#language misuse

[magnetothemagnificent]

Instead of misrepresenting terms that were created to describe intersex variations and infertility (Six sexes, not genders), as queer Jews we should come up with new, inclusive terms that are inspired by the gender nonconformity and non-heteronormative people and ideas in Judaism, in the same way Native Americans came up with the modern word of "Two Spirit" as an umbrella term. Language is always evolving and we don't need to and shouldn't misgender and misrepresent intersex people to try and find words for ourselves.

I like the term "נברא בין השמשות" ("Nivrah Bein HaShmashot")-"Created between the suns", which refers to the concept in Midrash of the liminal time between the end of the Sixth Day of Creation and the Seventh Day of Creation. It is said that during this time certain important objects, creatures, and concepts were created. The entities created during this time mostly follow themes of not fitting into certain binaries and/or not being able to be fully explained or rationalized, hence they were created "Between the suns", because they did not fit neatly into one category or another.

I've talked about this idea before and how I relate it to my transness, and I think it would be a perfect umbrella term for Jews whose gender and/or sexuality is outside of societal cishetnormativity.

Another term I like is "עוברים" ("Ovrim") ("Those who cross over"). Jews are known as "עברים" because of how we stand out and may seem to be transgressive or rebellious when we cross over boundaries, and this shares a root with "עברים". The term melds Jewish identity with gender nonconformity and/or transitioning and sexuality that isn't heterosexual.

Or maybe we can come up with another term! But regardless, it's important that we don't misappropriate terms that were created to describe intersex people (who still face mountains of stigma and discrimination and shouldn't be silenced or spoken over by trans people). And anyway, I think it's far more meaningful and beautiful to come up with our own terms rather than misuse centuries old terms that never had us in mind.

The Queer Jewish community is a thriving, invaluable community, and we deserve to create and use our own words.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Credit to: Ian Sanders for the post.

I love this

[marcsnuffy]

no thanks twitter I don't want to see that guy shirtless, beefed up and sweating. I do want to see him scampering like a mouse or writhing in pain though thanks for that

[uncanny-tranny]

I think a lot of people forget that the toxic part of the "toxic masculinity" phrase is an adjective - something that describes a noun (masculinity).

So, for example, how there are tall women, but that doesn't mean that all women are tall women. There are short women and medium-sized women, but the specific existence of tall women doesn't negate that there are other-sized women.

I see this on both sides - both in the idea that all masculinity is inextricably linked to toxicity, and also in the idea that, because there are healthy forms of masculinity (or, healthier versions), there can be no forms of toxic masculinity. These conversations are too complex to slap either label onto the premise.

[tired-fandom-ndn]

I don't usually give a crap about grammar but I DO think it's important to try to show the bare minimum of thoughtfulness and respect when using words from languages that are from marginalized ethnic groups or often appropriated from in your own culture, especially when those words are often misused in harmful ways.

[korodere]

i kinda hate now that the like? homophobic excuse for hating/disliking gay ships of "i see them as friends" "i see them as brothers" "i see them as a teacher/student relationship despite them being close in age" "i see the older one as fatherly to the younger one" has become, like, "woke" way of dismissing gay ships in fandom. esp on tiktok

like the fact that ive seen new overwatch fans say roadrat's age gap is too large and men should just be able to be friends/i think roadhog is fatherly to junkrat so its "icky" is. Wild.

and its always from someone who instead ships those characters in a mediocre het pairing instead

[blackholemojis]

could i request a text emote that says (without the quotation marks) “Sorry, I’m crazy”, either in your usual color scheme and/or in royal blue and yellow? it’s a reference to a video, and my friends and i sometimes use when we’re being Brainweird about something lol

Yep! More notes in the notes of this post, I just didn’t want to clog this up

[ID: “Sorry, I’m crazy,” written in purple bubble letters. /End ID]

[nomsfaultau]

Case files (as edited by Tommy and Tubbo)

Special guest appearance by the ‘‘‘lovely’’’ Dr. Blake. Additionally, this is only what the Foundation is aware of, which is a rather important distinction.

Fic is Fault by CookieNomNomCrunch on AO3

[puppyeared]

who up seeing their disorder in a fictional character but feel like its not their place to put a name on it

[katzenklavierr]

Btw if you’ve just found out that “gay panic” is a legal defense for homophobia-driven murders (particularly of gay men by straight men) but still want a term to describe the feeling of panicking over your sexuality, the term you are looking for is “sexuality crisis”.

[hypaalicious]

Y’all absolutely need to touch grass if you’re policing the sanctity of a fictional character and that goes double if you are harassing real people over it.

It’s alright if you’re uncomfy with other people’s characterizations or projected desires onto your smol bean-ified comfort characters. There are more things than I can count that weird me out in fandoms. But to react as if you are morally superior than someone else because of your preferences or act as if you being offended is equal to actual real-life harm is absolutely wild.

Fictional characters are a conglomerate of flattened personality traits and aesthetics, nothing more. In most cases, everything is arbitrary. In all cases, everything is make-believe.

So, like… maybe take a breather.

[a-dragons-journal]

I don't want to invade the community, but I genuinely can't tell if my kin feelings are voluntary or involuntary. Does that mean I'm a KFF?

Tl;dr: No. Also heads-up that I get very emphatic in this post; that's not because I'm mad at you or anything, it's because people in general keep either misunderstanding or intentionally twisting what "KFF" is supposed to mean to make it sound way more exclusionist and gatekeepery than it actually is and I'm getting frustrated with that.

You're only "KFF" if you are knowingly, actively, intentionally using the word "kinning" to mean relating to, projecting onto, etc. a character while not actually at all identifying as them. That is, if you are "kinning for fun," "kinning" for the purpose of having fun, and it's not at all a genuine identity thing for you. It's in the phrase they use for themselves from which the acronym "KFF" came from.

If you identify as them in some way (voluntary or involuntary imo - the words copinglinker/otherlinker exist specifically for voluntary identity, but as I've said in a recent post, I find hardline enforcing that distinction less and less useful as time goes on, though certainly having the words available is useful, and anyway 'linkers aren't KFF either), you're not KFF.

If you aren't sure whether it's an identify-as thing or something else, and you're figuring that out, you're not KFF.

If you're not sure whether it's an identify-as thing or something else, and have given up on figuring it out because that line isn't clear for you and just want to settle somewhere and talk about your experiences genuinely, you're not KFF.

If you enjoy being 'kin and like to joke around and have fun with it, but it is still a genuine identity thing for you at its core, you're not KFF.

If you have a "weird" identity (in literally whatever way you can think of), that does not make you KFF.

KFF has a very specific meaning and "my experiences are weird and/or blurry in one aspect or another and I'm not quite sure what to make of them" is not it. (Nor is "having fun with being 'kin" and I really wish people would stop confusing those two.) It specifically (again, as is in the literal name) means people who are intentionally misusing "kinning" for something they KNOW isn't an identity thing.

[hobbinch]

You Put That Abuse-Related Term Back In Its Proper Context or So Help Me

[commiegoth]

Maybe the point is moot now that SAG-AFTRA has reached a (tentative) deal with the AMPTP that seems to provide protections against abuse of scans of actors by studios without compensation or consent, but I really truly hate how quickly everyone adopted the language of calling this "AI". The process of taking a scan of a person and turning that into an animatable model and putting that into a shot of a movie is VFX WORK. Sure, there are probably certain generative tools that could be used along the way, but none of that happens at the flip of a switch. It takes living human beings to turn that into a film. Describing this solely as "AI" obfuscates the real human labor that goes into it, which studios are banking on because VFX as an industry does not have a centralized union like SAG-AFTRA and they want to continue exploiting VFX workers to death. News sites and people on social media and even members of other unions in the film industry accepting this language unquestioningly is so disappointing and does so much to erase the real human labor these studios already rely on undervaluing.

[coochiequeens]

Another man who calls his girlfriend “ableist” and other SJW words when she calls out his bullshit.

The goods news

Not sure what other state laws are but in Connecticut businesses can ask about the animal

“Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog that has been trained to perform disability-related tasks for the benefit of a person with a physical or mental disability. In some cases, a miniature horse may also qualify as a service animal. “

“Neither Connecticut law nor the ADA cover what some people call "emotional support animals": animals whose presence provides a sense of safety, companionship, and comfort to those with psychiatric or emotional conditions. Although these animals often have therapeutic benefits, they are not trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities.”

Any one else willing to put money on he used his issues to get out of his share of household chores “sorry babe my feelz hit me so hard I couldn’t do the dishes” and to weasel out of events she wanted to do together?

Yeah I’m biased. I once dated a guy who had ADHD and it was amazing how many times he fucked up the times for dates when it was my chance to pick the movie. Of course it was always excuses, never coping strategies.

[nimium-amatrix-ingenii-sui]

Ruthandol? How the everloving fuck would you come up with Ruthandol? There’s. There’s a reason that it’s written with a double-S. Means that it has shit fuck all to do with the TH -> S development (not to mention that... not all later Quenya S once were TH?! Some have always been S? silmë as an individual Tengwa exists? I mean, it’s a fairly significant sound in, IDK, Silmaril?!). The double-S in transcription represents a whole-ass Tengwa of its own (essë)? This isn’t even complicated or ambiguous it’s just... IDK? Revisionism? Hypercorrection? Pseudo-Fëanorian bullshit? I mean, you can name an OC Ruthandol (or rather, Rúthandol) because rúsë/rúthë “wrath” exists. It’s correct Quenya. But. It very much isn’t a valid form of Russandol (Don’t mind me, I’ve been reading the AMA with Bill Fliss and someone asked the poor man whether Ruthandol would be more correct than Russandol. He wisely abstained from answering and declared that he was out of his depth there. I, however, am not.)