By Brianna Garcia

In these trying times, as we debate whether or not certain individuals need a punch, I think we should look less to Captain America, and more to Squirrel Girl. For Squirrel Girl actively advocates for, and regularly succeeds at, non-violent resolution…

…but also teaches us that, failing that, you kick the guy’s butt to the friggin’ moon.

Squirrel Girl sez: There is no situation that a judicious application of wholly deserved violence will not solve if the aggressor is not willing to compromise.

Eat nuts and kick butts, folks.

picking RPG clothes based on maxing stats instead of whether they match or not

Copaxa syntheratoides by Johanna Murillo

I get where you’re coming from, but–

As a biologist– no, you don’t! I think that’s a pretty common misunderstanding of how “reality” works. We’re humans–we’re built to categorize and generalize and simplify and this helps us function efficiently, make predictions, and communicate about abstract concepts or experiences.

But the world itself pretty much never falls into clean-edged categories because that’s not how things evolve. That’s not how natural, complex, multi-faceted processes *happen.* The concept of species is an artificial construct with a basis in biology. (Look up “ring species” for an awesome example!) The concept of “genes” is an artificial construct with a basis in biology that helps us talk about concepts. (Have you ever seen a scientist try to create an inclusive, concrete definition for what a “gene” is? It’s hilarious.)

Heck, the concept of *colors* is an artificial construct with a basis in biology. What’s red? What’s not red? When does red start being purple? How does pink fit into the picture?

I totally get why saying “let’s just not worry about the reality of gender and let everybody do what they want” is appealing! It appeals to me. I think it would work really well for a lot of people.

But the *issue* with saying that gender is 100% socially constructed is that it harmfully erases the experiences of trans people that experience non-social dysphoria (such as body dysphoria). I have straight up seen trans people shouted down about their own lived experiences and trauma over this; it’s not cool.

To be clear, I am using “gender” to describe the internal sense of “what I am” as distinct from “gender ROLES” (socially constructed) and “sex” (also kind of fuzzy-edged, but more related to chromosomes and phenotype).

Saying “gender is 100% socially constructed” also erases the experiences of non-trans people who have a strong internal instinct of “I am this”, although at least in those it is less likely to cause harm so much as to just clash hard with their ability to accept your logic.

One reason we know gender is not entirely socially constructed is that people raised as the “wrong” gender are statistically very likely to have a lot of psychological issues, even if they don’t know they are being raised “wrong.” (An example: x)

Another reason we know that gender is not entirely socially constructed is that most animal species we study exhibit a “sense of what sex they are” that is DISTINCT from their “sex” and can be manipulated genetically, chemically, and environmentally. The more complex these systems get, the more room you have for lots of variation, creating a whole spectrum of ways for both gender and sex to manifest and interrelate.

And humans are even more complex, because we have the ability to think consciously about our sense of self and our sense of other people’s selves! But there is definitely a root for all of these (and even why so many people feel so very STRONGLY about this topic) somewhere, partially, in our biology.

Doesn’t mean we don’t have a shit-ton of work to do educating people and creating a better, more inclusive society.

Reblog to give the person you reblogged it from motivation to work on their fics.

This is so wholesome

My favorite part about 1931 Dracula is that there are armadillos running around Dracula’s castle.

Look at this it’s like they couldn’t find any rats so they just were like “eh close enough no one will notice”. But I noticed. I noticed.

peter retaliating against “baby monitor protocol” by changing the names of Tony’s Iron Man protocols

“hey FRIDAY, zoom in on that building over there”

“Old Man Bifocals protocol activated, Boss”

“what the fuck did you just say to me”

Help a Whisper out!

Last Saturday, Whisper started having a rough time with her stomach, and within a few hours she started vomiting and pooping blood. We got her to a vet immediately, and they did bloodwork, x-rays, and a barium screening. It turned out Whisper had eaten the plastic bag one of our prints was in (she has a bad habit of chewing up art.) It basically ripped her up inside as it passed through, and she lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, after a night in the animal hospital, she stabilized and we were able to bring her home the next day, but with a pretty decently sized bill attached. 

Whisper was a rescue cat, and when we got her she’d been living at the shelter for 6 months. She absolutely hated it, she was the saddest looking cat we’d ever seen, but when we picked her up for the first time she rolled over to be held like a baby. I love this cat with all my heart, and I’d do anything to help her. Black cats have a hard enough time getting adopted, they really need the extra awareness and love. 

So, I’m gonna go for two birds with one stone! I’ve put up four new designs on teepublic that are on sale right now for $14, with the goal of raising a little more awareness to how wonderful black cats are. All proceeds will go towards helping pay off Whisper’s vet bills and for her gross new prescription cat food. 

Help a dumb baby out and let the world know just how much you heart black cats!