It’s more of a technique to reframe those comments in a way that doesn’t reflect negatively on your son, because ultimately those comments aren’t even about him. They’re just frustrated about their own narrow lives and they’re upset that your son isn’t as limited and frustrated as they are.

Occasionally, I’ve even used this as a jumping-off point for a quick Q&A so someone can broaden their understanding. But it’s pretty rare to find someone willing to learn, and I’m also a grown adult, not an 8yo kid. So it’s not something I’d generally recommend.

I find it a lot easier to shrug off those comments when I remember that it’s just a reflection of that person’s inability (or unwillingness) to understand me. It’s easier for them to claim that I’m the problem than it is for them to do the work of learning about me.

My pleasure! I love talking about stuff like this. Another piece of advice I’d have is how to view being called “weird”. My view is that “X is weird” is just a shortcut for saying “I don’t understand X.” It’s a bit of an oversimplification, but it’s really useful.

I won’t tell you what to say, but if i had the chance, I would tell your son that it’s not his responsibility to help other people feel good about their own choices, or the small worlds they’ve placed themselves in. He’s a kid, his responsibility is to explore the world as *he* sees fit.

So when people tell your son that he shouldn’t be doing those things, they’re trying to shrink his world to match theirs, just so they can feel better about their own choice to limit themselves.

My 10yo went through a lot of that around the same age. I said that a lot of people choose to shrink their world, because it’s simpler and feels safer. They don’t like being reminded that there’s a bigger world out there, so they try to force everybody into their own smaller world.

Y’know, I never really thought too much about the past lives of the main characters. Now I want a mini-series showing Data working his way through Star Fleet Academy.

They’d much rather simply pretend that the fundamental plane of existence is generally pretty okay, and that everything is varying degrees of annoying.

In addition to that discomfort, I think there’s a pervasive fear of acknowledging that there are people living in devastating realities that require drastic changes in order to survive and function in society. See also: “differently-abled” and “handicapable”.

On top of everything else, those are some *amazing* team names!

Not gonna lie, I kinda wish I could use things like this to find more trans women to follow

Is it weird that I can’t think of any character I’d consider to be Ginger-coded? I dunno, I’ve just never really seen myself on screen. 🤷‍♀️

Hell, I’d be thankful enough just for that belt! Everything else is gravy! Tasty, tasty gravy!

I don’t know what I like better:
- the hilarious rendition of Pedro Pascal’s face
- the fact that the action figure doesn’t even match the photo or the action figure
- the fact that the photo is somehow even worse than the figure itself!

I mean, I’d like the altruism a whole lot better, but if selfishness is all they’ll respond to, there are still ways to make that work for everybody

Or as their medal of achievement for being rich?

“I’m so rich I pay a million dollars in taxes!”
“Yeah? Well? I pay *2* million!! 🤑”

I agree that there’s a gap here, and not just for us. Personally, I want nullification, but so far I haven’t found any surgeons around here willing to do it. Maybe if we worked a normalizing alternatives, they could be more available. Y’know, as a bonus.

Funny how it’s the same situation with trans rights (and so may others). People with no legitimate interest keep trying to dictate our existence, which only serves to keep politicians in power.