What I am most hoping will happen as a result of all this, is for people to understand that this is normal. The Epstein story is very unusual only in the sense of just how rich and powerful him and his buddies were. Other than that, the dehumanization, the manipulation, the sea of enablers that look the other way, etc. all of that is the norm of the world. Virginia Roberts Giuffre tells the story of a miscarriage she had at the age of 17 in her book. Epstein and Maxwell brought her to a hospital, but the doctors didn’t talk to her, they didn’t note her real age, they didn’t take accurate records, they just talked to Epstein. The doctors and staff didn’t ask a 17 yr old why she was having a miscarriage and being brought to the hospital by a 47 yr old man who was not related to her. Nope, they looked the other way. She reported her abuse to a psychiatrist who just gave her Xanax. He looked the other way. And so did the drivers, and chef’s, and security guards, and pilots, and maids, and on and on. Because this is the way of the world. And things like the man vs bear, I hope that you can see that this is an attempt to get the world to understand that these stories aren’t once offs. They aren’t wild anomalies. It’s an attempt to get the world to understand that women live their lives as prey. Women live in a world that dehumanizes them and looks the other way when they are abused. I want you to understand that this isn’t a bizarre story, this is just a very dramatic iteration of what is normal in our world.

I'll make another prediction, QAnon and the red pill mania are intentional propaganda that Bannon and Russia are involved with. Might be a long time before we have a smoking gun on this one tho. 2045.

I am annoyed that we have a price crash but without the end of the Treasury company frenzy.

These two memes really go together in my head. I was never here for the Lambos. I’m more of a Jet 2 holiday & dive bar kinda gal. It’s funny to watch people freak out about losing their newly gained feeling of superiority over others.

So in the Epstein emails we have Steve Bannon and Epstein discussing how to help Kavanaugh with his sexual assault allegations. Epstein suggests that they ask a lot of questions about the medications that Ford was taking to suggest that her memory could be compromised with Epstein sending links to articles on false memories. I just find that very interesting.

Are we there yet?

I have wondered this.

In Puerto Rico, once you get outside the city a bit you’ll find people riding horses around. And sometimes they are texting while riding their horse. And I’m like… is that a problem? 🤔 the horse probably isn’t going to trot off the side of the road… right? I know nothing here lol

It's amusing when people try to tell me that Psychology, therapy, etc is just for women. "Modern Psychology" is about 150 years old. Women have only been able to broadly participate in that study for the past ~50 years. As women have generally been excluded from medical research, women were only included in psychology studies in the past 30-50 yrs. And so most of the theories we have in psychology, PTSD, etc. were based on studies of men, done by men. For most of it's history Psychology was a study by men, for men.

Why do I talk about sexual assault so much? A few reasons… First, because lifting the veil of silence is how we fix it, and I’m in a position to do so. Things got to be as bad as they have been because it was hidden. Predators rely on silence to be able to get away with what they do. I have experienced sexual assault, but dramatically less so than nearly all the women that I know. And so I am relatively undamaged and healthy enough to be able to discuss it. In short, I think I’ve got a bit of a moral obligation to not perpetuate the silence. Second, I’m hopequesting! That meme I posted the other day about doomscrolling vs hopequesting is really playing on my mind. Traumatic experiences are of course traumatic, but often what makes the trauma lasting is when we are unable to find support or assistance from our community. It compounds the issue and prolongs trauma when you can’t find people that even will believe your story. Posting about this stuff is in part a way to find people who can see me, who do understand me and believe me. People that I can be safe with and that brings healing and calm.

I love the idea of men as protectors. The problem is that so few men actually protect as they have such a limited idea of what that means. Our culture tends to think that "protecting" means having big biceps and being ready to punch someone, while actually that's only about 2% of the equation. The protecting that is really needed is protecting the understanding of women as sovereign creatures in the world. We need protecting from the casual acceptance of women as objects that serve others. The vast majority of actual protection doesn't look like time at the gym, it looks like not laughing at rape jokes.

I’m reading Virginia Roberts Giuffre’s memoirs and yikes, its rough. The book hits so hard because it rings so true even for people like me who have only experienced a fraction of what she did. The setting, the attitudes, the willful blindness, the blame… its all so familiar for most American women. The casual abuse, those who should have been protectors just looking the other way, the causal understanding that women are for using, the slut shaming and being blamed for your own abuse. Hating your body for the reactions it causes in others, and yet internalizing the idea that the only way to navigate the world is via being a sexual object. What an absolute mind fuck… and it has been the norm of the world for far too long.

There is such a lack of understanding of the human mind and body and nervous system in our culture. That really messes us up. A classic example here is telling someone to “calm down”. When a loved one is crashing out over something, saying “calm down” is a really horrible idea bound to make things worse. Most of us have recognized this, but we don’t understand why. After an upsetting or dangerous incident, humans reset and regain their sense of safety by reconnecting with their community. As we are pack animals we are wired for connection as we know that our safety depends on our connections. When someone tells us to “calm down” or “just don’t think about it” etc. that signals disconnection. It is dismissive of our concerns and signals that we do not have anyone who understands or will help… our nervous system goes into panic mode! If you really do want to help someone to calm down, instead try saying “tell me about it.” That signals that they have someone with them who will understand and maybe even help. “Calm down” signals distance and lack of understanding and alarms the nervous system. “Tell me about it” signals connection and calms the nervous system.

I'm really very optimistic about women's rights and place in the world. These misogynists are dumbasses and basically strawmaned themselves. They have gone so over the top and their arguments have become so cartoonish that's it really hard to not see the insanity. A lot of people on the right have openly embraced people who state clearly that they want to oppress women and say things like "your body my choice". Just really wildly indefensible things. And they are crumbling. Most of the red pill crew will be outed as either obvious hypocrites, true monsters, or closeted homosexuals. ...it will be wild.

Understanding is not condoning. You can fully understand someones behavior, and yet not condone any of it.

“Many are still confusing masculinity with the oppression of others, meaning that for men to rise higher, others must fall to their previous levels. We really need to build a stronger sense of self-worth and value that doesn’t change based on the station of others.” - Scott Galloway