Red Light Politics

Welcome to my short form Tumblr blog. My name is Flavia Tamara Dzodan, I am a business developer, writer, public speaker, ideas instigator, content creator, media facilitator and trend watcher living in Amsterdam.

This Tumblr is about the spaces and intersections between politics, culture, race and gender matters with some humor and pop culture thrown in the mix.

My long reads blog is Red Light Politics.

I also blog at Tiger Beatdown.

If you would like to know more about me, visit this page .

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7 posts tagged mental health

s.e. smith at xoJane: I Hide My Mental Illness

Those stories in the news that I read every week remind me that outward expressions of mental illness can endanger me, and that having large numbers of people aware that I am mentally ill could also be dangerous to me.

Being mentally ill means that I am more likely to be shot by police. I am more likely to be raped or assaulted, and ignored when I file a report. I am more likely to be institutionalized, to be condemned as an unfit parent (if I wanted to parent), to be denied employment or fired because my workplace refuses to accommodate me. To be falsely convicted of a crime.

These are the things I think about when I tell myself I should stop fronting, the reminder that being mentally ill already means I have a target on my back. That the only thing saving me may be my ability to compartmentalize, to front like it’s going out of style, to convince everyone around me that everything is just fine.

Source se-smith

Depictions of Mental Illness in Pop Culture

Chances are that many of my followers/ readers have already seen this, but just in case: s.e. smith and Anna, two of the people who originally ran the pioneering FWD/ Forward (Feminists with disabilities) for a way forward blog will be doing a series on depictions of mental illness (and health) in pop culture at Bitch for the next 8 weeks.

FWD was original and unique in so many aspects that I’d thought you’d appreciate this series. Check it out and join the conversations.

On co-dependency

(Promise it’s my last rage induced rant of the day)

Some people have mentioned that there is a “danger” that co-dependent relations eventually turn into abusive ones. That might be the case. However, if one suspects that a friend is in what one perceives to be a co-dependent relationship that is abusive, rather than centering the support and discussions on this supposed co-dependency (of which we, as friends, might have incomplete or even wrong information to derive our judgement from), one should center the support on the abusive side. If a person is involved in an abusive relationship, that’s the center of our support. Not in fauxchology definitions of co-dependency.

As I said before, what we, from the outside, are quick to label as “co-dependent” and BAD (because articles like this one, based on scientific data derived from Twilight tell us so), might be a healing space for others.

If someone is in an abusive relationship, that’s where the support should be centered. Concern trolling based on Dr. Phil is not really a healthy way of supporting the people we care about.

meloukhia:

The idea that people cannot find (do not deserve) love, particularly true or perfect love, if they are ‘broken’ or ‘damaged’ is in fact quite common in this society. Many people happily parrot this idea along with self-helpy jargon like needing to love yourself before you seek love. Which is a reminder to broken people, to people who may hate themselves for whatever reason, that they don’t deserve love (we don’t deserve so many things…to live, to speak, to have opinions…).

It is also particularly common to claim that people with mental illness, some diagnoses in particular, are inherently bad and dangerous and harmful and shouldn’t be in relationships/don’t deserve love because they will just hurt people. People have told me to my face at feminist conferences that people with my diagnoses are damaging and dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed to have relationships. Human connections. 

The idea of denying love to any human being repulses me. The idea of proudly crowing that you feel some human beings don’t deserve love, or friendship, can never find these things, because they are ‘sick’…it’s not particularly new or revolutionary. 

BAM! All the truth is three paragraphs!!

Incidentally, if you are not following s.e., you should consider doing so. Their Tumblr comes with a daily dose of truth like the above on a variety of subjects. You know you want to! Because it’s nourishing!

Source se-smith

Dressing while depressed

On Friday, I shared the outrage over the trivialization of mental health issues by presenting the solution in the form of a cutesy Polyvore set. However, it was Friday night, I didn’t feel like writing an extensive post on the subject anymore and I was tired from the whole week.

However, for the past couple of days, I meant to post a link to this ebook that I think presents a few interesting concepts that might be of use for people who are, indeed, dealing with all too real depression but still need to go to work on a daily basis: capsule dressing.

Capsule dressing involves a total of eight steps spanning three areas of focus:

  • Lifestyle analysis
  • Capsule planning
  • Capsule coordinating

The ebook contains tips for people trying to improve their image in a corporate environment but I believe it could be of particular use for anyone who needs to have outfits readily available while maintaining an appearance of personal groom in a professional setting. While the personal stories section is annoying and rather unhelpful, the tips to build wardrobe capsules are useful and spot on. There is also advice on fabrics, color combinations and which styles to apply for different situations. Also, the book doesn’t insist on buying a new wardrobe, but rather, creating charts and lists of items that already exist in one’s closet. Also, the investment advice on new clothes is not only realistic but I would dare say on the conservative side, with a well made case about what percentage of income is reasonable to spend per year on new clothes and new capsules, as the book calls the set of matching outfits.

I do remember the times I could hardly get dressed, let alone decide what to wear when I had to go to the office. I wish I had had something like this set up so that, at least, I didn’t have to think of my looks while my mind was occupied by other matters.

The stuff of nightmares

via Forbes, Brooklyn College Student Committed to Mental Institution After Hidden Camera Complaint:

When a college student complains about secret surveillance — as Tyler Clementi did last year — I’ve said before that they should be offered other housing arrangements. Eze did get new digs, but they weren’t very attractive ones. When she went to the Brooklyn College Campus Security and Safety Office to complain about her suspicions, they offered her an involuntary two-week stay at a psychiatric hospital.

Eze says that when she talked to security officers about being defamed on the Internet and secretly filmed by her landlord in her off-campus apartment, they brought in a psychologist. After asking her a few questions, the psychologist called an ambulance and had her committed to Kings County Psychiatric Hospital. Her One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’s experience lasted two weeks.

When she flew the nest, she discovered that there was a hidden camera in her apartment. […] She missed her final exams and was not able to complete them, and wound up losing a scholarship she’d received from the school, according to her attorney.

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Mental Disorders Illustrated Using Winnie The Pooh Characters This is the part where you can call me a humorless feminazi because most of them are not even remotely funny to me. Perhaps this one is the only exception I found in the series. Found via.

Mental Disorders Illustrated Using Winnie The Pooh Characters

This is the part where you can call me a humorless feminazi because most of them are not even remotely funny to me. Perhaps this one is the only exception I found in the series.

Found via.

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