People have been wanting to hear me expand on this and the unfortunate thing is that I’m not able to make a whole essay on this. My response is probably going to be disappointing. (And yes, I know how this observation sounds coming from an Angelkin.)
But the biggest observation I have here is that the alterhuman community tends to treat humans as if they’ve committed original sin.
The separation between humanity and nature is BIG in Genesis. (And while I’m talking specifically about Christianity, this applies to all religions that utilize Genesis.) According to Genesis, humans were given dominion over nature. Directly placed above it. Whether this is to utilize nature as they see fit, or to be caretakers of it, depends on the interpretation. It’s most common in Christianity, especially Evangelical Christianity, to interpret it as the rights to plunder mature for resources. (I could go on a whole spiel about how cultural Christianity has influenced the environmentalist movement, but I’ll restrain myself.)
When the apple was eaten, Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of Eden, but they still retained dominion over nature.
Of course, reality is a lot more complicated than how Christianity portrays it. Humans are animals, the same as any other, acting out their natural behaviors as builders and thinkers. They’re as much a part of “nature” as any fox or wolf or deer, to name some common theriotypes. Humans are an essential part of the ecosystem around the world.
But the alterhuman community at large hasn’t really caught up to that. Humans as a whole are called evil, are continually separated from the sinless, wrongless animals.
The ideologies of Christianity and capitalism are, by and large, equated with human nature in the alterhuman community. Not only are humans uniquely capable of wrong and evil (unlike us pure and innocent victimized nonhumans, WE were born redeemed and guiltless of humanity’s sins), everything would also be better if humans were GONE (something I’ve seen people say on here) or they need nonhumans to teach them to care about the world around them beyond themselves (something I’ve ALSO seen said).
And here’s where we get controversial: the idea of “alterhuman” is… incredibly culturally Christian.
The definition is based on “common societal ideas of humanity”, but kinda… neglects to define which society? And so, as a primarily white and western online community, that “common societal idea” ends up being… the white, Christian, capitalist one.
Western, white, capitalist, Christian ideas of humanity tend to be extremely… limited, mostly for the sake of punishing anyone who steps outside of that box. There’s a very rigid definition of human, and that’s that. “Alterhuman” as a term refuses to challenge that whatsoever.
Your neurodiversity makes you struggle to identify with this tiny, rigid box? Well that’s an *alternate* experience of/to humanity, my friend! No need to challenge cultural ideas of what “humanity” is or means. No need to look too closely at taking neurodiversity out of the “normal human” box, that doesn’t have implications at all. Not being human is a good thing, right? Humans are awful.
Don’t entirely identify with the human body? Well that’s because you’re experiencing an *alternate* form of humanity! Don’t look too closely at disability rights or how many humans get extensive body mods.
Don’t look too closely at how these ideas of “standard” humanity interact with other cultures. Anything that white culture, Christian culture, capitalist culture pushes back against and punishes isn’t a human experience. It’s *alternative* to humanity. You’re being punished or alienated because you’re nonhuman, and definitely not because we’re trapped in an incredibly restrictive culture that gets real financial and martial power from deciding what a “normal” human experience is.
Stop treating humans like they’re uniquely capable of harm and evil. Maybe take some time to think about why you reject the idea of having humanity so hard. Maybe take some time to think about how many experiences are being labeled “alternative” to humanity, as opposed to something humans *can just do.*
Maybe take some time to realize that the alterhuman community isn’t always quite as countercultural as we’d like to think. Sometimes we *reinforce* the current culture without meaning to.
