TIL that a cat once co-authored a physics paper. In 1975, a physicist had just finished writing a paper and was ready to publish but realized that he had used ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ throughout, despite being the sole author. Not wanting to edit the paper, he listed his cat, Chester, as a co-author.
Ok but the best part is, physicists loved the joke. When people called the author’s university and he wasn’t available, they’d ask to speak with the co-author instead. The author issued a limited number of copies of the article signed by both authors. (Chester’s was obviously a pawprint.) And to this day, physics papers will often have F.D.C Willard (Felix Domesticus, Chester Williard [Willard was the author’s father’s name]) mentioned in the footnotes thanking his “useful contributions to the discussion”.
ive been reading a book that basically explains how so-called “brain differences” between the genders is the result of gendered socialization and not the cause of it. i honestly expected the book to be very cis-centric but its actually the opposite, the author stresses that testimony from trans ppl is actually indispensable because we’ve, in a sense, “lived both experiences”
more cis feminists should have this mindset
one of the first examples that she uses to introduce her point about how perception by others can shape a person’s performance actually uses a trans woman. it explains that as a certain trans woman became to be seen as a woman more and more frequently, the ppl arond her eventually started viewing her as being ill equipped for tasks that they did not bother her about pre-transition. eventually she even found herself underperforming in these tasks herself.
I knew it was this book before I’d finished reading the first two lines. Honestly this book is indispensible if you want to debunk any gender determinism people claim is science. I can’t recommend it enough.
(Bonus bonus: I am myself a neuroscientist, and the old white men mentioned above – who are not – could not have missed the point harder if they’d actively tried. Which. Maybe?)
Cordelia Fine’s books are amazing!
As a trans neruobiologist her books have pretty much put into words what myself and other trans people have been pointing out for ages.
I got a chance to hear her speak about her latest book; Testosterone Rex at the start of the year at my uni, which was just as amazing as her books are.
character concept: the best trick archer in the world, the trick to which is that he’s actually not an archer at all, he’s a speedster and he can’t aim for shit, every time he takes a shot he actually just grabs the arrow, runs over to what he wants to stick, then runs back before anyone can see him move
he’s on a team with Heat Vision Man, who actually has no heat vision and is another speedster, he just glares at people then runs over and punches them and is back before they can see him move
(the entire team is actually just composed of speedsters who all use
their speed in different ways, and they all pretend otherwise in front
of their teammates)
The only speedster on their team is actually a teleporter
“you’re going to DELETE a post you AGREED with just cuz you found out ops a terf??”
yeah turns out learning that people having uber bigoted ideologies changes the context of the post buddy
I once reblogged a post about how a women’s bathroom was an important place of refuge, and that was why women often go to the bathroom in groups or to cry and why people leave those domestic abuse cards in women’s bathrooms, and how it’s the one place women can be away from men, and I was like “this is a fantastic post, yes” and then I found out the OP was a TERF and that post was suddenly no longer about safety in women’s restrooms. It was actually about wanting to make it impossible for trans women to pee in a public restroom. It was about making trans women seem like they invade a sacred place and make it dangerous. You bet your ass I deleted that reblog.
thanks to my followers who hit me up when/if I need to delete something
backup blog in case tumblr explodes 