Oh the Stories I've to Tell

If health is a choice, society gets to shirk its responsibility to accommodate people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, mental health issues, and those who are undiagnosed but struggling. It’s an excuse to ignore all the very necessary changes that need to be made–changes in healthcare, in social safety nets, in building codes, in the language we use and the way we interact with people with different needs.

Accessible Gardening for People with Physical Disabilities 

First of all, this is a ridiculous point and has got nothing to do with the broader topic. In my school, PE was segregated and you know what, when we did occasionally have mixed lessons where we would e.g play football (soccer), it was basically just 20 boys running around and having fun and the girls just standing there, bored and annoyed because you know what? Males are faster and stronger than females. I’m a damn fast runner but I could never beat even the slowest boy in my class because he’s default settings gave him such a massive advantage.

Do you know the lifting world record for women? Okay, now do you also know that a random dude who likes going to the gym can beat that like nobody’s business? And you know what else? It’s not sexist, it’s just nature.

Of course I’m not trying to say that there are no differences within sexes. I was a fast runner and some girls in my class weren’t. Some were crazy good at long jump, some at volleyball, some could throw a ball so far my shitty eyes couldn’t even see it anymore, some could easily stretch their bodies in ways it was almost painful to watch, some had very good balance etc. People are different, their bodies are different, some are physically more capable than others. I’m sure I could find a whole lot of males I could outrun.

But that’s not the point. The point is actual real life sport competitions where being successful means getting paid and earning a living. And there are no males there I could outrun even if I trained like a professional athlete because on average males are faster and stronger and can quite easily beat women’s whichever sport world records, not to mention those of them who actually train to be as good as possible.

Someone made a point about no one wanting to keep trans men out of men’s competitions. Well, guess what, no trans man would go head to head with a biological male because they know he would have a natural advantage.

This is not about excluding trans people. This is about protecting female athletes. The universe doesn’t hate you and the level of ego behind the assumption that every single bad thing happens just to spite you is asinine.

Trans swimmer James Wilson has argued that “Transitioning doesn’t happen from one second to the other,” Wilson says. “It’s a very long, slow process, and everybody is different. Sport is very binary, men and women. It’s black and white, but I want to be grey. I don’t care about medals – I just want to have my time recorded.”

I’m not personally on board with his idea of a third “gender” category, but I jive with the sentiment - Let’s acknowledge trans athletes by acknowledging the work that they put into their sport. So what if they don’t all become champions? So what if trans men typically won’t go “head to head” with cis male athletes? Let them be part of the game. It protects no one if we force them to the sidelines because “Well, you’d just lose anyway.” 

Because the big reason why we don’t hear more about trans men athletes? Not only are many trans men often forced out of their sport due to anti-doping laws and pushed into early retirement, but we honestly don’t hear about 90% of the professional athletes that exist anyway!  Trans boys and trans men are not perceived as a threat when it comes to sports, which means they tend to slide through the system without as much controversy. At the same time, this means they become an afterthought when it comes to advocacy or inclusion. We’re purposely ignoring them, then complaining that no one hears about their successes.

So let’s change the system so that the people who get sponsorships are the ones who demonstrate achievements in their field, whether or not that includes a #1 title. Because just playing along with this capitalist definition of success has already hurt so many people, why would we want to continue supporting it?

You can't just say that no woman could ever beat a man in running, based on gender because, guess what? A woman did do so. All the way back in 2019. Allyson Felix, an Olympic Sprinter, beat Usain Bolt's World Record (you know, fastest man alive and all?) and did so just ten months after giving birth AND while doing so in a mixed relay, that had both men and women.

Regarding women's vs men's weightlifting? I found at least two instances (and this was just a super quick glance at wikipedia) where women lifted more in the Clean&Jerk than recorded, and in two cases had higher totals too? So I repeat, the argument at it's core is inherently flawed and @the-exercist makes a point that it shouldn't be segregated by gender, but by ability, arm span, weight, etc.

Hawks, high off his ass, seeing Tokoyami at the tournament:

no one fucking tells you this so here it is:

when signing out forms to apply for disability / filling out a form for diagnosis

you’re supposed to fill it out as you on your worst days

like, I filled out forms that said I could do most things usually

like, my doctor added in the conditions like “yeah, they can feed themselves when not stressed” “they can do this when not stressed”

but how I should have filled it out was more like

“some days I can’t feed myself” “some days I can’t leave the house”

My doctor didn’t even know this, but I talked to someone who had worked with people with both developmental and intellectual disabilities for a number of years, and she told me to write down how it is for your bad days

this should be a thing they tell you, but it isn’t

A tame example? Two questions into a phone interview, the guy on the other end of the line asked: “How old are you?” I said “Excuse me?” - giving him a chance to rethink that. He didn’t. “How old are you?” “Sir, you are not allowed to ask me that question.” “Well, I want to know. I’m asking.” “And you’re legally not allowed to ask me that. I’m not required to tell you my age.” At that point, I guess he managed to remember an old HR bulletin or something (I hope to god he wasn’t actually HR himself), and he said, “Well, I need to know if you’re over the age of 18.” (Which is what he should have asked in the first place… or not, since that was in the application that he could have read.) “Yes. I’m over the age of 18.”  And we moved on. Two questions later, he tried another illegal question. I called him on it again and ended the interview, citing that a workplace with such a clear disregard for the law, especially upon first contact with a potential employee, was not going to be a good fit. (They offered me the job anyway, lol. I didn’t send a thank-you or a response.)

At a different interview, the majority of questions were “fishing” questions - just looking for that info they’re not actually allowed to ask. (This person was also either not really HR or an HR person who was exceptionally bad at their job.)