disabled queer genderqueer Celtic-American Hellenic polytheist; hyperrealistic neuroqueer hopepunk; weaver of words
| |
singular they pronouns
| |
Black Lives Matter | water is life | we're queer, we're here, get over it | support your local libraries | there is no such thing as a good cop | Turtle Island is stolen land
| |
acting like the war's over because the battle's won is a good way to lose the war
| |
earth without art is just eh
| |
my fanworks-of-fanworks permission statement is on my AO3 and Dreamwidth profiles
| |
also AlexSeanchai on: AO3 | Dreamwidth | Mastodon | Bluesky | ko-fi
I recognize that the presence of Follow buttons on every single reblog addition on every single post means a lot of people are following other people based on a single reblog comment, without even loading the tumblr in question, never mind skimming the bio or pinned post
but seriously? I am making no attempt to be subtle about this. rather the opposite!
I don't know whether I think this should also apply when the sum of the interaction is them reblogging an image description from me and me going to see which one it was and noticing their bio before the post loads
this also goes for if you're doing a callout post on me, for whatever reason
my new favorite is I'm a Zionist, which is either absurd on the face of it—how can I be either zionist or antizionist? I'm not Jewish!—or additional proof that everyone (while they themselves are neither Jewish nor Israeli in any sense) who says antizionism is not antisemitism? is in fact a lying liar
or possibly someone who sincerely thinks my being a queer trans disabled progressive isn't enough justification to hate me, but because they really want to hate me anyway, they'll make sure to lump me in with Jewish people for saying using scammer strategies is scamming regardless of what sob story is involved, and/or for saying, hating the group of people that's been pissing everyone else off longest by refusing to die? might make you popular, but will never make you right
I'm here to tell you all about the brilliance that is the new season's theme song 不渝, and how it is THE theme song for TGCF
• spoilers for the entire book and the revised edition
• all translations are mine unless otherwise stated !
• buckle up for a long post
Disclaimer: I am Chinese, but I am by no means a literature student. I'm just glazing the hell out of this song because having a production team this talented and this dedicated is the real heaven official's blessing, and this IS a masterpiece. Lemme explain—
I've been looping 不渝 (the new S4 ED), and I just can't help but marvel at Kuo Hao Jun & Co's brilliance. This song is only ~4:00, but it spared no expenses. There's not a single repeated line, and it takes you through Hualian's entire journey from the start of the story till the end.
Credit to 风雪夜小火炉 on WB for this analysis! This song is an all-encompassing, almost bard-like recital of Hualian’s experiences pre- and post-800-year mark. Here are the referenced chapter titles in Eng:
We had 不悟 Bu Wu "Unenlightened" (HC's theme), 不坠 Bu Zhui "Unwavering" (XL's theme), and now 不渝 Bu Yu. I think I'd translate it as "Unfaltering".
The title is a direct callback to MXTX's physical signature and her author's bio: 浪漫至死不渝
It could read as something like: "Romance til death do us part" or "Romance never dies."
The phrase 不渝 means "steadfast" or "unchanging", particularly in regards to feelings about something. It's very similar to 不坠 Unwavering as it means "unchanging" (XL is the heart of the story after all), but in the sense of never letting your principles 坠落 fall.
I think "Unfaltering" fits the song really well (like "unfaltering support"), since both XL and HC's faith and love have been itself, unfaltering. XL has "never wavered" (like "unwavering courage") in his commitment to his beliefs and his love for all things living.
In the song lyrics, all three titles 不悟不坠不渝 appear with respect to the subject of their theme song. I tried to translate these lines as quickly as I could to make this post ASAP haha, so I might amend them later.
如神鬼明彻 又凭何 笑你痴心难舍
这人间沉疴 能与你相随 「不悟」不赦
HC:
"If the gods and ghosts see with perfect clarity, then how dare they laugh at your foolish, clinging devotion?
In this world entrenched with sickness, I walk beside you—unenlightened and unpardoned"
如神怜众生 又凭何 要谁蹈谁覆辙
纵大雨顷刻 存一缕心热 「不坠」深壑
XL:
"If the gods offer pity to all beings, then why must some walk the ruined paths of those before?
Even amidst a raging downpour, I fold fast to the single ember in my heart—unwavering before the deep abyss"
如神怜众生 也为一人 孤注亦值得
奉灰于你掌 至死「不渝」者 无往不克
Together:
"As the gods offer pity to all beings, I stake my all on a single soul, and it is still worth the cost
I lay my ashes in your palm: those who remain unfaltering unto death leave nothing unconquered"
This is a callback to S1E11-12 at Gambler’s Den, a common phrase that gamblers say when they’re making a bet (often added in various media for dramatic effect): 孤注一掷，死亦无悔
"All in, with no regrets even in death."
Moving on to these lines that reference all the major side characters/plotlines in sweeping poetry, as you see Hualian’s adventures flash before your eyes
当鎏金照恩与仇 前错今错未咎 几人曾看透
剑骨埋风流 金枝为筹 一刎封喉
HC:
"As gilded gold shines on both grace and grudge, past and present sins fade without blame; yet how many ever saw through the illusion?
A warrior’s spine buried in gallant charm, a golden branch used as the stake; one slash severs the throat"
叹无垠沙不归人 无边水不渡舟 故人难再有
凌波问星宿 美玉谁困 此心从未朽
XL:
"I lament the boundless sands where travellers never return, and the endless waters where no boats can cross; old friends are hard to find once more
From the Tower of Lingbo, I question the stars: who has trapped this flawless jade? For this heart has never decayed"
(I interpreted this as XL lamenting 叹 in his pov about his friends)
KHJ said they created all the theme songs for the drama before officially releasing anything, so the music serves as a motif throughout the show. So this BGM has appeared wayyyyy back! AT THE START! I got goosebumps when I realised this 😭
Credit to 蛋炒七 on XHS
• S4 Trailer.
• S1E1 after XL ascends for the third time. (the first 5 mins !!)
• S2E2, when MNQ tells XL to go wander, he decides to take down the ghost at Yinian Bridge.
• S3E13 when XL grabbed HC to run in the Cave of 10k Gods.
• The next ep preview for S3E18 when XL faces off against BWX.
Actually, a lot of ep previews from S3 had it too. It's also sometimes used as a theme between Hualian's interactions.
Either way, it's literally been here since day 1!! 🤯 Who can “full circle” the way this audiodrama full circles
Then to cap it all off, the last line of the song is:
此处千灯长明 一人心上 「满城笙歌」
"Here, the light of a thousand lanterns burns forever. With my beloved upon my heart, the entire city is brimming with song"
While our first theme song, 赐我 Ci Wo "Bestow Me" starts with:
「满城笙歌」曾经鼎沸过人海
"A city once brimmed with song that drowned out the crowd"
This is a literary technique called 首尾呼应 in Chinese, in which the beginning of a work echoes its end. An enchanting start to our story, with a prosperous Xianle singing the Crown Prince's praises, closes with a perfect finish, with Hualian reuniting under the light of a thousand lanterns that allude to the bustling Ghost City.
There are still SO MANY callbacks and imagery I want to go through with this song. You could do a whole literary analysis on this song. It’s simply packed to the brim. I will labour to attempt to translate the lyrics to the best of my abilities, but I don’t think I can ever do it justice 😭 It shows just how much thought has been put into this drama by our heaven-sent production team. 冥凰老师 and the entire music team, 我向你们跪谢 😭🙏🏼
I’m SO excited for the PV and to hear the Main Cast ver. Zhang Xingde actually sounds so much like Su Shangqing in the song, and they got Zhang Endai from Bu Wu to reprise Hua Cheng’s singing. I know SSQ and CZTK are gonna kill it in their version ><
As KHJ said, “Romance and love is the greatest power that can counter the bitterness of life and the dragging of time.” The love for the story has propelled me forward on many a day when I had no motivation to keep going. So eternally grateful I get to experience this story in such an extraordinary way. Thank you, 福崽们 ♥
reading this as someone who does cross stitch but is scared of the other kinds of embroidery is like overhearing an incredibly tall and buff person say they have beef with Mr. Tom, the kitten that chills at the bookstore
[image 1 has alt text. image 2: Tumblr tag: #note the 5 day delay in response]
.
Looks like OP formed the diagonal strokes in this font by having each row of five knots be half a knot to one side of the row above it. So I'm counting each S as formed by a single vertical stroke, and the K as two vertical strokes. Add the vertical strokes of the rest of the letters, and that's ten. The horizontal bits of each L, the U, and the E add up close enough to three more vertical-stroke equivalents that I know I won't get exact count here, but I bet I get pretty close.
Each of those thirteen lines is about five French knots wide, and each letter is about ten French knots tall. Fifty knots per line.
Six hundred fifty consistently sized French knots.
It went great. Several of my players are on Tumblr and were definitely familiar with comic (We Play over discord so I was able to use the comic images directly as a visual aid.)
Some context of the session: The party was trying to reach the estate of Count Los Feratu (Not actually a vampire despite what the name suggests, he's literally D&D Live action Gomez Addams) but first they have to cross The Lawn.
To borrow from the late great comedian John Pinette when describing the castle lawn of Windsor Castle in England:
So the entire session was the party going through various non-lethal traps, skill challenges, and encounters. There were open grave pit-traps, grabby skeleton hands out of the ground, a troll construction worker yelling at them that the bridge is out of order, and a Hedge maze complete with a Minotaur Gardener they passed on the way out.
Now I had been intending to use these sphinxes for a while and was happy I could work them into this adventure. They would be the final obstacle before the party reached the house and the session would end. However at the last second I realized I hadn't picked names for them! So I borrowed the names of a mother/daughter duo from a She-Ra fanfiction I'm currently obsessed with. So the Mama is now Kitt and the Baby is Isha.
I will quote parts of the Discord chat directly.
There seems to only be one more gate between you and the main house.
You just need to go past that large catlike statute and you'll be at the front door.
...Wait a second. Statues don't usually breathe do they.
Kobold Wizard: "NNNOPE!"
From there I basically added the panels into the chat one at a time.
At the reveal of shy baby sphinx Isha, the players were delighted and the characters immediately decided that 1. She was adorable, and 2. they were going to encourage the little darling to ask her riddle and hype her up as much as possible.
Paladin: "Good riddle, little one."
Leonine Barbarian: “A dastardly clever one. We were lucky.”
Isha perks up. "I did it Mama!" Kitt smiles at her daughter. "Yes you did. Now let's let the nice people pass."
All in all these two were a delightful capstone on a fun session. I'm sure I'll have the two make further appearances. I got various comments and compliments on using them from the players after the session.
It turns out the True Riddle was "How do you build a child's confidence?"
As the New Sphynx grew, so did her love for those who were paitent, thoughtful, and kind. She began accepting a diversity of answers to her riddles, and would let a traveler pass if they could explain their reasoning without becoming rude or aggressive.
So did her hatred for the unkind, the selfish, and the self important. Even if they gave the right answer, she'd eat them anyway as not to make Her People Suffer Fools.
Its not the way her momma did it, but that doesn't stop Granny Sphynx from beaming with pride.
unironically learning that all models in science are just approximations and therefore technically all incorrect, just with use cases, (all models are wrong some are useful) helped me feel more secure with being GNC and not wanting to find the right labels or adhere to the ones i was supposed to . Sometimes it's not realistic to communicate to people every single nuance of your gender sometimes you just have to cap out the data at three significant figures
So far, the only note that comes through on the “Heart of the Mountain” fragrance is honey; my body chemistry tends to render scents into baked goods. Honey and butter; I’m trying to lean into it by trying out a UK brand of fragrance.
It is, however, very funny to be able to point to a perfumier and know that they’re a Bagginshield shipper
the persecution of lefthandedness is insane to think about because it was so intense for so long, in some places still is, without any clear profit motivation. sheer love of the game. as late as the 70s at least they were smacking my stepdad's hands for it with a wooden ruler at school, to this day he's in weird ambidexterity situation where he's not great with either side and notably clumsy due to poor hand-eye coordination. just wtf
It is fascinating to me that people also think of handedness as an example of bigotry that just...went away. As you note, it...hasn't in some places. I know people who grew up in the mid-late 90s who still had this problem.
But also, and this is really important to keep in mind regarding bigotry that still causes in many ways larger problems, that the structural problems are not actually fixed.
If you go to any computer lab or public library, the mice will be on the right side of the computer. Sometimes they can be moved. Sometimes they can't. Many computer mice are curved to only fit in right hands.
It is impossible to find lefthanded scissors without going to a specialty store, because most scissor makers don't even make them. And it's not just a matter of grip; the slicing side of the blades is obscured if you use righty scissors in your left hand, so your cut is off.
All those signing pads with the little chained styluses? Almost always on the right side, often not even long enough to stretch to the left. Makes signing for lefties extremely difficult.
I caused actual muscular problems in college having to twist around in order to write at right-handed desks in college when there weren't enough lefty desks--and there never were. Some classrooms didn't even have a single one.
I could go on.
But the point is, bigotry isn't just a mindset shift. People can't just decide they're not bothered by that particular difference anymore and everything's fine, because society is still structured and designed to cause problems for marginalized people. And they're never even going to notice all the little ways their life is bent to convenience them that inconveniences others.
When i started i was going off of diagrams from old websites, and struggled a good bit. I hope this post will help you get started! Feel free to ask questions!
This video shows the very basics (not in english, but quite clear). This video explains how to read patterns before you start doing it backwards, mirrored and upside down (which is what i did!).
Basic tools; the beauty of tablet weaving is that you need minimal supplies to get started.
Cotton yarn (I use 8/4)
Cards (thin cardboard and a hole punch will do)
A chair or door handle, to tie the threads to
A belt, to tie the threads to yourself
A shuttle (you can start with a pencil, old credit card, ruler, your fingers,... i use a bone folder)
Variables to understand before trying to use a pattern
S/Z card slant or threading
The direction the cards face
Forward or backward turns
ABCD or DCBA
This video (mentioned above as well) explains these variables and how to read different patterns you will find. There is no universal way to write a tablet weaving pattern, resulting in different patterns directly opposing one another (& lots of frustration on my end </3).
General tips from me, a novice
Start with a thin band
Start with a simple pattern, where the cards all turn forward for the whole band, like this one
Then move to a pattern that alternates forward and backward turns, this one is simple but very pretty
After that, try a pattern that has you divide the cards into groups, like a ramshorn or dublin dragons
Be sure to use contrasting colours (in hue and/or tone). A black and white filter can help you here
Get some bag clips to prevent tangles (ikea!)
Always turn the edge cards in the same direction. This gives a neater end result. The edges can be the outer two cards, or a group that forms a decorative trim
Personally, i like looping the thread around a door handle instead of tying it, which makes untwisting threads very easy
You can eventually omit the written ABCD on the cards, but it is a good crutch to lean on when learning
I use some scrap wood with bolts that i tie to my belt, making it a little easier to manage tension and move the woven band along as i go
Finding patterns
I use pinterest for the most part. Twisted threads has many patterns, with a built-in program, but the search function is not great.
I made you four pinterest boards; for the sake of simplicity, the patterns are all GTT which means tablets face RIGHT, S/Z refers to the THREADING direction, use ABCD, forward turns the tablets AWAY from yourself (forwards = D over A)
Level one: all forward turns
Level two: alternating forward and backward
Level three: groups of tablets that turn differently
Level four: a fuckton of tablets with complex patterns
This video made me understand double-face weaving, this one is shorter and easier to follow. Double-face is a fun technique but i would reccommend getting good at following a regular pattern first.
My main mistake when i was starting out:
Whether the slant is S or Z, the cards should all face the same way. For some reason, I made the S-cards all face right and the Z-cards left. Simple, repetitive patterns will turn out fine but anything slightly more complex will be distorted, and you will be frustrated:
Your first few projects will likely be messy! Don't be too discouraged. Here's a couple of my firsts:
Read an great fic, went to check what else the author has written. The answer: among other things, ten years ago they wrote an amazing fic that has been forever etched in my mind since I first read it. No wonder I loved this new fic!
we have dandelions EVERYWHERE, they are basically our State Weed, it is absolutely impossible that my mom has never interacted with a dandelion before, this requires further investigation
So after extensive interrogation I have an update:
my mom is in fact aware that dandelions exist. she temporarily forgot the name and there was some miscommunication.
the truth is actually weirder
she’s aware dandelions look like this
she is familiar with this flower. she knows the name of this flower. she declines to believe, however, that these are also dandelions
she does not believe these are the same plant. I tried to explain, and she thought I was either misinformed or lying. so I asked her what exactly did she think the yellow ones were called?
she answered, with complete confidence: Daffodils.
“buttercups” is a name applied to MANY flowers. in my part of the south it was this one:
imo there’s correct identifications of dandelions, daffodils, easter lilies and marigolds in this thread, but buttercups are simply impossible to agree on and the only solution is for everyone to post pictures of their local buttercups
i (type 1 diabetic) was explaining autoimmune diseases to someone and she was like ohh right so yours is the good kind of diabetes where you didn't do it to yourself. to which i objected that's not how type 2 works either. and she said well that's the fat old people disease. and i was like you can't say that, a) not how it works and b) extremely rude. and her defense was her grandparents have type 2 and "did it to themselves" and since they're fat old people she reserves the right to hate on them. i understand hating shitty grandparents but YOU are the shitty one here to hate on them for their medical conditions and weight rather than literally anything else. hello?!
anyway type 2 diabetics i'm sorry about the world. everyone* be kind to type 2s or else
*note to type 1 diabetics especially we need to be better at solidarity and not cling to being the "good ones" at type 2s' expense. what the fuck is a good kind of diabetes anyway
also worth saying diabetes is a complex reaction to a not-yet-fully-understood set of factors and environmental pressures and genetics and it's reductive and fatphobic to say fat=diabetes BUT EVEN SO no matter if someone did incontrovertibly "give themself diabetes" that's not a free pass for dehumanization. shut upppp
fun fact one thing we DO know is the common view of the causality is wrong. fatness does not cause type 2 diabetes, type 2 diabetes causes weight gain.
diabetes is a metabolic disorder! it fucks up how your body absorbs, stores, and uses chemical energy! like hello???? this is the SPECIFIC case where what you eat and what shape your body are radically don't match up, setting aside the fact that it's not a one-to-one relationship across populations in general
I am so tired of short-attention-span, trim-the-fat culture.
All writing advice these days is for how to write like Chuck Palahniuk. "Cut 'think', cut 'feel', cut 'wonder' - only action, only pushing forward, show and move and move and move." What if I could emulate this style, and still don't want to? What if I want to write like Henry James, with three paragraphs of introspective musings between each dialogue line?
The music advice is, "make it shortform, make it Tik-Tok compatible, make it punchy, hit the refrain as soon as possible." What if I want that 10-minute prog rock piece? What if I want that symphony? What if I want it slow and luxurious and lazy?
Movies. Series. Poetry. Bodies. Everything is "trimmed trimmed trimmed trimmed, stripped bare, you have three seconds to win me over, make it airport chic." I don't want to win you over, then, I guess.
I want the fat left it.
I want the pleasure and the indolence and the indulgence.
Fuck this art-advice that's always "your art needs Ozempic."
hate when men complain about how theyre not allowed to be vulnerable and people will be like "and who set that system up?" as a gotcha moment. stop acting like patriarchy was funded by calling in Every Man Ever in a room and letting them all singularly decide if they wanted it. patriarchy hurts everyone in different ways, they're allowed to complain and you shutting them down and telling them to stop complaining are doing exactly what toxic masculinity wants you to enforce
But when a little boy is being told by his mother to suck it up or else he’ll never be a real man?
That’s a woman placing that system’s constraints upon her son. She didn’t set it up any more than her son did, or her father did. But she is being the enforcer of the system.
We need to stop talking about patriarchal systems as though the current men who live under it made it, and we also need to stop talking about patriarchal systems as though they are ever only enforced by men.
And, as OP pointed out. By doing the, “and who set the system up?” at a man expressing that he’s constrained in certain ways by the patriarchy, you’re dodging the opportunity to deconstruct toxic masculinity (a crucial element of the system) and are instead enforcing that over him.
The reality is that men are hurting and that the whole culture responds to them by saying, “Please do not tell us what you feel.” I have always been a fan of the Sylvia cartoon where two women sit, one looking into a crystal ball as the other woman says, “He never talks about his feelings.” And the woman who can see the future says, “At two P.M. all over the world men will begin to talk about their feelings—and women all over the world will be sorry.”
If we cannot heal what we cannot feel, by supporting patriarchal culture that socializes men to deny feelings, we doom them to live in states of emotional numbness. We construct a culture where male pain can have no voice, where male hurt cannot be named or healed. It is not just men who do not take their pain seriously. Most women do not want to deal with male pain if it interferes with the satisfaction of female desire. When feminist movement led to men’s liberation, including male exploration of “feelings,” some women mocked male emotional expression with the same disgust and contempt as sexist men. Despite all the expressed feminist longing for men of feeling, when men worked to get in touch with feelings, no one really wanted to reward them. In feminist circles men who wanted to change were often labeled narcissistic or needy. Individual men who expressed feelings were often seen as attention seekers, patriarchal manipulators trying to steal the stage with their drama.
When I was in my twenties, I would go to couples therapy, and my partner of more than ten years would explain how I asked him to talk about his feelings and when he did, I would freak out. He was right. It was hard for me to face that I did not want to hear about his feelings when they were painful or negative, that I did not want my image of the strong man truly challenged by learning of his weaknesses and vulnerabilities. Here I was, an enlightened feminist woman who did not want to hear my man speak his pain because it revealed his emotional vulnerability. It stands to reason, then, that the masses of women committed to the sexist principle that men who express their feelings are weak really do not want to hear men speak, especially if what they say is that they hurt, that they feel unloved. Many women cannot hear male pain about love because it sounds like an indictment of female failure. Since sexist norms have taught us that loving is our task whether in our role as mothers or lovers or friends, if men say they are not loved, then we are at fault; we are to blame.
from The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks
When a man earnestly tries to verbalize the immense pain and suffering he experiences under patriarchy, and your response is a witty quip that shifts the conversation away from vulnerability towards mockery and blames him for the existence of the system both of you were born into without choosing, you are acting as a patriarch would like you to act: man up, shut up.
(Also, before anyone gets mad at hooks, the above quoted section comes right before she discusses the fear of violent men and the difficulty of women and men, in confessing how much they fear the men in their lives, referencing her own family's experience with her violent and abusive father. She is not ignoring or ignorant of (cis) male violence when she talks about love and loving men.)
this is also not true btw. everyone needs to get more kyriarchy in their feminist analysis.
there is no "ongoing collective permission of men," because patriarchy is not a fucking democracy. it is one element of an entire matrix of domination (to use Patricia Collins' term from Black Feminist Thought) and the majority of man are, at best, foot soldiers and cannon fodder for the (white supremacist imperialist eugenicist cisheteroperisex-)patriarchy.
patriarchy, as all systems of oppression do, creates an illusion that the majority of people have some inherent connection with those in power, in order to convince them to support the system and so that they do not recognize how the system truly works. when you say shit like this, you are buying into that patriarchal illusion.
and like, yes, if all men / the majority of men suddenly developed a feminist consciousness and became dedicated to anti-patriarchal action, obviously that would be a massive blow to patriarchy and kyriarchy as a whole. but realistically, that will never happen in a way perfectly removed from everyone else? there is no way the majority of men will become anti-patriarchal without it having anything to do with women. there will never be a world where men simply decide that patriarchy is bad and deconstruct it while all the ladies sit around a pool drinking cocktails.
the system of white supremacy, of imperialism, of ableism, etc. could not exist without the participation of white people, citizens of the imperial core, abled people, etc. which is why these systems do not ask permission from these groups, they construct institutions and social worldviews which manufacture these groups & their participation in the system. these institutions and worldviews are difficult to separate oneself from, hard to even fully understand in the first place. it will NEVER ever ever ever ever be as simple as "everyone who is classed as the dominant group one day simply decides to reject it and then the whole system crumbles and everyone celebrates." liberation will always require solidarity. which itself requires emotional intelligence, conflict resolution skills, and not waiting for the people one suffers alongside to be ideologically perfect/ly aligned with you before they "deserve" your solidarity.
the correct answer to a man saying "damn living as a man under patriarchy fucking hurts" is to say "you are right, i'm sorry we have to live like this, let's talk about how we can fight patriarchy(/kyriarchy) together."
Respectfully, I'd like to push back a little, not at the entire statement here, but at a couple of points.
Because (being a white cis man) I absolutely have participated in enforcing patriarchal values and toxic masculinity.
And (also speaking as a white cis man; not claiming this to be universally true) I have found that most of the enforcement of patriarchal values and toxic masculinity that has happened to me has been lateral -- from people of my own level of status and seniority. Fairly often the formal hierarchy actually frowns on specific acts of lateral enforcement (which are therefore performed outside of formal scrutiny).
I'm thinking particularly of how boys are taught, growing up, that masculinity is a competition you can lose. Yes, some of that comes from adults, whether they be parents or sports coaches or religious instructors. But far more of it comes at the fists of our peers in the playground.
I was in primary school in the 1980s and in high school in the 1990s, and by then the formal instruction we got from adults said "Girls can do anything boys can do" and "Boys are allowed to cry". We ignored all that. We knew it was an insult to call a boy a girl. We knew that was because girls were useless and couldn't do anything. We knew that crying was a girly thing to do.
If the message was getting passed down through a hierarchy it was not the formal hierarchy of adults over minors; it was the informal hierarchies that emerge among boys from daily contests of strength and pain endurance. Sometimes that happened in adult-tolerated formats in the gym or on the rugby field, but more often it was in fights and bullying, actions discouraged by the adult hierarchy and therefore performed outside of their field of view.
I grew up in evangelical Christianity and I got far more enforcement of patriarchal values from my schoolyard peers than from the church, both in quantity and in severity.
And the way you competed, the way you earned the privilege of not being subjected to these acts of enforcement, was to perform the same acts of enforcement yourself on other boys.
Does all that enforcement funnel upwards and end up supporting the formal hierarchy? I'm not saying it doesn't. But I think it's easy to underestimate the possibility for systems of social control to arise that benefit no-one at all, enforced by a self-sustaining vicious cycle of violence and dehumanization.
Police said a 46-year-old man disrupted services at 642 Lexington Avenue.
But it’s just antizionism, not antisemitism, right?
it’s not lost on me that Central is the synagogue led by the rabbi with whom the Colleyville hostage-taker wanted to speak. It’s also not lost on my that I’ve had chats with two of the Central clergy, and several of my Hebrew students are congregants there.
It looks like everyone is physically safe, for which I’m grateful. I’m also furious at the man who assaulted the place. And I know that synagogues all over the country are going to tighten their security a little more after this weekend. This does affect all of us. And di goyim know that.
Antizionism not antisemitism, my foot!
if you're not antifascist, what's wrong with you? @alexseanchai - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
