An unwanted interloper masquerading as human life

BECAUSE people continue to just… be ignorant and cruel about this, and because my main blog IS the place for that discussion. Sadly for all of my mutuals, some of whom I have repeatedly seen say some things I, personally, find deeply upsetting, and have tried to be very patient about, but my patience is not infinite, sadly, for me.

(I am, in fact deeply saddened by this, and I'm not going to name names, because it isn't just the handful of mutuals I've seen doing this, doing this. I'm not angry, I am sad. Personally, I feel hurt over this repeated cycle, and if I end up getting blocked by people I respect, so be it.)

I will reiterate points 3 and 4 from my writing sideblog's pinned post here.

"Third- If anyone takes offense to me, a trans man, writing a fic series in which a trans man initiates PiV sex MORE THAN ONCE, you can just block me. I tag things, if you have a problem with it, that’s a you problem not a me problem. Fourth- Yes, he bottoms. No. I don’t think that’s a problem, if you think it is, just fucking block me, as above. Some gay dudes are bottoms. Some gay dudes who are trans are also bottoms. I am a queer trans man who prefers to bottom and who does not hate PiV. Please take your moralizing about what trans people are allowed to do elsewhere, this is not the space for that discussion."

Now, I'm going to get into the details here, because, again, my main blog IS the place for that discussion.

Yes I am VERY aware a bunch of my fellow queer (gay, mspec, and otherwise) trans men think that I, PERSONALLY, am less trans than them by virtue of me being fine bottoming and fine with PiV. I am ALSO aware they think I am less queer than they are as well, by virtue of the same. (I have seen the accusations that anyone who writes what I write is secretly a perisex cisgender heterosexual woman, and I, personally, find that a particularly cruel and hateful accusation.)

Because I, PERSONALLY, do not enjoy topping.

Just because you think trans men writing stories about trans men that include trans men bottoming (including PiV) is bad, does not make me writing what I, PERSONALLY, enjoy writing. SOMEHOW transandrophobia.

I would like to kindly request that people stop starting slapfights with other trans men based on purity tests of whether or not they personally top. Or write / make art of trans men topping.

It sucks. Every single time, and I have to sit there and think about how much you all seem to hate me for the pseudo-crime of writing something I enjoy.

When there is SO LITTLE fic and art of trans people of ANY variety AT ALL on places like Ao3 (under 2% of the entire archive, at last calculation, including every rating, including gen, which makes up over half of the total number of fics that are tagged for any trans character at all) any SINGLE writer can sway an entire fandom's worth of fic with trans characters.

You are shadowboxing the idea of a coordinated effort while throwing punches at individual trans people just writing what they enjoy writing.

If you want to change that ratio? It will be SUPER EASY. Just write more than me and other trans men like me, who write the things I write.

It's not some conspiracy of cisgender, perisex, heterosexual women.

It's mostly queer trans men. Some of whom are likely not super open about being trans in the literal tags of their fics, BECAUSE of the sheer amount of hate they see thrown their way.

Every single time somebody spouts that they "only have a problem with cis women writing trans men bottoming" they are ACTIVELY and WILLFULLY engaging in misgendering the trans men and transmasculine people who are the ones writing it. Just because somebody is writing fiction that makes YOU personally dysphoric, DOES NOT MAKE THAT PERSON A CIS WOMAN.

I swear to every fucking atom on this fucking planet. Get this through your heads before the next time y'all wanna claim that a bunch of cis women are writing porn with trans men bottoming.

THE ONLY PEOPLE WRITING TRANS MEN IN ANY APPRECIABLE NUMBER ARE TRANS MEN.

Stop misgendering your brothers because they write porn that you personally do not enjoy.

I might translate this article later today. This one was the most complete one, even in Italian news it's not talked about that much.

Making fun of a group of people that are privileged over you is one thing, but wishing non-cartoonish violence and death on them ("they should fall off a cliff" vs. "they should be wiped out"), wishing sexual violence on them, dehumanising them, claiming that they're less capable of creating art or living meaningful lives, saying that their relationships are inherently shallow and fake - these things are fucked up. I understand venting and saying extreme things when in pain, but when you find yourself regularly posting about wanting certain people tortured and killed, you need to examine that.

Here's some answers

1. Bodily Autonomy

When you have a chronic illness or a disability that limits your control of or connection with your body, it can feel like you're alienated from or disassociated from the very flesh you live in. Making changes can make you feel more in control than you otherwise would.

Why be limited by other people's expectations of what normality is, or what your body "should" look like? Especially because

2. People already stare or make comments

I have had kids follow me down the street shouting abuse at me because I walk with a cane. I get stares and weird comments.

People don't have any manners when it comes to disabled people. They want to tell you about crystals or protein powders or meditation or a church that they're certain will cure you. And God, GOD, do they stare, and look, and peer, and examine

Adding mods and quirks makes that easier to bear.

When I'm walking around just with my cane, I don't know what weird comment a starer is going to make, but that it'll probably be weird.

When I'm dressed alternatively and with an anchor on my cheek, there's a chance it might be positive, or that I can redirect the negative attention.

3. Uniform expectations

A lot of the anger and frustration people express towards unnatural hair colours, piercings, tattoos, and even alt clothing styles seems to come from a frustration with what they perceive as a resistance to adhere to dress codes or uniform demands in schools and offices

The thing is, schools and offices already go out of their way to exclude us. Many places of education and business don't maintain accessiblity basics - ramps are too steep, lifts don't work if they're even there, allergens are everywhere, etc, and many places won't hire a person who looks disabled

They'll discriminate against people who use mobility aids or with visible differences because they don't like how we look, or because they don't want the expense that making a workplace accessible to us will incur

They don't want to deal with extra sick days or inconsistency from chronic illness

In short, many places that demand a dress code already actively exclude us; ergo, even those of us who are ABLE to work are forced to rely on disability aid, be self-employed, or work in alternative industries

Why would we make ourselves look office-ready when many offices don't want us anyway?

4. Different Tolerances

Many chronically ill and disabled people just have a very different tolerance for pain or discomfort to our abled, healthy counterparts. Not only do I tend to giggle when receiving a tattoo (artists have told me this is creepy), it actually gives me RELIEF from chronic pain

Many of us won't even baulk at the pain promised by piercings or tattoos or other body mods - needles and various devices inserted under the skin are already a matter of course, and as for the time and discomfort that it takes to maintain a good dye job, well, what else have we got but time?

And finally...

5. Those mods might be helping

In the immediate aftermath of healing, the sting of the tattoo actually distracts me from my usual bone and muscle aches

Wearing tight waistcoats supports my lower back and helps my posture; corsets and bustiers can do the same thing.

Jewellery might serve as a stim toy or a distraction, but many decorative pieces may actually be bracing or supporting a weak joint or muscle

Heavy boots might help an uneven gait or balance issue, and keep us stable, and so on and so forth

To you, it might just look cool or different or sexy

i genuinely used to go weeks without showering due to how exhausting and painful they were, but now that i have a shower chair im showering multiple times a week.

Yass! I can second this; shower chairs are amazing!

____

dude.

PBS and NPR were never beholden to the US government.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was created so that the US government could fund public media without public media being influenced by the government. It was a private non-profit funded by the government, not a part of the government itself. This is by design. This was a good thing. It meant that even small local TV and radio stations, could afford to create media for the public good, without government influence.

This meant TV and radio stations for poor communities. For non-english speaking communities. For rural communities. For minorities. It meant that free and accessible media could be created for everyone, even if the government didn't like it.

That's why conservatives defunded it.

Because if they couldn't control it, and if it helped the people they hated, then they would have to destroy it. Do you really think that a fascist government would defund their own propaganda machine?

Not only is the idea that PBS before being defunded was propaganda wrong, but ignores the fact that defunding it is going to have long-term negative effects on vulnerable communities.