what is with men being mad any time a woman raises her voice where did that even come from. someone posted a video of a small electrical explosion, and the top comment was of course the woman screams. the second comment is women try not to scream challenge, level impossible. i had to go back and watch the video again. there is, somewhat fainty, a little gasp emitted off-camera, more of a yelp than a scream. it is mostly lost in the crack of the explosion. afterwards, you hear her voice, shaken, say, are you okay?
i am helping one of my friends train her voice pitch lower, because she wants to be taken seriously at work. she and i do each other's nails and talk about gender roles; and how - due to our appearance - neither of us have ever been able to be "hysterical" in public. we both appear young and sweet and feminine. she is cisgender, and cannot use her natural voice in her profession because people keep saying she appears to be "vapid". we both try to figure out if our purposeful voice lowering is technically sexist. is it promoting something when you are a victim to it?
a storm almost sends a pole through a car window. in the dashcam, you can hear the woman passenger say her partner's name twice, crying out in alarm. she sounds terrified. in the comments, she is lambasted for her lack of calm. how is that even fucking helping?
in high school, i taught myself to have a lower voice. i had been recorded when i was genuinely (and righteously) upset; and i hated how my voice sounded on the phone speakers when it was played back. i was defending my mom, and my voice cracked with emotion. it meant i was no longer winning the argument: i was just shrieking about it.
girls meet each other after a long summer and let out a little joyful scream. this usually stops around 12-14, because people will not tolerate this display of affection (as it has the effect of being passingly annoying). something about the fact that little girls can't ever even be annoying. we are trained to examine each part of our lives (even joy) for anything that could make us upsetting and disgusting. they act like teenage girls are breaking into houses and shrieking you awake at 3 in the morning. speaking as a public school educator: trust me, it's not that bad, you can just roll your eyes and move on. it does not compare to the ways boys end up being annoying: slurs in graffiti, purposefully mocking your body, following you after you said no. you know, just boy things.
there's another video of a man who is not allowed to yell in the house, so he snaps his fingers when he's excited about soccer. the comments are full of angry men, talking about how their brother is unfairly caged. let him express himself and this is terrible to do to someone. eventually the couple has to address it in a second video: they are married with a newborn baby. he was trying not to wake the infant up. there is no comment on the fact women are not allowed to yell indoors. or the fact that it could have been really alarming or triggering for his wife. sometimes i wonder if straight men even like women, if they even enjoy being in relationships with them.
for the longest time, i hated roller coasters because it always felt inappropriate and uncomfortable for me to scream. one of my friends called me on it, said it was unusual i'm so unwilling. i had to go to my therapist about it. i don't like to scream because i was not raised in a safe situation, and raising my voice would have brought unsafe attention towards me. even when i am supposed to scream, it feels shameful, guilty. i was not treated kindly, so i lack a basic form of self-protection. this is not a natural response. it is not good that in a situation of high adrenaline - i shut up about it.
something very bad is happening, i think. in between all the beauty standards and the stuff i've already discussed - this one feels new and cruel in a way i can't quite express. yes, it's scary and silencing. but there's something about how direct it is - that so many men agree with the sentiment that women should never yell, even in an emergency - it feels different.
is the word shriek gendered automatically? how about shrill or screech? in self defense class, one of the first things they tell you is to yell, as loud and as shrilly as you can. they say it will feel rude. most women will not do this. you need to practice overcoming the social pressure and just scream.
most women do not cry out, even when it's bad. we do not report it. we walk faster. we do not make a scene. what would be the point of doing anything else? no matter what we do, we don't get taken seriously. it is a joke to them. an instagram caption punchline. we have to present ourselves as silent, beautiful, captivating - "valuable."
a woman is outside watching her kids when someone throws a firecracker at them. she screams and runs towards her children. in the comments, grown men flock together in the thousands: god. women are so annoying.
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doctor who said hahah yeah we're gonna make the tenth doctor a guy that gets so deeply and utterly attached to the people around him and one by one he watches them leave and it drives him to a complete breakdown as he gets his heart broken over and over again and keeps causing harm to those around him and then finally he has a conversation where someone tells him that they want him to live actually, that he's a wonderful person and he needs to make the decision to save his own life along with the rest of humanity's. and then when the battle is over and for the first time in so long he laughs with real relief and joy that he's alive and that he's happy that he's alive, he has to sacrifice himself for the person that gave him that reason for living back. he dies alone and scared and desperate to cling onto the love that shaped his identity and the pain that resulted from it. And all i have to say on this is that i need to strangle rtd with my bare hands
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Today, I'm thinking about watching a movie with a boy, having his head in my lap, and gently scratching my nails over his scalp to hear his little contented sighs. Hand him snacks if he wants them and rest my free hand on his waist
And reach a little lower if his sighs turn needy until neither of us is watching the movie anymore
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hey not to be that guy, but for everyone looking at the Stede!Mermaid scene at the end of the Innkeeper and thinking it's cringe... do we think maybe there's some externalised shame here? as queer fans, our love, enthusiasm, skill and labour (fanfiction, fanart, etc.) has mostly been relegated to the shadows, despite it being the backbone of many shows/fandoms. to have that love & labour visually represented in an unabashed, unashamed, silly, CANONICAL and queer way? to have the very stories we devote our time to crafting for one another manifested on the screen in an unapologetically gay visual feast? that should be a fucking celebration.
it's okay. lean in with me. let's practice some radical self-love and healing in this chillis tonight. together. this is a love letter to us. lean in.
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other people have said this better than I will here, but every time there's an imodna conversation, I start hearing noises about the their relationship being codependent, unhealthy.
and, look, yeah, individually? they're mentally unhealthy. they are! they're fucked up and traumatized and trying to hold on long enough to get to the other side and each of them individually struggling to believe that's even possible.
but their relationship? how much they love each other? how much of a harbor they try to be for each other, how they do their best to help each other, steady each other, even while they're grappling with their own shit in ways that make that really really hard?
of course they're not always gonna get it exactly right. sometimes, one of them—both of them—needs support. needs reassurance. needs their partner to be there for them.
two fucked up people are never gonna have a relationship where they both behave perfectly, healthily, every time. (in fact, no relationship is gonna have that, but that's neither here nor there.) they won't have a relationship that's all sunny skies and calm waters, not until they can calm their own storms.
but they can give each other the space to be both fucked up and loved. to promise to hold each other's hand while they do what they need to do to get through it, and to promise that there is something on the other side. that it's worth fighting to get to it together.
needing each other isn't inherently codependent. and loving someone who's struggling isn't toxic.
and there's so, so much love.
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