Recent comments in /f/vote_satan

twovests wrote

Reply to cw transphobia by flabberghaster

I think it's that bathrooms are a place that are still gender-segregated, and where people feel vulnerable.

The patriarchy is a real thing that makes all of society asymmetrical among women and men, but focusing on the bathrooms is (1) simpler than all of that, and (2) something you can do without acknowledging the sexism built into society.

It's one place where you regularly make yourself vulnerable and to the mercy of the public, with a nice viewing-gap in every stall for some reason.

Say you have a red-blooded American idiot, feeling that natural vulnerability you feel with your cheeks on that seat. They sit down, and Tucker Carlson's visage appears in their mind, saying, "Be afraid! A transgender will RAPE you! It can HAPPEN RIGHT NOW!" And the transphobe wipes, get up, and get ready to leave, hands shaking ready to grab your pepper spray if there's a transgender on their way out.

But if you're just Any Transgender Person using the bathroom, it's probably the number one area where you can anticipate conflict. It was probably pretty scary the first few times you dared to use the "other" restroom. If you've been trans and using restroooms for awhile, you probably had conflict in the past.

You know now you got out safe, but those conflicts didn't start with that assurance. You wouldn't know if they would escalate to violence.

And when people feel increasingly empowered and even mandated to start conflicts at the bathroom, that die rolls again and again. Maybe next time you'll get shoved, or even pepper sprayed, or assaulted even worse.

So, the transgender person sits down on the seat in the adjacent stall, and the visage of Actual Conflicts You Had appear in your mind, saying, "Be afraid! Someone might yell at you! Or worse! It can HAPPEN RIGHT NOW!" It doesn't matter that the trans person has reason to be afraid and the transphobe doesn't-- both are afraid.

The trans person wipes, flushes, and goes to wash their hands. Your cortisol is up, and even just a scornful stare is enough to bring it higher.

I've definitely left situations like that feeling, "fuck!! i have all this anxious energy!! i need to POST about it", falling for the exact thing you described. And then Fox fucking News wins again.

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rain wrote

Reply to comment by twovests in really concerned about a new generation of normalization of pedophilia (CW: CSA) by twovests

I hate to say it but there have always been people (mostly men) who preferred their “partners” be too immature and dependent to stand up for themselves, along with other people willing to enable them. Fighting these creeps is never going to stop because they never went away, they just got quiet for a bit. It’s a process, not an end.

maybe "having sex with children is bad" was just a temporary thing during the obama presidency. .. i miss him...

Honestly I can’t stand Obama, but he does seem to be one of the best people to have held that office in at least 3 decades. The sad thing is he can claim this based on little more than being the only one of the lot without credible sexual assault accusations.

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twovests OP wrote

Reply to well now i'm worried about nuclear war by twovests

i know "america is dying" has been discussed for decades now, but come on

our leaders are so old that "actuarial tables" come up regularly in political discussion. and that's not even the 100th worst thing about it!

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cowloom wrote

Reply to How does one get involved with helping immigrants and related people? by twovests

I wish I had an answer for you, but I doubt going around door to door and asking "are you undocumented and in need of assistance?" would get you anywhere. I would just try to find your local leftist group and see what they're like / if they're any good. Then maybe you guys can investigate conditions in your area and brainstorm ways of reaching out to people. We had decent luck with movie nights plus a discussion afterwards to introduce our organization to people.

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twovests wrote

Reply to comment by flabberghaster in "No ethical consumption" was never supposed to be an excuse for making the shittiest choices by cowloom

Exactly correct. I think the "corporations produce greenhouse gasses, carbon footprint is a myth" is actually just corporate propaganda.

Individuals have carbon footprints which have a small impact on climate change and a large impact on their local environment.

If individuals focused on their individual carbon footprint, it would be good, but it would mean buying less, and that would impact their bottom line.

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flabberghaster wrote (edited )

Reply to "No ethical consumption" was never supposed to be an excuse for making the shittiest choices by cowloom

Ten million percent! This has been a huge bugbear of mine for so long.

I also feel like people use the whole "the top ten corporations produce most of the green house gas" thing as an excuse not to be better. Yes there's systemic issues and we shouldn't waste our time trying to scold people who individually make very little difference. But a collective is made up of individuals acting in concert, and if you make the worst decisions you're still part of the problem, even tho you shouldn't be expected to solve the crisis alone.

Even if you don't care about the killing of animals, it's still a good idea to eat less meat from the perspective of greenhouse gas emissions. You don't get to say "chevron pollutes more than me" when eating meat is probably among the most carbon intensive things most people do.

Also, those corporations burn so Mich carbon to sell stuff to people. They're doing it partly to satisfy consumer demand.

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