doing research for my greek history paper has been really fun cause sometimes i’ll get lost on wikipedia and i find paintings so beautiful they’ll literally make me cry and other times i come across This.
Parents, doing an action an autistic child finds unpleasant to show “it doesn’t hurt” isn’t helpful, because for the child it probably hurts like hell or feels intolerable because they process sensory information differently than a neurotypical person!
Listen to me, an autistic adult with personal experience of dealing with these unpleasant things, and see if this makes sense.
(Touch) Pulling a shirt over a child’s head is no big deal to you? Your child might feel like they’re suffocating, the fabric on the shirt collar could feel like sandpaper on their ears / face, or it’s a tight squeeze and it’s pulling their hair as you slide it past their head. IT HURTS.
(Hearing) The vacuum cleaner that doesn’t hurt your ears? To your child it’s probably a jet engine on their eardrums. IT HURTS.
(Smell) The perfume that you can barely smell? To your child it’s probably like pouring the entire bottle of it up their nose. IT’S HELL.
(Sight) The hot pink bulletin board construction paper that you think looks so cute and pretty? It probably feels like staring at the sun to your autistic child. IT HURTS.
(Taste) That sauce you don’t think is spicy at all? Your child probably feels like they have burning napalm on their tongue. IT HURTS.
(Vestibular) You’re upset that your child freezes when they have to go up or down stairs unless you’re right there with them? Maybe the height is triggering vertigo, so they feel like they’re tipping backwards or forwards and are afraid they’ll fall and get hurt. IT’S SCARY.
Parents, LISTEN. I’m not saying never expose your child to these experiences, but recognize there is a limit. Is it totally necessary? Then don’t worry about doing it right that moment.
Buy shirts that can be zipped or buttoned up.
Give them ear defenders or have someone take them outside while you vacuum.
Go easy on the perfume / scented products or save those for special occasions where the child won’t be present.
Buy softer colored construction paper for your bulletin board. Colors are frequencies just like sounds are, and some color frequencies are painful the same way some sound frequencies are painful.
Let your child eat that without the sauce on it, find an alternative topping that isn’t spicy (if they tolerate it) or make something else for them to eat.
Hold your child’s hand or walk behind (going up) or ahead (going down) of them on the stairs so they feel safe like you’ll catch them if they fall.
Honestly, one of the things my parents do now that I am so grateful for is simple sensory warnings. “I’m turning the vaccuum on, do you want your headphones?” that kind of thing.
The only thing that people ignoring my protests when they do painful sensory stuff to or near me accomplishes is making me feel like that person is untrustworthy and not safe to be around. It was worse when I was a kid and didn’t know that most people don’t experience the world the way I do – then it seemed like they were torturing me for fun.
If someone ever tells you something is cause them pain fucking believe them. Or you’re an asshole.
Have to admit I’m a little surprised to see that there’s not really any posts going around about the copyright reforms the EU is currently working on. So let’s break it down Tumblr style, it works for Americans right?
Here’s a bit of a snippet of Article 11 and 13 which are quite dumb and should be evident why it’s not only dumb but also just plain doesn’t work.
Article 11.
“Anyone using snippets of journalistic online content must first get a license from the publisher. This new right for publishers would apply for 20 years after publication.
“
This includes posting it on social media. And every repost of that post. Basic internet savvyness should at this point tell “That is incredibly dumb and how the fuck are you even going to get that work?” Well you won’t simply put. It could in theory benefit large news organizations. But a consequence is that real news would have a much harder time to spread and leave a vacuum for false stuff to fill. Because lord knows we need to leave the goal open to troll farms.
But let’s look at something even dumber.
Article 13.
“Internet platforms hosting “large amounts” of user-uploaded content must monitor user behavior and filter their contributions to identify and prevent copyright infringement.
“
So stuff like Imgur would have to scan for infringement, identify it and prevent it. Because we all know that Youtube’s copyright infringement system works so well.
Both of these hits social media pretty hard. Would have serious negative effects on startups and really hurt freedom of expression. And they have even been tried throughout europe already and FAILED. Hard.
Pretty much anyone with basic internet knowledge, IT experts, humanitarian groups and free speech advocate organizations are against this loudly. EFF who is usually based in the US made a Brussels office to throw a wrench into this. But you know what the real kicker is here? The EU parliament is pretty good about listening to people. Even if this has kindof flown under a radar for a lot of people enough of a wrench was thrown to slow down the process and cause pretty intense debates.
So what can you do who happens to live in the EU and not be particularly happy about these things. Well here are two links for online petitions. The first is for “the link tax” and the other is about the “censorship machines”, the latter of which is very memey.
Save the meme will advice you to call your MEP (Member of European Parliament) and it would not be a bad idea to read up a bit on what you’re complaining about. This is a pretty easy to digest read. https://juliareda.eu/eu-copyright-reform/
Since BL and fujoshi discourse is the hot topic du jour, let’s talk a bit about gay stereotypes in Japanese manga and anime.
I’m seeing a worrying number of people not only saying that all BL and fujoshi promote homophobic stereotypes, but that BL is the primary or sole instigator of homophobia in Japanese society (excuse me, I choked on drink there).
For those who don’t know, Boy’s Love (BL) is a niche category of shoujo/josei manga that focuses on M/M relationships (commonly known in the west as “yaoi”, though that is a misnomer). It’s still frowned upon, both for being gay content and for being mainly romance aimed at women. The word “fujoshi” — used today to mean “female fan of BL” — even has seriously misogynistic origins.
So far, BL is published on specific magazines, and most anime adaptations are OVAs that aren’t aired on TV. Although it has a significant following, it’s definitely not popular enough to change the opinions on gay men of the entire anime fanbase, much less of Japanese society as a whole.
Homophobia in Japan has a long history, but one of the most impactful chapters was the Meiji Restoration (1867-68), when Japan’s isolationist foreign policy was abolished and rapid westernization began. Negative Christian views on homosexuality disseminated throughout the country and public opinion of practices such as nanshoku/wakashudou declined until they were practically criminalized and banned.
For reference, both BL and yuri had their origins more than a century later,
in the 1970’s-80’s.
I find that a lot of criticism of stereotyping in BL is, unsurprising, very US-centric. The thin, androgynous, pretty and emotionally sensitive characters of BL may coincidentally fit western gay stereotypes, but this type of character just represents an East Asian beauty standard for men. Guys who fit these bishounen and ikemen types are considered desirable by Japanese women and are generally assumed to be straight.
A handful of pretty boys from Touken Ranbu.
In the US, your idea of a stereotypical gay dude may be a metrosexual twink with a lisp and a limp wrist, but different countries have different stereotypes. In Japan, the appearance of イカホモ/イカニモ (“ikahomo” or “ikanimo”, a stereotypical gay man) is a heavy-set masculine guy with short haircut, strong face, and facial hair.
Sort of like the guys you see in geikomi, right?
Pin-ups by Jiraiya, long-time artist for G-men magazine.
But we’re talking about entertainment media, more specifically about animanga. We’ll get there soon.
Gay men in Japan are stereotyped by the general population as being camp, and using feminine clothes, language and pronouns. Those who present femininely are often referred to as オネエ (“onee”) because they use オネエ言葉 (“onee kotoba”, feminine speech), and may or may not identify as male. Many entertainers who are out use onee personas on TV to, well, entertain the audience. That may be the only exposure an average Japanese person has to a real-life openly gay or trans person.
As for fiction, media creators tend to fall back on archetypes based on prejudices for minority characters, and that includes gay men. A bit like how the US has the “fairy” archetype, Japan has the “okama”.
Now, オカマ (“okama”, lit. rice pot) is not a word used in polite conversation to refer to people. It’s a homophobic and transphobic slur, directed at people who fit the onee stereotype.
If you’re not a Japanese queer man or transfem individual, you shouldn’t direct it at anyone, period. Not even yourself. Although there are some who reclaim the term, it’s still largely considered derogatory and insulting.
Japanese media has an okama character archetype, which reflects how society thinks a gay man looks and acts. You may be surprised to hear that it’s not the willowy, androgynous bishounen of shoujo manga.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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