#read critically

it’s not like I wouldn’t have continued to learn how to be a better trans ally regardless... but it does add a certain level of spite. and a desire to learn how to write and incorporate trans characters in my own work.

of course, this has been combined with my increasing self-education on a range of issues akin to transphobia.

my favourite video to send someone ‘on the fence’ per se with the whole j*r issue (and yes, there are ppl like that. it is counterproductive to yell at them - educate them. yelling will make them defensive and reactive and will not achieve our aims) is jammidodger’s video which is calm, educational and thorough. contrapoints is also a good one.

“A spectre is haunting Twitter — the spectre of liberal bros with hammer and sickle avatars.

Communism: You may know it primarily as that thing Bernie Sanders supporters tell you they aren’t. Or, if you’re lucky, you know it as the ideology advocating for the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and the establishment of a worker-led society based on production in terms of human need. What you probably don’t know it as is an ideology that defends wage labor, exploitation, and commodification — yet it’s become depressingly common for communists online and off to do just that by supporting prostitution.

Yes, men who claim to be warriors against the domination of one class by another are celebrating an industry in which one class…well, dominates another. Andrea Dworkin was right as always when she said, “Only when women’s bodies are being sold for profit do leftists claim to cherish the free market.”

Now, before I begin on just why this newfound love for sexual capitalism is hateful nonsense, let me say: I don’t expect everyone reading this to be a communist. I’m not even an orthodox communist myself, although I have a strong admiration and support for the revolutionary movements it’s spawned throughout the last century.

But I do expect most people reading this to have even a basic sense of history, logic, and ethics — which is all you need to realize how stupid the idea of pro-prostitution Marxism is.

Let’s start with history. It can’t be denied that every single major communist government saw prostitution as a counterrevolutionary system. One of Castro’s first acts in power was to deport or arrest the foreign pimps and johns that preyed on poor Cuban women in Havana. Mao established reeducation and job training centers for formerly prostituted women and banned pimping.

Enver Hoxha, one of the greatest advocates for women’s equality in communist history, went to great lengths to abolish prostitution among the Albanian army, at great risk to his own power. Hell, Marx himself stated multiple times that prostitution was an expression of the worker’s oppression by capitalism, and Lenin saw it as equally uncommunist.

Now, this by itself doesn’t prove anything. Marxism is an immortal science, constantly subject to reanalysis and reformulation (but not revision). It’s absolutely possible that Marx, Mao, Hoxha, Castro, and Lenin were all wrong about prostitution. But considering that these men have all been, at various times, responsible for some pretty serious atrocities, I have to ask: Why is it that male Marxists can examine the decisions made by communist leaders and come to see their support for women’s liberation as the only position worth criticizing?

I’ve encountered men who actively defend Stalin’s Great Terror but condemn Mao for his “whorephobia.” Men who can’t muster a harsh word for Pol Pot but are quick to call out Castro for his sex-negativity. You don’t have to buy into the horror stories of Western propaganda to see a crisis of priorities here.

so naive to think you know

one day looking back you’ll realize

Write a poem based on the four core principles of Clint Smith's TED Talk, "Breaking the Silence."

1. Read Critically

2. Write Consciously

3. Speak Clearly

Here are some rules of thumb if you are interested in better judging whether information you are presented is likely to be authentic (but not it's true authenticity). If you find a post and its sources (if applicable) do not meet the above criteria, the authenticity of the information should be questioned.

I understand that not everyone has the time to critically read every post on their dash, but if you are ever in doubt, please research further.