#in light of csa text and subtext too

[normalbrothers]

i sort of want to put my thoughts in order re tommyarthur comparisons, mostly i think the similarities are more facile, but nevertheless definitely there

[seaemberthesecond]

declan csa parallels haven't left me since I made the connection

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about this, because honestly same.

This is one of those things that I won't even say is a headcanon because it's not. It's a reading of the text, plain and simple. The evidence is all there.

Violation of autonomy, familial harm, and secrets are all big themes in tdt. The central problematic of the Lynch family is that the secrets in the underbelly tear them apart and prevent the brothers from connecting to each other in real and meaningful ways. They're deliberately denied the language and vocabulary to articulate their experiences out of fear of the family's secrets being exposed, leaving them unable to communicate with each other.

And in the middle of all of this, we have Declan.

Declan who, unbeknownst to his brothers, is experiencing a radically different childhood riddled with danger and violence and is forced to keep it a secret by his parents for the 'good of the family.' Declan who resents Ronan and Matthew for getting the idyllic childhood he's been deprived of, thus creating rifts in their relationship. Rifts that are further exacerbated because of the secrets he's forced to keep – he can't talk to them about what's actually happening in his life, he can't share anything real with them, so he constructs a fake persona to hide behind, even at home. But his brothers pick up on his artifice and withdraw from him, leaving him even more isolated.

This is…such a painfully obvious allegory for sexual abuse that I'm kind of dumbfounded by the fact that more people don't talk about it.

Both Ronan and Matthew recognize that Declan is treated differently by their parents, but they deliberately don't examine this too deeply because doing so would require that they acknowledge that something sinister lurked in the margins of their childhood and that's just not something they want to face. Declan's grief isn't as clear-cut as Ronan and Matthew's, because he's grappling with the very real harm his parents did to him, but he's demonized for his "sceptical and imperfect love" for Niall and Aurora. His attempts at getting Ronan to see that their parents weren't who he thought they were are met with hostility and scorn (and in Matthew's case, hesitant incredulity). Because again, Ronan doesn't want to hear it. He's actively standing there with his hands over his ears chanting lalalalalala. I mean in CDTH, we can see how very discomfited he gets when faced with Declan at the fairy market because it forces him to re-evaluate his own childhood in light of all this new information about his brother's secret life that was taking place right under his nose. And he does not want to do that.

I mean does that not drive you insane?? The subtext is THERE. Everything about how the Lynch Brothers' dynamic is set up allows for the reading that Declan has suffered some kind of sexual abuse at the hands of one/both of their parents.

And this is purely at a thematic level. It gets crazier when you consider Declan displays many of the characteristics and behaviours of sexual assault survivors.

His issues with intimacy

"It wasn’t that he hadn’t gone on dates or hooked up, that unlovely euphemism for what was sometimes a perfectly nice time. It was that he didn’t get too close. Intimacy was allowed as long as it revealed nothing truthful." (ch 69, cdth)

His 'hypersexuality'

“So he’s a man-whore. It’s not your problem,” Gansey said. (ch 4, trb)

His troubled relationship with physical touch

(He never initiates anything physical with Jordan, it's always her making the first move; his discomfort with Aurora's hug in the Dauntless Declan scene; his discomfort with Feniall's hug in CDTH; he avoids touching his brothers even and is surprised whenever Matthew reaches out to him.)

His disassociation from his own emotions

Declan Lynch had a complicated relationship with his family. It wasn’t that he hated them. Hate was such a slick, neat, simple emotion. Declan envied people who felt proper hate. (ch 10, MI)

So even if you choose to believe Declan wasn't assaulted by Niall or Aurora, there is still enough evidence in the text itself to suggest he's suffered from some kind of sexual violence during his childhood. Fairy Markets aren't exactly child-friendly places (the woman getting strangled in one of the rooms in CDTH anyone?) and it's not really a stretch to assume Declan had to put up with some fucky shit as a uhh* checks notes* 10-year-old in the uhhhh *checks notes again* black market for the rich and powerful.

And then there's the declan-adam-hennessy and the declan-adam-mor triangles which exist independent of whether you consider Declan a victim of sexual violence but certainly get reinforced if you subscribe to it. But I won't get into that.

All this to say, CSA survivor Declan you will always be real to me.

[aspdhawks]

don't listen to people trying to tone police you. you're doing everything right. nice tones and "civility" aren't what we need right now – you've done everything right.

thanks anon. it doesn’t matter if we had approached this with an entirely clinical attitude and laid things out exactly as they were without the subtext of most of us being very, very angry trans men and csa survivors, we’d still have people trying to bait us into bad faith arguments.

we really haven’t done everything right, and i am capable of civility when someone makes it clear they aren’t misinterpreting my posts and twisting my words on purpose. i just don’t do well with the idiots sending me walls of text about how immature i sound making light of the situation now that the hard work is done as if i didn’t trigger myself doing this and need to take a day last week to mentally shut down and let myself recharge because of how heavy this was to get through. yall realize these were my good friends too and making this choice wasn’t easy for me, right?

idc. the right people know the right things and tony’s blog is deleted so you’re all free to say stupid shit in my askbox now.

[therewasabrowncrow]

Image Alt Text/Subtext

I am very curious by the possibilities of “ Image Alt-text” 

Image: Two phone interfaces on Twitter showing the use of tweet vs alt text as description of image being tweeted by the user. 

What is Alt Text:

Alt text (alternative text) is a word or phrase that can be inserted as an attribute in an HTML(Hypertext Markup Language) document to tell Web site viewers the nature or contents of an image. ALT text refers to invisible description of images which are read aloud to blind users on a screen reader. 

I use Alt text religiously on Twitter. I have been using screen readers quite often to read/listen to Google Books especially while I am working. I have been considering this while I build my website too. 

Examples like this meme made me question whether Alt image text can be used beyond its current function? Could it be used as subtext to an image revealing the structural social issues conveyed in it?

Image: Screenshot of Ross McDonald’s FB page showing us a Blonde haired naked female centaur. Above the image says a note A digitally altered image depicts a naked woman made to resemble a horse, accompanied by Mr. Macdonald’s caption: “MMMM.!! Interesting thoughts”  Below in the alt text region: One Nation’s candidate for Leichhardt Ross Macdonald’s social media account contains several questionable images with sexist overtones. PICTURE: FACEBOOK 

Why subtext: 

#Metoo played out entirely online and became an interesting place where subtext and image coincided--especially when victims were sharing screenshots of their convos about their abusers. I saw in some cases the abusers were trying to change the subtext of those conversations to pin the blame back to the victim which led me to investigate the phenomenon of GASLIGHTING:

Image: POP art image of a troubled woman credit:  PHOTO: CSA IMAGES/PRINTSTOCK COLLECTION

The term “gaslighting” comes from a 1938 play called "Gas Light," in which a husband leads his wife to believe she is insane to hide his own crimes. She sees the gas light in their house dim when he searches for jewels to steal, but, when she asks, he tells her the lights flickering are simply her overactive imagination. By the end of the play, nobody believes she's in her right mind, including herself.

From:  How I Survived Mental Abuse in My Relationship — by  ARABELLE SICARDI

Gaslighting is used in this context as a form of mental abuse but I feel it is more widespread in the way it’s implemented beyond romantic, intimate relationships. It is inherent in the way the system tries to deal with complaint. 

A feminist ear picks up on the sounds that are blocked by the collective will not to hear. The sounds of no, the complaints about violence, the refusals to laugh at sexist jokes; the refusals to comply with unreasonable demands; to acquire a feminist ear is to hear those sounds as speech. 

Sarah Ahmed, Complaint

((I need to read Leading A Feminist Life!!!))

Gaslighting or even manspalining is often made within the context of male behaviour but I feel this is patriarchal response to complaint. No one wants to change obviously. 

I have been making text base artwork around these interactions to see if I can use Alt text, in principle, to highlight the subtext of these conversations. The subtext reveals the structure (the bigger picture, contextualizing me also) within the confines of the text -- this is usually original source documents- legal papers, electronic communication etc  

I have had conversations with a friend to develop this together and I think it will be interesting how it shapes up!