People are turning Mitch McConnell’s dig against Elizabeth Warren into a feminist rallying cry

i love that stage of being tipsy where youre completely coherent and know exactly whats going on but you feel so loose and free at the same time and your typing skills blow but you can feel the blood flowing throughout your entire body and its just warm and fuzzy and nice and amazing

How most people with invisible illnesses are treated by health care “professionals”

The Golden Girls didn’t fuck around

pls watch

honestly i really appreciated this scene when I first saw it bc it took me like two years to get a diagnosis for what’s wrong with me

Dorothy:  Dr. Budd?

Dr. Budd:  Yes?

Dorothy:  You probably don’t remember me, but you told me I wasn’t sick.  Do you remember?  You told me I was just getting old.

Dr. Budd:  I’m sorry, I really don’t–

Dorothy:  Remember.  Maybe you’re getting old.  That’s a little joke.  Well, I tell you, Dr. Budd, I really am sick.  I have chronic fatigue syndrome.  That is a real illness.  You can check with the Center for Disease Control.

Dr. Budd:  Huh.  Well, I’m sorry about that.

Dorothy:  Well, I’m glad!  At least I know I have something.

Dr. Budd:  I’m sure.  Well, nice seeing you.

Dorothy:  Not so fast.  There are some things I have to say.  There are a lot of things that I have to say.  Words can’t express what I have to say.  [tearing up]  What I went through, what you put me through—I can’t do this in a restaurant.

Dr. Budd:  Good!

Dorothy:  But I will!

Dr. Budd’s date:  Louis, who is this person?

Dr. Budd:  Look, Miss–

Dorothy:  Sit.  I sat for you long enough.  Dr. Budd, I came to you sick—sick and scared—and you dismissed me.  You didn’t have the answer, and instead of saying “I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with you,” you made me feel crazy, like I had made it all up.  You dismissed me!  You made me feel like a child, a fool, a neurotic who was wasting your precious time.  Is that your caring profession?  Is that healing?  No one deserves that kind of treatment, Dr. Budd, no one.  I suspect had I been a man, I might have been taken a bit more seriously, and not told to go to a hairdresser.

Dr. Budd:  Look, I am not going to sit here anymore–

Dr. Budd’s date:  Shut up, Louis.

Dorothy:  I don’t know where you doctors lose your humanity, but you lose it.  You know, if all of you, at the beginning of your careers, could get very sick and very scared for a while, you’d probably learn more from that than anything else.  You’d better start listening to your patients.  They need to be heard.  They need caring.  They need compassion.  They need attending to.  You know, someday, Dr. Budd, you’re gonna be on the other side of the table, and as angry as I am, and as angry as I always will be, I still wish you a better doctor than you were to me.

This episode gave my mother so much comfort during her struggle to get diagnosed (with fibromyalgia). 

Rip him a new one Dorothy

I’m crying now. I have POTS and I was told by SEVERAL doctors that I’m either purposefully faking my symptoms or it’s psychosomatic. I was dismissed over and over again. I even went to the Mayo Clinic (which, ironically, coined the term “POTS”) and was sent home more discouraged than ever. I started to wonder if maybe they were right and this WAS all in my head.

Two years later, I have my diagnosis, and I know this will never completely go away, but with treatment, I will feel better than I do now.

I am so grateful that the Golden Girls covered this topic.

Know Your Scum

It is very slightly inaccurate to call a Trump supporter a Nazi. Though they espouse the same critical views and should indeed be equated, they will often protest the application and insist they are not what you called them, be it Nazi, Fascist, or other such terms. They are technically correct. Here is a guide to the specific terminology so that you can accurately and inarguably apply the correct term for the backwards jerks you may encounter. Though nothing can substitute for the visceral impact of calling someone a Nazi, this list should help you with encounters where the Nazi filth in question insists “No I’m not a Neo-Nazi, Neo-Nazis don’t love me they kind of hate me actually.” Of course other responses to such a statement have also been recorded on video. Anyway, here’s the list:

Nazi

Nazism or “National Socialism” was a German ideology in the early 20th century that promoted racial hierarchy and declared the Aryan German as the master race. It aimed for racial purity and the expansion of a unified Germany. Lead by Adolf Hitler, Nazi controlled Germany murdered several million people in war and the Holocaust before it was defeated.

There are few genuine Nazis left in the world. Chunks of the philosophy remain worldwide, but most of the people one would call a Nazi in America today do not care about the classification of the Austrian border, the specifics of the Treaty of Versailles, or who is occupying the Rhineland.

That said, there is just no substitute for the word when it comes to expressing the problems with someone who believes in racial superiority and other Nazi ideals. It speaks volumes about inhumanity, cruelty, and ignorance while simultaneously reminding listeners of the dangers of their beliefs. Just be warned, many will argue that it is, at the thinnest semantic level, inaccurate.

Neo-Nazi

This is the more appropriate term for a person who supports the critically horrible tenets of Nazism in modern times. Neo-Nazism is a mishmash of groups and individuals who enjoy such pastimes as denying that the Holocaust happened while simultaneously praising Hitler for the Holocaust; beating up anyone who doesn’t look like them; and whining about how persecuted white people are.

Many Neo-Nazis do not self-identify as Neo-Nazi, but the term can be fairly accurately used to describe these people given their devotion to nationalism, racism, antisemitism, and their affection for Hitler and various symbols used in original Nazism. While the most accurate use of the term is specific to those who self-apply the name, if you visit someone’s blog and find it covered in swastika graphics, posts about Nazism, the word “Heil,” and numerous instances of slandering non-white people, you can probably call them a Neo-Nazi without double-checking this list.

Skinhead

Skinheads in England began as an apolitical counter-culture that cared more about brands of shoes than racism. In time, some of them developed into the usual Neo-Nazi trappings and grew violent and just generally awful. Some actually became anti-fascist in response, but in America, skinheads tend to be of former variety, and the aesthetic has spread to Neo-Nazis completely independent of any benevolent aspects.

The word “Skinhead,” for a time, became the universal term for a violent racist. This doesn’t seem to be as popular in the 21st century but the word still has its connotations and in the United States, calling someone a skinhead, especially if they’re bald and support racism, can be an unexpected and effective bash.

Fascist

If “Nazi” is the golden insult, “Fascist” is easily the silver. Because the term is so widespread and variable in exact definition, it can be applied accurately to anyone from a modern jingoistic politician to a particularly heartless police officer to one’s parent who won’t let them go to the Art Garfunkel concert.

Fascism, if you want to get really picky, is an Italian movement that takes its name from a bundle of sticks because bundles of sticks are stronger than single sticks, and Fascists tend to want their country to band together against a unifying opposition, generally immigrants, minorities or dissidents. When dealing with a particularly homophobic Fascist, one might also point out the English term for a bundle of sticks to the Fascist in question.

Though “Fascist” sounds good and holds a decent level of accuracy given its nebulous nature, it is, in the opinion of this author, overused and faulty owing to the escape it grants that Fascist in question. They need only select a definition of Fascism that doesn’t fit them while denying those that apply, and then you look like an exaggerator.

White Supremacist

This term can apply to anyone who thinks or acts like white people are better than non-white people. Many will not self-apply the term because of its negative connotations but when confronted with a mixed-race marriage, they will grow uncomfortable and start making quiet snorting sounds and cursing under their breath.

The term can be dangerous in conversation because the subject need only claim they don’t hate black people to render it apparently inaccurate. Though one could point out that the world isn’t divided into black and white, or that their actions and comments betray their beliefs, the point will be lost and the applier will be accused of name calling. This is even more so with the term “White Nationalist,” which can have even more specific definitions.

Klansman

The KKK is an American movement that’s been around in various forms since the 1860s. They oppose civil rights for minorities, non-Christian religions (in which they include Catholicism), and hold the same general beliefs as everyone else in this post. Their level of activity can spike much higher though. Rather than effecting political change, they tend to just kill black people, terrorize them with burning crosses and threats, blow up their churches with kids inside and so on.

The name is not an effective insult as it applies only to members of the organized group who have their own rituals and costumes and terminology. This specificity renders it almost useless. What can be useful is to note that certain people and programs have been endorsed by this terrorist gang or its retired elders. But even then, this is usually a one way application, and anyone who would be called out on it likely doesn’t care.

Alt-Right

Alt-Right refers to the general movement of all that Nazism stood for, but updated for 21st century America and mostly free of the old terminology, though Nazi salutes aren’t unheard of at their rallies. Instead of a bunch of exceedingly long German words, they use memes and terms they found on 4chan.

The Alt-Right is the whiniest and most pathetic of the movements here, and the most difficult to apply as it has no term for its members yet. It can thus be conveniently applied only to ideas, and given its youth, it has no connotations that will offend the casual listener. Its current use is mostly as a euphemism for the terms above.

Republican

An American political party that in its early days opposed slavery. Republicans who want to appear non-racist often cite this fact, ignoring the party’s subsequent history of advocating and implementing overwhelming racist, sexist, homophobic and economically demented politics.

The Republican party changed again when it endorsed Donald Trump as its presidential nominee. In that moment, the Republican party endorsed his racism, sexism, and authoritarian views and became an instrument of the Alt-Right movement. Many Republicans will dispute this, claiming that they themselves oppose Trump or his ideals, but one will generally notice that they do absolutely nothing to stop their implementation, and still consider themselves Republican despite the party’s recent actions.

“Republican” is sadly not enough of an insult yet to do any good. It’s more useful to recognize as a self-applied classification that distinguishes the person as either an active racist, or a schmuck who doesn’t mind their party being led by an active racist, or at best, an absolute ignoramus who thinks their party has good economic ideas and cares nothing for the fact that these ineffective policies come at the expense of racism, homophobia, sexism and a horrendously dystopian government.

Trumpist

A very new term that’s still in flux. Despite the fact it lacks any objectively negative connotations, it still sounds quite insulting and very efficiently applies all the above terms to the individual, while adding the incredible lack of human quality of its central figure, all his pernicious and disgusting policies, and so on and so forth. Thus it may be the best word to use, pending its demonization.

Therein is the biggest problem, people are not using it. This author recommends that those opposed to Trump, the Alt-Right, Nazism, and so on, make the term synonymous with evil, like “Nazi” and “Fascist before it.” This will not only yield a new term that eloquently summarizes the problem, but insults Donald Trump while doing it.

Consider the effects of this man’s name becoming the new insult for such people. It will hurt anyone who agrees with him. It will damage his standing even further. It will stop us from forgetting or normalizing his actions. And most appealing perhaps is that it gives the next generation a term to use when the meanings of Nazism and Fascist are even further forgotten.

It is new, so if you use it, be sure to preface it with an adjective like “Disgusting,” “Worthless,” or “Pathetic.” Append to it words like “Scumbag,” “Filth” or “Asshole.” That will make some progress against those disgusting Trumpist scumbags in terms of discussion and debate.

don’t stare at the moon too long or else you’ll remember that nothing in this stupid fucking world makes sense

Watch: Serena Williams just masterfully defended herself against a manipulative reporter and gave us all a world class lesson in self love at the same time

There are 101 ways this exchange could’ve gone differently. However, Williams’ concise directive, “You should apologize,” did more than demand kindness. It demanded accountability for rudeness. Well done. This is truly the perfect lesson in “How to respond to respond rude people in 2017.”

Gifs: Australian Open TV

WATCH THE VIDEO

Excellent!

She MADE him apologize omg

WOMEN’S MARCH 1-21-2017 | A GLOBAL MOVEMENT

The Huffington Post: “60 Stunning Photos Of Women Protesting Around The World”

Trump is such a loser.

Spread these images. Everyone in Trump’s America needs to see just how much they are in the minority.

i remember the first time i saw a trailer for Split in the movie theaters. i was with family and the theater was full and i’d been mildly enjoying the trailers and perked up a bit when the tell-tale ominous music of a horror movie trailer started, because i love good thrillers.

except then it was frame after frame after frame of a person with dissociative identity disorder being portrayed as everyone’s boogey man, the shrieks of the little girl protagonists as he appeared wearing different clothes and a different voice, people in the theater jumping and giggling every time they showed the man doing something horrific. and i felt frozen in my seat.

my sister leaned over to me when it was finished and said “i want to see that” with a look on her face like it was the greatest trailer she’d ever seen.

like it wasn’t a punch to my gut everytime i heard someone whisper “psycho” or “crazy” and other terrible things. like in that moment i didn’t feel like running away from all these people, like i didn’t feel unsafe and filthy. because these people getting their thrills from a demonizing potrayal of a mental illness.

and the thing is, it matters.

because if i bring it up people will say “oh but it’s not really mental illness, like depression or something. he was just fucking crazy which is totally scary haha”. yeah well, not haha. not haha because DID is a real mental illness but that’s not what it looks like. people with DID aren’t murderers or dangerous. but now, because movies like Split are all people have seen of illnesses like DID, that’s their frame of reference.

the media does it with DID, with schizophrenia, with every single personality disorder, with bipolar, with everything else that is “scary”. raising awareness for depression and anxiety is important, they’re valid and serious illnesses. but hardly anyone tries to protect people with “scary” disorders. this halloween when costumes of the main character crop up, people will giggle and buy it because it’s so creepy and cool.

i’m reminded that, although i don’t have DID, much of my mental illness is defined by symptoms that are used in other horror movies. that people who have “scary” disorders are the entertainment in everyone else’s world. and for people who do have DID, that movie is absolutely devastating.

so if you buy a ticket to see Split, please know that’s it’s not harmless entertainment or a good thrill. it’s fucking ableism and you’re being ableist if you go see it.

(please reblog, neurotypical or not)

My mother had DID and when I first saw this trailer I nearly threw my phone at the screen. It’s complete bullshit. 

like i love pomegranates but eating them is such an ordeal. ya gotta like. clear your schedule. gotta make it an Event. tomorrow at 2:00 pm im gonna eat this pomegranate. it ain’t just on the fly.

his-quietus-make:

@laviniakirkland

when u reread a message 7 times and still don’t know how to respond