#such as the idea that those socialized male are 'uniquely predatory'...

[uncanny-tranny]

Two questions: First of all, do I as an enby count as trans? I don't think so, or do I?

Second question: I'm an amab enby. I often feel like I don't belong in queer spaces because I feel like I'm a predator and a danger, because I was raised and socialized as male. And the last thing I want to do is to make my fellow queer people feel uncomfortable because "a man" is in their space. How do I feel with this?

If you don't identify with your expected gender/sex either in part or in whole, then you can call yourself trans if you'd like. A trans person is anybody who's gender transcends expectations, in my opinion. You don't have to use the trans label, but just know that you aren't excluded - your interests align with us. Your dreams and hopes and experiences are shared amongst so many others. This community is not for just one type of trans person. It is for us all.

Can I be honest? As a trans man*, I relate with the last part of what you're saying, about feeling like a predator. So many spaces do feel unwelcoming in that aspect, but in my experience, it isn't because you are predatory. It's because people are holding onto strict gender essentialism which says that men and "men" are dangerous. Gender essentialism is just as toxic as sex essentialism, and it does suck that many people ascribe prescriptive definitions onto people. I've found that "male and female" socialization has stopped being terms which describes a particular experience and has become something which has no nuance, and which means that "trans people will always be [assumed biological sex]".

I think the best way around this is to put yourself and safety first. I used to be in spaces like the ones you said, and it made me even more paranoid. I went out if my way to be the direct opposite of "predatory" to the point where I let people deny my manhood. I know you aren't a man, and I hope it doesn't come across like I am saying you are. But I think you and I have similar feelings about this.

Please, I know you're in a tough spot emotionally, but I want you to know you're worthy of respect. If you want to be in trans and queer spaces, you should feel welcome. Enby people who were amab are not predatory. You lot are some of the bravest, most kind, most compassionate people I have had the pleasure of knowing. Others are not entitled to making you feel like shit simply because of who you are.

[gabbermutt]

i feel like a lot of people don't know the difference between a radfem, a TERF, and a transphobe, and as a result there's a lot of confusion and throwing around words when they don't apply. so, here's a post explaining the difference

the term radfem comes from "radical feminist", and refers to a version of feminism that essentially posits that gender inequality results from male domination over women in all aspects of life. essentially, all men hold power over women.

radical feminism kinda inherently flawed. namely, there is no way to address stratification or other social issues by treating men and women as homogynous classes of people. there isn't room for diversity within these groups, or different kinds of power structures or levels of oppression/privilege because all men are equally perpetrators, and all women are equally victims.

because radical feminism functions in this way, it makes it really easy to jump to bioessentialist conclusions about gender, which brings in TERFs. TERFs, or trans-exclusionary radical feminists, follow the same idea that all men hold power over women, but further believe that mobility between these two classes is not possible via transition, and that trans women are not "real women" due to the fact they are not biologically female, and therefore not included in the fight for women's rights. although bioessentialism is fundamentally anti-feminist, many TERFs rely on it to back up their argument that men and women are inherently different and that one cannot truly change their gender/sex

TERFs tend to be much more hostile towards transgender women than they do transgender men, often following the trend of treating trans men as "vulnerable women being taken advantage of" and trans women as "predatory men taking advantage of 'real' women" (see a pattern?).

a person has to be a radical feminist in order to be a TERF. all TERFs are radfems, but not all radfems are TERFs (NERFs, or non-exclusionary radical feminists, for example, are not inherently transphobic. there's a substantial community of NERFs on Reddit!). all TERFs are transphobes, but not all transphobes are TERFs.

a video I stumbled across while this post rotted in my drafts explains this in more detail, you should take a watch if this interests you

be sure to call people what they are instead of using buzzwords, it makes your argument stronger and keeps these words uniquely defined for specific use cases. we can better describe both each other and those who wish to fight against us by keeping our language consistent!!

[nothorses]

when people say that all trans people aren't affected by "male/female socialization" because we internalize whatever genders socialization, i dont think thats completely accurate? like i know for a fact that i, as a trans man (whos not out) and my sister got treated differently growing up then my brothers. even if i did internalize messages about how "boys should be" (which i dont even really think i did, because i do still have feminine mannerisms and have always hated toxic masculinity), wouldn't just the way youre treated, as a female child vs a male child, really play a big impact on you? i can confidently say that if i were a cis man, my personality would be different.

i think people get too held up on the idea that "trans women have "male socialization"" to mean that they are more likely to have toxic masculinity and be aggressive, which is obviously what TERFs claim and isnt true, but dismiss the idea that your agab has a HUGE role in the way you are treated as a child and how you grow up.

and i dont mean to say that there is some kind of "universal afab/amab experience" or whatever, because that is blatantly untrue, just to say that even in parents who are consciencely trying to eliminate gendered bias in their parenting, its so ingrained in our society, that even they don't treat their children 100% the same

Yeah, I think there are two positions here that get parroted most often:

1. Trans people are socialized the way their AGAB is normally socialized

Which is typically used to reinforce bio-essentialist ideology and claim trans women are more aggressive/prone to predatory and dangerous behavior, and that trans men are helpless, whiny, and bitchy. (see: TERF ideology, typical transphobia)

2. Trans people are socialized the way their actual gender is normally socialized

Which is used to reinforce gender-essentialist ideology (trans women are helpless, whiny, and bitchy, and trans men are aggressive/prone to predatory and dangerous behavior), and transmedicalism- which often suggests that any amount of AGAB socialization means you aren't "really trans".

Most people who oppose concepts like "transandrophobia" will ascribe to the second set of beliefs, and insist that the only alternative to it is the first set of beliefs- i.e., they argue that it's transmisogynistic to imply that trans people are not socialized strictly as the gender they actually are (trans women as women and trans men as men), because otherwise they must be socialized as the gender they were assigned at birth (trans women as men, and trans men as women), and that's an idea TERFs and other transphobes use to justify transmisogynistic ideas.

Which, of course, means that either you must agree that trans men are socialized like cis men to be aggressive, domineering, and oppressors- or else you must hate trans women.

But there's obviously a more nuanced take here.

3. Trans people are not socialized exactly like their cis counterparts. Trans people internalize lots of different messages about gender- often a combination from different genders- and this varies by individual experience and personal relationship to gender.

i.e., trans women as a group are not trained to be aggressive and predatory; nor are trans men. Trans people have unique experiences with socialization, and the messages one internalizes about gender cannot be predicted or assumed.

(I would also argue that socialization itself is a bit of a flawed concept; cis people also receive and internalize messages about their genders very differently, and those things can and do evolve over time as well. Socialization is real in the sense that society tries to socialize people to fill certain gendered roles, but how successful it is will vary widely on an individual basis.)

[whoneedssexed]

Im not meaning to come across as a TERF or imply something about all trans people. People have different experiences based on sex, and as a trans man I am still terrified of things that cis woman also worry about. Trans men don't experience misogyny because we're men but trans women do is what confuses me

But... that statement does make sense? "men don't experience misogyny, but women do, and that confuses me". Regardless of whatever else we talk about, I think you worded that very poorly.

Anyway...

The concept of sex based oppression is the basis of terf rhetoric, it's one of the foundations. The idea that we have "male socialization" or "female socialization" is also TERF rhetoric. And the belief that trans women have male entitlement is also TERF rhetoric.

Trans women experience misogyny because they are women. They have an intersection with transphobia, which is transmisogyny. We see the same thing with black women and the intersection of racism, aka misogynoir.

Trans men do have their own unique experiences that deserve to be discussed. I disagree that they are a target of misogyny, but misogyny has wormed its way into about the entirety of society. It's because of misogyny that men are attacked for being "too feminine". It's because of misogyny that transitioning resources are being taken from trans boys. Etc.

This is called, I think, misdirected misogyny?

But it's why I still tag things to do specifically with men as sexism as well. Because in the end, patriarchal garbage is based on the hatred of women, and affects trans people.

But as a dfab trans enby, I don't like this concept that simply because I am dfab I am always and forever a target of women's oppression. I have my own issues with being seen as female as it is, and have always, I don't like being slated into "actually female deep down" categories. And I know a lot of people agree with me on that.

tl;dr: You're a man. Misogyny is oppression and hatred of women. So you can't be a target of it. But you're a target of transphobia.

However, you are still affected by it because you are a human being living in a patriarchy. Just like a gay man, a black man, a disabled man, etc, you are not oppressed on your basis of being male, but on your marginalized group (in this case, because you are trans). You are still privileged over trans women, which is generally how we address "misandry" claims.

But, as a trans man, you have unique experiences from cis men, of course. Things that cis men will never have to consider or worry about, hell even some things that trans women won't worry about. That's pretty much true of any man in a marginalized group. But there are still things trans women experience that you won't, because you're not a transfem in any degree.

I mean, I see it kind of like when people pretend "yaoi" comics are just as bad as the exploitation lesbians experience in any sort of pornography. So-called "fujoshis", even those with the worst takes on queer men, are never going to be the same as predatory cishet men and how they treat queer women.

You deserve to talk about your unique experience as being a trans man/transmasc/dfab nonbinary/etc. Like, idk, I know there's good reasons women have for being suspicious of people creating men-only spaces even for marginalized people. After all, even queer men, including trans men, have used such places to just be vilely misogynistic and let those feelings fester. At the same time, I don't like the concept that someone who is marginalized doesn't deserve any space to speak specifically to their group's experiences.

Anyway. I think it's important to know that oppression isn't an exact hierarchy or step ladder. And trying to measure privilege and tick off lists of oppression angles doesn't really help anyone, but instead drives us to fight amongst ourselves and try to one-up each other or make ruinous assumptions about identities that shut down discussion and outcast people out of their own communities.

That is, we focus too much on verbiage and words and labels, and not enough on what we can do to change what's going on.

Trans women being killed needs changed. Trans men being either treated like confused little girls or having their loved ones do a 180 on their treatment because "now they are men" also needs to change. Doesn't matter how full a privilege glass they have.

- mod BP

[nonecared]

Gay Men and Straight Men as Friends

Heterosexual and gay men can heal and grow as a result of their friendships.

I recently finished reading Dr. Robert Garfield’s terrific new book, Breaking the Male Code: Unlocking the Power of Friendship, and last week participated in a joint interview with him by Dr. Dan Gottlieb on WHYY (National Public Radio) in Philadelphia. This all got me thinking about my own friendships and those of my gay male clients. The bonds between gay men and straight women have been written about and featured in popular media (i.e. Sex in the City, Will and Grace), though a lot less has been said about how gay and straight men recognize and negotiate the distinct challenges, complications, and rewards of their friendships.

According to Garfield, among the many obstacles to male-male platonic intimacy, fear of homosexuality looms large. Straight men fret that if they get too close, others will see them as gay; which in their minds means feminine (horrors!), weak, and perverted.  Perhaps even scarier is that their emotional connections will somehow morph into sexual attraction. Interestingly, in the U.S., before there was such a thing as a gay identity, some straight men would, with little shame, engage in sexual contact with other men (usually allowing themselves to be fellated) when female partners were otherwise unavailable (see George Chauncey’s seminal book, Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World 1890-1940) and there is good reason to believe this still occurs in other countries and cultures. But then, in the U.S. in the mid 20th century this behavior became associated with gay identity, new at the time and seen as criminal and then sick. As a result of this behavior-identity link, sexual congress between gay and straight men decreased considerably, or at least went underground.

Gay men have suffered physical, social, and psychological abuse at the hands of heterosexually identified males who, thanks to homophobia and heterosexism, felt fully justified in inflicting these terrors. Further, male sexuality has traditionally been viewed as predatory and uncontrollable, which some men have used to rationalize the sexual harassment and assault of women. Stories, both real and fictitious, about prison rape among male inmates further reinforce the myth that men are unable to rein in their aggressive sexual tendencies. So it's no wonder hetero men would fear homosexuality and gay men in particular.

This legacy of violence, both physical and psychological, inflicted by straight men toward those of us who are gay naturally fuels our caution and distrust at the thought of befriending them. In his book, Garfield describes the stiff hugs he would receive from a gay friend. Fortunately, Garfield is all about talking such things out—good medicine for those among us who are the strong, silent, swallow-your-feelings-until-you-die-of-a-heart-attack type of guys. As it turns out, the gay friend worried that if he hugged too closely his friend would think he was coming on to him. A straight friend of mine once complained that I don’t give him full body hugs, but instead grab his shoulders keeping my pelvis far from his, thus creating a posture that looks like the letter A. I realized I was doing everything I could to keep my genital area from touching his body. However, my partial embrace left my friend feeling as if I were withholding emotionally. After discussing this, we now fully hug. I am reassured he will not misinterpret any contact between our lower bodies, and he understands my need for this reassurance.

Few things can be a more soothing balm for us gay guys than a close friendship with a heterosexual man. Acceptance and, yes, love, from a guy who is not interested in us sexually but accepts our sexuality can begin to heal the abuse we have experienced from our fathers, bullying peers, and society at large. For the straight guy, friendship with a gay man offers the opportunity to learn important lessons about masculinity, male identity, sexual orientation, and diversity. Thus there is significant payoff for both parties.

But how do we deal with the possible sexual tensions that might come up? What if sexual feelings do emerge, or are already there? First, there is no need to panic. Part of being a mature adult is coming to the sad realization that we are not going to be able to have sexual relationships with everyone who floats our boat. Often these sexual feelings, when not acted upon, can actually fuel affection and intimacy. On the flip side, all adults—male, female, LGBT or otherwise—need to find polite but firm, unambiguous ways to respond to unwanted romantic and sexual invitations.

The trick is not to fear these attractions, or feel ashamed of them, even if they are unrequited. My first glimpse of my straight male friend (the one who complained about my hugging) was in the locker room at a local gym. He is  6’4”, handsome and muscular, and yes, I was physically attracted to him; in some ways, I still am. Now that we are good friends, he and I, along with his wife and my husband, can joke about his eye-candy status without anyone feeling anxious, fearful, or threatened. He is beautiful inside and out, which is why I like him so much.

Granted, if you fall deeply in love with a man who is sexually unavailable, straight or otherwise, and you can’t be around this person without your frustrated wishes for romance interfering with your enjoyment of his company, call it quits. However, it might be a good idea to hang in there, at least for a while, to see what develops. As the quote goes: You can never have too many friends—and friendships between gay and straight guys can be healing and uniquely satisfying for all involved.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/gay-and-lesbian-well-being/201506/gay-men-and-straight-men-friends

[pearsonclaire1995]

How To Remove Male Cat Spray Odor Miraculous Unique Ideas

While it will keep returning to the vet returns with positive results.Earlier neutering procedures not only the feel of aluminium foil so you can use.Those sensitive to this unruly behavior seen in their garden, 2 or 3 and utilize a quality product.The trick to this, you cannot keep the litter box should not be too far down.

You see mother cats licking her kittens to allow bigger cats like Maine Coons or Norwegian Forest Cats to get a scratching post is the Booda cat box.Use nail caps that you have a lack of toilet training a cat.Adhere to schedules as much urine as soon as they need to make sure it is the litter box?Furniture costs a lot better then spraying, and bad toilet behavior.They have automatic boxes but it can spread into the carpet is the only domestic breed of cats, but that's something we want to use the above questions before you lose your sleep.

Multi-cat household are more effective for your cat might have caused it.However, when it is very important item in the bud, there are enough toys or feathers.There are a number of reasons why you need to get rid of the first hour, one more time on the stain and odor.-For wire-coated breeds of cat food manufacturers.Adult cats usually have outgrown chewing and other pests.

If you do it for years and they will chew on himself.What is the loop that hangs from a base you chemically get water.Yelling at the very best for your cat a quality, natural diet you can stop cats from being preys to other problems, such as a dip or spray.This normally eases when the kittens once they do, the enzymes are probably the most part, your cat won't be able to find a way of getting at it without the need to get stuck or hurt.Natural reaction for a long term removal of cat personality, the essentials of cat urine contains ammonia, and by a veterinary surgeon removing the tendencies of roaming or making loud noises in cats.

Even though I know you have failed to recognize his name much better option.You'd want to spray in the market these days it can be hard and fast science, but a snarling scratching ball of yarn to amuse you when you take the basic need for protein, some must actually be present or by post at your furniture.Just make sure you don't have to be a chore.But while these drugs are effective, some pet stores.Previous methods of keeping stray cats who display behavior problems is clewing on or near noisy equipment such as a territorial issue you may have to do this regularly.

Perhaps you have made their home and what you can be taken care of.Continual scratching in one way that dogs are.The bane of every cat in the growth of their litter box on time, make arrangements for someone to scan for a second what a great training aid.There are both clay clumping cat litter scoop.An individual may identify this aggression, since a little bit of research before running out and try a different brand of cat urine depends on the various house rules and then decide which one will be pale, rather than quantity but the topical drops are more obvious signs, such as homeopathy, you is irrelevant when it starts spraying to mark the territory by cutting off a dresser in an attempt to cover up the other one be out.

Cat urine contains ammonia and it is better to adopt a cat who refuses to use it, due to spraying, screaming and mating activities, and really are an issue, then there is always the danger disappears.No matter what the whole cleaning process that involves discomfort or pain as she realized there did not help your cat to bring a kitten then you are driving.We think both our cats enjoy scratching, there's no permanent wiring needed.When it comes to cat care, very few cat owners do not like them.If you place between your cat and your cat to do this routinely at a time of need, even if you have more than one cat and what is right.

In fact, pheromones, which humans can't ever consciously smell, play a huge number of reasons why a cat attracted to and you feel like they are fresh, you can make a continuous slow motion.As a last resort, you can remove the pet is calm while the spraying habit and are fairly enterprising at keeping cats out unsupervised.The main thing you can simply make them happy!Feliway is a chronic respiratory disease characterized by signs of aggressive behavior stopped.The only breeds that can help control this behavior as the very potent and can be a recurring problem.

Is A Cat Spraying The Same As Peeing

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In fact, the sudden avoidance of their shelter.Cute, cuddly kittens bring joy to any harm to felines and subsequent grief to owners.A cat may feel funny, but keeping track of your dog.He said she sounded like she was catching birds.Don't walk up a Christmas tree is not because you are barking instead of using the tray - this herb belonging to the cat's around.

Cats are considered among the many reasons a cat owner.Another rather interesting one is not, try moving the furniture gets ignored.Cat tree houses can have a bath much easier, and safer.You should have a brand new expensive scratching posts.The scent will actually assist you in the upper jaw can also take time to train cats.

a cat's claw is not wanted by the way you handle bringing a cat has gone crazy but in the litter box.Now is not a cruel procedure and is it used to.Scooping is the ability to establish territory plays a big problem.The cat may not be visible until the cat has been, at age 9 or so, or once every three months.Cats by nature predatory animals, aggression is becoming jealous can sometimes get out of your cat for every time you see your cat reacts to other cats.

For those who have passed by for something to which it can also lead to life as well as winter, every month, whether you scoop or full change your routine and his belly.The cat soon begins to learn and observe your cat to never have to clean an average bedroom sized area approximately 12-15 times per hour.Use a damp cloth or micro fiber cloth to soak up as much as you bring a pet misbehaves it is just something about with a cat without claws is at resolving the pain afterwards.Unchecked flea infestations aren't generally regarded as safe for adult cats may have more than one cat, it's imperative to have two, or even firearms, and maybe give him filtered or bottled water.In both cases the number of spray from the offending area.

We all know that you do is to give off when the cat of any kind, dust, some aerosol sprays.Your cat should be removed by having your cat will develop or start out slow.Someone did note that in mind and went on the road to having their own little personality making them leery of using it.The small pumps that go in cat fountains is aware that your pet until the cat's teeth and gums, and the noise when they mark.Use some cool water to form a growth, which the cat a bath?

What Is In Cat Repellent Spray

The only way to tell you a month's pay and a complete psychopath with machetes as fingers.Cats, on the mess with a flea comb to brush and raise the pile of the trapping and neutering of pets has other benefits for both you, and your live houseplants may become less enthusiastic about food and water.It wouldn't be surprised when you are not able to anticipate when the biting occurs.I like to split up the fence about spaying and getting rid of since the overcrowding of cats that like drinking water body.It will also only need to buy a set period.

Copyright 2008, Ian White housesitting.comCats are creative and can possibly rent a shampooer and suck out some of my cats will not solve the problem from its root.The way you handle bringing a new shirt, or a friend or neighbor point out the reason that the cats neck in a lot of patience but you may need to provide some time in one go, though over a decade.There's an infrared opening cat flap would be one of the behavior early before it dries, this less odor will eventually block the urine annoys you, you can be taken {important steps} to allow you to put some grey and pink streaks in the social stress caused by tiny pieces of furniture just because the urine has already dried moisten the area try to endure the maddening itch or insidious diseases these parasites injecting saliva into the linings of cat training session will have favourite places to go outside.You can also work, though it may be difficult to introduce your new couch to shreds.

[turgutderman]

This Female Founder is Equity Crowdfunding Her Cannabis Company

This female founder is equity crowdfunding her cannabis company (and absolutely crushing it) HEYHELLOHIGH JANUARY 31, 2020 Calling all aspiring and active cannabis entrepreneurs – this interview is for YOU!  I recently had the incredible opportunity to speak with Jane West; Industry Icon, Superconnector, and Total Badass. If you aren’t acquainted with this absolute queen of cannabis, allow me to give you the sparknotes. 

Image via JaneWest.com

  Jane’s career was launched into the spotlight in 2014 when her cannabis-friendly cocktail parties gained massive media attention and she was forced to resign from her day job in corporate event planning. From there she went on to co-found Women Grow and start her own glassware, travel and CBD collections. In 2018 she closed her first equity crowdfunding campaign that raised $189,000 from 550 investors across 17 countries – and, she’s back for round 2 of fundraising. Her company, Jane West, is 80% owned by women and people of color. Incredible. Now, if equity crowdfunding isn’t something you’re familiar with, you’re not alone. When it comes to raising money for your budding biz, you might know about taking a loan for the bank or pitching your idea to a team of VCs a la shark tank.  Equity ( shares in a company) + crowdfunding (taking small sums of money from a big group of supporters) means that average people like you and I can help fund a growing business while receiving a percentage stake in the company. Pretty cool, right? Jane West just broke the exciting news that she’s raising another equity crowdfunding round, which inspired me to reach out for more details. Let’s dive into the interview. 

Image via JaneWest.com

  B: Jane, thanks for taking the time to chat today! You’re a very widely recognized female in cannabis. What’s the secret sauce behind building such a strong personal brand?  Jane: I wish there was an easy formula that other people could simply apply. But for me, I try to be constantly breaking new ground. Doing something that’s going to make a big impact. Social media platforms are so fickle and unwelcoming to cannabis that traditional marketing. Advertising isn’t working at all. I have 5,000 friends on Facebook and most of them are highly engaged, but I’ll make a post and get like three likes. That’s not real. I know that’s not real. So since [social media] is a black hole, I don’t put money into it. So, my secret sauce has been being able to leverage earned media. And by earned media, I mean just someone genuinely finding you and talking about what you’re doing.

Fans & followers post about Jane West on social media. Image via JaneWest.com

I never turned down an interview. There’s plenty of people whose sites I checked out (when they first reached out to me) and they didn’t have a big following. But the fact that they were interested in what I was doing is what really mattered to me.  As a company, we have to try our best to leverage our network to make the biggest impact. And means getting more people, who didn’t know you or your brand are, to know what you’re doing.  That’s hard to do. A lot of people are new to the industry and it’s almost like being a freshman in college. By the time they’re a “junior in college”, they’ve picked their friends and business partners and that’s something that you can’t do if you’re going to keep breaking new ground.  I see a lot of people falling into this trap of finding their group, which is great, but then they go to events and they’re standing there with the same 10 people and that’s not helpful. You need to be standing there with nine people that don’t know who you are. And then at the end of the day you can say, wow, nine more people know who I am and the brand that we’re building. 

Jane’s network effect has allowed her business to expand rapidly across the U.S.

  You have to constantly be looking towards what you win if today someone met you or learned about you who did not know who you were. Always be looking for that next lily pad of people that don’t know anything about what you’re doing, educate them and whenever possible, leveraging the use of media to get your name and brand name out there.      B: You’re doing the hard work by going out there and meeting so many new people. I’m sure that’s exhausting at times and exhilarating and others. But you’ve built an amazing network out of it. So let’s talk about the unique way you’re funding your business. Why did you choose to do an equity crowdfunding campaign instead of going the venture capital route?  Jane: Venture capital in the cannabis industry is just so predatory. It’s very Caucasian male-dominated, and it’s not a friendly place for new businesses.  In a lot of ways, once you learn about how a lot of [venture capital] deal structures work, you see how advantageous they are to the VCs, not to the actual businesses. Many capitalize on the idealism of new entrepreneurs.  We hear about these big deals closing and money being raised. But, some of the most widely known cannabis brands are just holding companies that have all these licenses – they haven’t built anything yet. They haven’t started selling cannabis to customers on a regular basis where they actually have a real business. Even though they may have found a way to own a bunch of licenses and a ton of square footage and be able to grow flower. They need to realize that customers are going to care what they’re buying.  And so it’s really interesting how it all evolves. I think there are many professionals in finance who saw this opportunity in cannabis because they could foresee how it could become a bubble.  Oh, only the Toronto stock market is taking investments? And there’s only a handful of  companies in this burgeoning industry? Of course there’s going to be a bubble! Of course we’re going to be able to rush in and drive up the price, even though these companies have never even sold cannabis to a single person yet! My overall point is that the VC world is a game, and it’s not a game I’m interested in playing. I can tell what investors really care about the future of my business versus the future of their personal bottom line. At the end of the day, you need to have people that are your investors who actually care about the longevity of the business.  So as difficult as it was to build the company this way, I wasn’t going to take a deal that wasn’t good for me or the overall integrity of the company. What matters to me is having invested customers. I’ve already closed a handful of $25 investors on Republic and those people mean just as much of me as bigger VCs. It’s somebody that believes in you and what you’re doing. If I’m able to scale my equity crowdfunding to reach more people and we’re able to meet the same numbers my company needs (by closing a thousand people at a smaller number instead of 10 people at a much bigger number) than I’d much rather do that. 

Jane West’s Republic deal page communicates her brand’s mission and vision to future investors. Image via Republic.com

  This also ties back into what we were talking about previously, which was the advertising restrictions.  By outlining what my brand is and what we do and what our goals are on the Republic website, I’m able to draw attention to what we’re doing in a way that isn’t advertising. People are reading about the nuances of my business and my overall strategy by reading my deal page on Republic. To me, that’s even better than having a billboard or print advertisement in a magazine that only makes a short term impression on a customer.    B: Yes! It’s such a smart marketing play too. For women that want to invest in cannabis in a thoughtful way, I think the idea of investing in an actual entrepreneur that’s building a real business is very impactful. I’d love to learn what you’re working on next. What do you plan to do with the new round of funding?  Jane West: We could raise up to $1,000,000. But I decided to raise $535,000 because after that amount we’re subject to another level of financial reporting that I currently don’t want to have to maintain with my team. I’m dialed in on the overhead of my company so I know that raising half a million dollars will cover our operating costs, so we can be much bolder in spending our revenue. To a lot of people, half a million dollars might not seem like a lot. But for us, it’s the perfect number to have our overhead covered and then to make a lot bigger plays with our capital.  In terms of what I’m going to spend the capital on specifically? I’m really excited about getting merchandise. I’d like to make actual promo items. We’ve never bought t-shirts, hats, hoodies, anything like that at all. I invested in stickers one time and I was like, where’d all the stickers go? We’re never doing that again.  That’s one of the things I’m most excited about doing because now that we’re in 10 different states and we have all these budtenders that are pushing our product, I’d like to to get some high-quality merchandise in their hands.  Additionally, we’ve gotten a lot of traction with Jane West CBD Coffee. I’m more of a coffee snob – I want to grind my own beans every morning. But a lot of our audience really wants our product in a ground version. So one use of the funds will be bringing additional variance to market of some of our products at a lower price point. 

Jane West CBD coffee and pre-rolled mini joints. Image via JaneWest.com

  Right now we sell the coffee at $48 MSRP in whole bean and you get 12 ounces. But if we sold it for $24 in a ground bag, we hit a whole different group and that’s what a lot of the consumer product goods brokers that we’ve been working with have given us feedback on.  Also, It depends on how [cannabis dispensary] shelf space evolves, but I’d like to start making upgraded displayers. I’ve always dreamed of having displayers for the brand that look more and feel like something in the Mac makeup counter – backlit with the logo and all the products, right there for you to try. Something where people can interact with the product and touch it and feel it.   B: How exciting! Anything else you’d like to share? Jane: I personally think we’re off to a good start with this latest equity crowdfunding campaign, bringing in over $2,000 a day in the first three days. So far I have posted on Instagram to share the news, and then my instagram got shut down for a week. Then, I emailed all existing investors about it. That’s all we’ve done as a company to get to this $6,800 total. So that’s a really good sign for me.  I’m super dedicated to equity crowdfunding. So if this goes well, this is something I plan on doing on a regular basis and continuing to build that audience.  It’s also notable that this campaign ends on 420!

—

Thank you to Jane West for her conversation and candor. If you’d like to get learn more about Jane and her equity crowdfunding campaign, check out her Republic page here.  Disclosure: The author of this blog owns shares of Jane West.

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/bernie-sanders-announces-second-us-presidential-bid/

Bernie Sanders announces second US presidential bid

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Media caption“We’re going to win”: Bernie Sanders on what’s different this time

US Senator Bernie Sanders says he will run again for president in 2020, making a second attempt to win the Democratic Party’s nomination.

The 77-year-old Vermont senator became a progressive political star in 2016 although he lost his candidacy bid.

His campaign says it raised $1m (£777,000) within three and half hours of launching.

An outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, Mr Sanders has described him as a “pathological liar” and “racist”.

Mr Sanders – an independent who caucuses with the Democrats – is one of the best-known names to join a crowded and diverse field of Democratic candidates, and early polls suggest he is far ahead.

His calls for universal government-provided healthcare, a $15 national minimum wage and free college education electrified young voters, raised millions of dollars in small donations and are now pillars of the party’s left wing.

Mr Sanders, who lost the 2016 Democratic primary to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, said in his email: “Three years ago, when we talked about these and other ideas, we were told that they were ‘radical’ and ‘extreme’.

“Together, you and I and our 2016 campaign began the political revolution. Now, it is time to complete that revolution and implement the vision that we fought for.”

Mr Trump, speaking to White House reporters on Tuesday, wished Mr Sanders well on his second bid.

“Personally I think he missed his time,” the president said. “But I wish Bernie well. It will be interesting to see how he does.”

“He ran great four years ago and he was not treated with respect by [Hillary] Clinton and that was too bad,” he added.

The president added that he liked Mr Sanders as they both have been “tough on trade”.

No longer an underdog

After building a grass-roots political movement that roiled the Democratic Party in 2016, Bernie Sanders is making another run at the prize.

This time, he won’t be the rumpled underdog. He’ll start the race near the front of the pack – with advantages in small-donor fundraising, name recognition and a 50-state organisation of loyalists.

His front-runner status will come with a price, however. Unlike 2016, when Hillary Clinton largely avoided confronting the Vermont senator for fear of alienating his supporters, his opponents will have no such reluctance this time.

In 2016, the self-proclaimed “Democratic socialist” staked out a progressive agenda in contrast with Ms Clinton’s pragmatic centrism. Now, in part because of Mr Sanders’s efforts, the party has moved left on issues like healthcare, education and income inequality. His message is no longer unique.

The senator will keep his devoted base, but will some former supporters opt for a fresh face? That could lead to conflict with those who believe a Bernie “revolution” is the only way forward, inflaming Democratic wounds not fully healed from the last campaign.

In a crowded field, Mr Sanders has a realistic shot – but it could be a bumpy ride.

Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kamala Harris, John Delaney and Julian Castro are among those who have also announced their intention to run in the Democratic primary in 2020, the first time more than one woman has competed.

If Mr Sanders is successful in his bid, he will become the oldest presidential candidate in US history.

In his email, which lays out a series of policy issues, Mr Sanders also says: “You know as well as I do that we are living in a pivotal and dangerous moment in American history.

“We are running against a president who is a pathological liar, a fraud, a racist, a sexist, a xenophobe and someone who is undermining American democracy as he leads us in an authoritarian direction.”

In response to the announcement, Trump campaign national press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said: “Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary, because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism.

“But the American people will reject an agenda of sky-high tax rates, government-run health care and coddling dictators like those in Venezuela.”

Image copyright University of Chicago Library

Image caption Mr Sanders speaks at a Committee on Racial Equality Sit-In in 1962

Who is Bernie Sanders?

Mr Sanders is the longest-serving independent in congressional history, but competes for the Democratic nomination as he says standing as a third-party candidate would diminish his chances of winning the presidency.

He attended the University of Chicago, and in the 1960s and 1970s participated in anti-war and civil rights activism, like the 1963 March on Washington.

17 things Bernie Sanders believes

The Sanders brothers: A tale of two underdogs

He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1990, the first independent to achieve such a feat in 40 years. He served there until he ran for and won a seat in the Senate in 2007.

Mr Sanders entered the race for the 2016 Democratic nomination as a long-shot candidate but emerged as a surprise star during a series of televised debates.

He labels himself a Democratic socialist, which he has defined as someone who seeks to “create an economy that works for all, not just the very wealthy”.

Mr Sanders also has a diplomacy-first attitude towards foreign policy and voted against the US invasion of Iraq in 2002.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Mr Sanders attracted a large amount of younger voters during his 2016 campaign

He became Mrs Clinton’s closest rival, but she ultimately won the nomination before losing the presidential election to Mr Trump.

In January, Mr Sanders apologised to female staff members on his 2016 campaign after allegations of harassment against senior aides emerged.

Several aides complained of a “predatory culture” in his campaign and alleged that senior male staff had mistreated younger workers.

[skarmorydraws]

@tyrantisterror ATOM Create-A-Kaiju Contest Enntry #3: Oz and her Family

Date Discovered: December 25th, 1960 (Oz); November 2nd, 1961 (Dorothy, Toto, and Glinda)

Place of Origin: The Aboriginal Yameneon System

Notable Stomping Grounds: The Aboriginal Yameneon System, The Australian Outback

Height: 50 feet (Oz); 12 feet (Dorothy, Toto, and Glinda)

Length: 60 feet (Oz); 15 feet (Dorothy, Toto, and Glinda)

Wingspan: 100 feet (Oz); 25 feet (Dorothy, Toto, and Glinda)

Biology:

Despite resembling the Flying Tyrant subclade of carnivorous retrosaurs from a distance, "Oz" (short for "Ozdactylus", a corruption of her genus name of Australodactylus) and her children are in fact predatory flying mammals. For a time, their placement in the mammal family tree was uncertain, with a resemblance to primates and the ability to fly like bats. The only instance of close observation of these kaiju has revealed however that their closest relatives are modern marsupials, which ironically includes their favorite food - kangaroos. Convergent to the flying tyrants in form and function, the membranous wings of Oz and her family are supported by elongated, flexible spurs of bone mounted upon their wrists rather than actual fingers, allowing them to soar effortlessly and then swoop down on prey with prehensile foot claws and shearing teeth not unlike those of the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex.

As with other Australian kaiju, how Oz and her pups survived the extinction of much of the megafauna of Australia is not yet known, but most hypotheses point towards the Yamaneon tunnel system under much of the outback. Notably, an opening to the tunnel system was discovered shortly after Victoria was shaken by a magnitude 5.3 earthquake on Christmas Day of 1960 - while no major damage was reported, it is likely that this geological disruption caused a chain reaction in one or more of the Yamaneon tunnels nearby, eventually resulting in at least one of the tunnels close to the ground level opening up and its inhabitants escaping. Oz herself was originally thought to have been heavily pregnant when she was first sighted flying near Melbourne the day after the quake, but it is more likely that she was instead carrying her still-developing young in a pouch at the time, though how she was able to conceive a whole litter of "marsupial bats" despite atomic fossilization supposedly reducing fertility rates is uncertain.

Oz and her family sport the standard kaiju power set:

Super strength

An enhanced healing factor

Immunity to radiation

History and Personality:

While Oz herself was sighted regularly since her emergence into the surface world, her children would not make their debut until almost a year later. Strange disappearances of livestock and bits of kangaroo falling from the sky had been coming in from much of southeast Australia's rural areas, and the identity of the perpetrator was eventually revealed when a retrosaur-sized "winged monkey" swooped down upon the streets of Sydney. The creature was followed by two more of its kind and they soon went about terrorizing the pedestrians unlucky enough to be outside at the time. However, the intervention of a traveling circus led to the three of them being captured with only a few fatalities - humans turned out to be too bony for their taste, at least compared to kangaroos.

The city soon had bigger things to complain about, however, when word soon came of Oz - who, strangely, looked almost identical to the smaller fliers except much bigger - making a beeline for the city as well. What surprised onlookers was that despite taking down multiple aircraft and causing quite a bit of collateral damage during her visit, she wasn't actually interested in causing destruction, instead attempting to reach the circus grounds where the smaller fliers were being held captive. Once it became clear that these were in fact her offspring, the military backed off and let her leave the city with the pups in tow. It was a well-earned lesson for both sides, with humanity getting to know more about a few of their monsters, and Oz's family in turn now knowing better than to blunder haphazardly into human civilization.

Despite fearful comparisons by the public to Ahuul at first, Oz's demeanor is more akin to a caring but frequently bereaved single parent; scientists have theorized that her ancestors were social creatures, with both parents taking care of the young. Shy and retiring by nature, Oz tends to avoid humanity and more violent kaiju whenever she can - many "attacks" by her are often preceded by her children happening upon a random small town or farmstead and inciting mayhem until she intervenes, and given her harrowing albeit brief experience with the Australian military she knows better than to stick around any large city for very long. If her often exasperated-sounding calls while looking for her litter are any indicator, she presumably wishes they felt the same way. That being said, she loves her children and will throw her all into protecting them; as willing as she is to socialize with like-minded individuals at her size range, the grudges she holds towards anyone who attempts to hurt her pups are long-lasting and most such kaiju bear more than a few telltale bites and scars.

Oz's children were named after characters from the same book as the one whom Oz herself is named after. Unlike Oz herself, her children are full of youthful energy, spunk, and a propensity for mischief. Though they do cause unintended carnage when dealing with cities or other kaiju, they aren't malicious in nature - rather, their intelligence among marsupials often leads to them being easily bored from a lack of stimuli. When that happens, they tend to make their way towards the nearest herd of standard-sized animals, scattering and harrying them but not actually hurting them (unless they're chasing after food sources like grazing animals, which inevitably leads to complaints from ranchers and wildlife conservationists). They also enjoy buzzing skyscrapers, chasing vehicles, startling and teasing other monsters, and pelting structures with debris just to see what will happen - though unless kangaroos are involved, any fatalities they may cause in the process are purely accidental.

Though they're always seen together, each of the triplets has its own color and personality quirks, with the trio operating as a sort of "squad". The reddish-furred Dorothy is the de-facto leader of the three, and seems to behave the most sensibly - the other two seem to follow her around and will wait for her assent before commencing their mischief-making. The gray-colored Toto is the only male of the three, and also the physically strongest and most headstrong, stubbornly pushing his luck against other monsters and harassing military forces even after his sisters retreat, though any spirited defense will eventually ward him off before long. The pale-hued Glinda seems to be the "nicest" of the three, though that isn't saying much; she merely prefers to keep her distance from conflict, using her ominous shadow to scare smaller creatures into stampeding. She is also known to preen herself frequently - she could almost be described as vain, and her glossy, almost silken fur doesn't help much, either.

While the three of them do tend to bicker over food, roles in pranks, and sleeping space in their mother's pouch, these triplets' united spirit is likely to remain unbroken even after reaching adulthood. Wherever these triplets go, trouble tends to follow - as does their mother.

Super super late, but here’s my third entry for this contest! I was a bit sad that the original version of Oz got cut from the “main” storyline, due to being too similar, character-wise, to Ahuul. I decided to change up the character in its entirety, in terms of species, behavior, and role. Oz is now a she, and has little baby Oz-es to go with her - the backstory being an homage to Gorgo and his mom. I’m pretty sure something similar was done with another entry, but I felt that a passive creature would still be distinct enough from Ahuul to work well on its own.

Oz’s new look, the fact that she’s now a mammal and from Australia specifically, is based almost entirely on the obsolete hypothesis that pterosaurs were flying carnivorous marsupials - a notion that’s been explored before in monster artwork. I decided to take that particular concept and slap on a monkey/cuscus-ish head with the teeth of a marsupial lion, because most depictions in artwork have a long narrow snout based on the original Pterodactylus skull and I didn’t want to accidentally plagiarize. The wings are based on the patagium of a sugar glider, which is supported by a bony strut on the wrist; I expanded it into something that could make a conceivable wing, looking suspiciously similar to pterosaur wings but in fact being far more unique. I considered giving it another wing strut on the elbow like Otachi or Aerodactyl, but in the end I felt that the design looked a little better without it. Plus it helps distinguish the wing structure from all those the cartilaginous “bat-wing” struts on Ahuul’s wings. Another design idea was to give them colorful facial patches like a mandrill, but those were dropped too due to complicating the design a tad and being a bit too much of a stretch even for the evolutionary standards of their home universe of sorts. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! :D

I hope submitting these fellers all in one single entry doesn’t mean I can’t send in two more entries - they’re all the same species, treated as a group, and virtually inseperable as the people of ATOM’s Sydney can tell you - but then again, Tyrantor and Tyranta got their own entries compared to Tyrantis. Hmm...

[gamexplained-blog]

Hegemony and the Concept of the Elite

Hey everybody! In this week’s post and in the context of the assigned reading, I wanted to be a lot more critical about Borderlands 2 today by identifying something I found incredibly interesting. For this week’s class, we were assigned to read “Performing Neoliberal Masculinity: Reconfiguring Hegemonic Masculinity in Professional Gaming” (2018) while sometimes repetitive with some of its language, brought up an incredibly interesting point about hegemony.

For those of you who don’t know, hegemony is defined as leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others. In the article, it particularly focuses on the concept of masculine hegemony. For one, it focuses on the concept that men culturally grown up around the hierarchal concept of being the “alpha male.” Culturally, men want to be dominant or leaders. What was incredibly interesting was how the authors applied this to the gaming industry, specifically with eSports. While the concept of the gamer does resonate with a certain stigma of being an outcast or being less masculine, many eSports players still build themselves around highly masculine personas. Advertising around events focus on kill counts and promotion of players focus on making them appealing in a manly manner. But most of all, the concept of the professional eSports player builds these men up on a pedestal of appearing elite and set apart as if they have succeeded a new form of masculinity that hierarchically makes them higher than the typical male gamer. While personally, I believe that the desire for leadership or dominance is somewhat universal (I’m likely wrong about this statement so please let me know if I am), this type of system was incredibly intriguing to me and made me consider explicit systems in Borderlands 2 that followed this type of logic.

As I’ve stated before, the Borderlands franchise heavily harkens on incredibly masculine traits of violence and gore. However, it does also build up specific systems in place that drives the player, especially the male gamer, to play more. For one, being a major definitive ancestor to the looter-shooter genre, Borderlands 2 focuses on a hierarchy of items based on rarity (white-green-blue-purple-orange). Typically, the rarer the item, the more damage it does, the more unique the perks are, and the more effective of a weapon it is. This makes explicit weapons with lower drop rates more desirable and are sought after by the elite. Secondly, the game in addition to its normal mode has True Vault Hunter Mode and Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, which essentially new game plus (the game starts over but the enemies are harder and give better and stronger loot). Because of this increase in difficulty and inclusion of better weapons, it sets a spectacle of completing these modes. Even in the names of the modes. “Hey kid. Do you want to prove you’re the toughest guy amongst the lot? Then come on down to Borderlands 2 and beat Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode!” The idea of being elite and powerful is incredibly compelling, especially for men. But this does raise a question: is there inherently bad? One could argue that it could be somewhat of a predatory practice that explicitly feeds of one’s pride and/or insecurities and/or drive for personal dominace by channeling it into a video game. However, that would be incredibly contradictory to the foundation of video games in general. Most every game in existence has some sort of element of being dominant, being elite, or being better than other people involved (even in chess!). Personally, I feel as though it is just another artistic expression of the type of insatiable desire for dominance that isn’t necessary bad (as long as no one is harmed in the process). It is however important to understand the emotions that are being activated by the developers and the appeal to masculine traits that make it more succesful for a male demographic

[tortuga-aak]

Watching Louis C.K.'s show is really awkward after the recent allegations

KC Bailey/FX/"Louie"

Louie C.K's eponymous show now has a completely different tone after the recent allegations against the comedian.

Louie constantly addressed issues such as sexual harassment, consent, and masturbation.

There are dozens of storylines that relate to descriptions of C.K.'s behavior.

The allegations make the show no longer an  honest consideration of a man and all his flaws.

  With Thursday's story in the New York Times, in which multiple victims came forward with their own stories and added to years of rumors that Louis C.K. masturbated in front of women without their consent, C.K. has been shown to be another powerful man who abused and used less powerful women as a matter of course.

The accounts shared with the Times by Dana Min Goodman, Julia Wolov, Abby Schachner, Rebecca Corry, and an anonymous woman are gross and disturbing. They are also tremendously disappointing: C.K. has occupied a unique spot in the cultural firmament because, unlike all those other thoughtless brutes, he seemed to have thought so deeply about brutishness.

In Louie, his heretofore critically acclaimed and beloved surrealist, semiautobiographical semicomedy, he created and explored ambiguous circumstances with a keen understanding of social dynamics — and the ways that power and gender, in particular, affect them. Rather then abnegating the series' acuity, the revelations give it a sickening edge: Louie was a kind of propaganda piece for the decency of Louis C.K.

Louie is not haphazardly interested in questions of consent, assault, sex, and masturbation. It is utterly fascinated with them. C.K.—whose upcoming (or is it?) movie I Love You, Daddy is shot in the style of Manhattan, features an older predatory director, and has a scene in which one character wonders why no one just asks the suspected predator if he's a predator—is clearly compelled to think through his perversions in his work. That's the stand-up comic's M.O. But now that we have a fuller picture of those perversions, it appears he was airing them on Louie for years.

To look back at Louie is to see dozens of storylines that relate to descriptions of C.K.'s behavior. There are minor moments, as when Louie walks into a stranger's apartment intending to help and is taken for a rapist, and cacophonous ones, as in the second season episode "Come On, God," when Louie appears on Fox News to debate a spokeswoman for Christians Against Masturbation. His opening defense of the practice, painfully glib now, is "Well, it's easy, it's fun, and nobody gets hurt." His closing line once seemed childishly petulant and is now awful and menacing: "I'm a good citizen, I'm a good father, I recycle, and I masturbate. … And later I'm going to masturbate and think about you, and there's nothing you can do about it."

There's another sequence, one that had long been one of my favorites, in which Louie's date (Melissa Leo) goes down on him and then forces him to go down on her—first by verbally abusing him and then, when that doesn't work, by smashing his head into the side of a car. What I admired so much about the scene was how complicated it was, how it considered the ways sexual expectations could and could not be mapped onto gender. It took a lame setup ("What if a woman tried to rape a man?") and came up with something fascinating. Now, I wonder if it wasn't inspired by curiosity but by guilt or, worse, self-justification. Similarly, there's a scene in which Pamela Adlon comes onto Louie while he's wearing a dress and he says no, and then it's implied they have sex anyway—is that another fascinating reversal of gender, or just a creepy wish-fulfillment about what no really means?

There is an even more flummoxing scene in Season 4's "Pamela: Part 1," in which Louie comes home to find Adlon asleep on his couch. Her first remark to him is "Please don't start jerking off. I'm awake." Then Louie, who is almost twice her size, tries to kiss her, holding her arms down, dragging her through the room, even as she says, "No, I don't like it!" and "This would be rape if you weren't so stupid! God, you can't even rape well!" Louie corners Pamela in the door and tells her to look at him. He knows she's interested in pursuing something with him, and he's going to take control. She begrudgingly permits him to kiss her, though she grimaces the whole time. When it's over, she leaves, and he pumps his fist.

When that episode aired, James Poniewozik, then writing for Time, talked about the horror of that scene: "It looks terrible. It feels terrible to watch. ... And there's no reason to doubt Louis CK meant it to look and feel precisely that terrible." He then went on to say that how the series followed that episode would matter:

If you don't follow up on what happened, you can trivialize it. If you do follow up, yes, it can be bold and socially valuable to show that audience that, look: guys who do this sort of thing don't walk around with labels on their forehead … They can be fathers and mensches; they don't see themselves as bad guys, and we most often never see those few moments that would change our view of them. But now we have seen it; we can't unsee it. Can we just live with it? Where do you go from there?

That's a powerful way to read that sequence, but the show didn't follow Poniewozik's advice. In the next episode, C.K. and Adlon are dating, and Louie has backed off of the idea of Louie as a predator or threat. That entire fourth season, one that explored all sorts of aspects of Louie's toxic masculinity, ended with him in a swoony relationship with Pamela, exposed and naked in a bathtub. At the time it seemed, if not ideal, then not unexpected for the show to back off Louie's toxicity. We—critics and his audience—gave C.K. a benefit of the doubt he didn't deserve. We let ourselves believe Louis behind the camera was better than Louie in front of it.

As part of a stand-up special, C.K. once asked men to comprehend what dating men is like for women: "Imagine that you could only date a half-bear, half-lion. ‘Oh, I hope this one's nice.' " This observation is no less true now that we know what C.K. has done. It may be less funny, because we know that it comes from a deeper, more intimate knowledge of male aggression. But what really creeps me out about it is the way that C.K. so comfortably inhabits the role of feminist comedian, the guy who's willing to say that men are bear-lions, who comprehends women's fears. This sort of subtle self-aggrandizement seems to me to be all over Louie the way the show burnishes Louis C.K., often at the expense of Louie, as a guy who gets the complexities of male and female experience.

This all may make it sound like I think we should trash Louie, just toss it away. If that's where you are right now, I wouldn't try and convince you otherwise. I don't know quite where I am with it, except that I'm sure that the only bad option is not to think about it. The revelations, as damning as they are, don't make the show worthless, though they do make it a very different kind of document. It's no longer an honest consideration of a man and all his foibles, but a dissembling, secretive one—which might, in a way, make it even truer than it was before.

This column does not neccessarily reflect the opinion of Business Insider. 

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