Michael Ann, sociotechnical femme

I wish more cis women understood on this #IWD is that so much of our identity is defined by negativity towards our gender and sense of self

And seeing trans women joyfully embrace womanhood and delight in the very things we were taught to hate about ourselves

Is remarkable
Is healing
Is liberation

I don't actually have to know shit about the situation to believe that the women with the lived experience of transmisogyny know how to identify it when they see it

Respect the epistemic authority of marginalized people

It ain't that challenging of a concept

One of the more true things ever posted to this website, IMO

If you're requiring an abused minority group to always account for the feelings of their abusers when discussing how they've been harmed, that's being what we in the social sciences call "being a bigoted, abusive jackass"

Idk I just think every trans girl has the right to at least try out being a princess

(yeah this is more butchfemme propaganda, ya got me)

Same tbh I remember a distinct “ohhhhhh no they don’t think it’s a storybook, they think it’s real” moment of horror at about 6 years old

I generally hate days like International women's day bc it just doesn't feel like it matters

But then I log on and I see you all celebrating each other and uplifting womanhood as this beautiful shining thing

and it matters

Thank you my sisters
Just for being you
Today and every day
Thank you

Happy international women's day to women who support other women.

Unhappy international women's day to women who choose to side with the patriarchy in hopes they might get some scraps of power to call their own.

Anyway my hair is turning white and the cronecore keeps intensifying.

Or shapeware + posing.

Or all of the above.

No that other girl does not have non-euclidian geometry, it's an editing app.

Does it seem physically impossible?

It is!

Born to crone, forced to... hmm... well, actually, crone, so... I guess we're good here?

Concept: an app that teaches trans girls all the photo posing and editing tricks that are making them feel weird about their own bodies vis a vis those they see on the internet.

To repost the abyss is to be reposted by the abyss

And this, too, is block-worthy

Is Lakshya Jain the Matt Yglesias of Nate Silvers?

IMO one of the best parts of the original Iron Chef was the kismesissitude between Kenji Fukui and Yukio Hattori

Concept: a recommendation system that just browbeats you into logging off

when i say the Atlantic and the NYTimes deserve neither your money nor your respect, i also mean their newsletters, NYTimes cooking, NYTimes puzzles, crosswords, connections, and wordle, the wirecutter, the athletic, and all their podcasts.

both have anti-trans bias woven into their editorial.

Been seeing some folks getting more defensive when people ask them to consider moving off Substack or X

And gotta say being frustrated at the people pointing out that you are compromising your ethics bc you believe your ends justify your means sure is... something

It’s absolutely wild to see happen over and over again - that said, I never, ever lack for horrifying examples anymore when I teach the part of my Understanding Users class that’s about communicating with and learning from your user base

I really liked the choice element and how practical our system was… those two papers are still highly cited, and the class I designed and taught kept evolving over the years until it became my current doctoral seminar on social and critical computing

Oh this is fun… Northwestern had a very practice-based qual structure so you can actually read two of mine:

1) Self presentation wp.me/p2O4Fr-aT
2) Folk theorization wp.me/p2O4Fr-aO
3) Design and solo teach a seminar for undergrads on social computing and research writing

If a bunch of people who agree who hang out together is an echo chamber then sure, we’re all in echo chambers all the time. But what’s actually bad is a platform that the world’s richest man has weaponized to make people including “elites” who still use it bigoted and hateful and conservative

I mean, it is odd that everyone decrying this place as an 'echo chamber' is totally comfortable hanging out on the Nazi CSAM web site run by a white supremacist who fine tuned its algorithm to turn users fascist

I do appreciate cis advocates of trans healthcare, especially in these times, but I do wish more of them would let go of the "experts know best" framing. I'm aware it's safe, palatable, sellable, but there's a century of "experts" torturing, converting, and sexually abusing trans people. So.

everyday on X in '23: "jkr isn't harming trans ppl. you must provide evidence of it that i will willfully misinterpret. i'm an ally btw"

everyday on bsky in '26: "the nyt isn't harming trans ppl. you must provide evidence of it that i will willfully misinterpret. i'm an ally btw"

war, changes, etc

If only she’d speak up about literally anything else 🫠

the idea that people are out there Transing The Youths is just as stupid as the idea that people are intentionally handing out weed gummies at halloween

It would be delightful to see at least this level of support coming from you re: immigrants and trans kids

Direct the AG to take action against Fenway Health

Cancel all state contracts with ICE

Do it on your way to Dunkin

Yeesh

What our governor will stand up for: Dunkin

What she won’t stand up for: immigrants, trans people, her fellow lesbians, the rule of law

Cool to see the priorities laid out so clearly