Hushpuppy5-blog - Truly, Clearly

The human brain is always open to change. Even if it takes baby steps, acknowledging how porn has affected you can be the first step. Society has uplifted it for so long and many have fallen victim to it. Now is the time to seek help and improve our mental health💞.

taking back your mind: a radical feminist approach to recovering from porn use

as radical feminists, we know we live in a society poisoned by porn on a global scale. if you are one of the many women who has fallen prey to the porn industry and are trapped in the cycle of degrading participation in viewing porn, no matter the origins of your usage, just know that you are not alone and that there’s hope for you. read this essay with an open mind - take what works for you and leave the rest.

BE AWARE OF NEUROPLASTICITY first off - your brain is not in stasis (like scientists used to believe!). discovering and understanding the concept of neuroplasticity was a first step in my healing process. neuroplasticity is defined as the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. neural pathways are simply connections between parts of your nervous system that have formed from patterns of thinking. i’d suggest taking some time to learn about neuroplasticity - there’s some very good articles & videos online!

so what does neuroplasticity mean in relation to porn use? we know that your brain is affected by porn, but you are not permanently pornsick. you are not doomed! here’s what happened: every time you had an orgasm to porn, the neural pathway between groinal response/arousal/orgasm and the stimuli of porn use was strengthened. the neural pathway for groinal responses/arousal/orgasm from stimuli that ISN’T porn is weaker and not in use. that’s why it can feel like porn is the only thing that turns you on or that gets you off, or you can lose groinal response to situations (like consensual & healthy sexual interaction with people you’re actually attracted to) that you feel like you should be turned on by.

 if you’ve been using porn since a really young age and/or extremely heavily, your brain will be more affected, because the effects on your brain are culumative and neuroplasticity is more intense before adulthood. even still: you are not doomed. it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to rewire your brain by avoiding the old neural pathways and using and establishing the new and healthy ones, but with that time and effort there will be progress. a healthy, loving sexuality is worth fighting for.

DON’T HAVE ORGASMS TO PORN so now that we know about neuroplasticity and neural pathways, we know they can be tackled. not having any orgasms to thoughts about porn or porn is the way to do this, combined with working on having orgasms to thoughts of healthy sex! i’m going to share how i did this on a personal level. again, feel free to take what works for you and leave the rest.

when i was having sex or masturbating, if i had any intrusive thoughts about porn or violent/pornagraphic sex, i had a process for stopping those neural pathways from activating. when trying to have an orgasm, if i was thinking about porn/violence, i would physically stop trying to orgasm and then try to clear my mind. when i wasn’t thinking about the porn imagery any more, i would continue. if this was happening over and over again, i would stop all the way and decide i would try again later.

i’ve been asked what to think about instead and it really varies person to person. if you’re not ready to fantasize, try to just focus on the physical sensations and keep your mind clear of thoughts of sex. when you’re feeling ready and less in danger of fantasizing about porn or violent sex, using healthy & loving sexual fantasies is great too, especially if you use them while you orgasm. it is normal to not have the same intense groinal response to these fantasies as you do to porn and doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong or that you’ll never have normal arousal responses. it just takes time.

an important detail: if you have sexual partners, it’s very important to be aware of how your reliance on porn affects the sex you have with them. if you are unable to orgasm with another partner without thoughts of porn, it will most likely be necessary to stop having sex while you work on healing your sexuality, which brings us to the next section. SUPPORT FROM LOVED ONES when you are struggling with porn, you need people on your side. if you have a sexual partner(s), you especially need them on your side. this is an intense journey and involves a lot of shame, especially if you’re a woman with radical politics. shame and isolation are huge barriers to recovery for any person struggling with any kind of addiction. if people don’t know what you’re going through and how you’re trying to fix it, how can they help you?

if your sexual partner is not understanding of this situation, i would urge you to examine that relationship. if you don’t seem to be able to make them understand the seriousness of this situation or if you struggling with this causes serious sexual incompatibility, it may not be the right relationship for you.

dependency on porn for sexual arousal is a very painful and frightening thing to combat, especially when so much of it is accompanied by sexual abuse and trauma. finding friends who are struggling the way you are and having a plan of action together can be really helpful. for example, having a friend who has the information to some sort of parental lock or filter on your phone or computer can be a good barrier. yes, pretty much any filter is by-passable, but that extra step can sometimes be all you need to say wait, i don’t want to do this, and reach out to a friend for help. that help can be serious talk about how porn has affected you or doing something fun and distracting until the urge has passed. feel it out.

KNOW THAT POLITICAL AWARENESS MAY NOT BE A FIX i’ve had multiple women confess miserably that understanding what the women in porn are going through didn’t stop their porn use, and the continued use after that knowledge made them feel even more ashamed and isolated than before. being a female person that uses porn doesn’t make you immune to the effects of it - it causes us to see women as objects. i’ve found that often the lack of empathy for the women we are watching mirrors the lack of empathy we feel for ourselves. many women consume porn that mirrors the kind of sexual abuse they’ve experienced or fetishizes specific oppressions that they face. i don’t think this is a coincidence.

it is frightening and disturbing when your eyes are open to the horror that is the porn industry, the physical and mental toll performing in pornography takes, the sex trafficking involved, and all the other details, and still once that video is on, it doesn’t make a difference. that is what porn does to your brain. it’s an awful truth that you cannot rely on your sense of empathy to help you stop watching porn, because the porn itself has attacked that empathy so wholly. but that brings us to our next tip

MOTIVATE YOURSELF THROUGH RAGE righteous female anger and spite are an excellent motivators. framing your actions to yourself as actions of defiance is helpful in a lot of situations, but i think especially helpful in this one.

on a political level: learning about what women go through in the sex industry isn’t enough - but learning about the men who have created this, fostered this, and prospered from this is a whole new ball game. pimps, pornographers, and sex traffickers want you to watch porn. pornography corporations and pornography CEOs want you to watch porn. they want the ad revenue. they want you to be pornsick so you come back for more. they don’t care how much harm they do to performers or porn consumers, all they care about is the money. on this level, not watching porn is an act of resistance against a violent industry, a capitalist venture that has left nothing but ruin on an unimaginable scale in its wake. they don’t care about rapes or serial murders committed by porn addicts. they don’t care about the new rise of child on child sexual abuse where little kids are molesting and violently raping each other. they don’t care about the suicides and the drug addiction and the trafficking. they just want your mind so they can have your money. are you going to give it to them?

on a personal level, if you were exposed to porn by someone who sexually abused you and/or someone who was sexually abused and just passing it on, i am so fucking angry for you, and i hope you can get angry too. that never should have happened. if someone wanted you to act out porn, or wanted you to think porn was normal, i’m angry at them, and i’m angry at whoever taught them that, and back into that lineage of rape culture forever. porn wants you to feel like a fuckhole. porn wants you to feel like your worth is what a man wants to do to you. porn wants you to feel like an object. and not just you - all your female friends, your female relatives, little tiny girls. do you want us all to feel like fuckholes? no. that’s NOT what we are. get angry. grief comes in many forms and righteous female rage is one of them.

if you get the urge to look up porn - turn to these emotions instead. be angry at who did this to you on a personal or political level. say fuck you, i’m not going to do what you told me i should do, i’m not who you told me i was.

MAINTENANCE ORGASMS your mileage may vary wildly on this point but i’ve known many people who have a lot of trouble falling asleep without having an orgasm, or have their mood affected negatively from not having regular orgasms. but when you’re trying to stop being pornsick, reaching orgasm without porn can become extremely frustrating, causing relapses because you feel like you can’t have an orgasm without porn.

my suggestion is an powerful vibrator and/or lube. i regularly recommend the hitachi magic wand for this purpose. i used it a lot in recovery and when i’m struggling because you can simply induce an orgasm in a really small amount of time, giving you less time to struggle with not using old neural pathways as possible. i know there are debatable downsides of heavy vibrator use so i don’t want to say this is the most awesome solution ever, but if you need regular orgasms to keep an even keel, this can be a solution to that.

IT’S TIME TO STOP USING PORN

you can do this. we can do this! about 3 years after quitting porn (after being introduced to it at a very young age) i started to have normal sexual arousal come back. i still struggle with relapse, especially when re-traumatized or when trauma is coming up hard. this is a journey we’re undertaking, a reclamation of our brains from a sexually violent industry that seeks to destroy us. you can heal your sexuality from porn with time and energy, and it is absolutely worth it.

this year, get angry, get real, and get clean of porn. much love to you all.

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.

indy100

Woman shares theory that we never really die and it’s freaking people out

People on TikTok are freaking out after one woman suggested that we might not ever truly pass on - and that the world could have ended many

I've heard of this Quantum immortality theory before. There's this idea that we have been experiencing multiple apolocalyptic events for many years and essentially restaring humanity with each wipe out. I agree with this lady. I don't think we every truly die. Rather our consciousness could live on in an alternate reality.

It's especially odd when you consider other phenomenon like the Mandela Effect. How do some people end up believing they remember events that others believe never happened? Perhaps this is a case of some people paying more attention than others? Suddenly, those theories about the world ending on certain dates don't seem so crazy. People have theorized the world's end for centuries. More recently, people thought the world would end in 2000 (where we would experience a digital apocalypse), then in 2012 (where we would suffer cataclysmic disasters)... maybe something did come to an end in those years, but it wasn't the physical change we expected? People spit on "conspiracies", but I think it's important that at least some people are asking questions about our existence.

Christianity is misogyny

Trans projection

Presented by myself and @goodluckdetective without comment

Ngl I feel like the only reason why birthing a newborn hurts so much is because we are not creating newborns through parthenogenesis, the baby is an invasive host in the mother's body sucking up all her nutrients, I mean why the hell would the immune system try to kill sperm during sex?

Or why do 1/4 in early stage pregnancies spontaneously end in miscarriages and most of them are male? That's because that baby isn't her, the mother host thinks it's something else, and the mother host can't recognize but this is just my theory tho lol

But I mean, there are also other factors like the way women give birth laying on their backs making it harder and longer to push the baby out because of gravity, Have you ever tried taking a shit lying on your back? That's literally the same thing when it comes to birthing a child lol

i know this may be an unpopular sentiment but I truly loath how so many separatists groups are firmly and inextricably entrenched in witchcraft goddess worship woowoo shit.

https://www.out.com/celebs/2022/3/14/emma-watson-threw-shade-jk-rowling-while-presenting-baftas

out.com

Emma Watson Threw Shade at J.K. Rowling While Presenting at the BAFTAs

The actress made very clear that her support of witches is gender-inclusive.

“I’m here for ALL the witches by the way.”

All the witches, except J.K. Rowling, who is the main one responsible for your presence in that stage.

It’s bad enough the Harry Potter actors lack talent. No, no, no. They also had to be a bunch of disrespectful, hasty brats who refuse to show even a sliver of gratitude to the woman who made them who they are. They could have plucked any child actor off the street to play those three. Of course, Daniel Radcliffe was picked because he shared a likeness to the character that Rowling fancied. I don’t even know how Hermione and Ron got snagged. Again, they could have been played by anyone. Either way, I guess we could say that their acting has improved slightly throughout the years. They’ve convinced everyone that they are hefty supporters of the gender cult and will spite anyone who says otherwise. As we’ve seen in these recent years, it seems that the stake at which any opposers are burned is solely reserved for women. Rowling is far too influential, leading into every bit of the gender cult’s lives. They read her stories and loved every page of them. They related to them. I’m sure the actors related to them as well. What the heck happened?

“Transgender women are women,” said Radcliffe, like every other "scientist" on the bird app.

Ron, played by Rubert Grint. has also expressed concern over Rowling’s own tweets, alongside the other dogs in the cast willing to roll over and beg for forgiveness from the gender gods. I expected less from the males who will receive little if any consequence from women losing not only their status, but also the very name to describe themselves. That is why I find Emma Watson, who has decided to be the most vocal about it, all the more disappointing. She is a woman, but she believes a man, regardless of his history of abusing or opposing women, or basic biology, can claim female one day and be validated accordingly. She brought this belief to the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards of 2022, where she expressed her subliminal yet pivotal comment that she’s here for “all the witches”. This was after Rebel Wilson, who has also taken shots at Rowling (join the club!) introduced her as not as feminist, but a “witch”. Arguably, feminism and witchcraft go hand in hand. Using your inner power to effect the world is about as feminist as it gets.

There is a power in realizing one’s sense of self, which women have been stripped of. If she channels that power by waving a wand or meditating to positive mantras every single day, go for it, girl. It means nothing, however, when you use that “power” as a means to verbally put down another woman in her show of power. Especially when many of us with common sense know that prioritizing ourselves in the midst of gender ideology is the only true power. Giving in to the social contagion does not make you brave, Watson, et al. It just means that you are more than willing to lay down and take whatever these abusive jerks have to give you. I don’t even know which celebrities are worse: the ones who go out of their way to appease the gender cult, or the ones who stay silent. They have all that power and influence, but they would rather push or ignore this dangerous ideology than lose their status. They will chant “transwomen are women” and effectively leave trans men—->biological women<——in the dust. Why? Because they are still women, and they will always be oppressed by the dominate male society, regardless of what they call themselves.

It would be foolish to say that women have no solidarity. We are allowed to believe and act separately of each other while loving one another. However, that can not be at the expense of our own rights. A woman should be able to state clearly what a woman is. Not the IDEA of a women, but the basic science of one. A woman is an adult human female. A girl is an infant, adolescent or teenage human female. Women with DSDs, who the gender cult loves to throw under the bus due to how they've developed, are still adult human females.

A male’s delusions should not be our conclusion.

If Emma Watson is here for all the witches, those witches certainly don’t consist of women. From this incident, most of us women are wondering how Hermione would behave. Arguably, Hermione is the true feminist AND witch of the two, fictional or not. Hermione never backed down, especially if it meant another person being bullied. Heck, if it was HER getting bullied. None of us non-celebrities can truly describe what goes on behind closed doors with most people in the entertainment industry, but it doesn’t appear to be good. J.K. Rowling, due to her status as a writer, may have more freedom with her words. As with anything, people are free to critique those words. More celebrities are subjected to slander. What is not okay, however, is the threats of violence that have been made toward her. Men and women alike, threatening to have revolting things done to her, and all because she acknowledge biology. What would all of them do with those special little labels they put on themselves if biology wasn’t real? It seems real enough if you want to change it, medically or by name. Their idea of gender is no more real than the Harry Potter characters, but their minds have not grasped that because these people are experiencing a strange case of Peter Pan Syndrome. The rest of us have to coddle them like Wendy Darling as they scream and kick up a fuss over something people have known for ions but now seem to have forgotten.

Even more interesting (and again, I don’t expect a single valuable word out of her male co-stars), while Watson claims to be a feminist, she seems more than willing to ignore the violence being spewed toward Rowling in particular. While she says nothing, this action reveals everything. Acts of violence against women are fine, especially if we disagree with her.

Hermione, fellow savior of Hogwarts and founder of SPEW (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare), does not approve.

P.S., SPEW was also adapted from the real life organization, Society for Promoting the Employment of Women. As more proof of her witchiness, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she states, "The truth is, you don't think a girl would ever been clever enough." Hermione knows the game of the wicked world we live in.

And J.K. Rowling got into this whole disaster for speaking out FOR another woman. Not against her. She knows a woman shouldn't be fired over a non-violent opinion, nor should we ignore the dangers that gender ideology poses.

Emma Watson thinks everyone can be a woman, if they wish. Even the males that have harassed her and other women, both on and off stage. She has been brainwashed.

But she's the feminist.... Okay….

— p. 3-4 of the Introduction to A Passion For Friends: Toward a Philosophy of Female Affection by Janice Raymond

“Women together are not women alone.”