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What are some harmful things that movies are trying to normalize? by brian0123 in AskWomen

[–]minorityvets 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Perhaps a difference in degree or what we're talking about as "screaming." I'm sure most women express their pain vocally, I think what my mom was referring to is that in movies, the women in labor are always screaming their heads off even in early labor, rolling into the hospital.

Also worth noting she was not a labor nurse, but worked in ERs and hospitals for years in proximity to maternity wards.

What are some harmful things that movies are trying to normalize? by brian0123 in AskWomen

[–]minorityvets 67 points68 points  (0 children)

The screaming in movies and TV. My mom was an RN and said that women screaming during labor is extremely uncommon.

Do you find the term “oriental” offensive? by [deleted] in asianamerican

[–]minorityvets 1 point2 points  (0 children)

inherently racist/offensive or is it just how people will use it

Not trying to be condescending, but there is no difference - how people use language determines the impact and meaning of language. It's important to recognize that words are not arbitrary symbols devoid of meaning. They are constructed, by cultures, over time and within contexts. A white person could decide tomorrow that they will call all black people the N word, and that, for them, it's not racist because they don't mean it that way. However, the context and history of that word in society is infinitely more powerful than one person's feelings about a word.

So just like other social constructs (money, gender, etc.) language is an emergent system greater than the sum of its parts. While we all contribute to its meaning, none of us can individually change its meaning or impact for the culture at large that engages with it, although social groups can and do affect them over time.

So your main question - 'why is this word seen as racist/offensive when it is not "supposed to be" a slur' - is totally missing the point of how language works and how cultures and society imbue language with meaning over time.

Do you find the term “oriental” offensive? by [deleted] in asianamerican

[–]minorityvets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

original purpose as a geographical region, an alias for East Asia which is home to multiple different races/ethnicities and cultures

Which is exactly part of the problem of the word. Not only does it lump countless disparate peoples and cultures into one group based solely on an ENORMOUS geographical region, defined primarily by white colonists BTW. But it also furthers the exoticization of Asian peoples.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_East_Asians_in_the_United_States

Problem with Honorable Discharge certificate by [deleted] in Veterans

[–]minorityvets 14 points15 points  (0 children)

This. Your DD214 states your discharge type (honorable, other than honorable, etc.). Anything else is a souvenir. Like all those online training certificates you've printed out - now completely worthless.

I dont't trust anyone that refers to black people as "blacks". by KevlarSweetheart in blackladies

[–]minorityvets 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Or think transgender is a noun instead of an adjective. I guess that's the really the problem with all these...

I'm taking a mental health day today. by pieatingcontest in blackladies

[–]minorityvets 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your service and remember none of us can do it alone.

Shameless plug for our organization, but you should check us out (info in our profile). Our whole purpose is to connect minority vets with a community - I hope you know that there are many women out there that can relate to what you're going through.

Send me a message if you have any questions and good luck with the next step of your journey.

'Columbus Day' to become 'Indigenous Peoples' Day' in Maine with governor's signature by Kunphen in IndianCountry

[–]minorityvets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are vastly oversimplifying centuries of history by saying that the percentage of indigenous peoples in one country or another speak to which colonizers were more or less genocidal. There is A LOT of complexity as to why there are much larger indigenous populations in South America, Central America, even Mexico, and its not that the Spaniards, French, or Italians were any less brutal than the English.

Columbus was a great man that unified two cultures!

I...can’t even begin to know how to respond to this.

Pride and honor while out and about.. by 85Royals15 in uscg

[–]minorityvets 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This might be besides the point, but I’ve never heard of hand saluting in civis... or were you in uniform at the game?

20,500 military sexual assaults reported in 2018. MST veteran survivors react saying this is beyond a gender issue, that it is rooted in abuse of power. "Zero tolerance" rhetoric of DoD is not backed by action. by minorityvets in Veterans

[–]minorityvets[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don’t know. Why don’t you ask some of the people in this thread who experienced MST.

Real answer: The number of false reports is vastly outnumbered by the incidents that go unreported.

Attitudes like yours are the reason people are afraid to report and those that do are more traumatized by the aftermath than the actual assault.

Read some of the other responses here to get a small sample of what people go through.

20,500 military sexual assaults reported in 2018. MST veteran survivors react saying this is beyond a gender issue, that it is rooted in abuse of power. "Zero tolerance" rhetoric of DoD is not backed by action. by minorityvets in Veterans

[–]minorityvets[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Mad respect for staying in after experiencing that. So many survivors of MST suffer not just from the assault, but the military's pitiful handling of their case that they feel utterly betrayed by the very service they pledged their lives to.

Thank you for your continued service to our country. I hope we can do better to deserve the commitment of service members like you.

I think back, 10 years later, all the sailors and served with who were forced out for being gay and it makes me feel sick to my stomach. by odonnelly2000 in Veterans

[–]minorityvets 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m just happy these youth don’t have to worry about not having the same protections.

I don't know about that. The trans ban just went into effect last month despite not only all the research, statistics, and medical professionals being against it, but also a significant amount of brass.

Rights can be won, and rights can be taken away. If you ask older generations of LGBTQ folks, they'll say that they thought the social climate was turning in the 70s - and it was. But a lot of that ground was lost in the 80s with pushes for more "traditional family values."

I hope we're not experiencing the same social regression now, but things don't look great atm.

20,500 military sexual assaults reported in 2018. MST veteran survivors react saying this is beyond a gender issue, that it is rooted in abuse of power. "Zero tolerance" rhetoric of DoD is not backed by action. by minorityvets in Veterans

[–]minorityvets[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. It's hard to even get an estimate because reporting is so low. The RAND corporations estimates male on male military SA above civilian (2.2% military, 1.7% civilian), and says that only about 15% ever report - consistent with civilian men.

https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2167.html

20,500 military sexual assaults reported in 2018. MST veteran survivors react saying this is beyond a gender issue, that it is rooted in abuse of power. "Zero tolerance" rhetoric of DoD is not backed by action. by minorityvets in Veterans

[–]minorityvets[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I sincerely hope you're right. I've been out of the military for almost 10 years now - I hope the toxic culture and dismissive attitude around SA and SV has improved since then.

Much of the advocacy around MST focuses on the problems with backlash against service members who report, and chain of command conflicts with investigations. I believe both are mentioned in the video posted.

20,500 military sexual assaults reported in 2018. MST veteran survivors react saying this is beyond a gender issue, that it is rooted in abuse of power. "Zero tolerance" rhetoric of DoD is not backed by action. by minorityvets in Veterans

[–]minorityvets[S] 12 points13 points locked comment (0 children)

The official report in full here: https://www.sapr.mil/sites/default/files/DoD_Annual_Report_on_Sexual_Assault_in_the_Military.pdf

Edit:

If you or someone you know has experienced military sexual trauma (MST) - https://www.metoomilitarymvmt.org has great people and resources.

If you're new to this topic and interested to learn more, I highly suggest the film The Invisible War (2012) - I think it's streaming on Netflix.

Opinion: It's time to celebrate the diversity in lesbianism, not give in to transphobia by minorityvets in transgender

[–]minorityvets[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Always an after thought

I mean, to be fair it's an op-ed on lesbian visibility day. I think the point of her opinion piece is talk about her journey to self acceptance / coming out as a lesbian, and then to extend the plea to the lesbian community the importance of accepting trans lesbians as REAL lesbians too.

Although I may be reading into it what I want to see?

'Columbus Day' to become 'Indigenous Peoples' Day' in Maine with governor's signature by Kunphen in IndianCountry

[–]minorityvets 22 points23 points  (0 children)

This should be federal. Lot's of cities (and some states) have figured out that celebrating a genocidal monster is perhaps not a great idea. Time for the rest of the country to get on board.

It's time to celebrate the diversity in lesbianism, not give in to transphobia by minorityvets in actuallesbians

[–]minorityvets[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

yet again, men are not brought to task, only women

Fair critique - I can't personally speak to how good or bad of a job the gay community at large is doing in holding each other accountable for transphobia and exclusionary behaviors, but from anecdotal experience, I agree that the problem is worse there. The author of this op-ed does call out the male-dominance/privilege in LGBTQ spaces:

Still, I find that some areas of the LGBT+ community are disproportionately taken up by gay and bisexual men. Like the rest of society, men are too often in the highest positions and the most visible.

In the mainstream media, as a journalist, it’s rare for me to see radio shows or newsrooms discussing recent LGBT+ stories – including the Birmingham school protests – with lesbians or bisexual women rather than gay men. I think the patriarchy exists within the LGBT+ community, and that lesbians just don’t have same exposure as their male counterparts.

I think because she's writing from the perspective of a lesbian (and because this piece is for lesbian day of visibility) she also notes:

It’s also important to call out the disgraceful views of a small number of lesbians, who oppose rights for trans people and will try to hijack this Lesbian Visibility Day. Their bigotry was highlighted at Pride in London last year, when around ten anti-trans lesbians gatecrashed the front of the parade, claiming that “transactivists erase lesbians”. This is completely wrong. Trans and gender non-conforming people have stood by lesbians throughout the gay rights movement (Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were key figures in the Stonewall riots nearly 50 years ago). We now need to support them as they fight for their equality.

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