Community. Technology. Connection.

The appropriation of Norse Neopaganism by the extreme right, the alt right, and various factions of the white supremacist movement is a vile, cruel, and ignorant bastardization of the belief structure presented in the Eddas.

I do not share their ideology, I do not share their politics, and I despise and oppose these cowards and cretins with every substantial fiber of my being.

The use of the Norse faith has always been a smokescreen of “Ancestry” to justify their bigotry. Historically, the Norse people were more likely to feel threatened by another white person (Romans, Celts, other villages and tribes of Scandinavia) than by anyone else, many of whom were trading partners of the Norse (the Turks and Arabs, especially).

The practice of gloating about “Male Tears” in certain feminist venues never sat well with me. With other “_____ tears” jabs, the crux is something like “oh now you’re crying and think we should care when you never cared about anyone else’s tears before.” “Male Tears” might seem like a similar use case, but expectations for public display of emotion/vulnerability are so deeply enmeshed with hegemonic masculinity and its misogynist expression (Never “cry like a pussy”, Real Men cry only under a shortlist of acceptable prompts.) Call out the men who cast themselves as victims of womens’ progress. But do it without wielding a tool that takes its power from the very thing you wish to oppose, further establishing its power. Ridicule that reinforces the constraints of Manhood hurt women AND men who deserve to live as human beings rather than a fortress of gestures performed for the sake of others. So… this post is something I’ve had on my mind already, but writing it today is my self-imposed penance for my first reaction to this illustration from the trial of Anthony Weiner. Upon reflection: Fuck you to this man and his tears, specifically.

“hey guys making jokes about male tears is mean….”

Ok…..

“because it actually hurts women more.”

There is absolutely nowhere where I say anything like "stop because this really harms women, the people who actually matter."

Please take my word for it that I "give a shit" about the men in my life (my father, my brother, my husband, my friends and colleagues) and men I do not know (who are less likely than women to seek mental health counseling but more likely to die by suicide.)

This post was intended as a reminder that the proscribed gender roles that restrict acceptable expressions of Womanhood do the same for Manhood, while actual women and men deserve a full range of human expression. My point is more like "don't protest an NRA rally while you're toting a gun."

Also, feel free to leave a comment to about this regulation while it is still open (until October 18, 2017) here.

Some highlights:

This is meant to help the US identify possible terrorist threats.

Tests for this program have thus far shown to be unsuccessful

When reviewing social media content of refugees, who have been flagged  as a risk due to previous screening methods, found no indication of threats on social media.

The compiling of information will be done on immigrants, including Green Card Holders and Naturalized Citizens.

The information is meant to be taken from publicly available from the internet, public records, institutions, interviewees, commercial data providers, etc. 

This could require immigrants to hand over every social media handle and email address they have used in the past five years.

Information may also be obtained on those who communicate with a US immigrant.