– Don’t paint your face or body to look like you’re a different race/ethnicity, or wear traditional garments of a different real culture/religion as a costume or part of a costume. (This includes sugar skulls! And don’t dress up like Romani people – g*psy is a SLUR and the Roma are a real culture you don’t get to aestheticize!)
– Don’t dress up as a member of any marginalized group you’re not a part of, actually. People who have to fight to exist don’t deserve to be objectified and reduced to a costume. “Trans person”, “sex worker”, “disabled person” – not good costume ideas. Just don’t.
– Don’t tell kids that they have to conform to bullshit gender norms in their costumes. And don’t assume trick-or-treaters all are, either. (If you don’t know someone’s gender, don’t assume it based on whether they’re Darth Vader or a fairy.)
– Don’t wear a costume mocking or making light of horrible things that happened/are happening to real people. (Don’t wear a genocide-related costume. Don’t wear a domestic-violence themed costume. Don’t fucking dress up as a victim of a hate crime, etc.)
– Don’t dress up as a sexualized child. “Sexy schoolgirl” outfits help perpetuate the sexualization and fetishization of young girls, actual children who have to wear the oufits those are based on every day to school, and that’s fucked up. Don’t be part of that shit.
– Be respectful of others’ choices to participate or not in haunted houses or horror movie marathons. Don’t mock them if they’re uncomfortable participating.
– Remember, a costume is not consent. Your attraction to someone does not give you permission to touch them or talk to them in a sexual way without first making sure they want you to.
– Be respectful of haunted house actors. Again, don’t touch them. Don’t proposition them; that’s not what they’re there for. Don’t flash your cameras in their face. Basically, remember that they are human beings who are quite probably not even getting paid for this. Keep things fun, don’t ruin shit by treating them badly.
– If your prank can’t be undone in 30 seconds or causes risk of real harm, it’s probably a crime and it’s definitely an asshole thing to do. Remember when you’re pranking that some people have undisclosed physical disabilities, neurological or mental issues – try not to do any pranks that could trigger a PTSD flashback or an epileptic seizure. A good prank is one the target will laugh at afterward.
– Don’t wear extremely gory or sexual costumes around children, or if there’s a chance you’ll be around children. Wear a coat or something over explicit costumes or wait until you’re at your all-adult venue to put them on.
– In general, consider whether the venue is appropriate for your costume and whether you’re likely to make others uncomfortable. If you don’t know what’s common at that venue, check with someone who’s been there before to find out whether your costume with lots of gore or near-nudity, for example, will be well-received.
– Don’t objectify or body shame/police people wearing skimpy costumes to all-adult gatherings. If you wouldn’t wear it, don’t wear it. You’re not better than someone in a short skirt just because they’re in a short skirt.
– Call out your friends if they’re being assholes. That’s what friends do. Don’t be that asshole who just stands around letting your friend ruin someone’s night.
– Save me some of the good candy. Remember, Halloween is about me, personally, eating chocolate.
So comprehensive! Thank you!
This is an excellent post 🙂
Also – don’t use strobe lights at your party, on your house, or your club/video/music performance. This applies even outside Halloween but it seems to happen a lot here. Don’t be a seizure causing jackass.
A transgender man is calling for Canadian Blood Services to change its screening policy when dealing with trans donors.
Jack Biamonte donated blood five times over the past year. Two weeks ago he had an embarrassing experience after he revealed his recent hysterectomy surgery to staff.
Staff, unaware Biamonte was a female-to-male transgender individual, asked him if he had genital-reconstruction surgery. When he said no, staff told him he would have to answer questions based on his sex assigned at birth.
“It was just reinforced, ‘You were born female; we have to consider you female,’ ” Biamonte said.
Two questions — “Have you had a pregnancy over the past six months?” and “Have you slept with a male who has slept with a male?” — seemed especially pointless, he said.
But Biamonte will have to respond to those questions every time he gives blood, he said.
Canadian Blood Services states that their policy is based in scientific fact, namely that “donors who have had a pregnancy are more likely to have antibodies in their blood that may cause a rare but potentially fatal complication in a recipient.”
Which, okay. Fine. That is a matter of biology that absolutely should not be ignored! If those pregnancy antibodies could kill somebody, then we do need to ask everyone who has or once had a uterus about it. Which means we do, for once, have a legitimate medical need to keep records of trans people’s sex assigned at birth.
AND YET: “The criteria state donors who have genital-reconstruction surgery will be deferred from donating blood for one year, but then would be screened in their new gender.”
SO WHICH THE FUCK IS IT, CANADIAN BLOOD SERVICES? DO WE NEED TO CONSTANTLY SCREEN FOR THOSE PREGNANCY ANTIBODIES… OR NOT? DO THOSE ANTIBODIES MAGICALLY DISAPPEAR FROM A TRANS PERSON’S BODY AFTER THEY HAVE A PHALLOPLASTY? NO. NO THEY DON’T. AND YET YOU’LL LET PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR SEX MARKER AND ERASE THE RECORD OF THAT POTENTIAL DEATH THREAT.
Which means this policy is bullshit, based entirely on cissexist ideas of what it takes to “really” be a certain gender– i.e. the “right” genitals.
I really do believe that CBS wants to protect people from potentially fatal blood products. But this policy both fails to do that, and is transphobic.
Although, sadly, the Dems still can’t afford to lose Manchin. They need to hold all their candidates and flip two seats if they want to flip the senate and stop more people like Kavanaugh. If you’re voting out Manchin (understandably), please donate or volunteer to help flip three seats instead of two.
holy shit, spread this like wildfire guys before November
one of the biggest and most devious tools being used against voters now is that voting locations for lower income neighborhoods and neighborhoods that are primarily black or hispanic are suddenly closed down, in the middle of nowhere, or only open for 4 hours a day
do whatever you can to help negate that being a barrier
Don’t forget you can mail in your ballot as well.
Please vote guys
I have links for those looking to register whose deadline is the 9th!
Regardless of the numbers on your paycheck or in your bank account, nobody is less than you.
Also most people in NYC are working more than 1 job. I know people living out shelters working 2 jobs.
So the fact that people are working 2 jobs and living in shelters shows that having a job or jobs doesn’t prevent homelessness. So there should still be no superiority complex in these employees.
Matthias gets construed (validly) as a fluffy soft boy, and he is in some ways, particularly in the first book when he’s very young – but that erases a huge part of his identity, which his bravery, courage, daring, and outspokenness.
When Cluny visited Redwall, Matthias immediately spoke out against him to his face; he never hesitated once in the quest for Martin’s sword, not even when he found out Asmodeus had it and Martin himself told him to stay back; he always took responsibility to do what needed to be done; he never questioned who would wield Martin’s sword, and accepted his identity as heir with pride and determination. Gryffindor traits all.
Likewise, his flaws are that he can be hotheaded, acts before thinking, and gets frustrated easily. Gryffindor flaws.
I can agree with this, though I can also see an argument for Hufflepuff based on hard work, kindness (unless you’re attacking the Abbey or him, obviously), justice, and loyalty – those are also traits that are key to Matthias and that I think are important to keep in mind. I think some of those more Hufflepuff traits come through more when he’s older in Mattimeo, where he’s more patient and more mature. Maturity isn’t a Hufflepuff trait, but I think Matthias has a good mix of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, especially in Mattimeo, which is why I think he could go either way. As for Hufflepuff flaws, he can also be very stubborn. I’m sure there’s more but I’m tired right now.
Yeah, all true!
I think the traits that guide his decision-making and beliefs – his core values, basically – are Gryffindor. But his Hufflepuff traits make him really, really good at it. It’s important he has those traits because that’s what Redwall values most, especially the trait of putting the community first (totally Hufflepuff). Without that, I’m not sure he’d be a successful Champion.
I’d say that justice, kindness and loyalty guide a fair bit of his choices too, but you’re right that his community is definitely founded on Hufflepuff values and that’s going to influence him too. I think he’s got some solid Gryffindor traits and some solid Hufflepuff traits, but I think he ‘grew in’ more to his Hufflepuff traits as he got older. I think Mattimeo!era Matthias would probably have a much larger chance of being in Hufflepuff than in Gryffindor.
…Which gels with what we know of Martin’s later life too, I think. I’d say Martin the Warrior-Mossflower Martin was unquestionably in Gryffindor (albeit with some important Hufflepuff traits too) but as he got older, I think it sounds like his Hufflepuff traits became more prominent, especially after he hung up his sword.
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