Medusa kisses – Page 2 – once was goth, but now am found

May 16, 2020May 16, 2020

He didn’t start the (dumpster) fire

Occasionally, I run across a news article or post, crediting our current leader Lump with “disintegration of trust” or otherwise creating the conditions for the corruption of our federal government. These annoy me because, unfortunately, cronyism, corruption, deception have been baked into our democratic government over the course of many decades.

If you want to blame anyone, blame the founding fathers who wrote the constitution and neglected to provide any real accountability for elected officials. Yes, yes, we have a “system of checks & balances” but one that has been easily corrupted. Two-branches of government are comprised entirely of elected officials and the third branch is appointed by one and approved by the other, so it might as well be elected. Perhaps the founders, being mostly of rational and earnest minds couldn’t conceive of politicized appointments to the judicial branch, but that’s nearly as short-sighted as their lack of consideration for non-whites, non-men and non-landowners.

I can’t unravel how we got to, as a society, a place where specious statements are the norm (I suspect it has a lot to do with the internet, but not entirely, as newspapers and textbooks included some counter-factual stories well before the start of the 21st century and dawn of the modern internet). However, I can easily explain how politicians came to speak speciously with regularity. It’s because there’s little-to-no consequence for doing so.

April 10, 2020April 10, 2020

There is No War, There is No Cure

I’m talking about Covid-19 circa March-April of 2020; as of now, there is no war, there is no cure. Aren’t we getting a little tired of MEWA (Make Everything a War Analogy)? There’s no “War on Christmas” and there’s certainly no war against an unbeatable micro-zombie (virus) that’s literally eating humans alive.

We do not have a vaccine; health experts say an effective, safe vaccine is 12-18 months in the future. Even when we do get a vaccine, that’s not a “cure”; a vaccine doesn’t help anyone who is already sick. I don’t understand how anyone can imagine a “war” where you have no effective weapon against the enemy, where the best you can do is run and hide/avoid (which is basically what “social distancing” is).

Americans, or maybe the world, loves to analogize/masculinize everything into a violent altercation, where all conflict is “fighting” and the deepest insult possible is “cowardice.” This is epidemiology, not war, and our best option is preventative practices, which can mitigate the spread. Such practices are borne of concern and caution, not “bravery”; here, the brazen and fearless are not “war fighters,” but instead will be carriers who catch and spread the disease.

December 14, 2019December 14, 2019

Aces Wild (Asexuality & Queerness)

Where does asexuality fit within the queer spectrum? Nowhere? Everywhere? Although not myself asexual, I find this an interesting question because I’m also an outlier, albeit in a different way.

First, some definitions:
Asexuality is defined by a non-temporary lack of sexual attraction (e. g., someone who rarely, if ever, experiences sexual attraction or desire).
Ace is a shortened version of “asexual” and commonly used for self-identification among those who are asexual, similar to terms like, “gay” or “straight.”

For an ace perspective / definition (and a really good doorknob analogy), check out Echo Gillette’s YouTube video: Coming out as asexual.

“Queer” was a term originally used by mainstream people to circumspectly or pejoratively refer to those they considered homosexuals; later, queerness was reclaimed by gay. lesbian, bisexual and trans activists (becoming known as the LGBT community).

October 17, 2019November 5, 2019

In Defense of Netflix

I sometimes hear Netflix lumped in with “Big Tech” or explicitly likened to Facebook, Google and Amazon, which is understandable in terms of newness, internet reliance and reach, but also can be unfair, in the context of data tracking and privacy violations.

While Netflix does track some data (primarily, the device identifier, connection and media watched while on the service), it’s not a data tracking company like Google* and Facebook* are. Those two companies provide ostensibly “free” services, which make money via 2 primary methods: the display of advertisements (from anyone who will pay, including disinformation/lies from both domestic and foreign sources) AND the collection and sale of personal information which was directly provided or can be inferred about their users (based on usage). In the case of Amazon, they also collect significant user data, although they tend to use it internally to increase their product sales, so it’s not commensurate with Facebook or Google, in that regard (although Amazon has other problems, including speed-running their warehouse workers*).

August 15, 2019August 30, 2019

Isn’t He Pretty? (a taste of dysphoria)

Everyone wears masks in a way, presenting slightly different versions of themselves in different public situations (perhaps to “unmask” only at home). But gender dysphoria is like a cursed mask melded with your face, an undesirable deception that is overly tight and non-removable (without the right magic spell).

I think that as young children, we tend to accept what the adults around us say, uncritically & regardless of how it feels. For me, in the faint wisps I can recall of my childhood, I was indifferent to the label of “boy” and its trappings (including my boy-name); I didn’t mind it, but neither did I “identify” as it – it was just one of those things people said to/about me. (That said, I insisted on nail polish as a toddler & makeup was generally required each Halloween.)

My indifference began to shift into conflict after enrolling in Catholic school (grades 7-12), which had gender-specific dress codes. At first, it was fun, like a weird costume party all the time, wearing a tie like some “businessman,” but it didn’t take long to feel oppressive. I noticed the girls’ dress code had a lot more flexibility. Girls could have any hair length, wear several different styles of shirts with skirts, Capri pants or regular pants, but boys hair must be short and they could only wear full-length, solid color slacks with button-up shirts and ties.

June 22, 2019June 27, 2019

Antichrist Christians

It is absurd yet true that many self-styled “Christians” exemplify attitudes and beliefs antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ, and thus are “antichrist” (which I’m using here as an adjective meaning “opposing Christ” and not as a noun in the sense of “evil prophet” as is more commonly used).

I understand the key themes of Jesus’s teachings to be love, helping others and humility. He made a point of being kind to those most hated in his era: tax collectors, prostitutes and lepers. He disparaged the wealthy and the self-righteous, instead encouraging compassion and simplicity. Many of his parables center around helping strangers in need.

Unfortunately, many self-proclaimed Christians espouse opposite behaviors: intolerance, self-righteousness, cruelty and greed.

May 19, 2019May 24, 2019

Neither he, she, nor it.

Which is better: being unconsciously misgendered by kindly people or correctly but maliciously gendered by ill-meaning strangers?

Usually, it is the latter (malicious gendering) because intentions matter. — Even though I’m not necessarily offended by the words, it isn’t fun (or safe) to feel hostility from those who intend their words to hurt. He-she, she-he and it are hater favorites. All are, in a way, correct – I’m not a straightforward he or she type of person. In some sense, I’m an “it” – an unknown quantity to people who tend to think of gender as binary. But I don’t wish to be known by those terms, which are too often malice-tinged.

For my first decade of identifying and presenting as androgynous, I tended to just roll with whatever people chose to call me (even if that made me uncomfortable). Occasionally, the very sensitive or progressive person would ask me what gender pronouns do I prefer?

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019

All the rage: capitalism

I haven’t posted in a long while, in strong part because I’ve been angry / frustrated / distressed about the current result of decades of government-distrust-mongering and neoliberalist capitalism. Result being that our government is dysfunctional, non-representative and financial disparities are wider than ever. Which has led to widespread disenfranchisement and higher susceptibility to manipulations and lies.

Capitalism, at its root = Competitive Greed

If we could strip away the glamour of that C-word, and an outsider were to consider the concept of “competitive greed” as a baseline for an economic system or government, they would not expect it to result in social good nor any sort of balance; rather, it would result in few winners and many losers in the “game.”

December 10, 2017

Victims contribute: Sexism

Many people seem to believe sexism is a simple one-way oppression, where entitled men oppress women individually; however, sexism is broadly cultural, not merely individual, so the true picture is more complex.

For the record, I fully acknowledge that entitled men exist and regularly oppress women on an individual basis, both consciously and unconsciously. That said, men and women are all victims of sexism and contributors to the culture of male dominance and female subordination. (For the purposes of this post, when I say “men,” “male,” “women,” or “female” I mean “most” cis-men or cis-women – it’s a generalization.) Continue reading “Victims contribute: Sexism”

August 31, 2017

Black Lives Matter: a Primer for Whites

Dear White Person (& North American),

If you’re confused or upset by the “Black Lives Matter” movement, please first try translating it in your mind into “Black Lives Should Matter As Much as White Lives.” That’s what it really means; it’s just the shorter version is catchier.

The problem is that much of our society acts as if black lives don’t matter*, unlike white lives, which clearly do matter to everyone. So the Black Lives Matter movement sprung up as a way to protest the “don’t matter” ideology (& especially the consequence-free murders of black folk). Continue reading “Black Lives Matter: a Primer for Whites”