#do no harm and you're free

[first-only]

How do you get over that 'what if I'm wrong' fear? (specifically with queer discourse, fiction discourse, and para/kink discourse)

I do get that fear a lot, and while I'm confident I'm not wrong in my opinions, I think the amount of anti [blanks] make me question myself

check your priorities - so what if youre wrong about some detail? about the whole thing? will the world end? are you more comfortable this way, and feel happier and more satisfied in your community and view of yourself? does it cause you more harm to believe this? is it actually affecting anyone what you believe and how? are you the bully in just existing in your convictions, or is the vocal opposition the ones who are tearing communities apart over personal opinions? even if the butterfly effect is real, is it your responsibility to kill off all butterflies in your country so there's no tornado on the other end of the world? would that not cause more ecological harm?

check your sources - the best way to disparage fear of being wrong is to confirm with facts that you're not. it's usually conviction that makes people comfortable, and the best type of convincing for someone so inclined, is with verified information. I personally look for sources from people and places ive already verified i can trust. i check new points of view and information with people who study the topic or are personally versed in it (i will once again point at fiction-is-not-reality2). Another very practical way is to look at sources from "both sides" so to say. For example, a study by Dolf Zillmann reports test subjects having increased levels of aggression after seeing violent media (abstract link, text link), while a study by Margot Kuttschreuter reports no correlation between violent media and aggressive behaviour (abstract link, text link). And now we need to look at those studies. Kuttschreuter's is a longitudal study (ie studying the phenomena over time, not in a single instance) and is conducted with 466 child participants, of roughly equal gender numbers, with outside contributing factors explicitly controlled for. Zillmann studied 63 male undergraduates of the same university, a single time, and with no control over aggression states before the experiment. Zillmann's study is from 1971, Kuttschreuter 's from 1992. Zillman is born in 1935 in Alabama, known for his anti-porn views, and publishes "studies" and articles of the sorts of "the effect of pornography on the nuclear family" (since we're talking abt being wrong lets check /this/ view a little bit - the nuclear family is a relatively new concept born by industrialization and capitalism, its revered status, despite its MANY downsides, children safety included, is primarily kept up by authoritarian politicians and religious leaders. why should something as old as humanity like pornography cede way in order to keep up this new-age community-destructive concept?). Kuttschreuter is a professor at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, specializes in psychology of conflict, risk and safety, and has been president of the Society for Risk Analysis Europe. And let's look at the studies' results too, whats the conclusions? Kuttschreuter concludes with no duality, that under controlled factors, "The hypothesis that television violence viewing leads to aggressive behaviour could not be supported". Zillman's study is written in more academic language, you can read it for yourself in the links, but his conclusion is basically "after consuming content that is exciting, test subjects show an elevated level of excitement". Groundbreaking, truly. You will note that this 'exciting' content isnt necessarily violent, and physiological excitement does not always transfer to aggressive behaviour, let alone long term. You need to look at what the objective results are and how the author presents them to you, what they want you to believe. So if you lose a game and get frustrated, does this make you an abuser? And is this only media related? What if you stub your toe and scream? Is this a predictor for abusive behaviour?

putting the cut here as its getting long but i do have more to say

and also putting under check your sources, i will add /check the arguments/. if one side's arguments are "your thoughts somehow influence people who dont even know you" and "fictional children have the same rights as real children" and the other side's are "bodily autonomy is a human right and behavioral autonomy is part of that" and "personal boundaries end where another person's begin" and "active targeted intentional tangible harm is not the same as having a hobby" then studies are sometimes not necessary to come to a coherent conclusion. A study on the difference between a fictional character and a child would be interesting tho. "we tried to conduct an experiment on sasuke uchiha but he was not found for comment" jkfsjf

3. build an internal solid system of belief - i think this is of critical importance and a lot of 'proshippers' havent done it either. That means believing on foundational level the concept that builds other convictions. For example if your belief system says that harm is the only measure of morality, and active targeted intentional tangible harm is the only measurable indicator for harm then believing thought crimes would be irrational for you. That means yes, incest fic and underage shipping are effectively harmless. But that also means that 'racism against fictional characters' is also effectively harmless. This seems to be a point of particular content thats why i mention it. And if your belief system says that artists and authors are free to express themselves and share their stories as they see fit, then yes absolutely fan artists should not be held accountable for what they fancy. But so shouldnt popular and published authors, for daring to put a hot woman in their video game.

4. honestly, most importantly. Learn a little bit of hedonism. Learn some i dont give a fuck. Learn some i live for myself and my own comfort will not be sacrificed for someone else's. My body and mind are my own to with as i please. - Listen. I'm a smoker. There's endless, cohesive, correct, factual research on the harm of smoking. I dont care. This is my body and these are my rights to destroy it. I dont care about concern trolling or people trying to tell me it makes /them/ uncomfortable how i treat myself. The government doesnt have rights to tell me no, so no one else does (and if the govt did have those rights then the people wouldnt take it - prohibition era america for reference). Even /if/ fiction had an averse effect. Even /if/ it did affect everybody else. This is their responsibility. In the same way i will smoke in allowed places in public, i will keep posting my fic and art. It's other people's responsibility to not see me as cool as fuck while smoking and taking it up too. It's their own right to do or not to do. If someone has an averse reaction to smoke they sit in the non-smokers section. If someone has a bad reaction to fic, they filter tags. Even if fic "rotted the brain", cigarettes do so at twice the speed and damage. And i smoke unfiltered cigarillos. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ what i put in my body and brain is my business. what other people want to see and do about it is theirs. meddling into my business is where the line is.

#ask #at the end of the day we are our own zookepeers #and even medial professionals do not have rights on your body and mind #i feel like i should point out that most juridical systems are fully in line with what i said #do no harm and you're free #thats why abortion laws prioritize the 'rights' of a 'fetus' #bc w no other person's rights infringed you dont get to tell people what to do #*medical professionals

[six-of-cringe]

The "ohhhh fuck dolphins, dolphins are evil they kill and rape, ohh otters are evil they rape seal babies, not so cute now are they" people are like the children who would smugly tell anyone who would listen that ring around the rosie is about people dying of the plague. Like ok. Do I need to explain how high intelligence correlates with complex behavior or can you shut the fuck up on your own

#stop trying to cancel dolphins. they can't be 'evil' they haven't developed a moral sense like ours. our morals cant be applied #what do you think you're accomplishing by telling ppl to hate vulnerable species. this take is so stupid it gives me a headache #this goes beyond pet peeve all these people can suck my free willy #what if i started saying 'ohhh they rape and kill bet you feel stupid now' under videos of like. people. #like yeah. some animals have figured out that sex feels good but don't yet have understanding of others' suffering. #they can't be 'good' or 'evil' by human standards. they have a variety of complex behaviors whether they are helpful or harmful to others #animal behavior #dolphins #otters #zoology #sa mention #sa tw #just in case #not soc

[starflungwaddledee]

alright. look, we're going to go into this because i genuinely want to think you didn't mean harm by this, but it's unacceptable to use this sort of manipulative phrasing. especially with strangers, some of whom are kids.

this is not a call-out. i've hidden all names except my own. i just need to address this post i was tagged in, and don't want to add it onto the end of the original post. i could also have done this privately, but i want this to be here for the other folks who were @'d. i won't @ anyone else who was mentioned in this post, but many of us are mutuals, so if you see this post and you're feeling at all stressed out or bad, i recommend just clicking through because i'm going to go into this.

firstly, and i'm going to make this transparent, person who @'d me: i don't think you're being malicious or did anything purposefully bad. i don't think you intended harm or that you are "a bad person". i don't have a single negative thought about you as a person. i don't make this post to be mean. i truly think you made an earnest mistake that could easily have hurt others, and i am stepping in with the hope this can be avoided in the future! per my usual boundaries on reassurance seeking, i will not reassure about this further.

secondly, the post that you tacked this onto IS important and a helpful resource, and it is great to bring attention to it. we should be doing everything we can to not only defend against, but actively fight back against generative AI. many people cannot access the most commonly recommended tools (myself included), so a resource like this is fantastic and i'm glad to learn about it and share it! i don't speak for anyone else, but i've said before that i personally don't mind being tagged in resources that could help me or others and i'm usually happy to share them, especially if i think the latter

but, assuming that you are genuinely well meaning and don't know better, you need to know that this is not the way to go about it. i don't mean mass-tagging, which is fine in times like this imo, i mean your written add-ons that actively guilt trip every single person you tagged.

"if you weren't convinced by the idea of being a good person" and "I do hope anyone I @'d isn't a bad person" in particular.

you may not have realised, but these are profoundly manipulative and cruel things to say. regardless of how you intended them, they are inciting guilt in the reader, and especially in the people who you actively called to come and look at it. here's what it sounds like:

"hey! you! yeah you! come look at this!! come closer! now, do what i ask you to do, or you're a bad person."

there are a million and one reasons someone might not reblog something. being tired, offline, anxious, even needing to run a specifically professional blog with exclusively your art on it for your own financial survival which makes it hard to reblog important posts like this; none of those are bad.

in this case, only one thing makes them a "bad person", and it's "they're pro-generative AI and did not reblog because they want to hide this information to ensure they can continue stealing from creatives".

i'm fairly confident you don't actually think anyone you tagged here has that point of view, or that you really have any doubts about their stances on generative AI. in fact, of the folks i recognise here, they're all independent creatives, sharing artwork with fandom for free on the internet. they are the victims of generative AI, and like most of us, are facing a terrifying future and are already desperate to find a way to defend/fight back.

you do not need to use manipulative language like this to get us to care about this sort of content! this affects us all, content creators and content consumers alike!

in future if you want to direct folks to something like this, which is super helpful and it was good of you to do!, you can just @ them so they see it. you can even say something like "this is important and some reblogs would sure help to boost it!". this is still a call to action, but without the manipulative phrasing, just in case they cannot act for any reason.

in the end, guilt tripping people like this, intentional or otherwise, is dangerous.

at best it will make them feel like shit and they'll feel forced to reblog + share from you out of guilt rather than just believing in the cause. and sometimes it feels like it's most effective, especially when things are urgent; but in my opinion the risk of harm is just too high. because at worst, you could accidentally send someone into a negative thinking spiral. you can never know what people are going through offline, or outside of your spaces, and how something like this will hit them.

#idk what to tag this. #it's not really anything. glorified response. reassurance to those who were @'d. #i'll reblog the actual post with the tool itself after this because it was certainly useful! #please do check it out if you're in need of a more accessible anti-AI overlay tool! #reblogs are off because that's not the point and because i don't want this to... idk. get bigger. #i trust this was an accident and this person meant no harm. i trust they had good intentions. don't be mean. don't be mean. #i just want others tagged to know that they aren't bad people so i needed to address this publicly. it's hard. augh. #i know how this would have hit me a decade ago. i know some of the people tagged here are Going Through It. i know some are kids. #i just felt something needed to be said and i was willing to say it. if this is wrong or something feel free to lmk.

[kittyboones]

Just gonna put this statement here: white people that don't think influencers and celebrities should put out "political" statements, supporting Palestine, because "it won't do much"; you're an ugly aryan wannabe that is only silent because you don't care about middle eastern lives. You can deny it all you want, but if you keep trying to be anti-boycotting and anti-awareness, it's just getting clearer that you'd stand by a certain failed Austrian painter's side during World War 2, by being complicit through your silence.

#Free Palestine #If you genuinely think a celebrity supporting Israel isn't harmful #you are just showing that you don't care about the impact and brainwashing it will cause #and how even more Palestinians and even just in general anti-zionists' lives will be taken #fuck anyone that thinks opposition won't do much #you're clearly just a fucking moron

[magical-girl-coral]

Okay, what is the Internet's brilliant idea of how to stop the I/p conflict

*checks notes*

You people are planning on boycotting an entire fucking country?

#are you going to send back Israeli medical tactics and machinery from your local hospital? #you're gonna destroy every phone that has something to do with an israeli company? #you're gonna discard all the sewage cleaning plans israel has put out? #will you harass Israeli immigrants? their attempt to trying a business to escape this country? #how far is this supposed to fucking go? #do you people even bother to search how many countries israel works with? #all the items you'll have yo throw away #or do you just say whatever you feel like with no regard to the civilians who will be harmed by these ideas #because of your desperation of needing to be the hero? #like seriously #so many innocent jewish businesses are going to be harmed with this type of thinking #i bet people are already destroying kosher cafes even if they have nothing to do with israel #actual people are going to die. but ay least the person posting these ideas has free Palestine in their bio

[whiskeysorrows]

I think something a lot of the internet is not processing about Israel-Palestine is that this is not a religious conflict. This is not a Jewish-Muslim war. This is an issue of Palestinians being ethnic cleansed and colonised for the past 70 years by the Israeli government.

I usually leave the political posts for other people but dear god show some critical thinking and an understanding of the history before you speak.

#stop dragging antisemitism and islamophobia into this #no you're not antisemitic if you support palestine because zionism is a political movement and belief not a representation of judaism #no you're not being islamophobic by also realising that hamas taking hostages is a fucked up thing to do #what's really islamophobic is the western media painting out palestinians to all be terrorists based on the actions of the few #and what's really antisemitic is for ppl outside of this conflict to start making conspiracy theories about jews #and start conflating them with zionism #literally the rule for every goddamn war and atrocity throughout history is that civilians are the people at risk #civilians have been harmed on both sides #and the israeli government is deliberately targeting palestinian civilians and using bullshit excuses about hamas to do it #did the 20th century teach you nothing? #this is not a new situation #colonialism always lead to violent ends and the civilians are always the first casualties #yes this includes both the palestinian people and the israeli hostages #rambles #free palestine

[corgoship]

tumblr users stop saying walt was always evil or draw 25

#YOU'RE MISSING THE POINTTTTT #was he always an asshole with deep rooted issues with his ego and masculinity? #possibly probably yes #BUT. He wasn't nearly as bad as ppl make him out to be. he struggles with his morality and his descent is gradual #vince gilligan's whole idea for brba was to 'take mr. chips and turn him into scarface' #FURTHERMORE one of the themes of Better call saul was nature vs. nurture #and how jimmy WASN'T 'always like this'. maybe he had some predispositions but he wasn't BORN like that #so by claiming that walt was always evil you're missing the point #which is that he was this milque toast run-of-the-mill guy who got corrupted by power and this could happen to anyone #feel free to hate on him bc he deserves the shade but do it for the shit he did AFTER his diagnosis #of course there is no excuse for what he did but there is absolutely no indication that he ever did anything to harm anyone before that #skyler and flynn both keep saying how much walt changed so like. that's your proof right there that he was more or less normal #if he was always as cruel and abusive as y'all claim then the change wouldn't be. a change noticed by the characters #thanks for coming to my ted talk #breaking bad #brba #walter white

[underestimated-heroine]

are we ever going to talk about how cancel culture has been way worse for the marginalized than for those with power?? in both public and private spheres, almost everyone """taken to justice""" is someone who's 1) part of a vulnerable group, and 2) easy to hurt. if people with privilege and/or power do the same exact thing as them, they're way less likely to be ostracized, disenfranchised, or harassed.

typically, when something about a "movement" isn't working, we'd work together to discern the root of the problem and try to fix it...unless, of course, the pitchfork has become the real point.

#posts i actually wrote #tbc this has nothing to do with whatever's going on with Drake & Kendrick. ik just enough about that to make this tag but nothing more. #as someone with autism i can speak personally to how this really does play out on an interpersonal level. #struggling with social cues means stumbling more often into 'problematic' behavior. yes even genuinely harmful behavior. #this isn't to absolve anyone of the responsibility to do better. as a marginalized group i think many autistic people understand that well. #however how this frequently plays out is someone justifying ableist behavior & ongoing ostracization 'morally' #you're free to not engage with someone anymore but punching down is punching down. and like it or not it is completely contextual.

[stinkrascal]

Plz tell me how you got diagnosed with autism? I defiantly have symptoms but don’t want to assume ):

i could sit here and tell you to drop thousands of dollars on a formal assessment or hundreds of dollars each on therapy sessions, but i will tell you a secret instead. u are not harming anyone at all by assuming you have autism without having a formal diagnosis. i promise it isnt as big of a deal as you think it is and anyone who tells you otherwise is uneducated

#jade answers #anonymous #self dx is not harmful in the way people pretend it is #especially when receiving a formal diagnosis can go upwards of thousands of dollars #it's classist to suggest that you're only allowed to relate to symptoms if you pay someone to confirm your suspicions #also people who arent formally diagnosed cant 'steal resources' from those who are formally diagnosed like some suggest #and also also even if people are 'stealing resources' (they arent) thats not how resources work #resources don't disappear because they're being used that's the opposite of how resources function #it's like basic supply and demand you know. and also monetary resources aren't typically given without professional diagnosis anyways #so in that regard self dx individuals can't steal those resources at all. so there's no argument there #also self dx is a great tool in your pathway to actually receiving a diagnosis if that's something you plan to do #or something you can afford to do #relating to symptoms. researching symptoms. then bringing up these symptoms to your doctor. that's all part of the journey #i think people have this weird idea that when u see a doctor they're the ones who have to organically recognize the symptoms within you #but that isn't true. you are allowed to recognize those symptoms within yourself first and bring that up #basically self dx is not a huge deal at all and the people who pretend like it is are generally just uneducated and kinda classist #or honestly just insecure. they're like the people who took out loans for college who don't want college to be free for others #because they're like Well i had to pay for college! so why can't everyone else pay for college? #and i'm not trying to say that to sound rude either. i used to be avidly anti-self dx and it was rooted in my own insecurities #about the legitimacy of my own mental illnesses which i had to fight tooth and nail to receive official confirmation #so yeah. just don't worry about it so much anon i promise it is not as important as people online make it out to be

[arcanespillo]

sometimes being on tiktok when you are. a person that gets.intrusive thoughts. can be so fucking damaging because there's so much triggering content, no warning nothing at all you're watching a doggy eating peanut butter and one second after you get someone trauma dumping all the abuse they ever got in their life. in like two sentences

#and it's triggering stuff and if you have intrusive thoughts you know that anything will do anything will cause them #and of course i dont mean people should stop doing what they want on the internet because its a free space and im no one to dictate but #it is harmful not only for the people consuming the content but also for the content creators that now have all their stuff going on on a #public platform like their private stuff. for everyone to look at #and the backlash you get from the internet can be so unexpected you never know how people are goikg to react or what theyre gonna say #you might think youre going to get comfort and all you're really going to get is insults because well people are unpredictable #this is why i prefer socials with the possibility to FILTER stuff. it doesn't matter if it doesnt work with everything i still have a lesser #percentage of getting stuff i do not want on my home page #wrote this because one single tiktok made my thoughts spiral

[your-fave-is-bi]

i need to touch grass i need to watch the sun set n just cry while watching the clouds i need to stand in the ocean and look at the horizon and feel absolutely nothing and everything at once i need to get hit by lightning

#personal tag #having. a normal one. #u ever just not feel right. like someone skewed you. just free transform tool-ed you. like you're slightly lopsided. #fucking weeks now already. only just now puttng the words on it but its been a feeling ive been walking with for weeks. #and i'll tell you what: not fun #anyway. feeling like im getting close to doing something drastic (but not bad or harmful do not worry) #bc this lopsided feeling tends to come before absolute numbness and boy oh boy. that one's worse! #ijust need to like. get sunburnt or smth. eat something *really* good. laugh so hard i cant breathe n am crying tears #yknow. that kinda thing #in dramatic words: i need to do smth that reminds me i am human. yknow. yknow that feeling? #also where the fuck is the reblog editor thing. the fuck. i thought we could control reblogs now. #i dont want this reblogged

[phantomrose96]

With the Reddit 3rd party app crackdown and the ongoing horseshit Elon Musk is pulling with "X", I realize a lot of people here might be pretty new. So I put together a quick and easy guide for using Tumblr for anyone new who might need it.

Tumblr was made by David Karp and we call him Daddy around these parts (^///^)

You are not safe from fandom-gif attacks ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

Speaking of fandoms, the tumblr fandoms are always ready to grab their [object] and go to war against the Beliebers ╰(*°▽°*)╯

The only safe refuge from fandom tumblr is with hipster tumblr. If you can get a cool alt-girl to take you under her wing, you might be safe... for now (●'◡'●)

You will watch the first episode of Supernatural... and then you're part of the Winchester family. (Or if you skip right to season 4, we don't blame you. It's where Destiel starts (*/ω＼*))

This is not a glomp-free zone ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Use missing e. It's the only way to make Tumblr useable on Internet Explorer (this is the most popular browser and you're probably using it right now) :-D

Our only adult-supervision is John Green... and even then does that REALLY count as supervision? DFTBA! φ(゜▽゜*)♪

Just this once, everyone lives. It's bigger on the inside. Elementary, my dear Watson.

If you see Misha Collins staring at you, the polite response is "Saving people, hunting things, the family business." O.O

I might lose followers for this, but this blog supports gay rights, and yours should too (14 gifs of Sherlock and The Hobbit)

Tumblr will teach you more about the world than you'll ever learn in school. ○( ＾皿＾)っ

Tread carefully... we have teh yaoiz O.o. Oh you don't know what that means? Well let's just say... it's full of lemons here.

If you see Hannibal Lector in a flower crown, tell him it looks very nice. His boyfriend Will Graham made it for him. (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

Do not enter the dog park. The dog park will not harm you.

#sorryz ill finish this post later my doctor says he needs to urgently check me for radiation poisoning

[dragon-tamer-1]

To that anon that asked me about why I still follow a certain person, I hope you can understand that I do not want hate for this. I am very much unaffected by the choice of belief someone else has. And while I know that others don't like or care for that person, I still do enjoy the art and writing by that person. Their choice of belief doesn't really matter to me, especially since that person hasn't ever done anything to anyone that was harmful, that I know of. Everyone is free to dislike someone, but I don't feel it necessary to hate anyone, especially over beliefs.

Please understand that I am not attacking anyone, nor do I advocate for hate of anyone really.

#discourse tw #felt that if i didn't say anything i would be given assumptions that wouldn't make sense #as far as i know that person has not been part of any kind of harassment against anyone #and that's why I don't think that person is as bad as people are making them out to be #freedom of religion and all that #free to believe what you want #so long as you aren't doing stuff that actively harms someone else #which. again. is something that they haven't done #that person has not hurt someone that i know of #even so #i think it should be alright if someone still enjoys some things #it takes way more energy to keep hating someone/something than to be either neutral or passively enjoying things #wanna say it again #anyone can dislike someone. you're free to do so #i don't believe someone should be harassed or hated just because they believe in something you don't or likes someone's stuff that you no - #longer like #it just comes across as a bit controlling #i don't think it should matter too much tho #especially since everyone has the ability to block the tags i said you can block so you dont see it #and again #you're allowed to not like someone based on their beliefs or whatever else that makes you dislike them #i don't think people should be telling others who/what they can/can't like if that person/thing isn't hurting anyone #yes i know there were people with those beliefs that did things in possibly the wrong way #but i don't think everyone who has that belief should be grouped with the ones who did it wrong #*by possibly i mean might have done it the wrong way by attacking others for not believing what they do* #and that is absolutely the wrong way #but they haven't done that(again. to my knowledge) #so i don't think that's worth hating #for me anyway #i did delete the reblog from that person tho

[esteebarnes94]

I never really got the whole complaining about something being made that's already been done a bunch of times. Like, tropes and themes and aesthetics and all that. Because as long as it's being done respectfully and whatnot, what's the problem? Like, yeah, you're under no obligation to like, like, a 1980s-set slasher film or whatever, but I don't get all the mocking and stuff.

#hey! you should be free to do whatever trope you want #“as long as you're not being harmful!” #the whole “who cares if you made another tall x short or angry x sunshine dynamic! #estee's posts #listen. I don't want to be like “oh you can't complain at ALL” #because like I said. #you can dislike stuff #and you can go “hey. I don't find that enjoyable” #or “I find the whole market to be saturated” #but I don't understand the “ohhhh look at you making an [insert trope/theme/setting] piece of media #“wowww so original” mocking of stuff #what about the “two cakes” ideology? #the whole #because like. art should be FUN #the point of art is to create stuff #not to appeal to the masses #like. we all agreed that trying to please everyone is a bad idea right? #so...why are we making fun of people for having fun/*not appealing to everyone?* #I dunno. I'm just feeling kinda mad about it #rant #ALSO chances are someone's new to storytelling and just wanted to explore a genre they really liked #so... #yeah don't be mean.

[corvid-on-the-rock]

my hottest tranny take has to be that I'm strongly anti-binder. I know, i know, dysphoria and all, but every single binder company is selling lies. It's not safe to bind long-term (as in multiple days, weeks, months in a row even if you only wear it for the recommended period of time each day). It just isn't. And the illusion binding creates, makes dysphoria worse when not wearing one for most people, encouraging them to bind (and buy) more, thus compounding on the inherent risk of binding and also pushing the idea that you have to have a flat chest to be a dude.

Don't get me wrong, if you like binding I'm not telling you to stop. I just think it is unethical market them as "trans care" instead of "optional undergarbs" and it is unethical to sell them period, especially to children. Due to the whole, they're still growing thing. Especially if the kids are on testosterone, their bones will try to get wider.

like i know saying all of that makes it sound like I'm agreeing with a certain kind of talking point but, i feel like we've all known for a long time that binders are not the solution.

#dont come at me in the notes saying it's safe within xyz time and it shouldn't be too tight and blah blah blah #compressing your bones every day is not safe. its not safe to do things in general while compressing your lungs either #and it is impossible to create a binder that does not do that. Because it wraps around your whole ribcage #that's why you can feel the compression in your back too when you bind #if you're wondering why im not talking ab tucking its bc i dont have a penis dont know the first thing ab it rlly #but all trannies feel free to reblog w/ equally hot take rants ab “trans affirming” products and practice that get sold to us #that literally only create the illusion of dysphoria alleviation & do us a lot of actual physical harm #trans #lgbt #transmasc #transfem #transgender #gender affirming care #gender affirming clothes #gender dysphoria #gender euphoria #trans men #trans women

[thebibliosphere]

Whenever I talk about the medical neglect and ableism I've encountered as a victim of the healthcare system, there's always some cockwaffle who feels entitled to come into my inbox and make the argument of "not all doctors" while talking about how "people like them" (because it's always someone in a field of medicine who does this) are doing their best and it's really hard because so many people fake being ill to get on welfare (Yikes), but like, yeah, obviously #not all doctors, because if all doctors were negligent, bullying scum bags, I'd be dead.

But here's the thing: while I truly believe that the majority of doctors are doing their best in a system stacked against them and their patients, their presence does not negate the mass harm caused by the bad ones. And there are far more bad ones than you realize.

Fuck, John Oliver literally did a segment on this last week:

Yes, the truly bad, malicious doctors are in the minority. Most are just horrifically burned out and fighting a losing battle against a system, killing both them and their patients through a lack of funding and resources and profound overwork.

But the malicious ones do exist, and they will go out of their way to harm patients who don't kowtow to them.

I almost lost my life because when I was in my early twenties, I told a doctor I didn't think she was listening to me, and I disagreed with her assessment of my mental health (she was not a mental health doctor, and I was there for heart palpitations and chronic pain). She retaliated by putting "non-compliant" in my file.

There was also a fun little "doesn't show respect" note too that lives rent-free in my head because I know I wasn't rude. I was polite. I just didn't agree with her, and my refusal to accept her off-handed comment that "you probably have bipolar or BPD" (again, I was there for heart palpitations and chronic pain) meant I was "refusing care."

I wasn't. I just refused to be slapped with a mood/personality disorder when I was there because I kept fucking fainting when I stood up.

(Spoiler alert: it was dysautonomia)

That "non-compliant" marker followed me around for years. It followed me across an ocean and effectively ensured that any doctor I saw was going to treat me like absolute dogshit because no one wants to help Difficult Patients. It wasn't until I was so undeniably ill, literally on the brink of death, that anyone helped me.

I'm alive because of a good doctor. And all the good ones that came after him because of him.

So, I know they exist. You don't have to tell me that.

But I really fucking need you to acknowledge the bad ones and that you're part of a system with a long, long history of abusing minorities and vulnerable people. I need you to acknowledge that because it's the only way we're going to survive this godforsaken nightmare and make things better.

So yeah, #notalldoctors, but if you feel the need to say that because someone talking about being literally left to die by the medical system hurts your feelings, I'm going to have to ask you to take a step back and ask yourself if you're going into medicine for the right reasons.

Namely: do you want to help people, even the "difficult" ones?

Even the ones who might disagree with you?

Even if they're on welfare?

Even if they'll never get "better" in a way that means "cured"?

Just a thought. But hey, what do I know. I'm just someone who experienced hemolytic anemia because doctors kept telling me I was anxious and needed to exercise more 🤷‍♀️.

#chronic health tag #medical abuse #medical neglect #medical #ableism #to all the good health care workers who follow me and leave supportive comments: I appreciate you so much #but you need to come get your fellow drs #and idk #give 'em a shake or something #Youtube