There Is A Huge Difference Between Criticizing An Institution And Criticizing Individual Behavior. I

there is a huge difference between criticizing an institution and criticizing individual behavior. i can criticize the makeup industry without criticizing the 14 year old girl who uses concealer because she’s self-conscious about her acne; i can criticize the plastic surgery industry without vilifying the woman who decided to get a nose job after two decades of pointed comments and bullying. it is intellectually dishonest to respond to an institutional criticism as if it were a personal attack; on the flip side, it is cruel and unnecessary to leverage personal attacks in the name of institutional criticism

if i see one (1) more person respond to a perfectly reasonable beauty-industry-critical sentiment with “but i personally enjoy eyeshadow. why are you attacking people who like eyeshadow :(” or “exactly, all women who wear makeup are miserable and brainwashed” i am going to climb a tree and bite the top of it

the idea of a privileged trans paradise, especially within the United States, is an absolute lie. There are places where violence is more likely and less likely, depending on the population size and political/cultural breakdown, but you can be killed for being trans in New York or Portland. You can be harassed or denied treatment or fired or evicted for being trans in Seattle or Los Angeles. Your legal ability to defend yourself against this will differ but the harm done to you will not change. Protection of trans people is less about where you are and more about who you're with. Trans people and queers in general have had to protect one another in a hostile world for decades. With the liberalization/capitalization of trans and queer spaces and greater dependence on online communities came a breakdown of this survival community. That's why we have shit like Plume eating up the airwaves with their subscription based bullshit giving you info you could've gotten at the local queer/trans support group before it disbanded. Isolation is your greatest weakness. No matter where you are or how safe you feel, get a fucking crew, people you're friends with or just people in the area who will have your back. Get each other's numbers, stay in contact, and ANSWER THE CALL WHEN YOU GET IT

just in case!

hey netizens! i'm not sure how many people are aware, but youtube's been slowly rolling out a new anti-adblock policy that can't be bypassed with the usual software like uBlock Origin and Pi-Hole out of the gate

BUT, if you're a uBlock Origin user (or use an adblocker with a similar cosmetics modifier), you can add these commands in the uBlock dashboard (under My Filters) to get rid of it!

youtube.com##+js(set, yt.config_.openPopupConfig.supportedPopups.adBlockMessageViewModel, false) youtube.com##+js(set, Object.prototype.adBlocksFound, 0) youtube.com##+js(set, ytplayer.config.args.raw_player_response.adPlacements, []) youtube.com##+js(set, Object.prototype.hasAllowedInstreamAd, true)

reblog to help keep the internet less annoying and to tell corporations that try shit like this to go fuck themselves <3

The fash are, in fact, pretty fucking weird as well as horrible.

Extremely funny that Republicans have a stronger reaction to being called weird than being called nazis

My Chinese birth ancestors, to my adoptive German and Italian ancestors: she was born in our land and studies the pen and the Tao though she is not a leader nor the daughter of one! And she uses a wonderous abacus called a calculator!

My Italian ancestors, elbowing them out of the way: you guys threw her out of your country, she's ours. Look how she knows how to argue! And look at that! Air conditioning! Even in a climate so like Sicily she's always comfortable!

My Italian great aunt, who worked in a textile mill all her life: she owns a sewing machine but does not need to make her own clothes! Nor does she spin fabric!

My German ancestors, vibrating: WHAT IS A STAR ANISE AND HOW DID SHE GET IT

My Chinese birth ancestors, smugly: see? She still knows the flavors of her birthland.

A small contingent of female ancestors from all regions my family and I hail from, clutching each other and weeping with joy: SHE GETS TO STUDY SCIENCE! AND THE MEN DON'T STOP HER!

My ancestors, watching me dump an entire stick of cinnamon, two cloves, an allspice berry, and a generous grating of nutmeg into my tea, sweetened with white sugar and loaded with cream, while I sit in my clean warm house surrounded by books, 25+ outfits for different occasions, and 6 pairs of shoes, in a building heated so well I have the windows open in mid-autumn:

Our daughter prospers. We are proud of her. She has never labored in a field but knows riches we could not have imagined.

himb