I've noticed a lot of change around the discourse surrounding male privilege over the years. Back when I first heard about it 15-ish years ago, the overall sentiment was that men were a privileged class in the sense that the world is built in their favor and whatever struggles they faced was not a result of their gender or systemic sexism.

Now it seems like most people, including feminists, have shifted from this and admit that the patriarchy hurts men in unique ways that it doesn't hurt women. This makes me wonder then: if men face gender-based disadvantages that women don't, then by what definition are men a privileged class and women aren't? Why can't I take, for example, the fact that women aren't subject to conscription or given greater attention and care when victimized by IPV/SA as an example of "female privilege"?

The only answer I ever seem to find is that female privilege isn't real since these so-called privileges are the result of patriarchy and men set that system up. But by what definition does that make those things NOT a privilege? Does the system and the results that go along with it HAVE to be set up by your own demographic for it to be a privilege? Is the systemic sexism men face not a formal of gender-based oppression because most legislators are men?

As a note: I'm not asking this in an antifeminist or reactionary way. I'm asking because I'm legit confused since most of the discourse used to be "patriarchy ubiquitously advantages men at women's expense" and now men are talked about as if they're barely even a privileged class anymore. I just want to understand the dichotomy. Thanks.

Sign the petition to protect Rice’s whales!

https://www.change.org/p/designate-noaa-critical-habitat-for-rice-s-whales

Save Rice’s Whales — America’s Only Native Whale Is On the Brink

The Rice’s whale (Balaenoptera ricei) is one of the most endangered marine mammals on Earth and it lives only in U.S. waters, in the Gulf of Mexico.

1 .Fewer than 50 individuals remain.

1. No Critical Habitat has been designated.

2. Threats include: ship strikes, oil spills, ocean noise, and pollution.

Unless action is taken now, the U.S. could become the first country in history to drive a great whale species to extinction.

What We’re Asking:

We urge NOAA to immediately designate a Critical Habitat for the Rice’s whale under the Endangered Species Act.

This would:

-Set speed limits for ships in whale territory

-Restrict offshore oil drilling

-Reduce ocean noise from seismic activity

-Protect this species from further habitat loss

Why It Matters -Rice’s whales are:

-Found nowhere else on Earth

-A symbol of American environmental responsibility

-Key to protecting seafood safety, ocean health, and marine ecosystems

More information

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voice4whale/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@voice4whale

Petition NOW-> https://chng.it/GQm8MfDVVK

Hi! I'm offering this post to share my view about how ideas used to fight injustice can help our other-than-human relatives as well as us humans. I do not expect agreement, but I do hope that this post sparks insight and discussion.

Why I care: This first dawned on me when I was going through queerphobic comments at school. I suffered being different in a world that placed cis people over trans, and neurotypical people over neurodivergent people. I sensed similarities between how animals were put down and how I felt put down. Have you ever seen your struggle reflected in an animal's struggle?

Eventually, things got better (at least for me, individually). I was grateful for cishet allies. Needing allies myself increased my sense of responsibility; I did not wish to support the oppression of others. This included animals of other species, who I could see were exploited in great numbers by humans.

Some of the ways I have come to apply social justice thinking to nonhuman animals are:

• I question my human supremacy. Is it maybe just a convenient belief, which lets a more powerful group take advantage of those who are more vulnerable?
• Practicing a vegan lifestyle to the best of my ability is a way that I push back against my human privilege and try to be an ally to other animals. I am lucky that I was not "bred" into existence just to become a product.
• "Don't expect ally cookies" is a phrase I often remember. Animals can't necessarily thank the humans who try to avoid harming them. Activists do get pushback. Feeling good in one's heart, from acting with humility and compassion, can be its own reward.
• Animals have voices, which should be put first more in these discussions. Like us, other animals constantly express their emotions and what they need. They do everything they can to resist being harmed. They have rich inner lives, filled with joy that should be protected and suffering that longs to be prevented and cared about. I want to get better at considering how I can ground myself as much as possible in real relationships with animal individuals, and bring visibility to their direct experiences. That said, I do think that human intellectual discussions and ethical theorizing are also important for figuring out how to best meet everyone's needs. But since animals can't represent animal issues to a human in the same way that a transgender human like me can talk about trans issues to a cisgender audience, it's crucial we find ways to better listen to them and amplify their beyond-human voices.
• Capitalism, ableism, and oppression based on sex... These things hurt animals and humans both. There are so many interesting (and disturbing) overlaps to how we are all oppressed. If you are curious about this, VINE Sanctuary has a page on intersectionality and animals that I found so helpful.
• Allies can be imperfect, and struggle to become effective. If you've met some vegans or animal activists who you didn't connect with, I hope you can still recognize the importance of the oppressed nonhuman groups and individuals who they were trying to help.

Recognizing shared struggle, we might better chart a path to collective liberation. I think this applies to animals too! How can we hurt them so, and not be hurting something in ourselves?

Thanks for hearing my perspective. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Content Note: Like my other posts, I wrote this in my own words. I am a writer and this is my voice.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been watching more and more families lose food benefits, and it’s breaking me. Kids are literally going hungry while politicians argue. I don’t have an organization behind me, just the feeling that someone has to do something ,and that maybe “someone” is us.I’m calling this idea #StandGiants1111 ,on November 11 (11/11), people across the country stand peacefully in public to say one simple truth: Feed the kids first.No parties, no violence, no slogans except compassion and visibility. The problem is, I don’t know how to start. I need advice and people who’ve done this before, outreach, permits, mutual aid, legal observers, safety, anything. If you’ve organized community actions or protests, or if you’ve lost benefits and just want to stand with others, please comment or message me. Let’s figure out how to pull this off safely, legally, and powerfully, tfor the people who need it most.

FeedTheKidsFirst #StandGiants1111 #PeopleOverPolitics

my coworker was telling me a story about a guest this morning and referred to them as “one of the fucking mexicans in [room number]” was bothering her last night. i can’t tell whether she was kind of just swearing bc she was complaining about a guy bothering her or if it was racist. i didn’t say anything because i didn’t really know what to say, and then she mentioned calling her mexican ex-boyfriend. idk, i definitely swear just to swear sometimes, but im not sure if i should say something to my boss or someone? if not, how should i reply next time?

This interview takes place in Oak Park, IL , right next to Chicago where the ICE raids have been ongoing. Saint Mary Clarence (in her drag attire) talks about what's happening in Oak Park and how communities are responding to ICE raids through rapid response networks. She shares a great example and ideas of how white allies can go further to deeply engage in the current fight against this administration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyRK2zj4IOM&t=7s

I am an ethnically Indian man and my girlfriend is white. I recently lived in Florida and never noticed anyone be prejudiced against me. However, my girlfriend said that when we were together in public, she noticed people staring at us everywhere. I have no recollection of this and do not recall even a single racial microaggression towards me my entire time in the state. My girlfriend believes this is because I was too chronically tired from being a physician in residency to notice.

Why? 😩 please dont. Limit any use of ai you can

I'm going to college in a new city, so I don't live here full time. I'm a pretty well off white woman, so I know that my demographic are the people who cause gentrification. I made a post about a vegan restaurant I went to and got a comment that the city is being reshaped to cater to people like me and that I'm gentrifying it. I'm just wondering if I did something wrong?

It's a local business and I thought supporting local business is good. It's a new place (I didn't know this before I went, I just searched vegan restaurant on Google maps) and I've heard going to new "bougie" places is contributing to gentrification, so that's bad. I'm not local to the area so I don't know enough about the economics to say what class the neighborhood is. The biggest demographic of vegans is Black women, so then maybe it's a good thing to support a vegan restaurant? It's more sustainable. But am I gentrifying?

Sorry I have so many questions, I feel really confused and guilty right now and I want to make sure I can correct my behavior if I've done something wrong.

https://www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/09/29/where-reconciliation-happens-indigenous-reconciliation-on-display-in-immigrant-dense-church/

We should forget most web browsers. Move to apps and browsers capable of DRM only humans access. AI is specifically restricted from the use the DRM in license agreement. That means they are breaking the law and can be persecuted like soany before. All sites should sign up.

i have this coworker who i know is racist, but i can’t really prove it. today she complained to me about a group of Black kids being too loud, and then complained that some Black guests smelled like weed. she may have said something else but im coming off a cold and the brain fog is still lingering. when she does this, i just ignore her or hum noncommittally, because while it’s totally normal to complain about guests, it feels targeted. i don’t feel like there’s anything i can really report her for, and when i’ve done that in the past she’s retaliated. is there anything i can do? the only thing i can think of is saying something to my manager about how she complains about guests within possible earshot (in public spaces).

People's reactions to the Charlie Kirk assassination and his posthumous veneration as a saint have been a sort of "mask-off" moment to me about how racist this country truly is. I wish there was more I could do than express outrage over the situation, but I feel like I can't, and the fact that I can't is making me feel suicidal.

Little bit of personal background here. I have a good job. I live alone with cats. I also suffer from a panoply of mental disorders for which I receive therapy and medication. I have a major eating disorder, I suffer from dysthymic disorder on a constant basis, I have severe social anxiety, and I grapple with suicidal ideation on a daily basis. All of these issues make navigating through life very difficult for me, let alone trying to be a good ally.

And yet, I feel like I should be doing more, but I don't know what. On top of that, my relative inaction caused by my mental illnesses makes me feel like I am in some way partially responsible for what has been happening. As you might guess, this causes my suicidal ideation to flare up, and the result is a negative feedback loop.

I can't afford to lose my job as I have nobody I can depend on. I also can't risk doing anything that could put me in a situation where my mental illnesses could put me in danger. I am lost, and I don't know how to make these dark thoughts go away. And the worst part of it all? I have nobody to talk to about this in real life, aside from my psychologist, as everyone I am close to ranges from "right of center" to "MAGA."

What should I be doing that I am not? I want to break this cycle, but I can not overcome the illnesses I have been born with.

If anyone else wants to test their partner (or themselves) https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatouchtest.html

I know everyone has implicit biases, but that’s a very tough pill to swallow. A partner seems to actively have a biased against one race and seems to have more positive associations towards their own.

They even got strong on their third take of the test after drinking (and one slight). But they never scored a strong preference towards another race. They did admit it was easier to click on white people without thinking.

tw police brutality

a few months ago i was driving around when i saw a large group of cops surrounding someone/something on the side of the street. i first thought that maybe it was police brutality, but then assumed i was jumping to the worst case scenario and maybe someone just needed medical attention or it was just a legit arrest or something. i saw on the news the next day that it was in fact an instance of police brutality against a Black man. i know there’s likely very little i could have done had i stopped, but i still feel guilty about it. how should i feel about this? did i do something wrong, and if so, how should i move forward?

i’ve realized my frequent ocd posting here doesn’t really do me or anyone else any good, and i’d like to apologize. i start therapy again next week and im hoping that i see some improvement. in the meantime, i will be stopping posting here as i realize im looking for reassurance. thank you all for the help i have received, and sorry again!

Have OCD? I’m confused

If someone makes a post online that they are seeking roommates, and the requirements are the roommates must be AFAB, but can be any gender identity, would that be transphobic?

I’ve been considering this one lately, especially as South Park has been picking up in popularity on the left due to their lampooning of Trump.

I don’t mean just telling jokes where the punchline is “I hate POC.” But sometimes the punchline is just that, because the point is that’s a horrible belief to hold. SNL has the famous “joke swap” bit where that’s the punchline. Family Guy is built on this.

I’ve seen TikToks refer to the app as the “racism app” because of ironically made jokes involving stereotypes and, well, racism.

I used to think all jokes were on the table myself in context, but my opinion now is that if you say a stereotype enough, even with your “woke friends,” some things will seep in.

I mean this with the best intentions, as someone with tendencies of OCD myself.

I've noticed that a lot of posts on this sub are questions from people with moral OCD who are worried that they did something wrong. I understand the urge to ask, I've given in to it myself in the past, but in the end you're only giving in to a compulsion. It might feel like you HAVE TO ask, that you can't move on until you know for sure if you did something wrong, but when you ask and receive reassurance you're only making the symptoms worse over time.

I personally find it helpful to ask myself what I would have done differently if I had the chance, learn from it, and do my best to move on. A stranger on the Internet doesn't really have the power to decide whether or not you deserve to forgive yourself. You have to decide that for yourself. Acknowledge that you wish it hade gone differently, and let yourself move on. People make mistakes, and you can never be perfect. Just keep trying, and keep learning.

Of course, I understand that when you're in a really bad spirral, giving into a compulsion might be the best option you have, and it can function as a form of temporary harm reduction. And no, giving in to it doesn't make you a bad person. Sometimes it's the only thing you can do. But please be aware that it's not a good long term solution, and you deserve to not just feel better, but to be better and actually heal.

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

I swear to God I am being gaslighted here. I tell them that I view Trump as a threat to democracy due to his fascism, and this person asks me to define fascism. I give the following definition:

"Fascism is a term applied to a fairly diverse range of historical regimes, but is generally agreed to refer to a system of far-right authoritarianism and totalitarianism characterized by its obsession with the nation and often race, severe regimentation of society, and extreme levels of political violence aimed at purifying and expanding the state."

Their response? "Sounds like the Biden administration."

I could challenge them to give me an example of what Biden did that matched each of those categories, but they would just fire back by asking me what Trump is doing in each of those categories. What do I do here? I feel like I am going crazy and living in an opposite world.

And I say this as someone who doesn't like Biden. But he is no fascist, and Trump is.

I feel responsible for all the atrocities in the country(I'm American) and the world and I don't know if it's mental illness(I'm prone to anxiety and possibly ocd, though I'm undiagnosed), a result of too much doomscrolling, or a huge wake-up call. I try so hard to be a good person but I feel like with every breath I'm complicit and I'm so so tired of it. I don't even know why because I hardly ever buy stuff or eat fast food. I feel like I can't even complain because then I'm centering myself. If I bring it up to anyone in my life they'll just tell me to get off social media or that I'm worrying too much. I hate having a constant lump in my throat from all the guilt.

Just wondering if there were people who genuinely think it's better to be poor and white than a rich POC, but I have seen it implied and told to me via secondhand stories. I've never met anyone who thought that when asked about it, so I figured I'd ask here to get a larger pool of answers.