I studied engineering and currently work in immunology
my most used tags are #steph's rambles for personal stuff; #cats, #dogs, and #frogs (big fan of frogs) for creatures; #humanity for stories that make us seem not all that bad; #lab life for miscellaneous adventures in science; and #art for uh. art.
I have a bit of a haunted brain, my mental health/ed recovery sideblog is @whsprings but please do mind the content warnings (cw// ed, cw// sh, cw// si are the most common ones) and proceed with caution!
idk how this happened but I am much more popular(??) on instagram, you can find me there as mushdooms
really galling amount of people misinterpreting this post so i'd like to clarify. i'm saying that when discussions about patriarchal beauty standards and the way women are heavily shamed and coerced into eschewing their own natural state of being (hairy) are occurring, it is unhelpful (AT BEST) to interrupt and say that the reason YOU remove the hair from your body is because of sensory issues. that's not what we're talking about. stop asking for validation for doing something that society at large wants you to do. stop derailing the conversation because you feel uncomfortable about being made aware that you, for whatever reason it is, adhere to harmful, unfair and ridiculous beauty standards. you're stepping into the middle of an important conversation that needs to be had and making it all about you. shut the fuck up forever.
also quite frankly i think a lot less people would experience sensory issues if they let their hair grow out so that it isn't bristly and rough and irritating. and i cannot help but wonder why these sensory issues aren't as predominant in men. maybe you're uncomfortable with the hair on your body because you've been taught to be uncomfortable with it. just a thought.
An unforseen symptom of fatphobia is the rampant, societal belief that since you're fat, you must be eating enough. That no matter how little you eat in a day, in a week, that it must simply be enough.
Zoom in on me, a person having to take a handful of vitamins every day because they're deficient in literally everything because they only eat roughly one(1) meal a day. And yet, I'm still over weight. So it must be enough, right?
Being fat means telling your OBGYN that you're starving for 12 hours a day due to suicidal ideation and an eating disorder, and your OBGYN telling you to keep starving yourself but for "health instead of mood."
Being fat means you can't ever be in line at a food pantry without somebody commenting "How could you be hungry?"
Being fat means being locked out of anorexia recovery by society and by the mental health field itself, to the point that you're not even allowed to be diagnosed with anorexia if you're fat. No, you have "atypical anorexia." Normal anorexics are thin.
Hm? The disorder is literally the exact same minus the fatness? Eating disorders are behavioral disorders, not weight disorders? Yeah, I wish facts mattered too.
somehow it ended up that the apartment my sister and i want isnt available until mid august, precisely when we will both be traveling 🙄 so we either have to scramble to move and fly out the literal next day or we both live in my one-bedroom for a week with three dogs while i am packing all my stuff up and she has her first week of school and im working full time and possibly am still in iop, and then we move the following weekend. nightmare scenario.
ai does have uses, esp in science or in automating otherwise tedious, error-prone tasks, but I really don't think using gen ai to make trump into some kind of american muscle d*ddy is one of them
Transphobia is about to be signed into law in the UK. We can fight this.
I am begging the UK trans community and its allies to attend the Mass Lobby at Parliament on June 25th, 11am-4pm, organised by Trans Solidarity Alliance.
Last year we broke the record for an LGBT+ mass lobby of Parliament. Will you help us break it again? Join us on 25th June 2026 to demand be
The new EHRC Code of Practice pushes trans people out of toilets, hospital wards, and community spaces. It normalises gender policing based on appearance and stereotypes. It becomes statutory guidance in the UK by the end of June.
Trans people are now legally their assigned gender at birth and must join gendered spaces accordingly, but if they are perceived as their lived gender, they can also be ejected from those spaces. The guidance says: either break the law, or don’t pass too well.
A mass lobby is where you invite your MP to discuss your concerns with you in-person. Ask your MP to:
Demand full parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and use their free vote on the EHRC Code of Practice.
Support any motions rejecting the EHRC guidance. As of June 4th, Labour MP Nadia Whittome has submitted a prayer motion - Early Day Motion 240.
Write to Bridget Phillipson, the Minister for Women and Equalities about our concerns
Your MP does not have to be an ally, they do not have to respond to your email for you to show up and greencard them (details below the cut.) What matters is that as many people as possible show up.
I cannot stress this enough: Showing up in person matters. It is much more effective than petitions, emails, and letters.
It is a horrible, stressful time, and I am so sorry if you're trans and live in the UK. But I was at last year's mass lobby and the line for greencarding alone stretched around the back gates. It was a record breaking mass lobby and made us impossible to ignore. Let's do even better this time. Details under the cut:
Worried about what to say?
Bring your personal worries about transphobia being signed into law, and trans friends being excluded from public spaces. You are a living person who deserves dignity. Remind your MP of that. You will also get guidance and brochures from Trans Solidarity Alliance that outlines our demands. This is mine from last year.
Money issues?
Trans Solidarity Alliance provides a travel bursary that you can sign up for via the link.
Got a refusal or no response from your MP?Â
Come anyway! You can request a same-day appointment with your MP through a process called greencarding. They will come and see you if they’re already in Parliament. Even if they don’t, they’re made acutely aware of your cause because you showed up in person. This is my greencard from last year.
Here is the EHRC Code of Practice in full. It's a tough read, but some highlights are:
Organisations can’t provide trans-inclusive, single-sex services, or they risk being sued for discrimination.
e.g. domestic violence support for women including trans women, men’s rugby group including trans men (12.68).
Trans people will have nowhere safe to pee.
If you’re a trans man, businesses can't allow you to pee in the men's, and you can also be ejected from women’s bathrooms if you’re perceived as a man. Vice versa for trans women. EHRC suggests a ‘third space’ bathroom, which is discriminatory and unworkable for most businesses. (13.130-133)
Sports organisations must exclude trans people from single-sex competitions (13.73).Â
A women’s only sports competition must exclude trans women because of their biological advantage or face potential lawsuits (13.74), but a trans man who has undergone testosterone treatment can also be excluded based on fairness rules (13.81).
Trans women are stripped of the legal definition of ‘lesbian’, and therefore no longer have legal protections if they’re discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. (2.50, 2.92).
Here is the Good Law Project's better explanation of the EHRC Code.
I have also made a PDF printout of QR codes for the government petition, email your MP tool, and mass lobby link to pass around your communities. DM me and I'll send it to you.
don't mind me!! @mush-dooms - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
