[hannukay]

I am firmly anti-suffering. I don't think that anyone deserves to suffer, no matter who they are or what they've done, because I don't believe that suffering is something that someone can deserve. I think that suffering is always bad, no matter who is experiencing it or when or why, and no matter what results from it. I think that suffering should be minimized at all costs.

[didyoumeanxianity]

Okay, goyim, gentiles, folks…until you learn what the terms Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi actually mean, you really need to stop using them. Because at this point they’re mostly being used as shorthand by goyim for western racial/national/ethnic identifiers, and…they aren’t.

Ashkenazi doesn’t mean “white/European.”

Sephardi doesn’t mean “Latino.”

Mizrahi doesn’t mean “Arab.”

Not only are these uses inaccurate, and they are, but trying to flatten Jewish cultural signifiers into weird racial/ethnic labels is absolutely unhelpful to any conversation.

Sincerely,

A Hispanic (Mexican/Genizaro) Ashkenazic Jew

[didyoumeanxianity]

Since I’ve got asks and tags and whatnots asking what this does mean, then, I will provide. That said, we are going to be speaking fairly broadly here, as variations between and within Jewish cultures is a topic that could be a blog of all its own.

Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi are words related to minhagim - traditions - within Judaism. So, to get this out there first, they aren’t the only minhagim. There are others with other names, some which are better known than others.

But let’s look at these three, for now, as the most commonly used terms.

The Ashkenazim are those communities and people that follow the traditions - melodies, pronounciations, food, languages - that trace from the diaspora in central and eastern Europe. This is the most common minhag in the United States, which is why it tends to be the best known.

The Sephardim are those communities and people that follow the traditions of the diaspora in the Iberian peninsula. (Sometimes it is used more broadly to reference traditions from anywhere in the Mediterranean basin, but that’s not entirely accurate.). Because the Iberian peninsula was largely purged of its Jewish population through the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, communities that follow these traditions exist in a lot of places.

The Mizrahim are, speaking very technically, communities and people who follow traditions from “the East.” Places like Iraq, Iran, Yemen, etc. and it is sometimes also applied to some traditions that originate in northern Africa. HOWEVER, the entire designation of certain traditions as being Mizrahi is kind of a recent invention; for much of history they used other terms and weren’t seen as a single group (which is not a bad thing, just a different way of grouping traditions that was more specific/localized).

Note that one doesn’t have to have ancestors who lived in those places to follow those traditions. Most Jews in the United States will, at least at some point, be introduced to if not educated in the Ashkenazic minhag because most (though not all!) synagogues in the US are Ashkenazi. And, of course, having ancestors who did live in those places doesn’t tell us much about how someone would be viewed through a western racial/ethnic lens today.

A high proportion of Dutch Jews are Sephardi. A good portion of Italian and Greek Jews are neither Sephardi nor Ashkenazi. Many Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities are Sephardi, not Mizrahi. Someone who converts to Judaism and is a Mexican-American living in the United States has a solid likelihood of being Ashkenazi. There are Jews of many nationalities, races, ethnicities, etc. in each of these three minhags. Because these terms aren’t about any of those things, they’re about the type of Judaism one practices.

Now, traditions are passed down, right? We are taught how to make food, how to bless the candles, etc. by our parents, our grandparents, and the immediate communities we are raised in. Many Ashkenazic Jews do have ancestors who lived in central or eastern Europe, some quite recently. Many Sephardi communities can and do trace their founding back to Spanish and Portuguese Jews who fled the Inquisitions hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Some Mizrahi Jews can trace their families or communities back to before the Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple.

There is often history there, but it’s not a one for one mapping to either historic or modern nationality, ethnicity, or race. It’s inaccurate to treat it like it is, not to mention oftentimes offensive.

[edenfenixblogs]

How do you know if you’re antisemitic?

Well, if a Jew telling you you’re antisemitic won’t make you believe it, here is a guide to help you figure it out yourself.

1. Do you think Jews, en masse, are ACTIVELY REPLACING/ATTEMPTING TO REPLACE some other group — especially a somehow more deserving group? (For example, White people, Black people, African people, Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, indigenous people, etc.) Do you feel there are JUST TOO MANY JEWS IN A GIVEN LOCATION?

2. Do you think Jews are PRETENDING TO BE SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE NOT? (For example, White, PoC, “Real” Jews, Indigenous/Native, an Ethnic Minority, Devoted Citizens of [YOUR COUNTRY] etc.)?

3. Do you think Jews are CONTROLLING OR ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL SOME INTEGRAL ASPECT OF SOCIETY? (For example, the government, media, banks, business, medicine, etc.)

4. Do you think Jews that you criticize are UNIQUELY BLOODTHIRSTY OR GENOCIDAL — especially when hoping for personal achievement or cultural supremacy? (For example, trying to stage a global war so they can control the world; using/consuming blood of Christians and babies to do satanic rituals; sexually seducing non-Jews in order to contaminate bloodlines and erase other pre-existing identities; immigrating to a new location with the intention of murdering those who already exist there; desiring to murder Arabs, Muslims, or Palestinians in their homelands by means of genocide in order to control a region at the exclusion of other ethnicities, etc.)

5. Do you think Jews are APPROPRIATING A PRIVILEGE THAT THEY DO NOT DESERVE AND THAT DOES NOT BELONG TO THEM? (For example, freedom, wealth, power, whiteness, G-d’s favor, a safe home in the Levant, Arab land, colonial power, representation as a minority group, etc.)

6. Do you think Jews at large or the specific Jews you disagree with and who wield power in a way you disapprove of CAN BE COLLECTIVELY LABELED? (For example, might you call them slaves, vermin, insects, dirty, scheming, communists, fascists, Nazis, satanic, Zionists, scum, etc.)

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS YOU ARE AN ANTISEMITE. This is literally textbook antisemitism. If you answered, well yeah but only “the Jews in Israel” or “the ones who vote for Bibi” or the “ones who moved to my town/country/region” or if you saw something on one of the lists and think “well no fair! That one is actually true,” your exception isn’t exceptional. You haven’t found the one true bad thing that Jews ACTUALLY are. It’s not some conspiratorial propaganda to equate reasonable beliefs with hate. You’re just hateful. Some part of you hates Jews. And you have to confront what that part of you is and you have to destroy it if you want to engage in any conversations that impact Jewish welfare anywhere in the world.

One way to start deconstructing is to ask yourself “Why do I feel this way?” “From whom did I learn to think this way?” “Who in my life approves and supports me thinking this way?” “Am I comfortable telling a Jewish person I feel this way in person?” “How do I think a Jewish person will feel/What do I think a Jewish person will think if I tell them this?” “Do I care what they feel or think? Why or why not?” “How would I feel/what would I think if someone felt this way or thought this way about me or an identity I value deeply?”

[identitty-dickruption]

because this always comes up:

the word hermaphrodite is a slur when used to talk about human beings

it is also inaccurate to describe (most, if not all) intersex people in that way

“true hermaphrodite” is sometimes still used to describe someone with ovotesticular syndrome. it is up to an individual person whether or not they choose to refer to themselves in that way

also ovotesticular syndrome is one of the less common intersex variations

intersex people will sometimes choose to reclaim the word, but many of us prefer not to use it

if you are not intersex stop using the word hermaphrodite to refer to human beings

[whatbigotspost]

We would be in a significantly better place as a people if “old” and “fat” could be neutral descriptions of fact and not seen as insults by default.

[whatbigotspost]

Just in case I need to say it, thin/young people can and should feel free to reblog this. That’s kinda my point.

[whatbigotspost]

The fact that this post got 10k+ notes before someone vomited a bunch of “there’s a weight limit on who I will afford basic respect toward” and “blah blah UNHEALTHY” bullshit, is a win. I mean it’s annoying as hell to have to suffer that at all, but if this was like 2015, it would have happened at 100 notes and I would have lost a crap ton of followers for defending myself and daring to suggest fatness is OK actually. So I’m taking the chance to be grateful for a little evolution.

[inspector--faggot-deactivated20]

i totally agree with this but i also wanna say that a lot of people would benefit from accepting that literally no matter what you do or who you are one day you will be old, probably unhealthy, probably fat, and certainly no longer considered attractive by mainstream standards and you will be extremely lucky to have lived long enough to become that.

[whatbigotspost]

Oh not “but” needed…I wrote this 100% coming from the same perspective as what all you added, so yes! agreed ✌️

[gwydion-aacblog]

still something can not understand is why people get angry when say that have skill ability for mask is lucky … no not think should be world that need to , but .

people do not immediately think " this is not person " . people do not stare because disgust because fear "" crazy killer "" . people do not assume no brain inside head . people first thought is not " should put that one down . "

when gwydion go out all these happen . even doctors and medical technician people guilty . think only only reason no one ever attack is because always with someone else so know would make scene get hurt . but still whispers , horrible things , still stare , watch like think will come attack , just wild animal .

in world where people like gwydion is treat like this , ability mask is lucky . not able escape at all not able pretend anything . all can do is put up and try not get too much trauma too much hurt . deserve of course to not need mask have time without mask but is lucky if have and able use at all .

[gwydion-aacblog]

people lots lots lots say " can not control situation but can control reaction " … so want shout out for people who can not , actually .

people who have meltdown because " small " thing go wrong - always bigger than people believe .

people who get angry and defensive when someone try bully and hurt - can not " just " ignore like everyone say .

people who feel actually violent when something upset - who need time and place to go hit things , so that not hurt people .

people who can not understand how stay calm and walk away - who instead get frustrate and say shut up go away .

and anyone else who relate to this - that can not control how react , not so easy like that .

is not bad person to not be able control reactions how people expect .

there is benefits in have skill , but , not deserve to beat self up for not have skill . people should support if or when try learn , but also , should support even before learn , give outlets and patience .

some people will forever have less skill , because brain physically can not adapt and learn right . some people have episodes and crises where control impossible . still do not make bad person . still deserve support .

[anarchopuppy]

I, a hearing person who likes subtitles just as a preference, shouldn't have to read a subtitle that's obvious nonsense, go back a couple seconds, and listen again in order to figure out what's going on. An accessibility feature should not be the most half-assed part of a professionally made production. Scripted media has absolutely no excuse for not having subtitles or having subtitles that aren't perfectly verbatim. Professional captioning services should be ashamed of the shoddy work that they put out. Captions should be treated as a part of the production, just like filming, editing, audio balancing, etc - and anything that releases with missing or bad captions should be seen as unfinished

[vigilantsycamore]

Basically, while yes the Soviet Union was economically left-wing, it was also politically authoritarian (elections in which your vote wasn't private and you could only vote for candidates approved by the Communist party, use of military force to suppress dissent and protests, political dissidents being sent to work camps, free speech being suppressed and media being censored) and socially conservative (propaganda that equated homosexuality with fascism, indigenous people protecting their land slandered as "kulaks", disabilities being highly stigmatised because they impaired your ability to work, abortion also being stigmatised despite being legal, cultural and religious minorities being suppressed, widespread antisemitism)

And frankly, when it comes to those three axes, where you stand on the economic one is the least important

[ohsalome]

With the mandatory system of kolhosps, inability of village population to leave and them not even having passports up to 1974, as well as usage of prisoners labour (many of whom were imprisoned under fabricated political motives), one might argue that the economical system of the USSR was slavery-based.

Abortions in USSR were allowed in 1920 (the first in the world), then limited in 1926, then banned in 1936 again, then allowed again in 1955 (due to a huge rate of illegal abortions and infanticide). Instead of banning the procedure, the government chose to spread straght up lies to convince women to carry to term unwanted pregnancies; and those same lies perpetrated through the medical system persist to this day and ruin the lives of modern women: for example, the belief that having your first pregnancy aborted will almost certainly cause infertility; or that pregnancy will magically heal all your illnesses.

[the-one-eyed-seer]

You can’t have all three:

Character played/voiced by a Jew

Jewish character

Protagonist

[magnetothemagnificent]

You can't have all three:

Jewish mother character that isn't overbearing and/or abusive

Jewish man character that isn't cowardly

Jewish young woman character that isn't vain and spoiled

[qweerhet]

honestly it's extremely disingenuous to state both "tma is only about someone's relationship to transmisogyny, it's not asking about genitals" and "only transfems/amab trans people are tma"

like, yeah okay, you're acknowledging the existence of surgery i guess, but really fundamentally you are still saying there is an ontological attribute associated solely and only with one's birth sex, and claiming that trans people can be sorted by birth sex

quite frankly, in order to address the intersexism and exorsexism that attitude displays, you would need to begin unpacking:

1) why do you think everyone was amab or afab to begin with?

2) why do you think people who were amab or afab automatically share a set of transition experiences based on that birth assignment?

3) what role do you think material daily life plays in experiencing oppression, and why is it separate from the ontological attributes that define transmisogyny in your worldview? (i.e. when a nonbinary person who was afab has breasts, a beard, a penis, and uses she/her pronouns, what makes the violence she experiences for these traits her material daily life not transmisogyny?)

[frutigeraeroween]

really odd how ppl will advocate for sexual freedom and the ability to determine your own sexuality but then turn around and make fun of and/or insult ppl who don't have sex, ppl who don't have sex often, and ppl who don't have until sex later in life. you can't pick and choose whose sexuality is more valid. ik that sex and having a lot of sex is demonized to hell and back but the solution to that is not to demonize ppl who abstain from sex, ppl who don't have much sex, and ppl who stay virgins into adulthood for whatever reasons. ppl who don't have sex/a lot of sex or haven't had sex are already stigmatized as is. if you're gonna claim to be all-for sexual freedom but then look down on ppl who don't fit your criteria for how much a person should have sex then you're not truly for sexual freedom bc sexual freedom isn't just about letting ppl have as much sex as they want and how they want, it's also about letting ppl decide for themselves what their boundries are and if or when they want to have sex or not

[wiisagi-maiingan]

The thing about conspiracies is that when you dig into them, even the really "innocent" or "silly" ones like flat earthers, they are nearly always violently antisemitic and based around the idea of Jewish people hiding some hugely important thing to deceive the world.

It's not always obvious, sometimes they seem completely disconnected from antisemitism, but you just have to ask theorists who exactly is hiding this supposed truth and the answer is almost always the same. Fake dinosaur bones, flat earth, hidden civilizations, alien takeovers, etc. A lot of the "realistic" conspiracies too, like online furniture stores being cover-ups for child sex trafficking.

They all have the same roots in antisemitism and the idea that Jewish people are, at best, deceivers and manipulators and, at worst, inhuman monsters out to destroy humanity.

[gay-jewish-bucky]

i will never forgive monty python for turning the centuries long brutal persecution and expulsion of jews and muslims by the roman catholics into a joke people reference constantly, gleefully unaware of what the spanish inquisition really was

[beemovieerotica]

tbh y'all get too caught up in the idea of like. whether someone is ""genuinely"" experiencing a certain -ism or -phobia aimed at them if they are not genuinely part of that group. as if it matters. as if a guy getting attacked for holding another man's hand has actually ever had sex with another man or if he actually is married to a woman like it literally does not make a difference. he is a victim of homophobia in actual reality in the actual world. stop being pedantic and drawing little circles around words and realize that people are getting fucked over regardless.

[delgado-master]

A non-gay example: my dad would always get targeted for extra TSA security measures because he looks middle eastern. He’s not though, he’s Puerto Rican, but the TSA isn’t asking “are you middle eastern” before they discriminate against someone. I know a black woman who went through the same thing as my dad.

[an-autistic-with-personhood]

This is why the ADA covers you if someone discriminates against you for a disability you don't have

[demonprincex]

the person doing the action determines the motive for that action, not the victim! if the person doing the violence was doing it for homophobic reasons, it's homophobia.

[em3rg3ncy-backup-deactivated202]

I think people need to get better at saying “maybe, maybe not” or “do I really need an answer?” when faced with uncertainty. this is something that gets taught to people with OCD, but I think the masses would benefit

“what kind of attraction am I feeling?” would it be the end of the world if that question didn’t have an answer?

“am I allowed to identify as x when I’m not sure if it applies to me?” maybe! who cares!

literally. you can apply the “fuck around and find out” method to anything

continuously feeling the need to hunt for answers is going to eat you up inside. take it from me. your life gets so much easier when you let yourself be unsure

[em3rg3ncy-backup-deactivated202]

"being distressed about an evil thought is what shows you're a good person" = bad, unhelpful, is not at all conducive to OCD recovery

"there's no such thing as a good or bad thought", "your thoughts do not define your morality", etc = good, helpful, acknowledges the fact that thoughtcrime isn't real

remember kids, implying that distress is what makes you a good person is NOT a good way to encourage people to build a life where they are able to learn to live alongside intrusive thoughts