w h o m s t

It’s not “proving that crickets can be traumatized”. It’s proving that *animals can genetically pass on the stress that a dangerous situation causes, and the offspring will instinctually respond to the same situation without ever having personally experienced it.*

And that’s a big deal for many things, including human psychology.

When Nazis invaded The Netherlands, local Dutch peoples were under extreme emotional and physical duress. The Nazi army took their food for the soldiers, starving the population. They patrolled the streets and harshly reinforced their new laws. Existence was horrible and some parents had to give their children away to wealthier families because they couldn’t feed them anymore. This event is known as the Hongerwinter, or Dutch Famine.

One generation later, the children of mothers who were pregnant at the time of the famine have been proven to exhibit intense reactions to stress, and heightened fight or flight responses. They also experience more obesity because their bodies are prepared for starvation.

Some of these children were never personally exposed to the famine. Their mothers gave birth after conditions had improved, or even after moving to another country. But the effects are there, and those people are now adults who can recognize this and attest that they didn’t experience something else traumatic during childhood. It was passed on in the womb.

You can read about it here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/science/dutch-famine-genes.amp.html

This is called epigenetics. It’s essential to understanding how the human brain and body works. That our responses to stress can be passed on genetically. That it can show up in how we look physically, our physical health, our mental responses, our instinctual reactions. It’s especially important for people who are in therapy and need to understand *why* they act a certain way before they can actually work on it.

I never paid money to have any of my posts sponsored on your platform. Why are you sponsoring one of my posts without my permission? I have received zero communication about this. I am not okay with this. Some comments are: ‘Pride Knights gone corporate’ or ’I don’t know how I feel about this…’

You never asked for my permission, so I assume sponsoring this post is in your own interest rather than that of the Pride Knights because this is seriously damaging the community we are trying to build here.

We sometimes promote posts on Instagram (a very different platform than Tumblr) with our savings because we want to encourage and empower people struggling with their sexuality and orientation. That’s literally why the Pride Knights exist. So if for $5, I can make someone’s day a bit brighter by sponsoring a post of me holding up a cardboard sign saying that everything will be alright and that you are strong, well, I consider that money well-spent. 

During the three years I have been running this blog, I have rarely seen a hateful comment. Our community is a safe space and a place for happy vibes and empowerment, and I do my best to keep it that way. But right now, due to this post being promoted all over Tumblr, there is a bunch of homophobes in the comment section. This upsets me because I am afraid it affects people who like and frequent this blog.

1. You can spend more time underage drinking and/or smoking, a valuable social bonding experience for any teenager