sorry for talking out loud about my cat who flushes the toilet again. I’m thinking about the trope “housepets view humans as weird fae creatures that pamper them, but also place arbitrary restrictions on where they can go and what they can do.”
my cat does not understand that flushing the toilet could negatively impact my water bill. he has no concept of waste, commerce, or plumbing. He will always wonder why I discourage him, and I will never be able to explain.
I’m thinking about fae languages that require broader sensory perception to translate: “I’m sorry, Steve, I don’t know how to explain the Iron Mandates if you can’t see ultraviolet light. No, I can’t just use infrared as a substitute. Yes, the mantis shrimp can interpret these laws just fine, stop asking about the shrimp.”
If humans trial and error long enough, they can work around the symptoms without comprehending the source. Iron placed above a doorway wards off malicious spirits. But why? The fae could try to explain it, but doing so would take longer than a mortal lifespan, so they don’t bother.
Of course, as technology develops, humans get closer to bridging the gap. It’s the magnetic field. Fairies are sensitive to magnets. But why are they? Sorry, you have to be able to see shrimp colors for that knowledge.
“Queer jewish people got this” the conservative population of that community heavily votes republican and makes my life materially worse by adopting and helping county officials that hate my existence. I want to respect and I do not want to argue about things I don’t know about, but I need there to be some reassurance that my life won’t continue to be. Made materially worse.
You realize how few Jews there are, right? We make up 2% of the population of the country, .2% of the world. There are a lot more issues you need to worry about than how much less than 2% of the population (because frum jews are not all jews) vote.
also, republicans are your main problem there, not frum jews. Frum Jews don’t vote republican naturally, they vote that way because a variety of different sources of information have convinced them that voting republican is the only way for them to be safe, because many of them perceive democrats as not prioritizing Jewish safety.
Remember what this community you’re talking about is: an extremely traumatized group of people who have had to flee from every country they’ve been in because of persistent hatred. They, like almost everyone else who votes republican, are voting because of fear. But their fear - unlike the fear of, say, racist people towards Black individuals - is actually legitimate. It’s based on 3000 years of evidence. They are terrified of another Shoah or Pogrom or Inquisition, as I am, as every Jew is.
Instead of targeting this extremely small, insular religious community that doesn’t actually and cannot actually harm you (I promise) because their vote is not actually the reason republicans have power wherever you are (it can’t be, there aren’t enough of us), why not worry instead about how Republicans manage to trick people into voting them despite their policies not being based in reality, by playing on their fears and tapping into the darker sides of human psychology?
Rather than seeming like you, anon, are practicing a normal concern, it looks a lot like you are blaming a small group of people who have nothing to do with you for problems caused by a different, larger group of people (blaming frum jews for problems caused by republicans). Which is… classic antisemitism. We don’t run the world. We can’t change anything in it. There is no secret cabal of frum jews plotting against you, or of any jews plotting against anyone. Trust me, if we could, I wouldn’t be getting harassed regularly by antisemites. Also, dinosaurs would only be portrayed accurately in every piece of media ever.
Did you know that studies indicate our perceptions of ourselves have much more to do with how we think others see us, than how others see us do? IE, the odds are very high the orthodox jews you’ve interacted with didn’t sneer or glare at you at all, you just assumed they would, so you saw what you wanted to saw.
And if they did actually sneer at you, did you consider it’s because they think you pose as much a danger to them and their right to exist as you think they do to you?
You are two people currently threatened by the powers that be fighting with each other instead of focusing on the actual enemy. Change starts with realizing the legitimacy of the other person’s narrative and working together for compromise. I recommend you start looking inward so you can do so. It’s the perfect time of year for it.
The conservative population of that community heavily votes republican and makes my life materially worse by adopting and helping county officials that hate my existence.
OMG I’m losing my fucking mind here, because not only is @jewish-kulindadromeus completely right about Jews making up roughly 2% of the American population, BUT HOLY FUCKING CRAP ANON YOU SEEM TO HAVE MISSED THAT JEWS ARE THE SECOND MOST RELIABLY LIBERAL VOTING BLOC IN THE UNITED STATES AFTER AFRICAN AMERICANS. 77% of Jews voted Democratic in the last presidential election. Only 21% voted Republican. That’s 21% of a demographic that makes up 2% of the US population. And you’re really going on about how Jews specifically are responsible for making your life worse through their conservative voting patterns? THERE ARE LITERALLY MORE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES BOWLING CONGRESS THAN THERE ARE AMERICAN JEWS WHO VOTE REPUBLICAN. The absolute fucking chutzpah you must have to suggest this… like if you’re going to blame the Jews at least crunch the numbers first.
I’m trying not to be a huge dick about it but I got a “but what about us q-slurs who are traumatized by the bad words?” on my slur reclaimation post and so I’ve made a handy guide
1. You are being called the slur.
A. If it is with malice, I am sorry for this experience, however, this situation is not at all what I was talking about.
B. If it is with affection or as a joke from other LGBTs, and it makes you uncomfortable, ask them to stop. If they don’t, they’re a dick for not respecting your boundaries.
2. You are being “forced” to see other people use the word for a larger community
A. If it bothers you then you are probably not the “fag community” to which they are referring, then. In a post? Block. Blacklist words. Block tags. Walk away. Avert your eyes. You don’t vibe with “queer community” then refer to it as LGBT. You make it sound like a “someone saying Happy Holidays means I can’t say Merry Christmas anymore” situation. You don’t have to use any words you don’t vibe with. Hate to say Dyke March or Dykes on Bikes? Don’t go to the march. Avoid the bikes.
3. You are being “forced” to hear other people use the word for themselves
A. I mean this with love and respect…suck it up. If it is so deeply triggering, remove yourself. Leave the situation. Block. Blacklist words. Block tags.
In a conversation about reclaimation, I am sorry, but you only get to decide how people refer to you, no one else. If someone else’s use upsets you, YOU have to do something about it, not them. You do not, under ANY circumstances, get to ask someone not to use dyke or fag or queer or tranny for themselves. You don’t get to ask someone not to use it/its. You don’t get to tell someone to tuck or bind because it gives you second-hand dysphoria. You do not get to decide how someone else is queer.
If being around them is that debilitating, you need to take steps to insulate yourself.
On the curate your own experience website, you should know how to do just that. There are so many guides out there. And to the complaint that “now” Pride uses all these slurs which has made Pride hostile to you, I’d invite you to crack open a book, but perhaps what you find will be too upsetting
