It seems like a lot of people are just not reading the article or the context of the quote:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2023/07/27/the-witcher-casting-director-says-yennefer-casting-was-to-challenge-beauty-standards-which-is-completely-insane/

Now, this is not Holland saying that Chalotra is ugly, or that they cast someone ugly to play the role of the most beautiful woman in the world. … Rather, Holland is saying that she is challenging the “standard of beauty” by casting a woman with slightly darker skin.

I do understand that traditional Western fantasy is predominantly white, but I disagree fundamentally with the notion that the “standard of beauty” for most people is being white. I don’t think anyone in the entire world outside of a tiny, tiny sliver of absolute racist scumbags would look at Anya Chalotra and think anything other than “This woman is jaw-droppingly gorgeous.” Casting Chalotra may challenge our perceptions of fantasy as white (a complicated discussion on its own) but it does nothing to challenge any standard of beauty.

Emphasis is mine.

💀💀💀

(danke, ich verstehe jetzt, leider)

Ja, aber was bedeutet Zangendeutsch und Zuhausis?

(Ehrlich kenne ich sie nicht.)

EDIT:

https://www.bedeutungonline.de/was-ist-zangendeutsch-woerterbuch-erklaerung-bedeutung/

So es bedeutet ein wörtliche Verdeutschung z.B. Großfuß für “Bigfoot”, aber warum “Zange”?

Tut mir Leid, mein Deutsch ist schrecklich (vielleich A-2 oder B-1).

You didn’t fact-check how many trans people there are in the U.S.¹

It looks to be between 0.5% and 1.6% of the total U.S. population (2 - 6 in 400).

References:

• https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Trans-Pop-Update-Jun-2022.pdf
• https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/

Semi-related, the number of intersex people (in the literature they talk about people with “disorders of sexual development”) have also been estimated to be around 1% of the population (4 in 400), source:

https://www.nature.com/articles/518288a

¹ yes, the U.S. isn’t mentioned in the OP, but your sources are looking at U.S. demographics and so I will continue with the U.S.-centrism already present.

Some Thoughts (oh boy):

There is a weird logic to pointing out how few trans people there are actually are in the OP. Even if there were many more trans people, (like if there really were 1 in 5 trans people as is commonly mis-perceived), would that make the GOP’s campaign of fear-mongering and animus any more justified? I don’t think this is what Shon (@gayblackvet) was going for, but it almost seems like a consequence of how the message was written.

Maybe I’m wrong here, but does it seem like way it is written implies that the problem is not that the trans panic is unjustified in its fear of trans people, but that it is merely blown out of proportion? Maybe the angle was that even if we assume trans people are a problem, it’s still so few people it’s not worth all this panic and legislation (there are >500 anti-trans bills in the U.S. right now, over 40 of them have already passed).

Rhetorically this perspective-taking might be effective in appealing to mildly transphobic centrists or moderate conservatives who are not entirely comfortable with trans people but who might not want to be perceived as transphobic and don’t want to be associated with the rabid and vocal transphobia of the GOP.

That wedge between a more moderate closeted transphobe and a more openly transphobic right-wing one is politically useful, so I am not necessarily complaining, but there is a concern here about whether tackling transphobia is really the goal here, and if so how we should best go about that.

Agreeing with everyone else, Potentilla indica seems likely. The fruits taste watery, not desirable but not toxic.

haha, fat definitely increases calories, though I find it’s less directly fattening because it doesn’t seem to increase insulin resistance the way simple carbs and sugars do (and insulin seems key to controlling your weight). Though targeting insulin resistance is like aiming to get diabetes, so I don’t suggest it, lol. Still, it gives you a way to really gain weight.

I’m not the most fond of sugar though I think I crave it more since starting HRT. I do typically crave simple carbs like bread, potato chips, etc. - eating more simple carbs can definitely be another way to fatten up (they’re often not as filling either!). I have noticed stress tends to push me towards eating high calorie foods like simple carbs, sugars, and fats, and Robert Sapolsky talks about the mechanism for this in Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers.

aww, that’s wonderful to hear! You’re lucky to have a supportive mom - so glad she’s there to help you!!

If you want to gain weight it helps to incorporate high-calorie foods that don’t stimulate the over-full feeling, so something high in sugar like soda or ice cream. Obviously eating enough of that can cause metabolic disorders, but over time eating these kinds of foods will be fattening, though it can take a bit of time as your basal metabolism will increase and burn up the extra calories at first. Just be moderate I guess, obviously these are unhealthy tips, lol.

I have the opposite problem though, I struggle with losing weight and not over-eating (even when I’m eating really healthy foods). Fasting has helped me lose weight, personally.

It’s probably not a healthy tip, but I think there were some studies that showed being overweight led to more breast growth. It sorta makes sense, the breasts are a place where excess fat is stored. That said, being overweight creates lots of other health risks, so it’s probably not good to target that as much as fat cycling where you shed and put on weight might be part of a strategy of transitioning.

Have you talked to your doctor about it?

Just reading briefly, it’s normal to have low prolactin levels (less than 25 ng/mL) for women who aren’t pregnant. If you were trying to prepare to breastfeed and your levels remained low that might be something to talk to your doctor about. However, I wouldn’t worry about it for normal breast growth.

The things you should focus on to promote good breath growth are things that keep you in good health generally, like

• eating a healthy and diverse diet (e.g. incorporate more salads with vegetables and nuts, choose less refined sources of carbs like whole wheat instead of white bread, etc.),
• staying hydrated (keep water by you all day and drink it regularly),
• avoiding drug use (especially tobacco and alcohol),
• keeping good sleep hygiene (helpful PDF),
• regularly exercising (both aerobic and strength training, aim for 1 - 2 hours of intense aerobic activity per week),
• reducing stress (including worrying about your prolactin levels, lol; meditation can help with stress reduction & helping to identify and redirect unhelpful thoughts; recommended reading: Judson Brewer’s Unwinding Anxiety, and for a meditation manual, The Mind Illuminated by John Yates).

Congrats!! Wishing you an uneventful recovery! ❤️

Ich hatte anfangs kein Joda gesehen, vielleicht ich brauche neue Brille auch.

Yes, I recommend watching all those videos. They were what finally forced me to admit I was probably trans and that I should at least try hormones and socially transitioning to see whether it made things better or not.

I recommend watching this video if you haven’t already: Common Excuses to Avoid Transitioning

Can confirm, I still don’t know that I’m trans, all I know is that I started HRT and transitioned socially and I still like it so I keep doing it. Sometimes you just have to admit it’s scary and you’re taking a gamble, but you can always take stock and see if the transition is still right for you. It can feel like you have to commit up-front and know for sure, but I’m not sure anyone knows for sure.

When I’m feeling the most doubt I like to sit down and write out the reasons I think I’m trans or why I think I might not be trans. Usually by writing it out I am confronted with all the reasons I have for transitioning and I feel better, more grounded in my choices. I think this is probably just fear and internalized transphobia that causes me to endlessly doubt and question whether I’m actually trans.

For me, I personally reacted differently to different labels and pronouns as I transitioned. When I first started I didn’t think my deadname or old pronouns bothered me at all, nor did I think they would in the future. It only took a few months for that to change.

In my opinion, early transition is not a time to make these kinds of promises, your intuitions might not be the same a year from now if you medically transition and live as a woman. You also aren’t thinking about what it might be like for your children to call someone who looks and lives as a woman their “dad”.

If possible, I think it would be wise to seek couple’s counseling (ideally someone with a PhD who has experience working with couples where one of them is transitioning), not because anything you’re doing is wrong but because it will give you a context for working through the active issues in your relationship. (Sometimes people see couple’s counseling as something you do when you’re failing, but in my experience if you are proactive and seek couple’s counseling before the relationship has reached a critical point where it’s too late and the relationship is ending, the counseling is more like an investment in the relationship that breathes life into it and can help sustain it.)

I wish you luck in your transition, I wish you lots of gender euphoria. ❤️

Came here to say the same. I’ve seen other people claim Leviticus 18:22 was mistranslated, but all the actual Biblical scholarship and evidence I have found does not support this and the word is indeed a generic word for “male” that doesn’t imply age. Would love to see evidence to the contrary, though!

However, there is a debate about what “Paul” (the author was probably not actually Paul) meant in the New Testament in Corinthians by malakoi (“soft”) and arsenokoites (“man-bed”) and some people argue this is about pederasty and not about homosexuality, and that is at least more plausible than the claims about Leviticus 18:22.

Of note perhaps to @June and OP: a documentary was also recently produced called 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture, which makes these kinds of arguments.

Thanks, I love how genderqueer the underwear models are 😁

I do have one of their gaffs and it works for me really well. I tend to wear underwear over the gaff, and while it doesn’t entirely eliminate all bulge or completely smoothes out the area, it does a much better job than just underwear. I wore the gaff through a couple TSA pat-downs and it was perfect for that kind of situation. It also lets me wear dresses that otherwise show too much, if you know what I mean.

I recommend a gaff from origami customs, as they don’t charge for making your gaff to custom measurements, and they have a free gaff program.

EDIT: Origami Customs is based out of Canada and they ship internationally. Since I don’t see any of their in-person free gaff programs partners in Austria, your best bet will be their online free gaff program through Point of Pride, here are their requirements:

We have only two requirements in an effort to be as inclusive as possible:

• You identify as transgender (MTF, genderqueer, non-binary, genderfluid, gender non-conforming, and every other non-cis identity assigned male at birth within the trans umbrella.)
• You cannot afford to purchase femme shapewear, or you cannot safely obtain femme shapewear.

We accept all requests for support, and applications are open year-round. Once you complete your application, your request will be added to our waitlist. Shipping is discrete and 100% free, and we ship internationally to 90+ countries and counting.

Point of Pride sources their gaffs from Origami Customs. You have to take measurements, fill out an application on this Google Form, and they will contact you when it’s ready to ship. They do ship internationally for free.

I think the main “catch” is that there is a wait-list and presumably a long wait time. Even buying a gaff directly from Origami Customs I placed my order in December 2023 and it didn’t ship until March 2024. I suspect it will be a much, much longer wait for a free gaff through Point of Pride.

Hey, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but maybe I can come back another time when I can respond properly? I already compared Chomsky’s response to right-wing responses, and I feel like parts of my response are getting ignored and the claims being made are getting a bit out of hand given the context. At this point it feels like communication isn’t happening between us, and usually that’s a sign that this isn’t going anywhere helpful, for either of us.

I want our time together to be mutually useful. I’m not here to defend Chomsky, I don’t even agree with Chomsky on many points, as I’ve already tried to communicate. I just can’t spend the time unpacking claims that he’s a tankie, an enlightened centrist, committing “both-sides” errors, etc. I feel like I mentioned casually that I’m a leftist and a libertarian socialist and now we’ve gone down this rabbit-hole about how Chomsky is actually maybe kinda like a tankie or like Trump or Tucker Carlson because he criticizes the U.S. and NATO handling of the situation with Russia (and maybe worse things than that, to be charitable to your view).

I hear what you’re saying, and I’m not really saying you’re wrong, I just don’t want either of us to keep wasting our time on communication that is not working.

At this point I can’t tell how you are trying to relate to me or what you think my position is in all of this.

EDIT: I’m saying this because I assume you and I have no major disagreement, just want to make sure you’re not feeling hostility towards me and that we’re good.