meadowlander
meadowlander's JournalOf all the potential harms from Trump's announcement, let's not lose sight of the primary one - to autistic people.
Autism is part of the normal range of human variation and experience. Some people are very tall, some people are born to be very fat, some people have blue eyes, some people have hyper-sensitive hearing and touch, some people notice the forest first and some people notice the trees, some people have a strong social drive and some people don't.
Autism is genetic and has always been with us. Autistic people's contributions to human progress have been phenomenal - the first astronomers, botanists and food scientists, surgeons, architects, artists, poets, priests who introduced calendars and other cultural rituals, engineers, computer scientists, all benefited from individuals with strong attention to detail, pattern recognition, prodigious memories, and the ability to think differently.
By focusing on the cure to or prevention of autism we are telling the 1 in 40 humans born autistic that the way they were born is wrong, a disease, something to be done away with, a freak accident.
And that sets back our understanding of autism and the rights of autistic people more than 40 years.
I'm proud to be autistic. I don't need to be cured. I'm autistic because my father was and many of my other extended relatives, not because my mother took Tylenol a few times. Being autistic is an inextricable part of who I am and is a large part of what has enabled my success in life. If there was a pill I could take tomorrow that would make me not autistic you couldn't pay me to take it.
We should be celebrating the extraordinary gifts that come with autism and recognising that many of the challenges come not because there is something wrong with the autistic person but because our society has not been set up to address that level of human variation well. We need understanding and accommodation, not a "cure" or "prevention".
Isn't sucker punching a sovereign nation after saying you were going to negotiate for two weeks kind of a war crime?
I know it's maybe not the biggest problem and pardon me if I've missed anything after enjoying a lovely day of not checking the news to come back to this but...
1. did we bother declaring war before we attacked a sovereign nation?
2. didn't Trump say we were hitting pause for two weeks to try diplomacy with Iran? Is that in legal terms similar to a truce or ceasefire (if we had been at war with them in the first place)?
3. isn't bombing your enemy in the middle of a truce/ceasefire which you were using as cover for your preparations kind of illegal/a war crime?
I'm certainly not a lawyer but hoping someone can enlighten me. And I know all the MAGAs are going to rationalise it away as God-tier dimensional chess but didn't he really just lie about entering into negotiations in good faith and then sucker punch a country we weren't even at war with yet?
What am I missing here?
Which came first, the misogyny or the "lack of positive male role models"?
Just finished watching Adolescence and reading up on some of the reviews and discussion it is spawning. While it's great that there's a larger discussion now of the impacts of misogyny on young kids, where I hope we don't settle complacently is "well, we just need to create more positive role models for boys".
Men as consumers have driven the vast majority of cultural products in modern times and still drive most of the media that is created and most political discourse. When was the last time your local movie theater wasn't headlining a superhero or action movie? 70% of TV shows and movies still have male leads or male dominated ensembles. 70% of speaking characters are still male. Video games are even more male-dominated. 80% of characters are male.
There are already tons of positive male role models if boys and men were willing to assess them on the basis of non-toxic masculine traits. Which characters and in-real-life men use their strength to look out for and try to help others while still respecting other peoples' boundaries? Show courage while acknowledging what others can contribute? Can lead, follow and be a good teammate? Manage their anger instead of taking it out on others? Are honest and show integrity? Think it's okay to be smart and respect science? Don't denigrate things like art, music and dance on the basis of arbitrary assignments of what is masculine or not? Are empathetic, kind and authentic? Actually like women and could carry on a conversation with one without the primary motivation of getting them into bed?
In movies and video games Superman, Captain America, Spiderman, Black Panther, Geralt, Eskel and Vesemir from the Witcher, Aragorn, Samwise Gamgee, Bilbo Baggins, Ted Lasso, Harry Potter, Captain Adama in Battlestar Galactica, Captain Picard, Ned Stark, Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gon Jinn, Etienne of Navarre in Ladyhawke, Aidan in Sex and the City and Ian in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Stephen Trager in Kyle XY, John Tunstall in Young Guns, Leonidas in 300, Rick O'Connell in the Mummy, Chidi from the Good Place, Ben in Parks and Recreation, Leto Atreides in Dune, Daniel in Love Actually, Michael Bluth, Moana's dad, Rick Grimes from the Walking Dead, Luther Hargreeves in the Umbrella Academy, Nick in Heartstopper, Hiccup in How to Train Your Dragon, Woody in Toy Story, the old guy in Up, Shrek, Wesley in the Princess Bride, George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, Juror #8 in 12 Angry Men, Jim from the Office, Malcolm in Firefly, Maximus in Gladiator.
In literature Atticus Finch, Odysseus, King Arthur, Robin Hood, John Watson, Mr Knightley, Horatio Hornblower, Richard Sharpe, Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, the Three Musketeers, Edmund Dantes, Jean Valjean, Pip in Great Expectations, Bob Cratchit.
In real life Tom Hanks, Mark Ruffalo, Professor Brian Cox, Henry Cavill, Mads Mikkelsen, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Kumail Nanjiani, Lin Manuel Miranda, Michael Palin, Taika Waititi, Jason Momoa, Daveed Diggs, Antonio Banderas, Tony Shalhoub, Morgan Freeman, Lawrence Fishburne, James Earl Jones, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Misha Collins, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Daniel Radcliffe, Pedro Pascal, Jeff Bridges, Jamie Oliver, Lebron James, Stephen Fry, George Takei, Keegan Michael Key, Dave Grohl, Chris Martin, Eddie Vedder, Willie Nelson, Hozier, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting in Making a Murderer, David Tennant, Mr Rogers, Abraham Lincoln, MLK, Gandhi, Einstein, John Glenn.
In politics and the media, Pete Buttigieg, Tim Walz, Gavin Newsome, Raphael Warnock, Andy Beshear, Josh Shapiro, Adam Schiff, Alexander Vindman, Cory Booker, Barack Obama, Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, the Pod Save America guys.
If you're religiously inclined, Jesus, Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Pope Frances.
If you're not willing to fall into the trap that a man has to be perfect at every moment of their life's journey to be an overall good role model, there are thousands more. John Lennon. JFK. Sherlock Holmes. Mr Darcy. Luke Skywalker. Indiana Jones. Dexter's dad. Billy Elliot's dad. Chief O'Brien. Captain von Trapp. George Clooney.
The wise male role model/mentor who dies so that the hero can find their own path is an entire literary trope. Also stories about characters who are unfailingly perfect are boring because there is no character arc. If you are willing to pick up the good traits in some characters and leave the bad, there is an almost infinite smorgasbord of positive male influences.
We already have and have always had this concept in our culture - the mensch, the gentleman, the stand-up guy.
The problem is, unless the boy or man is open to those influences in the first place, they will always find some excuse to dismiss them. Too gay, too brown, too cerebral, too short, too bald, not ripped enough, not "Alpha" enough. The problem is coming to a definition of "masculinity" with an assumption that men should always be in charge and not like "girly" things, that other people owe you for making the effort of being decent to them, that you're entitled to people's time and attention without having to earn it, that "real men" don't cry or admit weakness or dance well or put their kids before their careers.
If that's where you're starting from, you're always going to reject positive male role models because you already have problematic assumptions. You're not looking for an aspirational figure that you can struggle to become. You're projecting your current issues into the future and looking for a successful figure that "looks like me" or that "I can relate to". And that's not what looking for a role model is about. That's seeking validation for not doing anything about yourself.
So instead of pretending that the problem is that we as a culture don't produce enough examples of how to be a good man, why not start the conversation with why all the positive role models that our culture does produce for men are being dismissed by boys who are under the influence of the misogynistic backlash we are currently experiencing?
The boys who can't share their toys.
The Witcher 4 trailer dropped yesterday and before you could say "Child of the Elder Blood" the comments were predictably swamped with variations of:
1. "I don't want to play a woman."
2. "The developer has caved to woke-ism."
3. If I have to play a woman, can't I at least play a hot one?"
The most generous version of the first comment goes along the lines "I see myself in my video game avatar and I just prefer it to be a man like me." Fine, if you've decided arbitrarily to limit yourself that way. Except you know who doesn't have the luxury of doing that? Women playing 95% of video games. And in the very, very rare game that offers up a female main playable character it's someone like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider who makes up for the sin of having brains and a personality by still being young enough and having big enough boobs to be objectified. Or Samus Aran in Metroid who looks like an androgynous robot until she takes her helmet off it the end.
If you don't want to play a woman, play those other 95% of games. Like the first three Witcher games. The gaming world is literally your fucking sausage-fest. Why the compulsion to throw your toys out of the crib at the prospect of one major game franchise letting women do what you do all the time? It's not like the universe ordained "there shall only ever be three more Witcher games and you will be forced to play a woman forevermore". If you want a prequel playing one of the other Witchers or a game where you can design your own character, then invest the money into developing it yourself.
As for "caving to woke-ism" I'll be generous again and assume this is coming from people who either didn't play the Witcher 3 or didn't understand any of the games or the books on which it is based. Ciri has always been the secondary protagonist. You actually get to play from her perspective for multiple segments of the Witcher 3. She's Geralt's child surprise, was raised with the Witchers, is the natural heir to their cultural legacy and is one of the few characters in the previous story who hasn't already had a complete character arc. There's lots to be excited about in exploring what she can actually do when her powers are fully developed and she has more control of them. The Witchers were always written as a community that was going extinct. Why not get excited and interested in the ways it which that community could possibly evolve and keep going instead?
Or, you know, you can just keep pretending that CDPR and Andrzej Sapkowski just included her for filler or to be a damsel in distress for Geralt. Except for literally everything that happens in the story.
Why is Geralt such an interesting character to play? In part, it's because he's a mensch. He's not a young hot shot - he's an older guy who adopts a girl and instead of seeing her as a delicate princess, takes her seriously and lets her train to do what he does. How do you get the best ending in Witcher 3? [Spoilers] You support Ciri and step back and let her handle her own problems.
For all the gamer bros out there who say what they enjoy it "seeing themselves in the character they are playing" why not at least try to see that character, which they claim to love, in themselves?
There are great male role-models out there for young men bemoaning the decline of masculinity. But you need to be willing to internalise the lessons they are trying to teach you instead of this knee-jerk kindergarten reaction of "ick, cooties".
Merch ideas for the Great Curtain Drop of 2025 already rolling in
?xmt=AQGzg1AXjXK3yymt-CnyI0afBSxQrGju3-SX30J7AoYfTwMaybe "Spots and Tariffs" once RFK makes measles great again.
Fair's fair. Let's see what's in Kamala's mailbag.
If we're dropping all other news every time there's a credible assassination threat, how many have the Secret Service fielded for Kamala since she became VP?
In some senses a perfect pair. One has unresolved Daddy issues and the other has unresolved Mommy issues.
With the widespread availability of quality therapy for those with means, however, it feels unnecessary for all of this to be playing out on the national stage.
Am I late to realising how much Pete Buttigieg looks and speaks like Mr Rogers?
Something about the Midwestern wholesomeness.
Put on your inside shoes, change into a sweater, and talk sense to me Pete.
Lifelong career public servants don't do it for gratitude or loyalty.
They do it because they love their country and feel called to serve. They consider it the highest possible privilege to throw their shoulder against the great wheel for as long as they're able to stand. The ones that start out expecting recognition or thanks don't last 50 years.
I think the absolute last thing President Biden would ever say or think was that we should place any sense of obligation or loyalty to him personally over what we think objectively is best for the country. I think Joe Biden is a great president but I don't *owe* him personal loyalty over my loyalty to democracy, country and party.
Can we please put the back-stabbing/traitor/ratfucker/coup rhetoric to rest? It's not helpful, bordering on irresponsible in the current political climate, and it's not what Joe wants.
Let's recognise and respect his extraordinary public service, be inspired by it to redouble our efforts to defeat Trump, and honour the sacrifice that he's made in the spirit that he intended it. That's how we repay him for his service.
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