Esme Povirk @madewokherd@computerfairi.es

I don't see this talked about like, ever.

So I'll talk about it.

If you realised you're trans but find yourself sometimes not really hating your assigned gender and being like "meh" to it?

1) That doesn't mean you've been cis all along;
2) It doesn't mean you just imagined your dysphoria;
3) You're not "pretending" anything or lying to anyone, least of all yourself.

It just means you're more tired than dysphoric. Your brain can't keep negative feelings at full steam all the time, which is good. It's not supposed to.

Do not measure your transness by how much you CURRENTLY need to transition. Dysphoria comes and goes. So does euphoria, for that matter.

I went through several cycles of "I am trans. Wait... I don't feel strongly about this anymore. Was that real? No, wait, ARGH, I'm trans. Wait..." and so on, before I started transitioning. Fooled me every single time.

I still experience this. I'm experiencing this today. I am currently wondering why this whole transition thing is such a big deal to me.

But guess what. I know I'm trans, I've been through this before. Doubts that something is true are not the same as knowing it is not.

You will have doubts whether you're trans years after you transition to your general satisfaction. You will. It just happens. You will still be almost certainly happy that you transitioned. That's what being trans means.

If you don't MIND your assigned gender at the moment, but still your actual gender sounds neat, you're still trans.

You're allowed to pause things and recalibrate, or focus on something else. Your transition should go at your pace.

But you haven't suddenly become cis. I promise you that you haven't. You still prefer to function as your real gender, don't you?

I've done this enough times that I need to say it. It's OK. It ebbs and flows. As long as you're not actually *satisfied* with your assigned gender, as long as you have ANY overall need to transition, you're not cis. You may be genderfluid or genderflux or bigender or agender or genderqueer or non-binary. Knock yourself out exploring those (I sure did). There's no penalty for concluding with "nah".

You may also very Very, Very Tired.

But none of those things mean "cis". I'm begging you, believe me.

EDIT: one good way to figure this out is - OK, so you don't jump for joy at the thought of transitioning. Now imagine yourself in your actual gender. Imagine it's all done and dealt with. Is your imagined self repulsive, do you want to *avoid* this? Does the idea of HAVING transitioned fill you with discomfort?

If not, then you're not cis. Cis people are *uncomfortable* with the idea of transitioning because they inhabit their AGAB. That's their entire deal.

Heads up UK citizens overseas! The disgraceful ‘15 year rule’ which disenfranchised you is being binned TODAY! From 16 January you can now at long last register to vote, which you should do ASAP in view of in the upcoming general election, because *gestures at everything*

https://mailchi.mp/a6cd97a73d7e/3mn-brits-abroad-regain-right-to-vote-in-uk-elections?e=897c54e3ba

@b0rk Related: folks often think that you have to choose between building tools for experts that provide a ton of capability & information but are incredibly hard to use & intimidating, or building tools for less experienced folks that are simplified by removing information & capability, rendering them effectively useless.

I think it's a false choice, and that, while significantly harder, we build tools that are useful & usable to both newcomers & experts.

semi-serious web proposal: any essential web service must support the Lynx web browser with equivalent functionality

edit: for those who don't know, Lynx is a text-only web browser with no Javascript support

"AI companies are implicitly betting that their customers will buy AI for highly consequential automation, fire workers, and cause physical, mental and economic harm to their own customers as a result, somehow escaping liability for these harms. Early indicators are that this bet won’t pay off."
https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

The key to fighting pseudoscience isn’t mockery—it’s empathy

Evidence shows that shoving data in peoples’ faces doesn’t work to change minds.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/01/the-key-to-fighting-pseudoscience-isnt-mockery-its-empathy/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Last boost: I've said it before and I'll say it again, if you love movies you need to have Kanopy. The film selection is excellent and you'll probably watch a few flicks you might not think of watching.