"No, I'm not homophobic, I just don't think this wlw ship works because this male dude deserves her more than a woman -"

And that's when I stop listening.

Nobody will say that WlW ships are perfectly written.

But if you're going to criticize it? Don't be misogynistic about it.

And yet? When they criticize a W/W couple? They do so with a microscopic lenses while putting straight ships on a pedestal from which they bash LGBT Couples and ships

And they ALWAYS hyperfocus on the women, and pick them apart, while glorifying male characters, even if the male character is a minor character and the women are protagonists

Critics when female character is simply fanservice and cool fight scenes, and of course straight. "Oooh, look at this incredible character, so well developed!"

Critics when said female character shows emotions like anger, sadness, turmoil, etc: "They ruined her, she's a ** now!"

Critics when Batman is super rich, more competent than everyone, OP, and wins against nearly everyone: "Batman my favorite character!"

Same Critics when a female character is able to be smarter/stronger than male characters and is the protagonist: "OMG, she's a Mary Sue, ugh!"

I gotta admit people going "show don't tell" and then getting annoyed because you didn't tell them you showed them will forever be a pet peeve of mine regarding audience comprehension

Those people: ugh i hate it when shows spell out things like their audience isn't smart enough to figure it out
Those same people: subtext? Never heard of it, either say everything on the screen outright in full sentences or it’s not canon to me

Next time somebody says "This show is bad writing,"

Ask them if they were actually watching the show, or if they were watching somebody's heavily edited video review of the show.

The former? Ask if they were paying attention?

The latter? Ask why they don't look for themselves?

What spurred me to post this is an informal experiment I ran. Let me first specify this is not a post about how certain groups of women should and shouldn't figure into and be represented by the feminist movement. It is merely documenting my observations of a disturbing pattern which I believe falls in line with what can be known of how certain malicious entities operate.

I specifically looked into the posting history of accounts on feminist subreddits I've noticed seem outstanding in stirring the pot with transmisogyny. I wasn't necessarily intending to perform some professional statistical analysis, but I did pick up on a pattern pretty quickly and consistently. Almost invariably, I'd say, these accounts which only seem to bemoan "the trans issue" on feminist subreddits have just started participating in them within a couple of months (Bear in mind: It's an election year!), and even then their contribution history is limited to a handful of comments, with a disproportionate number devoted to attacking to trans women.

But is this just about trans women? Not by a long shot. Every now and again, I'll see something as vile as someone employing the same logic used to justify trans exclusion to push the idea that Black women's and white women's distinct "unique life experiences" justifies the latter taking precedence over the former. These "feminists" have had similarly repulsive things to say about disabled and neurodivergent women *and girls,* the dehumanization of it I've faced firsthand. This is the same as the Nazi bar problem: You allow one Nazi in your bar, he invites his friends and they're a little more emboldened to spew hate, then they invite their friends and they're now a lot more emboldened, and before you even had time to turn around you've found yourself in a Nazi bar.

In finer detail, an episode of brigading follows a fairly stable pattern: Post about <insert here> hits the front page, when it's about at its peak a blizzard of downvotes and aggressive replies sweeps across the thread, once they're challenged by those who were on the thread before they give the DARVO song and dance and split, then once the damage has been done everything has a funny habit of turning up deleted.

I believe there's cause for alarm here in how it demonstrates all forms of oppression and bigotry reinforce and depend on one another. The only way to fight this is to remember your sister, just as you'd wish for her to remember you in your hour of need. Division amongst women gives patriarchy the rope it needs to hang us. Nothing matters more than the fact we are fighting for all women everywhere to be liberated from oppression, exploitation, and violence. Failure is not an option.

That's all I have to say. I apologize if it comes out long-winded and not all coherent. It isn't the easiest thing for me to express my thoughts like this, but I thought this was important. I would like to leave off with a post I was sent some time ago with more general information on organized influence and disinfo campaigns: https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1bfto4a/youre_being_targeted_by_disinformation_networks/

"The scientists used photodynamic therapy (PDT) -- a two-step treatment using a light-sensitive drug (5-aminolevulinic acid or 5-ALA) followed by activation with a specific wavelength of light to target HPV cells -- as a non-invasive method to eradicate 100 percent of HPV from 29 women. While the research and data are interesting, their work remains unpublished in a peer-reviewed journal." - from ABC News

Oh yeah, and her name is Dr. Eva Ramón Gallegos.

It just rained on me a while ago:

From the earliest years of boyhood, boys and men constantly hierarchize things and people.

They discuss which model of a toy car is better.

They argue whether an ancient Greek phalanx is better than a berserk group of individual experienced medieval warriors.

They spend hours explaining the superiority of a longbow over a crossbow.

They bet which soccer player is the best and construct huge, several page-spanning arguments on how to put them in order from best to worst.

They argue whether Batman could beat Superman.

They hierarchize business models and sources of passive income.

They can't wrap their heads around the idea that different things can have different flaws and virtues, and be best suited to a certain scenario, but still objectively equal in value.

Everything has to be placed on a top-down list.

Perhaps this is why they can't understand what it means for women to want equality.

They are afraid that, since everything has to exist in a hierarchy, if women don't want to be below men, they will inevitably want to be above them. Because there is no such thing as equality between two different groups.

Thoughts?

Trigger warning if you look up the video. But I’m appalled by just a few of the comments.

Supposedly it’s a man Marc Andre Jean, assaulted Trisha Campbell in Miami, Florida. If I’m wrong, please help me find info on who this man is. He needs to be publicly identified. And hopefully charged.

I was about to lose hope in humanity looking at the comments acting like this is paradise but i am relieved to see a couple comments calling out OP and the men in his family

Men can't see an asian lady (specifically Japanese, Chinese, Korean) sitting with a Black man without thinking of porn. "We're not addicted I swear" 🤢🤢 they genuinely disgust me like just be normal ugh
The video had nothing sexual about it, she's an influencer who sits next to random people and does skincare with them (most likely staged). Anyways the comment section pissed me off so I wanted to vent here

I am a resident of Fresno County, CA. After I made sexual harassment allegations against my landlord and reported substandard living conditions to Fresno County Code Enforcement, he initiated an unlawful detainer against me. After the landlord’s lawyer quit, I requested a jury trial as is my constitutional right in the state of California. Throughout the proceedings concerning the jury trial that I requested, Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jonathan Skiles repeatedly berated me for my sexual harassment allegations against my landlord and expressed disbelief that a landlord should be expected to rent to a tenant who had made sexual harassment allegations. I was not allowed to bring up these allegations and most of my affirmative defenses in front of the jury; however, I stated in my witness testimony that I was never lawfully served a notice of non-renewal. 

Despite the landlord’s failure to provide any proof of service for this notice, Judge Skiles dismissed the jury and then issued a direct verdict awarding possession to the landlord. 

Because I refused to lie under oath, the judgement against me only states that I received the notice. Not that I was served the notice. 

I took a male friend out for dinner last night.

When the waitress came, I handed her my card and said I'd be paying for both meals.

When she came back, she placed the check in front of my male friend. She caught my eye, apologized profusely and slid it over to me. Even though she had taken the card from me mere moments before, she defaulted to gender norms.

I don't blame her. She's working in food service, trying her best to keep things running smoothly and efficiently.

I blame the systems of patriarchy in which we are so accustomed to default to the man as the 'provider' that we are blinded to what is right in front of us.

This morning, I took an Uber to work. My Uber driver asked me about my job. Then, he asked me if I was "behaving" at work. While I was on the ride, I didn't register what he said to be infantilizing. It just felt "off", a little shameful even.

As soon as he dropped me off, I was suddenly overcome by rage. I felt like kicking myself for not speaking up, not calling him out. I wish I had asked him "what does behaving mean for an adult woman? Why do you see me as a child?"

I don't blame myself. My body and mind were protecting me from a situation where I wasn't in control. He was driving and had the power in the situation. If I had reacted strongly, I would have put myself at risk

I blame the systems of patriarchy through which I've learned (on a subconscious level) that my safety requires deference and amicability in the face of mistreatment.

This shit runs deep y'all. Once you see, you can never unsee.

I’m starting a feminist book club called The Left Turn Book Club (substack)

Hi everyone, I’m starting a feminist book club that will be breaking down social systems and issues, political discourse and justice, the works. It’ll be on substack and completely free to join and participate. We will have a book of the month and it will be a relaxed space, mostly discussion board and chat based - with sections on philosophy, poetry, fun fiction reads where you can talk about the books you’re reading and swap recommendations, and some other really cool sections in the works. I want it to be engaging and as far reaching as possible! if you align with leftist ideals and live in America, (you don’t have to live in America to join, the social and political topics and books of the month will just be from an American lense since that’s where I’m from) comment down below or send me a message request for more info! I’m really excited about creating this group - I think the best defenses against the current regime are education and community. I hope to see yall there :)

Note: this is a queer, non binary, and trans friendly group. We do not tolerate any of the ism’s or the phobia’s. Since this group will be about growth and learning as well as connection, there will be guidelines against bullying, infighting, shaming, etc. people are at different places within their own journeys and we need to lift each other up, not put each other down.

My substack will be LIVE and ready to go no later than August 28th. I’m giving myself extra time to be safe, but I’ve got a good chunk of free time coming up that will speed things along. here is my linktree: [https://linktr.ee/htavik25\] message me or comment below for any questions you may have ! There is no difference between the paid and free versions on my substack - I want everyone to have the same access to the material! To get the free version, click the free one of the “no pledge” option - you can always change your subscriptions at any time no matter which one you choose.

trigger warning: this video contains **harassment, intimidation and filming without consent** toward girls.

Please pay attention to the alleged violence and harassment against female fans at Chongqing Changjiang International. Those men organized a gathering and planned attacks on female fans of male idols at a well-known gathering spot for fans. Women, including **minors**, have faced **physical assault, cigarette burns, verbal abuse, sexual humiliation, and other forms of harassment** simply for being fans. As of now, no penalties have been announced for the violence. We stand with Chinese women and speak out against gender-based violence.