Otterdance, hedgehog cake, and Chris Christie’s nachos: Today in Tweets

@Oogly

He did admit that he is a complete rookie when it comes to trans diagnosis, so he recommended me to see a psychologist on the matter.

I would agree with him there, because what he said was pure bullshit.

He believes that the reason I’m thinking I’m a woman as an escape mechanism from due to my severe chronic depression

I don’t like to speak in absolutes but I seriously doubt that anyone tries to escape depression by being trans. On the other hand, being trans is a huge cause of depression.

Like for fuck’s sake she said “natural” was better than medicine

Oh dear…
–

If nothing else, if you can afford it or have coverage, you could go the Informed Consent route for HRT. If it doesn’t make a dent in your depression within about a week, it’s a hint that you may not be trans. Always a good idea though to be assessed by someone qualified to diagnose gender dysphoria.

@Mary

*BIG Hug*!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto’ing everyone else’s opinion on body building forums like those. They’re mostly toxic, always thinly veiled behind “lolol trolling u guys im so funny lets trigger more ppl” after posting a thread like ‘rape women bc they’re all weak and the pathetic gender’ (Tired of the ‘troll’ excuse to spit their bigotry tbh) I know I’m weak as shit and should start lifting at least.. But it’s those types of guys who are probably at the gym alot & I want to stay away from all of them at all costs. Preferably forever.

Also.. Never, ever read the comments on any game of thrones clip on youtube. Had the misfortune of falling down the rabbit hole today on watching a clip of S7 when Euron fought Yara’s crew and the Sand Snakes. And everyone is cheering on Euron for *sexist&homophobic spoiler reasons.. It’s sickening. Didn’t like the Sand Snakes in the show than in books. But being in the show fandom for so long.. I’m not surprised at the ugly reactions, I’m just tired of it. (After reading the books, I know not to cheer on Euron because he’s terrible in every, single, terrible way.)

Just don’t be scientifically minded, and then go read the comments on any “climate change is real” posting. Or anything posted by the Republican @HouseScience Committee twitter account.

Posts WSJ opinion pieces with commentary showing less awareness of science than the originals on the WSJ.

(Generally controlled by Rep. Lamar Smith (R) who has provided a poor example to Texans since taking office.)

Especially don’t bother reading “State of Fear” by Michael “Everyone has an agenda, except me” Crichton. As an adventure yarn it’s interrupted every few pages by bar graphs of cherry-picked data. Reading that book, I experienced an extremely unusual desire to throw it away before I finished it.

Moggie-He was fired 16 days before he even started?!?! I thought I was bad at holding down a job and I was let go after 2 days from my last one. And that was only because it was a VERY short term contract through Hays and I was simply an extra pair of hands who was not needed after that. But to be fired 16 days BEFORE starting work takes very special skills. Man, I am smirking so hard right now. ?

Just woke up and my brain hasn’t fully turned on yet, but for what it’s worth…

@Oogly

Yeaaaah I’m pretty sure you should stop listening to that psychiatrist right now. I mean, save for the “go see someone else” part.

He believes that the reason I’m thinking I’m a woman as an escape mechanism from due to my severe chronic depression, kind of like how when people are sad they wish they had different jobs/parents/lovers/lives/etc.

I may have mentioned how an idiot psychiatrist who thought he knew my issues better than me ended up making them worse with seriously inappropriate medication. As a general rule, any asshole who dismisses your concerns as “just your depression talking” has no idea what your concerns are and what depression is, and doesn’t give a flying fuck about either. And I’m gonna repeat what I said the other day : much more likely your depression is caused at least in part by gender issues rather than the other way around.

Have a hug and please go see someone else.

@Virgin Mary

I don’t really know what to tell you except for what’s been said already : don’t listen to any of that bullshit.

And have a feeble hug from my weak-ass self.

For what it’s worth, you come across as strong to me, muscle or not.

Virgin Mary-I agree with the others. Just stay away from such forums, they are very toxic places. They are very much part of the manosphere and the people who frequent them have very distorted view on women. Also, people on those sites (and society in general) tend to have very sexist attitudes regarding the physical capabilities of women and how they compare to the physical capabilities of men. Sure, men are bit bigger and a bit stronger than women, but not by much. We are a sexually dimorphic species, but we are hardly sexually dimorphic at all. These men like to think that they are big strong, terminators, while women are weak little mice. Nothing can be further from the truth. Men are on average are only about 15% bigger than women. Compare this to other great apes, orangutans and gorillas for example. The average male is twice the size as the average female. Also, even with a lot of testosterone, pound for pound, a man’s muscles are only 5% stronger than a women’s muscles. Men have more upper body strength, but not that much more than an equally trained woman. Most studies that compare male and female strength differences do not ensure that their participants are equally trained. Another interesting tit bit, is that testosterone limits muscle endurance. They simply tire out faster. They can lift more than women, but they can’t do as many repetitions as women. Sorry for being so long. This has been a sore topic for me since I made the mistake of reading the comments on the Like a Girl ad campaign by Always. So much toxicity! TL:DR-men are a bit bigger and stronger than women, but not by very much and women have more endurance to make up for it.

REFS:

http://www.pnas.org/content/100/16/9103.full

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/19552903_Sex_difference_in_muscular_strength_in_equally-trained_men_and_women

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00421-007-0399-6

http://jap.physiology.org/content/91/6/2686.short

http://jap.physiology.org/content/94/6/2414.short

Wow, that bodybuilding forum is misandric.

That’s not to say that it isn’t misogynistic as well, the two usually coexist, but… wow. It’s rare to see that much misandry, that naked, all in one place.

These men like to think that they are big strong, terminators, while women are weak little mice.

OK, so who gets to have the fun of telling them that (spoiler warning) the original Terminator was killed by a woman, and the baddest, most dangerous Terminator thus far seen was portrayed by someone named Kristanna, rather than by someone named Arnold?

Re:Psychiatrists

As far as I’m concerned the vast majority aren’t worth bothering with. They seem to have a habit of thinking they know everything. The amusing thing is that I wanted to get into that field (though as a psychologist). If I had have figured out my issue(s) sooner, I might have been able to.

@Dali

(I’ve not had a great day for reasons relating to being trans either, I’m still pretty pissed off and not focusing right)

I’m sorry to hear it 🙁

I honestly have to disagree, mostly on account of what supposedly counts as ‘qualified’.

I can understand that. In this case by qualified I mean my version of qualified rather than what tends to pass as qualified, if that makes any sense.

Interesting article about lefty self defence. Features Suffragettes and Panthers (both Black and Pink).

https://psmag.com/social-justice/fascinating-history-of-leftist-self-defense

Aaaand..it looks like it didn’t work 🙁

It showed on the preview/edit.. :/

@Virgin Mary, I hope that you will find some calm soon, to help you think on how to go forward! I wont’ tell you that your physical strength is irrelevant – relevance is decided by you, not by someone else, so if that’s something that bothers you, it’s worth your attention.

You don’t get to choose who you are, but you do choose what path you take and how you navigate into the future. The person you will be tomorrow is under your control. Start small. Take little nibbles of the problem. Start doing pushups – perhaps that would be a good experiment for you. XX or XY, your body can and does produce testosterone. Get it making some and see how it feels?

You could stack on that by doing things that are socially male-coded. Like, instead of buying agendered clothes, go find something specifically male coded and try it on. Get a button down shirt and tie and wear it around in private for awhile. See if it gives you any relief or comfort.

My advice is bad and uninformed, but I’m sure whatever path you choose will be just fine. Don’t stress over the way things are today. Get excited about how things will be in the future.

That said, even though I don’t think much of my advice, I’ll stand by it for a year and a day overtop of whatever those d-bags said in that bodybuilding forum. There are some very sweet, kind, thoughtful bodybuilders and martial artists out there, no doubt about it – I’m friends with one. But the culture-at-large is horribly toxic.

Instead of me railing at them, though, watch HBomb take down a prominent one, and laugh at them!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahuj1B0ow4U

(depression talk content warning! womp womp)

@Ooglyboggles, oh goodness, I am familiar with that feeling! I spent years as a nervous wreck because of my depression – still feel it sometime. I spent a lot of time driving, and every time I crossed this one bridge, there – well, there was a slope down to the riverbed that didn’t have a guard rail. More a cliff, really. Every time I crossed that spot it was like I had to fight to keep myself on the road. Light standards and power poles were similarly magnetic at times. It was not fun at all. More than anything else, that was a sign to me that I had to get out of there.

You can get out of there too, my duck, no matter what “there” is for you! Your situation will improve, I promise.

(that’s all of the depression talk!)

Your psychiatrist didn’t really give you good advice – and he admitted that to you flat-out. So you can smile and ignore it. One thing that psychologists and psychiatrists don’t often admit is that their fields are mostly guesswork. They’re trying to predict the state of an incredibly complicated system based on a tiny amount of investigation, and from that guess a way to poke that system to get a desired change. The models are extremely abstract and, beyond a few fundamental rules, very specific to the individual.

So don’t sweat what he said! You’re your best investigator here. You know the subject better than anyone else after all. Don’t be worried about not having an objective view on the problem, either. Your psychologist isn’t objective either. Human beings aren’t objective. Be patient with yourself.

Perhaps try something similar to what I suggested to Mary? Take some actions that naturally increase your estrogen levels, and do some things that are socially female-coded? There are foods that provide estrogen-like effects (soy/soybean, broccoli, cranberry, peas), and you could get a blouse to wear in private. Just to see if it gives you some relief from stress and makes you feel better.

Again: My advice is terrible and bad; you’re a clever duck, you’ll do what’s right. I think that’s the important thing here, really. Tomorrow’s unmade, Oogly. You won’t be the same you tomorrow, and your actions today will affect who you’re going to be. You’ve got complete freedom to push that in any direction you like. The depression is temporary and the depression is not a part of who you are. It’s just a temporary hitchhiker. Its stop is coming soon.

You’re both gonna be just fine, promise!

@ lumen8

Paul Joseph Watson makes my teeth itch. Ugh.

Must confess I’d never heard of him until this brouhaha. (I know a Paul Watson, but he’s more into whales).

It’s a subject I have a bit of an interest in though; and I just thought it was such a nice little dig. 🙂