"Sometimes people use “respect” to mean “treating someone like a person” and sometimes they use “respect” to mean “treating someone like an authority”
and sometimes people who are used to being treated like an authority say “if you won’t respect me I won’t respect you” and they mean “if you won’t treat me like an authority I won’t treat you like a person”
and they think they’re being fair but they aren’t, and it’s not okay."
-a 15yo autistic girl experiencing ABA therapy
her tumblr no longer exists or I would have linked to it, but her name was stimmyabby there, and i hope that wherever she is now she's doing okay <3
EDIT: apparently her tumblr was simply renamed! although she's not posted since 2018 :(
the link to the original post is here: https://flyingpurplepizzaeater.tumblr.com/post/115216522824/sometimes-people-use-respect-to-mean-treating
@DionRa Her Tumblr still exists she just renamed, to https://flyingpurplepizzaeater.tumblr.com/tagged/my%20bones%20said . (Posting her original posts tag specifivally because I like her words.)
She hasn't posted since 2018. I'm heartbroken I miss her so much, she was (is?? please let it be is.) the best wordsmith of our generation.
She was the best of us.
@DionRa I suppose you were thinking about the link to the post itself, specifically.
That's here: https://flyingpurplepizzaeater.tumblr.com/post/115216522824/sometimes-people-use-respect-to-mean-treating
In my opinion the most impactful line of it isn't the main thrust, but the part that hits you in two blows after you've internalized the core "definitions about respect" message, tacked on almost as afterthoughts.
"and THEY THINK THEY’RE BEING FAIR but they aren’t,"
like they honestly do. They're not bad people, to themselves/by their understanding -- they don't see themselves as cruel and don't necessarily want to be selfish. They simply, to the extent that they try, fail.
but still,
"and it’s not okay."
🏳️🌈 Dion 🏳️⚧️🫶🏿
Gadfly (-booq-)