this picture just saved my mental health
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Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".
Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"
And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".
Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.
At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.
So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!
Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!
Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!
Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.
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All ill say if the us supreme court decides to turn over the indian child welfare act and i don't see white people talking about it, especially white lgbt people, i will be pissed
Edit: Turned off reblogs bc it was upheld! Yippee!
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i just can't believe that oda fucking create sanji, a stereotypical ladies man who simps to an embarrassing degree for women while having his hackles comically raised around everyone he perceives as a man - and most notably butting heads with the more obvious ~manly man~ of the crew. haha, classic anime running gag, the kind that gets obnoxious at times but still makes you laugh.
AND THEN, like a billion chapters later, motherfucker steeples his fingers and goes "soooooooo... what makes a person Like That?"
and the answer is that he grew up in fucking Toxic Masculinity, The Kingdom. the answer is that he was always Different, in a way other guys instinctively perceived as weak, and that made him the target of visceral scorn and violence. the answer is that he was sensitive, sweet, caring, nurturing - feminine-coded traits which are only valued by patriarchy insofar that they're performed by women in service of men. the answer is that in a kingdom comprised almost entirely by violent men, the only ones who were ever kind to him, the only safety he ever had, were a girl and a woman.
so cooking is for women and servants, it makes you less of a man. only women will ever really value you for your passions and dreams. women are also actively hurt by the way the world works, they are unsafe unless they comply with men's violence, and you have to protect them.
(men will always know what you are, and they will hurt you if you let them.)
and even after he leaves... at baratie he is cherished and respected, but even that is an extremely masculine environment. we don't talk about our feelings, we don't let our guard down, the only love is tough love. when he tries to express his artistry and express himself through his cooking, rather than just filling orders and making money, he gets mocked.
so here is a man who will not raise a hand to a woman, because he rejects the masculinity he was raised with and refuses to become yet another man subjecting women to violence. he is desperate for women's attention and affection because it's SAFE, it's the only kind he can trust. other men are potential threats and must be treated as such. he must at all times be snarky, tough, Not Feminine, because to be perceived otherwise is to be powerless, to be hurt.
like y'all. the queer coding of it all? the overtly feminist themes? the active rejection of toxic masculinity and the way it's shown to be directly tied to imperialism? what the fuck.
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batfam au where bruce is just purely Brucie Wayne, and all his kids are secretly vigilantes (he is utterly clueless)
After he adopts dick
Dick: *trying to sneak out the window*
Brucie: “Dick my son, where are you off to on this glorious evening”
Dick: “erm. a party.”
Brucie: “have fun I hope you ‘slay’ 🥳
Dick “haha.. yeah” *jumps out the window*
—
Jason-
Jason: *also trying to sneak out the window*
Brucie: “Are you also a party-boy like your brother?”
Jason: “No Im going to go beat people up”
Brucie: “So youve gotten your brothers sense of humor ^v^”
—
Tim-
Brucie: “Tim why do you never get any sleep?? I’m worried”
Tim: “I’m. Studying for AP exams.”
Brucie: “still you need to sleep :(”
*tims watch buzzes*
Tim: “Haha!!! I need to. go study with Dick and Jason now. bye Bruce”
Brucie: “At this point I’d rather you constantly going out to parties like they did”
—
Damian-
Brucie: “Dick I cannot believe you have been taking your 8 year old brother out until god knows when?????”
Damian: “Father we ar-“
Dick: “YES BRUCE IM SORRY FOR BEING SO IRRESPONSIBLE AND LETTING A CHILD GO OUT AT NIGHT. NO REASON A CHILD SHOULD BE GOING OUTSIDE.”
—
Brucie: “Alfred I feel like my kids are keeping a secret from me…”
*moment of silence*
Brucie: “No theyd never keep anything from me. my darling children.”
(comms)
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