While I was creating the new format of my
Psychic Weather Report posts, I re-read this post
of mine, and I started thinking about trauma.
Now, I have had a formal diagnosis of PTSD,
but I reject that as I consider PTSD should be reserved for its original
purpose: for those, such as the military
and emergency services – who have seen people being killed (or have done the killing), as that makes major changes to the
treatment required. (There are some films
which show that trauma – “Fury”
comes to mind, for instance: “Saving
Private Ryan” shows the horrors of war graphically, but it doesn’t show the
damage it does “psychologically” [i.e., to character] to the same extent.)
There can be massive trauma from other
causes –as the recent Royal
Commission into child abuse has shown. In my case, the trauma has been
caused by sexual assaults, the bigotry and hate experienced by LGBT people (particularly those trans people who transitioned
in the 1990s), and workplace abuse.
On the abuse of trans people, the excuse
used at the time – and at other times through history – was “we didn’t know”. That is utter BS – I met people, in the 90s, who didn’t know, but they CHOSE not
to cause distress to other people by misgendering. They chose
to behave like decent human beings.
As for the other people who indulged in
misgendering, well, if you know someone is being distressed by something you’re
choosing to do socially (e.g.,
misgendering, or belittling, etc), then you may be – as far as I am
concerned – a sociopath or a psychopath.
If you don’t notice that they’re being
distressed you may need to undergo training like autistic people do to better
recognise what is going on around you, or at the very least acknowledge that
what you’re experiencing (e.g., trauma –
and I’ve shared house with people who have been so traumatised they haven’t
noticed mine, which is a mistake I have made also, and, as an arguable generalisation, tends to be more common among the younger people who have not yet been through their first Saturn return) is making you less aware or sensitive of others’ pain, and be
prepared to apologise profusely – and credibly: too many apologies are just
attempts to evade trouble without changing. That last comment applies to
apologies over misgendering in the workplace: I think I’ve had two or three
genuine apologies in three decades. Unfortunately, I’ve generally been too
tired (one of the effects of being
traumatised) to chase those pseudo-apologies further.
I’ve touched elsewhere about the sexual
assaults I’ve had. Curiously, they’ve all
been from women – including as a those I experienced as a child, and as an
adult pre-transition (including an ex –
there was also another ex after I
transitioned who falls into that category).
The reactions I experienced have
exacerbated the trauma caused – especially pre-transition, and the sort of BS
that men can’t be sexually assaulted or raped is part of that. (I’ve also come across women who think them
slapping men is OK: it’s not, it is assault, and those who think that are
stupid.) I once read a brilliant article about the misconceptions around physiological
responses, and how that is not a “sign of consent” (my term). If you doubt that, consider this: the Nazis had ways of
forcing male prisoners in the concentration camps to ejaculate, such as driving
wooden objects up their backsides. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who think that
a male sexual physiological cannot be involuntary or without consent is stupid.
I’ll come back to that in a moment, but
first: the reactions of the gullible sheeple who credulously believe the
security theatre around airport “security” have exacerbated the trauma I’ve had
from the grope downs there – which are the reason I refuse to travel
internationally. As I’ve discussed above, there is absolutely NO acceptable
excuse for such reactions.
Now, (more)
on stupidity. I’ve known some truly stupid men and women in my time, and I
specifically lump everyone who thinks misgendering is acceptable, or that it is
minor, into that category – which includes some police. As far as I am
concerned, morally speaking misgendering is attempted murder. There is no
excuse on the basis of “I didn’t know” that is acceptable, and if you didn’t
recognise the distress, you have to consider whether you have the lack of
empathy that makes you potentially evil (see
this
post of mine). Those who smile disarmingly, and say “you know I don’t
mean that badly” are, without question, evil psychopaths.
Now, I’d like to move on to the workplace –
in particular, managers.
Some managers, including my current manager,
are great. In fact, I’d rate my current manager equal with the previous best
manager I had, but he will never be exceeded as he reversed years of
discrimination against me by giving me a 30% - yes 30% - pay rise.
Others have not been good, and one, maybe
two, from a few decades ago have been what I consider psychopaths.
The world of business is where the evil of
neoliberalism is working its evil. There has been plenty written of late on the
problems that economic changes have led – growing worker insecurity, the loss
of retirement, inability to buy housing, etc. Part of this is due to union
busting, but unions haven’t helped themselves in the past by their misogyny and
misuse of/addiction to power. The union busting that has been implemented since
then is a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater – an overreaction,
in other words.
The neoliberal reform of the water industry
in my state in the 90s is another example of that. There were problems, such as
authorities not working together when they could, and the inflexibility of the
MMBW, but the appropriate solution is to fix those problems – not throw the
good out with the bad.
The neoliberal trait of throwing the good
out with the bad has led a situation in the workplace where workload has
damaged, and continues to damage, my wellbeing –physical, emotional, mental,
and spiritual.
On that, I’m currently working on an article
on how business has perverted the hero myth.
(I’m
also working on an article on the problem of everyday people being unthinking,
unreflective sheeple living unexamined lives.)
Socially, neoliberalism is driving us,
through growing inequality, back into serfdom.
All of this (which can perhaps be summarised as the refusal to be kind)
has traumatised
the WHOLE of society – especially the USA.
So what can we do?
Well, as a first point, don’t buy in to
what you’re told without checking and thinking as best you can. This is more
than just being wary of fake news and social media filter bubbles (which existed before social media an the Internet): it requires thinking about the
meaning of our lives (see here,
for instance), and what we want to be. It requires being able to reject wrong
influences from parents, peers and other influences so that we can “be all that
we can be”.
Think before you vote. I know people who
have suffered as a result of neoliberalism who nevertheless voted for Australia’s
evil John Howard because his policies enabled them to buy a house.
That’s called buying your vote, and it is
has – appallingly – become widespread, mostly through tax promises, and shows the effect of trauma and being overwhelmed in what is supposed to be easier (civilised) life.
(That’s
not a younger “Me First” generation problem, by the way: it is found in older
people as well.)
Money is important, though, but the way to
manage that is to live minimally and avoid a lifestyle that makes you
vulnerable, where you can be manipulated or bullied or intimidated into
compromising BPM
principles (which is where much of the
trauma of work can be) – see here.
There are a range of forms of activism that
people can be consider doing, including the psychic/spiritual ones on this blog.
There are some excellent articles by John Beckett on this, and
I particularly want to recommend “Resisting
Politely”, which I read after I started this article, and “Did
You Think the Gods Were Lying?”
Contrary to some of the reviews I’ve read,
which infer this is about the abuse Hannah Gadsby has experienced through
comedy, it is about trauma experienced THROUGHOUT
LIFE.
It is powerful, and takes the viewer on a
journey through multiple aspects of trauma.
It is angry, and it – combined with John
Beckett’s post
- is the reason I didn’t do my normal tone-the-expression-down edit.
That, and the fact that we are allowing
the world to be spiritually mauled.
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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk & accept that all insistence on the use of “trans” as a descriptor comes with commensurate use of “cis” as a descriptor to prevent “othering” (just as binary gendered [men’s and women’s] sporting teams are either both given the gender descriptor, or neither).Copyright © Kayleen White 2007-2024 NO AI
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