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[realistidealistfusion]

Recently, there has been a loss of life due to suicide that is being talked about all over social media. As the conversation keeps going people are speaking their mind on the situation with, although good intentions, a horrible interpretation on their part, and because of that misunderstanding of a single tweet, hateful comments and shaming have bee thrown at this individual for mainly speaking her mind due to some new laws that have been passed within California, which are understandable. I am talking about the suicide of Adult Film Star August Ames. 

It all started on December 3 when August Ames tweeted out this tweet:

“ whichever (lady) performer is replacing me tomorrow for @EroticaXNews , you’re shooting with a guy who has shot gay porn, just to let cha know.  BS is all I can say Do agents really not care about who they’re representing? #ladirect I do my homework for my body”

Now to the reader, that may come off bad since she is singling out a Male Actor that is known to do both Straight and Gay porn, but what you should pay your attention to is the last sentence: “I do my homework for my body.” Now why might this part be important? Well since Twitter doesn’t allow for a post that can properly explain one’s mind within 140 (now 280) characters, you might not catch what she’s throwing at you. 

Due to recent legislation passing these past few months, California has now made it not a crime to infect someone with AIDS/HIV without them knowing, meaning that if you are to sleep with someone, they don’t need to tell you that they have the infection since it is now not a felony charge. I can understand why they might want to pass such a legislation such as this. I’m sure that if you have AIDS/HIV, you have probably gotten some shit thrown at you for it like insults and being made fun of for it. That’s understandable. The reality of this situation is though, is that the AIDS virus still exists within the Gay Community, which sucks, but still true. 

Due to this, this is where the last sentence of that tweet makes sense. She was giving a warning to those who were going to do the shoot with this man. Keep in mind, this is the porn industry we’re talking about. That means that for those involve, sex is just a job. It’s not the same kind of intimacy you get in normal relationship, and since it’s inevitably  with a lot of individuals, there is a WAY higher chance of infections starting and spreading if safe sex isn’t practiced (and if you’re aware of the porn pages within this site and all the gifs they have of all the porn you could possibly think of, it shows that most of the time, that is exactly the case).

Ever since she made this tweet, her associates have looked at her as a homophobic person, EVEN THOUGH THERE IS LITERALLY VIDEO EVIDENCE THAT SHE IS NOT (I will admit I have reviewed it several times). Even when this whole conversation was specifically about health concerns, people even went to calling her a racist. AGAIN, VIDEO EVIDENCE THAT SHE IS NOT (and yes, I have reviewed it. several more times.). And what really sickens this whole situation is the fact that some of those who accused her of such things went on to tell her to LITERALLY KILL HERSELF, and later on TRY TO CLAIM THE MORAL HIGH GROUND AS THOUGH THEY WERE IN THE RIGHT. 

If you wish to review the slander that she had thrown at her, this video by Mister Metokur clears up the whole situation, Although keep in mind he will come off as an asshole in the video, but not towards August Ames, only to those who thought they were in the right but were clearly, clearly wrong. 

So let this who situation be a lesson for EVERYONE to learn. NEVER bully people to the point of suicide. NEVER.

[realistidealistfusion]

Christian Grey is the Jim Jones of BDSM, minus the Kool-Aid

Fifty Shades of Grey, a film about an unusual romance between Anna Steele, a sales associate at a local hardware store, and Christian Grey, a CEO billionaire in his 20′s that has an urge that can only be put to rest with one thing: BDSM. The movie shows the relationship between these two individuals and also presents how a relationship that participates in BDSM SHOULD NOT BE (not speaking from personal experience, but with info brought from a couple on youtube that review the movie and comment on the presentation of BDSM. you can find that video here. =>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70wDsNsmQdg&list=PL3PU-xpAG3V1LJ6QMCha3C_01yC6PCion&index=10 ). The point of this post is not about that though. It’s about Christian, Specifically his personality and his ultimate goal in the relationship shown within this movie specifically. From what I observed within the movie, I did not think to find some kind of religious undertones with a movie about whips and rich guy likes middle-class working girl, but ever since I heard one line said specifically with by Christian, A LOT more of that kind of imagery became apparent. 

From what is observed throughout the movie within the personality of Christian Grey, it is obvious that he wants to be a dominating figure amongst those he shares a close relationship with. There is one line that is said within the movie by him that can be interpreted in a way that he does not want to be look upon as just the person who is in charge, but rather as a God to the one he is in the relationship with. The line that is said that can give light to this is what he tells Anna the first time she wants to participate in his activities within the red room. The line that he utters is “I want you unashamed of your nakedness.” This line can be looked upon as his version of Genesis 2:25 “Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” After he says this line, he then proceeds to have his way with Anna in the red room.

           Another sign of this is the rules that he sets for Anna to live by while under his “contract.” As Anna reads the contract to herself while doing research on what exactly BDSM is, it becomes clear that the there are punishments made if these rules are broken. The contract can be looked upon as the 10 Commandments within Christianity that every Christian must follow, and if any of them are broken, they are met with severe spiritual punishment (If you believe in that sort of thing).  These also act as rules on how she should live her life while in a relationship with Christian. Similar to that of such rules found within Islam, like the prohibition of alcohol and drugs and eating certain foods, She must abstain from the excess of alcohol, do no drugs at all, and only eat foods from a certain list while also maintaining an exercise regimen.

           The one thing that does stick out the most with the imagery of Christianity within the film is one that you would not consider at first. After Anna signs a contract saying how she will be in a relationship with Christian and starts to learn what exactly is Christian’s kink, she begins to confess to Christian that she does not know what she wants when it comes to any sexual activity. The reasoning for this is because she is still a virgin, which becomes a surprise for Christian. After he learns of this, he leads her to the bed room and then proceeds to have sex with her, basically taking her virginity. This can be looked upon as the baptism of Anna into the world of sex and BDSM, showing how the entire situation and course of this pursuit of pleasure can actually be intimate and a different way to build trust with a partner, although by the end of the movie, it does not pan out that way at all.

         So by the end of the movie, what do we have? We have Anna who finally walks away from Christian when she realizes what he REALLY wants to do to her, and Christian left with a glazed look on his face in a boardroom meeting, clearly thinking about Anna and what had happened in the red room. From what I hear about the second movie, Christian actually admits to a certain degree about what I have mentioned in this post in that he tells Anna that he is a Sadist, someone who receives pleasure from watching someone in pain. 

[realistidealistfusion]

My Experience with “Microaggressions”

“Microagggressions“

This term has always been, and more than likely always will be, a word that I will never understand. According to Wikipedia, the word microaggression is defined as” the casual degradation of any marginalized group.” From my understanding, the best example I could think up would be that of someone telling someone of color (let’s say African American for this example) that they “don’t act like” other people of color. This example is probably the closest that I’ve actually heard in real life to being something that can be addressed as insulting or offensive, but depending on the person, that doesn’t always appear to be the case (in terms of offending them, the statement itself can be bad, but for this i’m talking specifically about the reaction to something of a “microaggression.”). 

There was a friend of mine in high school named Darrell. He was an African American student whose personality was something you would not expect from anyone (and when I say anyone, I really mean ANYONE.) He always got comments from our group that, to some who don’t know Darrell, would sound offensive in this current year, since it has appeared some observations shouldn’t me made without it having to relate entirely back to something racial or political to the nth degree. Anyway, we used to say that Darrell was the “whitest black man” you will ever meet in your life. And Darrell wore that like a fucking badge, mainly because it was funny, but also because there was some truth to it. I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing, but who he was as a person, with how his personality is, it never really made him friends with those who were also from his same heritage. 

it was obvious to the entire school. Sure there were those who were also of his same racial background that accepted him but that’s because they were already within our own friend mainly because they were weird like everyone else, which was the main center point of our friend group then. Step outside the friend group and try to hang with others, you won’t get the same welcome like with us. Darrell never really hung out with groups that were also all African American because they saw him as weird. As if a black man can’t be a hardcore Star Wars fan with a pocket watch on a chain clipped to their blazer (which is the most British-as-fuck thing to do in America next to drinking tea with your pinkie out) and always greet you with “why hello good sir/madam” with a posh accent like he just read the classics and elevated his thought process above normal humans. I honestly can’t speak for the guy since I’m not him, but you could tell through his actions and attitudes that he would have rather been with us instead of whatever group there was since, well, he was weird like us and we like his weirdness. I guess what I’m trying to say is that when we called him the whitest black guy you’ll ever meet, he took it (from the outside, based on his actions and the fact that he even made star wars shaped cookies for everyone every week) like a champ and used it as a sign of acceptance from us. 

If I need to also talk about my experience to push my point, then here one: in elementary and middle school, I was never really accepted with the rest of the school except for a few that also fell into the weird category (yeah that’s one thing that almost everyone in school probably noticed, that classrooms with just segregate themselves for some fuckin reason based on some dumb thing that never really mattered at all, but anyway) the reasoning? I was the one of the only 3 Hispanic kids that didn’t know Spanish as a first language. The main justification for this reasoning was that if you didn’t know Spanish and you were Hispanic, you were weird since everyone else knew it. Now you might think that this was something as a sign of negativity thrown at me, and I’ll give it to you reader, that can be classified as a microaggression. but here is where it dwindles in effect. The thing about being the odd one out, was that I didn’t need to fit in with the rest of the group to feel accepted because I saw it as one way that I might not connect with someone, so I used other means to make friends. I found out that other people liked video games and anime at the time, and that got me a chance to speak and get to know a whole lot more people and connect with them in a different way. I had friends to talk to about Pokemon, I had friends to talk to about anime, I had friends to talk to about general video games, basically I found other ways to connect with people. I even took that with me to high school and when I met up with the same kids that came from my middle school later at my high school, they wondered how the hell some weird kid got to be known in the school, and I just simply told them “simple, I didn’t speak Spanish.” 

So with all that said, what can I really say a microaggression is? Is it something that’s supposed to put me down? something that’s supposed to make me realize that some person had a weird expectation about me based on my skin and I’m supposed to feel some kind of way about it? I guess I can’t really say because I’ve never looked at these in such a way. I never thought about it being a shitty thing to say, because I’m definitely more than just my skin color, especially when that aspect can only go so far into your identity, and others thoughts and expectations are definitely something that are NOT that important to ponder and waste mental energy on, at least that’s how it is for me. 

[realistidealistfusion]

So for this post I wanted to give my opinion on this article commenting on one of my favorite games of this year, Cuphead.

For those of you who don’t know, Cuphead is an indie game developed by Studio MDHR led by the Moldenhauer brothers, Jared and Chad. The game is what is called a ‘run-n-gun’  game in that the main focus is to run through a course while attacking enemies on screen with some projectile tactic (guns or magic) to make it to the end of the level. The style is taken from the look of 1930′s animation called ‘rubber hose’ animation. The reason for why it is called this is because of the characters being designed with limbs that look like rubber hoses. This same style can be seen with other popular animations from this time such as old Disney, Betty Boop, and Popeye the Sailor Man cartoons. 

There was much anticipation for this game since the first debut in E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) back in 2014. Audiences all throughout the internet anticipated for this games release, especially since the game had to be pushed back several years due to several issues regarding design elements and programming. There was also budget issues with the game that caused the Moldenhauer Brothers to remortgage their houses to get the money to fund the rest of the game. The game was finally released this year on September 29 and was extremely well received with many reviewers. 

So for a game that is wildly popular that did not require the budget of a AAA game (where budgets are similar to those of huge Hollywood blockbuster movies) and also only cost $20, this was a smash hit all those who owned an Xbox One and a Microsoft PC. 

So now that the backstory is out of the way with this game, let’s get to the article. The article is trying to make the case that the game’s art style is what makes it racist since the art style back in the 30′s depicted bad stereotypes of African American characters with racist imagery. That is understandable for the USE of the artwork DURING that time, but that is only because those cartoons that CHOSE to even include human characters went for that design. That does not necessarily mean that the art style itself is racist, but that the artists were for drawing the depictions of offensive stereotypes on people of color in their cartoons. 

In the game Cuphead, the majority of the cast are anthropomorphic objects with very few human characters. In fact, one character has human artwork, but through the majority of the boss fight, she remains in her zeppelin form. The other human boss characters is an actress on a stage with a child and husband and a pirate with a killer boat and nothing more. With what this game presents, especially since I’ve played the entire game, I can say that this game is far from being racist at all, and instead should be looked upon as a way to do this kind of animation within the current time we live in. 

[realistidealistfusion]

For this next post, I did another interview with my transgender friend who still wishes to be named Lexi (I talked with her about the name on the last post and she actually liked it) about the option of having Non-binary as an option on birth certificates. 

In the article, California has now passed a law allowing for the new gender option to be available on birth certificates, and also does not require a physician’s letter saying that they can allow the option. 

This may seem like my own opinion, but this does not seem like the right move to me, mainly from the stand point of the family aspect of this. There has been cases in the news where parents who are in full support of transgender rights in america claiming that their children are also transgender as well. In a video by Blaire White, a transgender youtuber who creates social commentary videos on trans rights and the lgbt community, she talks about her views on children transitioning at incredibly young ages and about how it is not right for parents to push such an idea with a child at a young age that can permanently sterilize them, rendering them unable to have children in the future with the possibility that the child might not actually be trans (there has been cases of this as well).

video: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkcveiCnN44) 

I have to agree with Blaire here on this. Children just shouldn’t be allowed to make such a drastic decision at an age where they are not even allowed to vote, drink, or even drive. If a child is in fact transgender, it should be found out naturally as they grow up, and not pushed like how the parents seem to do in the interview. 

And this is where my point comes into play here with this new law. There will end up being more of this in the future now that this law has passed and that just does not sit well with me. The fact that this will be allowed as an option for a birth certificate only allows more parents who (in my opinion) care so much about a child’s gender to completely try and lead their own child down a direction that might not be good for them, and if there are more parents like those in the interview, then I can’t really say this is for the best. 

At the very least, the gender option on the birth certificate should only have the sex of the child rather than the gender since that is something they can decide on for themselves later on in the future. 

as for the interview, I was really interested with what Lexi had to say, but since I know her personally, I cannot say I’m surprised, but what should be understood is the focus of this interview involving the idea of “non-binary” as a gender, since that is what is brought up in the article itself:

EJ - So now California has made it a new gender option to put “Non-Binary” on your birth certificate. What exactly are your thoughts on that?

Lexi - I honestly don’t know…

EJ - Really?

Lexi - I honestly don’t have a good feeling from this… this is just not a good idea in my eyes right now.

EJ - Why is that?

Lexi - I can see A LOT of bad things coming from this, mainly since transgender is considered within the LGBT community to be Non-Binary.

EJ - how so?

Lexi - Ok, I believe that this will leave a bad name for transgenders mainly because of the people I know who consider themselves non-binary and what they consider to be the deciding factor as to what makes someone non-binary. From what it seems like, it ultimately boils down to what you wear. that’s it. As long as transgender is considered to be part of non-binary, this will end up putting the idea that transgender is also based on what you wear rather than it being a legit medical condition into people’s heads. 

EJ - I can understand that. So would you consider those who call themselves non-binary to truly be a separate gender or just people trying to be something else?

Lexi - I would say they are only people trying to break gender stereotypes but nothing more. I can understand why they would want to do that but to have them be considered their own separate gender is crazy, especially when I get roped into it as well. I find it insane how they can have the audacity to say that they are a man or woman based on what they wear when we actually have scientific evidence that shows how such things cannot happen since men and women both have different brain wave activities (something we can ACTUALLY test for), you know, things that actually make men different from women and vice versa. And that undermines what I go through as a transgender person as well. 

EJ - How exactly does it do that?

Lexi - EJ, I personally find it insulting how people think they can be a man or a woman based on what you feel like wearing. Being a man or woman is more than that. It’s literally how you think and process things. I was born with a man’s body, but I have the brain of a woman. That causes mental problems for me, which is what happens when you DO have Gender Dysphoria. I feel distressed when i miss taking my medication because I’m in a rush. I feel depressed when I know real well that in order for me to change my body to fit the way my brain is, it’s going to take A LOT of money, money that I do not have at the moment, and what’s worse is that if I don’t get the SRS surgery done, there is a real chance that I can die early. You don’t die early from wearing something that you don’t want to wear or wanting to do something that you see other people do. Honestly, all of that just makes me angry to the core.

[realistidealistfusion]

For this next topic, I want to make it an opinion post. I also want to add some context to this as well.

When I first read the book To Kill a Mockingbird in high school, it left something of a mark on me. when I saw the movie afterwards, that mark turned itself into an idea, an idea of what I believe every American citizen should hold. That idea is that all Americans, no matter what creed, orientation, or race (and ESPECIALLY race) should be treated equal in a democratic and freedom loving society. Of course, not all citizens currently hold that idea, but it is books like this one that help to solidify it through its language and imagery along with the film. To Kill a Mockingbird is a book that takes place in the deep south during a time of Jim Crow laws and social separation and hatred due to the mere difference of skin tone. In the book, a young girl names Jean Louise "Scout" Finch tells a story about her summers with her brother Jem and friend Dill, specifically one summer about their discovery of Boo Radley and of the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man that was being accuse of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewell. 

In this book, when Scout starts to mention Tom’s trial, the side characters in the story start to treat her family differently. At first they were nice and friendly, but when the part of the trial comes along, the neighborhood practically turns their back on the Finch family because Scout’s father, Atticus Finch, is the lawyer that decides to defend Tom Robinson. This all takes place during the time of the depression in Maycomb, Alabama. The thought of a white lawyer defending a black man accused of the rape of a white woman during this time was unheard of and definitely frowned upon. It was so bad in the story that once Tom was transferred to a jail cell the night before his trial, an angry mob of white men come to try and cause a problem for him. The townspeople call Atticus Finch a “n***er-lover” and Scout even punches her own cousin for saying such things. 

This is where I’m going to give my two-cents. If you read the paragraph of my own summary and felt uncomfortable about the story, GOOD, because when I first read the story, I was VERY uncomfortable, even when I was in 10th grade. This book left a mark on me because of its harsh language, because of its bold imagery in the movie, and because I did not feel right about that part of the story, it left me with a lesson. Now I have already stated that lesson in the beginning of this post, but how did you think that I learned it to begin with? If a story with that deep of a lesson was read with the imagery of something more suitable, I GUARANTEE you that that lesson will either be forgotten or worse, missed. To have books like this with such bold language is necessary for us to learn these lessons. Just like an athlete must feel pain in order to become stronger, we must feel discomfort in order to learn. we must break out of our comfort-zones in order to truly understand the history of our country so that way we may learn from those mistakes from the past and make sure to never repeat them and to also never forget. 

[realistidealistfusion]

THIS TIME WE’RE GOIN ACROSS THE POND TO THE U.K.

Former L’Oreal model Munroe Bergdorf was given a spot on BBC’s TW (This Week) The Take, where the model was given a platform to talk about the political and social problems facing the United Kingdom today. 

TW was established in 2003 in order to have guest speakers come in and talk politics from both view points on the left and the right. Much of what is mention on this program is about british politics, but this one segment caught me off-guard as the topic mention in the article is something I have always been hearing on campus in the U.S.: white people are deeply racist. Now, normally, I would not agree to this kind of statement as i recognized the diverse society that the U.S. has become over the centuries of history and decades of me being alive observing it and with my interaction with white people a lot of the time, but that’s for a different topic on another day. This time I am curious about the U.K. and their white people; How exactly are they racist? Are white people in the U.K. more racist than white people in some parts of the deep south today?

The U.K. has published an analytical report called the Race Disparity Audit (Source 1) that has a collection of data to collected from the people showing how races are treated through economical situations such as salary and earning for example, home situations such as number of home owners and homeless among races, and even social capital like attitudes towards living in England as a white person or a person of color (I did not even know such a thing was measurable until now). The purpose of this audit is to present the data of certain aspects of society that can be measurable with race in mind to help build a picture as to what is going on in the British society and only that. The audit does not say that the reason for some of these results is purely because of discrimination like Munroe Bergdof suggests. She does have a point that some of the results in this audit do have over representation of in some areas that may seem negative to those who are people of color, but are we actually sure that the reasoning for this is due to discrimination? 

In my opinion, I feel as though that the people of the UK should look at this audit with an open mind and carefully analyze this for the betterment of their society. From what I have seen online with international news, specifically with the UK, there has been a lot of discrimination AGAINST white people for the sake of diversity and “equality.” The BBC now has hiring quotas to make to ensure that all people are represented in the company, but once a certain quota is filled, they will not hire anyone within that category since they are full, meaning that if they have enough white people, they WILL NOT hire white people, even if the person who is applying for the job is over-qualified (Source 2). I’m not saying that this is some sort of “reverse-discrimination” or anything, it’s discrimination, period. I know in this politically charged climate that race has been brought up countless times, and I know it is something that the US will probably never get away from since it’s always in the conversation here, but if we are to truly be rid of racism or discrimination of any kind in our society, this is NOT the way to do it. If you are one of the people who preach about equality being needed in our society, you should ALWAYS stand by it and recognize everyone, regardless of past actions in our history, as equal under the law and equal as a fellow human being. 

sources:

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/650723/RDAweb.pdf

2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3621658/BBC-turn-trainees-WHITE-Job-applicants-stunned-told-corporation-wants-people-ethnic-minority-backgrounds.html

[realistidealistfusion]

My second post may seem a bit controversial. This time the topic is on Sex Reassignment surgery and Medical Insurance: should it be covered? I would like to clarify that I, being Cis, cannot and will not vouch (I’m saying I can’t speak on their behalf, weird wording i know) for the experiences that some individuals that do experience this phenomenon due to the fact that their experience is not my own, but I would like to give some examples about this kind of situation with people I know to try and make my point (with given consent of course). Hopefully this will help drive my point across with what I’m about to say. This article is about Iowa’s Medicaid ban on sex reassignment surgery (S.R.S.) and suggesting that it is ‘unconstitutional.’ In the article, two women are suing the Iowa Department of Human Services for not allowing sex reassignment surgery to be covered by the states Medicaid  providers because their ban on the surgery is against Iowa’s state constitution. The reason Iowa doesn’t allow for the surgery to be covered is because they are still considering it and cannot give an opinion on it just yet. Now here is where the controversial part comes in, but keep in mind: If you (the reader) can accept this information I am about to show, then maybe you can see the benefit that I will later propose as a possible solution to this problem of the ban. First, we must understand that, with all the studies we have on the subject, Transgenderism is part of Gender Dysphoria, which results from Gender Identity Disorder-- “G.I.D.” for short (Source 1). This disorder causes a person to feel constant distress and also depression and hopelessness around the feeling of being in the wrong body, leading to some of those with G.I.D. to attempt suicide (source 2). Since Medicaid can cover for prescription drugs that are for mental illnesses such as depression (Source 3), Medicaid should be able to cover for the hormones that those with G.I.D. need for treatment. As for the surgery, here is where things get a little muddy. Not every case with someone having G.I.D. results in surgery being done , although they still wish to continue with hormonal therapy (Source 1). Here is where I think Medicaid should come in for the surgery. Since not every person who has G.I.D. wants surgery but there are many that do, S.R.S. should at least be covered partially within the state of Iowa since it is recognized as a form of treatment for G.I.D.

 Although I feel this should be the way for health insurance companies to help treat those with G.I.D., not all people feel the same way. I interviewed someone I knew who is transgender MtF (Male to Female) and what she told me does contribute partially to my solution. She requested that I left her anonymous, so I will give her the name Lexi for this blogpost:

EJ - Do you think the state of Iowa’s medicaid should cover for S.R.S.?

Lexi - well no don’t think so. 

EJ - why is that?

Lexi - well the reason why I don’t think it should be covered is because of the fact that not every person who is transgender wants to go through with the surgery. Some people are just fine with taking hormones and just going about their day. 

EJ - The women in the article use Mastectomy as an example of part of the total surgery that IS covered. So if that is already covered, why not cover for the rest?

Lexi - The reason why mastectomy is covered in the first place is because those who are inflicted with breast cancer use that as a treatment for that: something that can actually kill you if left untreated. G.I.D. however, does not harm you like cancer does. sure, it can leave you feeling distressed and depressed and those thoughts of suicide can occur, but the actual disorder does not physically threaten you like cancer, where if left untreated it can spread and destroy your body. 

EJ - That’s an interesting way to look at it. So would you say that S.R.S. surgery is more of a cosmetic surgery rather than a medical one that’s necessary?

Lexi - I would say that it is more cosmetic than medical. I know some people who are transgender and are perfectly fine with just hormonal treatment. I can understand why some people would want it to be a medical treatment. When you’re on hormonal therapy, there is a lot of medication that you need to take in order for your body to feel right and shift in how it develops. For example, my case: I’m transgender MtF. I have to take certain estrogen pills everyday and testosterone blockers along with them since I haven’t had the vaginoplasty surgery yet. I’m saving up for it, but until I get it, I have to take those testosterone blockers all the time, and since I’m taking medicine almost everyday, that’s going to hurt my liver with all the chemical processing in my body. In fact, because of that, if I don’t get the surgery within the next 5-6 years, my life span overall with be much shorter since I would have to take the medicine everyday and practically destroy my liver in the entire process, and for some people, that’s an understandable fear. Although that sounds bad, it all depends on the person, and if they feel they don’t want the surgery and understand what that means, that’s there decision. Of course it would be convenient for transgender people to have at least vaginoplasty and  phalloplasty covered since those are the most expensive and important of the surgery. 

sources:

1. https://www.psychiatry.org/home/search-results?k=transgenderism (first link on the list is a report on Gender Identity Disorder)

2. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/AFSP-Williams-Suicide-Report-Final.pdf

3. http://money.cnn.com/retirement/guide/insurance_health.moneymag/index17.htm?iid=EL

[realistidealistfusion]

Well, this will be an interesting topic for my first official post. Uniforms in school. Since this is in the U.K. and I am from the U.S., I cannot say for certain that some of my experiences with school would be the same for those in other countries, but what i can say is that for my schooling, I have worn uniform basically since the first day i walked into a school and i have noticed some things that might be something to think about so long as a school system requires its students to wear uniform (Depending on your district. Not all of the schools require uniform). Uniforms in the U.S. were first made mandatory throughout schools (not by the state but the schools themselves) in the 1990′s. A study was done in Long Beach Unified School District that found that since the implementation of school uniforms, the schools found a decrease in the amount of suspension, expulsions, tardiness, crime, and vandalism. (source 1) Although these findings were true within the Long Beach Unified School District, other studies were conducted in other areas after the implementation of school uniforms and did not see the same results. The reason why I bring this up is to show that in some places and even with some people, implementing or changing the school uniform would not do much for the students academic success or (maybe) social inclusion without their being some problems involved with others that might be affected by these changes. I do agree that a change in the uniform policy that would help transgender students feel more comfortable in school is a good thing, but with the way this school is implementing it by making it mandatory for all students to wear the exact same uniform with matching pants with all genders, including the girls, essentially removing skirts from the uniforms, seems a little much. The reason I mention this is because the situation from what I can tell (from my own observation) is based on the concept of identity and inclusion. There is a parent mentioned in the article that says  “My daughter said she has got a gender and it’s female so being gender neutral when she has got a gender is a big deal for her, as she is proud to be a girl.” I imagine that there are more students who probably feel that way and since gender has become a topic of debate even in school, those students probably feel more defensive of their own gender identity as girls as well. Of course, there is the other issue with decency that has affect this decision. I hope that my suggestion will also cover this as well, being how I’m sure that not all of the girl students in this school are in violation with the schools dress code involving decency. In order to allow transgender students to feel more included in the school community and to also help lower the decency violations, merely allow the school uniform pants as an option for those who choose to where it. If there is a student who recognizes as transgender, the option can be available, and if a female student sees pants as an option for her uniform and might want to have another choice in case decency becomes a problem, they can also have that choice as well. Just so you, the reader, know why I suggest pants be merely an option rather than mandatory for the uniform, I have seen this idea play out when I went to a private high school where uniform was mandatory. there were specific uniforms for the boys with the ties and gray slacks, but with the girls, they had two options: to wear the school approved skirt with the chosen plaid design or the lesser known uniform, black polo with school logo and khaki pants (literally, and i do mean literally, no girl wore this while i was there. probably because the option simply wasn’t known). Once a friend of mine who used to get in trouble for some issues with her skirt being too short, (she was a bigger girl and the larger skirts wouldn’t help. It really sucked for her.) found out about the second option, she decided to take it and never had any problems with the teachers again about her skirt. An effective, yet simple solution. I hope that those who read this will take into consideration what I had to say on the matter, regardless of whether or not you agree. 

Source 1:  EFFECTS OF A SCHOOL UNIFORM POLICY ON AN URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT by Joshua B. Reed

 https://www.nmu.edu/sites/DrupalEducation/files/UserFiles/Files/Pre-Drupal/SiteSections/Students/GradPapers/Projects/Reed_Joshua_MP.pdf

[realistidealistfusion]

Who am I? and what will I be doing?

My name is E.J. I am a college student at UNT. I like Music, mainly from underground hip hop and electronic music (not so much EDM, since i consider Justice and Daft Punk to be ENTIRELY different from Skrillex and Getter, although they are pretty good artists themselves) and a bit of Jazz as well (the likes of Kamasi Washington and Thundercat). With this blog i will be talking about certain things that i witness within the media that I feel needs addressing. Just as a heads up, yes, some of those things might include the topics of Race, Gender, and the MSM, but do keep in mind that these topics will not be the only things that I cover on this blog. The focus of these blog posts will be to observe these events covered in the media and also review articles from news sites and discuss what the these sites are trying to convey. Within this politically sensitive atmosphere that we live in today, it is not hard to find that some news organizations hold a level of bias, leaning one side in politics and using whatever they can to demonize all others who are not align with that organizations one political standing. It doesn’t just happen on the right, and it doesn’t just happen on the left, and with the rise of what I like to call “Outrage Culture,” it seems like there is almost an abundance of examples to give. So as time goes on, and as long as politics regarding Race, Gender, Policies that affect our nation, Policies that affect nation relationships, and even Policies that affect Economics, you can be sure that I will find them and critic them here. Hope you all enjoy the content that will be posted here.