lia

Just for anyone still thinking the civil rights movement was “SO long ago!”

Fred Hampton would be 51 this year if police hadn’t executed him at age 21.

Ruby Bridges is 65.

MLK would be 91 (he was assassinated at 39).

Malcom X would be 95 (he was assassinated at 39).

Claudette Colvin (the first Black woman known to refuse to give up her seat AT 15) is only 80.

Mary Louise Smith is 83.

Fred Gray is 89.

EMMETT TILL WOULD BE 79 (he was murdered at age 14 because of a white woman’s lie).

Ask yourself how old your grandparents are. Hell, how old your PARENTS are. How old are the people in most government seats right now?

Miss me with that bullshit of “It’S sO lOnG aGo. Things are better now.” These people and so many more who aren’t able to be here would be distraught at what is STILL fucking happening today. To say things like that is just willfully turning your head away from the injustices that we see today! That’s the that on that.

“How old are people in most government seats right now?” <-!!!! THIS!! People don’t fully digest THIS! MANY many people in the most powerful positions in government WERE alive to hate MLK. They were building early political careers in opposition to the Civil Rights movement, actively oppressing Black people in lower positions of government, fighting to keep segregation alive, etc. And they’re STILL doing it!

(Rude) note to self.

WATCH: The Oregon Zoo in Portland was closed to the public today due to heavy snow – but the zoo’s residents had a blast.

Oh my GODD THE POLAR BEAR GOT SOME SNOW HE MUST FEEL SO REFRESHED

relatable seals at the end there

“Hey Joe! Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe look!!! It’s snow!”

I need more of this shit!

Those happy elephant sounds cleared my skin and watered my crops.

The polar bear “hell nahhhh. This ain’t that fake shit ! THIS AINT THAT FAKE SHIT. THIS THAT REAL SHIT!!!”

God I love this website

WHY IS THIS POSTED TO URFAVISUNFUCKABLE????

#like...why use this baby word when you can just say how you feel about it

Found this in the original post tags and I just... SIGH

Here’s the thing, anon. Squick isn’t just ‘I don’t like this’, it’s ‘I think this is gross and it makes me deeply uncomfortable but I pass no judgement on those who enjoy it, because I acknowledge that everyone is different and those same people may have the same visceral reaction some of the things I enjoy’ and was originally made popular in the kink community.

So yeah, if you want to say that every time you come across a trope or whatever you find icky then go ahead, say that every time.

Also, this term dates back to Usenet in the early nineties, so sure, go off.

This frustrates me so much because squicks and triggers are fundamentally different things and as someone with PTSD, the distinction is super useful!

Squicks are things I find personally gross but may not be gross to someone else. They don’t upset me or provoke my PTSD, they simply do not pop my corn. Example: Omegaverse. I don’t like it, it makes me uncomfortable and I’m not going to read it, but if you like it, you do you.

Triggers are things which directly provoke my PTSD. This means that my triggers may seem completely normal and innocuous to someone else, because my triggers are so personal and intrinsically linked to a specific event in my life. My reactions to these triggers can include panic attacks and flashbacks to this traumatic event. Sometimes being triggered can affect me for several hours or even days.

Describing something as either a squick or a trigger allows me easily establish the difference in my potential reaction to something without having to go into painful detail about why bodily fluids might make me back button quickly but poker games might leave me a crying wreck. 

Making this distinction, and having a specific word for something that is not your slice of pie, but also not an actual psychological trigger, is also REALLY important for making sure that the word “trigger” can retain its original, specific, purposeful, and collectively understood clinical meaning (both inside and outside online fannish communities).

If we encourage everyone to lump things that just make them slightly uncomfortable or simply aren’t to their taste in under the word “trigger”, it actually dilutes the meaning of the word. It makes it harder for us all to, for the most part, collectively agree on and understand what exactly is being described when the word gets used.

And that destruction of shared precise definitions is a problem! It is really useful to have the communal language to be able to clearly and quickly delineate between “this grosses me out, no thanks” and “this is going to set off a trauma episode, rattle my brain, and probably throw off the rest of my day/week as a result” while also maintaining your privacy, and to know that you will be understood in what you are saying. Not having it is actually detrimental to the effort of making our communities safe and navigable for people living with trauma. Which is a goal that is much more important to me, personally, than the idea of not being “cutesy” (a word which in this case which sounds a lot like it’s being used as a euphemism for “cringe”).

(Also, one has to wonder if people told Shakespeare he was being childish when he made up entirely new words that are still widely used in the English language today...... 🤔)

My understanding is that “squick” was also created to avoid using more judgmental terms like “gross” or “disturbing”--like yeah, I do find X kink gross or disturbing, but that’s my personal feeling, not an objective fact about the world, and if I’m explaining to my friend who is super into X that I’d prefer they leave it out of the story they’re writing me in the fic exchange, I want to use politer language!

“Squick” does sound silly, like onomatopoeia, but I think that’s part of its role--it’s a word that defuses if, again, you’re saying something squicks you in front of an audience that may include its connoisseurs. When I say I’m squicked, I’m clearly not getting onto a high horse of dignity and moral righteousness. At the same time I’m not being so indirect for the sake of politeness--”oh, it’s not my favorite thing, I’m not sure it works for me, I haven’t found a fic about it that clicks for me”--that someone could misunderstand how much I do not want to see it.

And, to reiterate, it is a grown up word made by grown up nerds in the 90s so if you think it was somehow born on and limited to Tumblr I'm going to need you to actually do some fandom history research before you ever speak authoritatively again about anything fandom-related or adjacent.

I love and deeply miss the term “squick” and really want to see it brought back. It allows dislike for its own sake and without judgement. It’s polite, gentle, and has an air of “you do you.” A squick is not a trigger. Triggers are related to trauma. You’re allowed to not like things and not have them related to anything other than just finding them unpleasant. And that aversion can be strong! That’s okay! I really don’t like watersports. Like, gag-reflex levels of aversion, but it’s not triggering. I just really don’t like it.  I feel like we’ve lost the right/ability to just... quietly not like things and move on with our lives. Not everything is for everyone, and you don’t need a reason to not like something. Just politely and quietly excuse yourself. No need to draw attention, and if someone asks you why you just say, “No, it squicks me out.” No judgement. No narrative necessary. 

There is a sad trend of trying to make everything you personally dislike morally reprehensible in some way to justify your dislike of it. You're allowed to just not like something for no real reason. You do not have to justify why you dislike something, and the word "squick" is perfect for that. It say "look I really really don't like this thing, but it's ok if you do" and that is useful.

I think the biggest problem is that a lot of these kids are VERY into the whole fandom purity culture thing, so they actually DO want to make it out to be morally reprehensible, and they DON'T think it's ok that other ppl might be into it.

Cheerfully using “squick” since 1992, because it means a specific thing and other words do not mean that thing.

Okay, granted, it’s been a while since I’ve seen “all trans readers like one kind of fic, and no trans readers ever like another kind of fic, so it is Transphobia when you write the Wrong Kind.”

…but it hasn’t been that long since I’ve seen someone quietly wonder if they’re a Bad Trans Person for having preferences.

So it’s never a bad time to say: different people have different needs, and it’s okay to be fulfilled by different kinds of stories!

(heck, the same person might have different needs at different points in their own life, and that’s okay too)

here’s some cat memes i made bc i’m upsetti

Source

Want more info? Here ya go: 

This Biology Teacher Disproved Transphobia With Science 

ALSO:

Sex redefined

“The idea of two sexes is simplistic. Biologists now think there is a wider spectrum than that.”

More on anti-trans arguments as bad science

As a biologist I am reblogging this so hard.

Biological sex is not and has never been a binary. The complexity of the natural world cannot be contained in neat little societal boxes. Stop using science to justify your bigotry.

Hm.

Woah…

Me: yep

Me: sees trans man not binding and one in a dress

Me : nope!

You didn’t have to draw a trans man with boobs sis, thanks for the dysphoria babeey

if u get dysphoric when u see a boob that’s understandable but its also your problem to deal with n u don’t get to shame other trans dudes for drawing people like them with visible breasts. as much as it sucks, most trans men do have non flat chests and it’s not a bad thing to draw trans men with breasts (unless ur sexualising them, or ur drawing a real life trans man who’s dysphoric about his chest).

also u can’t have a go at op for drawing a trans man without a binder bc it makes u dysphoric n then call him sis. dont be a fuckin hypocrite dude.

anyways good post op

some trans men can’t bind for medical reasons. some don’t prefer to bind bc it’s uncomfortable, and hot, and sweaty!!! some trans men arent that bothered by chest dysphoria!

trans people are not required to attempt conformity to be valid in their identity. no one is required to try and “look cis”. that’s your own shit to deal with.

Thank you for drawing trans men who aren’t binding and who wear feminine clothes, OP, seeing trans people like myself really helps with my dysphoria

I can’t bind because of my severe asthma and pain in my ribs from fibromyalgia. So seeing trans men who aren’t binding really helps my crippling dysphoria. Thanks op (also disabled trans men aaaaaah! 💖)

Also some trans men cant afford a binder, or are closeted, or itt isnt safe where they live to bind, binding isnt a necessity v

Also trans men, just like cis men, are allowed to wear dresses.

Im a trans guy who cant currently bind and who still loves dresses, thank you for the rep OP.

Also just wanna say: FUCK TRASCUM

Bringin this back

Okay. That was the one. That did it. Here come the tears.

This is the one that did me in:

“She was ours, she did her best, she stayed as long as she could.”

Register now to vote Trump out of office. It’s the least she deserves from us.

all of the above

I’m making a version without the puzzle peice because the history behind that symbol is rather offensive.

Reblogging this version, sorry about the first time everyone!

All of the above

a l l  o f  t h e m 

A L L  O F  T H E  A B O V E

Because this is something that also needs stating…

This won’t make your blog look ugly. How could you not reblog this? REBLOGGING THIS COULD SAVE A LIFE!!!

This goes for assholes, too, guys. I know a couple who went tubing once, and they had to re-air their tubes, but the guy thought it would be funny to stick the tip of the air compressor up to her bikini trunks, the air ruptured something inside her and she died within thirty minutes.

WHAT?

The thing about this? It’s in every pregnancy book I’ve read.

WHAT?????

Why is it in pregnancy books but not sex ed books?

Because the men in charge only care about the health and safety of women in so far as it enables them to have babies.

https://www.healthline.com/health/air-embolism#outlook

Reblogging with a link because I thought this was a legit joke. Never heard it before. Like I knew you could kill a person by inserting air into a vein but still.

WHAT THE FUCL I hate how I didn’t learn this in sex Ed AT ALL

This is very true lol

Yo what the f u c k

not the normal stuff i’d reblog but, uh, this is kinda??? heckin???? important?????

I feel like I first saw this in The Joy of Sex, but it’s definitely a thing.

What the fuck

i-

….thank you tumblr??

hm. 

I legit thought this was a shitpost until I saw the rest of the comments

Um??? I’m reblogging this??? This can save a life??

ATTENTION

The US government just killed Lezmond Mitchell, a Native American man.

It is against the law for the US Government to order the death of a tribal citizen without the approval of the corresponding sovereign Nation's approval. The Navajo Nation (to whom Mitchell belongs) actively campaigned against his execution. This is the first execution of a Native American by the occupying US government in modern times.

This is a Big Fucking Deal.

article with more on the topic: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-government-executes-only-native-american-on-death-row-despite-calls-from-tribal-leaders-to-the-president-for-clemency/ar-BB18o19g?OCID=ansmsnnews11

lmao i lost at least 7 followers after reblogging that…. anyway if you exclude nonbinary people you’re ignoring the white stripe of the trans flag; aces and aros are not straight and thus lgbt+ because theyre literally not attracted to the opposite sex, trans women are real women, and physical dysphoria is not required to be considered trans

me watching the terfs, aphobes and transmeds disappear from my follower count

Source 

These dudes are fucking legit.  They don’t just show up one day in court, either, they actually make friends with the kids and let them know they have a support system and that there are people in the world who care about them and will always have their back.  And less important, but also cool, is that the few times a couple of them have come into my cafe, they’ve been super friendly and polite and when I told one of the guys that I noticed his Bikers Against Child Abuse patch and wanted him to know how awesome I thought he was because of it, he got kind of shy and blushed and said, “The kids are the awesome ones, we just let them know they’re allowed to be brave.”

The source is long, but so, so good. These men and women are available in 36 states, 24 hours a day to stand guard at home, in court, at school, even if the child has a nightmare. Many of them are survivors of childhood abuse as well, and know what it’s like to feel scared and alone.

Actual tears.. hnngh

Show me more of people like this, world. I give up on humans too easily.

where do i sign up for this,i want to be in this gang

This is fucking amazing. It may be out of character for me to say this but rock on

Bikers Against Child Abuse was founded in 1995 by a Native American child psychologist whose ride name is Chief, when he came across a young boy who had been subjected to extreme abuse and was too afraid to leave his house. He called the boy to reach out to him, but the only thing that seemed to interest the child was Chief’s bike. Soon, some 20 bikers went to the boy’s neighborhood and were able to draw him out of his house for the first time in weeks.

Chief’s thesis was that a child who has been abused by an adult can benefit psychologically from the presence of even more intimidating adults that they know are on their side. “When we tell a child they don’t have to be afraid, they believe us,” Arizona biker Pipes told azcentral.com. “When we tell them we will be there for them, they believe us.” ( Article)

More about BACA, from their site

My parents are a part of this organization and they are metal af

They go on runs to protect the child if they feel even the slightest threatened no matter where. If the child needs them to go on vacation with them, they do. Bikers come from across the nation to watch over and take shifts for these kids. And the best part is once you’re adopted into this family as a BACA kid, you’re always one. Even when you’re 40 and the perp gets released from jail, they’ll come meet with you and find your best options for avoiding the person and maintaining the life you’ve built for yourself. Once a BACA child, always a BACA child. In Florida, there’s 100% rate for identifying the perp based on the child’s testimony. Why? Because BACA stands with the child and supports the child so they feel comfortable enough to point out their attacker.

What’s better than a badass biker gang being on your side???

NATIVE AMERICAN CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST WHO IS A BIKER AND NAMED HIMSELF CHIEF HELL YES I’M HERE FOR THAT AND BIKERS BEING BAD ASS TO PROTECT KIDS. HELL YEAH.

it’s back! I will always reblog BACA

Damn good people.

I know they wouldn’t consider themselves such, but these people are freaking heroes and the world is a better place because of them. 

Hey folks, it talks about this in the article but its not mentioned in this post, BACA is a 501 © (3) charity that depends in part on donations to help pay for stuff like gas for their bikes. If you want to help, consider donating. 

@copperbadge You like posting about heroes, Sam. Seems like this would be up your alley.

I love these folks! I’ve reblogged them before but it’s wonderful to see the donation information has been added. 

Always reblog. Keep doing what you’re doing y'all.

Guys? This post changed my life. I saw this post. Forever ago. And thought it was only in america… and wished desperately that they could help me. But then I saw it again, during a bad episode, and checked their site. They aren’t just in the USA

They’re in Canada as well and probably other countries. I met and talked with a native guy who runs the place near me. His name is Shaman. I got in, and I’m considered a BACA child now. Despite being 17, turning 18 when I talked to them. They spent time with me when my abuser was over, they gave me therapy resources. They give you something called a ‘level 1′ where they go to your house with as many bikers as they can, i shit you not a solid 20-40 bikers came from even out of province, and met me. I got to choose my biker name and I got a vest with patches on it and my name on it. They all hugged a Teddybear before giving it to me, and told me if I ever felt the BACA bear was running out of love, to give them a call and they’d refill it for me, and then I got a ride on one of their bikes. Just a day or so ago I went to an annual party with them and they we ate food one of them cooked and had a lot of laughs. 

I’ve never felt as loved as I did being a part of the BACA family. They also gave me dog tags with the names, and phone numbers of my 2 workers.  So I can call them whenever I feel scared. 

BACA is an absolutely wonderful group that will do everything in it’s power to help any child whos been abused. 

And it doesn’t end when you’re 18 either. As long as you get in contact/get your level 1 before you’re 18? you’re ALWAYS a BACA kid. I’m 18 now and they still invite me to parties, ask me if I’m okay, and are there for me. They’re still trying to find me resources for therapy. 

BACA has changed my fucking life. 

I hope you all can read this, and reblog it knowing from someone who fucking been with them, that they are absolutely amazing. 

If I ever don’t reblog this, it’s because I am physically being restrained against my will.

“Why do you beat yourself up so much over little mistakes?”

This is such a good illustration of emotional abuse

Just a reblog to spread the most UN noticed abuse, be aware

and reminder for everyone to be patient with your loved ones who apologize constantly, or have a really emotional reaction to something that seems insignificant to you.

also, be patient with yourselves. it takes time to undo the lessons learned from emotional abuse, you’re doing great