meep mrrp

RavenMcCookies' secondary blog for sillies and non art stuff

[nbarpf]

One of my all-time favorites

[thehappysmiler]

[thehappysmiler]

favorites

[unforth]

[sic-semper-hominibus]

[duckingwriting]

[duckingwriting]

This thread lives rent free in my brain. And randomly came across my FB feed so of course I had to dig it up out of my Tumblr to share what fb shared.

[notemily]

I like this one

[parentalkangasharkk-blog]

friendly reminder

[beemovieerotica]

[genderkoolaid]

'I thought I was bleeding to death' -- intersex life in Kenya

She was intersex and raised as a boy for most of her life in Kenya. Then the bleeding started.

When 18-year-old Roberto first experienced menstruation, she was terrified. Born intersex and raised as a boy, she had never been taught about periods, let alone how to manage one. Before that terrifying day, Roberto had spent her entire life in a quiet village in Kisii County. Her parents never disclosed anything about her intersex identity, partly because they did not fully understand it themselves, and partly due to the stigma surrounding differences in sex development. Roberto grew up playing football with boys, dressing like them, and following all the expectations of male childhood. Yet, as she entered adolescence, she began noticing subtle changes in her body that did not match those of her peers. She occasionally experienced discomfort, mood shifts, and physical traits she could not explain. With no information about intersex bodies or reproductive health, she simply brushed these feelings aside. Conversations about menstruation were reserved for girls, leaving Roberto completely unprepared for what was coming. “I thought I was bleeding to death, but I could not tell anyone, not even my mother,” she recalls. “I used an old T-shirt and hid it under my mattress.” It was only years later, after meeting a community health volunteer who worked with intersex and gender-diverse youth, that Roberto finally shared her experience. The volunteer explained what it meant to be intersex, helped her understand her body, and connected her to a safe support group. Through these conversations, Roberto slowly began embracing an identity that felt more aligned with who she truly was. She chose to use she/her pronouns because it was the first time she felt seen, understood, and comfortable in her own skin. “It felt like breathing freely for the first time,” she says. “Like I could finally be myself without fear.”

The hidden reality of intersex menstruators

Roberto’s experience reveals a little-known truth: intersex individuals who menstruate are often invisible in menstrual health policies, education, and aid programmes. While Kenya, and Africa more broadly, has made progress in addressing period poverty among girls and women, intersex people are left behind, navigating their cycles in silence and shame. When 23-year-old John first experienced menstruation, it was not a typical “coming-of-age” moment. Instead, it became a confusing and isolating chapter defined by stigma and secrecy. Growing up in South Nyanza, John lived in a household and a wider community that neither understood nor accepted their identity, let alone their menstrual health needs. “I bled in silence for years, and yet I could not talk to anyone,” they recount. “My mother kept asking why I was not ‘normal’, but I was too scared to explain something I did not even fully understand myself.” Intersex persons like Roberto and John are often excluded from the conversation about menstruation. “This is despite the fact that they suffer in silence,” says Margret Mogaka, a reproductive health advocate at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH). Although the Kenyan government launched the Menstrual Hygiene Management Policy in 2019 to promote menstrual equity, intersex individuals are not included. “Menstruation is still framed as a female-only issue,” says Mogaka. “This excludes not only trans men but also intersex people, many of whom menstruate and need the same support.” She adds that many public schools, clinics, and community programmes assume only girls need menstrual products or information. “This makes it nearly impossible for intersex menstruators to access sanitary pads or counseling without facing ridicule.” [...]

[tiktoks-i-enjoyed]

[insomniac-arrest]

I wish AI would stop making so many animal story posts. I LOVE animals and they are ruining the loving-animals ecosystem. And also the real ecosystem

[not-your-average-url]

I miss when ads were a single click and then they’re gone. Now every ad has a minimum of three phases where you watch a video, exit the still frame of fake gameplay, and then exit the app download. That doesn’t even touch on the ones that forcibly take you to another app after opening a tab in safari without you ever touching the screen.

I hate advertising. I hate that you can’t do anything without companies jumping down your throat with mostly bullshit ads. I hate that billboards exist. I hate that every company unanimously decided to make their ads longer and longer. I hate that ad blockers try to charge you money and there are in app purchases to remove ads. I hate that my attention has become commodified. I hate that there’s nothing I can do about it.

[deadpowol]

[tahthetrickster]

[bisforbutch]

Reblog to punch a nazi

[magicclownjuice]

Prob gonna join artfight...

[magicclownjuice]

ARTFIGHT ARTFIGHT GGRHRGRHRHRGRHRHRR (first time doing it and figuring it out, so be patient with me!)

Artfight

[sunderwight]

media: we have an anti-authoritarian story for you!

me: sweet hit me with the good stuff

media: so there's this marginalized underclass of people, right?

me: okay

media: and they're like, stigmatized for something that's mostly an aspect of how they are born, or where they're from, or they're badly misunderstood, right?

me: yup, got it, I'm with ya

media: so these people are rebelling against the current social order, because it's the instrument of their suffering

me: oh good great sure

media: but also they're violent and deranged and need to be stopped

me: ...what

media: yeah they're going too far, they're trying to overthrow the system and assassinate the nice cop trying to help them and also they burned down an orphanage

me: ...why? would they burn down an orphanage??

media: extremism is bad

me: still not seeing what this has to do with their fight though???

media: also now they've shot a dog. oops they shot another dog

me: what?! why? I though their motive was to overthrow oppression??

media: yes but their suffering has also made them evil

me: ...???

media: don't worry though, the good guys will defeat them and restore the status quo

me: the status quo that's been killing people?

media: well it turns out it was only killing the kinds of awful people who burn down orphanages and shoot dogs :)

me: oh. this is actually a pro-authoritarian story, isn't it?

media: nooo of course not don't be sillyyyyyy we're super progressive look one of the cops is a black lady don't be sillyyyyyy

[mentalhellonline]

[imjunebitch]

yk guys I think a lot of ppl when arguing against the death penalty go for a like "people don't deserve death, etc" view and I get why ppl argue for that I rly do! but it doesn't matter. I don't trust the government to do it, I don't trust them to decide who should die, I don't trust them to determine who is mentally competent, I don't trust them to not be bigoted and discriminatory in their practices, I don't trust them to have the right people, I don't trust them to execute it in a humanitarian way. and I've had discussions with ppl who otherwise have similar viewpoints to me in many ways but can think of people they think deserve to die, and I think if abolishing the death penalty is like, a super important cause to u the same way it is to me, the argument u use shouldn't be "well these people deserve to live" (although in some cases I think yeah the death penalty is done to people who totally don't "deserve it") because that's so subjective, it should be "do you trust the government to do it?" like, do you trust the people who cant even fill potholes on your road to determine who should and should not live

[sitting-on-me-bum]

A female European hamster (Cricetus cricetus). Once widespread throughout Eurasia, this species is now critically endangered and could disappear in the wild within the next 30 years.

(Photo: Mathilde Tissier)

[r0zeclawz]

reading dnis is a great way to learn words that no one has ever used and might not even be real

[dogpuppy]