#in 2020 especially with all the identity discourse

[torpidcanid]

I love that I have evolved my life that I don't care about delving deep into my identities, like what's your gender? boy shaped fuck you what's my sexuality? people are hot, fuck you. what's my theriotype? black dog fuck you. I just don't care about knowing more about me because it feels right. if you feel stressed about labels then take a step back and say, "fuck you I don't need to explain myself to anyone but me." and I you like labels then that is great that you can identify yourself so well.

[clownshifting]

"Exodus"

Now, you all know I'm not into drama anymore nor do I want to stir anything. I believe having a conversation rather than fighting genuinely helps the environment because too much smoke fogs our lungs. Let's be real, just for a second.

The alterhuman community as a whole needs to mind their own business.

When I say that, I mean, everyone. Even you. When I say that we need to mind our own business, I damn sure mean that every single alterhuman who has ever used the label, is using it, fits under it, or identifies complexly - needs to mind their own business.

It seems like everyone is speaking about and for everyone and the answers that are being popped up are from the "graymuzzles" and the popular blogs who just can't seem to stop not minding their own business, especially in conversations that has nothing to do with them or identities that aren't bothering anyone. This leads to a "monkey see, monkey do" effect where those followees then find time out of their day to go and single out the subject of their curiosity and further develop (negative or positive) feelings about their identity. They turn their real experiences into discourse topics.

This extends to any alterhuman, by the way. Let's make a scenerio. Subject B is factkin. R is the follower. G is the blog owner. G has a lot to say on subject B because subject B, in their eyes, can't fit into the otherkin label because of it not being "historically connected" to otherkinity. R sees this and agrees, but because of the message, R wants to share said message and have their own opinion.

Here's where that should end and where people should mind their own business. You see, R publicly posts this on their own blog and continues the cycle of posts seen by those who are of subject B's identity pool. Those who are "of B" are then left feeling hollow and out of touch, and then with how little (recent) the community "of B" is, their relavence is dwindled down into being a tie breaker for many in the community, where the utilization of DNIs and BYIs and BYFs listing subject B or those "of B" on it either negatively or positively.

While this is an oversimplified version of it, this has happened in the alterhuman community before by use of graymuzzles and dogpilling in public servers. I was hurt by the discourse around subject B back in 2020/2021. This has happened online for decades and will continue to happen in a cycle, as it always is, because those in the alterhuman community who wish to be the authority - understand not what it's like to be the minority. They already have the blog and the following to simply persuade others into that drama and agreement because they're seemingly wiser. And it's a shame that you'll see this mob mentality with no way to stop it all while they will be the ones calling your identity a cesspool of cults.

Let's step back for a moment and breathe... Ready? One, two, everyone in the alterhuman community should mind their own business. Better?

You may be asking, why did I put that screenshot up there? Don't worry about it, it'll come back lat -

So apparently someone in the alterhuman community decided to open their mouth again with an opinion about something that had nothing to do with them because it's not their identity, it's not their group, they didn't even know it was happening. And I'd have to ask ... how?

These are not all from 2025.

How did you not know?

It's because you don't hang around those groups of people enough to formulate an opinion. Which is when you should actually begin minding your own business. Actually, no, it's because you don't care about these groups until they're actually needed to be used as a way to belittle other groups OR prove you're right. You've classified all those who are exoduses as tokens of their group in which you use in a slot machine to win. That's all you've done and your discourse, your disdain for other groups, makes them absolutely disgusted being in the wider alterhuman community.

Now. What is the act of minding your own business? It's simple.. "If it ain't got anything to do with you, it ain't got anything to do with you."

No hate watching, not vagueposting, no reacting, no thinking about it or theories or trying to figure it out. If you truly wanted to know about it, you'd research outside of these spaces and find understanding there - you wouldn't see it happening and immediately ask another person who doesn't fit any of these groups their opinion - an opinion that can very well sway groups of people.

If you're already deep in the shit, step away like you're mature enough to be on the internet, and claim fault for engaging. Turning to another discourse is not disengaging.

Mastering the art of minding your business is important too, especially for those who are impulsive or can't seem to shake the need to talk about it. You may be knowledgeable about the situation, but if you are not mentioned and if there is ongoing discussion, you are not needed. In cases where your opinion does matter, especially if you are putting a label or flag or symbol in place, you very well can speak. Other cases like an essay, misinformation, corrections, and open discussions are alright too - the only places which don't need your help is "the stirring of the pot", aka, discourse and identity experiences.

Nobody needs an "uhm, actually" when they're talking about their frolicking in the fields of identity.

"If it ain't got anything to do with you, it ain't got anything to do with you," extends to if you don't know a subject either. If you don't know, refer to another, or post resources. You can't be the authority on every single topic, stop trying to and mind your own business. Stop contributing to ableism and gatekeepy practices that enable others to feel safe enough to share derogatory fables and terminology in your circles, because that also gives way for egregious amounts of backlash and discourse.

Why mind your own business? That's simple... it's not hard to find it in yourself to be kind. A lot of people think that helping is kind, and I agree. You should strive to help in the alterhuman community - in any community really - but help doesn't extend to knowing everything and formulating opinions where there needs none. I don't need to know why a homeless person is homeless in order to help them get a home. I don't need to know why you're physically nonhuman or factkin or fictionkin or a linker in order to help you feel welcomed in these spaces. Help doesn't mean knowledge, it means understanding and sympathy, even if you don't have any. It means being kind enough to share the message to those who can help.

This.. exodus is not new. CLCZs have been feeling disconnected from the wider community since they were a topic of discussion (as late as 2019) as a whole and opinions about their actions when you're unaware of it is unhelpful and nosey. It's a way to steep yourself back into be reliable and all knowing. It is a way to see yourself as able enough to be authority. Let go of that, find what you're good at, and find joy in the art of minding your own business and sharing resources instead.

You should be your own authority, for only you can have control over your palace of the mind.

[sashamosu46]

I'm so tired of Twitter recommending me negative/complaining tweets like there's one by a KR Kuroshitsuji fan who posted these pics of Sebastian from 3 different seasons and said how S4 and S5 art style is not as good as the one in older seasons. Of course there are also replies chiming in, agreeing with their take, asking why the new Sebastian has orange eyes instead of red eyes, whining "BRING BACK SEBASTIAN I MISS HIM😭😭😭" And I was like??????? (I muted those people later on lol)

And then I realised why these people are complaning about Sebastian's new art style! Turns out most of them are anime-only watchers LMAOOOOO I doubt they actually read the manga to understand things such as why CloverWorks changed Sebastian's eyes into orange/tea brown color (literally this is the eye color that Yana specified before) whenever he's in his human disguise. ALSO BITCH CAN'T YOU SEE HIS EYES TURN BACK TO OUR FAVOURITE SHADE OF RED WHENEVER HE'S IN COMBAT OR SLIPPING BACK INTO DEMON MODE?????? Not to mention the new anime style does look similar to Yana's new manga style. I noticed how most of these discourses circle back around Sebastian not looking as fly and pale as before, and I know it's just them hating Sebastian's new babygirlism look xD If you read the manga, you would know him appearing more human and less pale is the whole point of his human disguise! Otherwise he would already had his identity as a demon exposed to the public and he clearly wants to avoid that at all costs *looks at that manga panel of Bravat saying that Sebastian isn't exactly human and Sebastian looking shocked asf sksk*

In the end, I just want to say, we should be grateful that Kuro anime adaptation is in the good hands of CloverWorks at the moment, and that it didn't end up with poor animation like some other anime. Be grateful that we are getting a new season after SO MANY YEARS, especially in the 2020s! Don't get me wrong, I love all of the anime styles of Kuro, each style has its own charm and beauty, let's not pit them against one another🙏🏻 If you want the old studio to take over Kuro anime adaptation again, you should go to Japan yourself to request it specifically lmao I know JP fans are absolutely in love with CloverWorks style of Kuro at the moment based on Yana's comment on the new season! She literally said she was moved to tears after seeing the S5 opening🥺

[annabelle--cane]

I got into tma in 2022 on a road trip with no internet and then only tangentially interacted with the fandom (light hcs, fanart) and I am. so compelled to understand what the fandom was like in 2020. what were the takes. why was it so awful. does it explain why every time I try to look into protocol I get a rancid Vibe and jump back 5 feet.

to preface: on scale, it really wasn't any worse than your average fandom, it just A) got Very popular over a short period and B) that period was during a time of particularly high stress where many people suddenly could only experience a social life online. tma is also a fairly political and progressive work, which inevitably leads to certain kinds of Takes. it also got Very popular right at the point where the episodes were reaching their peak of explicit social commentary and sustained morbid tone, which, especially combined with point B from above, drew out some really visceral reactions from a lot of people. nothing was actually inherently rancid about 2020-2021 tma fandom, there was just a bit of a perfect storm of factors.

having said that. some common discourse themes:

the perennial shipping discourse. georgie is the only one of our leads to have never killed a person, but really, I pinky promise that your ship between two unrepentant serial killers is 100x more problematic than my ship between two unrepentant serial killers.

asexuality: how dangerous is it? on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being "mostly" to 5 being "completely," how humiliating is it to be asexual? what is the singular true asexual experience that is unproblematic to write about?

wow, jonny was so out of line for writing this episode, what gives him the right to--oh he said it's directly based on personal experiences? so sorry, my bad, I'll learn for next time. wow, jonny was so out of line for writing this epi--

I did not like this episode. this is obviously a direct act of violence against me. why would an episode be Not Good when there is, in the world, Sadness?

hello, I have sorted all of the characters into a simple chart that clearly delineates which of them are completely irredeemable monsters with no interiority or motives and which of them are perfect angel victims who have only ever been nice and never hurt anyone, ever (and if they did hurt someone then that person deserved it). if I see you adding nuance to any of my rulings, I will kill you. this also extends to the podcast writers. #ilovebinaries.

the characters... are queer... and maybe even other marginalized identities as well... and yet, they do bad things? there's not even a single completely morally innocent character? by god, did they not think about the implications this might have!

web!martin. lol people are so stupid for thinking that the theory is at all plausible, media comprehension much? that would lichrally imply that a queer, poor, mentally ill character might be capable of badness. what do you mean we are currently listening to an arc where he's an accomplice to serial murder.

[lycanthropyreturned]

My experiences with alterhumanity and therianthropy, and why I'm here now.

I have always been nonhuman, and I have always known that. However as time goes on, so does my identity. When I was a child, I simply didn't discuss or worry about it. I knew who I was and that's all that mattered. In around 2014 I "awakened" into the therian and alterhuman community. Back then, the therian community was rather small, and focused on things such as aesthetics or care guides. Truly simpler times.

As I went through school, I distanced myself from the therian community, more focused on excelling in school and personal life struggles. When things finally died down I was left to have time to rediscover myself. I reentered the therian community around 2020, created a tiktok- and saw how much things had changed.

Therianthropy was now all about presentation, labels, quadrobics, views and likes. Now there's nothing wrong with that, every community evolves over time. My issue personally was the amount of misinformation. At first, I merely interacted with the surface of therianthropy and its social aspects, doing the occasional post, etc.

As my life and identity continued to evolve, I continued to delve into not just the therian community- but the alterhuman community as a whole. I strived to learn more about myself and my identities, and I wanted others to learn too. Back in 2022, I started spreading alterhuman and therian education. To this day, it's something I deeply enjoy doing. Nowadays, it's rare to find someone spreading education on the topic, especially accurate information. I wanted to be that person. However, I realized that in my pursuit to help and teach others, social media had overtaken my identity.

Therianthropy and alterhumanity is inherently rooted deep in nature. The identities themselves that so many people identify as are naturalistic. Even so, we find that the community is mostly online, and with that, comes drama and discourse.

For a term so broad in nature, it's astonishing how split the community can be. Drama, discourse, infighting, name-calling, shaming, and more is rampant. I began to realize that more and more as I became a semi-popular creator on tiktok. I was being pulled into the "trends" and not truly listening to my inner self.

Alterhumanity is best experienced offline. With your true self, and not for the self you put up for others. I believe that a lot of people need to hear that and learn from it. With an identity so rooted in nature, depriving oneself from it can be a pain.

And as I learned this, I distanced myself. I had a few run-ins with some nasty folks, and that taught me that I don't want to turn into that.

So I spent time to myself. Reevaluating my identity and what it really meant to me. I spent time offline and outside, with the people I love and doing the things I loved. And in this time I realized that I didn't need the approval of others on my identity. As long as I knew who I was, that's all that mattered to me.

After being offline in the therian and alterhuman community, I began to realize that if I did return, I could do it how I wanted to. Post whatever I wanted, when I wanted to, and not worry about other people.

I could be myself, and that's all that mattered. So now I'm here. While I still use the term therian for myself, I have changed and grown with it. I now use more broad terms for myself, and have begun to not worry about mirco-managing my identity. Some people find comfort in labels, and that is entirely valid! But some folks can find them restrictive as well, and that's also a valid opinion and experience.

That is one thing I value so much about therianthropy and alterhumanity. The terms are both so broad that you may not meet a single other nonhuman who has the same experience. I love and cherish the diversity of this community, and I think that people need to realize that a bit more.

So this blog here is for me. For me to journal about my experiences, to occasionally post education- whatever I want. I made this blog for myself, and that's how it most likely is going to stay. I hope you enjoy the future for this blog, and join me on this journey.

[miiiwu]

what are your sexuality/gender headcanons for the young ones? I definitely see rick as gender fluid especially

rick is transfem genderfluid (he/she/they) to me, and he’s a bi butchy femme and a gay man depending on how he’s feeling (im just pulling this stuff out of my ass tbh). but she feels ashamed and terrified of being perceived as a ‘perverted cross dresser’ and has a lot of internalized (and externalized) transmisogyny and transphobia in general.

bc like she’s not just a binary trans woman but not just a binary cis man either and it’s hard to present how she feels internally without ridicule

the first use of the term genderfluid is in Kate Bornstein’s 1994 book Gender Outlaws, so i think he’d keep it mostly hidden until getting really into reading queer theory around that time.

then after unpacking a bunch of stuff he’d eventually be able to come out to the boys about it and they’d lightly bully her about it but also i like to think they grow closer after this bc they finally understand slightly better why she’s Like That (gay and annoying princess💜).

i do also enjoy transmasc rick interpretations but transfem rick is special to me 😌 peace and love on planet trans

i see mike as a stealth trans man, who’s lowkey bisexual but wants to appear as cishet passing as possible. vyvyan knows everything, rick and neil do not (yet). vyv probably did his top surgery lol

vyvyan is transmasc and stealth to everyone but mike (i feel like mike and vyv are childhood friends). but if vyvyan was around in the 2020’s he’d use he/him AND it/its bc it’s very metal.

like, he’s a binary trans man in the eighties but if he existed in a modern au he’d identify more with ‘rabid decapitated dogman corpse’ as a gender identity label than merely ‘man’ or ‘trans guy’

neil is apathetic about gender, but may be plantgender/xenogender or agender but these terms didn’t exist back then so he wouldn’t rlly do anything about it (even tho neil deserves good things 😔 heavy). i think neil is asexual panromantic and he’s very mopey about being ~~forever alone~~

again, the 80’s so he doesn’t have the language to put to these feelings :-(

i think they are like a horrible little polycule but without the terminology to express this, they are basically just some weird friends who stick around together and have some awkward romantic/sexual encounters and tension. and they just keep living together because they’re the only ones who can stand each other 💜 things could get more romantic from there but it requires character development and maturity lmao

i love rick/vyvyan and vyvyan/mike, but also neil/mike, but i think they all kind of date each other in a way lol

these are just my personal headcanons based on what i think fits into what we see in the show and my own experiences as a bi trans person but i’d love to see different interpretations in fanfic*!!! really i just love these characters so much no matter how their orientations/genders are interpreted in fics ^w^

* especially modern au’s because you just KNOW rick would be deep into pride flag discourse and post lengthy callouts about everyone who so much as looks at him funny

[dailyanarchistposts]

On tranarchism and intellectual oppression

In November 2019, at the École de la Cause Freudienne’s annual conference in Paris, Paul B. Preciado presented a speech to around 3,500 psychoanalysts. By stating “Can the monster speak?”, Preciado (2020, n.p.) invited an academy of psychoanalysts to recognize the norms that psychoanalysis produces and reproduces, despite its subversive character in relation to modern biomedicine/psychiatry. In his words, “it is the normative heterosexual psychoanalysts who urgently need to come out of the closet of the norm”. Preciado poses as a trans body,

to whom neither medicine, nor the law, nor psychoanalysis, nor psychiatry recognize the right to speak with expert knowledge about my own condition, nor the possibility of producing a discourse or a form of knowledge about myself. (Idem, n.p.)

Preciado’s critique is addressed to academic rigour which, despite claiming to be neutral, operates as an exclusionary instrument that nullifies knowledges produced by ‘others’. No wonder, then, that during his speech, several of the psychoanalysts in the auditorium began to react verbally and to turn their backs and leave, refusing to exercise what underpins the psychoanalytic clinic — that of listening. This is the expression of Otherness (Kilomba, 2019), associated with the idea of Other (Morrison, 2019), whereby the modern self grants itself the ability — or the authority — to inferiorize the one it designates as Other.

It is worth wondering whether, during the drafting of the ICDs and DSMs, the trans individuals taken as research objects had a voice in defining transsexuality, or in conceptualizing cisgenderity in the official documents. Similarly to the national State defending its fictional borders with militarism and legislation, biomedical knowledge materializes, in its official documents and care protocols, the naturalization of cisgenderity and the pathologization of transsexuality. An example of this is the current brazilian legislation up until 2018, according to which, in order for a trans person to change their name and sex on their civil documents, they had to present psychiatric and psychological reports attesting to their transsexuality.

As Bakunin (1975, p. 48) pointed out, “what is true for scientific academies is equally true for all constituent and legislative assemblies”. Only on the basis of pathology would a non-normative gender identity be legitimized. Another example of universalist science being used to legitimize State violence is Operation Tarantula, which took place in 1987, when police forces took to the streets of downtown São Paulo (Brazil) to arrest transvestite sex workers, claiming, although without any evidence, that they were committing the crime of venereal HIV infection. This is ‘scientific’ knowledge being used to legitimize institutional violence against trans people.

It is not uncommon for insurgencies by trans movements to be dismissed as violent, as attacks on society or on the heterosexual bourgeois family. However, a distinction must be made between State violence and revolutionary violence — the latter being a form of self-defense. When Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera threw bricks at New York police officers during the StoneWall Riot (1969), they were defending themselves against the everyday racist and sexist violence that prevented them from freely walking the streets of the city. Not surprisingly, numerous trans movements with political strategies aligned with revolutionary anarchist ideals, especially self-determination, direct action and mutual support (Kropotkin, n.d.), emerged and/or received greater visibility after 1969. Furthermore, the naming of cisgenderity is a clear affront to this institutional power. If, until the mid-1990s, the antagonism of transsexuality was normality, from that moment on, with the term ‘cisgenderity’, this antagonism dissolved — and this term was rejected by scientific academia, especially in gender studies. The transfeminist movement was largely responsible for introducing the concept of cisgenderity in Brazil, motivating the union of countless trans organizations against intellectual oppression.

Intellectual oppression, for Bakunin, seemed to be one of the most arduous to overcome, for what determines an individual’s intellectual capacity are scientific academies whose institutional power exceeds the individual’s power to question them. It is this same institutional power that determines what ‘true’ transsexuality is, in its numerous and biased diagnostic criteria. The direction that trans movements adopt in relation to scientific academies is not to claim legitimacy or freedom, because “the one who restrains is just as trapped as the one whose movements are hindered by the ropes” (Preciado, 2020, n.p.).

It would not be coherent to plead for freedom, as freedom should not be granted, since it is, according to Bakunin, indivisible. By naming cisgenderity, we confront an academy that determines dichotomies between the ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’, which inferiorizes the different and imposes itself authoritatively in order to legitimize the Law. The fragility of the law is revealed by exposing the existence of an intellectual oppression that pushes us to the ‘outside’ of universities, since our presence on the ‘inside’ is far too damaging. If Malatesta (2009, p. 04) defines a government as “[...] an authoritarian organism which, by force, even if it is for good ends, imposes its own will on others”, it is clear that trans movements oppose precisely the imposition of gender and sexuality norms — which, as we have seen, are reiterated by the forces of the State.

Our preferred definition of tranarchism would elucidate the proximity between anarchist principles and trans emancipation strategies. Another concept that stands out in this proposition is self-determination. If, as Pfeil (2020, p. 146) writes, “the freedom of a people is its capacity to govern itself, in the anarchist perspective, to define its own future, then the freedom of a body is its capacity to self-determine [...]”. Self-determination is dear to both trans movements, in the sense that we do not need institutional legitimization to affirm who we are, and anarchist movements.

Tranarchism highlights individual and collective self-determination as a fundamental trait in the struggle for liberation. As Bakunin understood that one’s freedom is not limited, but expands with the freedom of others, likewise we understand that one’s self-determination only expands with the self-determination of others. Not surprisingly, mutual support is notable among trans movements in LGBTIAP+ shelters, autonomous care initiatives, orientation programs to facilitate access to health care and the modification of documents (Idem, 2020).

Just as, according to Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin (1993, p. 23), “Anarchists believe the first step toward self-determination and the Social revolution is Black control of the Black community”, the same is reflected in trans movements for social emancipation and combating State violence. Despite these remarks, Jeppesen & Nazar (2012) observe a scission between feminist/queer anarchisms and a supposedly ‘cisheteronormative’ anarchism, which would not consider ‘identity’ issues to be relevant to the popular struggle. However, anarchist movements have grown largely as a result of feminist and queer organizations in their strategies to confront State domination. It is in opposition to this separatism that our thoughts on tranarchism — an anarchism that does not reproduce the institutional normativities of modernity — are based.

[crooked-wasteland]

With RedNote being popular, it’s a nice opportunity to have a great exchange of culture and languages. I wish it gets to stay as a Chinese app. We really need it especially when every media and how we perceive the world is often US-centric.

We often miss out on a lot of stuff from other countries. I also wonder how Viv and her stans would fare on the app if they were to try it. They’d be like those foreigners who hop into a different country and demand everyone speak English.

When people plan on migrating to a different platform, they should think of it like moving to a different country and consider whether they’re suited there. What are the pros and cons? What kind of culture and people live there? Will you be able to adapt to it?

For example, I’d tell them don’t just move over to Tumblr and expect to get popular through likes or followers (instead we get engagement through reblogs). People often expect everything to cater to them without putting in the work and using the right tools to moderate their online experiences.

They need to understand it’s not discriminatory to have certain topics banned in other platforms like LGBTQ+ themes, politics, sexual content, etc. They need to respect the norms and rules of that place. It’s like moving to Dubai and accusing them of homophobia because their religion doesn’t accept gay people (they’re a Muslim country, not America for god’s sake 🤦🏻‍♀️!).

So I am realizing I didn't finish my thought about RedNote. Please allow me to try again.

Thank you for the ask by the way, I felt this was connected to a Reblog that sparked my interest in needing to clarify it by Haru-Kuneko

Firstly, let's talk about Algorithms. Because we have been ruled by them for a little under 20 years. And GenZ is the generation who is most impacted by algorithms so far. Gen Alpha is not looking good. And the reason for that is because algorithms are woefully misunderstood by laymen.

Curating an online experience through algorithms wasn't designed for you or I to have a superior experience, it was designed to keep us on these apps and websites. They don't just give you more content that is similar to what you like, they trap you in that content and create the echo chamber. Part of the algorithm is intentionally designed to induce rage engagement for the sole purpose of reaffirming your existing algorithmic beliefs. It is designed to keep you engaged with the intent of putting you in a box. Your engagement, your attention, is the product they are buying and selling.

This has led to a drastic increase in internet tribalism and, just as capitalism has an end stage, so does algorithmic thought. With younger people who have never experienced an internet of their own interests, being force fed their beliefs and views that are reinforced by their communities they didn't necessarily choose. Algorithms take away from the act of critically thinking, and has pushed us past tribalism to Deindividuation.

(This video covers misinformation and disinformation, but goes into Deindividuation at timestamp 7:40 if you want to skip to that part.)

And algorithms have replaced personalities for younger people, especially those impacted socially by the pandemic in 2020. They are prepackaged beliefs and values that were primarily created for consumerism and marketing that has now sold our young people identities.

So entering RedBook, these people are, for most likely the first time, experiencing an algorithm that wasn't designed for them the way western websites use them. China's collectivist culture is all about conformity and cooperation. Rage content is not allowed, discourse is not allowed. It is a fundamental threat to their society as their values are not about stoking tenuous perceptions of freedom through false choices and beliefs that are actually predisposed to you based on your race, gender, and sexuality.

It's more about fitting in and being approved of, something Americans are desperate for in this era. They are so lonely that China's social emphasis on community is a fresh spring. And that's a bit of the problem.

Last night my spouse was on RedBook and I watched some videos over her shoulder. It's beautiful to see people connecting with others they are realizing they had a subliminal prejudice against. The US government has done a great job of ruining their citizens in this way where they think they are so superior and above everything, which is reinforced by other western nations. It's the first time for most people that they are in a space where America is not idealized like it is in the West, and they are feeling a genuine human connection because of the amount of curiosity the Chinese users have for them.

They are feeling seen at a time where their government doesn't represent them or care about their beliefs.

And at the same time, some people are swinging far out of bounds to the opposite extreme. People who were once firmly of the belief that the US was superior to China are now saying how amazing and perfect China is, when it isn't. There are some serious issues in China, specifically about corruption and the mismanagement of funds. One vide we saw was about “Green Growth” and how China has created extensive solar farms and increased production towards renewable energy, except Green Growth has been shown to be extremely unproductive in reducing carbon emissions.

That isn't to just dunk on China. Obviously, the same issues are true in the United States as well. Neither is worse than the other, to be frank. But because we have lived in a world devoid of critical thinking, the thing I was concerned about is happening: The extreme pendulum swings.

And to be frank, these extremist perspectives are natural and I am not inherently criticizing them for what they are, it's a teenager's mentality as they are being exposed to new social rules and learning how to integrate into a community. This is how a teenager's brain is functioning in high school and why they are so volatile. I'm not here to judge. Just to note that this is a dangerous thing, objectively. It is dangerous, but also natural and even necessary.

But that's what I meant by “lacking Dialectics”. The inability to engage with two opposing things being true is a dangerous place to be in and makes it extremely easy to radicalize individuals. China is far from perfect, but it isn't worse than the United States. My concern is how this lack of Dialectics, paired with the inherent tunnel vision of social media and emotional volatility of our emotionally immature and stunted society can just as easily breed fanaticism for some Chinese social paradise that genuinely does not exist.

(As an aside, I linked Dialectics in my previous post and realized that it probably didn't make any sense or was just very difficult to understand. So this link is a YouTube video of some guy explaining it to make it easier. My apologies.)

I'm overall supportive of this, hoping that it can radically change people's views towards the world and global communities. I hope this moves moderates to be more progressive and people to be more tolerant of other ideas, values, and societies. I hope people will be more interested in listening to my Marxist ramblings now that Communism is more about funny memes and kind humans and not some scary oppressive government. But there is always a shadow when you stand in the light.

(Which, to be frank, China is not at all a reflection of Marxism or Marxist Communism. The working conditions there are not any better here and labor is still exploited and expendable. They really are no different than the US.)

Don't forget about the shadow is all I ask.

[binhwantstoeatoreo]

Week 5: What is Digital Citizenship? Hashtag Publics, Political Engagement and Activism.

Digital Citizenship and the Inequalities of Intersectionality

Just in the first month of 2025, a new guildeline from Meta is now allow users to call someone is mentally ill based on their sexuality or gender identity (Lavietes, 2025). This raises a question—while digital spaces are often idealized as equal platforms for all voices, who ultimately dictates the terms of digital citizenship, and whose presence is systematically undermined or rendered disposable within these power structures?

In today's hyper-digital world, being online isn’t just about scrolling, liking, or posting anymore—it’s about how we exist in these spaces. Digital citizenship goes far beyond using technology; it’s about navigating online platforms responsibly, engaging in activism, and understanding the hidden forces shaping our digital experiences. On the flip side, our online lives aren’t as free and fair as we might think. Algorithms, platform rules, and systemic biases don’t affect everyone equally, often deepening the struggles of marginalized communities.

Key Themes of Digital Citizenship

Social media has revolutionized activism, turning hashtags into global movements and giving individuals the power to challenge institutions from their screens (Bruns & Stieglitz, 2013). Movements like #MeToo, #BlackLivesMatter and #ShoutYourAbortion are proof of how digital platforms can mobilize millions, amplify marginalized voices, and spark real-world change. The speed and reach of social media have made it a crucial tool for raising awareness, organizing protests, and holding those in power accountable.

However, the same platforms that empower also expose users—especially those from marginalized communities—to significant risks. Online harassment, doxxing, and targeted attacks are rampant, often silencing the very voices these movements aim to uplift (McCosker et al., 2016, p. 3). Algorithmic suppression further complicates matters, as platform algorithms prioritize engagement over equity, sometimes burying activist content in favor of more advertiser-friendly material.

The process of platformization—where social media companies act as gatekeepers of political and economic influence—adds another layer of complexity (Duffy et al., 2019). These platforms shape what is visible and what remains in the shadows, subtly reinforcing power structures that activists seek to dismantle. This influence is especially evident in political engagement; digital campaigns and targeted ads have transformed election landscapes, sometimes manipulating public opinion through misinformation and algorithm-driven content distribution (Vromen, 2020, p.5).

Moreover, biased moderation policies disproportionately impact marginalized users. Cobbe (2020) indicate that algorithms disproportionately flag and remove content from marginalized groups, limiting their ability to engage in public discourse. At the same time, hate speech and misinformation frequently evade moderation, as harmful content often slips through algorithmic gaps (Walters, 2022). Policy changes, such as Meta’s decision to remove fact-checking in favor of user-moderated "community notes," further raise concerns over the unchecked spread of misinformation (Booth, 2025). This issue extends beyond Western platforms, as seen in China, where feminist social media accounts are frequently suspended for discussing women’s rights (PEN America, 2024). As digital spaces continue to shape public discourse, addressing these biases is crucial to ensuring equitable participation in online activism.

As the above creator on TikTok discussed, that the platform's algorithm system tend to shadow banned specific contents or creators based on their skin color (@theeglamnaija, 2022).

While social media remains a vital tool for advocacy, its structural limitations remind us that digital activism must go beyond the screen. Real-world action, policy change, and continued resistance against digital inequalities are essential to ensure that activism isn’t just seen—but heard and acted upon.

Intersectionality in Digital Citizenship

Choi and Cristol (2021) introduce an intersectional approach to digital citizenship, emphasizing participatory democracy. Their research highlights how systemic inequalities rooted in race, gender, and sexuality shape digital experiences. While digital activism has empowered many, disparities in online safety and representation persist. To demonstrate, the Black Lives Matter movement has effectively utilized social media to mobilize support, however, Black activists frequently encounter higher levels of online harassment compared to their white counterparts (Lee et al., 2024). Many Black individuals often experience more significant decreases in functioning and increases in negative emotions due to online interactions than white individuals (Marshall et al., 2022).

Onwuachi-Willig (2018, p. 106) highlights how the #MeToo movement on social media, originally founded by a female Black activist named Tarana Burke, has been largely credited to a white woman—Alyssa Milano, reflecting a broader pattern of erasure within mainstream feminism. This exemplifies how feminists of color, particularly Black women, are continuously marginalized and excluded from the very movements they help build on digital spaces. Additionally, Black feminists have reported facing more harassment and erasure online compared to white women (Model View Culture, 2015).

This disparity highlights the unique challenges Black activists face in digital spaces, where their efforts to advocate for justice are often met with disproportionate hostility.

McCosker (2016) examines how cyber safety measures prioritize mainstream users while neglecting the unique vulnerabilities of marginalized groups. Policies often fail to address specific threats against queer people of color (QPOC), who experience racialized homophobia and transphobia. While McCosker critiques these regulatory failures, Noble (2018) warns that increased moderation can also silence marginalized voices. This tension underscores the need for community-led governance and algorithmic audits that detect and correct biases.

The Unequal Cyber Experience for Queer People of Color

Despite digital spaces being hailed as inclusive for LGBTQ+ youth when they spend an average of five hours per day online, approximately 45 minutes more than their non-LGBTQ peers (GLSEN, 2013), QPOC still have to face heightened risks compared to white queer individuals, as they are more likely to be exposed to racism, which can negatively impact their mental health (The Trevor Project, 2024).

Social media algorithms often fail to detect nuanced racial and homophobic slurs, allowing targeted harassment while suppressing discussions on racial and queer oppression. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have been criticized for shadowbanning Black LGBTQ+ creators, limiting their reach while white queer influencers face fewer restrictions (Delmonaco et al., 2024). Twitter has been slow to address racialized harassment, leaving many QPOC users vulnerable (Sircar, 2024). YouTube disproportionately demonetizes QPOC content, flagging intersectional discussions as "not advertiser-friendly" (Romano, 2019). Instagram also blocked LGBTQ-related hashtags for teens (#gay, #trans, #lesbian, #bisexual, etc.), limiting access to crucial support networks (Lorenz, 2025). If digital spaces are to truly foster responsible and inclusive digital citizenship, platforms must address these structural inequalities in content moderation.

Final thoughts: Moving Forward: Inclusive Digital Citizenship

To foster a truly inclusive digital space, digital citizenship must adopt a critical approach that acknowledges the challenges faced by marginalized communities. Policymakers and platform developers must address biases in content moderation and algorithmic design. Additionally, digital literacy programs should incorporate intersectionality, ensuring that young QPOC feel empowered and safe online.

While digital platforms provide powerful tools for activism and self-expression, they must also be held accountable for perpetuating systemic inequities. Digital citizenship should not only emphasize responsible technology use but also advocate for structural changes that create equitable online environments. This includes better reporting systems, transparency in algorithmic decision-making, and amplifying QPOC voices in digital policy discussions.

Moreover, fostering inclusive digital citizenship requires collaboration between tech companies, educators, policymakers, and online communities. Social media platforms should invest in anti-bias training for content moderators and implement clear policies that protect marginalized users from targeted harassment. Online communities can also play a crucial role in advocating for fairer policies, amplifying QPOC voices, and holding platforms accountable through digital activism.

Ultimately, digital citizenship should dismantle digital barriers rather than reinforce them. The fight for a more inclusive cyberspace is ongoing, and ensuring that queer people of color feel safe and valued in online communities is a necessary step toward true digital equity.

References:

@theeglamnaija. (2022, October 28). Watch me get shadow banned for talking about this too 🙃 #rant #blackcreators #algorithm #fyp. Tiktok.com. https://www.tiktok.com/@theeglamnaija/video/7159324251479182635?_r=1&_t=ZS-8txast2RysR

Booth, R. (2025, January 7). Ditching of Facebook factcheckers a “major step back” for public discourse, critics say. The Guardian; The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/07/ditching-facebook-factcheckers-major-step-back-public-discourse

Bruns, A., & Stieglitz, S. (2013). Towards more systematicTwitteranalysis: metrics for tweeting activities. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 16(2), 91–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2012.756095

Choi, M., & Cristol, D. (2021). Digital Citizenship with Intersectionality Lens: Towards Participatory Democracy Driven Digital Citizenship Education. Theory into Practice, 60(4), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2021.1987094

Cobbe, J. (2020). Algorithmic Censorship by Social Platforms: Power and Resistance. Philosophy & Technology, 34, 739–766. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-020-00429-0

Delmonaco, D., Mayworm, S., Thach, H., Guberman, J., Augusta, A., & Haimson, O. L. (2024). “What are you doing, TikTok” : How Marginalized Social Media Users Perceive, Theorize, and “Prove” Shadowbanning. Deep Blue (University of Michigan). https://doi.org/10.1145/3637431

Duffy, B. E., Poell, T., & Nieborg, D. B. (2019). Platform Practices in the Cultural Industries: Creativity, Labor, and Citizenship. Social Media + Society, 5(4), 205630511987967. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119879672

GLSEN. (2013, July 10). Out Online: The Experiences of LGBT Youth on the Internet. GLSEN. https://www.glsen.org/news/out-online-experiences-lgbt-youth-internet

Lavietes, M. (2025, January 7). Meta’s new hate speech rules allow users to call LGBTQ people mentally ill. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/meta-new-hate-speech-rules-allow-users-call-lgbtq-people-mentally-ill-rcna186700

Lee, C., Gligorić, K., Kalluri, P. R., Harrington, M., Durmus, E., Sanchez, K. L., San, N., Tse, D., Zhao, X., Hamedani, M. G., Markus, H. R., Jurafsky, D., & Eberhardt, J. L. (2024). People who share encounters with racism are silenced online by humans and machines, but a guideline-reframing intervention holds promise. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(38). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322764121

Lorenz, T. (2025). Instagram Blocked Teens From Searching LGBTQ-Related Content for Months. Teen Vogue. https://doi.org/10327906.jpg%20120w

Marshall, I. C., Hammer, L. A., Springfield, C. R., & Bonfils, K. A. (2022). Activism in the Digital Age: The Link Between Social Media Engagement With Black Lives Matter-Relevant Content and Mental Health. Psychological Reports, 127(5), 003329412211467. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941221146706

McCosker, A., Vivienne, S., & Johns, A. (2016, October 12). Negotiating Digital Citizenship: Control, Contest, Culture. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312491876_Negotiating_Digital_Citizenship_Control_Contest_Culture

Model View Culture. (2015). The State of Online Harassment: Decentering Whiteness and Colonization. Model View Culture. https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-state-of-online-harassment-decentering-whiteness-and-colonization

Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression. NYU Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1pwt9w5

Onwuachi-Willig, A. (2018). What About #UsToo?: The Invisibility of Race in the #MeToo Movement. https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1331&context=faculty_scholarship

PEN America. (2024, July 12). China: Suspension of Feminist Social Media Another Example of “Zero Tolerance.” PEN America. https://pen.org/press-release/china-suspension-feminist-social-media-another-example-zero-tolerance/

Romano, A. (2019, October 10). YouTubers claim the site systematically demonetizes LGBTQ content. Vox; Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/10/10/20893258/youtube-lgbtq-censorship-demonetization-nerd-city-algorithm-report

Sircar, A. (2024, October 18). X’s Latest Content Findings Reveal Troubling Trends In AI Moderation. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/anishasircar/2024/10/18/xs-latest-content-findings-reveal-troubling-trends-in-ai-moderation

The Trevor Project. (2024, July 31). LGBTQ Young People of Color in Online Spaces. The Trevor Project. https://www.thetrevorproject.org/research-briefs/lgbtq-young-people-of-color-in-online-spaces-jul-2023/

Vromen, A. (2020). Digital citizenship and political engagement: the challenge from online political campaigning and advocacy organizations. Information, Communication & Society, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2020.1726987

Walters, M. (2022, August 2). Hate Speech, Fake News, and the Moderation Problem - The International Network for Hate Studies. The International Network for Hate Studies. https://internationalhatestudies.com/publications/hate-speech-fake-news-and-the-moderation-problem/

[aleyalea]

From Memes to Political: How Jokes Shape Our Views

MDA2009 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

!! Friendly reminder: Before you read and begin with this week's discussion, let me warn you guys real quick that I am not  a “biG FaN” of Politic (I’m being serious and not even joking). If you spot any errors or have fun facts to share, let me know!

Now, let me kick off with some big facts that memes are everywhere these days, especially in Malaysia. For example, you can easily get your daily meme dose through MGAG Instagram page where they will share anything that is viral from day to day and share it to the audience just to make people smile after going through a hard week.  Whether it’s a joke about politicians flip-flopping on policies or a sarcastic take on the latest political scandal, memes have taken over our news feeds. If I’m being honest, politics isn’t just confined to parliament anymore, it’s right there, in front of our phone screen through WhatsApp group chat, Facebook and Twitter (X) timelines, mixed with viral videos and jokes that will leave us laughing and wondering, “Hold up, is this actually true?”.

example MGAG meme picture cr: MGAG

Here’s the big question,

Do these “memes offer” any real insight into politics, or are they just a distraction? Well spoiler alert, I think it's both for me. Memes might seem like harmless fun, but they play a serious role in shaping public opinion and political engagement, especially for the younger generations.

Where does the word Meme, Meem or Meh-may, come from?

I know some people are wondering what does memes mean? According to (Benveniste, 2022), the term "meme" has appeared in the New York Times Crossword a remarkable 60 times since its debut in the 1940s (Benveniste, 2022). While pinpointing the very first meme is challenging, British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is credited with coining the term in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. Dawkins originally likened a "meme" to a "phoneme," which is the smallest sound unit in speech, or a "morpheme," the smallest meaningful component of a word, according to Kirby Conrod, a linguistics professor at Swarthmore College (Benveniste, 2022). 

At first, memes were all about humor, silly jokes that went viral for no reason. But over time, they evolved into a kind of social commentary. Consider Malaysia as an example. Memes like “Malu Apa Bossku”, connected to Najib Razak, the former sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia, helped rebrand him with a more approachable image despite his involvement in scandals. Political parties and leaders use social media as a tool to promote as well as condemn rival parties and leaders, including character assassination (Zamri et al., 2020). Memes simplify complicated political situations and make them easier to understand, especially for you people.

Then we have Zunar, a political cartoonist and total legend in space, who uses his work to push back against Malaysia's repressive structures. His cartoons go beyond humor; they provide an alternative view of Malaysian history and national identity, challenging official narratives around culture, nationhood, and citizenship (Yean, 2011).

Through his art, Zunar takes bold jabs at politicians and policies, crafting cartoons that often spread widely as memes. These memes not only reimagine politics with humor but can also foster a sense of togetherness, shaping identities and highlighting the divide between 'us' and 'them' in political discourse (Mortensen & Neumayer, 2021). Zunar’s work highlights what many people are feeling and gets them talking about important issues. His cartoons are a perfect example of how humor can be a form of protest and resistance.

Zunar's artwork about political

Why Memes Work and Their Limits in Political Understanding

Memes are effective because they make politics feel less intimidating, fostering solidarity among like-minded individuals and making political critiques more accessible. However, while this humor fosters engagement, there’s also a risk of trivializing serious issues or fueling hyper-polarization, which can sometimes limit how widely these memes circulate and may push users toward other forms of civic engagement (Penney, 2019).

For many young Malaysians, memes simplify complex issues and make them more relatable, turning topics that might seem overwhelming into something fun and shareable. This helps build a sense of connection, where people feel they’re not alone in their views.

However, while memes can grab attention, their humor can also trivialize serious issues, reducing complex political discussions to jokes. This can lead to hyper-polarization, where people take sides quickly, hindering meaningful conversation. Additionally, memes often rely on emotions like sarcasm or anger, which can rally people but are less conducive to in-depth discussion.

For a lot of young Malaysians who might not follow every move in parliament, memes break down complicated stuff in a way that’s fun and relatable. They turn big topics into things you actually want to share and chat about. So in the end, memes don’t just make politics easier to follow but they make it something you actually want to talk about with your friends.

Final Thoughts,

Do you think memes help us understand politics? Well it's a yes and no. They’re a quick, entertaining way to engage with issues, but memes alone aren't enough, we need to look beyond the jokes and dig into the fact too.

Political memes, like Zunar’s art, can be entertaining, educate, and inspire change. However, they should be seen as a starting point, not the entire story. While memes can make us laugh, it's important to dig deeper and stay informed.

References

Abdul Latif, R., & Elgarrai, S. (2021). The Power of Political Cartoons: A Case Study of Zunar’s “Twit Twit Cincin.” Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 37(1), 146–180. https://doi.org/10.17576/jkmjc-2021-3701-09

Benveniste, A. (2022, January 26). The Meaning and History of Memes. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/crosswords/what-is-a-meme.html

Mortensen, M., & Neumayer, C. (2021). The playful politics of memes. Information, Communication & Society, 24(16), 2367–2377. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2021.1979622

Penney, J. (2019). “It’s So Hard Not to be Funny in This Situation”: Memes and Humor in U.S. Youth Online Political Expression. Television & New Media, 21(8), 152747641988606. https://doi.org/10.1177/1527476419886068

Yean, S. C. (2011). A cartoonist’s resistance. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 12(3), 420–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2011.578805Zamri, M., Anuar, Z., & Jalli, N. (2020). “Malu Apa Bossku?” Najib Razak’s Political Rhetoric on Facebook Post 2018 General Election. Forum Komunikasi, 15(1). https://ir.uitm.edu.my/id/eprint/42134/1/42134.pdf

[darkmaga-returns]

White Boy Summer just got extended for at least four more years. The War on Boys that started decades ago has finally ended; the boys won decisively on Nov. 5, 2024. Young guys (18-29) shifted 29 points to the right since 2020!

I saw this one coming from miles away. Boys, especially straight, white ones who can’t claim any special status as a member of a “marginalized” or “oppressed” group, have been cast as the bad guys in the modern world, and they know it. They know that in truth they are the most marginalized group in America. This is what the entire “Barbie” movie was about: Ken finding liberation from his oppressive pink Longhouse, discovering how to be a “real man,” and then getting his wings clipped again by Boss Barbie who makes him take off his cool guy clothes and start dressing like a flamboyant gay man again.

I know a tiny bit about young men. I have three teenage boys, and they were all ready to run through a wall to vote for Donald Trump. Only one was old enough to do it, of course, but all three have organically become huge Trump fans as they’ve gotten older and become aware of politics. My kids are not on X and don’t read my essays. We try to keep their lives mostly apolitical. They are aware their parents are Trump supporters, but we don’t talk to them about politics unless they bring it up. 

And since Covid, they started bringing it up a lot. They became “based.” It is in the water, the online discourse, their friend groups, the “Fortnite” group chats, the powerlifting gym, and even at Mass. They discovered weightlifting. They became keenly aware that the world right outside our front door in our deep-blue neighborhood hates them. They lived through “Black Lives Matter” and wondered if white lives mattered. They endured years of movies and cartoons where the hero was a strong independent girl boss, and the boys were either idiots or inconsequential. They had to try to ignore “pride month,” when every identity except theirs was celebrated, and wondered when they were allowed to feel pride about being straight and white — can you even imagine?

[ohwell-itsme]

note that points 21 & 22 are usually the root points behind ace-exclusionism [belief that asexual men are lying, most likely to conceal predatory intentions; and asexual women are just traumatized; the sentiments won't always be expressed in a gendered way, especially since they might be parroted by people who have no idea it started with radfems]

and a lot of those points, esp 12 (all the way to 19), 23 (and to some extent the following points as well) have been used extensively in the discourse around non-binary identities back in the day when I still paid attention to it and tried to argue, none of those were even subtle, I am talking: 2020/21, angry people yelling over each other on twitter, transmeds and terfs hand in hand, arguing with people until they tire them out or get blocked, that kind of fun past-time;

actually, to be fair, I got accused of "trying to escape patriarchy" here on tumblr, by a detransitioner terfy, and she was trying to debate me in DMs to try to save me since I am clearly an uneducated dumb girly since I have a poor vocabulary [she insisted that reading Marx would help me see her way, but had no idea how her patronizing attitude helped me connect the dots and understand in that very moment that she's being misogynistic to me, that at the end of the day her goal, the reason she's talking me is to ensure oppression of women for the sake of the misery that makes them feel secure in their identity, it's like womanhood being painful is their rock, the only thing stable in their lives and they can't let trans joy take it away from them, it is a form of a Christian self-flagellation, a desire for martyrdom that they have, because Christian martyrdom absolves them of all guilt, victimhood is their salvation, it tells them that they'll go to heaven, and they don't even have to be a religious Christian, the morality based off Christian ideas exists subconsciously everywhere in the western world and colonized.

So, when I started seeing people talking about TERFs being buddy-buddy with fascists, probably within months of this interaction, I went !!! I was right, it's all connected. They work is against peace & unity in the community, they cause infighting, so the community can't focus on fighting the oppression and they can keep their beloved victimhood. Preventing unity is fascist. Their methods and their goals are fascist.

It's all been simple to me since then, anyone who starts discourse, pits identities against each other, seeks to compare types of oppression and create a hierarchy, tries to blame one group for the whole community not being accepted, insists on being more of a victim than another group... people like that don't want a united queer community. So there's no reason for me to discuss queer matters with them. And I've been literally just chilling since then, btw.

It is deeply, deeply beneficial to TERFs if the only characteristic of TERF ideology you will recognize as wrong, harmful, or problematic is "they hate trans women".

TERF ideology is an expansive network of extremely toxic ideas, and the more of them we accept and normalize, the easier it becomes for them to fly under the radar and recruit new TERFs. The closer they get to turning the tide against all trans people, trans women included.

Case in point: In 2014-2015, I fell headlong into radical feminism. I did not know it was called radical feminism at the time, but I also didn't know what was wrong with radical feminism in the first place. I didn't see a problem with it.

I was a year deep into this shit when people I had been following, listening to, and looking up to finally said they didn't think trans women were women. It was only then that I unfollowed those people, specifically; but I continued to follow other TERFs-who-didn't-say-they-were-TERFs. I continued ingesting and spreading their ideas- for years after.

If TERFs "only target trans women" and "only want trans women gone", if that's the one and only problem with their ideology and if that's the only way we'll define them, we will inevitably miss a vast majority of the quiet beliefs that support their much louder hatred of trans women.

As another example: the trans community stood relatively united when TERFs and conservatives targeted our right to use the correct restroom, citing the "dangers" of trans women sharing space with cis women. But when they began targeting Lost Little Girls and Confused Lesbians and trotting detransitioners out to raise a panic about trans men, virtually the only people speaking up about it were other transmascs. Now we see a rash of anti-trans healthcare bills being passed in the US, and they're hurting every single one of us.

When you refuse to call a TERF a TERF just because they didn't specifically say they hate trans women, when you refuse to think critically about a TERF belief just because it's not directly related to trans women, you are actively helping TERFs spread their influence and build credibility.

[direspecterpath]

Donald Trump’s bizarre altar call in Ohio

The rally symbolized how MAGA Republicans created a culture where disagreeing with them is an act of blasphemy. 

In Youngstown, Ohio, Saturday evening, hundreds of people gathered to offer praise to their common leader, join together in song, and engage in ceremonial rituals. 

To a casual observer, the gathering had all the trappings of a typical megachurch service. But this was a political rally, not in a house of worship but at an arena. And rather than worship the divine, the crowd was there to herald the malign: Donald Trump and his brand of hateful, intentionally divisive politics.

You would be forgiven for confusing it for a religious service. Similar to a creed, Trump shared his litany of election-denial lies that have come to constitute the Republican Party platform. Like an evil mirror-universe version of Scripture, attendees heard the incoherent ramblings of QAnon conspiracy theories. And with the feel of an altar call, the crowd jabbed index fingers in the air while organizers played music that closely resembled the QAnon theme song.

All of this is by design, illustrating yet again how MAGA Republicans use and abuse religious rhetoric and symbols in order to create a culture where disagreeing with conservative political leaders is no longer seen as a matter of discourse but as an act of blasphemy. 

Having long rejected the historical boundaries of traditional politics and even the basic facts of reality, many of today’s elected Republican leaders are no longer interested in seeking power through democracy. Instead, they seek to tie the MAGA movement to their supporters’ most cherished religious traditions, enshrining their politics as a key tenet of evangelical and even Catholic Christianity. As University of Pennsylvania professor and MSNBC contributor Anthea Butler wrote on Twitter following the rally, “You have a major faction of the Republican Party morphing into Republican Religion... These rallies, especially the Trump ones, have effectively blended religious fervor, calls for violence, and patriotism into a noxious stew.” To oppose QAnon and MAGA is now to oppose God, country, and family, for they have been made one and the same in the minds of the MAGA base.

This is all part of what scholars mean by the term “Christian nationalism”: The Republican Party’s merging of American and evangelical Christian identities to proclaim that only conservative Christians count as “true Americans,” and that only right-wing Republicans can be considered true Christians. The intentional coupling of MAGA politics with religious imagery isn’t merely a rhetorical act, either. Under Christofascism, the only thing that matters is that conservative Christian leaders and their allies hold power. In such a system, there is need neither for democracy nor for equal rights.

Trump’s Ohio rally is hardly the only recent example of a politician appropriating religious symbols to seize power. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene labels all her critics “the godless left,” ignoring the truth that many who object to her embrace of the phrase “Christian nationalist” are in fact her own fellow Christians. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, who was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and promoted baseless 2020 election fraud claims, has even suggested that the Bible actually forbids Christians from criticizing him.

Politics & Policy

Donald Trump’s bizarre altar call in Ohio

Sept. 21, 2022, 3:58 AM GMT+3

By Rev. Nathan Empsall

In Youngstown, Ohio, Saturday evening, hundreds of people gathered to offer praise to their common leader, join together in song, and engage in ceremonial rituals. 

To a casual observer, the gathering had all the trappings of a typical megachurch service. But this was a political rally, not in a house of worship but at an arena. And rather than worship the divine, the crowd was there to herald the malign: Donald Trump and his brand of hateful, intentionally divisive politics.

Similar to a creed, Trump shared his litany of election-denial lies that have come to constitute the Republican Party platform.

You would be forgiven for confusing it for a religious service. Similar to a creed, Trump shared his litany of election-denial lies that have come to constitute the Republican Party platform. Like an evil mirror-universe version of Scripture, attendees heard the incoherent ramblings of QAnon conspiracy theories. And with the feel of an altar call, the crowd jabbed index fingers in the air while organizers played music that closely resembled the QAnon theme song.

All of this is by design, illustrating yet again how MAGA Republicans use and abuse religious rhetoric and symbols in order to create a culture where disagreeing with conservative political leaders is no longer seen as a matter of discourse but as an act of blasphemy. 

Having long rejected the historical boundaries of traditional politics and even the basic facts of reality, many of today’s elected Republican leaders are no longer interested in seeking power through democracy. Instead, they seek to tie the MAGA movement to their supporters’ most cherished religious traditions, enshrining their politics as a key tenet of evangelical and even Catholic Christianity. As University of Pennsylvania professor and MSNBC contributor Anthea Butler wrote on Twitter following the rally, “You have a major faction of the Republican Party morphing into Republican Religion... These rallies, especially the Trump ones, have effectively blended religious fervor, calls for violence, and patriotism into a noxious stew.” To oppose QAnon and MAGA is now to oppose God, country, and family, for they have been made one and the same in the minds of the MAGA base.

Trump 'is merging MAGA with QAnon' journalist David Corn says

11:29

This is all part of what scholars mean by the term “Christian nationalism”: The Republican Party’s merging of American and evangelical Christian identities to proclaim that only conservative Christians count as “true Americans,” and that only right-wing Republicans can be considered true Christians. The intentional coupling of MAGA politics with religious imagery isn’t merely a rhetorical act, either. Under Christofascism, the only thing that matters is that conservative Christian leaders and their allies hold power. In such a system, there is need neither for democracy nor for equal rights.

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Trump’s Ohio rally is hardly the only recent example of a politician appropriating religious symbols to seize power. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene labels all her critics “the godless left,” ignoring the truth that many who object to her embrace of the phrase “Christian nationalist” are in fact her own fellow Christians. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, who was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 and promoted baseless 2020 election fraud claims, has even suggested that the Bible actually forbids Christians from criticizing him.

It is not just Republican politicians who try to align MAGA politics with Christianity, but a legion of right-wing pastors and false prophets who seek access to power.

It is not just Republican politicians who try to align MAGA politics with Christianity, but a legion of right-wing pastors and false prophets who seek access to power. Last Wednesday, Southern Baptist leader Al Mohler said that to vote the “wrong way” is to be “unfaithful” to God. Then on Friday, at the Mike Flynn-headlined “ReAwaken America Tour” in Post Falls, Idaho — a MAGA affair that has been called “QAnon 2.0” — Trump confidante Pastor Mark Burns proclaimed, “I’m coming here to declare war on every demonic, demon-possessed Democrat that comes from the gates of Hell!”

Co-opting religion isn’t just blasphemous; it’s also dangerous and has already led to real-world violence. The most obvious such moment is, of course, the use of religious language and symbols before and during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection attempt. But even more recently, we have seen MAGA adherents — operating in the same echo chambers — take literal aim at the FBI, IRS and even the National Archives. 

Of course, not only is none of this rooted in Scripture; it is, in fact, antithetical to Christian values. Right-wing authoritarianism has hijacked vast swaths of the church in order to masquerade as religion, and it falls to faithful churches and people of faith to reclaim and heal what has been seized.

On this front, there is hope. For every lost pastor who casts aside their ordination vows to prop up MAGA cult leaders, there is always at least one nearby who will reassure their neighbors of the true teachings of Jesus Christ. For example, wherever Flynn and the “ReAwaken America Tour” travel, local pastors have been ready to speak out. When the tour visited Post Falls this past Friday, Episcopal Bishop Gretchen Rehberg told reporters, “I would urge anyone who thinks that Christian nationalism is Christianity to go back and read the Gospels… The words used by Christian nationalists are words of demonization, division, of violence, of separation. They are not words that Jesus would use.”

Just as the “ReAwaken America Tour” brings more than a dozen pro-Trump pastors on tour alongside Flynn and Eric Trump, the notoriously homophobic evangelist Franklin Graham — who supported Trump’s election denial and now uses heated MAGA rhetoric against the FBI and IRS — is preparing to kick off his own latest swing-state tour. It is his first since the Big Lie. Here, too, Christians are speaking out against his hijacking of the church for right-wing politics. More than 17,000 people have signed a petition from the organization I lead, Faithful America, calling on local event venues not to host Graham’s rallies. 

Unfortunately, far too many moderate and progressive pastors still decline to speak out against the merger of MAGA and religion, whether it is because they misunderstand the separation of church and state or because they are afraid of losing church members. But the threat of fascism in Jesus’s name posed by the Republican Party’s attempted hostile takeover of faith is too great a threat to both the church and democracy for us to ignore. We Christians must now follow the example of our prophetic siblings — and of Jesus himself, who repeatedly challenged the corrupt religious and political leaders of his time to set aside their discrimination and thirst for power to instead love all their neighbors, no exceptions.

[friendloser]

Thread: Moe Is NOT Queer — and Why We MUST Gatekeep It

[This is a transcription of a Twitter thread that's been doing the rounds in my circle of the internet. I'm archiving it here as a back-up and for people that don't have Twitter-accounts.]

Disclaimer: On this Thread i will be mostly using Touhou as an example, but the things i say here can be generalized to Moe as a whole.

Let’s begin by stating the obvious: moe anime, from Touhou Project to K-on is NOT LGBTQ, it was never meant to be, and every attempt to reinterpret it as such is a distortion born of cultural illiteracy and spiritual confusion.

Moe isn’t a “safe space” for expression of queer identity. It’s the opposite: a reactionary artistic form, one that cherishes beauty, restraint, mystery, harmony, and archetypal femininity. It is a revolt against modern ugliness, not an extension of it.

Let’s take Touhou. Western fans, particularly post-2020 types with dyed hair and neopronouns, constantly reinterpret it as a lesbian paradise. This is laughable. Touhou is closer to a Shinto folk opera than a pride parade.

“Where are the men?”

Absent. By design.

But not for reasons of feminist utopia or sexual ambiguity. Their absence is a purification of the space, a deliberate focus on idealized femininity: refined, elegant, mysterious, untouched. Aesthetic, not erotic.

Touhou is not a “lesbian utopia.” It’s a spiritual landscape, one that upholds femininity as mystery and archetype. Not an alphabet-soup identity to be deconstructed and reconstructed endlessly in Discord servers.

The world of Gensokyo is governed not by gender theory, but by cosmological order. Shrine maidens, yokai, and spirits operate in a world of myth, not a projection of jewish gender discourse.

Western fans project sexual deviance onto everything because they can no longer comprehend intimacy without eroticism, or beauty without politics. Two girls sharing tea? “Queer-coded.” A soft smile? “She/they vibes.” This is not interpretation. It’s delusion.

Moe anime in general is rooted in the Japanese sense of mono no aware, the pathos of things, and wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfection. It expresses a metaphysical femininity, not a political identity. It’s spiritual, not sexual.

Anime especially moe is closer to classical European painting than to Western cartoons. It’s sacred. It evokes longing, not lust. Wholesomeness, not “representation.” It’s reactionary by default.

And when sexuality appears in moe, it’s restrained, longing, never lustful. Innocence is central. Vulnerability is framed not for exploitation, but for a better storytelling like in Suba Hibi.

The tragedy of modern fandoms is that they treat culture as a mirror, not a window. They want to see themselves in everything. But moe doesn’t reflect you. It escapes you. It invites you to behold something higher, something untouched by your inner confusion.

Moe is not about “exploring identities.” It’s about transcending them. It’s about ideal forms, the shy girl, the loyal friend, the elegant shrine maiden , rendered with love and restraint. That’s not liberation. That’s order.

Touhou is NOT a sandbox for queer headcanons. It is a carefully structured mythos grounded in Japanese spiritual heritage: animism, femininity as force of nature, cyclical balance. There is no room for gender ideology there it’s metaphysical vandalism.

The sodomyfication of anime is not accidental. It’s a symptom of a broader disease ✡️: the need to desacralize everything. To profane the sacred. To sexualize innocence. To erode hierarchy. To mock beauty. And above all, to destroy difference.

[This was longer than I thought it was!]

Anime, especially moe, stands against that. Its aesthetics are conservative. Not politically, but metaphysically. It clings to archetypes, to symbolism, to innocence, to the unspoken.

That’s why they must corrupt it, or else admit they never understood it.

You can be kind without being weak. You can enjoy anime without welcoming ideological invaders. You can admire beauty without letting the devourers redefine it. This isn’t “exclusionary.” It’s intelligent.

The worst sin of fandom today is cowardice. Everyone wants to be “nice.” No one wants to say what needs to be said:

Your identity isn’t relevant here.

Your interpretation isn’t sacred.

Your presence is not neutral.

You are not respected if you don’t deserve respect.

Anime is not for everyone. And that’s fine. Culture is not a democracy. Not everything needs to bend to your tastes, your trauma, or your politics. Let some things remain other. Let beauty remain untamed.

So if you feel alienated by this thread, good. You should. Because moe anime does not belong to you. It belongs to those who understand it. Who cherish it. Who protect it from ideological rot.

Final word: To love moe is to defend it. Not passively, but actively. Be intolerant of ideological vandalism. Exclude the intruders. Protect the sanctity of beauty.

Gatekeep. Gaslight. Glorify.

And if you don’t like that?

Leave.

[Some minor punctuation/formatting revisions were done; but beyond that, this is the thread in full. I hesitate to properly tag this, since I'm fairly certain any real attention on this post will get my account obliterated immediately.]

[desirepathzine]

The Last of Us Part II - And How Does It End?

This essay contains full spoilers for The Last of Us Part II. The video game specifically, I have not yet seen the TV show.

I don't tend to write about video games often here on Desire Path, which is wild because they're one of my favorite modes of art.

I see that the second season of TLOU has just finished up on HBO, I watched a bit of the first season but found I preferred the experience of playing the game and hopped off of the show. Once again, Last of Us Part II discourse is running rampant. And while I find the TV topics of debates MUCH more tolerable than the insufferable experience of TLOUP2's initial rollout, it is still strange to see it dredged in the public square again, only five years later.

For those of you who are not video game fans first (and absolutely no shame there), you may or may not know that the plot details of The Last of Us Part II were leaked some months before the game's release. But the details were a little fuzzy. There was much controversy, over character's identities, game play, and plot points, but maaaaaaaybe none moreso than the death of Joel, and how he is killed.

I didn't play the first Last of Us until about two months before the second came out. I'd been saving up for a PS4 even before the pandemic hit, but it turned out to be a godsend when lockdowns kept me at home. And I luckily had two siblings to couch co-up with too. But when I asked knowledgable friends, the game that I haaaad to play that I had missed out on over the years was The Last of Us. And there was a second one coming out soon! How serendipitous!

I really enjoyed playing the Last of Us in April of 2020 believe it or not. Although I will say, as someone who had been at college when the pandemic hit, traveling through a decimated college level of empty dorms and ruined classrooms did make me put the game down for a bit. It was just too soon. I preordered the second game with some room-and-board refund money from my school, knowing absolutely nothing about the storyleaks.

I tell you all of this because it also lets you know that I really don't have nostalgia for the first game. I played it two months before the sequel and had no prior knowledge of its story. I enjoyed it a normal amount, and was interested in what a sequel could do.

I honestly like the second game more than the first. It's super bold, takes some wild swings, and the gameplay and technological aspects of it are immaculate. This was not a popular opinion to hold in June of 2020. This miserable came out in a joyless year of everybody feeling increasingly bitter and paranoid and angry about the state of the world, it couldn't have launched in a worse moment. But I found some sort of catharsis in the misery of it.

I also think I'm more likely to enjoy games that are more-or-less "on rails", those that do not let you make personal choices etc., due to my history as an actor. I recognize that I am playing a part in Last of Us-style games, I choose how I move around the stage, but there are actions and story beats that I will have to hit through no will of my own (I think I stood around for two minutes at the final act of the first Last of Us, in shock of what the script demanded of me, the player). And this is still satisfying to me if the gameplay is really good, and TLOU 2 has some really good gameplay. There are moments here that I still think about regularly five years after the first time I played it. I happily completed all the game's achievements, something I only do if I really want to dive into something.

So I largely bypassed the negativity surrounding the game leadings up to its release, and also had less of an attachment to a character like Joel. Obviously I was saddened by his death in the game, especially thanks to the cast's incredible acting performances, but I understood why it happened in the story. I just didn't get as hung up on it as most other people did. I also found the perspective switch-up halfway through to Abby, Joel's killer, fascinating, and honestly, more fun or interesting than much of the stuff you experience as Ellie in the first half of the game. And of course, not being an asshole, I had no issues with Lev's storyline that connects with Abby.

Perhaps the most controversial segment from the game post-release is its ending (I believe this is even further spoilers for the TV show, so if you're really trying to avoid more potential future plot points, skip this bit). Quite some time after the main events of the game, Ellie and Dinah are living happily with a child near the base in Wyoming. They have as peaceful an existence in the zombie apocalypse as you could wish for. But when Joel's brother Tommy waltzes back in to the house with a possible lead on Abby, Ellie is the only one who can track her down and attain Tommy's wish for revenge for Joel (and to an extent, Ellie's too). Dinah is firmly against it, and warns Ellie that if she restarts this cycle, Dinah and the baby will not be here when she returns. And Ellie goes anyway.

She travels all the way to Santa Barbra, where some sort of death squad have taken Abby and Lev hostage. Ellie and Abby fight in bare knuckle combat, it is brutal and disgusting, as is much of the game. Both women get their hits in, Abby even biting off two of Ellie's fingers, but eventually Ellie gets Abby right where she wants her. But just as the life is leaving Abby's eyes, Ellie lets her go. She returns to Wyoming, her family gone. She sits down to play Joel's guitar, one of the last ways she can remember him, but due to the loss of her fingers, she can no longer play as she used to.

That ending felt like a moment of light breaking through the cracks in the summer of 2020. But now, it's the part of the game I reconsider the most. I was revisiting VideoGameDunkey's excellent review of the first game, and Dunkey wisely notes that any time someone shows a moment of humanity in The Last of Us, their reward is death. Except Ellie.

To me, now, the ending still works to some capacity, but I can't help but see the corporate need for a sequel choking some of the emotional resonance, especially in the last few years seeing The Last of Us become a multi-medium phenomenon. Would killing Abby have worked? I think so. I felt pretty sure that Ellie had lost her humanity through Part 2, no guiding presence anymore, just all of the worst parts of Joel brought to manifest by Abby. Would killing Ellie have worked? Maybe also yes? But for me, now, looking at it with another season of TV, two un-necessary remasters, and another new game on the way, it makes me consider the ending in a new way that dulls its shine a bit. Again, I want to reiterate that I still think it's interesting with lots of facets worth considering, but is it as artistically unconstrained as I originally thought?

Either way, The Last of Us Part II remains an interesting, messy, and bold story that I still think about.

[mirandatrannzz]

[Week 3]

🌎 Tumblr: A Space for Free Thought and Inclusive Discourse

The public sphere - a space where people exchange ideas and shape discourse - has long been a key element of democracy (Hohendahl, 2016). But let’s be real: not all social media platforms actually support meaningful conversations.

❌ Twitter – Too fast-paced for meaningful discourse. ❌ Instagram – Prioritizes visuals over deep discussions. ❌ Facebook – Real-name policies limit open conversations. ✅ Tumblr – Fosters layered, evolving discussions and niche communities.

Tumblr stands apart. Unlike these platforms, Tumblr thrives on deep discussions, evolving perspectives, and niche communities (Tiidenberg et al., 2021). Despite its imperfections, it remains one of the few places where collaborative, thoughtful conversations can still flourish.

Why Tumblr Functions as a Public Sphere

🔄 Reblogs: Where Discussions Evolve, Not Die

Unlike Twitter’s quick-fire retweets, Tumblr’s reblogging system allows users to build upon posts - adding context, humor, or deeper analysis. Instead of disappearing into the void, conversations on Tumblr grow over time, forming complex, multi-layered discussions (Chang et al., 2014).

👤 Anonymity: A Safe Haven for Honest Conversations

No real names? No pressure. Tumblr’s pseudonymous identities empower users - especially LGBTQ+ individuals - to explore identity, share personal experiences, and discuss issues without fear of real-world repercussions (McCracken, 2017).

📉 Authentic Engagement Over Virality

Unlike Instagram and TikTok, where algorithm-driven popularity dominates, Tumblr’s engagement is community-driven. Your post’s impact is not determined by follower count but by relevance and resonance within the community (Chang et al., 2014).

💬 Community First, Clout Last

While most platforms prioritize fleeting trends, Tumblr fosters long-term discourse. From fandom deep dives to activism, the focus is not just on going viral – it is on making an impact (McCracken, 2017).

🏳️‍🌈 Tumblr & LGBTQ+ Activism: The #ItGetsBetter Movement

One of Tumblr’s most powerful examples of social impact is its role in LGBTQ+ activism -  particularly the #ItGetsBetter campaign.

(It Gets Better, n.d.)

In 2010, journalist Dan Savage and his husband Terry Miller created a video offering hope to LGBTQ+ youth facing bullying. Their message: “Life gets better.” The video sparked a global movement, inspiring over 70,000 people - including celebrities and politicians - to share their own stories (ItGetsBetter, n.d.).

(It Gets Better, 2010)

📈 Tumblr’s Role (McCracken et al., 2020)

Tumblr users shared personal testimonies, art, and support networks, amplifying the campaign’s reach.

Reblogs created a ripple effect, allowing stories to evolve and inspire others.

The platform’s anonymity gave LGBTQ+ youth a safe space to express their struggles and triumphs.

When Tumblr Sparks Change: Stories of Impact

💬 Personal Growth Through Storytelling

"Growing up gay and trans felt isolating, but one day, I realized—I love who I am, and I wouldn’t change a thing."

(itgetsbetter, 2024a)

This reflects a common LGBTQ+ experience - self-doubt followed by self-acceptance. On Tumblr, pseudonymity makes it easier to share these vulnerable moments, while reblogs allow others to build on the message - creating a shared story of resilience (Brady Robards et al., 2022).

😂 Humor as a Coping Mechanism

"In middle school, I tried to convince myself I wasn’t gay by deciding I would 'only be gay at night.' Spoiler: it didn’t work."

(itgetsbetter, 2024b)

Humor is a powerful tool for processing identity struggles. Tumblr’s culture embraces storytelling through humor, making tough experiences relatable and engaging (McCracken et al., 2020). Through reblogs and tags, this post sparks solidarity, laughter, and meaningful conversations.

The Takeaway

Despite its flaws - such as insular subcultures and limited content discovery - Tumblr remains one of the few platforms where deep conversations, identity exploration, and activism thrive.

Let’s Talk

💬 How has Tumblr influenced your understanding of LGBTQ+ activism? 💬 Do you think Tumblr fosters better discussions than other platforms? 💬 What’s an example of Tumblr’s impact on a social movement that stood out to you?

Reblog, add your thoughts, or start a new thread - because Tumblr was made for this.

#MDA20009#Tumblr #DigitalPublicSphere #LGBTQActivism #SocialMedia #CommunityBuilding #ItGetsBetter

References

Brady Robards, B. P., & D’Souza, S. (2022). The Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology. Google Books. https://books.google.com.vn/books?hl=en&lr=&id=JgKEEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA339&dq=Tumblr+role+in+LGBTQ%2B&ots=Vo19CpjxiV&sig=rSlcHwXuiGpB6N1JUfBs4Dg0fDs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Tumblr%20role%20in%20LGBTQ%2B&f=false

Chang, Y., Tang, L., Inagaki, Y., & Liu, Y. (2014). What is Tumblr. ACM SIGKDD Explorations Newsletter, 16(1), 21–29. https://doi.org/10.1145/2674026.2674030

Hohendahl, P.U. (2016). 7 Critical Theory, Public Sphere, and Culture: Jürgen Habermas and His Critics. In Cornell University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.46092

It Gets Better. (n.d.). Tumblr. https://itgetsbetter.tumblr.com

It Gets Better. (2010). It Gets Better: Dan and Terry. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IcVyvg2Qlo

Itgetsbetter. (n.d.). About. It Gets Better. Retrieved February 16, 2025, from https://itgetsbetter.org/about/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

itgetsbetter. (2024a). Blocked Page. Instagram.com. https://www.instagram.com/itgetsbetter/p/C1mhqlqgmj6/

itgetsbetter. (2024b). It Gets Better on Instagram: “Just manifesting this for you on this Monday morning. Sometimes all it takes is time. 💜 #itgetsbetter #tumblr #queermemes.” Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/itgetsbetter/p/C2sHFRXgi0L/

McCracken, A. (2017). Tumblr Youth Subcultures and Media Engagement. Cinema Journal, 57(1), 151–161. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44867867

McCracken, A., Cho, A., Stein, L., & Hoch, I. N. (2020). a tumblr book. University of Michigan Press. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Tumblr+role+in+LGBTQ%2B&btnG=

Tiidenberg, K., Hendry, N. A., & Abidin, C. (2021). Tumblr. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.com.vn/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dyY_EAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT4&dq=Tumblr&ots=shnFKRQzWD&sig=faLCY19dy_0V4E1mk9H7pzJ-zw0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Tumblr&f=false