A Brief Warning Regarding the Toxic Behaviour of Tumblr
A few toxic things that masquerade as normality on this website have caused people to gradually step into unhealthy ways of thinking and behaving. I’ve seen these issues so often that it’s come to the point where I would like to address some of them and encourage people to think more rationally. Once you spend some time away from these ways of thinking, you will come to realize that many things on this site are basically brainwashing. And please, do your best to not form all your opinions from people on here and spend more time away from tumblr. This is one of the worst places to allow yourself to develop.
Over-identifying with labels: While this is often fun for people and can be a way to embrace who you are, it is also potentially harmful. There are plenty of ways to develop who you are as a person, and labels are often temporary things since we constantly change (though of course, some things might not change for people). Yet if a person latches onto a label and allows it to become who they are, but changes their mental-state in the future (realizes they want to have a different sexuality, don’t actually want to be trans, etc), it can be damaging and causes them to undo the identity they had bonded with.
This is also harmful for those who over-attach to their mental illness, as this causes a romanticization of the issue rather than focusing on how to overcome it. Other times, some sexualities or dysphoria come from trauma (some asexuals/aromantics are examples of this); if a person does not consider that what they feel may come from a traumatic experience and requires therapy, they will still feel that something is wrong even if they embrace a different label/identity. So while connecting to a label is overall okay, it is most healthy to not become too attached and instead fully focus on discovering who you are as a person and not fearing change.
Superiority complexes regarding being lgbt: This is a common toxic pit to fall into for those who are oppressed, it has happened all throughout history. If we want to actually be wiser than those who have shunned us, we cannot act like we are better or smarter than those who are straight or cisgendered. We are not better than them at all, only equal, and there are far better things in the world to worry about than being gay. I have seen people on here arguing over the supposed gender of a fictional character so many times and it is ridiculous and embarrassing. Is this really what you people have time for? You aren’t better for being gay or trans, it’s only an important path of realization for yourself and not much more.
No-one is special for having this sort of identity, you are just like any other but with a different preference. And sure, you may not be biased towards lgbt people like how many non-queer people are, but many lgbt people are still biased towards each other, so it’s really not much of an accomplishment. But by all means, we can support our rights and have Pride parades, just don’t fall into the trap of acting better than others. This trend of acting superior or how those who aren’t queer can easily have their opinions shut down is not okay. This is a way of thinking that is parallel to how some minorities had become oppressive in the past; if this behavior does not change, you will become the prejudice ones as well. I’ve also seen people constantly complaining about whether someone needs dysphoria to be trans or if bisexuals are gay, but why? Why do you actually care about how other people are identifying? And how can you sit there and make such petty arguments when there are people in the world who are actually suffering day by day? Many of you need to grow up and see how the world truly is.
The aggressive Puritan mentality: Whether you notice it or not, many of you, including myself for some time, had fallen into this site’s herd-mentality of always trying to “purify” how we behave. It becomes so engrained that a person can simply put guilt into us by saying “this is appropriation” (when it isn’t and they get called out later) or “no-one is allowed to like this story/poem because the author was racist”; well in that case, let’s just get rid of over half the literature we have. Or how I have seen a person on here get angry at someone for posting a list of their favourite books but didn’t include any female authors (this behaviour is insane). Unfortunately, there are plenty of people who go to extremes with trying to police how everyone thinks or speaks. Remember, just because someone says that something is the “correct, moral way” doesn’t mean it actually is. Again, please learn to think for yourselves and do not give in to herd-mentalities.
Over-generalizing things has also been a problem to the point where I feel that many people here do not realize that every country is full of racism (towards everyone, not just black people). And yes, people are able to be racist towards white people as well (first, look up the definitions of racism) and also realize that some peoples, such as the Greeks, had been victims of mass genocide and the first concentration camps. Not to mention that they had been victims of slavery by the Turkish for nearly 500 years. The truth is that everyone is guilty, no-one is allowed to act as if their race is clean of blame. Overall, question everything you hear, research constantly, and seek to broaden your understanding beyond barriers.
If anyone would like to add further examples, please feel free. This was kept quite brief but it needs to be said since this site has caused many to fear thinking differently.