Dera

So, I don't really care what you think about Jenny Racicot's testimony. (I do usually care what you have to say, Relampago. I think you have good energy, internet stranger.) You can think whatever you want. I am responding publicly to these public statements, because I do not want for a third party scrolling on this website to see these posts unchallenged. "there is a level of responsibility to the country and to yourself to come out with these stories as soon as you can" I recoiled when I read the claim that rape survivors are "responsible to themselves" to publicize their trauma as immediately as possible, when imposing a timeline on publicizing the violence they experience may only benefit onlookers, especially when publicizing that trauma often solicits both immediate and long-term retaliation and ostracization. Many (most?) people that take a while to speak up about abuse and violence take so long because they have historically been conditioned to accept violence, or/and afraid to confront abusive people, often because of violence inflicted upon them as little children, sometimes by people they love. "genuinely so very irresponsible to sit on serious accusations like this and then come out with it so late. [...] seriously there needs to be a sense of responsibility when millions of lives are affected by this election." I felt alienated by the implication that a rape survivor "sits on [a] serious accusation[...]", when my experience as a rape martyr is that you try to keep it bottled inside until it explodes out of you. I cannot imagine what it is to pretend to care about a rape victim's testimony, and yet to believe that the public release of this trauma is a calculated move of "responsibility", as if it were like taking out the trash or casting a vote, and not like peeling your skin until it bleeds just so somebody else sees. "I cannot believe someone would sit on this even knowing they didn't want to be seen as a SA victim." I don't know what your experiences are with rape. I will share mine to explain why it alarms me so much that you frame a rape survivor's trauma as being "s[a]t on", as if it were a casual and unemotional choice to publicly narrate what may be some of the most painful and vulnerable lore you have. During sex, my former coworker, and lover, X***** C****** bit the skin and muscle of my chest between his teeth (the pectoral muscle mostly), causing me acute nerve pain, and he pinned me down (one arm on each of my arms) on his mattress while he did this, such that I could not physically release myself from the pain he was subjecting me to, while I yelled for him to stop. He also threw a mirror at my face so hard that the glass cracked against my browbone, lol, and broke things around my apartment on purpose. He also told me to my face he had thought about how he would kill me, not as a threat, but also not as a joke or passing remark, but as a sincere comment about how he had felt for a summer. When these things happened in the summer of 2021, I did not tell anybody else, partly because I loved him (still do), partly because I eroticized abusive men (because my dad was a piece of **** and also because I'm a DUMB ***** lol), and partly because it would be a total mess to bring into my workplace. When I finally exploded about this trauma to our boss, A******** H*****-T******, it was two years later, when he no longer worked in the same lab, but still worked in the same department and in the same building, when his friend (and my ongoing lab manager) V****** R****** removed me from the lab website. When I did bring up how my coworker physically hurt me and destroyed my things and told me he thought about how he would kill me (which is why it was so triggering that his friend removed me from the website for my workplace), I was shut out from that lab (even though I was still writing a research manuscript with (i.e., for) the professor of that lab), because that professor cared only about whether she would get in trouble if her employees were found guilty of misconduct. This professor then talked **** about me to other people in this department that I loved, which I know because people that I knew, but never opened up to about getting raped or physically abused, regarded me with negative energy when they saw me. in 2024 I started compulsively shrieking, like alone at my apartment, and out in public. I screamed so much one night the lobes of my brain hurt, like idk if you've ever felt the shape of your brain from how it aches. I sent a suicidal email to the professor, and the head of the department (who I'd also worked for), and to my gf in July 2024, and the university sent the police to my house. The first thing the police officer said (out of five) when I opened the door was "let's make sure this doesn't happen again," like a threat. (He was more neutral when I explained the context.) The five police officers came in uniform for that call with multiple cop cars parked on the street, but when they did a follow-up wellness check it was just two plainclothes officers, so I know the first police response was meant to be public intimidation. I share all this to say, my life (my employment, my reputation, my soul) all went to **** when I finally opened up about being raped, etc. (We are bouncing back in 2026 though ) I have witnessed other rape victims be harassed on social media, like Timothy Heller, so I don't think my experiences are isolated. I think community backlash after sharing how another human being physically hurt you is common. I think people who spend a lot of time in leftist online spaces may lose perspective that the majority of the world in the 2020s really does not believe sexual assault or domestic violence victims by default. I know nobody else cares about my personal experiences in a thread about politics. "I am not blaming her for coming out with it" Then why'd you type any of this out? "She had to have known this, and it was a selfish choice to sit on this for so long." How is somebody selfish for not being yet ready to endure public scrutiny about something potentially painful and vulnerable? I am not denying that the timing affects the election. I simply revolt at the implication any of this has anything to do with "responsibility". also ik you're not the only one in this thread with this kind of take, but perhaps you're the one I care the most to address ot: el-sayed and talarico in a sauna with me when yall literally sound like Marjorie Taylor Greene not Fauxcahontas

I hate that I have to wonder if this is AI now technology gotta delay my schadenfreude

every time atrl goes down I think the feds are wiping this thread

LITERALLY I have genuinely sobbed to this song so many times, including driving at night on country roads where I would have totally hit a deer or other car if there was one

that interview excerpt is really satisfying. "let me be the artist to throw everybody under the bus" is a main character, trenchant line

praying and eat the acid by kesha lol strangers by ethel I feel like this thread gets made every now and then, and my answers don't change

thank you. the internet was my sanctuary in a homophobic, transphobic, and also simply abusive home environment. because I had the internet as a young teen, I could talk to and see queer and trans people, and have a sense of dignity, confidence, and hope in myself. the internet also just fostered my artistic and intellectual development. I knew more about the world. @DevilsRollTheDice @CallumDavies

okay so all these states are getting their little progressive main characters elected but illinois couldn't have kat abughazaleh...

I literally had to check my reading comprehension to confirm this was supposed to be a referral list for the supreme court.... should have had nicki minaj

the line "sometimes the simplest move is right" from "ARTPOP" is so sensual, astute, and effortless I didn't make it out until reading the lyrics, but "lover's kites are flown on beaches for public sight" from the same song makes sense without being trite

I went on a date last week with somebody who has worked in her restaurant. the date was annoying, but I might have to do another one if francesca makes it as governor

oh he's hot too

me when I don't pick up on humor

peppermint never got over gaga dragging the hoops she wore for the bowie tribute outfit it seems

inch resting...