“In One Scene, A Scientist Reports Finding Traces Of Asbestos In Samples Of Products, While Other Experts

My gripe with Euphoria.

Introduction

I remember my initial decision to cower away from this show. I discovered through review videos and articles that this was far from teen-friendly, despite having a teen-centric cast of characters. This show opposes my morals immensely, but I think I was only intrigued by the main plot of drug addiction, which is a slippery slope to take in the media. I had seen that the main show writer, Sam Levinson, also struggled with addiction, so I figured there would truth to this fictionalized tale.

Euphoria's (2019) concept is not particularly new, however. It is based on a 2012 Israeli show by the same name, directed by Ron Leshem. The original had some of the same elements: a troubled group of generation Z teens, somone with a drug addiction, a girl with weight issues, a drug dealer and his brother, etc.).

Cast of Israeli "Euphoria"

I don't know much about the Israeli version outside of that, especially without access to the show. I have heard that it takes on a bit of a more sympathetic approach to its characters. Levinson's adaptation seems to take on a different approach in the form of HBO style exploitation. As someone who is part of Generation Z and is aware of our statistics, I find it peculiar that a lot of these teen-centric shows portray us as hyper-sexual alcoholics who wouldn't give it a second thought to try drugs on the side. It's bee documented recently (in the years 1995-2015) that the opposite has been occurring. Of course, our world is being adapted from the mind of a thirty-four year old man. Older men, young teens, and sex seem to be a reoccurring theme. We see how female characters are treated versus the males. There is even the inclusion of a trans identified male character in the midst, who I found myself weary of throughout both seasons for reasons I will explain in later posts.

It is easy to see where Sam includes himself in the drug addiction plot. The other plots, however, are just as telling on the psyche of male directors and writers and how they view the women and girls that they construct in their narratives. His co-writers are Zendaya and Drake. Notably, Drake has been shown to have his own immoral actions on full display, so his influence is one to take heed to just as much. Zendaya's ideas of feminism are also warped, as she believes in males deserving the rights to be in female spaces. Someone who can simultaneously compare a man's mental illness to a women of color's biological status already sets me up to critique the debased "feminism" of this story.

It is no longer a matter of these female (and even male) characters being complex when we are simultaneously told they are empowered by their flawed actions. Or, on the opposite side of things, we are told that they should be discarded accordingly when it suits the narrative.

I will dive into this mess of glitter and shine and tear away this show's esthetics as I navigate my thoughts throughout my viewing of both seasons. I will explore the female (and one female presenting trans) characters and analyze what I see fit based off of what I took away from them.

I wonder if cis people ever step back and think about just how much trans people have to spend just to live a happier life. I wonder if they realize just how many trans people live poor/live in poverty because they have to juggle between everyday expenses and the expense that being trans is. And that's the expense left if your insurance is "kind" enough to even try covering your healthcare if you need medical care in regards to being trans.

Currently poking around radfem blogs after a trans woman on Tiktok said it was transphobic to not have sex with a post-op trans women because “their surgery makes their anatomy exactly the same as a real vagina” and so far I’m actually agreeing with what I’m reading on the radfem side of tumblr. I do have one question, though: how do radfems feel about representation of black women in media? From what I’ve seen, radfems are critical of gender roles and stereotypes, which I understand, but 1/2

as I answer this, keep in mind that I am a white woman, so my word should be taken with a grain of salt!

being inclusive of all women is vital to radical feminism, especially being inclusive of WOC. I know black women are often stereotypes as being “manly” or “aggressive”, but you and I both know that’s not true. I think it’s important to remember that masculinity for women is often just.. existing in our natural bodies. a black woman who doesn’t shave, doesn’t wear makeup, or doesn’t modify herself for others isn’t “masculine,” she’s just existing in her natural form.

the problem with how we address stereotypes is that we insist on simply defying them as opposed to abolishing them entirely. instead of saying “black women can be feminine too!”, we should say “stereotyping someone based on their race or sex is bigoted”. by defying most stereotypes, we only create new ones.

I hope this helps, any the radfems feel free to add on! (esp black radfems)

"The computer's processes have unwittingly advanced the cause of women and images, even though these aspects of computer operation have nothing to do with the computer's content, which is the manipulation of information. The world of cyberspace is a computer-generated extension of the human mind into another dimension. The computer has carried human communication across a threshold as significant as writing, and cyberspaces's reliance on electromagnetism and photographic reproduction will only lead to further adjustments in consciousness that favor a feminine worldview. Irrespective of content, the processes used to maneuver in cyberspace are essentially right hemispheric. The World Wide Web and the Internet are both metaphors redolent of feminine connotations."

-The Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shlain

A pretty interesting read. It analyzes the advancement in literacy throughout time and some of its pros and cons. It also brings up how we have become predominantly left brained due to the (often forced) use of our right hands, and how this has promoted linear thinking. It may not be a common practice anymore, but I've heard stories of educators hitting left-handed kids with rulers until they learned to write with their right hand. It's a strange thing to enforce, and it really makes one think...

The advancement in technology has a dark side, but the author suggests that some good will emerge in a new "Golden Age" where both right and left brain thinking reach some sort of equilibrium with the use of the internet. This is also interesting since I've been seeing parents, educators, and whoever else talking about the decline in reading amongst children. I'm starting to wonder if there will be a larger shift from text and back to image. Picture books/graphic novels seem to be grasping the attention of adults and children alike more and more throughout the years (if they weren't already). This is an observation of the English language, of course, since there are places that utilize symbols and characters in their writing.

You Are Not Wasting Time; It Was Given To You As A Gift, Freely and Generously; Is Rain Wasted Because It Falls On Gardens, Grass, Disgruntled Birds, and Umbrellas All The Same?

it's actually really weird to me that a lot of adults don't seem to remember the worst bits of being a child. were you not horribly aware of when adults were talking down to you as a child? don't you remember how little autonomy you were allowed, even when it came to things that seemed pretty harmless? don't you remember the times when adults would seemingly be assholes to you for no reason? even if you had nice and reasonable parents, didn't you ever have teachers or other adults in power who treated you disrespectfully? didn't it sting no matter how people justified it?

especially when I was a teenager, it seemed obvious to me & to most of my peers when an adult wasn't treating us with respect. you could almost smell it, in certain classrooms. there would be this palpable, shifting undercurrent of teenage dissatisfaction whenever some teachers started talking. and it made a lot of the kids act out! which of course made the teachers try to exert their power, which never worked because nobody respected them, which made them get more draconian, etc.

as a teen, I didn't really get why my peers and I seemingly had a superhuman sense for when an adult was on a power trip. but now I think I get it. kids are systematically denied autonomy, respect, and consistently have the validity of their experiences denied. like, flat-out. they're a vulnerable class of people made even more vulnerable by their lack of societal rights. being disrespected as a kid is so frequent that I would say it's a defining experience for most children. is it any wonder they tend to pick up on when an adult doesn't see them as worth listening to?

so yeah, of course a ton of kids want to be treated "like an adult." to them, that's synonymous with being treated like a human being worth listening to. it's up to you, as an adult, to understand that wish for what it is, and behave accordingly. you don't gotta be a child psychologist. you don't gotta be perfect at it. all you have to do is remember how painful adult disrespect could be when you were a kid & do your best to act with some compassion.

There's a difference between having empathy (comprehension that everybody has trauma) and then there's the expectation that somebody has a "consistent, sustained, high empathy level for you." This is a great example of a vampire - nobody owes anybody any of this. If you find a supply chain that is willing to feed you, great, but the reason why a lot of women avoid each other is because of these extremely high demands on what won't help the individual; you have to get in touch with your soul, not more people. There aren't enough people in the world to support you when you don't have a Self.

This is a lot more than just asking for compassion. Learn to love yourself instead of demanding it from others otherwise, you're just a bottomless cup.

We celebrate David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Prince for their gender-nonconforming amazingness as we should, but let us not forget

Annie Lennox

Grace Jones

Sinead O‘Connor

Dolores O‘Riordan

Patti Smith

Tracy Chapman

Please add if you like, i do not own the photos

The Path of Chastity

I follow the path of Chastity because it is the path to the purification of Self. If you wish to learn the gnosis concerning the path of Chastity:

As explained in the attached video, the difference between Chastity and Celibacy is that Chastity is remaining without orgasm and transmuting your sexual energy into Pure Love. Celibacy is remaining without orgasm but the energy is stagnant resulting in the same damage caused by having orgasms. Sexual energy is transmuted through meditation and you will be cured of all diseases.

According to Gnostic Teachings, one can transmute energy by not having an orgasm as the orgasm slowly destroys the brain and you lose the sacred oil needed to restore the Third Eye (sex causes spiritual blindness). Without Chastity, it is not possible to reach the heights of Divinity because forgoing the seconds-long orgasm is considered a sacrifice for Cosmic Knowledge. This is the only way to obtain it. It can't be pondered on or read in a book, so all these people talking about sensuality, eroticism, sexuality, yet speak on being awakened are lying as there is a trade-off for all actions one engages in. The exchange for instant gratification is their potential for Awakening.

Selflessness is required when you are on the path of Christ-Consciousness because it is the path of the healer. Retaining your energy to perform meditation is required; if you do not have energy there is nothing to transmute. It is impossible to meditate when you are spending your sexual energy on orgasms. When you engage in sex meditation is futile which is why so many people struggle with it - when you save your energy and begin meditating regularly you will experience the ecstacy people say they get from sex, but this bliss is permanent. This is possibly the serotonin people speak of missing when they experience depression or other mental illnesses but they are resistant to the truth so they deal with depression for decades and some even their whole lives.

The definition of sex varies, but orgasm is considered sex regardless of the sexuality you label yourself. This includes masturbation. With that said, if you are not on the path of Chastity you would disagree with this, but not everybody is here to follow this path where lust is hell and orgasm is the death. Not everybody on Earth is interested in restoring their emotional centers or even having a Soul or a higher purpose and that is their karma.

I can't help but vent on this one. My parents get upset whenever I dare to have a social life, because that means I can't play the third parent for my younger sisters. They never wanted a female child, but boy are they glad I exist when it's time to take the "mommy" role. Unfortunately, I often get frustrated with myself because of it. Whenever I say "no", they say I'm being ungrateful and useless, then bring up the fact that they did everything for me, so now I need to return the favor...

I got so used to being on my own schedule while away at school. I had an apartment then, so I got a taste of what independence felt like. Now I'm back at home, and I have all these responsibilities dumped on me as a result until I can afford my own place. I didn't ask for these responsibilities and it feels weird getting blamed for not taking care of the kids I never asked for (and kids THEY never planned). They say I'm single and child free so I should have ALL the time in the world. It doesn't feel like that at all.

And my 5 year old sister calls me Mama sometimes. I'd like to think that it's a joke, but something tells me that I'm not just a sister to her.