‘Queer’ was reclaimed as an umbrella term for people identifying as not-heterosexual and/or not-cisgender in the early 1980s, but being queer is more than just being non-straight/non-cis; it’s a political and ideological statement, a label asserting an identity distinct from gay and/or traditional gender identities.
People identifying as queer are typically not cis gays or cis lesbians, but bi, pan, ace, trans, nonbinary, intersex, etc.: we’re the silent/ced letters. We’re the marginalised majority within the LGBTQIA+ community, and
‘queer’ is our rallying cry.
And that’s equally pissing off and terrifying terfs and cis LGs.
There’s absolutely no historical or sociolinguistic reason why ‘queer’ should be a worse slur than ‘gay.’ Remember how we had all those campaigns to make people stop using ‘gay’ as a synonym for ‘bad’?
Yet nobody is suggesting we should abolish ‘gay’ as a label. We accept that even though ‘gay’ sometimes is and historically frequently was used in a derogatory manner, mlm individuals have the right to use that word. We have ad campaigns, twitter hashtags, and viral Facebook posts defending ‘gay’ as an identity label and asking people to stop using it as a slur.
Whereas ‘queer’ is treated exactly opposite: a small but vocal group of people within feminist and LGBTQIA+ circles insists that it’s a slur and demands that others to stop using it as a personal, self-chosen identity label.
Why?
Because “queer is a slur” was invented by terfs specifically to exclude trans, nonbinary, and
intersex people from feminist and non-heterosexual discourse, and was
subsequently adopted by cis gays and cis lesbians to exclude bi/pan and ace
people.
It’s classic divide-and-conquer tactics: when our umbrella term is redefined as a slur and we’re harassed into silence for using it, we no longer have a word for what we are allowing us to organise for social/political/economic support; we are denied the opportunity to influence or shape the spaces we inhabit; we can’t challenge existing community power structures; we’re erased from our own history.
Pro tip: when you alter historical evidence to deny a marginalised group empowerment, you’re one of the bad guys.
“Queer is a slur” is used by terfs and cis gays/lesbians to silence the voices of trans/nonbinary/intersex/bi/pan/ace people in society and even within our own communities, to isolate us and shame us for existing.
“Queer is a slur” is saying “I am offended by people who do not conform to traditional gender or sexual identities because they are not sexually available to me or validate my personal identity.”
“Queer is a slur” is defending heteronormativity.
“Queer is a slur” is frankly embarrassing. It’s an admission of ignorance and prejudice. It’s an insidious discriminatory discourse parroted uncritically in support of a divisive us-vs-them mentality targeting the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQIA+ community for lack of courage to confront the white cis straight men who pose an actual danger to us as individuals and as a community.
Tl;dr:
I’m here, I’m queer, and I’m too old for this shit.
I know I keep reblogging posts like this, but it matters to me. “Queer is a slur” is a TERF dogwhistle, and a lot of the younger generation is falling for it. Please pay attention to history and ask questions about who’s behind social media campaigns that undermine the inclusivity of your community.
Queer is an excellent word, especially when your identity doesn’t fit neatly within one little label. Queer is also an explicit rejection of normative expectations sexuality and gender. It’s radical as fuck.
A lot of the complaints about Kylo Ren as a villain is that he lacks Vader’s larger than life evil, he’s too common, too human to be evil. Traits that are used by his stans to argue why he will/must be redeemed.
I would like to point out that both camps, those who hate Kylo Ren for his humaness and those who use it for his defense, has missed the point JJ and Lawrence were trying to make.
When Christians think of Evil, not the smaller, everyday evil but the one that commits genocide and other atrocities they tend think of people like this:
Or if we stick to the Star Wars universe, this:
or this:
But from a Jewish standpoint neither Hitler, Vader or the Emperor is the true face of evil. Evil isn’t some epic, outside force, or some larger than life villain.
Complete ordinary looking people. People, men and women, born to good families and proper bloodlines (in the Aryan sense anyway), with good Christian raising, believing in good Christian values. Well mannered, well educated, usually erudite. And the direct committers of genocide.
To Jewish people there are no difference between Evil and evil, they are one and the same. A Jewish woman, Hannah Arendt, coined the phrase “the banality of evil” and I have yet to see a single goy use it properly, because this is what it means.
This is why JJ and Lawrence made the First Order an obvious, punch in the face parallel to the Nazis, in every single conceivable way that one can in a fantasy universe with no actual Germany. That is why they made Hux such on open and overt parallel to Hitler, and then went and made him a secondary, one note villain. Neither Hux nor Hitler symbolizes the true face of evil, or the banality of it.
Kylo Ren does.
Which is why Kylo looks like this:
He’s a young man, from a good family, with (from the First Order’s or at least Snoke’s pov) “proper” bloodline. And he’s evil. Not in the epic, over the top, Christian variety like Vader or the Emperor, but the kind of evil that oversaw Auschwitz and ordered and carried out the atrocities there.
No Kylo isn’t cool, or awesome, or epic in his evil, he’s human. But because people are either incapable or unwilling to follow the Jewish understanding of evil many take that humanity Kylo Ren as a sign of goodness and the guarantee of his redemption, instead of as the source of his evil.
So the people who say that Kylo Ren isn’t space Hitler as absolutely right, they just miss the point. He’s something much, much worse.
@captainamericagf Next time some fucker comes at you arguing that JJ writing Kylo as having good in him matters at all in how evil JJ views the character as, please feel free to throw this post at them. Hard.
A recent research team attached GPS trackers to a group of pet cats to track their whereabouts when their owners were not around or sleeping. The daily movements of the pet cats surprised many owners. Take a peek below.
We’ve spoken out of this blog multiple times about the dangers outdoor cats are exposed to when they roam. Here’s a gps tracking study that shows exactly how far from their ‘safe home base’ outdoor cats in Wales actually go in just one night.
“When you speak to a lot of cat owners they say: “Oh my cat just (…) doesn’t go anywhere.” (…) Some of the cats have “gone three kilometeres from home”.”
This cat went in such a straight line it can only have been following a major road for a long period.
This cat went more than a kilometer into the wilderness at night, potentially exposing itself to all sorts of urban and rural predators.
This cat traveled repeatedly through the yards of other houses as well as spending a good amount of time in the middle of the road.
Don’t think your cat travels? It does. Keep your cats indoors. Keep them safe.
In other words, so many people have come to the general consensus that Donald Trump is an idiot that it actively affects Google’s algorithm which takes into account trillions of websites and web searches to try to match keywords with relevant images. This is a real world example of “If you look up x in the dictionary, you’ll find a picture of y” and the fact that the Republicans blame Google for “search results bias” instead of admitting that most people think that the current president is an idiot. That’s hilarious.
Don’t read the comments on this article. The kid did it because he was learning about how teenage girls suffer from depression more than any other age group, and didn’t want any girls going home feeling sad on Valentine’s Day.
Ofc half the comments are like “what an EPIC playa, bet he got some action after that hahaha” or “why do these special snowflakes need a handout like this” or “what kind of Richie Rich kid” (chocolate company donated the boxes after learning why he wanted so much)
Like… why is humanity like this
THIS BURNS MY BACON, LET ME SHARE WHY.
At the school where I work, we had a similar lovely Valentine’s moment:
One of our seniors bought hundreds of roses on Valentine’s Day. Every girl in every grade got one; there were enough left over for staff and extras for others who might want one. This is our library bouquet.
One year ago, our school lost a student to suicide. As Valentine’s Day was approaching, this sad anniversary was all our student body was talking about and remembering. This senior student decided to try to lift us up from that narrative, and literally fill the halls with flowers. The surprise was carried out flawlessly – even his own sister didn’t know what he was about to do.
I have rarely seen a happier school holiday.
I’ve seen EXACTLY those comments on social media about what happened with us, and about similar gestures from high school students. Lots of “spoiled kids with money”, lots of “this is just to get laid”.
I don’t think this diminishes my senior student or his gesture at all, but it diminishes us when good things happen and we turn around and reduce these moments to their most cynical interpretation. And that’s not even touching on what it says when people feel the need to belittle younger people for trying to do good; the kids can’t catch a break from some people.
Can’t we take sweet things at face value the way we do all the darkness out there lately?
Ben Orron, the artist and designer behind Organic Mechanics, is currently in the process of creating this wire and gemstone replica of the Millennium Falcon.
