quintessence :blobfoxcofecute: @quintessence@hachyderm.io
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Let's dive a little deeper, in case that third one is giving anyone pause :blobfoxthink:

For this, we will need to talk about flagging and dog whistles. Conceptually, flagging and dog whistles are ways that communities communicate. Flagging typically refers to when a community is giving itself a "IYKYK" hat tip. Dog whistles are the same behavior, but with the impact of harm. This is one way (of many) that harmful actors are able to make targets "look crazy". I just said hi! GEEZ. SOME PEOPLE. And then you look at the hi, and it's an image of someone waving hi. That is a screenshot. Of a still from a scene in a movie. About, say, hurting Black or trans people.

Context matters.

Back to our 12 seconds.

The asker of the question gave their name and publication: Alex Zoltan of True North.

If you haven't already, you should notice a pattern of right wing ideals that come with certain imagery. In the context of climbing or astronomy or similar, one might expect to see references to the North Pole (compass) or Polaris (the North Star) as these are used in navigation.

But this person isn't taking an image of star trails. They're a member of the press. Having True / Truth anything has become a right wing flag, a dog whistle. See Truth Social and its peers.

If you encountered this question in a situation where you could stop and search (obviously not in a live press room), after these 12 seconds you should absolutely be loading up a search engine and checking to verify if True North describes itself as conservative (it does) and do a skim of recent works by Alex Zoltan.

TLDR: you now know the question is about trans women.

Now, hit play and listen to the remaining minute-ish.

For his response, Carney seems to be aware enough that he recognizes Something Is Up but Answers The Question As-Asked Anyway.

And then the predictable: this question is about trans women. Not trans people, trans women, and specifically how they make cis women ("biological women") unsafe by existing. Choosing to load up the question with mentioning spaces where "(cis) women are definitely unsafe from (cis) men due to the latter's physicality" is not an accident: sports, homelessness, and prison.

2/2 (and a PS to follow)

quintessence :blobfoxcofecute: @quintessence@hachyderm.io
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The P.S.

We're only safe when we're all safe.

It's a great intention to see that people make posts about "reading the poem" (They came for N first and I said nothing), but it's only true if we collectively do the work of keeping ourselves and our extended family. In this case, that means our trans sisters and siblings. In a broader sense, that means the Black community, immigrants, the young, the old, the chronically ill. Everyone.

This is only one step, one way, you can start to do that: recognizing when someone is talking about members of the trans community as a set up for harmful actions.

Not all harmful actions are physical weapons. They can also be asked, with a smile and genuine tone, in any situation.

/fin

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