So phrases like "people with uteruses" or "people who have periods" never really bothered me as much as more overtly dehumanizing phrases like "bleeders" or "birthing bodies", but I saw a post today talking about the abnormal symptoms women experienced after getting tear gassed protesting, that ended with something like "we don't know the full effects of tear gas on people with uteruses". And what struck me about that is that's not really correct, because female people without uteruses (either bc they were born without one or bc they had a hysterectomy) will still experience different symptoms after being tear gassed than male people. Women metabolize substances differently than men, our immune systems are different, our hormonal cycles are different, our skin has different thicknesses, etc. All of those things have potential effects on tear gas reactions, and are not dependent on whether or not we have a uterus. They're dependent on whether or not we're female. So saying "people with uteruses" when what is meant is "female people" is not really accurate. And I realized that a lot of times when people use those kinds of phrases, they aren't being accurate.
For example, I'm sure we've all seen people say things about how the repeal of Roe v Wade will harm people with uteruses/people who can get pregnant/etc. And while yes, it definitely harms those people, the full truth is that abortion bans harm *female* people, *regardless of if they can get pregnant or have a uterus.* Because female people who don't have uteruses can still get pregnant, and in those rare cases will 100% of the time need an abortion. Female people who deal with infertility and can't carry a fetus to term can still be jailed for miscarrying. Female people who are completely sterile (for whatever reason) can still be denied medications/medical treatment on the grounds that the treatment could theoretically harm a fetus. Female people who may currently have no uterus/no longer be able to get pregnant but who have had an abortion in the past will face increased stigma.
Here's another example:
It seems pretty straightforward- menstruation stigma is experienced by people who menstruate. But again, that's only half true. Period stigma is experienced by all female people, regardless of if they menstruate. Think about the fact that we are told female people should not hold political leadership because "what if a female president has PMS and starts a war", despite the fact that almost all female presidential candidates are old enough that they would have experienced menopause. Female people have their feelings dismissed because "it must be that time of the month", regardless of if they're too young to menstruate or too old or if they have a condition causing amenorrhea. Female children grow up seeing periods- a natural function of their bodies- portrayed as disgusting, dirty and gross, as making them unclean, as something to dread and fear. This affects them before they experience menarche, this affects them even if they never experience menarche. It affects all female people.
I could come up with more examples, but you get the idea. Reducing female people to singular body parts and organs inherently denies the reality of femaleness. All parts of us (both biological and social) interact with all other parts of us to form an experience that can't be understood by chopping us up and putting our individual functions under the microscope. In order to get an accurate picture you need to look at the whole (female) human.
That time you put up a video of you fiddling with ammo at work was hot. (At least I think that was a video you uploaded? Ammo was definitely involved somehow.)
Holy shit you remembered this? I totally forgot about it, had to scroll for like ten minutes thru my gallery to find it it happened so long ago.
Not Toto literally shouting from the basement because I was a couple minutes late putting him to bed
He has complete full access to put himself to bed whenever he wants but if *I* put him to bed then he gets a bonus treat so I absolutely needed to come downstairs immediately so he could have his bedtime treato
୧(⁎˃◡˂⁎)୨ good mornie all!! today is 2023’s final friyay!!!! im doin my lil dancey dance to help celebrate the last wknd of the yr!! words can’t even begin to describe just how proud & amazed i always am at all of you ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა 2023 was a rough yr & def came w its struggles & strifes, BUT you are all so incredible & have made such great strides & have grown in your each individual way!! ໒꒰ྀི∩˃ ᵕ ˂∩꒱ྀི১ i sincerely hope that your few finals days of 2023 are memorable ones as we enter the fresh slate that is 2024 <33 lets make this friday so AMAZING!! :3
so my hair is long now (very. very long i have not had hair this long in my life) and I've noticed that it forms curls naturally if left alone for too long SO should I try a more curly hair oriented hair washing routine and see what happens?
Every time someone makes a post about excessive beauty standards or like capitalism making people buy more beauty products using the fear of aging or the social power of being beautiful, it's insane that there will inevitably be 1 of 2 weirdos in the notes: 1) The "If you're happy being UGLY, I feel sorry for you" type and 2) The "Actually, I think NO hygiene is the way to go, soap is the devil actually" type and it's absolutely no surprise or coincidence that both of these types of people are almost always white...