The Blogaround
This week Ana Mardoll posted:
(Trigger Warning: Discussion of depression)
Health: Depression Diaries and Unconditional Love
If you aren't depressed, but know someone who is, go take a moment to reassure them that you love them, no matter what. Telling them they aren't total suck won't work; the depression has logic and reason and copious footnotes on its side. Telling them that you'll love them forever even if they are total suck is the only thing that the logic can't defeat because logic is helpless in the face of tautologies.
(Trigger Warning: Discussion of depression)
Health: Depression Diaries and Unconditional Love
If you aren't depressed, but know someone who is, go take a moment to reassure them that you love them, no matter what. Telling them they aren't total suck won't work; the depression has logic and reason and copious footnotes on its side. Telling them that you'll love them forever even if they are total suck is the only thing that the logic can't defeat because logic is helpless in the face of tautologies.
This week Ana Mardoll posted:
(Trigger Warning: Discussion of depression, discussion of cancer)
Health: Depression Diaries and The Theory of Relativity
One of the "fun" things about depression is how easily it can downplay itself as Nothing Serious and you, the sufferer, as a Big Whiner. It does this by the tried-and-true fashion of somebody else has it worse.
(Trigger Warning: Discussion of depression, discussion of cancer)
Health: Depression Diaries and The Theory of Relativity
One of the "fun" things about depression is how easily it can downplay itself as Nothing Serious and you, the sufferer, as a Big Whiner. It does this by the tried-and-true fashion of somebody else has it worse.
This week Ana Mardoll posted:
(Trigger Warning: Politics, Racism, Jackwagonry, Food Poisoning, Swearing )
Deconstruction: "You Might Be A Racist If..." Special Political Edition
I don't usually do political posts on the blog. However! Today I am holed up in bed with food poisoning, and I made the Very Big Mistake of saying so on Twitter and in doing so I noticed this hashtag: #ThingsRomneyShouldSaytotheNAACP.
(Trigger Warning: Politics, Racism, Jackwagonry, Food Poisoning, Swearing )
Deconstruction: "You Might Be A Racist If..." Special Political Edition
I don't usually do political posts on the blog. However! Today I am holed up in bed with food poisoning, and I made the Very Big Mistake of saying so on Twitter and in doing so I noticed this hashtag: #ThingsRomneyShouldSaytotheNAACP.
lonespark announces: Look! I made a thing! I wanted it to exist in the world, and then I made it! Because the internet is awesome!
"What Would Frigga Do?" tshirt
"What Would Frigga Do?" tshirt
Coleslaw writes: This week I went to see Brave. Also, in keeping with the title of my blog, I wrote three blog posts about words and phrases: Kitty Cat, about the many variations of that word meaning "diagonally opposite", Is in the Eating, about a sadly mangled old adage, and Sweet or Unsweet, about iced tea and other beverages.
TRiG sends in links to two weeks' worth of posts:
• Ah, Privatisation, in which a lifeguard in Florida is fired for rescuing a drowning man.
• Some interesting explanations of the laws around freedom of speech for both students and staff in USAian public schools from JT Eberhard of the Secular Students Alliance.
• Photos of atheist signs at San Francisco's LGBT Pride Parade.
(Trigger Warning: References to lies about cancer, References to rape, and to victim-blaming.)
• Ben Goldacre talks about media distortion of science. As a medical doctor, his first focus is alt med and healthy living advice as filtered through the media, but he goes on to give a perfect example of rape culture from the Daily Telegraph. [This is an audio piece (in the form of a video without any video). If I'm asked, I'll do a transcript.]
(End Trigger Warning)
• Jay Smooth talks about feeding trolls, and why it's sometimes the right thing to do. This video also serves as a bite-sized introduction to how privilege works. [Video. I suspect a transcript already exists, but I can't find it. If I'm asked, I'll do one.]
• In Munich, there's an environmentally-friendly supercomputer.
• Some Neil Gaiman short stories are legallay available online.
• Do you talk to your computer? Or swear at it, perhaps? It's unlikely that speech recognition will be the main way to interact with computers any time soon.
• And finally, an except from Dan Pink's speech about research into what really motivates people. [Video. Again, I'll add a transcript if asked.]
• Ah, Privatisation, in which a lifeguard in Florida is fired for rescuing a drowning man.
• Some interesting explanations of the laws around freedom of speech for both students and staff in USAian public schools from JT Eberhard of the Secular Students Alliance.
• Photos of atheist signs at San Francisco's LGBT Pride Parade.
(Trigger Warning: References to lies about cancer, References to rape, and to victim-blaming.)
• Ben Goldacre talks about media distortion of science. As a medical doctor, his first focus is alt med and healthy living advice as filtered through the media, but he goes on to give a perfect example of rape culture from the Daily Telegraph. [This is an audio piece (in the form of a video without any video). If I'm asked, I'll do a transcript.]
(End Trigger Warning)
• Jay Smooth talks about feeding trolls, and why it's sometimes the right thing to do. This video also serves as a bite-sized introduction to how privilege works. [Video. I suspect a transcript already exists, but I can't find it. If I'm asked, I'll do one.]
• In Munich, there's an environmentally-friendly supercomputer.
• Some Neil Gaiman short stories are legallay available online.
• Do you talk to your computer? Or swear at it, perhaps? It's unlikely that speech recognition will be the main way to interact with computers any time soon.
• And finally, an except from Dan Pink's speech about research into what really motivates people. [Video. Again, I'll add a transcript if asked.]
Laiima writes: I'm not actually all sweetness and light. And I'm okay with that, bravely keeping hope alive and gender Bravery.
Storiteller has received a mixed reaction to her bike lately, and she contemplates how that reflects on the biking community at large in Nice Bike - Wanna Ride? Growing beans in her garden, she's been pleasantly surprised by the results, as described in The Musical 'Fruit'.
This week Emilia posted Profiling the Kyriarchy: Power and Oppression
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and feminism isn't immune to that. With only the idea of "patriarchy" as a framing mechanism, feminism will only benefit the least marginalized people in society --- white, able-bodied, cisgender, neurotypical, well-off, and such. To benefit *everyone,* we must be aware of both our relative privileges and oppressions. The idea of kyriarchy provides a framework for a more inclusive and comprehensive feminism, one more able to to give everyone the tools to liberate themselves.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and feminism isn't immune to that. With only the idea of "patriarchy" as a framing mechanism, feminism will only benefit the least marginalized people in society --- white, able-bodied, cisgender, neurotypical, well-off, and such. To benefit *everyone,* we must be aware of both our relative privileges and oppressions. The idea of kyriarchy provides a framework for a more inclusive and comprehensive feminism, one more able to to give everyone the tools to liberate themselves.
Literata wrote about what holy
places mean after visiting the National Cathedral and called out a
writer on issues of privilege, silence, and family relationships: cry
me a river about your bumper sticker. She also celebrated the
publication of a devotional
anthology about independent goddesses that contains some of her
works on Columbia and Athena.
chris the cynic writes: This week I reimagined Tron: Legacy as the first season of a television show, I wrote a silly thing taking place between the lines of a scene from Twilight, I shared ten reasons for vampires to attend high school, I played with a picture of a dragon, and I wrote about the temptation to just give up on everything and scream profanity.(Trigger Warning: Profanity, negative ideation, description of depressive thinking and negative family interactions. )
Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
(Trigger Warning: Oppressive Parenting, Dangerous Relationships, Continued References to Bella's Near-Rape)
Twilight: All The Things I Like
Alright, folks, today we're just polishing off Chapter 9. And since I've been feeling like I've been coming off as really negative lately, what with Narnia and Game of Thrones and The Avengers and everything else, and since I really do feel like a fluffy bunny person on the inside (most days) and since there's nothing too egregious left in this chapter but we need to finish it up anyway, this is going to be one of those Nice Twilight days.
(Trigger Warning: Oppressive Parenting, Dangerous Relationships, Continued References to Bella's Near-Rape)
Twilight: All The Things I Like
Alright, folks, today we're just polishing off Chapter 9. And since I've been feeling like I've been coming off as really negative lately, what with Narnia and Game of Thrones and The Avengers and everything else, and since I really do feel like a fluffy bunny person on the inside (most days) and since there's nothing too egregious left in this chapter but we need to finish it up anyway, this is going to be one of those Nice Twilight days.
Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
(Trigger Warning: Cultural Appropriation, Oppressive Religion, Infertility)
Deconstruction: The Allure of Appropriation
I took a DNA test last year.
(Trigger Warning: Cultural Appropriation, Oppressive Religion, Infertility)
Deconstruction: The Allure of Appropriation
I took a DNA test last year.
Last week Ana Mardoll posted:
(Trigger Warning: Religious Violence)
Narnia: Counterpoint The Surrealism Of The Underlying Metaphor
Everything about Susan's character so far has been that of a young woman who exudes love and kindness to friends and family alike; who expends an excess of effort to avoid, mediate, and end disputes; and who never hesitates to get her hands dirty when there's work to be done. Naturally, this is all going to have to change now that we need an Evil Pevensie To Learn A Moral Lesson.
(Trigger Warning: Religious Violence)
Narnia: Counterpoint The Surrealism Of The Underlying Metaphor
Everything about Susan's character so far has been that of a young woman who exudes love and kindness to friends and family alike; who expends an excess of effort to avoid, mediate, and end disputes; and who never hesitates to get her hands dirty when there's work to be done. Naturally, this is all going to have to change now that we need an Evil Pevensie To Learn A Moral Lesson.
In case you missed this
(Trigger Warning: rape culture, rape "humour," threats of rape)
Douche.0: Daniel Tosh digs rape jokes, proposes a female audience member be raped (boingboing.net, July 10 2012): The un-bylined author of the Cookies for Breakfast tumblog publishes the story of two female friends attending a standup performance by Daniel Tosh, host of the notably unfunny Comedy Central show Tosh.0, in which the comedian made some stupid rape jokes
An American photographer, who for obvious reasons has withheld her name,
has posted pictures ((Trigger Warning: Abortion, explicit photographs of a medical procedure) taken during her abortion in order to counter the often misleading pictures used by anti-abortion propagandists. The images can be viewed here. The photographer also wrote an essay about the project for The Guardian.
Things you can do
From their website: The Innocence Project is a national [American] litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
You can donate to the Innocence Project here.
You can donate to the Innocence Project here.
The Slacktiverse is a community blog. Content reflects the individual opinions of the contributors. We welcome disagreement in the comment threads, and invite anyone who wishes to present an alternative interpretation of a situation to write and submit a post.
Trigger warning, rape.
The only thing I want to do with regards to the Daniel Tosh nonsense is look him in the eye and say, suppose somebody raped you. Wouldn't that be hilarious?
I am a bad bad person. But that's the only thing I can think of that might get the point across.
(I have not tweeted that at him, nor do I plan to. I suspect the response from his legions of defenders would be rape threats directed at me, and I do not care to risk that.)
Posted by: MercuryBlue | Jul 14, 2012 at 09:53 PM
Trigger warning: rape
MercuryBlue--did you see the Onion's piece about this? Someone there had the same idea as you.
Posted by: Mmy | Jul 14, 2012 at 09:57 PM
Hmmmm, my tshirt link doesn't work. I will work on that.
Posted by: Lonespark | Jul 14, 2012 at 10:22 PM
Dear slacktivites,
I would appreciate it if y'all would read my latest Dreamwidth entry (should be linked to my name?) and offer any advice or discussion you can. I got in a fight last night with the organizer of the pick-up soccer games I have been very much enjoying for the past couple of months, over racial profiling and illegal immigration and related issues, and I don't know what to do, except cry and vent on the internet.
Posted by: Lonespark | Jul 16, 2012 at 02:56 PM
@lonespark: Can't comment there, so I'll do it here: I can't remember where you live, so I don't know if this is feasible, but is it possible to find another pick-up soccer game with more POC in it? Because, judging by the fact that nobody stepped in to agree with you in the group you're in, they don't deserve you.
Posted by: Froborr | Jul 16, 2012 at 03:31 PM
Froborr:
(You couldn't comment on DW, even anonymously? Is it a work rule?)
Weeeell...maybe? But it would be a lot more logistically challenging; this one meets right down the road, in my town. Which is a very white, sometimes very insular town, but 1. That's changing, and 2. I don't think that really gets around the problem; I still have to deal with the one woman, who is a fellow Farmer's Market volunteer, and I would still be in the rec league...and how is removing my perspective helpful to anything? I may quit the pickup and just do rec, for this and other reasons, at least for the summer...
In general it is a good suggestion. I am coming around to where I am tired of being surrounded by white people. That is not how America really is. That is not how this local area is. And it leads to people spewing bigoted crap, because hey, we're all white, so we must agree, yes? The next town over has a higher population and lots of immigrants, so I imagine soccer is big there. Don't know about their rec offerings; will look into it. But it's more of a logistical challenge, with the kids and the distance and the time...
It's everything. I'm not going to stop being interested in two of the whitest religions in the U.S. today, but I kind of feel like my spiritual self would be better served in a more diverse setting. (Well, I guess that applies more the local UUs, who are very...WASP. I haven't had much contact with local Heathen groups.)
Posted by: Lonespark | Jul 16, 2012 at 03:45 PM
@Lonespark: It said anonymous commenting was disabled, and I don't have an OpenID or DW account.
I understand the problem better now. Sorry, I don't know that I have any useful advice. Except:
It conserves your spoons. Also, once an argument has reached the point of the participants being angry, it pretty much guarantees neither of them will ever change their mind, because that would be admitting defeat. Unless there are bystanders who might be swayed one way or the other (which there may well be, I have no idea), there's not much point in continuing to pursue the argument unless you're enjoying it.
Posted by: Froborr | Jul 16, 2012 at 05:52 PM
Lonespark: hugs if desired, and will read at home. Why I can access Twitter at work but not Dreamwidth is utterly beyond me.
Froborr: Dreamwidth free-account registration is open indefinitely, as I recall, and there are lots and lots of sites where having an account there means you have an OpenID account, though the only ones I can name offhand are Livejournal and its various clones and forks. FYI.
Posted by: MercuryBlue | Jul 16, 2012 at 06:22 PM
spoons?
Posted by: Joe Smith | Jul 16, 2012 at 06:57 PM
@Joe Smith: spoons?
The Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino
Posted by: Mmy | Jul 16, 2012 at 07:11 PM
Spoons
Posted by: truth is life | Jul 16, 2012 at 07:50 PM