Other comrades have been leaving the site for various reasons because of the atmosphere and such lately, particularly transphobia- both from raids from outside, and latent transphobia that many among us seem afraid to confront within themselves (self-crit is good), this post is @Dirt_Owl saying that they won't be. Lately there have been many "i'm leaving" posts, so only seeing that absolutely doesn't feel good. I imagine Owl posted to help folks remember that while some are going it's not the death of everything, and that we're still here. And I think that's good, because I'll be honest the flow of users leaving was starting to take it's toll on me, and this post was nice to see
I'm glad you're staying Owl :)
And, fwiw, I'm not going anywhere either :heart-sickle:
I just hope it doesn't look like I'm shitting on people for leaving, because they have every right to not have to put up with transphobes being shitheads.
Double reminder that when people tell you (by 'you' I mean "cis/het neurotypical white men" for the most part, but really it's anyone) that you need to reflect and do self crit, no one is saying that you're a terrible person, that you're a failure, that we hate you and you suck forever. It means that something you've been ignoring, haven't noticed, or are afraid to confront, needs desperately to be confronted and no one else can do it for you. That's why it's called self-crit.
I know how scary it is to realize, or even just be told, that you fucked up, or have a reactionary thought process. We're conditioned to fear mistakes and turn away from them and forget instead of face what inside us led to the mistakes, because we're taught that only bad people do bad things. But the thing is it doesn't reflect on your soul or whatever, it reflects upon your initial conditions and your lived experience. It's impossible to be born and raised in America as a "cis/het neurotypical white man" without having reactionary thoughts and impulses ingrained in you, we as leftists know this.
It's just that when it's happening to you it feels scary, especially if you pride yourself on good politics and being 'a good person'. But the thing is that's bullshit, that's an erroneous perception. It's some capitalist realism, "I can't be racist, I'm a good person" libshit, "nasty, brutish, and short" shit. It's garbage.
When you find yourself uncomfortable or even afraid of facing something, that is when it's most important to be brave and face it down.
:this: there are tons of people with good politics who can still have bad unexamined beliefs and biases especially if you’re not having to confront them usually. Incl myself obviously.
We never stop learning and we never stop growing and if you go “well I’m a socialist and I want everyone to be equal” and just leave it at that you’re doing yourself and your comrades a disservice.
Edit: also I’m glad you’re staying dirt_owl :heart-sickle:
I was away, what happened?
Other comrades have been leaving the site for various reasons because of the atmosphere and such lately, particularly transphobia- both from raids from outside, and latent transphobia that many among us seem afraid to confront within themselves (self-crit is good), this post is @Dirt_Owl saying that they won't be. Lately there have been many "i'm leaving" posts, so only seeing that absolutely doesn't feel good. I imagine Owl posted to help folks remember that while some are going it's not the death of everything, and that we're still here. And I think that's good, because I'll be honest the flow of users leaving was starting to take it's toll on me, and this post was nice to see
I'm glad you're staying Owl :)
And, fwiw, I'm not going anywhere either :heart-sickle:
Cause we have work to do :yes-comm:
I just hope it doesn't look like I'm shitting on people for leaving, because they have every right to not have to put up with transphobes being shitheads.
Not to me, at least. I'm glad you posted it, I've been kinda dooming a bit and needed a reminder that this site is damn sure still worth fighting for.
site has a transphobe problem, sadly :sadness:
Reminder to anyone out there: yes it can be above average while still being completely unacceptable
Double reminder that when people tell you (by 'you' I mean "cis/het neurotypical white men" for the most part, but really it's anyone) that you need to reflect and do self crit, no one is saying that you're a terrible person, that you're a failure, that we hate you and you suck forever. It means that something you've been ignoring, haven't noticed, or are afraid to confront, needs desperately to be confronted and no one else can do it for you. That's why it's called self-crit.
I know how scary it is to realize, or even just be told, that you fucked up, or have a reactionary thought process. We're conditioned to fear mistakes and turn away from them and forget instead of face what inside us led to the mistakes, because we're taught that only bad people do bad things. But the thing is it doesn't reflect on your soul or whatever, it reflects upon your initial conditions and your lived experience. It's impossible to be born and raised in America as a "cis/het neurotypical white man" without having reactionary thoughts and impulses ingrained in you, we as leftists know this.
It's just that when it's happening to you it feels scary, especially if you pride yourself on good politics and being 'a good person'. But the thing is that's bullshit, that's an erroneous perception. It's some capitalist realism, "I can't be racist, I'm a good person" libshit, "nasty, brutish, and short" shit. It's garbage.
When you find yourself uncomfortable or even afraid of facing something, that is when it's most important to be brave and face it down.
:this: there are tons of people with good politics who can still have bad unexamined beliefs and biases especially if you’re not having to confront them usually. Incl myself obviously.
We never stop learning and we never stop growing and if you go “well I’m a socialist and I want everyone to be equal” and just leave it at that you’re doing yourself and your comrades a disservice.
Edit: also I’m glad you’re staying dirt_owl :heart-sickle:
There's a big post on main, should be easy to find, that I just read about a trans mod quitting over transphobia here