I Moral Lesson I Wish Literally Everybody Would Learn Is This: The Very Same Actions That Keep You Safe

I moral lesson I wish literally everybody would learn is this: the very same actions that keep you safe when you are powerless can be abusive when you hold power over someone. The difference between resisting subjugation and subjugating others is often more a matter of context than anything else. And when context changes, it can be hard to relearn one's behavior—it requires an active effort. Probably all of us have hurt others needlessly, in some way or another, by doing things out of a reactive instinct for self-preservation. Probably all of us have been hurt by others, sometimes very deeply, when they were acting out of the same instinct.

I don't like speaking about ethics in the language of blame, but insofar as blame is a coherent notion to begin with, I'll say this: neither is anyone evil for the failure to fully rework themselves and free themselves of bad habit after struggle, nor does the difficulty of reworking oneself excuse the abuse of others. Nor, though we may wish otherwise, is it always epistemically possible to our own actions with confidence in one camp or the other. We can only do our best to treat others well and at the same time ourselves, though it is often not clear how.

I’m always amazed and humbled every time I come across a piece of writing that so perfectly and succinctly predicted the future. It proves to me there is clairvoyance in art. Heller wrote this in the late 1950’s. It was published in 1961.

“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.”

Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Bell says that, for many young people in a similar position to her own, “Regret is really what we’re talking about, as opposed to detransition itself, which has an abstract sort of meaning, and people interpret it in different ways. 

“There are people that are technically still transitioned, who have those regrets, and they wouldn’t dare mention it. So it’s a much bigger issue than people realise.

“It can be painful for people to turn back. And I don’t think a lot of people will. They’ll continue with it out of fear. People wouldn’t dare speak up because suddenly they’d be called transphobic and ousted from their friendship group.” 

She adds that it is not only trans rights campaigners who can cloud the conversation. “In an ideal world I would want political influence to be taken out of these services that are dealing with vulnerable people,” she says. “I worry about political influence on both sides. The trans rights side and the people that are more focused on women’s rights, which can sometimes get in the way of real care in this sort of area.” 

Today, Bell, who has been so honest about what she has been through, is now trying to spend some time out of the limelight. 

“I want to feel I’m in a bit more of a stable place. But I’m making moves. I don’t want a crazy life. My life has been so up and down, from a young age, so I’m just trying to find peace. It’s a work in progress.” (x)

thinking of detransition? you are not alone

“You don’t have to transition you can just be an effeminate man!” is the funniest take to see constantly on tumblr because that is literally word for word what my conservative catholic parents tried to tell me to stop me from transitioning. Are you sure that’s who you want to be agreeing with?

Mr Beast sidekick cycled through the trans to outed pedo pipeline at warp speed. Genuinely think a lot of male pedos know something is drastically wrong with them and get the idea that doing something as drastic as transitioning will somehow relieve the pressure. It's like they start getting the itch to wear their paraphilia on their sleeve and finally out themselves somehow and trans is the most socially acceptable way to do that.

Also going from dime a dozen disgusting pedo guy to protected minority/ vulnerable "trans girl" must feel like the purest crack. I could imagine them finding some relief in believing that like "ohhh this is what's wrong with me, I'm not bad I'm just secretly a girl"

Elizabeth Holmes set women in STEM back 20 years and you really hate to see it