Etaleah

She/her. AO3 is also Etaleah. Fan of Shadow the Hedgehog, Animaniacs/Pinky & the Brain, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and more.

[melia-antifa]

[etaleah]

I see you’re about to make a post mocking or criticizing the behavior of White women. Before you do so, please answer the following questions:

1. Are White men also guilty of the same thing?

2. If the answer to the above question is yes (and I find it very hard to believe there is a circumstance in which it is not), why are you only criticizing the women? Answer quickly.

3. If you removed the word “White” from the sentence, would it start to sound misogynist?

4. If the answer to the above question is yes, does the word “White” actually change that and make it not misogynist, rather than simply acting as a shield? Explain your reasoning.

[makingqueerhistory]

Instead of Leaving This Hate Comment You Could Read This Book!

People Without History Are Dust

Queerness remains one of the most stigmatized and overlooked aspects of Holocaust history, often erased due to the lingering homophobia of survivors. People Without History Are Dust challenges this silence, weaving together compelling stories of German, Dutch, Czech, and Polish Jewish Holocaust victims and survivors - including Anne Frank, Molly Applebaum, Margot Heuman, and Gad Beck - whose experiences help illuminate the hidden history of queerness in a time of genocide.

Drawing on extensive archival research, this groundbreaking book uncovers the lives of those who were doubly marginalized, not only persecuted as Jews but also as queer individuals. In doing so, it confronts the ways in which history has excluded or minimized their experiences, urging us to question normative accounts of the Holocaust.

By shedding light on these long-overlooked stories, People Without History Are Dust deepens our understanding of identity, survival, and memory, reminding us why an inclusive and complex approach to history is essential - not just for the sake of the past, but in service to the present and the future as well.

*Affiliate link above*

[shofarsogood]

Hey @makingqueerhistory, this author claimed that a Holocaust survivor had an affair with a Nazi guard without proof that it actually happened. That is incredibly disrespectful to the survivor named and her family. Claiming that ANY Jew was in love with a Nazi is psychologically damaging. The lie that Jews seduced Nazis or fell in love with their captors is repulsive and Jews have been fighting back against such stories for ages. It's not homophobia to acknowledge that. A Jewish woman sleeping with a male Nazi would be just as damning to her family. It is shameful in our community. It's especially distressing when there's no real evidence that the affair happened, and that the woman's family said as much. It's not like there were letters between the two women, or anything with real proof.

Frankly, the fact that Hajokva promised to use a pseudonym and then used the woman's real name and photograph in promotional material is such an ethical breach. This is very basic stuff. If a source requests anonymity when talking about something as complex and damning as a Jew sleeping with a Nazi, you should honor that.

That's not even touching on assigning a sexuality to a Jewish child who didn't live long enough to decide whether she was queer or not. She was murdered for being Jewish. Plain and simple. Her sexuality was never a factor in her death, regardless of whether or not she was bisexual.

Please don't promote this book and the utter disrespect of Hajkova.

[maimonideznuts]

How many times do we have to say, as queer Jews ourselves, to leave the questions of a dead Jewish girl as her own questions and not voyeuristically assign answers for her.

As for "holocaust survivor has affair with a Nazi guard" that is literally a trope in post war Nazi apologia to sanitise the violence inherent in *Jew during the holocaust exchanges sex for survival*, a circumstance that happened a lot, you don't have to be a genius to understand that.

There are actually books celebrating Jewish queerness in history that don't do either of those things.

[maimonideznuts]

@makingqueerhistory you're getting criticism, not hate comments. We have very strong feelings about Holocaust Universalis action for good reason. You didn't even tag your holocaust post "#jewish history" thereby erasing us, because you know what you're doing is dishonest, but you are profiting from casting the quite relevant criticism "they were too focused on not being murdered for being Jewish to write interesting work about being queer"(to paraphrase), as hate.

It's not a representation issue, this is family to the Jews who are upset with you.

It's just a complete disconnect from the existential nature of the holocaust as a method of exterminating all of the world's Jews forever, and how there was a time that the Nazis thought they could logistically do it, and how the only thing for Jews to celebrate from it is "even though many of us did not, as a people we survived."

The holocaust was about the extermination of a racial/ethnic group.

[hazel2468]

@makingqueerhistory maybe you need to examine why being corrected by a Jew about Jewish history (and why Jews centering the Shoah, a genocide about killing Jews), makes you feel so inclined to make, frankly, offensive posts like this.

Stop telling Jews how to feel about the Shoah. Stop trying to center queerness in the Shoah. Just. STOP. Because the more I see my fellow queers, goyische queers, doing this. The more it just drives home that the motivation is that you cannot stand the idea of the Jews "having" something like the Shoah to claim.

I'm disgusted. Stop. When Jews tell you to cut it out and you double down by promoting a book that claims, as those above me have already pointed out, something deeply offensive and uses Jews, who were MURDERED FOR BEING JEWS as queer fodder. It just makes you antisemitic.

Signed- a Jewish queer trans man who is really, REALLY sick of the queer community acting this way.

[etaleah]

Starting to feel like we need to retire the term “representation” and replace it with “relatability.”

‘Cause the thing about describing a character as “representation” is that it sounds like the character is an elected official whose main function is to issue statements and make whoever they’re representing look good, which is an unfair burden to place on them and the person writing them. No character can ever represent everyone, because every member of any given demographic is so different. Acting like these characters need to represent an entire group means that we can never have minority/women characters who are messy, difficult, complicated, or otherwise not role model material, at least not unless you have another one who is role model material to cancel it out. And that’s just not fair. Women and minority characters shouldn’t always have to be role model material.

What we really need is for characters to be relatable, so people feel like they can connect with them and understand them, even if “understand” doesn’t necessarily translate to “like and/or agree with.”

This character isn’t good representation! Okay but are they relatable? Are they interesting? Are they complex? Are they entertaining and memorable? Do we understand what’s motivating them? I feel like those kinds of questions are way more important than “Does this character set a good example for children?”

[tributary]

people are often averse to criticizing the voter base. sure, focus on the candidates, but someone has to say “why are these dipshits attracting so much positive attention in the first place? are the voters stupid?”

i could not run for office because i would not be able to hide my disdain for entire swathes of the electorate and i’m simply not male enough to pull that off.

[whosname]

[id. A twitter post by @/Bennieeexyz Jury duty letter came addressed to my cat. Not a mistake. "Felix Martinez" - that's his full name according to his vet records. My last name. His first name. Somehow he's a registered voter now. Called the county clerk. Me: My cat got summoned for jury duty. Clerk: Is the name correct on the summons? Me: Yes, but he's a cat. Clerk: Is Felix Martinez a legal resident of this county? Me: He's a legal cat. Clerk: Sir, if the name matches our records, he needs to appear or file an exemption. Me: He can't file anything. He has paws. Clerk: You can file on his behalf. Me: Under what exemption? There's no box for "is a cat." Clerk: (pause) Check "unable to serve due to medical reasons." Me: What's the medical reason? Clerk: He's a cat. Me: That's not a medical condition. Clerk: It is if it prevents him from serving. Sent in the form. Got rejected two weeks later. "Insufficient documentation. Please provide medical professional's statement." Took the letter to my vet. Me: I need you to write that my cat can't do jury duty. Vet: Why is your cat summoned for jury duty? Me: Excellent question. No good answer. Vet: This is the weirdest request I've gotten. Me: Can you just write that he's medically unfit to serve? Vet: On what grounds? Me: He's a cat. Vet: (started typing) "Patient is unable to serve due to species-related limitations including inability to speak, read, or comprehend legal proceedings." Me: Perfect. Sent it in. Got another rejection. "Summons is mandatory. Failure to appear will result in contempt of court." My roommate thought this was hilarious. Roommate: Felix is going to jail. Me: This is serious. Roommate: Bring him to court. See what happens. Decided that was actually the only option left. Day of jury duty, put Felix in his carrier. Brought the entire paper trail of rejection letters. Checked in at the courthouse. Clerk: Name? Me: Felix Martinez. Clerk: (looked at the cat carrier) Is that Felix? Me: Yes. Clerk: (long stare) He's a cat. Me: I've been saying that for six weeks. Clerk: Why didn't you file an exemption? Me: I filed three. All rejected. Showed her the letters. She read through them, expression shifting from confusion to disbelief. Clerk: Someone rejected the veterinary documentation? Me: Twice. Clerk: (called her supervisor over) You need to see this. Supervisor read everything. Looked at Felix. Looked at me. Supervisor: How did a cat get registered to vote? Me: You tell me. Supervisor: This is a data error. Me: Took you six weeks to figure that out. They dismissed Felix immediately. Apologized for the inconvenience. Supervisor: We'll remove him from the voter registry. Me: Appreciate it. Supervisor: (pause) Out of curiosity, how would he have voted? Me: Probably whatever party supports universal treats. Got a formal apology letter a week later and a voter registration card. For me this time. Apparently I wasn't registered, but my cat was. Roommate: Felix committed voter fraud. Me: Felix committed nothing. He's innocent. Roommate: That's what they all say. Felix is sleeping on the jury summons now. Fitting end to his legal career. end id]

[bisexualhunterbiden]

Starting a list of things that make me proud to be an American.

1. Big drink

2. Air conditioning

3. Biscuits and gravy

[etaleah]

4. Burger 🍔

5. National parks 🏞️

6. Halloween 🎃

7. Broadway 🎭 (thanks, Jewish Americans!)

8. Buffalo 🦬 (thanks, Native Americans, and I’m so sorry for what we did to them and you!)

9. Bald Eagle 🦅

10. Jeans 👖

11. I know the Walt Disney Company is no angel, but I really do love that we have the world’s best theme parks. 🐭🏰

12. PUBLIC LIBRARIES. YOU WILL NEVER CONVINCE ME THAT THE USA IS WITHOUT ITS MERITS AS LONG AS WE HAVE PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 📚

13. Comic books and superheroes (thanks, Jewish Americans!) 🦸🏻‍♀️

14. Jazz music, blues music, rock ‘n roll, rap, and hip hop (thanks, Black Americans!) 🎶🎼🎵

15. Birthright citizenship 🗽

16. The Americans with Disabilities Act ♿️ (thanks, disabled Americans!)

17. Animation and cartoons (shoutout to Mel Blanc, another Jewish American who gave us all the Looney Tunes voices) 📺

18. The Muppets 🐸🐷

19. No official language 🌎🗣️

20. Mac and cheese 😋

21. Our Mexican cuisine (thanks, Latino Americans!). I know it’s probably not what you’d get in South/Central America, but if you’ve ever tried to get a taco outside the Americas, you know what I mean. 🌮

22. State and county fairs 🎡

23. Despite its shitty origins…Thanksgiving. It’s a holiday about sharing a meal with your family and being thankful for what you have. It’s nice to have a holiday that isn’t about buying stuff. 🦃🍗

24. Juneteenth and MLK Day (thanks, Black Americans, though I fully acknowledge that if we lived in a just world, those holidays would not have been necessary) ✊🏾

25. Labor Day and the labor movement. ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿

26. USAID 💔

27. PBS 📺 We have AMAZING public media and I am forever grateful for it.

28. Movie theaters 🍿🎥🎬🎞️

29. Our universities and the fact that not only are women allowed to attend them, they’re actually becoming more educated than men. 🎓

30. No school uniforms 😎

Might add to this as I think of more 🇺🇸

[etaleah]

HELP THIS IS SO FUNNY

Happy Pride Month everyone 🏳️‍🌈

[etaleah]

I understand this is probably meant as a bros before hos thing and that the author of this book isn’t actually trying to make them gay but like. He succeeded in doing so anyway.

[etaleah]

HELP THIS IS SO FUNNY

Happy Pride Month everyone 🏳️‍🌈

[transsexualpuffin]

“the rest of the world is way further left than the USA”

uh does “the rest of the world” in this context mean western europe and canada? because i don’t know how to break it to you gently but that’s not the whole wide world buddy

[pusheenthenerdcat]

do they mean just democracies maybe

[transsexualpuffin]

i mean maybe? but even so, in the grand scheme of things while the US needs to implement great changes it’s still not nearly the most right wing country. we have same sex marriage which not every country in the EU has. we have stupid fascist politicians which most of the world has.

it’s just not clear cut in the way a lot of people seem to think it is, which is half the point i’m getting at. the other half is that eurocentric approaches to anything don’t usually meaningfully help.

idk, i don’t want to minimize the great impact of many things europe has done for progressive causes. europe has spearheaded labor reform and moved away from hyper-capitalist policies more than any other region. i just find the insinuation that europe is basically the whole world to be more than a little offensive.

[myfootyrthroat]

I think people work backwards like "Immigration in the US is fucked up, and the US is behind the times, so everyone else must have better immigration policies."

I regret to inform you...

[queenofnots]

I truly just think they mean "they have nationalized health care and more vacation days".

[dancinbutterfly]

Ya know before Trump fucked it? And even after? It's Women's Rights. *snaps figners* Look at me. Women's rights. WOMEN'S FUCKING RIGHTS. I do not think yall understand how much of the world still just doesn't send its girls to school. How much of the world's girls stop going to school when they get their period because they dont have period products. How much of the world doesnt have access to contraceptives. How much of the world doesnt have marriage freedom for women. WOMEN'S FUCKING RIGHTS. WOMENS GODDAMN RIGHTS. Wake up. Not everything is about the gays. Not everything is about capitalism. In a lot of places? It's still about getting women human fucking rights. WOMENS RIGHTS.

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[baddywronglegs]

The people who insist AI is smarter than a human are doing their fucking damnedest to manifest that

[shrewreadings]

Не верите. Доверите.

Do not trust: verify.

[etaleah]

*insert Simpsons meme* Is the chat bot making things up? No, it’s the trained professionals who are wrong!

[skymagic16]

It's a national holiday

[etaleah]

It kind of annoys me whenever fans try to insist that a writer wrote something badly on purpose to get back at the fandom because (as is the case with most conspiracies) I feel like there’s a level of narcissism in assuming that someone who has never met you and has no real reason to care what you think would take that big of a risk solely for the sake of messing with you specifically.

I mean, think about how hard it is to have a career in writing for the screen and then think about how much a writer would be throwing away by purposely creating a shit product they know won’t be liked. They’d run the risk of never getting work again in an industry where steady and well-paying work is already hard to come by. They’d risk tarnishing their reputation and legacy. They’d risk never being able to get funding for any projects they want to do ever again. What studio is gonna wanna hire someone who writes badly on purpose? Why would they ever waste money on that? And why would they ever hire someone who deliberately pisses off their best customers and therefore makes them less likely to spend money?

Sometimes good writers make bad decisions and those bad decisions don’t necessarily have anything to do with fandom. I promise you that no movie or TV show was ever written badly on purpose. They were trying to make something good and failed. Even experienced professionals can fail.

Like I dunno, maybe it’s because we see so many conservative grifters doing things solely to “own the libs” and so people think writers work the same way, but the thing is that unlike those grifters, writers actually have to work. They have to sell themselves on their skills and not just their personality and follower count. Which means there’s a real danger in them being associated with poor quality material.

Writing a season or movie badly on purpose just to make the fans mad would be an enormous and very permanent career risk for a very small and temporary reward of “dur hur I make fan mad.” I do not buy that any writer, even one who was disliked by the fanbase, would ever do that.

[klapollo]

We watched toy story 2 today and they say suicide prominently in the first act. So whenever someone says "unalive," they are operating at a sub-toy story level of vocabulary maturity

[etaleah]

I have literally seen Sesame Street segments that used the word “died.” Those censors are operating at a sub-toddler level.

[etaleah]

I will never relate to anything as much as I relate to SpongeBob gleefully saying, “I’m doing it! I’m doing it!” as he starts writing his essay in the Procrastination episode. That thing aired a quarter century ago and I still hear that voice in my head whenever I do anything I’ve been putting off for a long time.

The relief. The excitement. The shock at realizing that accomplishing this hard thing actually is possible. Production crew really hit the nail on the head with that one.

[notaplaceofhonour]

when did “working class” stop meaning “labor” and start meaning “belligerently closed-minded dirtbag White people”

[susiephone]

sequel to the great mouse detective where basil's descendant gregory mouse solves medical mysteries and pops mouse vicodin and rides a mouse motorcycle and digs up mice graves for science and somehow still ends up shoving his nemesis off of big ben to his death