I cannot stand the “academic writing is inaccessible (and ableist and classist and racist) because its So Hard to Understand” argument
Academia is racist and cements class antagonism by its very structure and mode of existence, not because you don’t want to put the effort in reading or learning. Academia is racist and “classist” by its admission standards, it test score standards, is demographic quotas, in the adherence to a propagandistic white western canon, and its flip side the tokenization of BIPOC voices, in the very system of paying for education, loan debts, school districts, funding, material inaccessibility, journal paywalls, the complete deprivation of publicly readily available knowledge, the impoverishment of common intellectual life.
A more accessible academic life would see the complete shattering of the ivory walls. Life long learning. The end of tenure. The end of capitalistic competition in publishing the newest piece of trash.
There is bad writing. Of course. But when I see “write so a 5th grader can understand” I hear a call for the further impoverishment of intellectual life. A disregard for intellectual rigor.
And worse, I hear a complete infantilization and dehumanization of the very people you’re trying to advocate for. Black people are not stupid. Poor people are not stupid. People with mental illness are not stupid. And they’re certainly not in “5th grade”
why when able bodied fans draw canonically disabled chair-user characters do they have the abled partner sitting on their lap? i would kill someone if they touched my cane or sat on me in my chair
THIS SHIT IS INFINITELY MORE ROMANTIC THAN SITTING ON TOP OF YOUR DISABLED PARTNER. THE TENDERNESS INVOLVED IN HOLDING YOUR PARTNERS HAND, IN BEING CONSIDERATE OF THEIR SPACE, IN MAKING SURE THEY FEEL SAFE AND LOVED. i’m not going to go as far as saying stop having able bodied people sit on top of their disabled partners but know i’m disabled and would never consider it. i would absolutely get hurt
i hold the same viewpoint on able bodied partners carrying their disabled partner for no reason. my body is a fragile thing, easily broken. it has to be protected even from people with the best intentions. meet me at my level instead of taking me to yours
“You are in favour of the common people?” said Dragon mildly.
“The common people?” said Vimes. “They’re nothing special. They’re no different from the rich and powerful except they’ve got no money or power. But the law should be there to balance things up a bit. So I suppose I’ve got to be on their side.”
I’m a cis-gender man which basically means that, when I was born, the doctor went “It’s a boy!” and when I was old enough to understand I agreed with him.
The thing is, I don’t know why I feel like a man. I was teased and bullied for it a lot when I was little. I’ve never had stereotypically American male interests. I never cared about sports or cars or guns. I was more interested in music and cooking and the arts. I’ve always been emotionally in tune and sensitive, even when I did my best to suppress my emotions to survive a childhood of abuse from other children.
It’s not physical either. I don’t feel like a man because I have a penis or a beard. If you put my brain in a robot body or any other body, my essence would still feel male (I assume). I literally can’t imagine what being any other gender would feel like, since I feel so acutely male.
I think that’s why the concept of being transgender always made sense to me. I’m a man. I don’t have any bloody clue why I feel like a man, but I don’t feel that it’s tied to my body or my interests or the way that I’ve been treated. I feel like a man because of something beyond that. Something ephemeral. So, why couldn’t others feel the same? Why couldn’t a person who’s been misidentified as a girl feel like a boy for the exact same nebulous reasons that I do?
And, since gender really doesn’t make any sense to me anyway, why couldn’t there also be people who feel as if they don’t have one? Or who flow across genders like a ship on a map?
Are there people out there whose sense of their own gender is inseparable from their physical form? If you put those people into robot bodies or, simply, other physically different bodies, would their gender identity also swap? If so, why? Are they actually more lost in their gender identity than I am and they need to hone in on the physical in order to anchor themselves?
Why do people feel like they are the gender that they are?
I have somewhat of an inverse experience. I feel no real attachment to my gender whatsoever. I've wondered if that means my experience is more similar to what you would call agender or genderqueer. However that doesn't quite seem to fit because I don't really feel any drive to make it clear to others that I'm not just the gender I was assigned at birth. It's like the doctor assigned the gender female and when I was old enough to understand I was like
"Meh, sure, why not?"
I know there's no way to say for certain but I really feel as though if I was assigned a different gender at birth I would've just rolled with it. Or if I somehow magically had my essence transferred to a different body I'd be chill slipping into a male identity (say if I had a penis), agender (say if I was a robot), or genderqueer (say if I was intersex/androgenous). Like I really feel like I'd just role with whatever gender identity others assigned me (like I feel like I'd be chill no matter what with people calling me he/him, she/her, or they/them). I just feel literally no attachment to gender.
I'm also pan/bi so idk maybe I just don't have whatever ephemeral sense other people have of gender. So I guess I'm cis-adjacent? I'll just agree to be any gender or no gender. I can't really empathize with the deeper sense of having a gender so I just take other people's word for it and recognize my lived experience of my own sense of gender is different than others.
Climate change, health care, housing and jobs are all important issues facing Canadians ahead of the federal election. Stay up to date on th
Hello all you lovely people!
I know politics is super touchy and frustrating and a lot of people feel powerless or like there is no winning...
But as flawed as it can be - voting is literally how we voice what issues we care about, how we want the money we pay in taxes to be collected and redistributed, how we want the government to be serving us and our fellow Canadians, and how we want to secure the future for ourselves and the generations to come.
Do the parties fall short? Always! Do politicians get up to shit, make deals with ulterior motives, and go back on their word? Certainly!
But you know what? The parties we Canadians empower with our votes will shape the trajectory of our future whether we like it or not. Each and every vote cast weighs in on which areas and issues will be given the opportunity to get federal attention and resources.
Our individual votes add up however the equation is structured. Each vote stands for a single Canadian's agenda. Every non-vote amplifies the weight of those others who voiced an agenda. Even if we distain the system and abstain altogether our inaction matters - it has weight. Which may seem appealing - why not just let your apathy or ambivalence serve to promote the agendas of those who feel so compelled to vote? After all, they may be more willing to vote because they have a better grasp on politics - and even if they are not necessarily well informed, all together they will probably represent the general populations interests - right? Yeah, not so much as it turns out...
Now agendas can be positive or negative. Some people who care a lot vote and some people who care a lot don't. But you know who is definitely going to weigh in? People that believe that they can exploit the system to further their interests - regardless of how it will impact others or our collective future. Those people are voting. Do you believe adding weight to their votes by abstaining will result in attention and resources being directed in a way that will leave you and yours benefited in any way let alone in a way that does-no-harm?
Unfortunately, as much as we might want to wash our hands of the whole process - we all have stakes in this game. And the action or inaction of every Canadian eligible to vote will direct the outcome.
Want to avoid lending support to agendas that may hurt you or someone you care about? Looks like you gotta vote!
But how to vote responsibly? Especially when information is often misleading and manipulative or when you've relied on voting for a certain party because it aligned with your family history or self-image but you acknowledge you don't actually know their stance or track record in areas that truly effect and matter to you? You simply don't have the time and resources to become a political expert and you can't control the party or predict the future!
I know it's a lot - but you can do this. We can do this. Various people and groups are doing their best to make the particular agendas of each party more accessible and easy to digest. I found this link a useful overview to help you decide which party has the agendas that align best with your values. It also indicates areas where the party has acted against their claimed agenda or have neglected to propose how they might forward that agenda. Of course you don't need to base your vote off of one source! Delve as deep as you want / can tolerate or spare or be bothered to do. If any particular points in this resource catch your curiosity you can always investigate more from there :) But if browsing this shorter more digestible resource is all you can manage? That's okay! You are doing more good by voting on your semi-informed party than not voting at all! And it definitely does more good than voting for a party based on things like stereotypes, habit/tradition, trending topics, viral posts, vague impressions, attack ads, or mud-slinging.
TLDR: 1) VOTE
2) You are not powerless and voting matters. You have an impact on this election whether or not you are voting.
3) As unreliable as they may be, the federal parties we empower will direct where attention and federal resources are allocated.
While they may not follow through on exact plans or promises, the type of party you vote for will generally invest resources in line with their political platform.
4) Resources like this link I'm sharing can be a great tool to help you get informed on these general platforms / agendas.
5) Avoid voting blindly or falling victim to indecision paralysis. However brief or extensive your efforts toward better understanding what-the-parties-actually-support are - you'll still be making sure that your choice is informed. You'll be more likely to put your weight behind initiatives that reflect the kind of society you want to see rather than letting your vote or non-vote add further fuel to agendas that may go against the wellbeing of you, your loved ones, and your communities.
6) There is no heroic Prime Minister that will be completely unproblematic. There is no perfect party you can always depend on. But this does not make our options equivalent or "equally bad". A party's platform and demonstrable integrity will give you a glimpse into the types of choices they will make and opportunities they will take. Your vote is an endorsement towards the potential for change. Your vote is a chance to support the kinds of opportunities available to us as a society.
7) We all have stakes in this game and we all have the opportunity to nudge the wheel towards the direction we want for ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.
So get informed and vote responsibly. :D
P.S. Your life matters. Your voice matters.
Lend your voices not towards that which you wish to be free from!
Signal Boosting Comments Made by Nanky Rai about Social Murder in Ontario
I was asked to share my remarks (nothing that hasn’t been said, screamed, cried by communities & organizers for decades) from yesterdays emergency press conference organized by Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) so here they are:
My name is Nanky Rai and I’m a primary care physician working both in a community health centre setting as well as in the shelter system in Toronto.
It is deeply devastating to learn of the deaths of three individuals, an Indigenous man and two women, including one who died right here in front of us in the middle of the financial district in Toronto - all within the span of this last one week. And these are just the people we know about who have died outdoors. We know many more people who are experiencing homelessness are dying indoors in shelters, in hospital beds, in drop in facilities, and in the homes of chosen or biological families and or loved ones. They’re dying from overdose deaths, from preventable chronic diseases like heart disease or diabetes, from otherwise treatable infections like pneumonia. Its also incredibly saddening that these deaths don’t come as a shock to those who are most directly affected by the homelessness and overdose crisis.
And while these deaths are premature and preventative; they can’t simply be explained away as a failure of public health policies alone. These deaths need to be called what they are - a form of social murder - ones we as a society and those we have elected to represent us are responsible for. When our institutions carry out social policies like cancelling a minimum wage increase or clawing back increases to social assistance rates, that reinforce power hierarchies that cause harm and that lead to death - then that is social murder. When we know that those at greater risk of violence and death are those who are homeless and also Indigenous, or women, or queer and or trans, or people with disabilities or anyone at the intersections of those realities - then that is social murder. When we do not change the conditions that continue to deprive people of safe, accessible and supportive housing - pushing people further into material realities that they cannot survive through - then that is social murder. Government inaction is social murder. When securely housed people across Canada live 25 years longer than those who are experiencing homelessness; where a person experiencing homelessness has an average life expectancy that is less than 50 years of age - then that is not just an early, senseless death, that is social murder.
And as a health care worker, just as many other community members and frontline workers have said before me - we cannot medically treat away the gaps in life expectancy that are driven by poverty and homelessness. And we can’t allow politicians to use scapegoating and divide and conquer tactics to avoid addressing the crises of capitalism, colonization, white supremacy, gendered violence and the war on people who use drugs.
That is why its necessary for us to come together from various communities to declare homelessness and the overdose crises a national disaster and one that the city of Toronto, the province and the feds need to address now. So I echo the demands put forth by OCAP. The solution is radical social change. It lies in justice and reparations for Indigenous ppl, in respecting Indigenous sovereignty. It lies in taking leadership from those most directly affected by these crises. The solution is also safe, affordable rent-geared-to-income housing. *And* at the same time we need to respond with urgency to this crisis to provide shelter that is accessible and safe, that is low barrier and has harm reduction services embedded within including MORE overdose prevention sites - especially so that we can meet the needs of those most pushed to the margins of power in our society. Our successes need to be measured by how women, trans ppl, Indigenous people & nations, Black and other people of colour communities including undocumented people and all those with disabilities are thriving, not by our ability to lower the death toll because one death like the one that happened right here is already one too many.
~~~~~~~
OCAP’s demands need to be implemented immediately:
1. Declare an emergency or use any other measure to immediately secure provincial and federal assistance in ending the housing crisis and homeless deaths
2. Add 2000 new shelter beds across all sectors in 2019 to meet 90% occupancy target
3.Build safe, supportive, accessible, and rent-geared-to-income housing.
4.Open low-threshold, harm-reduction based smaller shelters for women and trans people.
5.Fund overdose prevention programs across the province.
When I complain about being a ‘gifted’ kid who grew into a talentless adult I don’t mean that I’m not trying to work on my talents or anything
I mean that the ‘gifts’ I had are useless
Reading books above my age isn’t a talent when I’m not eleven
Knowing big words isn’t a talent when I’m not a kid, it’s just growing up
It’s just a weird thing that happens and it feels shitty when you’re brought up being told you’re an exceptional child only to realise as an adult you’re just average
I did a lot of reading about gifted kids and especially gifted adults when I got my “diagnosis” because I was told I was gifted at 23 and well, it serves no purpose to have a confirmation that you’re gifted at 23
Thing is, gifted children are not amazingly better than everyone else. Gifted brains just don’t work the same so they build their skills in a different order
Basically when you’re very young, most people brain learn social skills and how to interact with their peers, but gifted brains are already at the next step which is how to understand and interact with the world
That makes the stereotypical young children that are very good at math, always asking questions about how things work, very upset when they don’t know a thing
But the thing is, when everyone gets older, they’ve mastered most social skills and now turn towards understanding the world
But the gifted children have already mastered that part and are turning towards how to build social skills. Except there’s no one left to teach us about that! Because we’re late to that party
Long story short, at the end everyone, gifted or not, goes through all the necessary steps to make functioning adults, so the difference that was obvious as a child has disappeared
But us gifted people often end up with social anxiety and impostor syndrome because we are actually less equipped than others to face a world that taught everyone to be confident and talk to people while we were busy reading books above our age
I just. I don’t like this view of “millennials vs Gen Z”. This is NOT supposed to be a competition of who got fucked over the most and who’s “actually fighting back”.
Millennials are fighting back just by surviving in a job market where the minimum wage doesn’t cover the living cost. Millennials are awesome at “killing” the diamond, golfing and napkins industries. Millennials are using the internet to make sure things that corporations want to keep in the dark are exposed. They’re open LGBTQIA-friendly business, they’re supporting each other with online donations so everyone can survive this shitty economy.
And the Gen Z kids? The Gen Z kids are rad. I remember a post about something like the millennials making a collective promise to never become a disenchanted generation that only criticizes the next one and I want to point out that this “millennials vs gen z” trend is trying to do exactly that: split us apart. Prevent millennials from being the older siblings that teach the younger siblings to throw a good punch and turn them into the annoyed adult complaining about “those kids” on their lawn. We are the two groups that grew in a connected world of information. We are two very unique generations.
I think that it’s our duty for us millennials, as a disrespected, underpaid, very angry generation to stand up by our younger siblings, and fight together the oppressive systems that brought us all to this point.
