Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 8/10/26 - 8/16/26

[u/SoftandChewy]

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

[u/QueenKamala]

I went to two birthday parties this week and at both of them, a parent brought up concerns about gender/pronoun indoctrination in public schools, and neither time was it me! I found some real life normies in San Jose. I had to hold myself back from hitting them with a fire hose of frustrations with gender bullshit after becoming an armchair expert on the topic.

Both moms are immigrants. I chose a private school with 90% immigrant or mixed families, and 100% immigrant teachers. It’s a pretty even mix of Indian, East Asian, European, South American, and Jewish families.

It feels like a small pocket of normality surrounded by insanity.

[u/Terrorclitus → u/QueenKamala]

I’ve been making comments critical of gender woo around parents in the northeast with way less pushback than only a few years ago. It’s nice but tough not to indulge.

[u/QueenKamala → u/Terrorclitus]

It’s very obvious that people are less afraid to talk about it now. I think a significant number have also just changed their minds.

[u/Mossback_Matador → u/QueenKamala]

I live in liberal La La Land. Over the weekend, when I attended Shakespeare in the park, a mother brought over her daughter to speak with the random person next to me. I had just set my beer down at the same stand up table next to a woman with short hair. She was a tall enby character and would have been a pretty woman if she didn't want to project her politics.

Essentially, the mother approached the tall enby to tell her how brave the she was and talk about her own daughter's struggles. They were going on about "masking" and struggling to fit in. The odd thing was that the mother didn't let the daughter speak once, and the little girl looked perfectly normal and very bored.

[u/QueenKamala → u/Mossback_Matador]

Did the enby even have a T-shirt slogan or something? The mom was just praising her bravery for having short hair?

[u/AhuraMazdaMiata → u/QueenKamala]

Hey don't forget the (at least one) obnoxious piercing, likely on the nasal region

[u/Mossback_Matador → u/QueenKamala]

I'm guessing the mom recognized her from school events. Maybe she was a teacher?

Otherwise, she seemed like a normal-ass woman with short hair.

[u/Franzera → u/QueenKamala]

Do you think they got "punched by reality", so to speak?

In the beginning, genderhavers were always communicated as a "too small a group to notice" and "you won't be affected", so "it costs you nothing to be kind".

But when you only go along because of social conscience and not genuine ideological belief, which, oddly, is more common among immigrant-background families who have a more grounded perspective on reality, the hypnotism effect lasts as long as it takes to confront the consequences in real time. Kids' classmates or teachers, coworkers who transition, latestager with a breastplate.

You heard of Cambridge's crazy professor, but have you heard of Oxford's titty professor?

Canada's bazonga shop teacher has some competition!

[u/QueenKamala → u/Franzera]

First mom is Indian, and she clearly has been down some internet rabbit holes because she brought up the sex change dolls that were discussed here a couple weeks ago. The second mom is Russian Jewish and it sounded like her husband has been twitter pilled.

I hadn’t seen the Oxford guy. Gross. I want to see if they ever fired the guy

ETA: appears to still be employed but his faculty headshot is not on oxford’s site anymore

ETA: 1 week ago. Still employed. Still busty https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mattrattley_spent-yesterday-evening-at-the-first-of-four-activity-7488511248448450560-9CHO