#at least it is clear to me

[bethanydelleman]

Difficulties Part 1

I usually keep pretty well to Austen or British literature of the last century, but as Jane Austen is very concerned with the plight of women, I wanted to share two small things that happened to me, that impress upon me the difficulty living in the world as a woman.

I had a job that I really loved at a university in Canada. I was unionized, had unlimited sick days, medical benefits, paid time off, a pension, and reasonable compensation. After about two years at this job I left for maternity leave, which in my country was 1 year at half pay. I was worried however, because my department had a nasty habit of laying off women during mat leave. This would usually be illegal, but research work is all based on grants and contracts, so it can happen more easily in my field than in others.

I was anxious about going back to work, but at the 10 month mark my boss emailed and asked if I could come back early. I agreed, partially because I was bored but also because I was worried I might lose my position if I didn’t go back. So I went back 3 days a week (I had actually started at this job 3 days a week and moved to five over time) and my son went to a great little home daycare. I made it clear to my manager that as I had a 2 hours a day commute, I didn’t want to work more days. I thought she would understand as she had also worked part time when she had young children.

2 months in, I was laid off. I was only 2 months away from my contract becoming permanent, something that happened automatically after 3 years. I also had worked so few hours that it was impossible for me to collect employment insurance. It turned out they just wanted me to cover a three month leave of another staff member.

Now I feel I must justify myself, I was good at my job. When the news got around, I was approached by several people I had worked with who offered themselves as references. One person even swore when she realized she’d have to train someone new on the complicated medical software that I had mastered (just ask a nurse or doctor how user friendly their medical records program is...). Even though they were not required to, many of the doctors I worked with still included my name on their published research papers.

Anyway, we were in a terrible position as a family. My husband and I had just purchased a new house, since my job had seemed secure. I fortunately had about a month’s vacation pay as a buffer, but that was it. My daycare graciously let me take my son out until I found another job, if I had lost my space it would have been worse. I desperately applied for jobs and eventually accepted one with the same employer that was not unionized.

I lost my pension, sick days, medical benefits, and paid vacation and was only given about 2 dollars more an hour in this new job. I never would have accepted it if I hadn’t been so desperate. 

And the worst part is, the people who did this to me were all women. My manager and supervisor were both women. And they didn’t care. The one even seemed surprised that I was angry at the final meeting. She said it was best for the projects. I highly doubt it.

Anyway, this is my little proof that having a uterus and being a mother who wants to spend time with her child still can destroy your career and that you can’t rely on the compassion or humanity of your superiors.

Note: Why do I need medical benefits? I live in Canada, but we have a strange form of universal healthcare that covers all hospital and doctor visits, but not eye, dental, most therapy/mental health care or most medication. So for a person my age at the time, the most commonly covered would be things like birth control, glasses, dental visits, and physiotherapy.

And yes, this creates problems were someone with say, type two diabetes can’t afford their very cheap meds and instead ends up in the ER frequently which is super expensive. We have plans where if you are poor enough you get free medication but it’s a mess and honestly they need to fix it.

[invasive]

[mipexch]

comic about v2 and the goal they'll never fully reach alongside a dissatisfying conclusion. intimate rivalry and all (alternative ending comic. V1 dies instead of V2 during 4-4. V2 is narrating. V1 is dead.)

[viyojo]

You're a kid now…🧍‍♂️still a kid now!

[nhyhu]

smile

[ariadne-mouse]

This feels like both a statement of potential obviousness, but also a prediction because hey, we're only 2.5 hrs into Episode 1: I don't think Downfall will reveal either the gods or the Aeorians to somehow be uniquely evil, or that the desire on either part to destroy the other is somehow uniquely more justified or deserved.

Like in Episode 1 here we're getting a very strong dose of the shitty things Aeorians are doing to other mortals in their pursuit of control and power - we already knew they were a warmongering surveillance state, and as things get worse on Exandria it's grimly unsurprising that the people on the ground are increasingly treated as disposable. But Aeor is still a city full of people seeking safety in a land torn open by the gods' battles, desperate to survive by any (increasingly ugly and sinister) means. And the gods in turn are afraid for their survival, and are acting accordingly in seeking Aeor's Downfall (immense collateral damage) - all while and the versions of them in the party here have lived mortal lives & hardships, have families, communities. They have lived in the desolation their own godly battles have created. We don't see them portrayed as lofty divine abstracts, not even necessarily in the intro, where they are confused, afraid, and seeking safety from danger.

For Ludinus to think this "footage" is in his favor against the gods, and the complexity of the lore being what it is and the cast being the storytellers that they are, I think it must be the kind of series of events you can look at and see the humanity (using that word deliberately) for good and ill in all parties involved - and leave again with your biases if they're strong enough. Very curious what we will learn. I expect to weep. I can't wait.

[probablyanalienindisguise]

[trans-androgyne]

"Manhood is fundamentally shaped by the patriarchy and cannot be separated from it." What a sad view to have of gender, and one that directly harms trans men and mascs.

Do you realize how close that is to what TERFs believe? I’ve encountered so many of them that go off about how gender is inextricable from patriarchy, only existing to oppress women. That's where the term "gender critical" comes from. They think gender should be abolished entirely instead instead of preserving what brings people comfort and euphoria. They see trans people transitioning as inherently upholding patriarchy, including believing that trans men are just oppressed girls betraying their sisters by trying to move up in the gender hierarchy.

Gender has existed without patriarchy and it will again. I'm sorry to tell you this, but by saying the two are inextricable you are letting colonizers win. My ancestors lived in a matriarchy before being colonized by Spain and inundated with Catholicism--yet we still had gender roles, ones in which women were respected and had power. We certainly were not unique for that.

What happened to "smash the patriarchy"? Please don't just accept that this is the way of the world, that to be a woman means to be a victim and to be a man means to be an oppressor. My masculinity is queer, not gender-conforming. I resist the patriarchy by my very existence, as do other trans men and mascs. If you want to be inclusive and supportive of all trans people, you're going to have to expand your view of gender beyond what the patriarchy has taught you.

[release-the-sheep]

thinking my thoughts as always and I think I need everyone who sent me 🍇 during the fruit ask game to know that actually,

this shit. this moment. the way Jane moves and is, here. this is the one that won't leave me alone, and while I have not written anything with it and don't have any concrete plans to do so, it does light my brain up like a pinball machine every time I look at it.

that is a wild animal. nothing is going to hurt Maura, absolutely not, but Jane is not operating on a human level in this moment. and that makes me lose it. whatever's governing her right then is deeper than rationality, logic, all the things that supposedly set us above the rest of the animal kingdom. and if this is how Jane is most effective, she's willing to do away with all of those things. she's willing to accept that she is that animal, if Maura needs her to be. the way she bends down over Maura's body is like... I don't even know, man. It's like a hunter laying claim to their fresh kill, or a scavenger laying claim to a carcass. It's a mother sheltering her young. It makes me go psychosexual David Attenborough, hitting every 50's lesbian pulp trope but through a Discovery Channel lens. it's "don't fuck with me", but in a growl that human vocal chords are not adapted to make.

we talk about guard dog Jane a lot but what if, yknow?

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[navree]

Incorrect, the fact that Biden has dropped out and a candidate with history of supporting medicare for all and being more receptive to a ceasefire in the I/P conflict has made me go from "I cannot morally support the Democratic nominee" to "I am voting for the Democratic nominee despite the fact she isn't perfect in every respect." I'm really happy this played out. The Dems for the most part abandoned the old Obama platform and it feels like its possible an actual progressive agenda could come to pass in my lifetime.

Kamala 2024!

If you weren't going to vote Democratic in this election before Biden dropped out you're a dorkass loser who does not care about any of the issues you're yammering about here and also a fundamentally bad person, and I hope you get run over by a bus.

But you got one thing right in all of this gibberish, Kamala 2024.

[variousqueerthings]

the thing about spike is that he's such a rat man, such a pathetic, horrible freak, but james marsters is so charismatic that even when he's at his worst, he's got something interesting to him, and then of course at some point spike's development is such that he'll say things like "made a promise to a lady" in order to explain why he's helping the good guys at high risk of death and it's so very casually heroic and chivalrous, and he'll collapse to the ground and sob into his hands when buffy dies, and you can see how that was there the whole time, but twisted by all his anger and a lifetime with drusilla (who herself was twisted into her shape by angel), so you just can't help but root for him to become a hero of some kind

[larabar]

finding parallels

[spkyart]

THE BOYS ⭐⭐⭐⭐

One of them is a professional yapper

[cdroloisms]

going from a c!awesamdreamer in 2021/2022 -> 2024 has been. an interesting experience.

[hobnob-moth]

Wait… aren’t directors usually supposed to be the silent voice in stories? -Jesse

Oh, tons of directors are in their own work. Hitchcock, Harold Ramis, Mel Brooks, M Night. Shyamalan, Uhh ███ ████. -Emily

Who? -Jesse

—

Had a silly idea pop into my head when I heard the dlc for Alan Wake 2 would have Jesse in it, and the idea kept tormenting me enough to finish this drawing. I wanted to work in something with The Director vs a director, but wasn’t able to make it concise enough to fit sadly.