divorces are good. breakups are good. ending connections with family is good. ending friendships is good. it all hurts. it all sucks. but the alternative, which is people *not* being able to leave relationships they don’t want to be in, is so much worse. and it is a much more entrenched problem.

Subjects like astrology and certain book genres like romance are very much not beyond critique, and shutting down any critical discussion with accusations of misogyny is frequently bad-faith and disingenuous. But, many folks *are* often misogynistically dismissive and not 'critical'.

An insane day of drone warfare. Civilians across the country remain unsafe, and no one in power gives a damn how many of them die.

BSonblast@bsonblast.bsky.social · 4d ago

Today's quick update [Oct 19]: - 4 rounds of RSF drone strikes in Khartoum; 4 civilians reported killed, 3 of them children. - SAF drone strike on Amiet Market in disputed Abyei region on border w/ South Sudan; reports of large number of civilian casualties. #KeepEyesOnSudan

The contradiction between your gender being power and authority while also needing to obey your father, your teacher, your boss, your captain, is to treat those as temporary states, as "dues" you must pay before you get to have your turn with the Patriarch Stick, violating those below you.

Gatekeeping isn't inherently good or bad, it's an activity which is subject to political contest over who gets to use space how. Spaces that are safe incubators for minority welfare and spaces for preserving dominant social hierarchies both depend on it and we need to be able to tell the difference.

The US admin wants to take advantage of the situation in Sudan the way it's taken advantage of the situation in DRC. It stands by as its allies do the heavy lifting of razing, then swoops in as the usual wolf-in-savior's-clothing to pillage freely. #KeepEyesOnSudan

The periodic dark spiral has returned, stronger than ever. As I plunge deeper, all emotions fade, all desires lose their pull. Little by little, I let go of what was beloved, interesting or delightful. Only a sense of obligation remains, tying me up in basic survival duties, routines devoid of color

The Egyptian military has taken responsibility for Saturday's airstrikes in River Nile State, claiming it the latest "in an ongoing campaign against illegal gold mining within its borders." #KeepEyesOnSudan

BSonblast@bsonblast.bsky.social · 2w ago

Today's quick update [Oct 11]: - At least 72 civilians killed in yesterday's airstrike on gold mine in River Nile State, w/allegations that Egyptian air force is responsible. - This is 2nd such airstrike on the mine this year; in June, 23 miners were killed. #KeepEyesOnSudan

The “a man of his time arguments” are always bullshit because if you were, say, a Taíno, you probably thought Columbus was terrible regardless of what people in Spain thought. But yeah, plenty of people in Spain thought he was too brutal too.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · last yr.

yearly reminder to people insisting that we view Christopher Columbus as "a man of his time" that *the people responsible for the Spanish Inquisition* thought Columbus was out of pocket

Everyone missing the word "pressures" in the title. Yeah, calling women's body parts gross is counter to attraction to women .. but not so much under a patriatchal man-centric view of sex. The pressuring for sex, or for a sex act, is rapy and part of the same entitled misogynistic approach.

adonis (and cait)@cait.bsky.social · 2w ago

OP I am going to need you to stop typing and start hitting him with a cast iron skillet

Today's quick update [Oct 10]: - Kordofan Observatory: at least 16 civilians killed over past 48 hours in SAF drone strikes on Ghubaish, West Kordofan. - Sudan Doctors Network: 4 civilians killed in SPLM-N (Alhilu) shelling on Kadugli, South Kordofan. #KeepEyesOnSudan

Had mahshi (محشي) leftovers for lunch and it tasted so good I wanted to cry. Given how time-consuming it is to prepare this dish, i always regret making it halfway through (usually at the step of coring potatos) .. but it is so worth the effort.

CW: Rape I was having a discussion about marriage with a somewhat conservative relative. She was shocked at hearing the term 'marital rape' & refused to believe it's a thing that happens. Then she procerded to complain that it's so common for women to feel compelled & coerced to have relations with

Some moments make living worthwhile..

things people identify as "misandry" typically fall under two categories: 1. the ways patriarchy punishes men for being bad at masculinity 2. women and gender minorities pointing out the ways men oppress us

It is dreadful that whenever a horrific case(s) of sexual abuse is popularized, gaining attention and sympathy towards the victims .. people from all side of politics feel compelled to demand sympathy for the abusers.

Humans have an ability that is equal parts amazing and terrifying to forget and move on. They be witnessing atrocities committed right before their eyes, to their neighbors or in the streets they walk everyday .. and keep living their lives as if nothing happened.

Men's entitlement to extracting sex from women at any cost (to the woman), ignoring all signs of distress or pain or inability to actively participate, doesn't come from some abstract "biological" cause but a culture that reinforces sex as a woman's only function. We have not progressed past that.

people talk about "media literacy" usually in the context of "needing the villain to look into the camera and tell you they're bad," but it goes the other way too--people will fly into a rage and start insisting "fiction has no effect on reality" if you DO acknowledge context, subtext, framing, etc.

"you are traumatized" as an odious dismissal

Life in Sudan is so very hard.

BSonblast@bsonblast.bsky.social · last mo.

Today's quick update [Sep 20]: - Sudan Doctors Network: 2 civilians killed, 20 others injured in RSF drone strikes on ElObeid, North Kordofan. - Protests in Gedarif in response to soaring cost of living & tanking economy ($1 USD around 9,000 SDG). #KeepEyesOnSudan

Random internet tough guy is highly unlikely to know the first thing about where I am and is unable to make good on the threat. People are, however, actively working to make my existence untenable in society, right now. They are working to 'build the camps', right now. These are ongoing situations.

Pile-ons caused by out-of-context quoting do happen, a lot. This case wasn't one of them. I hate this cowardly approach of weaseling out of responsibility. Either accept the criticism, or stand by what you actually said. Why pretend everyone misunderstood while not changing anything?

Aaron Rodericks@aaron.bsky.team · last mo.

Gotta say the deliberate aliteracy in picking on one post in a thread and choosing to think the exact opposite outcome from what was described continues to be a vibe.

I'd love to rant about how goverments, including the Sudanese goverment, have been treating the Sudan war refugees .. but: 1. I only have personal stories from a non representative sample (people I know), 2. Who cares?

NEW ESSAY on last week's deluge of Dems embracing anti-trans positions. let's stop fixating on trans ppl & instead recognize that Dems have a cisgender problem. pls share! Medium (friend link): juliaserano.medium.com/on-democrats... & Substack (no paywall): juliaserano.substack.com/p/on-democra...

On Democrats Who Cave in Response to Anti-Trans Attack Ads

and more importantly: a response to all the cis people responding to the way that trans people are responding to said Democrats’ responses

juliaserano.medium.com

Today's reminder that the current genAI boom is powered by GPUs manufactured with a mineral called coltan (and other rare earths, and cobalt) mined through the labor of enslaved children in Congo, and the US and UAE fund the paramilitaries which protect those mines and keep those children enslaved.

Today's reminder that the UAE is currently engaged in a genocide in Sudan using weapons they receive from the US and Israel and money they receive from our tourism dollars, and every celebrity who lives or vacations in Dubai or Abu Dhabi is knowingly funding it.

This is Europe, though? This is why European imperialism happened at the same time as its liberalisation. Why Leopold II was hailed as a reformer in Belgium in his time while doing what he was doing in Congo. Europeans love the positive personal benefits of someone else's oppression.

Gene Haunt 👻🇨🇦🇵🇸@avin-oops.bsky.social · last mo.

Middle England today

One of the coolest things about people who don't have a lot of power taking a principled stand is it lays bare the complete cowardice of the ones who actually *do* have power when they fail to do even a fraction as much.

Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · last mo.

Unlike Macklemore, these support acts don’t have big followings and they are giving up their chance to perform to stadiums to push back against censorship, not of themselves but of a fellow artist. Respect.

I don't know about how they choose to express this. Have the aid ever been at an adequate level? Close to adequate, with <$50 /person/year, covering only less than 20% of all those who were displaced .. really? Almost none of the people I know who are struggling has received/is receiving aid.

Al Jazeera English@aljazeera.com · last mo.

Sudan aid networks at risk of collapse, UN agencies warn https://aje.news/f66a7e