the persecution of lefthandedness is insane to think about because it was so intense for so long, in some places still is, without any clear profit motivation. sheer love of the game. as late as the 70s at least they were smacking my stepdad's hands for it with a wooden ruler at school, to this day he's in weird ambidexterity situation where he's not great with either side and notably clumsy due to poor hand-eye coordination. just wtf
It is fascinating to me that people also think of handedness as an example of bigotry that just...went away. As you note, it...hasn't in some places. I know people who grew up in the mid-late 90s who still had this problem.
But also, and this is really important to keep in mind regarding bigotry that still causes in many ways larger problems, that the structural problems are not actually fixed.
If you go to any computer lab or public library, the mice will be on the right side of the computer. Sometimes they can be moved. Sometimes they can't. Many computer mice are curved to only fit in right hands.
It is impossible to find lefthanded scissors without going to a specialty store, because most scissor makers don't even make them. And it's not just a matter of grip; the slicing side of the blades is obscured if you use righty scissors in your left hand, so your cut is off.
All those signing pads with the little chained styluses? Almost always on the right side, often not even long enough to stretch to the left. Makes signing for lefties extremely difficult.
I caused actual muscular problems in college having to twist around in order to write at right-handed desks in college when there weren't enough lefty desks--and there never were. Some classrooms didn't even have a single one.
I could go on.
But the point is, bigotry isn't just a mindset shift. People can't just decide they're not bothered by that particular difference anymore and everything's fine, because society is still structured and designed to cause problems for marginalized people. And they're never even going to notice all the little ways their life is bent to convenience them that inconveniences others.
When kiddo was learning to write, their teacher—who was a beautifully kind, caring, compassionate person who even thanked me for making them aware of certain kinds of left/handed supplies, because their new toddler was a lefty and they’d never even thought about it—was teaching the kids a method for word spacing that involved placing their free index finger down at the end of each word and then writing the next one.
Pause for a moment, especially if you’re right-handed—and I’m being serious here, physically do this if you have two functioning arms and hands—and grab a writing tool in your left hand. Now place your right index finger down and try to start writing a word next to it.
Yeah. Great technique, huh? Really convenient and comfortable and easy. 🙃
I sent in a small baggie of small popsicle sticks I’d custom painted for them and labeled with their name for kiddo to use instead, but ultimately they stopped because it wasn’t as convenient when nobody else had to get something out.
Writing in English is difficult enough when you’re left-handed (most of our letters are designed with pull motions, but lefties must push), but even other foundational basics are made more difficult than they have to be, because their needs aren’t considered, even in situations where overt hostility isn’t intended.
Even now, in an older grade, they’re now all sharing a lot of the supplies, but my kiddo has their own pair of labeled lefty scissors they keep in their personal cubby. Teacher was 100% chill with me sending them in, but didn’t even consider to take the step further when I’d asked about whether or not they had them to just… get some for all the lefties. I know there are other kids, know some of them personally. (I made a set of writing spacing sticks for the single one that I knew of back in 1st grade.)
Regarding computer mice? Kiddo had standardized testing last year. They do it on chromebooks now at their school. They did their entire first day with the track pad instead of the mouse, because none of the teachers proctoring or assisting even knew you COULD switch the sides/toggle a setting to switch which button was the dominant select. We happened to have one at home thanks to remote learning during Covid’s early days, so that night we sat down together and found the setting ourselves so they could fix it the following day. But on a student account at school, they couldn’t change that setting. And? None of those teachers knew enough about technology to be able to override it. So even when I went above and beyond and personally sought out the skills and tools to help my child level the playing field on their own, the teaching staff was so unaccustomed to even considering this as a need or problem, that they weren’t able to remove the incredibly basic barriers to a fair schooling experience.
And this is honestly a good school, with staff that care and work hard and take 99% of bigotry concepts very seriously, teach about truth and compassion and how to recognize at this kid level a lot of the basic seeds that can grow into hate and hurt and also healing and helping. But the fact that left-handed needs are different? It is so ingrained to default to right-handed layouts that even left-handed staff don’t conceptualize these problems, because they were taught the exact same way.
One time I was talking about Robin Hood with some coworkers and one guy was like “he was bad because the people he helped learned to expect handouts” and I wanted to be like… okay can you explain how that flawed capitalist propaganda applies to feudalism
That’s an exaggeration. What was invented in the 16th century was mercantilism. Capitalism really dates for the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the rise of industry and cash crops over artisans and merchants. Vulture capitalism, with the notion that companies have no duties other than generating profit, is even younger.
I think a lot of this comes from the fact that most people don’t know the formal definition of capitalism. We all know the word, we’ve all seen the jokes, but very few people bother to actually define it unless they’re talking about political theory and philosophy, so it’s easy to end up with the impression that Capitalism = Money Can Be Exchanged For Goods And Services.
Capitalism is the economic system where most of the means of production (i.e. everything people need to have to make the stuff that everyone wants) are owned by private individuals or corporations, who then hire people to provide the labor necessary to produce things, with the intent of selling the output at a profit. It’s the difference between “you’re a carpenter and you make a chair and you sell it” and “you’re Richard Q. Richington who owns a chair factory, and you pay people to sell the chairs you paid other people to make and then all the excess money goes back to you.” There have been Richard Q. Richingtons on and off throughout history, but that being the norm for every single industry is a pretty recent development.
Finally drew a comic for the mini fic I wrote awhile back.
Abel sat awkwardly across from Cain. Charlie told him that he had to talk to Cain again to finally get some closure. All the while, Cain ignored him, scrolling on his phone to see what the news was in the Pride ring. He didn’t want to look Abel in the face. Hiding his guilt with indifference.
After a long silence, Abel finally spoke. “Why did you kill me?”
Cain stopped scrolling. He didn’t look at his brother’s face but you could still feel the intensity in his voice when he asked “what do you mean?”
“You were the braver son. You were stronger and smarter. Why did you kill me? Whenever I asked dad, he’d ignore me. He never even liked me.”
Cain’s eyes widened. He put down his phone and finally looked at Abel in the eyes.
“What the fuck are you even talking about?” Cain replied, confused and angry.
—-
Adam sees his sons arguing in the distance. He sighs and stops what he’s doing, stretching and walking over. He’s clearly annoyed and asks his sons, “okay, what are you two whining about now?”
“His stupid sheep is eating my crops again!” Cain yells, pointing to Abel.
Abel points back at his brother and cries out “he wouldn’t have gotten into the field if Cain fixed the fence like he said he was going to!”
Adam sighed, face in his hand. “Abel, go get your sheep out of there. I’m gonna talk to Cain.”
Abel leaves and Adam turns to Cain, his irritation rising. “You should’ve watched him.”
Cain takes a step back and yells at father. “He should’ve been watching his dumbass sheep! Why do I have to be responsible for him being a moron! I was the first born human on earth and deserve some fucking respect! I’m-“
Cain’s rant is interrupted by the back of Adam’s hand slapping him across his face. Cain grips his now sore cheek, trying to hold back tears.
“You’re the oldest. Fucking act like it!” Adam gripped Cain by his shirt, forcing him closer. “You are his keeper. You protect him. You look after him. Your mom and I work our asses off to provide for you two. The least you can do is lighten the load a bit and watch over him, you ungrateful fucking brat!”
“Dad, I got the sheep out of the fields.” Abel said as he ran back to father.
Adam lets go of Cain. “Good. Now go fix that fence like I told you to.”
Adam walks past Abel, not even acknowledging him. He picks up his harvesting scythe and goes back to working on his own crops.
Abel then notices the redness on Cain’s cheek and gently reaches out his hand to comfort him. Cain slaps the hand away and leaves. “Cain…” Abel says weakly “I’m sorry for what happened. I should’ve kept a closer eye on my herd.”
Cain stopped and just muttered “I’m not your damn keeper.” Before continuing to walk over to the damaged fence.
—-
Cain watched as the smoke from his offering fell to the ground, rejected by the angels. His sadness turned to envy and anger as he heard clapping and cheers from his father. He turned and saw the smoke from Abel’s offering rising high into the heavens.
“Yes! We’re eating good tonight thanks to you, ya little shit!” Adam ruffled Abel’s hair and Eve applauded the success. Abel tried to go in to hug his dad but was lightly pushed away.
“Woah, chill. Grown men don’t hug their dads, bitch. Go hug your mom.” Adam said before he went up to the altar and collected the leftover lamb meat the angels gave them as a reward. “Let’s get inside and eat this before it gets cold. Cain, clean up the burnt bullshit the angels didn’t want and do it quick or you’re not getting any leftovers.”
Eve went up and comforted Cain. “There’s always next time, dear. You’ll have a better crop and I’m sure the angels will be happy.” She kissed her eldest son on the cheek before leaving to join the rest of her family.
Cain was unmoving. Just staring at the burnt vegetables on his altar.
—-
Eve’s scream of anguished tore through the field’s as she found Abel’s body. She collapses to the ground, sobbing and shaking.
Adam, someone who hadn’t held his sons since they were children, picked up Abel’s body and hugged it close. Blood stained his hands as he ran his fingers through Abel’s hair. “Please wake up…” Adam said, voice trembling. “Please, Abel…please just wake up and be okay.”
Cain stood there. Covered in his brother’s blood and tears going down his face. The reality hitting him. In a moment of jealous rage, he had killed his little brother.
Cain dropped the now gore covered rock in his hand. At the noise, Adam looked up. Sorrow now replaced with rage. Eve took Abel’s body from him as you stood up and looked at Cain.
With hatred in his voice, he said “I should’ve drowned you as a baby.”
Cain had never seen his father this angry. He tried to apologize but before he could say anything, Adam lunged at him. Once the distance between them was closed, Adam pulled out his hunting knife and slashed his eldest son’s eye out.
Cain fell to the ground, gripping the injured side of his face. Adam raised his knife again. This time, Adam froze. Looking down at Cain, he lowered his blade.
“Get out.” Adam said. “Get out and never come back.”
Cain got up and ran.
As time went on the mutilation around his now empty eye scarred. It became a “mark” of sorts. Anyone who saw it recognized him as the first human to kill his own kind and most people avoided him. He wandered around Nod, alone and guilt ridden. Even with him meeting Aclima and having Enoch, he felt only guilt and shame for his crime. All the way up until his death many years later.
This version of the progress flag legitimately looks so nice
Gilbert baker rainbow, huge intersex circle, the design is cluttered but in a good way 10/10
[ID: A version of the progress pride flag with a large purple intersex ring outlined in gold, looping through pink, blue, brown, and black chevrons on the side, which have a base of white. The horizontal stripes are: pink, red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue, and purple. End ID.]
there's an old anne rice interview circulating on twitter rn that i remember reading ages ago where she makes a pretty salient point about how submissive men who have bdsm fantasies etc will go to a sex worker and basically order the ala carte version of their fantasy to be performed in real life but women don't really have that same option and certainly not at the same point of availability so they read her horny books instead. and honestly that argument has been in the back of my mind every time people get on their high horses about the popularity of booktok romantasy novels or heated rivalry or whatever the "women are horny and we're upset about that" cultural property du jour is ever since. women, especially straight women, have so few outlets for their sexual desires, especially if they have a partner who doesn't share them, and i will never understand why "someone ELSE'S private sexual fantasy makes me uncomfortable and therefore they should not be allowed to engage with it, even if i am in no way being affected by it or even aware of it at all" is such a popular party line among allegedly progressive young people.
This is literally what people are talking about when they say AI will be used to mainstream widely held bigotry. LLMs are trained on frequency and probability -> straight relationships are more well represented in the dataset -> straight pronouns and terms become the "correct" normal.
This is a form of backdoor bigotry from both normative facts (there are more straight than gay relationships) and well represented bigoted beliefs (men are superior to women).
Combine this with the mass of people inclined to believe (and being encouraged to believe) that if AI says and does something it must be correct
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?
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).
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.
This was filmed at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, which rescues, rehabilitates, and releases orphaned elephants in Kenya (among other conservation efforts). Charity Navigator has given it a 4/4 star rating, and you can make donations here or “adopt” a baby elephant here.
The above is explaining three semantically similar statements with different connotations, in decreasing order of prevalence. In the early twenty-first century, native English speakers would understand the connotations implicitly, and would not need the detailed explanation of the above, which draws from the pattern.
In all cases, these statements serve as the prologue to some correction for a mistaken assumption, as explained above.
In the first case, the word "easy" is used to emphasize that the mistake is common, natural, and understandable, and that there is no shame for being mistaken on the given matter of topic. This is a very common turn of phrase.
In the second case, the word "tempting" is used to emphasize that the mistake is born out of some desirable motive. The biases that caused one to form the mistaken assumption as potentially sympathetic to the corrector. This is an less common, but known, turn of phrase, implying a harsher critique.
In the third case, the word "comforting" is used to emphasize that that the only reason someone is making an assumption is because they are coddling their own biases, even though any attempt at thinking things through would prove it irrational. It is the equivalent of accusing someone of sticking their head in the sand, like an allegorical ostrich. "Read for filth" is an idiomatic expression meaning to offer full, unfiltered criticism of something, ripping it apart. This is even less common to use, but the point would be understood as being a prelude to the harshest criticism of the three.
One time I was talking about Robin Hood with some coworkers and one guy was like “he was bad because the people he helped learned to expect handouts” and I wanted to be like… okay can you explain how that flawed capitalist propaganda applies to feudalism
That’s an exaggeration. What was invented in the 16th century was mercantilism. Capitalism really dates for the beginning of the nineteenth century, with the rise of industry and cash crops over artisans and merchants. Vulture capitalism, with the notion that companies have no duties other than generating profit, is even younger.
I think a lot of this comes from the fact that most people don’t know the formal definition of capitalism. We all know the word, we’ve all seen the jokes, but very few people bother to actually define it unless they’re talking about political theory and philosophy, so it’s easy to end up with the impression that Capitalism = Money Can Be Exchanged For Goods And Services.
Capitalism is the economic system where most of the means of production (i.e. everything people need to have to make the stuff that everyone wants) are owned by private individuals or corporations, who then hire people to provide the labor necessary to produce things, with the intent of selling the output at a profit. It’s the difference between “you’re a carpenter and you make a chair and you sell it” and “you’re Richard Q. Richington who owns a chair factory, and you pay people to sell the chairs you paid other people to make and then all the excess money goes back to you.” There have been Richard Q. Richingtons on and off throughout history, but that being the norm for every single industry is a pretty recent development.
theartofmadeline
yousharknotpass
vaporwave
areudirty
annaxmalina
gummygunk
pixelskylines
