#autonomy and power

[zomb13s]

No Means No: Power Dynamics, Consent, and Systemic Violations

Abstract This paper explores the intersection of power, consent, and systemic violations through the lens of the phrase “no means no.” While traditionally associated with physical and sexual assault, the concept of disregarded consent extends into broader socio-political contexts where those in power systematically abuse and violate autonomy. This paper examines the implications of persistent…

[fuckyeahanarchistposters]

"Body autonomy for all by any means necessary"

[communistkenobi]

struggling to reconcile my dislike of the use of “choice” in relation to transgenderism. sex assignment itself is not a choice and I don’t find it meaningful or helpful to think I “chose” to be transgender. in fact there were many things I “chose” to do prior to transitioning to make this feeling go away and it did not. Choice is further wrapped up in intentionally de-politicised ideas about social action and agency, constantly positioned in opposition to “structure” or “social pressure” or what have you. “Choice” is what happens only in the absence of domination, it is the expression of the “individual” trapped within us all. What this leaves you with is a subject who appears to rise above the power of history, making decisions ‘of his own free will’ in spite of all this violence as a result of, um, well that’s not important! Let’s not look at the law or the state or history to see where these ideas of personal individual freedoms come from or how they are themselves enforced through violence. It’s just an individual acting on his desires! To “choose to be trans” in popular consciousness means to be given the privilege of being free from patriarchal social pressures. And this is a line terfs often use - trans people are reinforcing patriarchy by deluding ourselves into thinking we can “simply choose” to be another gender. I think committing to the idea of choice as a concept and all its attendant ideological baggage (overwhelmingly structured by bourgeois legal frameworks in the popular imaginary) forces you into some deeply flawed analyses of power and domination.

And I likewise hate that the other dominant framework is “born this way/born in the wrong body” because of how it naturalises the very political and violent nature of sex assignment and its embeddedness within state census data, administrative architecture, the pathologisation of sex and desire (all of which are not natural or eternal), and so on. furthermore I deeply respect the position other trans people have when they say that they chose to be transgender - outside of conversations of individual validity, I think that is a politically useful and powerful way to position yourself. Even if we were to accept that being transgender is fully a choice, people would still do it, because being trans is not disgusting or shameful. I am not a sick individual, or a tragedy, or a danger to others, I am transgender and that is an incredibly meaningful and fulfilling part of my life. To frame this as a sexual perversion or life-long condition means reinforcing the idea that transgenderism is a shameful deformity (we have much in common with our disabled & intersex comrades in this regard), that the cissexual body is the exclusive site of beauty and authenticity.

And so this is where I find the idea of autonomy much more useful - while ‘choice’ is situated as a thing that individuals do, autonomy is power that is granted to you. I can’t meaningfully demand choice as a political goal, but I can demand autonomy. I don’t want choice, I want the autonomy to act on my desires, and the way that will happen is through the state provision of free hrt, surgery, name and gender marker changes, and so on. Autonomy feels like a much more productive articulation of “choice” because it necessitates that we think about who and what grants autonomy, for what purposes, in which contexts. Who gives a shit about choices! Transgenderism is not a social position an individual can have in society, it is produced through cissexualism, through state and medical sex assignment, through coercion and pathologisation and violence - all of which can be changed.

As a direct comparison, I don’t think people should be given the “choice” to have an abortion, but the autonomy to do so - sure you can choose to get one, but unless there is the medical, financial, and social infrastructure available to you to act on that decision, then that is not a meaningful choice you can “make.” Abortion being legal (and therefore an action you are granted the ‘choice’ to take) doesn’t mean it is actually realisable as a decision, it just means that whoever already has the power & resources to act on that legality will, and those that don’t, won’t. Who decides which people have those resources and which don’t? Well let’s not worry about that, the important thing is that people have choices!

[signanothername]

Ever think about the glory of a land long past yet you live in its ashes grasping for a shard that is the illusion of freedom through power?

Ever think of hunger for power as a coping mechanism to avoid the helplessness that is being bound to something you never chose to be bound to?

Ever think of finding loopholes through your code using corrupted data to be able to reform the fake world you live in into the perfect image in your head?

Yeah me neither

[sleepy-bear-tm]

Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships

[vividdreamer]

Please consider donating and sharing the GoFundMe to support Adriana Smith's family.

For those of you who aren't aware, Adriana Smith was taken off life support (June 17) after a C-section was administered to prematurely birth her child on June 13. The baby is alive and being monitored in the NICU. Her family will finally be able to bury their daughter.

Rest in power Adriana Smith.

[corvus-frugilegus]

Illario's grab for power is so emotionally complicated I can't stop thinking about it.

Like there's the favouritism and the loneliness and the need for love and connection that I think the title has come to represent. Because favour is maybe as close as the Dellamortes come to talking about love.

(Love is still there, it's fucked up and twisted in a lot of ways but it's there. It's hard for any of the Dellamortes to acknowledge this. But they're family and that means something to all three of them. Family is important to them).

But also for so much of his life Illario hasn't had very much power or agency either. He doesn't get to make big decisions for himself much like Lucanis, he doesn't have a lot of influence on the trajectory of his life because of Caterina's influence. Lucanis is the favourite. In that family dynamic Illario probably has the least power of the three of them.

So taking the reins of his own life and cutting that deal with Zara? The cost of losing Lucanis breaks his heart, but for the first time he's the one deciding the terms in which he lives his life in a big and meaningful way. It's not just small rebellions. It's reaching for what he wants and for once in his life feeling like he's the one in control. He's the one with the power.

And honestly? I can't fault him for wanting that. For not wanting to feel like he's at the bottom of the Dellamorte barrel anymore. For wanting his life to mean something, if only to himself. He isn't wrong to reach for power. There's nothing wrong with wanting to change the imbalance he's lived in.

It's the hubris of it that sets him up to fall into Elgar'nan's hands. Lucanis is back. But Illario can't go back. Illario can't give up what he's sacrificed so much for. Can't go back to being Dellamorte the lesser with no say in his own future. So, of course he doubles down, kidnaps Caterina, and makes a deal with Elgar'nan- the way he sees it he's backed into a corner and has no one but himself. And at this point in the story he's not wrong. He has no idea what Lucanis has become (Other than not dead! Which was the plan!)

It's interesting to me how what I think is Illario's own desire to live on his own terms is... In a very horrible way the thing that ultimately leads to Lucanis also beginning to ask what it means to live on his own terms too.

Having Lucanis killed was heartbreaking and terrible. But it's also the very thing that breaks the cycle the three Dellamortes are living in. Illario is the one who, in a way, decides that what the three of them are doing is unacceptable and starts them on a new path for the first time in roughly 30 years.

Illario having the ambition to reach for what he wants, is what sets both cousins free from a long-standing cycle of abuse. It's just also a profoundly twisted and cruel process.

[writinggremlin]

A Whumpee who has spent their entire life under the control of another, without any autonomy or independence.

One day, after their rescue, they finally realize that they now *do* have autonomy, and that the others in their life respect that. They have independence, they can do whatever the fuck they want, they don't need permission anymore.

And that feels... weird. Surreal. Freeing. Confusing.

They're just holding this revelation in their hands like "What is this? What do I do with it?"

[sillysiluriforme]

One of my favorite characters is the reoccurring avortement t-shirt

Originally i just wanted to write something shocking on Luka’s shirt but I’ve decided Avortement is a riotgrrl band because he deserves to wear merch other than his bum deadbeat dad’s

[underwaterspiderbird]

order 66 was NOT a genocide. you can only genocide people & cultures, you can’t genocide a systemically deified super-religion that wants everyone in existence to either agree with them & exist their way or burn in hell for eternity. any decent ppl who went down with the purge forfeit their lives down the drain along with their family, home & very sense of self. they. had. it. fucking. coming.

from an indigenous person, fuck y’all for even comparing order 66 to genocide & talking all over survivors of real genocides to save face for your evangelical faith & the people you think are good guys. you are not about to disrespect the continent-sized OCEANS of blood that make up our ancestors & loved ones who were lost to real genocide. fuck off.

[sillyandquest]

How I think X initially reacted to being called Master X for the first time.

Not a happy camper as you can see.

Here's the picture without words under the read more:

[runespoor7]

I feel like JC has some weird gender shit going on. Not even in the normal sense; in the ‘assigned ruined woman by the narrative’ sense. Like. Wow. JC, you really gonna get called childhood sweethearts with your rogueish evil shixiong? JC, you really gonna be left alone with naught but a single child, a widow in all but name? Wangji is out there trying to assign himself widower vibes but JC is getting constant woman scorned and wronged wife energies forced upon him from get-go.

Even his father was like *looking at an eight year old* “I see my nagging wife in you”

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING

his parents really took a glance at that toddler and decided to project the most unhinged gender possible on him. JC, assigned neglected wife at birth.

JC performs it so conscientiously too! It's so so so important to how he is with WWX and how he views himself. 9yo JC after he's known WWX: "there he is. the cad that will break my heart." and can't ever everrrrrr stop loving WWX or break away from the utter grip WWX has on him. JC has known since before WWX came into his life that he was made to be neglected/scorned, by the person supposed to stand by his side and to whom he's supposed to be loyal.

Also lmao at the left with a child thing. It's totally that, except JC WISHES he was a widow!!! He's not even granted that dignity by society! But nah he's the ruined woman who was seduced and abandoned by someone who promised her marriage and then went off and died after making her look for a fool, while she was making excuses for him, and everyone knows what a chump JC was for it! Was WWX lying all along? Was is ever even real ?

(JC gets the answer to that question when WWX breaks it off at the temple by telling him nah, it was only duty to JC's family that made stick by JC's side. Probably not how WWX meant it! But wow, way to put it the least personal possible way. WWX's most intimate organ in JC's body had nothing to do with feelings for JC or JC as a person. Way to make sure JC never, ever reaches out for fear of being that nagging, clingy, shrewish, needy embarrassment of a person)

[thearchivaljinglebeast]

I'm so glad they didn't drag her from the stage!!!

[natandacat]

Loumand parallels - Trial betrayal, Walking in the sun & Lazarus waking

Something something, you left me for death... Am I going to be on suicide watch for the next thousand years?

[trappedinafantasy37]

Cults & Autonomy: Lae'zel and the Gith

I know what you may be thinking "Lae'zel isn't in a cult, it's more like a military!" From the memoir I am going through about cults, the author was both in a cult and in the military (the US military) and they argue that military's and militia groups employ the same tactics cults do to control their soldiers. The author also states that cults can be highly militant, in which members see themselves as soldiers to The Idol and are expected to be ready to fight and die for The Idol. So, in a way, a military is a type of cult, and so are the gith we meet in BG3. I'm not saying every single military is a cult, but there are too many overlaps between the two to truly ignore.

Nothing better exemplifies that one has no autonomy than the expectation to be ready to die for The Idol. Members are expected to literally lay down their lives, not for their sake or ideals, but for The Idol and The Idol alone. And Lae'zel proudly proclaims she is willing to die for Vlaakith and everything she does is with the intent to fulfill Vlaakith's will. Hells, even wanting to cleanse herself of the ghaik abomination is for Vlaakith and she is doing you a huge favor by even offering you a chance to go to a creche and into a zhaith'isk. And we all know that the zhaith'isk is a nice, pleasant spa day that ends in total annihilation (seriously, it's intended purpose is to kill gith who get infected).

Lae'zel also has this dream to Ascend one day, to serve as Vlaakith's personal guard and ride a red dragon. This is something that Vlaakith does offer her at some point in the story. I mean, who wouldn't want to be the right hand to The Idol? Except, we learn through Voss, or the hard way, that Ascension is just Vlaakith literally consuming a gith like a protein shake. And it seems like this massive betrayal, but it really isn't. In this ending where Lae'zel does ascend, she isn't scared. She's happy, she's honored to be there. Ascension is what they have all been told to strive for, they have all been told to sacrifice themselves for Vlaakith anyway. It only feels like a true betrayal if you reject Vlaakith in the creche and speak to Voss and learn the origins of Vlaakith. This would be Lae'zel's true first crack in her programming. Soldiers risk and sacrifice their lives fighting on behalf of The Idol, under the premise that it is for something greater. To find out that The Idol has been consuming your people for generations for no other purpose than to empower themselves is a shock. They are willing to die for The Idol, not for The Idol to kill them.

When you first visit the creche, you can witness a situation in the training room in which either you or another gith student can kill a young male gith (or spare him if you choose). He isn't doing so well with the lessons, he is timid, and doesn't have the warrior's spirit in which even the instructor says he is better off dead. You can speak to Lae'zel about this and she sees no issue with killing the kid, seeing that an army is only as strong as the weakest warrior and he was weak. She even confirms that at a young age, she had killed a few of her own littermates because she was the strongest and thus deserved to survive. The others were either too weak or too stupid for underestimating her and picking a battle they couldn't win. Even when young, the gith are conditioned to have a "Cull the Weak" mindset, in which this cannibilization isn't just normalized, but expected. Every one of them is prepared to be discarded, so they have this intense fortitude to give their all.

Lae'zel also confirms that gith reproduction is asexual and sexual intercourse is not required. She even brags to the player that she can have all the sex she wants and not have to worry about pregnancy (which is hilarious because the VA for Lae'zel was pregnant while working on BG3). Lae'zel's initial view of sex is something a long the lines of "sex is for fun only, no feelings allowed!" To her, sex is a fight, a demonstration of strength and dominance. That in sex, one partner submits and loses autonomy, while the other takes control and is free to do whatever they please.

Anyway, I want to circle back to reproduction. The gith don't have a say in when to lay their eggs, or if they are allowed to. No, gith have to be chosen before they can lay an egg. The gith have no say on whether or not they have children, and they do not take any part in raising their children. Lae'zel says it would be an honor to be chosen to lay eggs, but it is one that she doesn't actually want for herself. But she has no say, if she is chosen to lay an egg, she has to. She is completely deprived of choice over her own reproduction. In which laying in egg is not for herself because she has the desire to have a family, but because the gith need more soldiers.

The gith only want to "best" soldiers. The strongest ones, the smartest ones, the ones with the best fortitude and conviction. Everyone else, they prefer to have die. This "Cull the Weak" attitude and controlled reproduction is eugenics. A deliberate and violent manipulation of a population of people under the premise that some are just "better" and thus more deserving of privileges, more deserving of rights, and more deserving of life. That the most perfect and ideal race people can be designed. It fosters an internal system of constant conflict in which they are competing with each other, and killing each other, just to have the privilege of survival. They take no issue with killing their own and expect the same to be done to them. They live in a culture where one cannot afford to fail, cannot afford to make mistakes, or they will be culled from the herd.

< Cult & Autonomy: The True Souls | Cults & Crisis: The Exiled Drow >

[a-town-called-hometown]

something to say about how in the ch3 secret boss route you can only ever interact violently with the world of the game. you have one button. you have a sword. the world is nothing but obstacles to be broken. it's a clear and brilliant breakdown of how gameplay shapes your view of a game's world, but it also feels very clearcut as to our relationship with kris. here is a world where the only mode of interaction happens in a violent way.