand around like a servant serving these people, and not just her ruling father? Why does Viserys compel her to do this and not even perform that adoration I mention above, even when he was just as concerned with having a male heir as he was in the book?

Because the writers wanted to readapt and transform this story into one where

Rhaenyra is in a more strange, lower, maybe even debased position

the father is even more dismissive of his daughter

to illustrate that element of male emotional degradation against their own female relatives. Problem is that they also set up a new sort of relationship than what was told, even in the show. Rhaenyra feels much more like an afterthought than she was, too much so. And Rhaenyra became more '90s Punk-Rocky sort of rebellious (rhaenyragendereuphoria' post), this sort of confrontation much more like the anachronistic, consumerist-twisted, appropriated mainstream product of the origins of "girl power" (Black hip hop vernacular).

So we purposefully thinned and reduced this father-daughter bond for the sake of making Rhaenyra his pseudo-lackey passed about for lower-ranked men, and for no deeper reason at all but to create a "mood" of shame or abasement.

Wonderful. Really feeling the feminism here.

#hotd writing #rhaenyra targaryen #viserys i #viserys i targaryen #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #hotd comment #hotd critical #HotD #house of the dragon #hotd characterization #characterization #asoiaf cupbearers #rhaenyra and viserys #hotd episode 1 #rhaenyra's characterization #viserys i's characterization #hotd episode 2

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cleopatrachampagne · 1 year

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About your thread on gun safety regulations: It's always so scary to see how even the smallest, tiniest little baby suggestion to improve things somewhat triggers such an aggressive response from US American gun nuts. There's millions if not billions of us on earth who've never even touched a gun and certainly don't need 300 bullets in our homes. We thankfully don't even have to think about firearms outside of the context of the US.

But every once in a while I'll see an American go "no actually if I'm not allowed to have 100 laying around my home and a garage full of ammo, I will certainly perish", as they send their kids to school on active shooter drill day.

I've got nothing but respect for people like your grandmother. I'm sure it's scary, having to deal with unhinged, antisocial maniacs who you know for sure are stockpiling guns and ammo at home. She sounds like a badass.

thank you so much for this. i sent a screenshot to my gram over text if you don’t mind that! gun violence isn’t the only thing she’s spent a lifetime fighting against — she’s followed in the footsteps of her parents (soldiers and journalists who were investigated by mccarthy for sticking by their morals) and dedicated herself to trying to stand up for what’s right and leave the world in better shape than she found it — but her work for feminism (burning bras and protesting banks for the right to have her own account rather than one co-signed by her father or husband and more), against antisemitism and the parents in an area heavy on skinheads recently managing to ban the holocaust from school curriculum, her work in conservation especially in the colombia plateau and henry’s fork, caring for a sanctuary farm in her retirement, battling for unions and workers rights, picketing corporations trying to pollute the columbia river, advocating for lgbt people even in the 1980’s and the aids crisis, the kids with special needs she and my grandfather fostered, her time as a special ed teacher, and her years spent with the pdx police force working to lower police brutality, improve responses to mental health crises, advocate for women and weed out the bigots have been almost overshadowed by her work towards gun control in recent years. she spends so much time on it i think because of the level of opposition and she even had to stop posting on facebook about it after receiving mailed threats from local gun nuts and skinheads but she still is a member of multiple activist groups and dedicates time to helping with campaigns and speaking out against it.

i feel so ashamed of how other countries must see america largely due to the fact that we send children to school in bulletproof backpacks but keep allowing the gun nuts and nra run the nation and keep us from doing anything to lessen the harm. mass shootings don’t happen elsewhere the way they do here and it’s embarrassing.

my grandmother grew up in a warzone, she saw people killed in front of her, she had my mom as a baby in her arms as they fled a bombing once, and two of her six siblings were held hostage by a drug cartel and tortured, but i believe her when she says the united states right now is in worse shape than spain under francisco franco or cartel-dominated cities in mexico when it comes to violence and shootings.

i know a lot of our legislation is absurd and unhelpful and performative but that’s because of the people who have been manipulated by western films and the nra pushing back against anything helpful. no one needs more than a basic, single shot hunting rifle and a small amount of ammunition. people put their children at risk, themselves at risk and others at risk by so irresponsibly owning guns and ammo. there are plenty of other forms of self defense that aren’t more likely to kill you than the assailant.

too many people seem to believe that if they have guns and a stockpile of ammo they could take on the government (which is laughable), invading forces or whatever other perverse fantasy they seem to have. in reality, having a gun makes you more likely to commit suicide, for a child to get shot, for a domestic conflict to end in death and so on. i don’t trust any government — believe me — but we have a government for the purpose of keeping our society safe and stable and it’s a display of utter narcissism and overconfidence to believe that your “right” to own a gun is worth more than someone else’s right to live.

not to mention that the frequent argument is that gun control won’t stop criminals from getting guns but the same exact people helped overturn roe v. wade to ban abortion under the assumption that it will stop abortions. absolute hypocrisy.

i not only appreciate the breath of fresh air from my favorite mutual and the compliment to my grandmother (she is a badass: she’s a wilderness survivalist, cowgirl and political powerhouse with a backbone of steel) but also the perspective from someone outside of the united states because i think it’s super weird that so many people here are convinced they’ll die without a rocket launcher and basement full of ammo — or that their 2k hours of fortnite have prepared them to fight an organized armed force — while the rest of the world is doing perfectly fine with reasonable gun control.

thank you, my sweet cheese, my rotten soldier, my good time boi 💝💝💝

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aclosetfan · 1 year

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Omg I’m so glad you acknowledge how Buttercup, despite being all “eww kisses and other mushy stuff” still actually does that herself, like kissing that one dirty boy along with her sisters (this episode is lowkey kinda gross) and she gave that old guy in Make Zen to Me episode a small peck on the cheek, simple and super innocent things. It’s sweet.

Yes I agree with everything you said there, its a pity that she’s treated so one note most of the time, the way I see it she’s either too hyper masculine or she ended up being way too feminine (usually when she’s in a hetero ship) there needs to be a nice balance. I think a lot of people are too afraid to make her soft in doing so will make her less tomboy or something, it felt like so many are knee deep in that archetype for her in fear of making her remotely girlie. The other Girls too but its sort of the opposite for them.

Also been thinking a lot about how Craig’ll handle them, I’m also curious if he’s responsible for their season 5+6 interpretations, I like to believe he was, cause they manage to be their own characters despite having very minimum appearances. I think they’re very outdated outdated characters, if Craig is interested in bringing them back I can imagine them definitely getting less or not so chauvinistic and misogynistic, but idk, how do you feel about that btw? or should they stay misogynistic cause they’re just little boys, I agree with them staying as villains, I’d like to have all the villains stay villains as well, maybe an open ending like PPGRules would be nice. Idk i’m so anxious now lol I trust whatever Craig is cooking up, his recent show Kid Cosmic was pretty good.

Craig was on and off involved with seasons 5&6 but for the most part was working on Fosters! I don’t think he was really too involved when the boys made a reappearance unfortunately but they’re still his characters and he’s a good storyteller so if he brought them back, I can only imagine he does them justice!

In regard to the rrb’s misogyny, I think it’s only fair to tell you I actually don’t like any of the boys’ episodes a whole lot. My only favorite is Custody Battle, where the girls are hardly present.

In truth, im not the biggest fan of gender wars, and that’s how the creators used the boys’ characters. Even when I was a child watching the show, my mom told me how much I didn’t like the rrb 😂😂 something about “stupid boys”

Which idk maybe I’m being to critical here, especially given the content, but that reaction from a child isn’t great, especially for a show that’s all about love and acceptance. I think it’s over done, cliché, and so very much the opposite of what feminism (equity and respect among genders) should teach people.

I understand why the boys were made the way they were, but I definitely think as time has continued on, the way people view sex and gender has greatly evolved, so I would hope that if they bring the boys back they leave behind the weird “haha boy drool girls rule, our femininity has saved the day.” I’m big on “girl power” but I don’t like it at the expense of putting down the other genders. That’s not feminism to me. I don’t fuck with that terf bullshit

In the Boys are Back in Town, I feel the creators deviated from “femininity saves the day” because kisses no longer destroyed the boys (which weird how in all the episodes with cooties, the day is always saved by three little girls kissing something, but…….moving on) . However, the day was saved by demasculinizing them and sort of making fun of them for crying, and not to say they weren’t shitty kids in that episode, but I’m also like, maybe that shouldn’t have been how the lesson of that episode was taught???? We shouldn’t make little boys feel bad for being rough, and depict little girls pulling one over them to properly chastise the behavior. Children shouldn’t have to regulate other children.

HOWEVER I think that the boys could still be coded as “women haters” in the new show, and I’d be fine with that because there some boys are like that irl and we shouldn’t shy away from that discussion. I just don’t want the problem solved by the creators going “and the day was saved because boys fucking suck.”

Like make that make sense. It’s a very late 90s early 2000s cliché so it fits the time period of the show, but I like to believe we’ve grown as a society.

Overall, I think it really really depends on their purposes in the new show, if they’re even in it. If they’re suppose to be shitty people/bad guys, I’d want them to be shitty people/bad guys, and that could include them being misogynistic. If they’re going to be redeemed, I want the shittiness of their characters to ease up. In any case, I what I DONT want is simple solutions to complex discussions, but it’s a kids show so I’m not expecting much haha 🤷‍♀️

#anon asks #my anons are the best #other people get anons like lmao make them kiss in ur next fic #mine are like: applying the feminist critique of literature what’s your response to the rrb and their potential treatment in their creators #future endeavors? and how to you feel societal expectations of what femininity is influences ur response???#like fuck yeah LETS talk about it 👏👏👏

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papirouge · 1 year

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I don’t really belong to a denomination so I haven’t really ever gotten kicked out of a church or youth group before.

I was asked to leave a pro life group though. In was in person, way before covid. Very small group. We didn’t really have a prescience online. It felt more like a Bible group meeting up at someone’s house without the bible. I argued that women who either choose or were forced to go through a c section birth are still mothers after a young girl who isn’t a mother and never was one argued that they weren’t because childbirth pain makes you one. She went pretty far. Adopting your kids doesn’t make you one. Fostering kids doesn’t make you one. She said how women even dying in childbirth should die because it’s an honorable death. I sort of snapped since I lost a few members to childbirth complications in the past. I cussed her out so the group did ask me to leave. I was happy though that literally every one else called that girl out for being stupid and cruel. Even her own sister called her a dumbass out loud. And then she had to start crying and play victim. Last I heard, the group fell apart. I guess I triggered her because that young girl kept being bothered by me even after I left. I was actually asked to return but I wasn’t interested. That girl is young, I’ll pray for her, because throughout the time I’ve seen her, she just seemed lost and easily sucked into things she sees online. She was into crypto for a bit. Then e girl aesthetics. Then cottagecore. Then 1 week she tried to convert to Islam. A few weeks later, it was crystals and reiki and tarot cards. A while ago I remember she was like rad fem? I guess when I was there at the end, she was listening to male centric content that’s violent towards women. It explained the cruelty in what she said. But i believe also that she just tried to repeat what she read and heard from others online to me thinking I’ll somehow be convinced that she’s right. I’m not super close with her sister but I do follow her on instagram. Her sisters latest thing is anti capitalist liberal bimbo core. Bless her heart… she needs prayers, good lord.

Man, this girl is so stupid it's almost comical🫠

You should've asked her that since most women go through delivery with epidural anesthesia lowering the pain of childbirth, does it mean they didn't 'totally' give birth? 🤔

I heard so many drama about pro life group. It's like a nest intellectually sheltered young girls who will spout the most bizarre statements about basic biological facts. Yeah, she mingling with scrotes might explains her asinine takes. She should've asked them since men don't have pain during childbirth, does it mean none of them are father? 🤔

I always said that women shouldn't seek after men opinion when it came to issues exclusive to women. Especially biological sex. In another ask I was talking about a girl who was formerly a radical feminist who was now more like tradfem/conservative and she was doing a podcast with a meninist and who was like spouting the most basic gotcha about feminism à la "female solidarity doesn't exist, and when they do it only revolves around their biology" GEEZZZ I WONDER WHY JEAN-FRANÇOIS 🙃 This exchange was so low quality and underwhelming...it wouldn't be so annoying if both of them didn't act like they were really doing something but no actually this discourse already happened in 2013 during the SJW+libfem vs meninism fight uuuuugh French contrarian YouTubers are always so stupidly late to the party.....🫠 like that girl is pretty lost and I hope she'll grasp that leaving feminist and becoming trad doesn't mean eating up the koolaid of basic men "trad" who -while they don't have to agree with feminism- will never have to self awareness to grasp the dimension of femalehood beside a male centric perspective.

Anyway your friend might be like this girl, she's lost and eventually she'll come around. Especially if she's young. I'm glad I've never bothered to slap onto myself whatever trendy label (feminist, tradfem, conservative, contrarian, etc) bc I feel like it messes people up whenever they get challenged in theif fundamental belief system.

#answered

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ssparksflyy · 1 month

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could you do a percy jackson/leo valdez angst with happy ending fic based on you belong with me by taylor?? Like uhmm an unrequited love in the beginning and by then end its a best friends to lovers or bestfriends to enemies to lovers kind of trope?? (preferably leo but you can do whichever character you want to)

Tyy<3

ask and thou shall receive ༉‧₊˚.

you belong with me ! 𐙚๋࣭⭑⋅˚♡.

pairing: leo valdez x gn!reader warning(s): swearin, turn off ur feminism and crank up some girlfriend by avril lavigne, semi-angst, stupid w love, corny 2010 teenage love ♡ word count: 3k ( LIKE ON THE DOT BABY I WAS LIKE OOOO ) a/n: hiii! tysm for requesting, this was soooo cute nd fun to write :)) also if you end up asking yourself, "is this that one girl in the ybwm music video that taylor just wore a wig for??" no, its becky.

there was nobody in the world you'd known better than leo.

you'd been through everything together. through foster homes, the wilderness school, jason's quest, the war with gaea, and even now, after all that chaos, you still had each other.

you were sure you could make it through anything together, there was nothing you two couldn't beat.

except for this stupid aphrodite girl.

growing up, not a lot of girls really noticed leo, but he noticed them. he always had some new 'crush' that he was gushing about, telling you about how pretty or smart she was and blah blah blah. every time he would come to you, talking about his new crush who was for sure going to reject him, you'd just sit there. nodding your head, smiling, and trying to push down the heartbreak that came with each new girl.

you'd had a crush on leo since you were kids, but were always too scared to say something, scared that he didn't feel the same, and you would lose the person closest to you.

so you stayed quiet. you'd listen to him ramble about his new crush and then make him laugh when you knew he was about to cry over falling for yet another girl who didn't feel the same for him.

you could tell he was tired of being alone, romantically. all your friends had partners, and they always looked so happy. neither you nor leo could help but long for that same feeling and happiness.

so when little miss perfect becky brown came waltzing into his life, with her little crush, it was no surprise leo gave in.

they weren't dating, no, just awfully close. a little too close for your liking. you didn't want to be an asshole, it wasn't like leo belonged to you or anything, but you were friends, and he was beginning to spend less and less time with you and more and more time with becky.

they would walk into the dining pavilion together for breakfast and dinner, sitting at the edge of the hephaestus and aphrodite tables so they were able to talk to each other, but still follow camp rules. they would sit next to each other at the campfire, leo helping her make a s'more. you would see them hanging around camp together, talking and laughing.

you hardly spent time with leo now. wherever becky went, he wouldn't be far behind, trailing after her. she had your best friend ( and crush but whatever ) wrapped around her perfectly manicured finger.

you were undeniably jealous. there was no point in fighting it because it was true. you were jealous that this perfect girl stole your best friend right from you. and that was true!!!! it wasn't like she was some innocent angel who did no wrong, no. you knew she didn't like you. you knew because when you would finally have the chance to talk to leo, she would always come swoop in, stealing him away for gods know why. once she had him up and following her, she'd turn back around and flash you an evil grin. you'd be left there, glaring at them as they walked away, feeling more and more hopeless every time it happened.

you could see why leo liked her, she was gorgeous, like any child of aphrodite. she was also nothing like you. you found yourself comparing yourself to her quite often, actually.

you'd find yourself looking back and forth between you two, comparing yourselves. becky didn't follow camp's dress code, she'd wear all the short skirts, tank tops, and high heels ( she didn't care that they were impractical ) she wanted. while you were stuck in your bright orange camp half-blood t-shirt that you always had to tie because you somehow always got the wrong size and beat-up sneakers that you needed to replace soon. it was no wonder leo would ditch you for her, next to her, you thought you looked like a wreck.

but that still wasn't enough to shake the heartbreak. you still had hope. hope that just maybe he'd ditch becky for you. hope that you would find the courage to finally confess to him. hope that becky would one day get lost in the woods and never ever come back.

you watched as leo and becky talked from the hephaestus and aphrodite tables once again tonight, keeping your eyes glued to them and just barely picking at your food. your siblings eventually managed to catch your attention and began to include you into their conversation. just as you were laughing at one of your sister's jokes you swore you could hear a 'hey! what're you looking at? im over here, not at the (g/p) table!' come from the direction you were once staring at. you decided to brush it off though, more interested in catching up with your siblings than whatever you thought you heard.

after dinner, you sat next to your siblings during the campfire, an empty space next to you. you were having a good time, continuing to laugh and sing along to the songs being played until you felt someone sit next to you.

you drew your attention away from the fire and looked over at the person sitting next to you. it was leo, his classic million-dollar smile on his face.

you didn't know how to feel. you didn't know if you should tell him to go back to becky, to be mad at him for not talking to you, to be glad he was finally acknowledging you or to just ignore him.

before you could decide what to do leo looked down awkwardly and said, "hey um... im sorry i haven't talked to you in a while, i guess i got caught up in other.. things.." he began fiddling with his hands, something he only did while nervous.

you gave him a small smile and put your hand on top of his. you weren't completely happy with him, he was the one who stopped talking to you. but in the moment you were just glad to have your best friend back.

"it's ok, just glad you still know i exist" you joked, he wasn't getting off the hook that easily.

"of course i still know you exist (n/n)! why and how could i ever forget? you know you come first." he said, bumping your shoulder softly.

you couldn't help but laugh. at any other time, you would completely believe what he was saying but now, you couldn't help but doubt him a little. you continued to talk and joke around ( even flirted a little but hey ), just like old times. sitting there with leo made you feel happier than you had felt in the past few weeks. spending time with leo made you realize how easy things were with him. he was your other half, everything you did just fit. talking with him was so easy, he laughed at all your jokes, and you laughed at his. you hadn't realized how much you missed his smile. you loved his toothy grin that could light up a whole town if he smiled big enough.

the fire in front of you only continued to rise as you laughed and talked together, mirroring your moods. your peace, however, was interrupted by your good ol' friend, becky.

"leo! there you are! im so sorry, i got caught up helping my sister with something" she said, sitting next to him, grabbing his bicep, "we can go now though!"

"its ok..." leo said awkwardly, looking down before he looked back up at you, "i actually wanted to spend time with (y/n) right now"

you gave him a melted smile, but looked back at becky who was giving you a venom-laced glare.

"but you said you'd go to the lake with me!! remember?" she whined, holding onto his arm tighter.

"i actually don't, but we can go tomorrow! besides, its dark right now and almost time for curfew-" he began, looking back at her.

"oh come on leo! let's go!" she said, her voice raising.

leo, no surprise, got up and followed her to the lake.

but there was something off about the way she spoke that last line.. something about it almost made you get up and follow her to the lake. it was as if your body was following her demands, and you had no way to control it. that's when it hit you. she was using her charmspeak.

could that be why leo was following her around? did she actually have him wrapped around her finger? was she using him against his will?

these thoughts and more flooded your brain as the apollo cabin finished up the last song for the evening, signaling everybody to head back to their cabins. you got up and followed your siblings back to your cabin in silence, trying to process what you had just realized.

that night, you could hardly sleep. you were tossing and turning all night, your mind racing with questions, prohibiting you from sleep. eventually, you turned over to your nightstand, checking the time on your alarm clock. 2:41 am. dear gods, you did need sleep. you finally decided to just shut off all your thoughts. not one thing crossed your mind as you shut your eyes tightly, finally allowing hypnos to take you under.

the next morning when you woke, you had a personal quest that you needed to complete. you needed to find out as much about becky as you could, hopefully answering at least some of the questions you had.

seeing them together at breakfast only fueled you more.

all day, during your lessons you went around trying to find out as much about becky as you could. you asked her siblings, friends, and anybody who you thought could tell you anything about her.

turns out, becky didn't have very loyal siblings and friends.

all you had to do was casually drop her name into a conversation and the secrets began to spill.

you found out that using her charmspeak on leo wasnt even the worse thing she'd done. most of their conversation were actually being led with her charmspeak. she had to use it to even convince him to talk to her for so long. she began acting differently, her personality shifting whenever he was around. you see, dear becky was yet to complete her rite of passage, so what did she do? she cornered the most helpless romantic in camp and was spending weeks trying to get him to fall in love with her.

you almost felt sorry for her, the way she had to use her charmspeak just to get a guy who falls for anyone to even talk to her... nah, who were you kidding? she was using your best friend for some stupid rite of passage, you couldn't hate her more.

while learning new things about becky definetly answered some of you questions, the new information left you feeling confused. you still had questions, ones that becky herself probably couldn't even answer, but you mostly just felt awkward. unsure of what to do next. should you tell leo? there was no doubt he probably had a small crush on her before, but did he still have that crush now? if you told him, how would he react? would he think you're making things up? would he believe you? even if he did believe you, was he really going to confront becky? would becky put up an argument? who's side would he take? questions and possible solutions flooded your mind through dinner. you meant to talk to leo again at the campfire, maybe get an idea on how he felt, and then move forward from there, but before you could even call his name before becky dragged him off to the lake again.

you didn't want to follow them, you couldn't. if you did, would what you saw make you regret it? you didn't want to run the risk, so you stayed at the campfire. you tried to distract yourself by singing along and making s'mores with your siblings but truthfully, you couldn't wait to go to bed and have time to think.

when the campfire ended, you were first in bed in your cabin. your mind just functioned better at night while in bed, and that's what you needed at the moment. you spent hours listening to the pouring rain outside and coming up with possible scenarios, each having its own ending. you tossed and you turned, lost in thought until you finally couldn't take it anymore. if you didn't tell leo about becky's plan, it'd eat you alive. so you got up, put on your shoes, and scurried over to cabin nine.

zeus had to be completely against you seeing leo because it was raining buckets when you stepped outside. you grumbled when you realized you'd forgotten a sweater, but you were already outside, why go back in? going back in meant you had time to reconsider your decision and leave leo to find out by himself. the longer you saw him with becky, knowing what she was planning, the more torture it was for yourself. you sucked up the fact that you'd have to get wet and ran over to the hephaestus cabin.

lucky for you, leo's bunk was located in the back of the cabin. if you knew anything about your best friend it was that he was not one to fall asleep early, and early meaning before midnight. so instead of knocking on the cabin's front door and waking up one of his siblings to get him, all you had to do was head to the back of the cabin, where he had snuck you in before, and knock gently on the door.

you took a step back and it was only a matter of seconds before leo opened the door, confused look on his face he asked, "(y/n)? what're you doing here?"

you took a deep breath in before beginning, "ok, i know you may not believe me, but I really need you to hear me out a-and consider what im saying, okay? i was talking to one of the aphrodite girls about.. becky.. and she told me that she's trying to get her rite of passage and she's planning to get it from you. i'm not saying this to try and hurt you leo, but if that is true then i don't want you to find out after its done, okay? i care about you, and if i have to watch-"

"(y/n)" he said.

"-you go through that, i just know it won't be like those other times. i know you dont want to experience it again and i don't want to see you heartbroken again-"

"(y/n)"

but you wouldn't stop. the words kept spilling out of your mouth, trying to 'warn' leo of becky's plan. he needed to get your attention somehow, and he didn't like yelling at you so...

he kissed you.

something in him made him surge forward, cupping your face and connecting your lips. he didn't care if he was getting soaked from the rain, he was finally kissing you, something he'd wanted to do for years, and you were actually kissing him back.

you were the one to break away, breathless, staring at leo with both admiration and confusion in your eyes.

"i know about becky's rite of passage." he stated, taking your hands in his, "she told me earlier, well, not really. she just told me that she really liked me and i told her that i didn't feel the same, and then she went batshit crazy, calling me useless and stuff but eh, whatever."

"oh.." you said, processing what he just said, "wait- you didn't feel the same??"

he simply nodded and smiled, "no, no i didn't. but i think she helped me realize something." he said and paused, quickly looking down then back up, "i really, really like you, (y/n). and not just as friends. its almost like... being forced to be away from you just confirmed that i need you, and i can hardly live without you. when becky was forcing me to spend time with her, all i could think about is you, and how much i like you. you've always been there for me, even helping my slut self through problems with other girls and i'm so sorry i didn't realize before how good you are to me. i completely get it if you don't feel the same, but i just really need you to know how much i appreciate you. i can finally see that you're the only person who really knows me. you get me like nobody else does, you understand me. i trust you with everything, and you're the best thing i could ever ask for. im so sorry it took me so long to see that."

leo's words felt like a weight was being lifted off of your chest. your feelings weren't one-sided. he didn't just see you as a friend. he liked you back. like- romantically! you couldn't help yourself, you sprang up and quickly kissed him, raising your hand to the back of his neck.

"gods, i really really like you too leo. good to know it isn't just machines in that head of yours." you said, laughing as you moved your foreheads together.

leo's light up grin was back again, "can't you see, baby? you belong with me~"

you groaned, pushing him away, "that was so bad, please dont ever do that again."

he laughed and grabbed you by the waist, pulling you back in. your faces were close once again, lips aching to connect again.

"so (y/n/n)," leo began, a sweet smile on his face, "do me the honors of being my girlfriend?"

you let out a small laugh, "of course, repair boy. i thought you'd never ask."

you smiled as he kissed you once again.

a/n pt. 2: i kinda hate this but wtv <3 its 5am, i'm tired, i will edit this when i wake up, have a good day / night ily all sm ♡

peace from manhattan,

percy jackson ♡

#percy jackson #pjo #heroes of olympus #pjo x reader #heroes of olympus x reader #hoo x reader #leo valdez #leo valdez x you #leo valdez x reader #by bells ♡⋆ ࣪.

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runthepockets · 1 month

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It's crazy watching tv shows that started in the early 2010s and kept going past 2016. Watching Bojack go from a goofy show about some douchebag washup celebrity horseguy to a show with pretty legit and seamless political insight on things like the Metoo movement and school shootings and stuff.

Shameless is doing it in season 9, too. I.C.E and immigrants getting randomly deported is a recurring theme (Veronica and Kevin adopt a little boy who they assume is just a foster kid but it turns out he got seperated from his family at the border, an episode ends with some ICE patrol guys forcing a bunch of latino kids to sing the national anthem in front of a US flag and some stupid patriartic banner) as is the politics of representation in congress (to which a guy who isn't really like Donald Trump in terms of personality but in terms of sexual crimes and the demographic that chooses to follow him definitely is), Fiona has hit her tipping point with the dudes in her life and it caps off with her almost getting mugged and god knows what else by some shady looking dudes until a male coworker comes in from out back carefully brandishing a knife. Debbie's feminism and concern for women's safety is a lot more pronounced this season, too. It's an interesting time capsule for sure.

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kaiyablog · 2 months

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Feminism and Family with Fishop and Faiya

In this conversation, Bishop and Kaiya, English 1102 students from Atlanta, Georgia studying computer engineering and sociology respectively, encourage each other to reflect on their journeys with feminism, putting a special emphasis on the influence of family. Pictured above is Steven Crowder a famous alt-right political YouTuber known for making feminists look bad in his “debates”, edited to portray a basic feminist argument.

Kaiya: Do you remember when you first learned about feminism?

Bishop: When I was younger I watched a lot of YouTube and for some reason, the algorithm recommended a lot of weird YouTubers, although at the time I thought they were funny and smart. YouTubers like Steven Crowder (pictured above) and Kevin Samuels portrayed feminism negatively and in those days, I was influenced by the charisma and seemingly logical arguments presented by these YouTubers. ⁤Their narrative against feminism was presented with "logic" and "conviction" regrettably, I bought into it. ⁤⁤The ideas they propagated painted feminism as an ideology that was unnecessary and even dangerous to. ⁤⁤At that point in my life, I hadn't really examined these perspectives, and I took them at face value, subscribing to a worldview that was, in retrospect, deeply flawed.

Kaiya: How would you describe your relationship with your masculinity?

Bishop: Growing up in a family that adheres to more "traditional" gender roles and ideologies. It was pretty tough for me to express myself without hearing things like "man up" or "real men don't *blank*" inflicting a rigid framework on how I should navigate the world as a male. Phrases like these squashed my ability to express vulnerability or deviate from stereotypical expectations. Overcoming these entrenched beliefs required introspection and courage. And as I grew older, I tried to tackle these ideas of masculinity my upbringing put on me, and I am now trying to work on expressing myself as I feel.

Kaiya: You mentioned you grew up in a family that emphasized more traditional gender messaging. If you want to one day have a family, how would you raise your kids with respect to gender?

Bishop: I would approach parenting with a commitment to dismantling traditional gender norms. I would focus on fostering an environment where values such as equality, inclusivity, and individual authenticity are promoted. I would encourage open discussions about gender, to make sure my children understand that their identities are unique and valid. Ultimately I just want my kids to understand their true selves while recognizing and respecting the diversity of others.

Continuing in the theme of family, how has feminism influenced or shaped your perspectives on family dynamics, roles, and expectations? Can you provide specific instances where your understanding of feminism intersected with your experiences within your family?

Kaiya: Yeah for sure. So I am the oldest daughter of 5 kids, coming from a fairly traditional catholic family that was pretty in line with gender roles. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for my dad in particular, I came out loud, argumentative, and always quick to point out anything that sounds like it could be biased. This often came out when my little brother was allowed to do things like getting a phone, or going outside to play by himself at a younger age than I was. I never thought my parents were trying to be sexist, but I loved to argue it.

Bishop: Can you share a specific instance where you felt empowered or challenged by feminist principles in your life?

Kaiya: Hmmm, yeah. For a long time I didn’t believe there was any point to feminism. I always thought gender discrimination was something white women made up to feel like victims. Then my (shitty) high school boyfriend was being, well, shitty, and I realized how sexist and disgusting so many of the males around me were, a lot like the YouTubers you mentioned. It was really discouraging but becoming a feminist made me accept that men suck. No I’m just kidding, what I mean is feminism helped me to realize the disgustingness of sexism did not mean there was anything wrong with me.

Bishop: I want to talk some more about your relationship with feminism. How does mainstream media’s portrayal of feminism compare to your own understanding?

Kaiya: I would be lying if I said that mainstream media didn’t help me become a feminist. I had a lot of anger against men, and found myself well represented: I am a girlboss, I like to wear heels to be taller than men, I can be louder than men. I take engineering classes literally just to show GT men that a girl can be smarter than them. But I am also mature enough to know this alone is not feminism, and I don’t think I ever thought otherwise.

To connect our conversation back to family, one way I don’t fit the media's feminist portrayal is that I want kids. I want to have a daughter and teach her to love the world because I know love is feminist. My feminism right now looks like anger, but I also know that feminism looks like love and everything in between.

#feminism #feminist #sexism #masculinty #femininity #post colonialism #girlboss #youtube

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ear-worthy · 2 months

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American Hysteria: The Podcast About Pointless Panic

There's a country song by Garrett Hedlund called, "Timing Is Everything."

That sentiment applies perfectly to the podcast American Hysteria. When American Hysteria began in 2018, the flames of society-wide conspiracy theories burned hotter than ever. With then President Trump using the bully pulpit to foster conspiracy theories -- QAnon, white replacement theory, PizzaGate, vaccine denialism, Putin is being persecuted, and even wind power causes cancer -- rational thought began to exit the public consciousness replaced by a belief best described as Fox Mulder of The X Files meets "Springtime for Hitler."

It was a perfect blend of societal delusions and a podcast investigating that same rift in political, social and cultural stability.

American Hysteria explores how fantastical thinking has shaped our culture – moral panics, urban legends, hoaxes, crazes, fringe beliefs, and national misunderstandings. Poet-turned-podcaster Chelsey Weber-Smith tells the strangest stories from American history and examines the forces that create the reality we share, and sometimes, the reality, we don't.

The podcast is produced by Skylark Media, which is an entertainment network creating and producing interactive audio dramas and podcasts.

The host, Chelsey Weber-Smith, is known for Channel Zed (2020), Behind the Bastards (2018) and You're Wrong About (2018).

Chelsey Weber-Smith also writes country music and rambles around the United States, building campfires and hoping for the best. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia's MFA program in poetry and has written and self-published two chapbooks, a travel memoir, and two full-length folk/country albums, and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her work has been published in BOAAT, Transom, Matter, Wu-Wei Fashion Mag, the James Franco Review, and Miracle Monocle. She currently lives in Seattle.

Weber is perfect for the role in the podcast. Listen to her: "I believe in getting tangled in the weeds, in living in the often-untouched gray areas, of exploring the nuances that often get lost. I hope to use humor and poetics to ease people into difficult truths, to educate with care and understanding, especially around issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality, and the bigness and smallness of being alive."

What kinds of topics does American Hysteria cover ? Here's just a partial list.

Early Drag Queens, including the manly soldiers of the U.S. Army who put on drag shows during the Second World War.

The ghosts of children killed in a school bus, who are said to push cars uphill and away from danger.

The toy riots that took place over sought-after toys, such as Tickle Me Elmo, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Beanie Babies.

The wild stories about Halloween sadism -- razor blades in apples, rat poison in chocolate -- which turned out to be largely tall tales.

My favorite episodes so far include the show about the numerous conspiracy theories surrounding Barbie over the decades. These theories range from grooming to fat shaming, anti-feminism to body dysmorphia.

In the episode, I discovered there's one thing Ken and Barbie can never do. Get your mind out of the gutter. It's not that. After all, they're dolls. According to Barbie creator Ruth Handler, they can never get married.

My other favorite is about Hallmark Christmas movies. In the episode, Weber-Smith says, "Because so many Hallmark writers and directors also make horror movies, I called in podcasters Sarah Marshall and Alex Steed of 'You're Wrong About' and 'You Are Good' to discuss the similarities between these two seemingly polar opposite genres."

I learned that each Hallmark Christmas movie budgets at least $50,000 for fake snow. The movies are generally filmed in the summer.

My other favorite is the episode about the craze in the late 80s and 90s about satanic cults. The episode details the insanity of parents claiming their children had been affected by these satanic cults that were overrunning America. Later on, we discovered that Satan is really Steve Bannon, so no worries.

Weber-Smith is charming, funny, snarky, sarcastic and utterly entertaining on this podcast. America Hysteria is hysterical in how it crafts a narrative about these events of mass hysteria and then comments on the state of our culture, society and mindset. The narrative is fascinating and educational because, in a way, this podcast is a textbook (only funnier and wittier) on American sociology.

Chelsey Weber-Smith makes the case that America's craziness is not a recent phenomenon. Conspiracy theories have been with us since dogs were domesticated. Think about it. It's only been 60 years since parents claimed that Elvis and his gyrating hips and The Beatles and their long hair would be the end of Western Civilization as we know it.

Thanks to Fox News, American hysteria will never run dry on conspiracy theories. The network invents them every day -- Tyler Swift is a CIA agent, happy holidays is a secret Communist call sign, and when conservative white people fall asleep, their bodies are being taken over by minorities, like in the film The Invasion Of the Body Snatchers.

Check out American Hysteria. You'll learn something, have fun, laugh often, question the validity of conspiracy theories, and enjoy the warped sensibilities of host Chelsey Weber-Smith.

Finally, the podcast does encourage feedback. The podcast urges listeners to: "Tell us about a local urban legend you grew up hearing! We may play your voice message on the show along with whatever information we can dig up."

#podcast #podcasting #psychology #mass hysteria #conspiracy theories

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