Dee

anubus21 said:

http://www.dailywire.com/news/22503/indiana-university-holds-practice-halloween-help-emily-zanotti

This shit is fucking ridiculous. They are costumes for god's sake. They are for people to dress up, have fun, eat candy and/or get drunk. 

You just keep trying, but nobody’s biting. 

MOD NOTE: Arguing with @emnofseattle is not my favourite thing either, but he has as much right to put his opinions forward as anyone else. And others are free to engage or not as they see fit. However, this lowkey shading of people we don't agree with (and I have been guilty of this here too, so I'm not singling out any one person), IS kind of dickish and needs to stop. If you don't want to talk to someone, just don't. There is plenty more to read here.

As for whether it's useful having a politics thread at all, people will always want to talk politics. Someone started the very first thread and it's clearly something people want to discuss so here we are. But again, everyone is free to read it or not.

@JaimieT Jebus, YES. All the "my heart goes out to" shit makes me want to vomit. It's nothing more than tragedy porn - people love to insert themselves into drama that has nothing to do with them. And conspicuously, their hearts never seem to go out to the kids killed by terrorist bombs in Syria or landslides in India or whatever.

Jesus, you know, I can't even be bothered anymore.

@Vasilnate1 I am a middle class, middle aged white woman, so I don't really have to deal with "micro aggressions" much. Life is pretty easy for me. However, I have seen numerous examples of people dealing with the same small mean shit over and over and over, and how many times should they just be the stronger person? Ignoring it doesn't make it go away.

We are in 2017 and I still see everyone in the room bristle when an indigenous person or a Sudanese teenager walks into my office, as though everyone is just waiting for trouble to start. Imagine being that person who has that effect on every room they enter.

We are in 2017 and grown men catcalling school girls and young women is still a daily (hourly!) occurrence. In fact, my daughter and her friends are so used to it they just think it's normal behaviour, even though it scares them and makes them feel uncomfortable.

We are in 2017 and gay teenagers are still killing themselves because they are bullied and harangued into believing that what they are is wrong.

We are in 2017 and black people in America (and Australia) still don't feel like they have a voice. Many don't feel safe in their own countries.

We are in 2017 and (Christian) religion still holds enormous political sway in many supposedly modern countries of the world, including yours, mine, and the UK, to the point where they can dictate to women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies. This is despite the fact that more people than ever identify as "no religion".

We are in 2017 and we still see models parading down catwalks wearing Native American head dress, despite every idiot and his dog knowing that those have sacred meaning to the NA people.

People who are subjected to the same shit over and over don't need to be told that they should just be the stronger person. They need to be told that yes, we see what is happening and yes, you have the right to be upset by this.

It's not difficult to not offend people, unless you just don't give a shit about other people's feelings.