the misogynistic myth that women only care about money and/or fame

Genuiney disheartening that this shit is re-surfacing again. I remember this sentiment going about around a decade ago, and then subsiding. Now it’s resurfacing. Every generation loves to repeat the mistakes of it’s past

Some may disagree, but the root is very much shame, imo.

A lot of the parents of gay peeps I know were pretty chill about queerness, until their kid turned out to be one and they were shamed by their community. One of them started crying immediately when their kid came out and screamed about what society would say, but then adjusted and decided to prioritise their kid after a few hours.

I usually find Homophobia to be instilled through religion or hate media - In that sense There isn’t really any systemic homophobia through non-abrahamic religions, which make up most of the country. That said, there has been a recent trend of few online personalities (few religious ones among them) copying western right wingers and denouncing trans people - which I find worrisome.

Most of the homophobia I have encountered I’m people here has usually been instilled through movies or online communities or through interactions where gay is used as an insult.

A homosexual kid who moves away will probably still be targeted, sadly. It’s the “rebellion” that’s the issue - there are many cases of honor-obsessed weirdos that have targeted their family peeps who went against the norm in different ways.

Am Indian, I’ll try and explain this crap mindset in the Indian context.

Why is queer people existing “dishonorable”???

Queer people are considered disgusting + a Strong Community sense to the point of toxicity.

Firstly, there’s a lack of understanding:

Queerness is viewed as a choice, not an identity. A heteronormative environment + lack of education causes people to think that queer people are being quirky or rebelling, refusing to “listen to reason”.

Secondly, Abrahamic religious and Colonial Influence:

Ancient India was kinda chill with queer people. Transexual people were ok, being able to live freely and own property, with some places even revered the trans people in their religion. Gay peeps, however, were thought to be unnatural for opposing the traditional family structure, but were punished lightly with small fines for indulging in homosexuality.

The whole stigma around Queerness started when Portugese settlors aggressivley punishing sodomy as early as the early 1500s in Goa. A few decades later, Mughals conquered their way into India and punished homosexuality with lashes/whippings/stonings. British Raj then took over almost all of India, and codified Homosexuality as a crime all over the country, and then labelled trans people as a “criminal tribe” and persecuted them.

A common point of discussion in Indian circles is the still-prevelant post-colonial starvation mindset in so many people of India - pursuing European/American beauty standards, disregard of own local culture, blind belief in western cultural concepts, racial imposter syndrome, validation from white people, sexual repression etc. This irrational distaste for queer people is a part of this mindset that has been left-behind and ingrained in the many cultures of India.

Overall, Queerness is considered dishonorable as it is seen as a form of “extreme rebellion” in the “most repulsive of ways”.

Why do those commiting the violence do it?

India has always been a communal country. Even at it’s peak, it was an alliance/cease-fire of hundreds of princely states and kingdoms ruled by communities. There was also the caste system that became more and more rigid and oppressive as time went on.

Anyhoo, you and your family was entirely dependant on staying by your community (community could refer to your caste, your tribe, your village, or your large family). It was a difficult task to move to a new community. Any sin or crime that you did also brought shame upon your community, and it was upto your community to correct the issue themselves and restore their honor - resulting in a heirarchical, community-priorities-first system.

While archaic, this mindset is prevelant in modern India - especially since your community is your primary support system, and there is a vast difference in socio-economic status between tight-knit and loosely-knit communities.

Those resorting to violence think that Queer people have commited a disgusting crime in a rebellious manner, all the while discarding everything that was done for them, ultimately bringing extreme shame to the family and the community. Therefore, they avenge and restore their honor by punishing the criminals for indulging in sin.

It’s a toxic af dogshit mentality, especially propogated by those in power within the communities, using hate to keep their authority in line. But it is coming down slowly but steadily thankfully due to alleviation of poverty, diversification, healing from post-colonial mindset, and lesser dependance on your community for survival.

I second the suggestion of an A-series Samsung. My brother has an A24, which is pretty great. It’s doesn’t have the same performance as a S-series, but it’s a great device at its price, and more durable and better battery life than the S-series imo.

It’s simply a more honest model - you get content, they get money.

I would love to be able to pay for an ad-free experience for the various websites and services that I browse and use in a straightforward way instead of being leeched for ad-revenue

It Takes Two has a great protagonist

Yooo tell me about it. I grew up in a nice city in India, and it was so damn-walkable but also car-friendly with great public transport when I was a child. I remember us being able to walk everywhere to get everything we need, and trees everywhere. There used to be so many shopping-streets or eatery-streets where you could just walk around, explore, and just hang out, walking all the while.

Nowadays, it’s asphalt everywhere. Wide roads and expressways taking over everything. Damn high temperature due to the roads absorbing all the heat without any trees to block the sun. It’s nigh impossible to make a plan to walk somewhere, because footpaths are disappearing slowly.

The only walkable parts of the city are in the richer areas, and they are specifically built so, ugh.

Genuinely don’t understand how reddit has failed to make money.

Reddit’s entire value is based upon the unpaid contributions of its users- they generate and moderate all the content on the site for free, and these are the things that bring people to the site.

How entitled must one be to think they can ignore all this and be fine?

Also how tf is reddit not able to break bank?

The functionality of their website was relatively simple - not underming the reddit devs here. The costs must’ve been minimal before the redesign and the dumb ass decision to host their own images and videos. Did they burn up all their money for the redesign and the shitty app?