I hope this doesn’t sound flippant and I believe that people should be able to enjoy their harmless fantasies, but I also kinda hope that in a post-Megan Markle world, we get more “romanced by royals” romance novels/movies where part of the Happily Ever After is the non-royal main character going, “Oh no, this is super toxic, we need to get you out of here”
when i was growing up, my mom always had an aloe vera plant and if we had a minor burn she would break off a chunk and rub it on the affected area, which seemed like magic, not the least because it really does work. also as an extremely pasty person who is prone to sunburn, aloe vera gel is a vitally important balm. ten stars.
as a person with an anxiety disorder, i find it massively unfair that i tend to freeze up in emergencies. like, dude, brain, this is what you’ve been training for the whole time. this should be our olympics. i should be landing the worry triple axel and taking home the gold.
Republicans could also win back the Senate since it’s currently 50-50 and Democrats only have a narrow majority because we won the presidency.
Even if Republicans only win back the House, the Biden administration would legislatively accomplish very little from 2022-2024. Republicans would have the power to impeach Biden for no reason and cause another constitutional crisis, enable gerrymandering and voter suppression laws, and block any Democratic priorities from becoming law (gun control, climate change, and healthcare are just a few things that would be off the table entirely).
How could that happen? Well, those “Stop the Steal” Republican election officials in swing states could refuse to certify the election, claiming fraud, and a close election could end up with neither candidate getting enough electoral votes. HouseRepublicans could literally choose the next president without any input from voters and effectively end American democracy as we know it.
Because you know that Republicans will never let go of that power once they have it.
This is not far-fetched.
This is a realistic, highly likely scenario that will happen if we don’t do something to prevent it. Journalists and election experts are trying to sound the alarm, and we should listen:
The only way to prevent this from becoming reality is to fight like hell against it. And I know we just did that in 2018 and 2020. But this fight isn’t over until we restore and protect our democracy.
This isn’t about how much you like Biden & Harris, or even if you’re a Democrat in general. It’s about saving democracy in America.
What can we do about it?
Unfortunately, it’s going to be an uphill battle. But if we all engage in this fight, then we can make a difference.
TLDR, we need to raise awareness about the threat to democracy, encourage Democrats to end the filibuster and pass H.R.1 immediately, and organize, organize, organize to get voters back out there in 2022 and 2024.
Specific ways to help & additional resources below the cut.
one time I was trying to come out to a friend, and the topic of demisexuality came up, and she said something to the effect of, “As a very sexual person who grew up with conservative parents, I don’t get why demisexuals act like they have it tough. they have literally the exact model of sexuality you’re ‘supposed’ to have: you’re not attracted to anybody but the person you marry.”
and the thing is, I’m somewhere on the asexual spectrum, maybe demisexual, and A) coming of age when people acted like all teenagers thought about was sex was unbelievably alienating and B) being a single adult in a culture where most dating apps are geared towards hookups makes me constantly worry that I will never find someone who is actually interested in me.
I think it bears repeating that in mainstream Western culture, the current and recent messages about sex and sexuality are so messed up and so deeply contradictory that if you are a woman (I suspect this is also true for queer people of all genders but I don’t want to speak for dudes or nonbinary folks), there is literally no amount of sexuality that is 100% safe for you to have.
if you’re very sexual, you’re a slut. if you’re asexual, you’re a prude. if you are somewhere in the middle, you are simultaneously a slut and a prude, depending on what the people around you want. I can have internalized shame about the libido I do have, and internalized shame about not being sexual enough at the exact same time.
I think there are some specific ways in which being asexual is extremely challenging right now, and I wish people had more awareness about it. but I also think there’s a way to do that while acknowledging that when it comes to social messaging around sexuality, we can’t win. nobody is winning except maybe the people who have taught themselves how to ignore societal expectations completely, and that generally takes years, as in decades.
we live in a culture that is very weird about sex in many different ways at once, and pretty much no matter who we are, we’re all in our own way dealing with the aftershocks.
just saw a post on my dash about anti-ace discourse and so I’d like to say, apropos of nothing, to all aros, aro-aces, fellow aces, and everyone wondering if they might be ace and/or aro but worrying that maybe they don’t “deserve” the label: I hope you personally have a great day!
