Odd that the article author lists “Data as an instrument of coloniality: A panel discussion on digital and data colonialism” as an example of them doing nothing - digital colonialism is an important subject and one that many larger institutions seem afraid to cover.
Barry I’m just being honest. If you don’t change your behavior you can expect more of the same. Whether it’s being downvoted or being accused of being a jerk, I can see there is something about this that bothers you.
But let’s stay focused. Would you be willing to watch one or both videos I posted? Or no? There’s a lot of people out there that could benefit from your understanding, and all it would take is a few minutes of your time. Please consider it. I’d appreciate it too. Thanks.
Thanks for recognizing it. I have enough privilege that I am insulated from this kind of thing, so I have the energy to be patient. And it helps me develop my rhetorical skills. Cheers.
Barry I appreciate that you recognize my good faith efforts. But I want to highlight that queer and gender nonconforming people are regularly marginalized and othered in this country and around the world. It is genuinely tiring to them to be dismissed regularly in their daily life and then to encounter people online who want to play this up as some culture war with two legitimate sides. I personally would not label you an "unbeliever". As I have said, these people just want to exist and have people like you deal with that without getting upset.
Some people like me have a little extra energy to sit down and explain it, but you cannot regularly expect marginalized people who have to deal with so much day to day to then spend energy educating you on the facts of the lives of queer and gender nonconforming people. They are far, far too tired from everything else to spend that energy educating you.
But I have given you a choice. A couple of videos from a respectful white southern man who I wholeheartedly endorse for his explanations. I watch his videos every day and to be honest I so far think he always has great takes.
So I have given you an opportunity to learn another perspective, and I encourage you to check it out. But if you don't, and you continue to act as the victim of a culture war that does not actually harm you in any way, then I promise you you will continue to be downvoted and kicked out of any space with open minded people.
I genuinely wish you the best. But I do not endorse this notion of dogma and unbelievers. This is about common decency and respect. This is about the lives of real people I respectfully think you haven't yet had the opportunity to understand. But consider checking out those video links. It would be an act of good faith to help your fellow people who just want to exist in peace.
It’s a space that is inclusive of queer folks. If someone can’t handle that, then yeah, they probably aren’t mature enough to safely interact with those people. Every space needs to have some rules in the event that someone gets nasty. Someone who gets upset when they encounter a non-binary person is probably going to make those people feel unwelcome. So you can either protect the vulnerable people or you can allow the bully to push other people out. But whoever is organizing that space can consciously decide, or they can let the bully decide for them.
By the way, you seem to have this really charged, negative view of queer spaces. Which I respectfully want to suggest is a misunderstanding of those spaces. I mean, if you go in all angry and complaining about other people, then sure, they’re gonna (rightfully) kick you out. But that’s true of most places if you show up and act like a jerk. The truth about these places, and being queer in general, is that this is a beautiful space of happiness for so many people. Being able to express gender openly without judgment is a positive, empowering experience for so many people. All you have to do to fit in is accept that. You don’t have to like it, though that is encouraged. But if you get so upset by someone existing as their true self that you have to argue with others, you’re probably not a good fit for that space.
I want to suggest you listen to the YouTube channel Beau of the Fifth Column. He’s got a lot of great takes he explains in a way I think you’d understand. And sometimes he talks about stuff like this.
Anyway I’m non-binary. I’m taking hormones and expressing my gender in ways I never knew I could (wearing clothes I “wasn’t supposed” to wear). It feels great. All I really ask for is that you accept me for who I am. And I hope you see that I’m able to be kind to you even though I know you think I’m a “pronoun person”.
Edit: Here’s a couple videos from Beau of the Fifth column talking about gender. He’s a white guy from the south who explains things in a non judgmental way and I think he has a good perspective, but I’ll let you decide:
If someone thinks inclusive language is a sign of hostility, then I think they have misunderstood the situation. I’m happy to have open source contributions from anyone, but I do share my pronouns in posts and on videos and I can tell you that the very small number of people who have gotten upset by that were angry unhelpful people who were more interested in complaining about language than contributing to the community.
Having a statement like that shows people that they are open to suggestions on improvements. Since a lot of people are not so open to suggestions, it makes sense to me to include this language. They added a little X button so you can close it easily.
Reminds me of a $BIGTECH project with a one armed robot on a wheeled base they thought could do house cleaning. I mean the damn thing couldn’t operate a windex bottle. I don’t think the executives who made this pitch actually clean their own homes.
Sure, but usually I tend to think "abolish X" means "lets agree on an end goal of abolishing X and then work rapidly to transition to that world." So in that sense I tend to think the person is not advocating for the simple case of changing one law, but on the broader case of examining the legal system and making the appropriate changes to realize a functioning world where we can "abolish X".
The law is an evolving code as we discover new scenarios. This reporting is exploring one of those unexpected scenarios so we can understand the need to change the law.
In 2013 I switched from sex toys to Flutter Wireless (based on the wireless remote from the sex toy) and my kickstarter for Flutter met its funding goal. Six years of continuous burnout ensued. [1]
Now I’m largely recovered and working half time to allow for open source development like my off road robot. [2]
Hope you’ve been well and looking forward to catching up more. :)
It was both Professor Hawking and Carl Sagan that tought me how brief and unlikely our lives truly are. It was their cosmic perspective that helped me end my fear of death. While we want more time and see the death of others as tragic, I do feel less afraid of that time coming knowing how fortunate I have been to live.
Like many others have said, it is the same for me too. I deleted the app one day and have felt so much better since.
I actually used to be able to use the browser based messenger to talk to friends but that has been broken lately and now tries to force you to install the app - more dark patterns here (I don't want the app!).
Now I just ignore Facebook completely. I cringe when I need to open the site for some reason. I'm just happier without it.
I'd love some open source thing like this that was mine first and foremost, but I don't really need that either. I thought I needed social networking way more than I really do.
