If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2026/06/27/zuckerstreisand/#autodisparagement

More than a decade ago, a group of young, internet-connected Belarusian dissidents launched a series of increasingly high-stakes, increasingly surreal confrontations with the corrupt, authoritarian government of Alexander Lukashenka, a man who is often called "the last Soviet dictator."

Lukashenka's secret police – still called the KGB – routinely terrorize and kidnap pro-democracy activists, and all forms of protest are banned. It was against the backdrop of this unrelenting oppression that the activists launched a series of whimsical "flash mobs" that challenged the Lukashenka regime's willingness to crack down on even the most innocuous behavior.

One of these flash mobs was an ice cream social: activists converged on a public square to eat ice cream cones. Lukashenka's thugs beat them and dragged them away:

https://web.archive.org/web/20070609164305/http://pics.livejournal.com/litota_/gallery/0000bcch

The protestors thought that by daring Lukashenka to arrest people for eating ice cream, they could create a win-win situation: either Lukashenka would be revealed as the kind of asshole who thinks it should be illegal to eat ice cream, or he'd be revealed as the kind of weakling who couldn't keep a lid on dissent.

Lukashenka took the bait. And took it. And took it. In the years that followed, protesters would be arrested for smiling, clapping, and just standing silently:

https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2011/07/belarus-protesters-rally-on-the-web/

The world learned that Lukashenka was a buffoon, and Belarusians affirmed their view that this buffoon would not hesitate to mete out the most vicious punishments for the most innocuous actions:

https://sci-hub.st/10.1080/25739638.2021.1928880

Speaking of thin-skinned, paranoid, wildly corrupt buffoons who will stop at nothing to silence their enemies, how about that Mark Zuckerberg, huh? Sure, all the headlines these days are about Zuck's intention to transform Facebook into a sports betting site:

https://www.businessinsider.com/metas-zuckerberg-enters-the-prediction-market-arena-polymarket-2026-6

But in the UK, Zuckerberg's war on whistleblowers keeps finding new, ice cream grade depths of absurdity to plumb. The whistleblower in question is, of course, Sarah Wynn-Williams, author of the internationally bestselling memoir Careless People, which details the criminality she witnesses during her years as the head of Facebook's international relations team:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/04/23/zuckerstreisand/#zdgaf

Careless People is full of revelations about the gross institutional misconduct of Facebook, including its knowing encouragement of a genocide in Myanmar. But it's also full of stories about the severe personal failings of Facebook's executive team, especially Sheryl Sandberg, Joel Kaplan and Mark Zuckerberg.

These three come off as the most colossal of assholes, cruel, petty and predatory. Sandberg comes across as a sexual abuser who dreams of trafficking in poor people's organs. Kaplan is an oaf whose plan to provide paid internet access to refugee camps falls apart once he learns that refugees in camps don't have any money (he also takes points off of Wynn-Williams' workplace evaluation for being "unresponsive" over a period when she was in a near-death coma). Worst of all, though, is Zuckerberg, whose sins range from cheating at Settlers of Catan to endangering the Colombian peace process after a 50-year civil war because he refused to get out of bed before noon. Zuck is also revealed to have given the Chinese state access to all of Facebook and the power to censor content they disliked, as part of a failed bid to get permission to offer a Facebook service in China.

It's a terrible company, with awful products, run by the worst people. Wynn-Williams' conditions of employment required her to sign a contract that bound her to silence (nondisclosure), forbade her from speaking ill of the company (nondisparagement), and denied her access to the legal system in all her dealings with Meta (binding arbitration).

"

"

it's definitely more of a personal reflection, but the insights are disturbing

Artists are at the heart of fandom on Tumblr, conjuring iconic art for the characters we love (and those we love to hate). You're forever launching them into alternate universes, dropping cursed incorrect quotes, and generally exploding canon way beyond anything the original creators ever imagined. The dashboard is overflowing with fanart, headcanons, and wild crossovers—because to love a character here means drawing, painting, modeling, and remixing them in an endless loop of creativity. The volume of posts is actually staggering. Not everyone tags their fan art as such, but those who do have created over 1.3 million original posts this year. That’s a lot of hours doing what you love. And the people who loved your posts did so with abandon: Posts tagged #fanart received over 195 million engagements across Tumblr in 2025. 😯

Now, sit back and enjoy some art from the top #fanart fandoms in 2025:

@strawbie-doodle:

@clementartz:

@mawguai:

@gatoburr0:

@lluxentz:

@sparticus2000art:

@monstermoxie:

@eunicidae:

@papanowo:

@01107aeon:

@strawbunyy:

@exhosionn:

@thatdamntv:

@jollymalt:

@tvtoontime:

@salukipop:

@puba24:

@cubemanmileys:

@overpassart:

@waveoftheocean:

Uber is a fucking shell game of a company designed to leech investor capital and output bootleg cabs.

Nvidia posted a profit in 2023 of $4.37 billion. This is like someone stealing less than a penny from me.

And they lock this kid in a prison hospital for LIFE?

(secret bonus: the other side of her tag)

it’s been a few weeks, I suppose we should check up on the AHSGSHGAFB?!

ajdhf.

well that’s just,,,

REXCELLENT

HELL

YES

HELL

FUCKING

YES.

HAIL TO THE QUEEN

LONG MAY SHE REIGN!

this year we’re doing a much-beloved character from classic literature, “Dracula with inappropriate straw hat”

thanks everyone, may your weens be hollow and your candy be many!

she’s… (WEXTER! here girl!) she’s a… a…..

she’s a T. Rex.

GOTTEM!

Anyway, the next night we watched a thing about some pig man who is supposed to live in Vermont. People said it had claws and a pig nose but walked upright like a man. Now, I happen to know that sideshows used to shave bears and present them as pig men. So every piece of evidence they gave of this monster sounds to me like a bear with mange.

So now the running joke in our house is that everything is bears. Aliens? Bears. Loch Ness monster? Bear. Every cryptozoological mystery is just a very crafty bear.

Skirt go spin! <3

A group of trans women protesting outside Scottish parliament to condemn the UK Supreme Court’s bioessentialist ruling on sex, and the response of the Scottish government. All are wearing black pants, black tape across their mouths or a black KN95, and their right arms are painted red as "a mark of solidarity with anti-fascist feminists across Europe." | May 17th, 2025

“This ruling, and the subsequent EHRC guidance aims to segregate trans people from safe spaces that they have for used for decades without issue. We are demanding that the Scottish government stand up for its trans citizens by fighting this ruling and appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.”

One of the demonstrators, Sugar, described the protests as "a public act of grief, resistance and solidarity to highlight the hypocrisy of the ruling. If the Supreme Court can see these woman legally as men, then they’ll have zero issue with them going tops off.”

"Yesterday a group of trans women protested topless to condemn the UK Supreme Court’s ruling and highlight the hypocrisy of the subsequent EHRC interim guidance which aims to segregate trans women.

Getting kinda tired of how trans people have to constantly bend over backwards for Harry Fucking Potter. "Oh you can still like it and participate in the fandom just don't give her money!!!" as if you aren't gushing over a media empire made by a person who wants me legally recognized as a pedophile rapist.

This is a franchise from a woman who actively uses her popularity and vast wealth to stoke the fires of trans hate *and* create laws that worsen the lives and rights of trans people. She is not just another HP Lovecraft with some kooky views but without the funds and guts to do anything about it, she is a genuine threat to trans people.

It feels like if this was against any other minority people wouldn't be so quick to brush it off and just go "oh well you can still like it teehee!" Like imagine for a second if Donald Trump started making a popular book series and you'd have to sit there and explain to your immigrant friends that "well I don't monetarily support him but of course I still read the books, watch the movies and participate in the fandom!" as if that isn't the most cringe and tone deaf thing in the world.

A. Are women

Her name was Juniper Blessing, and she was just doing her laundry.

Many, many people celebrated Pulse. We were told we deserved it. That it was God’s punishment for our sin of loving the same sex. We are sent messages like these I received in 2018:

We in the community often call the victim count 49+ to include the survivors who couldn’t live with the pain.

The event was never officially declared a hate crime or targeted homophobic attack and is rarely listed as one in databases.

At our vigils for those slaughtered, Extremist Christian groups showed up to protest, holding signs like this:

ID: Me kissing a woman I was casually seeing in front of an angry looking man with a “Sodomy is Sin” sign.

Please understand how much more than just a mass shooting this was. We are still to this day harassed and told we deserved it by some.

The Guardian reports that several Women’s Institute (WI) groups across the UK are shutting down following the national organisation’s decision to ban transgender women.

The policy change, introduced by the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), has triggered what local leaders describe as “carnage,” with resignations, community backlash, and the loss of meeting venues.

Some halls and churches have refused to host WI groups that enforce the exclusionary rule, leaving branches unable to operate.

Many volunteers have stepped down in protest, arguing that the policy was imposed without meaningful consultation and has fractured previously harmonious local groups.

From the article:

Emma Hawley, chair of Social Lites WI in Urmston, Greater Manchester – a group with nearly 140 members that has run for 13 years – said her entire committee has decided to step down. “None of the other members want to take our places – many immediately said they weren’t even going to renew their membership,” she said. “We’re all heartbroken. I’ve put 13 years into running this amazing group but I can’t, ethically or morally, be a member of something that excludes transgender women,” she said.

This proves what many have said: The transphobic "gender critical" TERFs are not representative of British women.

not to be captain obvious here but they literally just knowingly lied about this for a decade & ruined our lives. there was never any evidence to support trans women having an advantage over cis women it was always just made up to further transmisogyny & sexism.

Objective

To compare body composition and physical fitness between transgender and cisgender individuals.

Design

Systematic review with meta-analysis.

Data sources

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and SportDiscus.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria comprised studies of transgender individuals comparing body composition or physical fitness pre-to-post gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) or versus cisgender controls.

Results

52 studies (n=6485) were included. Transgender women had similar relative fat mass (standardised mean difference (SMD) −0.33, 95% CI −0.72 to 0.05, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE): very low), relative lean mass (SMD 0.19, 95% CI −0.14 to 0.53, GRADE: low), upper-body strength (SMD 0.54, 95% CI −0.95 to 2.02, GRADE: very low), lower-body strength (SMD 0.05, 95% CI −1.31 to 1.40, GRADE: very low) and maximal oxygen consumption (SMD −0.28, 95% CI −0.81 to 0.25, GRADE: very low) in comparison to cisgender women. Transgender men exhibited higher relative fat mass (SMD 0.96, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.64, GRADE: moderate), lower relative lean mass (SMD −6.42, 95% CI −12.26 to −0.58, GRADE: moderate) and lower upper-body strength (SMD −1.46, 95% CI −2.52 to −0.40, GRADE: moderate) than cisgender men. In transgender women, GAHT was associated with increased fat mass and reduced lean mass and upper-body strength over 1–3 years. Transgender men demonstrated reduced fat mass and increased lean mass and strength following GAHT.

Conclusion

"In fact, when height-normalised, transgender women and cisgender women appear to show comparable appendicular lean mass/height² or lean mass/height²."

Basically the difference in absolute lean mass (the study makes it clear that relative lean mass between cis and trans women is essentially the same) comes from trans women on average being taller than cis women.

From this study, showing that cis and trans women are pretty much entirely comparable. Yet according to this trans men are "somewhat in between" in terms of strength and body composition, makes me wonder if on a structural level transmascs aren't given enough testosterone to have actual similar levels to cis men. We see this with estradiol in transfems, so I don't think it's out of the question, especially given how testosterone is generally viewed in the public eye.

This is like the third or fourth time a big landmark study has been published that pretty definitively proves that trans women don't have physical advantages over cis women. Not even the first to go through and fact check other studies and confidently concluded that pretty much all of them hyper focused on specifics, like absolute lean mass here, without pointing out how height or hand size for an example accounts for it (and also is present in cis women, it's all based on averages after all)

Or straight up conducted studies without having the trans women be on estradiol or testosterone suppressants and just didn't disclose that.

Every single study showing trans women having advantages was like that. As OP said.

All of the bans and discourse has been based on lies and deceit from the very start.

Sadly this probably won't change anything, because governments and agencies do not care for facts, they care about excluding.