❛ do you think i’d let anything happen to you? ❜
" 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 , 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚 . " he tells her gently . this is a different environment outside of where they usually find themselves coming together ; there are no blows to trade here . she is clean of the wilderness as is he , comfortable in casual wear , dressed for a simple day within the home . and that's what it's been , albeit humid as the spring comes to stretch it's legs in a slow waking sprawl over the pennsylvania suburbs . heugh's been taking advantage of it with windows open , letting the churn of the new breeze tumble in and wash away the stagnant old that'd settled into the walls , the wood . just felt cleaner , he'd say . as if the house had molted out of the rigormortis of the winter sleep to breath in for the first time since the knell of last august .
the truth was , he didn't know .
it occurs to him , then , in the way that he glimpses her , in the way that deep belly knot constricts just a little bit tighter through the threadwork of his pinks and greys , from her pause --- it's not the right inflection .
so he smiles at her , in that tired , dimpling way that has always been his . the phone rings . it's not one he can disregard . heugh gives her the tea he's been steeping for her before he thinks to excuse himself to take it .
it's all he knows to do .
@vlyuvdova
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what is with men being mad any time a woman raises her voice where did that even come from. someone posted a video of a small electrical explosion, and the top comment was of course the woman screams. the second comment is women try not to scream challenge, level impossible. i had to go back and watch the video again. there is, somewhat fainty, a little gasp emitted off-camera, more of a yelp than a scream. it is mostly lost in the crack of the explosion. afterwards, you hear her voice, shaken, say, are you okay?
i am helping one of my friends train her voice pitch lower, because she wants to be taken seriously at work. she and i do each other's nails and talk about gender roles; and how - due to our appearance - neither of us have ever been able to be "hysterical" in public. we both appear young and sweet and feminine. she is cisgender, and cannot use her natural voice in her profession because people keep saying she appears to be "vapid". we both try to figure out if our purposeful voice lowering is technically sexist. is it promoting something when you are a victim to it?
a storm almost sends a pole through a car window. in the dashcam, you can hear the woman passenger say her partner's name twice, crying out in alarm. she sounds terrified. in the comments, she is lambasted for her lack of calm. how is that even fucking helping?
in high school, i taught myself to have a lower voice. i had been recorded when i was genuinely (and righteously) upset; and i hated how my voice sounded on the phone speakers when it was played back. i was defending my mom, and my voice cracked with emotion. it meant i was no longer winning the argument: i was just shrieking about it.
girls meet each other after a long summer and let out a little joyful scream. this usually stops around 12-14, because people will not tolerate this display of affection (as it has the effect of being passingly annoying). something about the fact that little girls can't ever even be annoying. we are trained to examine each part of our lives (even joy) for anything that could make us upsetting and disgusting. they act like teenage girls are breaking into houses and shrieking you awake at 3 in the morning. speaking as a public school educator: trust me, it's not that bad, you can just roll your eyes and move on. it does not compare to the ways boys end up being annoying: slurs in graffiti, purposefully mocking your body, following you after you said no. you know, just boy things.
there's another video of a man who is not allowed to yell in the house, so he snaps his fingers when he's excited about soccer. the comments are full of angry men, talking about how their brother is unfairly caged. let him express himself and this is terrible to do to someone. eventually the couple has to address it in a second video: they are married with a newborn baby. he was trying not to wake the infant up. there is no comment on the fact women are not allowed to yell indoors. or the fact that it could have been really alarming or triggering for his wife. sometimes i wonder if straight men even like women, if they even enjoy being in relationships with them.
for the longest time, i hated roller coasters because it always felt inappropriate and uncomfortable for me to scream. one of my friends called me on it, said it was unusual i'm so unwilling. i had to go to my therapist about it. i don't like to scream because i was not raised in a safe situation, and raising my voice would have brought unsafe attention towards me. even when i am supposed to scream, it feels shameful, guilty. i was not treated kindly, so i lack a basic form of self-protection. this is not a natural response. it is not good that in a situation of high adrenaline - i shut up about it.
something very bad is happening, i think. in between all the beauty standards and the stuff i've already discussed - this one feels new and cruel in a way i can't quite express. yes, it's scary and silencing. but there's something about how direct it is - that so many men agree with the sentiment that women should never yell, even in an emergency - it feels different.
is the word shriek gendered automatically? how about shrill or screech? in self defense class, one of the first things they tell you is to yell, as loud and as shrilly as you can. they say it will feel rude. most women will not do this. you need to practice overcoming the social pressure and just scream.
most women do not cry out, even when it's bad. we do not report it. we walk faster. we do not make a scene. what would be the point of doing anything else? no matter what we do, we don't get taken seriously. it is a joke to them. an instagram caption punchline. we have to present ourselves as silent, beautiful, captivating - "valuable."
a woman is outside watching her kids when someone throws a firecracker at them. she screams and runs towards her children. in the comments, grown men flock together in the thousands: god. women are so annoying.
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Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
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Fellow trans people I'm begging you to remember that being trans isn't the Only Oppression Ever. Racism exists. (I'm looking at you, white trans people!!!) Being white gives you privilege. Being perisex gives you privilege. Being able bodied gives you privilege. Being a citizen of your country gives you privilege. Living in a developed/first world country gives you privilege. Being a settler gives you privilege. Not having an intellectual disability gives you privilege. Not being severely mentally ill gives you privilege. Being housed gives you privilege. Having internet access gives you privilege. Speaking the dominant language of your area gives you privilege. Not living with addiction gives you privilege.
You are not the most oppressed person ever on earth, white able bodied perisex trans person. Even with being trans, if you're eg from America, canada, western Europe, or Australia, you absolutely have way more political power than eg some cis het indigenous man in rural Brazil.
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soap doing the let's make one of the 141 guys jealous because i'm close to you and they're not but he doesn't pull away talking about thank me later. he takes it as far as you're willing to let him go and if he fucks, he fucks 🤷🏻♀️
definitely bragging about it later. tasted like honey, bonnie did. can still smell 'er on my fingers. nabbed 'er knickers too, wanna see? (he ain't showing shit because he worked hard for that slip of string you call undergarments)
calls you his ball and chain once and he's showing up to your room with a busted lip and black eye
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