#white bro culture

[historyhermann]

Young Love Spoiler-Filled Review

Young Love is a mature animated comedy spun off from the short film, Hair Love, by Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr., and Bruce W. Smith. Cherry, who created this series, began working in the entertainment industry in 2007. Downing created the Afrofuturist series My Dad the Bounty Hunter. Smith created The Proud Family and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. Sony Pictures Animation, Blue Key Entertainment, and Lion Forge Animation produced this series. This article was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of actors currently on strike, Young Love, being reviewed here, wouldn't exist.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the fifty-third article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on October 18, 2023.

This series comes at a time that there are growing number of Black-centered animated series on streaming services, including My Dad the Bounty Hunter, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, Craig of the Creek, Supa Team 4, Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire, Central Park, and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. There are also ongoing indie animations, like Guardian Instance, Diver: The Animated Series, and Silver Lin, by Black animator Brandon Wright. In addition, indie animations such as Defenders of Alodia, LimeLight, and Captain Zero are in development. Iwájú, Dantai, Cookies & Milk, Tiana, and Iyanu: Child of Wonder are five animated series set to premiere on streaming platforms in the future.

Young Love follows a tight-knit Black family trying to pursue their dreams. It goes beyond what is depicted in Hair Love. Only Angela Young (voiced by Issa Rae), spoke in that film. In this series, Rae reprises her role. Kid Cudi and Brooke Monroe Conaway join her. Cudi voices her partner, Stephen Love. Conaway voices her daughter, Zuri Michaela Young-Love. The first episode pulls you into their world, as does the animation style. Stephen is an aspiring music producer. Angela is a hair stylist. She enters her workplace, the salon, Sister Locs, two months after she left the hospital, but is out of practice.

The episode goes on from there, with Stephen and Angela showing support for their daughter at a school auction. Star (voiced by Tamar Braxton) and Angela's parents, Russell Young (voiced by Henry Lennix) and Gigi Young (voiced by Loretta Devine), are introduced. Stephen and Angela rent their apartment from Russell, who is often hounding Stephen to pay the rent. Stephen, Angela, and Zuri often have fun together, despite their challenges. However, there are tensions. Angela wants to complete her bucket list, which she put together before her chemotherapy. Zuri has dug tunnels through the apartment, so she moves through undetected. At other times, Stephen and Angela help Zuri with her school projects.

Through it all, comedy is part and parcel of this series, mixed with occasional coarse language, suggestive dialogue, and violence. Young Love doesn't sugarcoat life in Chicago or tense family dynamics, but shows them realistically instead. At the same time, the series highlights the role of the sharing economy, sexist beliefs from men (claims of women's incapability), and gangs. The latter is manifested in Lil Ankh (voiced by Idrys). He is a rap/hip hop star and Stephen works for him. When it comes to the sharing economy, Angela convinces her fellow co-worker, Cheri, to use a digital app for booking appointments.

The series has a strong slice-of-life vibe, from the fight between Russell and a 1970s washing machine (he finally wins when he puts it at the curb), Zuri and Gigi going to apartments managed by Russell to collect rent (to prove women aren't incapable). At the same time, it provides commentary on social media influencers. In the fourth episode, for instance, Zuri becomes friends with Stacy, after she objects to the book selection by the school librarian, Ms. Green and feels guilt for her homelessness, resulting in her inviting Stacey and her family to stay in the Young's apartment.

This quickly goes wrong when Angela becomes a social media influencer and exploits the new residents, using them to gain followers. They strike back by mooching off her. Angela and Zuri get their new occupants (Stacey and her family) to leave by getting them a hotel room. In the end, they do very well for themselves. Supporters gift them an entire house, while Zuri, Stephen, and Angela don't even have a whole house. In some ways, Angela and Zuri get what they deserve. Overall, the episode is critical of social media influencers and their negative influence. Crowdfunding's positives are hinted. This episode has a similar message to that communicated about such individuals in Karma's World and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

The value of art and the creative process is key theme in Young Love. For instance, in the fourth episode, Stephen connects with his nephew, Amir (voiced by Noah Cottrell), who likes to spray paint. He brings him to a modern art exhibit, exciting him. This goes further in the next episode, when Stephen puts aside his contract with Lil Ankh, after the latter rejects his beats, and tries to ink a deal with a White male advertising executive. He hopes that this will help him break free of Ankh.

The firm is steeped in White bro culture. It is racist but hidden behind niceties. The executive he met previously is joined by a few others. They all dress like Black people, claim they "get" them, and are "allies." While he cringes, he goes along with it because of the compensation. This episode criticizes "inclusive" corporate culture. In reality, the culture of this corporation is the "same old race shit." This gets worse when Stephen uncovers that he's making a racially tinged laundry detergent jingle.

What follows is a funny sequence: a Twitter bird chases Stephen and Star. They are confronted by historical Black figures who warn them against making the jingle. They ignore this, and make a subversive jingle, with Black power themes. The White ad execs don't know better. This is squashed when Lil Ankh releases a similar song, and they have to return the money. Even worse, Lil Ankh calls out Stephen as "trash" and a "traitor." It is no accident that in the same episode, Angela bonds with a new client, a Black woman named Jade, one of the only Black women who leads a PR firm. Zuri tries to sell cookies to "get back" at the Girl Scouts.

This series is more than a mix of slice-of-life and drama. The episodes often come with warnings for strong or coarse language, and occasional violence. Unlike other series, aimed at all ages, Young Love is aimed at mature adults. It doesn't whitewash anything. Take for example, the sixth episode, when Stephen tries to figure out who he is without Lil Ankh, who stole his beats without credit, and ends up in a bad funk. After he brings Zuri to school, his beat-up car breaks down. He gets four flat tires. It is almost a manifestation of 1998 hit by The Coup, "Cars & Shoes."

If that isn't bad enough, Ankh refuses to give him credit. Star continues working with Ankh despite him being a scumbag. With this defeat, he imagines everyone criticizing his work, and even fills out employment applications that Russell gave him. There is then a twist: Russell once was drummer for a funk band! He declares that he sees potential in Stephen, saying he believes in him and says music is Stephen's identity. This is just the inspiration he needs. It is not mistake that everyone learns a lesson by the end of the episode: Angela learns that she should stop meddling in people's lives as a life coach and Zuri stops trying to tell people's fortunes with a demonic cootie-catcher. The episode ends with Stephen teaching Zuri piano chords. Angela welcomes further bonding between Zuri and Stephen.

The next episode of Young Love is one of my favorites since it contains social commentary on pyramid schemes, video game addiction, and comedy (known as throwing shade in this series). For the first of these topics, Angela tries to extract her mom from a pyramid scheme called Ruminate, to sell reported "holy water." This changes when the devious speaker declares that a benefit is an "all-exclusive" trip to Paris. She then accepts it since a vacation to Paris is on her bucket list.

They end up hawking this to more people until they realize the obvious: it is a swindle. They get a ticket, but to Paris, Illinois, not Paris, France, infuriating them. Angela says that Chicago's broken educational system was a cause for her poor choice. She thanks her mom for teaching her to believe in herself again. While Angela and her mom round up "the crew" (those they roped into the scheme) to take down Ruminate, no one believes their tall tale, which appears partially fabricated.

The commentary on video game addiction and comedy is more straightforward. Stephen becomes resolute and determined to beat Hustle Quest, a video game that his nephew Amir made. After several days, he is victorious. However, Zuri easily beats the game in a few minutes, surprising Stephen. The latter makes clear that becoming obsessed with something short-lived is a waste of time. It implies that people have different forms of obsession. Video game addiction is listed in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). However, there isn't a consensus on whether it is separate disorder or manifestation of other disorders.

When it comes to comedy, Zuri learns from Amir how to show "shade" on people. She stands up to Twan (voiced by Debra Wilson), who is calling people names. Both end up in the principal's office. He chastises them for their behavior. The principal says that if they continue, they will become comedians who charge pennies for jokes. Zuri and Twan decide to team up and tell jokes together, and charge people for it.

The principal's line may be a dig at comedians and how some will do anything to be funny, even if it takes others down. On the other hand, it might be more tongue-and-cheek, considering the comedy of Young Love itself. Consider the next episode. Zuri believes that her parents are having sex. Instead, they are trying to coordinate a schedule. Zuri's initiation is somewhat right: after she leaves, they try to have sex. However, Stephen's desire for chicken wins out, annoying Angela.

Of all the episodes, the eighth episode touches on the value of artwork, drug use in the Black community, the value of artwork, and "spicing up" romance. For the first of these topics, Amir bonds with Zuri. Amir honors his father by spray painting on a wall. Zuri unknowingly helps him, as does a young Black man wearing a face mask. This empowering message about art fits with other episodes. In comparison, series such as The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder do not have similar messages.

On the second of the topics, Stephen and Angela try to find a place where they went early on in their relationship. However, the restaurant has disappeared, and they feel out of place in a now-gentrified neighborhood. Focusing on gentrification in Young Love is not unique. Kizazi Moto, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, City of Ghosts, and Birdie Wing did the same. Stephen and Angela are skeptical about going into a shop, sitting where the restaurant they loved was located. They only enter to charge their phones. A White woman runs the store. She welcomes them, bowing, and welcomes them with "namaste." In some ways, she represents spiritualist White people.

This soon changes. Angela and Stephen drink their tea. It's infused with THC, otherwise known as tetrahydrocannabinol. It's the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. They remain high for the rest of the episode. This doesn't stop them from giving zingers to White people. Angela calls gentrification "domestic imperialism" and describes a nearby White shop owner as a "colonizer." They find the food truck run by the chef who once ran their beloved restaurant. They are so high that Angela doesn't discipline Zuri for leaving the house (she was supposed to stay put). Stephen just vibes while this happens.

Apart from The Freak Brothers, an indie animated series which is absolute dreck, and an allusion in an episode of Steven Universe Future, I can't think of any other series which gives a positive portrayal of getting high. None of the other Black animated series I mentioned earlier even approach the topic of drug use at all. Executives would consider it "too mature" for all-ages series. Perhaps they think it could increase drug use since one study suggested popular music about cannabis could do. More likely, they have certain perceptions of children's wants, which don't always align with reality.

Otherwise, the final plot thread, of spicing up romance, takes place between Russell and Gigi. They give each other presents, but Gigi remains annoyed that each year repeats itself. Rain continues to stop Russell's plans to go out for their romantic anniversary. She demands they change things up and Russell ends up delivering. He returns in the uniform of a letter carrier (his former job). The message this communicates is that love is possible between anyone, no matter their age. It fits with the rest of the series, in which Russell, Gigi, Angela, Stephen, and Zuri live in the same building. In fact, Stephen, Zuri, and Angela live above Gigi and Russell, and have a cat named Rocky, who is a character in some ways, but never speaks.

Later episodes involve Stephen and Angela either helping their daughter, Zuri, or trying to bond with others. The latter is on display when Amir goes with Stephen to buy expensive sneakers, which cost $300.00. Angela begins to come into her own, as she runs the salon, known as Sister Locs, and realizes that she can't be the "cool" boss, but needs firm instead. Stephen tries to compose some beats and realizes he shouldn't be like Lil Ankh, but should chart his own path. When it comes to helping Zuri, her parents get her out of a situation where she caused students to riot over coffee cake, after she thought she was Angela Davis.

These episodes set the stage for the final two episodes of Young Love. In the first of these episodes, Angela's parents (and Zuri's grandparents by extension) demand that Zuri come to church after she complains that God is ignoring her prayers. They are horrified after Stephen calls out religion as corrupt and Angela says spirituality is what is best for Zuri. Going to church is uncomfortable for Stephen and Angela. In the process, Angela lies. She claims she's married to Stephen. At the same time, the episode shows how certain people can be charlatans. Zuri poses as the "chosen one" so she can one-up her friend, Sky. She even tries to take away the Star student idea when Sky begins questioning her.

In this series, God is a Black man. He is remarkably busy and claims to not have time to involve himself in people's affairs. He is similar to the God, with a light bulb as a head, in Disenchantment, voiced by Phil LaMarr, a well-known Black male voice actor. The episode has an interesting twist. It turns out that the financial advisor who helped Angela and Stephen get their finances in order, and deal with their overdue payments, was God himself. In addition, the Principal's worry about lawsuits (when Zuri claims she is the chosen one) and separation of church and state is timely, since some sneer at legal prohibition of religious involvement in public schools, in the U.S., and desire the re-introduction of (Christian) prayer.

This nuanced approach to religion in Young Love, ending with Angela's parents remaining religious, while Angela, Zuri, and Stephen are spiritualists, is unique. It differs from lip service the Simpsons family shows to churchgoing in The Simpsons, or lack of religious worship in The Proud Family, and its reboot. This nuance reflects the fact that only 16% of Americans committed to attending religious services in person. A 2021 survey is even more pertinent. One-in-five Black Americans told survey takers they are religiously unaffiliated. Instead, they identify as agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular.” This is especially the case among Gen Z and Millennials. In addition, a recent survey attested that over 10% of Asian Americans are non-religious.

The Young Love series finale builds upon the penultimate episode. It begins with Zuri's declaration that she will marry her classmate, BJ. This goes awry when he swallows a strawberry with a ring inside. Following this, Zuri, and Angela's parents, pressure Stephen and Angela to get married. At first, neither wants this. They laud their freedom from "binding chains of matrimony." Both describe themselves, to the school principal, as loving parents committed to providing Zuri with a stable home. Non-marriage between Angela and Stephen remained in part because of Stephen's repeated failures to propose marriage.

Russell's claim that no weddings or marriages will cause an apocalypse impacts this decision. A recent poll is relevant: Americans expressed worries about declining marriages. Even so, Catholics and historically Black Protestants, especially, had less concern about those with fewer children. That poll also noted that larger groups took a neutral view. They believed that the declining number of marriages is neither positive nor negative for society. At the same time, many women said, in a related poll, of Americans that they took the traditional, and patriarchal route, by taking their husband's surname in opposite-sex marriages.

As such, Russell's view is unhinged. Society has existed, and will continue to exist, without marriage. There is public support among Americans for a nuclear family, even though few see parenthood or marriage as "central to living a fulfilling life." Russell's response is akin to the "No on Infinity" ad in the Futurama "Proposition Infinity" episode. That ad satirizes people against same-sex marriage. Russell's fear combines with Angela's fear that she will become a 1950s-style housewife, a path she thinks Zuri will follow. At the same time, Stephen fears Angela will leave him, causing him to live alone in a house in 1980s-style situation.

The episode ends with both eschewing the idea of marriage, after Angela says they are going too fast, Stephen remains unsure, and Angela's therapist says she should not put everyone else's needs before her own. Gigi stops Zuri's brainless child bride marriage proposal to BJ. Stephen and Angela agree to have a very long romantic engagement instead of marriage, saying that love is holding their little family together. Even so, there is a marriage between Gigi and Russell. It is a re-marriage, a re-stating of commitment between them. The wedding goes on its head, after they play a song Stephen produced and begin throwing cake at each other. Overall, this episode is a clever way to end Young Love. It makes clear that love isn't only possible through marriage.

In this way, it makes a different point that Spy x Family, with Loid and Yor's marriage of convenience, made without either being in love with one another, at first. The views of Angela and Stephen on marriage align with criticism of the marriage institution, even of same-sex marriage. Critics argue that marriage perpetuates a system which makes married people "more worthy of...health care and economic rights" than others. Such critics include Michael Warner (in his book The Trouble with Normal), Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Simone de Beauvoir, Eleanor Leacock, Clare Chambers, and Dean Spade.

Obviously, Young Love is not some political manifesto extolling how marriage is not the be-all, end-all for love. But it is a breath of fresh air from the many series out there, either directly (Tangled) or indirectly stating that marriage is the only way to ensure that love can be long-lasting. There can still be romantic friendships and romances without any legally binding life-long commitments. Unfortunately, popular culture depictions of those friendships or romances are rare. Instead, shows fit with the societal expectation of marriage and the idea that unmarried/single people are abhorrent, bizarre, or "suspicious." This mentality has seeped into online communities of fans who enjoy yuri or yaoi. Such fans believe that two or more characters in love need to marry.

The fact that Young Love grew from a short film named Hair Love, which is less than seven minutes long, is phenomenal. Hair Love features a young Black girl awoken by a cat, trying out a new hair style, and following a video of her mother, who has an easy-to-use hair tutorial. In Hair Love, neither she, nor her dad, who tries to help her with her hair, which he fights, akin to what Moon Girl/Lunella in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur did, speaks. Her mother has the only speaking role.

Young Love wasn't crowdfunded like Hair Love. However, the same company produced it: Lion Forge Animation, along with other companies. That animation studio, a division of Lion Forge Entertainment, is known for Drawn In, Rhymes Through the Times, The Park Bench; and Rise Up, Sing Out. In addition, the studio announced work on a film (Heiress) and TV series (Iyanu: Child of Wonder and Hero's Journey the Series).

As I mentioned in my last review, Max screwed over this series by posting four episodes a week. This made the series almost impossible to keep up with. It ensured that not even one Wikipedian would create a page for the series. Instead, the series is only a redirect on the Hair Love page. This is unfortunate, since social media chatter on X/Twitter is generally positive, except for a few people using clips out of context to bash the show. Users call it cute, slick, cool, hilarious, hip, perfect, and heartwarming. On other social media platforms, and among critics, the reception appears to be positive.

Issa Rae, Kid Cudi, Brooke Monroe Conaway, Tamar Braxton, Henry Lennix, Loretta Devine, Idrys, Debra Wilson, and Noah Cottrell, voice actors for this series, bring their talent to the table. Mara Junot (as Cynthia Love), Mike Smith (as Dwayne), and many others, join them. Their experience allows the series to tackle topics like bullying, masculinity, gender roles, marketing, racial justice, exploitation of Black culture with ease. Even so, not everything gets equal emotional weight.

Rae is new to voice acting, apart from voicing the mother in Hair Love and Jessica Drew in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Similarly, Cudi voiced Jabari in Entergalactic and Clay in Trolls Band Together. Junot recently voiced Beta in My Dad the Bounty Hunter. Devine has voiced many characters, as have Lennix and Smith. Wilson recently voiced Amanda Waller in My Adventures with Superman, Terra Snapdragon in The Owl House, Quinn's mother in Final Space, and Z'oto in Star Trek: Lower Decks. In contrast, this series is the first voice role for Conaway, Cottrell, and Braxton.

I hope that this series gets a second season. It would give new/newish screenwriters like Brian Ashburn, Breannah Gibson, R. Malcolm Jones, Kelsey Barry, Jackson DeLoach, Juston Gordon-Montgomery, Guillermo Martinez, story writer Jeanine Daniels, executive story editor Keisha Zollar, and seasoned writers such as Willie Hunter, Carl Jones, Randa Sheppard, and Dayna Lynne North, a chance to shine again. Knowing how turbulent the animation industry, in the U.S., is right now, and how the executives are stonewalling SAG-AFTRA (resulting in a continued actor's strike), I am doubting it will happen.

Young Love is currently streaming on Max.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

#young love #young love hbo max #hair love #white bro culture #whiteness #white people #racism #twitter #animation #pop culture #reviews #thc #gentrification #marriage #romance #sag aftra strike #black animation #moon girl and devil dinosaur #my dad the bounty hunter #voice actors #tangled #spy x family #futurama #the proud family louder and prouder #the proud family #disenchantment #video game addiction #pyramid schemes #the coup #karma's world

[fallahifag]

when talking about the Palestinians who died, maybe don’t use religious terms. some may be atheist and I think saying “may god have mercy on them” (that’s what google translate tells me you’re saying) might feel like imposing on some people

when talking to palestinians about palestinian issues, maybe don’t tell them what they should or should not do. some might not be atheist and i think you saying “don’t use religious terms” (bullshit) might feel like you are imposing your beliefs on some palestinians actually . <3

#i’m palestinian and i’m arab so i’m going to talk the way palestinians and arabs talk. which is this way. #so please stop trying to impose your white culture and your white identity and your white beliefs about religion on me #ask #anon #wasn’t gonna answer this but feeling salty #bro thought they could take away the term ‘allah yer7amhom’ away from me… oh ok

[hejee]

morrigan mansplaining elvhen culture while playing as lavellan hits so close to home (ily morrigan but this is not it 😭)

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #lavellan #inquisitor lavellan #solas dragon age #solas #morrigan dragon age #solavellan #of sorts lol #do u know how many times white ppl tried to mansplain my own culture to me lmaooooo it’s embarrassing i tell you #they’ll be like oh i know more about you bc im well educated and i learned a lot while living here and im like bro are u serious #so whenever i get to this part of da:i im like oh god here we go again #b4 u come for solas he gets an exception bc he’s literally elvhen idk what to tell u it’s literally his culture too so let him be #warden is like morrigan im enrolling u to racial/culture sensitivity classes bc girliepop this is not helping anyone #hey it’s my art

[rosencrantzsguildenstern]

controversial take but we gotta stop joking about white people loving cheese like it's their thing. people of every race love cheese bro. cheese is baller as hell

#chitra.txt #this is not a serious take #tho it is legit one i believe in like bro cheese is in non white peoples literal cultural dishes #i get that europeans r less likely to have lactose intolerance and stuff but there r other regions where lactose intolerance is also uncomm #uncommon

[gently-folded-paper-cranes]

this world would actually be so much more advanced and would have so much more culture if americans didnt come and fuck it up

#i obv dont mean ALL white ppl #but like #colonization has been going on for CENTURIES #and for what bro like #look at Gaza #the amount of amazing books there the poetry the tradtion and culture being wiped away because usa cannot stand to stop israel???? #like i think america is an actual joke of a country #like look at colonisation and list me the benefits of it. nothing #theres ntg??? like wtf nothing good has come from colonizing #look at congo. sudan. all the culture #america has big talk but compared to anywhere else it is just a stolen land full of thieves #check their literacy rate their poverty rate #how do u call it a developed country??

[burmese-culture-is]

Burmese culture is having like 20+ international schools in your city. Half of which have almost the same name or acronym

and they all suck

#i went to an international school! #and then all the white kids in those schools look at you weird for doing traditional burmese things #bro we are in myanmar what do you expect #myanmar #burmese culture is #burma

[demigod-of-the-agni]

I knew there would be a day where people would fancast the whitest white boy on the planet who couldn't be farther from South Asia as Pavitr Prabhakar aka Spider-Man India, and it would be the day where I claw my own face off

But I didn't expect there to be a day for that guy to start listing MULTIPLE men of the whitest baking soda bleached papery gum tree bark ping pong ball PVC glue white variety with ONLY DEV PATEL, AKA TOKEN INDIAN OF WESTERN MEDIA, in the follow up reply

man im gonna need you to get off the internet and go back to kindergarten

#“I still kind of stand by it though. Im sure you can be white and be from India” bro's hopped up on something. i think it's racism #bait or no bait this fucking sucks #let us have our own people in the spotlight for once #like fucking indian media is all over western culture. india regurgitates all the white bullshit constantly #let's also add whiteness to a country that is literally shunning its own people?? multiple south asian countries who hate their own people? #get your eyes checked and your brain wiped clean #pavitr prabhakar #spider man india #i really did not want my day ruined but fuck that i guess. it was only a matter of time. there will be more

[1eos]

it really pisses me off that any attempts to discuss how misogyny statistically leads to violence against women at the hands of men and then defended by everyone brainwashed by patriarchy regardless of gender (re: mothers protecting sons who assault their partners) is immediately derailed by mras claiming it's terf rhetoric???? trans women are part of the women facing the violence what the fuck are you talking abt? it boggles the mind that half the time when ppl are trying to 'combat' transmisogyny they're fucking being transmisogynistic

#every time they're like don't shit on men that's transmisogynistic #trans women aren't fucking men bro #and terfs don't really hate men imo some of them will complain abt them ig #but most transmisogynists are like.... straight.... theyre tradwives obsessed with the white supremacist patriarchy #the idealogy is rooted in the 'supreme divine feminine' that's skinny white christian or culturally christian and cishet #and they'll be more mad at someone talking shit abt men who are literally online putting femicide #and abuse of women in general as the pinnacle of manhood #see the way all those men changed their tune on Jonathan majors when he was accused of domestic violence? #so why are you defending that??????? #i really do think these chronically online ppl think transphobia is only perpetrated by lesbians for some reason #likeeeeeeee who is passing these laws babes #who's beating women for any perceived faults or 'hints' of 'masculinity #it's a system of violence and it's a LOT of different ppl perpetrating it

[rotzaprachim]

a wild flavor of tumblr user is a certain kind of white American self id’d leftist or commie who reblogs and posts things about I just think all liberals and centrists should DIE (*guillotine* meme) and then posts things needing to be nicer to demographics that vote 80% Republican and are very systemically involved in the structural and practical oppression of people of color and the whole US hegemony like brooo I get having a seriously messy relationship with your own cultural background but who are you talking about? Guillotining everyone at mawmaw’s thanksgiving?

#My mom was bitter about white middle American farmers and like it made me kind of ….. #but also they do fucking vote 70-80% Republican and horrifically abuse the millions of undocumented laborers who run the system #But I see this kind of thing with a lot of white working class American groups #It’s not an argument against empathy we any group we all need more empathy #It’s that a) I think white Americans who got into leftism by themselves often end up #In this violence-centric ideas of reform that are still intensely conservative and culturally Christian #Like bro you just want to kill everyone to make a better shiny world of good people bro #And b) they have exceedingly little empathy with why people from any other background might have family or complex relationships #To conservative ideology #The white leftist culturally xtian relationship to many diasporic groups etc #Idk it’s interesting…… #Also like I’m not letting anyone off the hook but uh some of the language that gets pulled up in these talks #Can be a weird reflection of Fox News rhetoric #The Real WorkinG Class (from predominantly white and rural areas) #Versus the Coastal *Liberals* and *urban people* at fault for income inequality #Or the death of American working class leftism or something #Like blaming that specifically on California and New York and or some of the areas with the highest proportions of people of color and Jews #It’s just like hmmmmm sussssss to me

[andromedasummer]

i ended up having a like. 30 minute conversation with some of those "freedom convoy" people. was at the bus stop. they were wearing trump hats. i ended up roped into the conversation because i was so taken aback at seeing one in public i was just. staring at it. ive never felt more depressed about someone elses life and beliefs than when i talked to them.

#they fucking. tokd me about the litterboxes in schools for kids identifying as cats and i had to #break it to them that that wasnt true and explained that. also explained. what its like yo be autistic. how i find it joyful #and also discussed how they believe trump has been spoken to by god and chosen to lead and how they arent christians or catholics like they #used to be but instead talk directly to him and have him inside them #and also apparently how 15 minute cities in china are used to keep people imprisoned where they are #and we arent a democracy anymore. which was so funny considering. they are participating for a party #running in the election #i gave them my perspective on being transgender and gay and watched them have like. 3 or 4 ''are we the baddies'' moments #explained what puberty blockers actually do. that surgery is paid out of peoples own pockets. that we literally only have #one doctor who can perform these surgeries and hes abt to retire #and at the end of the convo they were like ''youre so pleasant. youre really smart young lady'' and i was like ''ty? i just. read a lot' #god i hope they learned. something. or i changed some opinion. they seemed to have a more positive view of autistic people at least #i just like. fuck dude. these fuckin right wing grifters are ruining these peoples lives. #the lady has been unemployeed since covid cos she got sucked into this antivax stuff and now theyre both financially unstable #perfect targets for tamaki and the freedoms people who were known for squeezing money out of people through bogus religious stuff #those two have been twisted into just. hateful and scared and are saying the most. insane shit and they dont even realize it. #and the worst part of it was the amount of young people there. so many people my age just deluded into this nonsense. #and kids JESUS CHRIST so many kids holding signs about ''protecting the kiwi way of life'' like bro every single thing #you are getting upset about an imported culture war. you arent threatened by this shit. #youve latched onto american culture war stuff because youre insecure in your whiteness and existence in a colonial country #its so fucking evil.

[johnwicklover1999]

i think one thing that anti-theists like.. do wrong (?) is treat religions like they're monoliths, which is impossible. you might find that one denomination is larger than another, but there will pretty much always be other denominations, and varying interpretations within each denomination.

no religion is a monolith, and no religion ever will be one. that's because religion is a personal experience to the individual, who will have their own thoughts and feelings about their faith. that is how people are in regards to everything, because humans aren't a monolith of a species.

i understand it might be confusing, or even frustrating when a religion has many denominations and interpretations, but that doesn't work super well as a reason for wanting to rid of religion. in fact, just yesterday i was told by an anti-theist that 'ideally' the belief of magic would be rid of and traditional religion wouldn't change. i know for a fact that other anti-theists would disagree with that and present their own ideal outcome of anti-theism, because i often browse anti-theism tags to get an understanding of anti-theist beliefs (it's good practice to read up on some opposing opinions to get some standing ground! my dad taught me that.)

it is perfectly okay to be critical of religion, i myself am critical of some religious ideas from varying religions! but when you don't fully understand the religion you're criticizing, and you're getting your information from biased sources, or only reading about limited ideas then you don't have the information to accurately criticize any religion. the idea that all religions are strict monoliths is entirely false, and if someone believes that then their criticism isn't totally credible, especially when they can't acknowledge the good of religion.

in the end, individual religions can not be treated as if they are massive groups of people who all share the same ideas and the same beliefs, harmful or not. because that's literally just not true. if you want to improve religion then actually go forth and try to understand it and listen to different people discuss their religion and it's flaws, trying to get rid of religion will only hurt people. (and i very strongly believe that getting rid of religion will in turn hurt spiritually, and by extension culture.)

#i originally wrote this post in the shower after getting up at 5:15 im barely awake rn this is goinng in the drafts so i can proofread it #nothing that has ever existed has been a monolith 👍 people even have different ideas of how board games are played bro #if you're curious; i'd appreciate it if people could read my other post on anti-theism ♥️ #it focuses on how religion; spirituality; and culture are all connected and how getting rid of religion will ultimately hurt- #spirituality and culture- concepts especially important to POC in the modern age (and historically) #to sum up my other post; if you get rid of religion you will hurt spiritual and cultural concepts which will hugely affect POC; and we don't #need to have our beliefs and culture hurt again; no one does whether they are POC or not because white people have still suffered erasure of #their cultures and spiritual beliefs. #ok thanks for reading 👍 its 5:46 am now #OKAY HI it's 4:02 pm ive re-read this and got some input from a friend Yay! we're all good now #anti theism #theism #pro theism #pro religion

[quarks-pussy]

Just turned 28 so that's my excuse for this post.

Don't worry why it's on the trek blog, I simply live here now lol

My transition goals (somewhat realistic)

My transition goals (less realistic)

My transition goals (...other?)

#originally i had vico in there but i realised 1) i'm never gonna look like that again and that's fine and 2) it's probably not a great idea #to put ppl who aren't white in the first section since i'm white as shit myself. so i went with my original ofmd related gender envy instea #personal #not star trek #original posts fresh from quark's pussy #to clarify my bday is technically over now (16th) but while it's generally not acceptable to wish an early bday in my culture belated is 👍 #over in my time zone anyway. and yes the whole superstition/rudeness thing is why i usually don't mention it ahead of time online lol #cuz americans will hear something like 'it's my birthday next week' and immediately wish you a good one like bro y u tryna kill me :/ #(that's the superstition. if you wish someone an early happy bday they might not make it to that day) #and then i was asleep for like 95% of my birthday lmao #anyway

[tariah23]

He’s such a loser bro

#rambling #ppl only watch his streams to see him get drunk and cry #I really used to watch his videos bro what the fuck was wrong with me #back when he was doing the war in chiraq but stopped after Vic Mensa called him a bitch to his face and didn’t do anything about it but sit #there while abandoning that same channel he used poor black ppl in Chicago to get his first bit of clout off of #aka is literally drake’s number 1 dick eater I’m glad I stopped watching his videos years ago #he never used to talk about real hip hop news only drama and Drake #Kendrick got the Pulitzer award and all sorts of accomplishments over the years and i remember aka literally never making any videos about #them despite him being a popular hip hop news outlet #like he legit would hardly ever mention Kendrick on his channel #because he’s a Drake fan he’s so embarrassing bro #all of these hip hop media outlets have been so bad for the culture surrounding the genre for years man #aka being erm. ground zero for more of the really loud and obnoxious shit that’s been going on for the last ten years or so #then you have nbs and whites like adam22 speaking on the genre as if their opinions actually matter #and cam’ron and mase being in drake’s pocket and criticizing Kendrick for replying back to drake’s diss 17 days later despite Drake taking #weeks to almost a full month to do so himself #and the fact that he never responded back to pusha t… like what kind of line of thinking even is this and they’re supposed to be some of #the ‘real hip hop’ guys folding like barbz

[psalacanthea]

i remember when FFX-2 came out and every Gamer Dude I was friends with hated it. now people love it. It feels very validating for someone who played it obsessively in secret so my shitty tech nerd friends wouldn't make fun of me.

#there was a culture #a very specific culture to the area and the time #being seattle in the early 2000s #I would hang out tangentially with ppl who are now like #pioneers of that emergent internet culture #they were all horrible and insufferable #now being a tech bro is cool #then they were people who thought they were the most oppressed ppl ever (white male nerds) #who suddenly became wealthy and popular #they were horrible #just awful #only thing worse was all the ppl kissing their asses ofc which was my male friends

[pinkfey]

i hate that poll that’s like do you say y’all the southern way or the gay way :) what is the gay way lmao

#am i missing something is there something i don’t know bc it sounds like another white gay misattributing aave for gay culture #i’ve literally never heard a gay person say y’all and thought omg gay theyre gay #white gays take anything that’s popular like iced coffee and tote bags and sage green and they’re like yessss gay culture 😗✌️✌️ #esp aave i just. idk. what is the gay way !!!!! #u also see non americans saying they say y’all but don’t know where they got it from so they say gay…. ITS AAVE U GOT IT FROM AAVE #aave is so heavily popularized online which is why u may have noticed words like y’all and bro and bruh and simp slipping into ur vocab #and u are too stupid to even notice that ur not black and ur putting on a blaccent and u sound ridiculous!! #everyone is like i didn’t know i said it in a gay way. bc there is no gay way queen hope this helps 🙏 #i’m blocking ppl idc this is annoying #anyways.txt

[merriclo]

went to see the barbie movie a few days ago and hm. weird

#spoilers for the tags and also a slight little rant #for a movie all about girls and woman it sure was all about men #and made a pregnant woman the butt of the joke just bc she was pregnant #and there’s a whole segment at the beginning where a barbie is all ‘my emotions make me stronger =)’ and then later barbie just gives up #and sobs on the ground #a character calls barbie ‘white savior barbie’ after she did literally nothing to be called a white savior #and later that same character goes ‘that’s cultural appropriation’ when her DAD tries to learn spanish bc her MOTHER SPEAKS SPANISH. #their whole patriarchy plot was weird and dumb and preachy and poorly executed #and overall he plot was just.. messy ig?? idk it was a weird experience #it also felt like mattel giving themselves a pat on the back for diversity that they (to my knowledge) do not have #and everything with the kens was odd and weird and unnecessary #it was so preachy and then it turned around and did the exact opposite thing #i thought this movie was going to be about how barbie is an intergenerational experience for so many woman #and that she brings together so many woman no matter their differences #and it was almost that. esp at the beginning #and then it turned into a weird hypocritical messy story that really had no memorable message or theme #and bro ken was so badly written. everything was badly written but especially ken. #anyways there was a wonderful scene where barbie told an old lady that she was beautiful and she replied with ‘i know’ #which would be lovely if the main reason Barbie was on her quest wasn’t because she was getting cellulite and on the path to becoming ‘ugly’ #uhhhshfjks yeah bad movie. lots of weird messy things. #this is more than a slight little rant oopsies #my bad i’m opinionated #this isn’t even the half of it too lmao #negativity #rant #ranting #allan and weird barbie were great tho #and the acting costumes set effects cinematography etc. were outstanding #it’s just the writing that was Fucked #there were absolutely good things but so much of it was just. hm. idk i can’t rlly explain in just he tumblr tags that well lmaoo