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wetwareproblem:
aerospace-agenda:
i just… like.
i get that, if it’s taken someone a lot of time and effort to realise, or grow comfortable, or whatever, with how they identify, that seeing someone else look at it and go “oh, neat, i’m gonna go with that!” can sting.
but… like, ultimately, is that not part of the end goal? is not the preferable scenario one in which you don’t have to struggle and fight in order to figure out what you are?
the goal should be to build an environment in which people feel comfortable experimenting, without strings attached, with their identity. without the pressure of stereotypes, or blame for getting it wrong, or pressure over having to keep an identity forever once chosen or decided or whatever.
telling people theyre basically “doing an identity wrong” because they haven’t “thought about it enough” is just… good grief. this is… like, the insistence on non-normative identities as things you need to think hard and deep on, like… i do not agree with that, at all.
This articulates a discomfort I didn’t have words for. Thank you.
Like. I went through a lot of pain and a lot of struggle and a lot of soul searching to get where I am. And basically every time I’ve made progress, it’s because I’ve encountered or thought of something and felt a Click deep in the back of my head.
I didn’t start HRT until my 30s. And I’m one of the lucky ones. I’d be surprised if any queer my age didn’t have a list of casualties kept close to their heart.
And the generation before mine? Has a list of survivors.
So when I see some 15 year old kid on Tumblr reading about my experiences and going “hey, that sounds like me,” do you know how I feel?
Fucking proud. Joyous. Invincible. Because this is what victory looks like - the next generation developing in an environment where they can skip decades of trauma.
So when I see people in the community resenting and actively shitting on that? I see a collaborator. I see someone whose problem is that the kids are all right, that they’re not traumatized enough, not dying enough.
Anyone who takes that stance terrifies and infuriates me.
I think Terry Pratchett had a great analogy for this:
The thing about insurmountable mountains is that they are until they aren’t. And then a generation after that old ladies will stroll up to its peak as an afternoon stroll.
wetwareproblem:
aerospace-agenda:
i just… like.
i get that, if it’s taken someone a lot of time and effort to realise, or grow comfortable, or whatever, with how they identify, that seeing someone else look at it and go “oh, neat, i’m gonna go with that!” can sting.
but… like, ultimately, is that not part of the end goal? is not the preferable scenario one in which you don’t have to struggle and fight in order to figure out what you are?
the goal should be to build an environment in which people feel comfortable experimenting, without strings attached, with their identity. without the pressure of stereotypes, or blame for getting it wrong, or pressure over having to keep an identity forever once chosen or decided or whatever.
telling people theyre basically “doing an identity wrong” because they haven’t “thought about it enough” is just… good grief. this is… like, the insistence on non-normative identities as things you need to think hard and deep on, like… i do not agree with that, at all.
This articulates a discomfort I didn’t have words for. Thank you.
Like. I went through a lot of pain and a lot of struggle and a lot of soul searching to get where I am. And basically every time I’ve made progress, it’s because I’ve encountered or thought of something and felt a Click deep in the back of my head.
I didn’t start HRT until my 30s. And I’m one of the lucky ones. I’d be surprised if any queer my age didn’t have a list of casualties kept close to their heart.
And the generation before mine? Has a list of survivors.
So when I see some 15 year old kid on Tumblr reading about my experiences and going “hey, that sounds like me,” do you know how I feel?
Fucking proud. Joyous. Invincible. Because this is what victory looks like - the next generation developing in an environment where they can skip decades of trauma.
So when I see people in the community resenting and actively shitting on that? I see a collaborator. I see someone whose problem is that the kids are all right, that they’re not traumatized enough, not dying enough.
Anyone who takes that stance terrifies and infuriates me.
I think Terry Pratchett had a great analogy for this:
The thing about insurmountable mountains is that they are until they aren’t. And then a generation after that old ladies will stroll up to its peak as an afternoon stroll.