Legit I know some of you darlings on here are young, but if you ever refer to my 30 year old ass as “baby boomer” again I will not be held responsible for my actions.
So like a baby boomer, but without the financial stability or racism.
Gen X…we’re fucking invisible…
40 and counting!
“The lost generation.”
Y’all think it’s shit not having financial stability at 20, well I’m afraid we got some bad news for you.
Okay, kids, generation lesson, if we’re going to keep using these divisions. Baby Boomers are technically those born between 1946 (after the end of WW2, when the soldiers came home – thus, a “baby boom,” as husbands and wives were reunited after several years apart) and 1964. That makes Baby Boomers between 53-71 in 2017. And there are a variety of theories on where this generation ends – depending on what definition you’re working under, 50-53 year olds could be the beginning of Gen X.
Gen X is between 36-50 this year, give or take a couple of years. We’re a smaller generation, defined mostly by coming of age between 1980-ish and the early to mid 90s – after cable TV, but before the internet, the “latchkey kid” generation.
The oldest Millennials are 35-ish this year. So a 30 year old is most definitely not a Boomer, by any stretch of the imagination. (There’s a school of thought that puts the older members of this age range in their own small generation, “Generation Y,” but most have just decided to define Millennials as people born between approximately 1982-2004.)
So there. Know your generations, so you’re sure you’re hating on the right people, y’all.
The best/worst part of being Gen X at the moment* is that the gutting of unions and the social safety net means the Boomers are failing to retire while the Millennials are coming up and we’re basically in one hell of an awkward mid-career pinch while our bodies are starting to fall apart and our children are growing up.
(Gen X has been hit extra-hard at critical life points by recessions.)
(Also, I swear when I was a younger Gen Xer the cutoff was more like 1977.)
*Previous best/worsts include hitting puberty in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, growing up at the end of the Cold War while our media was producing story after story about nuclear annihilation, the aforementioned critical moments recessions, and thinking acid-washed denim was a great idea.
Gen X is defined as starting in 1961 when “the pill” came into being, and ends in 1991. When it was named, this was the range. Therefore, Gen Xers are between 35 (turning 36 this year) and 56.
Our experience is that Recession is the norm, world politics is constant upheaval, that the government will NEVER care about us, that the only way to survive was to work multiple jobs, and that our turn will never come.
And make NO mistake – we ARE angry. we DO NOT like anything about this.
We took the tools that our progenitors left us with and turned the internet into a real-time conversation worldwide that happens between people instead of governments or news agencies. We took the idea of escapism and pushed it to 11 (MMOs began in the 80s with MUDDs, kids). We very subtly subverted the paradigm of “this is how we do things because this is how we have always done things” to make things more efficient for everyone. AND WE DID ALL OF THESE THINGS WHILE BEING TOLD WE WERE LAZY AND UNMOTIVATED AND WOULD NEVER MAKE A MARK ON HISTORY.
Baby Boomers are not only still fucking shit up for us, they are still blaming us for them doing so.
We are angry, tired, and fed up with being ignored and disregarded.
I’m in Gen Y, or Old Millennials (born in 1982, literally the first year of it), and I favor the viewpoint that our micro-generation is unlike both Gen X that came before us and the Millennials that came after us. We’re the transition kids. Our older siblings – literally, sometimes, figuratively for others – are Gen X. We grew up with them telling us to trust no one, but to fight for what we believe in. We grew up with Gen X feeding us angry punk pop and the knowledge that adults will never, ever have our best interests at heart. (It’s why even though I’m turning 35 this summer I still can’t see myself as an “adult” and I don’t view a lot of people older than me as “adults”. They’re still in this weird… wombly stage of older angry sibling. Adults are corporate. Adults are white-haired men who make anti-union laws and anti-choice legislation. Adults are 80s/90s movie villains.)
Gen X gave me a healthy dose of cynicism but not hopelessness. They gave me a knife and said “Defend yourself if you have to. The adults won’t do it for you.”
So we took the “us against the world” Gen X lessons, and then…transitioned into this weird world of being connected all the time. The internet happened when we were pre-teens. Some of us brokered our very first romantic relationships over instant messaging. (What? Yeah, I did it.) We suddenly developed very real, very deep emotional connections with people in wildly different time zones and cultures. We had “best friends” whose legal names were a complete mystery to us. And we trusted each other, but we still remember a world before we were capable of this kind of connection. We still remember the insular nature of life before the internet. We remember when we couldn’t obtain news for ourselves, and we still don’t trust adults who try to tell us what’s “really” going on.
Life in the transition generation is kinda weird. This constant liminal space. Nothing ever feels very real. Nothing is ever certain. But damn I love my Gen X mentors and I hope I’m passing on the knowledge of “protect yourself, defend yourself, fight for what you believe in” to the kids younger than me. We’re all in this together.
1984 and I love this. This captures so much off what it’s like to be in your 30s right now.
so the government is uses “slaves” the same people who tax dollars pay for their housing and food in prison while kids have to pay for lunch at school? you understand INMATES are used to clean up trash on roads… is that slavery? lmao the ignorance is hilarious
Yeah it actually is. Do you know what a slave is?
slaveslāv/
noun
historicalplural noun:
slaves
1.a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.synonyms:historicalserf, vassal, thrall; More
Inmate labor is slave labor.
mod v
it’s so bizarre that people are still ignorant of this when the 13th amendment was created with the intentional inclusion of a loophole that the government could abuse in order to profit from slave labor: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
convict lending and Jim Crow laws immediately sprung up to fill the place of what we traditionally think of as slavery, and led to the use of mass incarceration as a way for corporations to profit off of imprisoned (disproportionately black and brown) people and obtain free labor. the labor of incarcerated people has always been and was designed to be slave labor from the very beginning.
There is a documentary called 13thon netflix that goes into detail on all of this, I really recommend it
The Perfect Explanation of Privilege – In One Powerful Punchline
“The Pencilsword” is a comic strip by Toby Morris, an illustrator from New Zealand. His most recent comic, “On a Plate” hits hard at the heart of the issues of concerning wealth and privilege.
How many times have you heard the “I’ve never been handed anything on a platter” argument in regard to social security and other social benefits?
Toby wrecks this argument by showing how two children can grow up, be loved and supported, and yet still have two very different outcomes.
Make sure to follow all the way to the end for the powerful punchline. This comic is an increasingly sad reality for far too many of this nation’s children and families.
Reblogged from the source since someone deleted the text at the bottom.
This weekend is going to be warmer than most. I mean, if you hypothetically wanted to cross, this would be the hypothetical weekend to hypothetically cross.
Also, you should, if this is your hypothetical plan(I’m sure no one is actually planning this. Just theorizing. It’s a fun thought exercise), hypothetically dress in layers. It’s still cold, after all.
Hypothetically, wool and down are the best materials to wear. Hypothetically, you should also have sturdy, warm boots. Ski pants help, too. Make sure your hypothetical journey include mitts and gloves. Scarves and hats, too, you want to expose as little skin to the elements as possible if the weather turns nasty, or if you get delayed and have to cross next week, or something.
Following this thought exercise, you should have a compass. Stay walking North.
Theoretically it might be best to keep walking, in this game, until you reach a road, then keep going until you reach a town or city. Give your imaginary city a name, like, say, Brandon, or Winnipeg!
Have fun rp-ing, dudes, and stay safe!
Also, hypothetically, you might want to stay away from small towns right next to the border. Just for now.
Your characters lose health points for not taking the following:
-water
-food
You lose a life if you cross creeks and rivers at any point except bridges(of any kind) because if we’re going by this years weather, the ice might not be able to hold your weight.
You have to go back to the start if you cross in Saskatchewan, they have no legal aid for refugee seekers.
Speaking purely in terms of hypotheticals of course, if you’re planning on braving the snowy prairie, a pair of snowshoes or cross-country skis could make the journey far less arduous than it would be on foot, particularly if you, for whatever hypothetical reason, feel inclined to stay away from roads.
Also, hypothetically speaking, if you’re considering snowshoes/skis, but you find yourself lacking the skill level required to use either implement, consider a really really good sturdy pair of boots as mentioned above. Preferably a pair that are higher than and snug around your ankles.
Hypothetically speaking, if you run across a hypothetical frozen lake or hypothetical frozen river, do take care not to set foot on the ice if at all possible and consider other alternate hypothetical routes, since you can’t be sure if the ice will be sturdy enough to take your weight.
Speaking of hypothetical ice, watch out for black ice and walk carefully. If you’re hypothetically not able to maybe get your hands on a hypothetical jacket, I think stuffing newspaper should be a somewhat okay alternative? ?? Or at least try to get some nice thermal underwear (long johns or something of the like) to prevent against the cold. All of this in the purely hypothetical sense of course, not because anyone would ACTUALLY do this.
hypothetically speaking, a good strategy once in canada would be to seek out a sanctuary city where you will be protected from prosecution for violating federal immigration laws, and will be able to access municipal services regardless of status. there are currently only four sanctuary cities in canada: toronto ontario, hamilton ontario, london ontario, and vancouver BC. several other cities are discussing proposals to become sanctuary cities, including montreal, ottawa, winnipeg, regina, and saskatoon.
in the hypothetical event that you happen to hypothetically cross the border and end up in a sanctuary city, you should keep in mind that regardless of the law, the police are not your friends, and cannot be trusted to follow these directives. police in hamilton and toronto have refused to confirm that they will adhere to sanctuary city laws, and may very well assist federal law enforcement with deportations. these police forces are also infamous for discriminatory carding practices and racist violence. stay safe…..hypothetically
There are women from my childhood who remain important today. Women I’ve never met. Women who I only saw playing sports, usually on TV. There were many of these women in the 1990s: women who proved that they could compete, excel, and win; but Angela James was always one of the most important women to me.
James meant something to me as a kid. I didn’t face the same difficulties she did as a child, nor did I experience the racism she dealt with as a woman of color playing ice hockey (which at the time was predominantly white), but she had a huge impact on me. For starters, she played my favorite sport. She played center and defense, like me. She had short hair like me. She was a tomboy as a kid, and not stereotypically feminine, like me. She was seen as big and tough and so was I.
If people don’t think women’s bodies are being controlled, they aren’t looking hard enough.
In contrast my husband got a vasectomy and no one even once suggested I might have an opinion on that.
ok so lemme take a minute here to just be fucking mad as all hell.
I don’t like to butt in on people’s posts, lord knows I don’t like starting shit but lemme take a second to tell y’all about getting ur lady bits put out of comission.
I, at the age of 12 years, was diagnosed with PCOS. For you that don’t know what that is, PCOS, or Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, is a LIFELONG medical condition where groups of cysts grow on your ovaries causing the production of female hormones in your body to go batshit nuts and cause a whole sideshow of different symptoms such as but not limited to:
Irregular cardiac function (it’s a scary time)
severe weight gain and trouble losing weight (i may eat healthy and work out daily but until I was down to 1-2 meals a day of spinach i wasn’t losing weight)
severe adolescent acne, and adult acne
extra hair on the face, chest, arms, legs, thumbs, belly and back (I shave my face everyday before class and usually before I go to bed)
thinning hair on the scalp due to an excess of male hormones
irregular or no periods
HEAVY periods
EXTREME PERIOD PAIN
depression and anxiety
pelvic pain
increased risk for type 2 diabetes
Increased for all female reproductive cancers due to infrequency of periods
Now, TMI, but I recently had my first period in 6 FUCKING YEARS. Due to the nature of PCOS generally when you have a period it’s because one of the cysts on your ovaries has burst releasing a flood of hormones into your system as well as built up toxins. Basically, when I had mine my body went into full on panic mode, nausea and vomiting, extreme fatigue, mood swings like you wouldn’t believe, my body went from being relatively alright to the cliffs of fucking Gallipoli in an hour flat. The kicker was on top of all that I had cramping so bad I actually blacked out.
Given that I know this is likely to happen again before I reach menopause, I decided to book an appointment with my local Planned Parenthood (applaud those lovely people and what they do) to see what my options were to make sure it never happens again. After telling me about various hormonal treatments they could prescribe me (not pills but IUDs shots and various other things) I asked them if it was possible for me to get a partial hysterectomy. A partial hysterectomy removes the uterus but keeps the ovaries so that they still are able to produce estrogen. The lady I had the appointment with looked at me with a look of the utmost pity and told me that unfortunately due to my age there would be likely no chance for any doctor to do it. When I pressed her on the topic she said that the most common excuse doctors will give you for it is that you’re too young, you might change your mind and want to have children later in life.
Now I dunno if y’all reading this are currently seeing anything wrong with this scenario here but I was told that I, someone who can’t have kids, doesn’t want kids, has never wanted kids, and would be put at severe risk of life threatening complications, have to have had children before anyone would consider giving me a surgery that not only would undoubtedly improve the quality of my life but also remove
Well, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get a referral from her during the appointment, I went home and decided to research this bullshit. Turns out that there is something commonly evoked when women want to have any part of their reproductive system put out of commission called the three child rule. Basically if you are young, doctors usually wont let you get either a hysterectomy or a partial hysterectomy UNLESS you have already had three children.
HOLD THE MOTHERFUCKING PHONE FOR A WHOLE SECOND AND THINK ABOUT THIS
By most doctors standards, YOU are REQUIRED as a woman to PHYSICALLYGIVE BIRTH to at least 3 CHILDREN before you are able to have any of your reproductive system removed or decommissioned.
And that isn’t even the worst part of it all, these standards DO NOT change when the patient is at high risk for reproductive cancers!
How fucking miserable is it that to take control of your own fucking health in a first world country a woman has to have submitted to the gender roles of having children or actually have contracted cancer or some other immediately life threatening condition.
41, worked as an analyst-programmer for the Quebec government. “He had two young children who waited in vain for their father to return home,”
Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, was originally from Morocco and emigrated to Quebec City to attend Laval University. He was known as a backbone for newly arrived Muslims. “He was almost like the president of the community. He helped and guided all the people who arrived here – students, families,” said a member of his Moroccan community group.
Khaled Belkacemi, 60, was from Algeria. He received a master’s in chemical engineer from Université de Sherbrooke and was a professor at Laval University.
Boubaker Thabti, 44, was a pharmacy worker from Tunisia who lived only 5 minutes away from the mosque. He had two children, ages 3 and 10.
Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39, were friends and civil-servants from Guinea that lived in the same apartment building, but were not related despite sharing the same last name. Ibrahima Barry worked for the health insurance board and had four young children, and Mamadou was an IT worker who left behind two sons.
I want every news org to put this fact front and center when writing about the shooting.
Male Scifi and Fantasy writers: Look at this !Strong! female character! She can fight and solve puzzles, and ends up with the sidekick not the hero! Isn’t she a great character?
Everyone: No, she’s one-dimensional and still only exists to please the hero’s ego
Male scifi and fantasy writers: You’re never happy! This is how characters are written! Besides, it’s much harder for us to write women because we are men!
Terry Pratchett: *creates a female character who is literally the embodyment of a dog, sets her up to be the love interest of Protagonist Hero Man.* *writes her as clever, emotionally tortured, lonely and powerful* *uses her to explore difficulties of bisexuality and masculine dominated workforces*
Terry Pratchett: *Creates a pair of old witches, one of whom is a virgin and the other who has slept with lots of men.* *makes them best friends, never dismisses one lifestyle of the other, explains lifestyle choices based on characters history and personality, uses this to develop each character as the books progress*
Terry Pratchett: *Writes Sybil Rankin* *makes the powerful rich lady heavy set but beautiful, never plays her by her looks, develops her as she ages, acknowledges the way society views such people and then spits on their attitudes* *does it again with Agnes*
Terry Pratchett: *Writes a book about an entire army secretly being women, creates complex female relationships, introduces same sex relationships completely naturally*
Terry Pratchett: *takes old joke about female dwarves and uses it to explore gender identity without making it seem forced or unnatural, carefully discusses some of the issues and complextities whilst still making funny and witty observasions and maintaining genuine fantasy tropes*
Terry Pratchett: *DOES THIS ALL OVER AND OVER AGAIN, DEVELOPING CHARACTERS AS HIS VEIW OF THE WORLD DEVELOPS AND CAREFULLY APOLOGIZES FOR EARLY MISTAKES*
My mother had three pregnancies, and two children. She had a miscarriage, between my brother and I, in that four year span between our births, there was another pregnancy, another child desperately wanted, who didn’t live to term.
My mother had her pre-natal care, and her post-miscarriage care, at Planned Parenthood.
Because it was the best place for her. Because at the time, she had a two year old child and a bike and they were living just around that nice little sweet spot between ‘desperately poor’ and ‘almost have enough to consider a savings account.‘ And when you are poor, and female, and need health services, Planned Parenthood is there.
And my mother walked past the protesters, walked past the people who screamed at her about not killing her baby, about how she was a whore, and she was going to hell. My mother, in mourning for a child that she had lost, blaming herself, hating herself for failing at this most feminine of things, walked through that, to care for herself, to get the medical care she needed. So that someday, two years later, she could have me.
I cannot speak to the courage that must have taken. But that path is walked by thousands of women. Every single day.
She donated to Planned Parenthood until her death. And she said to me, that the people who screamed at her saw her only as a vessel for a baby. They didn’t care about her, they didn’t care about her baby, either. They were pro-birth, not pro-life, because none of them would be there after her baby was born, to offer help and support and care.
The protesters didn’t care about her. And the medical professionals inside did. It is the right of every woman to have access to safe, affordable, quality health care, no matter where she comes from, what her income is, or what choices she makes with her life. And that is what these kind of bills are attempting to take away.
So, since this has now popped up on Reddit and Facebook and countless other sites, le trolls have returned. Hi! If you’re here to tell me my mom was a horrible person, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree. I knew her a little better than you did, you see.
My mother was raised Catholic, and married at 18 to a man going off for military service. She was the first person in her family EVER to go to college, even if she took a 12 year break between starting and finishing. Having babies slows things down, she said to me. But it doesn’t have to stop you.
She was a scientist, her final published paper before she retired and shortly before she died, was on advances in cellular regeneration that could help repair traumatic spinal cord injuries. Her name is on four patents, and dozens of papers.
Before that, she spent years working at a breast milk bank, to help babies who couldn’t take commercial formulas grow and thrive, even if their mothers couldn’t produce enough to keep them healthy.
She raised two children, often under less than ideal circumstances, and she always, ALWAYS mourned the child she lost. And she defended, without flinching and without a second thought, the right of every woman to make the choice that was right for her and her life.
And I donate to Planned Parenthood in her name. And every time one of you decides to come here and tell me my dead mother is roasting in hell? I’m going to add another dollar to that donation.
Steel Phoenix Studios 