Not a Mage of Mind

The above is a video shared by smrchildsadness on Twitter, showing a person participating in a pride parade exchanging a pride flag with a person standing on his (am using his pronoun based on the TikToks/Tweets of what happened) doorway who had a Portuguese flag. There are sounds of cheers and crying and the two people hug each other as they exchange the flags. The man at the doorway then waved kisses to the crowd within the pride parade.

The Tweet says: "NO YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HE WAS WAVING THE PORTUGUESE FLAG BECAUSE HE DIDN'T HAVE A PRIDE FLAG AND THEY TRADED FLAGS AND HE'S SO EMOTIONAL TO GET HIS OWN PRIDE FLAG I'M EMOTIONALLY RUINED"

For context, apparently they were worried that maybe he's a nationalist because he was waving the Portuguese flag and some nationalists opposing the pride march were waving that flag. But upon interacting with him, it turns out he didn't have have a pride flag and he wanted to wave *a* flag in support of the pride march. So they had an exchange and now he has his own pride flag 😭🥹.

The image above is a Tweet by kunwara_ladkaa that says "I'm crying so much right now (Image taken by Manuel Fernando Araújo/Lusa)". The image shows the same man from the pride parade crying as he hugs his new pride flag.

The above image is a Tweet by dudz_zZzz that says "ainda não parei de pensar nele," which according to Google translate from Portuguese to English is "I still haven't stopped thinking about him." The image is a drawing of the person from the pride parade, crying as he hugs his new pride flag.

everyone knows about this meme, right?

but does anyone else know the woman who made the food? no? time to educate!

This is “Mother Mary”, the owner of Blackberry’s mother.

She made all the cakes for the restaurant while it was open. Chef Gordon Ramsay tried her red velvet cake, and spoke this meme-able line:

He then called Mary over, complimented her food, and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Look how happy she was to hear that!!!

I WILL calmly and kindly try to help anyone who is afraid of bugs. I will show them my finds, i will explain their importance, i will tell them just how sweet and gentle and friendly they are. And I WILL shoot down any immature loser who believes senseless killing is the only possible response to not liking something.

Well actually YES but also:

Restricting food Does Stuff To Your Brain. "Restricting" doesn't mean stopping when you're full. I feel like this is what gets misunderstood a lot. It means placing rules and limits on food that supercede what your body is signalling that it wants. Let's use cookies as an example. Restricting would be:

- I can only have cookies when I deserve them.

- I can only have cookies when I'm alone.

- I can only have two cookies.

- I can only have low-calorie cookies.

- I can only have cookies on set days, or so-called cheat days.

- I can't have cookies.

- I can't have cookies in the house.

- I'm bad when I eat cookies.

- Cookies are a bad food and I must compensate for having eaten them.

Whether or not you stick to the restrictions you set, your brain is learning to be an anxious mess around cookies. It might want to avoid anywhere that has cookies. It might feel shame for wanting or eating cookies. It might get exhausted from suppressing the craving and decide to binge. It might go into binge mode every time you eat cookies because you've taught your body that This Will Not Be Available Whenever. It might feel ridiculously important to eat all the cookies while you can.

I know we're all so used to constantly talking about food, diets, weight and bodies, and it's completely normalised to look at absolutely everything you eat and assign it the level of guilt you're gonna feel for eating it, and to brag about not eating this and that, and to announce that you know it's a Naughty Indulgence when you eat anything sweet.

But oh my god, it's such a huge weight off your shoulders to just let yourself eat cookies because you wanted cookies and stop when you feel satiated and know that the cookies will be available next time you want cookies because you don't need to earn them in any way. Because a brain that knows it can have cookies whenever it wants cookies, doesn't crave cookies all the time. Nor does it feel any self-loathing when it does crave cookies.

Can just imagine all the girlies on tiktok going "I know this is a bit controversial but I honestly love using limestone as a gastrolith. Not only can you readily forage it but they are just so pretty when smoothed out after regurgitating them"

Just as a reminder (or announcement to those unaware) I am a Two-Spirit Saulteaux-Mi'kmaq person!

My pronouns are she/he/they. You'll usually see me refer to myself as a woman, but this is simply because it's my assigned gender at birth and not because I exclusively identify as a woman (so please don't be worried about using the wrong pronouns on me, I am, as they call me, Miss Gender /j)

But I figured in addition to this ceremonial outing, I wanted to provide some fun facts on the Two-Spirit identity, as there are still many people out there who don't understand the term beyond just being a queer label (it's a lot more complex than just being an Indigenous word for 'trans'!) and oftentimes, the 2S (for Two-Spirit) is noticeably missing from the LGBTQIA+ line-up (though this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I'll explain more about why below!)

Text version:

Two Spirit (Anishinaabe definition: niizh manidoowag)

To put it simply: a term used to describe Indigenous peoples with both masculine and feminine spirits.

Coined in 1990 by Myra Laramee (Cree Nation), the term was designed as a unifying term for Indigenous peoples to reclaim roles, identities, and teachings that were disrupted by colonization.

Contrary to non-Native belief, Two-Spirit is not simply an Indigenous word for "trans" or "non-binary". Rather, it's often used as an umbrella term for many gender and sexual identities. Most importantly, what distinguishes Two-Spirit as its own unique term is how it uniquely describes the Indigenous experience as it pertains to queerness, separate from that of non-Native peoples.

To inherit the label of Two-Spirit is not just to identify one's own queerness, but also to inherit the roles and responsibilities passed down through individual tribal traditions. It is a term of reclamation and resistance.

Whether an Indigenous person chooses to use Two-Spirit exclusively or in addition to colonial terms within the LGBTQIA2S+ umbrella is their choice. There are even Indigenous peoples who identify solely with colonial labels such as non-binary, trans, and gender fluid, but do not identify as Two-Spirit.

Regardless of how an Indigenous person chooses to use Two-Spirit, it was a word made for Indigenous peoples, by Indigenous peoples - the term is and always will be theirs to choose.

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Of course, there's a lot more to the Two-Spirit identity than I can summarize in a single image, and what the Two-Spirit identity means will vary to different people and tribes. Some people do purely use the term to describe their trans identity or their sexuality; others use it to uphold the traditions of their tribe, especially as they pertain to the roles and responsibilities of members of the tribe, and how gender often influenced those roles and governed those responsibilities.

As an example, in many tribes (see: not all) women were often considered the healers and caretakers of their tribe, while men were considered the protectors and hunters. Within that particular framework, someone who is Two-Spirit would often be embraced as an asset to their communities, as they could fulfill the duties and roles of both men and women, being both caretakers and creators and also protectors and fighters.

But not all Indigenous peoples or tribes define Two-Spirit in that way. Many exclusively use it as a sexuality / gender label, the same way one would use "gay" "bisexual" or "non-binary"; some even doing so as resistance of their own against established gender norms, even as they existed within their own tribes.

What's important is to acknowledge, identify, and respect the term as an Indigenous word. It is not for non-Natives to use for themselves. It is our word, one that we cherish as a sacred thread connecting all Indigenous peoples who've lived through the shared experience of being raised and oppressed under colonialism. While all queer people regardless of race are constantly under threat, it's absolutely vital to recognize and understand how cultural context plays a contributing role in queer oppression, and how the suffering of Indigenous queer people naturally varies from your own.

And so this is why, as I mentioned above, it's not necessarily a bad thing when 2S is excluded from the LGBTQIA+ umbrella - because Two-Spirit encompasses all of that umbrella, but exclusively for that of Indigenous peoples. Same, but different.

At least, that's how I try to rationalize it for myself, but in reality, it's hard to deny that seeing 2S excluded from the umbrella can feel exclusionary, ignorant, and neglectful - but that's all the more reason why I personally choose to take power in its exclusion, because in my view, its exclusion from colonial terminology gives it strength and importance. As for the road to inclusion, we've made some progress - such as having our own flag and symbols - but we've still got a long ways to go.

With all that said, please respect this post as education, not as an invitation. Non-Natives have their words to describe their relationship to sexuality and gender; Two-Spirit is ours, and ours alone.

*raging grumbles*

But ALSO public service announcement / reminder / education time: Indigenous identity is not intrinsically exclusive to skin color! There are many Indigenous people who are mixed or are otherwise 'white passing' even if they have other uniquely Indigenous traits and physical features outside of their skin color; there are also many non-Indigenous people who simply have darker skin tones that could be confused for Indigenous identity if not properly confirmed.

To speak from my own experience with this, I'm the only kid out of my many siblings who "looks Native" in the way that people think of when they hear the word "Native". Especially when it comes to my darker skin tone and curly hair that I inherited from my Indigenous dad (though it's uh, not so curly these days, obviously LOL).

But many of my siblings are on the lighter side more similarly to that of their non-Native mothers, and don't immediately "look Native" unless you know what to look for outside of skin color. We are all still Native, though, regardless of that difference in skin tone.

But obviously my experiences growing up have varied from my siblings' because unfortunately, we do still live in a world where people immediately judge and make assumptions based on skin color. While I was treated differently for being an obviously brown kid in an all-white school (an experience that's unique for me as compared to my siblings) many white-passing Indigenous peoples (i.e. my siblings!) aren't taken seriously, either by non-Natives or even Native people from their own community who judge or distrust them for not looking "Native enough", thus invalidating their heritage and cultural identity simply because they don't meet the criteria of onlookers trying to "clock them".

I imagine many mixed race peoples have gone through this themselves; and in the greater context of queer discussion, it's similar to what trans people often experience, where they're made to feel that they have to 'look a certain way' to 'qualify' as who they are, either for the benefit of cis people, or other trans people. All the while, they never really get to just be.

Regardless, my point is, please be wary of strictly viewing Indigenous representation through skin color! This is why you'll notice, throughout my original post, I specifically use the term non-Native and not 'white', because 'white' is too broad a scope for this kind of discussion, especially when there are Natives who are white-passing and are often oppressed in an entirely unique way because of it. Even if some people are knowledgeable enough on this subject to understand that the casual use of the word 'white' is to mean 'non-Native', it remains to be said anyways for those who aren't knowledgeable on this subject and could accidentally misread or misuse the word 'white' in other contexts or discussions surrounding Indigenous representation.