arby's witch

”I was enormously grateful for the response from Palestinians in particular for doing what seemed to me an ordinary thing, something we do all the time: show regular people doing everyday things, cooking and enjoying meals, playing with their children, talking about their lives, their hopes and dreams. It is a measure I guess of how twisted and shallow our depiction of a people is that these images come as a shock to so many. The world has visited many terrible things on the Palestinian people, none more shameful than robbing them of their basic humanity. People are not statistics. That is all we attempted to show. A small, pathetically small step towards understanding”.

That’s me and I need a breast reduction. I wear a bra size 32F, something not commonly found anyplace you can pick a bra up for less than $70. My breasts weigh me down, they are tender and painful at all times, and they give me extreme back, neck, and shoulder pain. Add all of this to the dysphoria I feel as a butch nb lesbian, and you can see why I desperately need a breast reduction.

Unfortunately, my insurance will not provide any kind of pre-approval, even to tell me for sure that they would not cover this procedure. My surgeon feels that, going by the stated guidelines for my insurance regarding these procedures, they would be very unlikely to cover the costs, and I would only find out either way after billing insurance for my surgery after the fact. If they did not accept my claim - which they likely would not - I could be left with a bill of around $50,000 in medical fees. Obviously, I can’t afford this. However, if I bill my procedure as cosmetic and pay for it myself, it would only cost $8,165.

Regardless, I don’t have the money either way. I just got hit with a huge vehicle repair bill recently which drained me of $3,000. Given another few years, I could probably get that money back and even pay for my procedure, but that would destroy my life savings ever since graduating high school in 2013. As much as I feel I need this surgery, not only to ease my physical symptoms but to calm my dysphoria, I can’t justify that extreme depletion of my savings for both school and my future in general.

I’m hoping to reach my goal this summer, by the end of August. I don’t honestly know if that’s possible, but I hate the thought of entering a new year of life as a 24 year old, stuck with the same painful chest. I can’t run, clothes that fit properly are hard to find, and every time I glance in the mirror I’m reminded of the literal burden I carry. I really can’t overstate how dysphoric my chest makes me. I can’t even wear a binder because of the disproportionate nature of my chest. I’ve tried everything I could think of to minimize my chest, from making binders myself from old shirts to trying transtape (which would probably work for someone with a more proportional chest, but again, I’m cursed so it doesn’t work for me) to just layering as much as possible. None of these are viable long term solutions, nor do they do anything to address the physical pain I endure. Please consider donating, or at least sharing with your friends! Also, forgive the deadname and vague generalizations at the link - I’m not out in every context and I want to spread this as far as I possibly can. For everyone who donates, any size donation is helpful and I appreciate you all! For everyone who shares, thank you so much for bringing visibility to my fundraiser!

https://paypal.me/pools/c/84m0lS0um3

Me an intellectual:

I am part of an emerging Indigenous-led ecovillage on our ancestral homelands in Alabama. We are receiving a $2,000,000 loan to “purchase” our reclaimed land, and so far, we have received commitment of $950,000 in grants toward repayment of the loan. We are trying to secure the remaining $1,000,000 to repay the loan in full and live free of debt. The ecovillage is centered on Mvskoke language and culture preservation, and will include: agroecological farms, aquaponics, women’s medicinal practices, constructions of green homes, and much more. This will be a Mvskoke living culture and working village.

MASCULINITY SO FRAGILE

“I decided to build this dog and make it crappy to downgrade the statue, exactly how the girl is a downgrade on the bull.”

The placement of the Fearless Girl statue recontextualizes the other artist’s sculpture (Charging Bull) without his consent, turning the guerilla art that he created in light of America’s troubles into a symbol of evil. 

This sculpture of a girl was put here and is ruining the art that someone created–and when he rightfully tries to speak on the fact that his art and reputation is being re-contextualized without his consent to make him seem like a villain, he’s called out as being “afraid of women taking up space” 

This is a fucking white nonsense sculpture. It was literally commissioned by State Street Global Advisors–it’s a bid by big business to see progressive, and they’re stomping all over the work of an artist who had to actually fight to have his art put there, instead of being funded by an investment management place that wants to seem Feminist™.