akitsune-lune

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we popping the biggest bottles when I don't fail this course 🎉🎉

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Help an indigenous person get out of debt

Hello, my friend is living in a very poor country and struggling to make ends meet. His funds are running dangerously thin and it would really help if you’d d*nate to his p*ypal to help him get back up on his feet. Here it is. Any d*nation and reblog can help him. Note: It’s set in spanish. Clicking the “enviar” button will take you to his d*nation page. https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/daclnez

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Desiree Burch, Katy Wix, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Lou Sanders, Mike Wozniak, Nish Kumar, Sara Pascoe

photographed by Idil Sukan

art by Idil Sukan

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hmmmmmmokay. I'm reblogging this because it's on the same subject but don't feel obliged to engage with it lol. Just following the example of writing out some feelings and thoughts.

There's an interesting trend in the comment section of people praising how humane and compassionate the interview is. I get where these people of coming from since the present debate culture is so saturated with 'winning points' and 'owning your opponents' lol but there's nonetheless something insidious to me about suggesting the ideal interview with a controversial figure is placidly allowing them to rattle off their talking points unchallenged. Less than a minute in, Jordan Peterson claims that anyone upset about his presence on the show is only angry because they don't know any of his actual points and dislike a caricature of him. Pretty clever to suggest that if you do disagree with him, you're automatically in the wrong for not having bothered to seek out his real ideas. Pretty handily absolves him of having to confront the idea that some people do disagree with him based on the things that he's said. "You agree with me, you just don't realize it yet." As if the right way to engage with his ideas is to make the most charitable possible reading to find what you do agree with him about, agree with that invented reading, and then pass on whatever subtext he's added unchallenged.

That's why the people who follow him insist that anyone criticizing him must first seek out hundreds of hours of lectures. It's not comfortable to confront the truth that people can see, hear, and read the same things as you, and then come to different conclusions. Or it's an excellent display of the variety of human experience, but I guess that depends on whether you see diversity as a threat or a strength.

IMO it's why he's gained the influence he has. He has a pretty effective sell as a misunderstood academic. Britain loves an underdog. and transphobia. If you feel like you've been left behind and don't understand the 'new' identities of trans people, he's great at scaremongering about the pronoun police taking your free speech away. If you're a disillusioned young white guy, well, here's an intellectual older man making a bunch of reasonable talking points that have loads of people offended for seemingly no reason.

In the same way as I believe Russell is trying to do here, there's an urge to try to take him at his word. To believe that he genuinely thinks all the things that he says, that deep down, you probably agree with him, but you just need to dig a bit and ignore a few things to make it all fit. You have to be pretty sure that whoever you're talking to is a liar or a grifter in order to ignore what they're telling you they believe and instead dig into the implications of the way they phrase those eminently reasonable beliefs. More generally you have to believe that there are people who will ardently claim positions that they don't believe in in order to Trojan-horse different ideas into the mainstream; in essence, that some people are trying to manipulate you.

Engaging with Jordan Peterson on his own terms and with his cultivated image as the misunderstood academic who's just like you, fumbling through and doin' his darn best, will be widely seen as the right call to make, as 'trying believe the best of people', but it's also a fucking terrible idea, because Jordan Peterson is a liar. I don't know Russell Howard, but it's not a hard leap for me to make to believe that he wants to take Jordan Peterson at his word and present him in a sympathetic light in the aim of human connection.

Which I guess is the last point I have to make; what the interview was trying to do and what the interview did. Another thing the comments were praising is how two people of different politics could come together for a 'civil discussion.' Of course, this wasn't a civil discussion. Or rather it wasn't a discussion. It was Russell playing the part of a non-entity, feeding Jordan questions and letting him ramble to a platform of millions. Russell's politics never came up. He never challenged Jordan on anything he's previously said.

This is extremely handy for the kinds of people that might like it if Jordan Peterson's ideas gained loads of traction because it accomplished two things at once; first, any fans of JP watching it would have zero exposure to pushback to their ideas. Nobody watching from the right is going to be inspired to seek out what Russell has to say on the subject, because the presentation and editing has made it so that Russell has *nothing* to say on the subject. Second, anyone watching from the left-centre isn't going to have to immediately confront what Jordan Peterson actually believes in any strong terms. He's said nothing provocative, so why are people so upset? Maybe I should see what Jordan actually believes, since apparently everyone misrepresents him and hates him for things he never even said, according to him. Maybe I should watch hundreds of videos, listen to hours of podcasts, and go flailing down the rabbit hole. On paper, it's two people of different political beliefs coming together for a chat. In reality, it's selling a vaguely liberal audience the idea that this guy a lot of leftists really hate is probably actually quite reasonable and Russell respects him enough to have him on the show, so why shouldn't you? EVEN if you KNOW the shitty things he's said! Even if you already hate him! I saw your post and had a genuine moment of "That Jordan Peterson? Who has said the things that I know he's said? No, that can't be right. Has he changed all his opinions? Was I wrong about him?" And I'm a trans Canadian! I and nearly everyone I love is gonna be fucked over the more his ideas gain footholds in the mainstream!

Part of me has an urge to explain it as JP taking advantage of Russell Howard, but that's a pretty faulty excuse. Another part of me thinks Russell should fucking know better. Another part of me knows I do not know Russell Howard or what he believes. Another part of me reckons that the show is produced by more people than Russell alone, with a variety of backgrounds and agendas, and just because Russell's the face of it doesn't mean he should be held to account for the ideas of every person working on the show. I genuinely will never know if it was Russell who went "I know who I want on my show; Jordan Peterson!" and in some ways I just... don't want to know. What I do know is that if it was someone else's idea, and even if he pushed back against it, obviously he wasn't ready to push as hard as he could have to make sure it didn't happen. In complete speculation, I don't believe he did push back against it, because in that case I assume he would have taken his chance in the room with Jordan Peterson to do more than make understanding noises as he talks.

In some removed way, I'm a little pleased with my own reaction because it's very recently that I would have had a small crisis a-la-Robert-Webb-suggesting-a-charity-for-trans-kids-is-part-of-a-nefarious-plot-against-GNC-kids. Probably good that I'm not losing my shit over people I don't know as much as I did not long ago. For my own sanity, at least.

It's still a letdown. I'm assuming Russell's retaining his position that people shouldn't be stripped of their human rights lol. Still, he has now irrevocably and undeniably platformed a man who has influenced a fuckton of people to endanger people like me. So that's not great. But if you're trans or love trans people and generally want to avoid them getting murdered, it's always going to be a crap shoot when engaging with media predominantly controlled by a system that oppresses trans folks. 'Specially british stuff. Kinda sucks that at this point I have to cross my fingers that the people I respect and like aren't ambivalent to the damage they can do to the safety of me and everyone like me, but life's not fair, I guess.

Because we're all long-winded today, a special mention to the people in my life who tell me I should be engaging with things I don't agree with in order to have a healthy media diet. usually after I express disinterest in reading another transphobic article my dad's sending me. Eventually you get tired of listening to people who fundamentally disrespect your humanity. I literally can't avoid people who disagree with me, not really. People whose opinions are well-represented in the mainstream lecturing people whose opinions and identities are already forced into the fringes on 'seeking out ideas you don't agree with' usually miss that we don't need to do any seeking at all. If you don't stay on the fringe, you're gonna encounter someone who thinks you shouldn't be afforded the same rights as the rest of the population. Probably pretty often, too. Not to get into the ~ cis privilege of it all ~ lmao but still - I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Russell Howard and Jordan Peterson can very comfortably ignore whatever surges of transphobic sentiments, rhetoric, policies, and eventually violence that his continued influence engender. I imagine it's a damn sight easier to be oblivious to it when it's abstract ideas and newspaper articles and not your sister and your best friend, and y'know, you.

Anyway.

Oh God, Russell. Oh, you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t. I’ve been trying to ignore your falling down the Jordan Peterson rabbit hole since COVID, even as you make more and more references to him specifically and to the theories he espouses. I should have known it was only a matter of time until you actually had him on there and then I really can’t pretend you haven’t done that. Come on, Russell. Come on. You’re better than this. For the love of God.

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should be evident based on my comments that I know exactly what I'm doing

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apparently recording the rounds of 5x7 wilty took a backseat to spamming my friends on discord with screenshots of Victoria

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ok ok last one I promise and then I'll stop liveblogging his memoir lol but it's critical you all know that Vic Reeves arm wrestled Liam Gallagher after Liam accused him of not being especially working class, and won in 2 seconds flat. Reportedly.

here are two bits of Bob's memoir I want everyone to read. because they'll make ya cry for different reasons.

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here are two bits of Bob's memoir I want everyone to read. because they'll make ya cry for different reasons.

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yall ever think about comedy double acts and just lose it a bit lmao? I have problems. the real problem is that I haven't talked to the closest thing to a comedy partner I have too many months. I think the rest of his memoir will also stab me repeatedly where it hurts.

flipped to a random page of bob mortimer's memoir and immediately started crying

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was anyone else ummmm off-putting for whatever reason for most of their life 😂😂😂 and people would tell you that they were scared of talking to you because you were intimidating 😂😂😂 and people thought you were cool and mysterious and brooding but in reality you were just kind of socially awkward and inconsolably lonely 😂😂😂 and people were intimidated by you which is a cool girlboss move but because of that no one talked to you or kissed you or approached you 😂😂😂 and you cannot even begin to express the never ending abyss of desolation you cannot escape 😂😂😂

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i highly rec checking out a recent twitter exchange btw desiree, vcm and @ backpainsback on twitter in which vcm is deeply confused by a lesbian wanting her to "step on them"

PLEASE

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I made this map of the places where comedians grew up. Then I downloaded it as a KMZ file so I could open it in Google Earth and jump around to the different places. It’s an entertaining way to pass the time while I listen to a new audiobook. Here are some pictures I took of the hometowns/cities/tiny collection of barns (Josh Widdicombe) of various comedians. I mostly went with people who’ve built at least some of their comic personas on the location and socio-economic class in which they grew up. It’s interesting to me to compare that persona to where they really came from. And it’s just interesting to me to virtually travel to lots of bits of Britain (and Ireland, Aisling Bea, and Malaysia, Phil Wang).

Keep reading

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HA. haha. so there. some clothes I liked wearing like two weeks ago are in fact the same colour scheme and arrangement as Sarah Keyworth's. And I recognize she's wearing a fairly ordinary outfit but also. HA. I'm pleased about this.

some of the worst screenshots you'll ever see but I'm now convinced sophie duker and guz khan represent the two sides of the same outfit coin that my fashion-blind soul has always striven towards.

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the trilogy

a screenshot of guz from last night's episode for your consideration

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so that episode of mock the week, huh? that we were all paying attention to and not waiting for it to cut to sarah again.

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exams are next month