I really recommend that everybody read the chapter of Dworkin’s Right Wing Women on abortion, it completely changed how I viewed anti-abortion rhetoric. Like the idea that so many men oppose abortion because the idea that a woman could have the autonomy to end a pregnancy means that, had she had the ability, their mothers could have aborted them and lived very different lives, is too unsettling for them to cope with is like…woof
There is the fear of having murdered because so many men believe
so passionately that she has. To many men, each aborted pregnancy is the
killing of a son — and he is the son killed. His mother would have killed
him if she had had the choice. These men have a peculiarly retroactive and
abstract sense of murder: if she had had a choice, I would not have been
born — which is murder. The male ego, which refuses to believe in its own
death, now pushes backward, before birth. I was once a fertilized egg;
therefore to abort a fertilized egg is to kill me. Women keep abortions
secret because they are afraid of the hysteria of men confronted with what
they regard as the specter of their own extinction. If you had your way,
men say to feminists, my mother would have aborted me. Killed me.
Agreed. The argument in that Dworkin passage and the one put forth in Judith Jarvis Thomson’s famous piece from the 70s (linked below) are both essential reading for all feminists and women in general; both of these pieces contributed something completely unique and incisive to the academic and cultural conversation around abortion imo—we hear the same tired bad-faith talking points parroted from Republicans constantly, so it’s genuinely energizing and refreshing to find these absolute gems of writing that cut right to the heart of the issue in ways that shake up the typical narrative and lay bare certain unspoken aspects of the abortion debate.
a lot of people took the phrase “women’s rights are human rights” to mean “the issues you think of as women’s rights also affect other more important stuff” rather than “women are human”
Tip Number One:listen to material that is on your level / listen to the right material
Listening to korean dramas as a beginner is usually not the best idea to effectively improve your listening skills. Youtube videos are the better option, because Korean used in youtube videos is actually used in real life. On the other hand, dramas are scripted and not as natural.
Korean dramas also have a lot of niche vocabulary. For example, if you watch a drama about hospitals words like “blood pressure” or organ names or anything else like that will appear often. That’s one of the reasons dramas can be hard to understand.
Lingq app is a good place to find stories that you can read and listen to at the same time. Podcasts are also very good for listening practice.
Music doesn’t count in my opinion. If you started studying like a month or a few weeks ago maybe, but at that point I think you are much too new to practice listening in the way I mention in this post. You should keep learning more vocabulary & grammar before attempting active listening. Of course listening to the language is good to help familiarize yourself with the sounds, but don’t expect to understand more than a word or two here or there at your very beginner level.
Tip Number Two:don’t be aftaid of subtitles
I am against using ONLY English subtitles (or subtitles in other languages besides Koresn) whilst practicing listening in Korean. Try using Korean subtitles while you watch youtube videos and while you watch your favorite Korean dramas. For very beginners, using subs in your native language could be a chance to understand more and get familiarized with how fast Korean is and the different sounds. I suggest watching once with Eng subs & again with Korean subs
Tip Number Three:read more
Reading and listening are one in the same - they both have to do with taking in context and interpreting what that context means. In other words, reading will improve your listening skills and vice versa. You should read and listen to improve your overall comprehension of the Korean language.
As with listening materials, try to find things that are on your level to read. Maybe reading Harry Potter books in Korean as a beginner aren’t the best for this unfortunately. Lingq & Naver Blogs are good places to find things to read. You can also go to wattpad and find some rather interesting stories in Korean. You can read webtoons as well.
Tip Number Four: take it slow
Nothing wrong with changing the speed of a video or a drama to understand it better. Koreans do speak rather fast and slowing down your audio can help a bit. I would say listen to it normally once and then again slower and then again normally. Or you could start slow and then go back to normal audio. Listening to things more than once is a good thing too. You’ll catch things that you didn’t the first time around.
Tip Number Five: change your mindset
Don’t aim to understand every single word and grammar you hear. If you can just get the gist of what is said - you’re doing great. Trying to focus on every word as it is said actually is what causes you to not be able to keep up with whatever audio you’re listening to.
A good tip also is to look at the mouth of the person while they are speaking - if their mouth is visible at least. You can also do this in real life conversations or just with online videos. This actually can really help you understand better although It may seem weird.
Another tip for understanding dramas would be alternating subtitles between your native language and Korean. For example, I watched Squid Game with my family in English subs, but went back to study on my own and watched with just Korean subs. So If you watch one episode with Korean/English subs first and then rewatch and switch it can help alot
📢[STORYTIME]
One of my goals was to understand Korean dramas - this was the first few months of starting Korean. I remember telling one of my friends that was studying with me at the time and she said “It’s gonna be a long time before you can do that”. And wow she was right. It’s like 5 years later and It’s still hard for me to understand Korean dramas😂 She stopped studying years ago, but here I am still chugging along.
I was watching this drama called “내일” or “tomorrow” on Netflix with just Korean subtitles. I could get the gist of a lot of things but there were also entire scenes (like 5 or so minutes at a time) 😬where I had no clue what was happening. I’ve been studying this drama as practice and I went through and broke down those scenese I didn’t understand🫢
But to be fair this drama is about grim reapers and death and I don’t know the vocabulary that well in that area😂 so I’ve learned a lot just from Episode 1. I have just moved to the 2nd episode and there are like 16 currently and more being added I think😳 I want to study the whole thing but I don’t know If I’ll stick to it that long lol
If you do want to go toe to toe with cops don’t do it at the main protest in your area. Start shit across town and split the cops’ resources. “Open a second front” so to speak and take some of the heat off of the people they have absolutely no qualms about harming. Split up and open up a third front, a fourth. Keep moving and keep them moving.
even the cities with the largest police budgets only have enough force multipliers for one big containment
not to be rude but some of y'all need to look on the bright side sometimes. like, yeah sure the world is fucked and people suck and we all die whatever, sure, but like. go outside.
ok i phrased this poorly, hang on.
i’m not saying the cure for depression is touching grass. however, if you surround yourself with sad things and talk about how terrible life is and how much you’re suffering and never take a breath and remember it’s not all bad, you’ll end up making yourself worse.
