Notices by Doc Impossible (impossible_phd@hachyderm.io), page 3

2. A sense of constant urgency. A constant state of overwork and a lack of space to reflect, discuss, breathe, and connect dehumanizes people and devalues labor. Allies and champions are thrown away for quick, high-visibility results. A sense of history and context is devalued or excised entirely.

3. Defensiveness. Power structures are built to protect people in positions of power, and much energy is expended to protect the system of power itself. Discussion, dissent, and conflict are made--

--impossible, or are harshly punished. Keeping the peace is prized above all else.

4. Quantity over Quality. Metrics are everything. Measurability is everything. Processes, support structures, and emotion are devalued or excised entirely.

5. Worship of the Written Word. Only one way of doing things is permitted, and a thing being written down is the only way a thing's value is recognized. Anyone who fails to follow the process is inherently suspect.

6. Paternalism. Decisions are made by those with power and influence, and others are expected to abide by those decisions. Decision-making processes are deliberately opaque. Strong in/out-group statuses are established, and adherence to them is tightly linked to perfectionism. The good is made the enemy of the impossible ideal.

7. Power is hoarded. The ability to direct action and/or change is monopolized as much as possible. Shared governance is on suffrage. Punishments are harsh by design.

8. Monopolizing individualism. Work as part of a team is devalued. People are isolated, and teamwork is devalued.Accountability is vertical, not horizontal--nobody needs to answer to those who they're working or fighting with, only to those in positions of power above them.

9 Progress = Bigger. Tied to quantity/quality, the only way for a thing to succeed is if it grows endlessly. A thing can never accomplish its task and simply be done--there must always be a Next.

10. Objectivity. The belief that emotions can be severed from humanity, and are irrational and destructive. Showing emotion is instantly invalidating.

11. The right to comfort. Those in positions of power have a right to emotional and psychological comfort. Anyone who ever causes discomfort to a member of a privileged class must be immediately attacked. Conflict must be avoided at all cost *except when suppressing any whisper of discomfort caused to people who believe they deserve comfort*.

This summary adapted from the Minnesota Historical Society's White Supremacy Culture workbook, itself adapted from Dismantling Racism, by Jones and Okun.

https://www.thc.texas.gov/public/upload/preserve/museums/files/White_Supremacy_Culture.pdf

And as a disclaimer: I fight to dismantle the systems of white supremacy within myself, and have consciously made it a personal mission of mine to do so since the 2020 BLM protests opened my eyes to exactly how fucking horrendous things really are. It's *fucking hard*, because they're absolutely everywhere.

I'm far, far, far from perfect. I make mistakes. I work to grow. I make more mistakes.

If you're white, fighting the racism inside you is going to be the fight of your whole entire--

--life. if you *ever* think you're done, you're not--it's just Right to Comfort. It's why I don't say I'm antiracist (I do antiracist work as much as I can) or not racist. I don't think a white person who grows up in American *can* be not racist.

But I fight it, the same way a recovering alcoholic fights their urge to drink.

I'm a recovering racist. And I hope to meet many other recovering racists in my life.

@gentrifiedrose Gosh golly, isn't it curious how unsolicited advice is basically never to the benefit of the person receiving it and *always* about the person giving it?

Almost as if it's only function was establishing and calcifying power differences in a social situation, not really helping anyone.

So very curious.

Presented without comment.

@siege Jesus, they can't correct an obvious error like that?!

Presented without comment.

I haven't been very worried about AI, even though I'm a writer.

Why?

Because it takes a while for the law teams employed by the titans of old media to rumble to action, but it was always clear they were coming. These are the teams that don't sue other companies unless they're certain of winning.

And today, the New York Times sued OpenAI for several billion dollars.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/business/media/new-york-times-open-ai-microsoft-lawsuit.html

I have been officially designated as an Itty Bitty Titty Committee Quit-ee.

10/10 pun.

This is just a friendly reminder that, no matter how long it took you to realize that you were trans or what embarrassingly eggy things you did before figuring it out, you never became an internationally-renowned artist and writer known for your depictions of women, then sat for a high-profile interview and said this directly into the camera.

Trans visibility week work selfie!

Gender dysphoria is one of the most poorly-understood parts of being trans, despite a century of research and the heroic efforts of trans activists.

This week on #StainedGlassWoman, we're going to look at a new model for understanding gender dysphoria--one that offers hope for healing in transition, and not just *from* transition, in Shattered, the first article of Grinding Glass, a series on trans trauma and post-traumatic healing.

#Trans #MtF #FtM #Nonbinary

https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/p/shattered

Look, I don't know how to put this gently but:

If you are an egg, and if you are *aware* that you are an egg...

You've already hatched. You're just afraid of the consequences. 🐣

You've probably heard from transphobes about how "you can't change your DNA," so nothing you do in transition really matters. "Basic biology," they whinge. Well... what about intermediate biology?

This week on #StainedGlassWoman, come and see How HRT Rewrites Your DNA by just plain turning off the parts you don't need and turning on the ones you do! Now with more wedding photos, from *another* queer wedding.

#FtM #MtF #Nonbinary #trans #transjoy #Biology #HRT #DNA

https://stainedglasswoman.substack.com/p/how-hrt-rewrites-your-dna

@siege @TonyaMarie @ValerieMars I mean, I do IM, and the location shouldn't make enough of a difference to increase levels by *that* much, should it?