Arron’s making a lot of noise about how wasteful and inefficient local gov is, which on the surface appeals to people who are fed up with seeing very little get done.

But peel that back and it’s clear he’s just another robber baron trying to bring Britain back to feudalism. Fuck that guy.

Edit: I guess he has some value for splitting that conservative vote.

I had all my plans for today upturned by an issue at work. It’s not really anyone’s fault, but I feel very pouty about it.

I’m so pleased you had it done! and it looks great!

He’s a treasure 💜

Oooh nice find!

I want to get something by this artist: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGTCL4uMPTB

He does amazing dotwork images of plants and mushrooms. I’d like some kind of collection of those on my right shoulder.

Out of 10 I’d put that pain at about an 8. It’s not overwhelming but it builds up over time and ends up feeling really sensitive.

I still can’t wait for my next tattoo though 😊

Would you be comfortable with describing the tattoo you had done? I’m always curious about people’s tattoos!

I’ve only got one tattoo (so far) and generally the pain level was okay. Except for the part on my chest just below my collarbone. That got spicy.

Oh yeah, undoubtedly it’s not the same. But getting practiced at the essential activities means that it’s not so overwhelming when you end up by yourself.

😇

I mean, independence is just doing things for yourself. Even if you’re living with parents, you can start with these things:

• cooking your own meals
• buying your own food
• washing up the items you’ve used for cooking and eating
• washing your own clothes
• keeping your room clean

Bonus if you start doing some of these for your parents, too. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it!

Oh wow I had no idea there was a remix album coming!

I’m still puzzling out how I can empathise with myself the way I can empathise for others.

It’s not a sad thought, just something I don’t have a frame of reference for. Like not being able to imagine what it feels like to move a muscle I’ve never used before.

I take it you have not been through the family courts then?

I have not. I also did not say that this aspect of famiy law is not unfair to men. It is grossly unfair! It also has a complex history that isn’t easy to boil down to “men are bad, women are better”. It comes from patriarchal structures than enforce gendered roles that disadvantage both men and women.

But acknowledging is is unfair to men isn’t the same as saying misandry and misogyny are the same, because they have different effects and require different approaches to counteract them.

For example, misogyny accounts for violence against women at a greater extent than misandry accounts for violence against men. And to be clear: I am not saying that one of these situations is not as bad as the other. But they require different resources to manage the consequence and different approaches to tackle them.

Most men aren’t CEOs holding women down. Most don’t feel that theoretical privilege.

Most CEOs aren’t women. While the average man might not feel that theoretical privilege, they are still represented in a way women are not. The discourse around privilege is not about making someone feel bad for having it, it’s about empowering people to recognise when others don’t have it.

The funny thing is that folk are so fixated on dogma around feminism they end up losing their audience in a debate. You see “shut up, man child. Acknowledge your privilege” attitudes followed by “why are men listening to Andrew Tate and not feminists”. The first should be locked up for a long time. The latter do contribute to pushing men away to the monosphere

Here’s a good example of male privilege: for decades, automobile safety systems were designed and tested with dummies that advantaged average males over females. For a man stepping into a vehicle, who had nothing to do with the design and testing of the safety systems, he probably won’t feel any more privileged than a woman in the same vehicle. But if the vehicle is in a serious accident, the woman is less protected.

Acknowledging that isn’t saying “shut up, you have no right to complain about the dangers of cars because someone else has it worse than you”. But it’s a reminder that there are other people with different experiences and needs to yours, because of the privileges not afforded to them.

Also, to address your final point: there is a long and storied history of chauvenists derailing conversations about misogyny by centering the dialogue on their complaints and injustices. This is why some men are told “shut up, man child”. I’m not a woman but I can imagine women are exhausted by this.

I’m not arguing that neither are wrong. But misogyny has very different outcomes to misandry, and I think it’a disingenuous to argue otherwise. They are not the same in terms of repercussion.

I’d like to address your comment about misogyny and misandry being equally bad.

If you mean “it is bad to be prejudiced against a man because he is a man, and it is bad to be prejudiced against a woman because she is a woman” then yes, these two things are equivalent.

But misogyny and misandry are not equal in terms of impact.

First of all, I’m really sorry for your loss. Your tattoo idea sounds like a beautiful tribute to her.

With all respect to your friend, if she’s never done colour before then I think it’d be better to approach a more experienced tattoo artist about this, especially as this is a tattoo with a very personal connection for you. Depending on the artist, it may not be expensive.

Sometimes the low quality is part of the nostalgia though, right? This album looks like it’s been well-loved, and I bet it’s made a lot of people happy.

🥰

Oh yeah I fully agree, it throws multiple peoples under the bus. The thing is, trying to argue about biology with them is almost pointless because the proponents of this anti-trans rhetoric don’t actually care about what they call “biological facts”. The fact that they have based a legal ruling on a premise that is widely understood to be mistaken shows this.

They just want to punch down and punish the people whose mere existence challenges their preconceptions.