one of my main beliefs about my personal alterhuman identity is that to me, it’s exactly like being trans. i am a demon in the same way i am a man, it’s a self-made image, one I cultivated for myself and thinking of it in that way has helped me come to terms with not fully knowing Where the identity has come from, and in the level of importance i give it in my life. it’s a useful framework for me.
the only place where it fails, though, is in the Oppression of it all. perhaps this is controversial to say but alterhumanity (disregarding anything that could cause an alterhuman identity like plurality or psychosis, etc) as of right now is not particularly meaningfully systemically oppressed. lack of visibility and mocking is its own oppression, and the LATAM community went through some quite vicious reporting recently, but ultimately, if a cisgender alterhuman were to claim that our experiences were similar on the basis of their alterhumanity alone, I think I’d feel a bit offended. The symptoms are similar on a descriptive level but the lived experience in society is completely different.
Before I’m a demon, I am trans, and before I’m trans, I’m white. My sona is a hellhound, and I suit at pride events, and while it has been tempting before to approach the religious protestors in it, I don’t, because the optics of my doing that would have a profounder impact than my own personal species euphoria. Any kick I would get out of messing with people like that would be instantly overshadowed if it became ammo to brigade against my siblings. Like, you can see the headlines, right?
And I think for alterhumans, especially white alterhumans, that’s important for us to keep in mind. Our personal, ultimately niche euphoria should never come before doing right by systemically oppressed communities, it is not right to march into conversations being had by black alterhumans about the dehumanisation they face on a day to day basis to proclaim that you’d personally be fine with it because it’s species affirming, or whatever.
When you talk about being alterhuman I think you HAVE to be aware of the optics as they personally relate to you, and consider who you might accidentally be firing at by speaking generally.
It’s a privilege to be able to view certain things as affirming.
