I don’t usually feed the trolls, but I’m going to engage w you as if you were being genuine.

I used to watch Joe Rogan w my ex. My ex was a Bernie Bro. It turned into Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate. Now he dates women 10 years younger than him and I live with a roommate and am paying off his luxury car that I co-signed for him that has since been repossessed. He kicked me out of the apartment that I paid for because “he couldn’t stand to share his bed with me anymore” because Andrew tate told him he could do better than me. Look, people break up for lots of reasons. We weren’t a good match from the start. But the idea that he’s some high value alpha and I’m a used up ho is just so fucking silly, it was the stupidest most embarrassing way for my 7 year relationship to have ended.

It’s important to hear the opinions of people who disagree with you if they are being genuine. Joe Rogan and the rest are not good faith people. They are promoting disinformation and hate. And I think you are too.

I watched my dad end a lifelong friendship because the friend got sucked down the right wing garbage chute. He has not rebounded from his loss, but he can’t tolerate that friendship and just “not talk abt politics” around the guy.

Be better, my dear. I will not respond again.

My mom mentioned that my dad has been watching some concerning (in her words, “annoying”) YouTube content lately. Last time she said that it was America’s Got Talent, but this time it’s white men arguing with cops. I visited and asked if he would show me. He jokingly said “are you gonna violate my rights?” And I very seriously said “yes. I need to make sure it’s not Jordan Peterson or Joe Rogan or someone even worse”. He got a little bit offended and said “you know me better than that, I’m smarter than that”. But the thing is, you start by watching something innocuous like some idiot sovcit arguing with cops and the algorithm pipeline feeds you nazi shit from there and you don’t even know it.

For context, my parents are the kind of leftists that don’t know what leftists are. My mom calls herself a bleeding heart liberal, and my dad sees the media say things like “radical liberals” and jumps up off the couch screaming “you bet your ass im a radical liberal!” But they’re left of liberal, they just don’t have the language for it.

I’m not worried that my dad is gonna seek out nazi propaganda, im worried it’s gonna find him anyway and I want to throw his phone in a lake.

Maybe shower thoughts wasn’t the right community for me to have my existential crisis. But I wish i could block “sovcit” on my dad’s phone and “trad-anything” on my mom’s phone, not because I think they’re dumb (okay maybe a little) but because this shit is so toxic and intrinsic and scary and my parents are so dumb.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones xx

$2.92 til Friday :,-)

Have either of you read the Pendragon series by D.J. McHale? If you liked Percy Jackson, you’ll probably enjoy them as well. I really enjoyed the audio books.

I don’t know how to tag/ping people on Lemmy, so i hope u/surewhynotlem sees this as well. @surewhynotlem (<- just checking if that works)

Have a great day!

You are entitled to disagree, and as i said before, I do not know Chelsea Mannings’ stance on the matter. Some trans people do refer to their past tense selves with their previous names, or even do not change names after coming out or transitioning. You are correct that court documents will not be altered.

The point that I am making is that, in general, it is considered disrespectful and quite rude to dead name and misgender someone unless they have given you express permission to do so. It’s really not a matter of being technically correct, it’s just a matter of being kind.

Unless you are friends with Chelsea (which I am not), or unless you are directly quoting something out of the court document (and even then, you can just say “Manning”), there’s no need to use the name that she used to go by, and there’s no need to use he/him pronouns. We’re talking about Chelsea Manning right now, but this goes for any trans person that you are not personally acquainted with. Another example would be to say that Caitlin Jenner is an Olympic Medal winner, regardless of what she looked like or what name she won those medals under, or what category she won them in.

Again, not an attack. I’m just making noise.

Hope your night is going well.

(But fuck Caitlin Jenner, she’s a bad person)

A lot of people assume this is the correct way to speak because it’s chronologically correct, but the general consensus in the trans community is that she was always Chelsea Manning, and always was a woman, and the time that she spent using the other name and gender need not be reflected upon. I do not know how Chelsea Manning personally feels about this, and every individual is entitled to their own respect, however the general etiquette when you do not know is to NOT deadname or misgender them, regardless of what era of their life you are referring to.

This is not an attack. Just a PSA.

Have a peaceful evening.