starless @starless@pixie.town

Friendly reminder that Shadowrun's Goblinization Day is tomorrow! I'm so hype for meta-humans!

... We'll get meta-humans, right? At least via photoshop? 🤞

I'd be remiss to have a trans-clothes thread without mentioning Rebirth Garments, though they cover gaffs and binders a little more than comfy panties. Also, they're one of the driving forces behind the #cripplepunk movement, which I think is very cool.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RebirthGarments

Rebirth Garments often takes time off of making orders, though, so don't be too sad if you see a message saying they're on a break. They'll be back. :)

En Femme is one of the more affordable options, here, and is less boutique-y than Origami and Cantiq. They ship promptly and are one of the few US-based Carmen Liu resellers. They cater to both transwomen and crossdressers, but their tone is always classy and treats femininity with dignity and respect. Almost all of the models are transwomen, which I think is really nice.

Their size chart is one of the most affirming and body-positive websites I've ever visited.

Here's a link to their panty section, but be sure to visit their size chart for some affirmation:
https://enfemmestyle.com/panties

CantiqLA has a line of gender non-conforming underthings that mostly seems to be for masc-bodied enbies and transfemmes. Note that most of the models in this section of their site are pretty masc-presenting, but the underthings are nice. Photos within the listing also show feminine models.

Longer turnaround times for GF sizes than for less accommodating sizes, but they have matching small-cup bralettes, too, and seem like nice folks. I've ordered from them and it took about 8 weeks for the order to arrive in late fall of 2020.

https://www.cantiqla.com/collections/non-gender-specific

Also, this is written from Turtle Island-- folks in Europe/Asia/not here might prefer different resources.

Also, I'm just listing comfy panties in this list. Some sites have gaffs, too, but I'm gonna emphasize comfy day-to-day stuff.

Ok. The first site is Toronto-based Origami Customs. Their turnaround times can be a bit, but they have awesome community programs and make beautiful things. https://origamicustoms.com/collections/transfemme-soft-undies

Hi fedi!

Sometimes, friends or lovers want pretty underthings that are sized for trans bodies. Often, finding these things is a painful process. There's a lot of really crap sites that come up in search engines and, as someone who doesn't get squicked that same way, it's a way I can help.

This isn't a list of any particular merit, it's just the resources I'm aware of. I've bought from most, but not all, of the companies listed here and have been reasonably happy with the results.

Have a resource thread, boots and (well-labeled) additions welcome:

#trans #undies

Remember: the issue at hand, today, is making a trip to the grocery store (or whatever) as safe for a black teenager as it is for a white teenager. Do I want more than that from the world? Of course. But, right now, things are *bad*. As white people, we don't get to say "we don't want incremental improvements today, we'll wait for perfect justice tomorrow". We don't get to say that because it's not our bodies that pay the price of that idealistic delay. For black people, incremental justice today can change whether or not their sister dies next week, or whether or not a father's PTSD leads to something tragic. For white people, incremental justice today means you still need to think about race, but you tell yourself that in the perfect future, you won't. That's the trade-- you get that perfect future so you can ignore this problem as early as possible. Black people keep dying until your gamble pays off, if it ever does, and you might win the absolution from your guilt.

Fuck that. Get over your guilt and help build something better today. There was a big, bad crime that lasted for many generations. It'll take many generations to heal from it. More than your lifetime, more than mine. And you've got to become at least a little okay with that, because the slow work to build a more just community is the right thing to do. Keep that rebellion in your heart. Cherish that fire. Let it drive you, don't let that fire escape you entirely. Make it power art and dreams and essays. Make it power poetry readings and meetups and community listening. Make radical stuff, but make approachable, friendly stuff, too. Let your fire fuel justice instead of gambling it on destroying a community in the hopes that the ruins aren't paved over by some billionaire.

Yesterday, at Floyd Square, a black woman challenged white supremacists to come down and stand between black people and cops who'd kill them. To help stop the killing and coralling and tragedies borne on black and brown bodies because they are people, even if it's not from a place of total equality. Now, I'm not saying that you should be friends with racists or that you should listen to them or even give them your full name and address. But, if one black woman is willing to reach out to someone who thinks she will never be as smart or as capable or as important-- someone who will never truly value her-- if she can deal with someone who judges her because of who she is, then you can deal politely with a moderate for a couple of days to get some city ordinance or other amended, too. You can organize an outdoor forum. You can talk with your apologist brother-in-law in a way he might actually listen.

Your own politics are unique and always will be. The hope is for a future in which its safe to be non-white, not for a world where we all agree with you. Have faith in yourself that you can have ideals that don't vanish if you talk with someone who believes something else.

Justice will be imperfect for a long time. And that's okay. Never forget it is imperfect, never stop pushing for better, but more importantly, never turn down an opportunity for progress. That's just not a call white people get to make. Get over your guilt, but never let go of that dream. Have faith that your fire, burning for justice, will still be there in a few years and start making some longer term plans for it.

Here's a really nice essay that breaks down some things around "why didn't they just comply". It talks some about the historical precedent for this excuse (it's old) and highlights that police are in control of these situations and actively make it more difficult for civilians to survive them.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/04/compliance-will-not-save-my-body/618637/

I have a few more thoughts around this:

* When you say "the officer would not have shot that man if that man had only _______", you're just making it up. You don't know that for sure. You're probably saying it because you're confident the officer would not have shot you, and you do ______ . So, you mistake your single data point as the capital-t Truth and completely lose the point of why people are upset.

* Asking people to comply with police, regardless of police conduct, under penalty of death sets up a terrible precedent. If people expect police to kill civilians, it makes it very easy for police to threaten to kill civilians to get what they want (a cop raping a woman who called for help comes to mind).

* Notice how incredibly kind the author is. Notice how generously he talks about cops he likes! Notice how hard this author is working to build bridges. Fellow white people: stop senselessly alienating moderates. Many 'moderates' are way more likely to listen to you than to someone of color.

Your thoughts can be as radical as you like, and probably should be-- cops are killing civilians and some Americans are blaming the civilians! But, if all you do is stew in a rage so radicalized that you can't find a foothold for progress, you're forcing that work off on someone else. Someone who's either already in politics and trying to address issues of race for the first time (and probably not as familiar with this stuff as you are), or someone who's experienced many issues with race and is trying to get conservative folks in politics to listen.

Real change happens in many ways. There needs to be civic pressure and there needs to be folks to help steer legislation. Huge protests and civil unrest can generate pressure, but without community members stepping forward to work more directly with the legal process, the same people who wrote the bad laws in the first place are stuck writing the next set, too. Vote, certainly, but legislative change is achievable outside of only voting, as well.