My Life As a Woman with Asperger's

I'm just gonna come out with it now: I have Asperger's syndrome. And it's so refreshing to just freely say that since I've spent most of my 22 years of life keeping it in. I barely told anyone, I sometimes thought I was a freak or a contaminated wretch. But overtime, I became a bit more comfortable with my condition, and overcame it in my teens by becoming more social. I accepted my uncontrolled faults and told the world to take me as I am or don't take me at all. I put both my feet down and decided to hit my challenges head on. Now it's time I told you what life has been like as a woman with Asperger's.

To clarify, Asperger's syndrome is a minor form of autism that effects social activity. Most autistics are recluse, have difficulty carrying long conversations, and are more likely to feel embarrassed of even the simplest of actions. Autism or any of its variants is not a disease, it's a neurological disorder. The faster society gets that under its belt the sooner we can deal with it better. It effects developmental skills like reading and writing. I usually have to condense writings to compensate for my admitted inability to make huge pieces (ironically enough my blog posts tend to be gargantuan). I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was 2. I even spent most of my primary school days in a special ed class. In secondary school, I spent it wit a TA. In high school, I had to dedicate 10 minutes of free time to the counselor to discuss my progress through my classes with my condition. I always felt so alienated from my peers, and some would often refer to me as a sped, aspie, sperg, retard, etc. My Asperger's became a burden for most of my life, and pretty much no one but my family knows it.

So why do I consider it a feminist issue? Well, despite males outnumbering females in autism diagnoses, girls get ASD a lot more than you're probably told. If you look up the percentage of female autism rates, there's no definite statistic that tells you how many girls actually have it. That's because society has basically swept autistic girls under the rug, so much that I've been told that I'm faking my Asperger's. No one has anything to gain from saying they have ASD unless that person is a masochist who looks forward to the torment ahead.

Autism and Asperger's are used interchangeably but are not complete mirrors of each other. Autism is more behavioural whereas Asperger's is more academic; those respective traits are shared but one is more common in the other and vice versa. Despite the educational obstacles I encountered, I was a pretty good student throughout all my school years. In terms of behaviour, whilst I was initially shy, I attempted to be more outgoing and made good friends but still decided to keep talking on my end to a minimum. I also have a pretty monotonous voice, which has been described by those who've heard me speak as cute or even sexy at times (British accents for the win :D). I'm also kinda clumsy and trip over things at least once a day. I even trace my finger along with my hand when applying eyeliner so I know not to poke my bloody eye out. 

What does Asperger's feel like in your adult years? Honestly, sometimes I forget I even have it now. I can't speak for every case since some have low functioning autism which severely effects motor skills, but for Asperger's patients we'll, for the most part, be able to carry on with our everyday lives. I was able to land a high paying counseling job in October in spite of my condition, and I married the love of my life, so all's well that end's well. 

Autistic women are an unspoken minority, and they've been ignored for too long. We're regular people deserving of basic rights and attention. Some disorder floating around our cortex shouldn't be the deciding factor there. Feminism must provide a voice for all women, and that includes us women on the spectrum. 

Equality Vs Equity

One thing civil rights groups all profess is that they stand for equality. You know, racial equality, marriage equality, economic equality, and gender equality. The word equality is a flagship of politics. But what if I told you that equality was actually not the word we should be using? Standing for a equality is fine and all, but it's actually erroneous of oppressed groups to call for it. The word we SHOULD be using is equity. 

Let me explain how these terms are actually noninterchangeable. Now according to the dictionary, equality and equity seem like they mean the same thing. Even within the context of social rights, they seem to be evenly matched. However, equality means treating everyone equally, which actually doesn't help. Imagine it like this. You have 3 people, one man, one woman, and one child. They're all trying to watch a baseball game, but a picket fence is blocking the woman and child's views. Now equality would mean that the woman and child get a box to stand on, but so does the man, meaning the man still has the better view than the woman and the child. In essence, treating them all equally would give the privileged party more benefits and leave us one step behind. Equity on the other hand would give the woman one box to stand on and the child gets two. The man would not get one since he already has a perfect view. Equity gave the woman and child the same view the man has, but distributed the privileges to where it was necessary. 

In laymen's terms, equality would still favour the privileged classes. Equity would give benefits where needed. Instead of the term gender equality, we should say gender equity. Now I'm not entirely against saying equality in certain contexts, as I'd probably understand what you mean, but keep in mind that MRAs have a habit of twisting our words around to make us look bad. I know it can be annoying how we're always switching up our language, but you might find it'll serve you well in the long run. 

What Makes An Issue A 'Gendered Issue'?

So here's something I keep running into whenever I discuss, well, anything regarding women's oppression really. I always get these "egalitarian" types coming at me with this gender neutral bollocks. Yep, you know the ones:

"rape is a human issue. Humans shouldn't rape humans. Stop making everything about gender"

The argument typically follows this bend of logic; since men get raped as well, that automatically makes the issue gender neutral. The main problem here is that this argument is one-sided, or is used as a one-sided argument because it's never applied to when the topic of discussion is men, only women. It's become yet another way to derail the conversation and to tell them pesky womz that they should suck it up. 

But wait, you might say, what about men killing themselves as higher rates? What about most homeless people being men? What about all of those problems? What about men being drafted? Why aren't they considered gendered issues if men are at the forefront of victimhood?

IT'S ALMOST LIKE THERE'S MORE TO MAKING AN ISSUE A GENDERED ISSUE THAN JUST SIMPLY SUFFERING FROM IT MORE.

You see, in order to attach gender or race to something, the principle must be rooted in a hierarchal idea. Suicide, homelessness, and military services were not built upon the idea of men being inferior. Things like rape and spousal abuse were in fact built upon the idea that women are weaker and are to be dominated by their husbands or boyfriends. Even when women started doing the inverse, it was still widely regarded as a woman's issue, thus requiring we feminists to fix it. 

Which brings me to my next point. Gendered issues are important to recognise as gendered because it's the easiest way to combat them. Being "colour-blind" or "gender neutral" is stupid because you're essentially turning a blind eye to white supremacy and misogyny. How are you meant to attack your enemy if you know nothing about them or are not willing to see them for what they are? I'll give you an example of that. Rape is sometimes referred to as a gender neutral issue. The fraction for women getting raped is 1 in 6. The fraction for men is 1 in 71. Yep, TOTALLY gender neutral there. That's why there's violence against women and not people. Women are attacked because of their gender, men are not. 

Perhaps another more recent example was last year's X-Men Apocalypse billboard poster which showed the titular villain Apocalypse strangling the female villain/anti-heroine Mystique. It rightfully was met with outrage from women's groups and predictably they were met with backlash from masculinists. They were all like "OH BUT IF IT WAS A GUY THEN IT'D BE FINE". They didn't understand that the problem wasn't Apocalypse strangling Mystique. The problem was that it was being used as a selling point for the film. We know villains do bad things, that's common knowledge. But that particular poster was almost glorifying violence against women, which is kinda a widespread problem. 

So the next time you hear a topic about gender politics come up, instead of butting in with your gender neutrality bollocks, hear them out for a minute and listen to their language. Look deeper than the surface. An iceberg is more than what you see above water. 

Why I Won't Just 'Get Over' Trump's Presidency (And Why You Shouldn't Either)

So this is sort of a follow up to my blog post from November where I talked about what we could expect from Trump's presidency. Well I'm on the verge of flat out deleting that post because I was wrong. I was horribly wrong. There is no way at this point to dissuade me of the idea that these 4 years will be anything but rocky. I originally thought that because the GOP had disowned Trump, his policies wouldn't receive backing. Well it turns out that the GOP and Trump are all buddies again. Isn't that wonderful? 

But what REALLY gets me is peers telling me to just "get over it". I keep seeing this everywhere the second someone expresses negative thoughts about Trump. Not only is it everywhere, but it's highly insensitive to those with mental trauma over the fact that someone who represent racists and sexists is now running things. Firstly, you can't just "get over" an election result. Presidents have 2 4 year terms, and 4 years is far too much for Trump. Hell, even being in the runnings was too much. You can't afford to treat the election like a small paper cut. As much as I'd like it to happen, Trump isn't just gonna go away if you ignore him long enough. He'll announce himself every chance he gets, and his followers will do the same. 

And don't be surprised at the comparisons between Trump and Hitler because they are very much alike. All that's needed are internment camps where Muslims and Mexicans are shipped off to die (I pray to the stars above that won't happen). Trump voters should've known very well from the beginning that we would have a problem with this. You don't just elect a racist, sexist despot and just expect it to go over smoothly. And the worst part about this is that they didn't care. It's obvious they didn't care because if they did, Trump would be in his tower sucking from a pacifier and whining that no one sought him to be a leader of the country. But nope, we gotta keep them pesky womynz from even suggesting some sort of national decision. 

Which brings me to my next point. Apparently everyone cares about corrupt politicians when women are the ones with a dirt sheet. The 44 men who came before Hillary? Nah, they were all pristine model citizens. I guarantee you if it was Bill, no one would care as much. Another thing that annoys me is that people say social justice is to blame for Trump's victory. That's like saying the Jews are to blame for the Nazis ruling Germany. No, you know who's to blame for this? Racists and sexists. They were given that platform and came out in droves to grasp their opportunity to have their behaviour condoned again. You remember how they were pissing about Obama harshly penalising crimes against women and people of colour. They've been conditioned to believe that being criticised or judged for your inflammatory behaviour is oppressive when that's not how it works at all. 

And since it's relevant, I think I should bring up the Trump protests and rioters. I don't entirely hold any acrimony against them. I don't agree with their methods, but I can understand why they'd feel that way. Of course though, the privileged white dudes living in gated communities all rejoice at the reinstatement of their stock image lives. That is, less of them darker skinned fellows. Also I absolutely love the whiners going about "property damages" and how "these darn leftist crybabies are destroying everything because they didn't get what they want". It's funny cuz the rightists are up in the US government destroying lives systematically with the laws they pass. Anyone can destroy something with their hands or weapons. But the one who carefully plots the downfall of a society with nonviolent tactics is a true villain to fear. I'd be much more fearful of someone who brings me to tears with just their words than someone who just beats me up with their hands. 

There is no comparison to the far right and the far left. One holds all the power and one doesn't. The right still have a massive advantage over the left, and that advantage has been used to constantly hold down people with lives and families. White people are afraid that police will slap them with a hefty fine for doing something mildly illegal. Black people are afraid of getting shot just for being outside late at night. Men are afraid that their phone will die whilst they're out partying. Women are afraid that they'll be raped, killed, or both whilst out partying. Straight people are afraid of, well, I'll get back to you on that. LGBT people are afraid of being beaten on the side of the road for not being "normal". The left has different priorities and different concerns. Concerns that deserve and require a limelight of their own. These are human beings we're talking about here. I'd be kinda remiss if I didn't remind everyone about the tremendous amounts of racism and protest that Obama got when he was elected. Which brings me to protesting a voted election. Did you know that this is totally valid? No seriously, there is nothing paradoxical about protesting a fair election (leaving aside how it was most likely rigged). Saying the protesters are bitching that they didn't get what they want is a gross oversimplification. It's one thing to lose the election. Giving a position of political power to someone who stands for racism, sexism, heteronormativity, and a bunch of other things I can't name off the top of my head is a whole new ballpark. If your new boss was a guy who went around sticking dildos on your chair for you to sit on, would you honestly just go with the idea of "put up or shut up"? Yeah, didn't think so. 

Before I close things here, I must bring up the fact that the idea of the president not having as much power as we think is pretty much null and void. Congress is loaded with republicans, and checks and balances mean nothing if everyone is in complete agreement. If Hitler had a congressional board, I doubt the other Nazis in office would reject his propositions. At this point, all we can hope is that most of what he said during his campaign was mere jargon. But again, hope can only get us so far. These 4 years will be hard, no doubt. But maybe 2020 will be our light at the end of the tunnel. Just maybe. 

Watch Dogs 2 Review (Spoiler free)

If I had to choose a poster child for one of the most disappointingly slapdash video games to come out of 2016, I'm pretty sure Watch Dogs 2 would be a runner-up for first place. And it really pains me to say that. I think its no secret that 2016 was a terrible year for video games. Only like 2 games that came from last year were anything good, those being The Division and Uncharted 4. Everything else was substandard rubbish. ReCore is boring, No Man's Sky is pretty much the equivalent of selling hard rock albums to 80 year old people, and Final Fantasy 15 is just flashy generic edgy white boy game #42,958. But Watch Dogs 2? Oh boy do I have quite the bone to pick with this. 

Let me just be clear here, I was actually looking forward to this game. I thought it'd be the improvement that the expected series would need. Around the time Bad Blood was released for the first Watch Dogs game, I was a bit on edge about the direction the series was going in. But not only was Watch Dogs 2 the unnecessary sequel that many were thinking it would be; it might've just been worse. Watch Dogs 2 is repetitive, unfinished, and one of the most horribly unfocused games I've seen in quite a while.

Remember how all of Watch Dogs' detractors were going on and on about how it's just a pale imitation of Grand Theft Auto? Well it seems that Ubisoft took that a bit too seriously because Watch Dogs 2 is literally just GTA 5 with a Watch Dogs skin slapped on it. Sure, Watch Dogs 2 takes us to the beautiful vista of San Francisco, but that's about as far as visual aesthetics go. The textures look like an early 7th generation console game and it all just complements the cartoony atmosphere in a negative way. The game tries so desperately to deviate from the original's dark tone so much to a point where it feels like some sort of wacky sitcom from the mid-90's. 

Now let's talk about the story and characters for a bit. The game follows Marcus Holloway, aka obnoxious token black kid. He's kind of a centre of criticism for me because of how badly written he is. I wouldn't mind too much except the fact that this is Ubisoft we're talking here. These guys made the fucking Assassin's Creed games, where many of the protagonists are foreign people. How did they suddenly fuck up writing a black character? Seriously the whole game his mannerisms just scream "I'M BLACK CAN'T YOU TELL?" and it's rather disappointing given the racial diversity message this game was aiming at. But instead of a black man, Marcus feels more like what a white guy thinks black men are like when they're not being painted as thugs and hoodlums. His story is that he was framed for a crime he never committed, except not really because he was guilty of a crime when he was 11 but the ctOS system is retrying him for it. So it's up to him and his friends, who are way better characters btw, to help clear his name. Oh did I mention that's only like a fifth of the story? No really, the rest of the game is just spend doxxing and wrongly attributing other people that Marcus doesn't like because I guess hypocrisy is fun now. 

And the gameplay, my god the gameplay. Watch Dogs 2 is legit a duck and cover shooter. Not a good one either. First, the actual story can be completed in 8 hours. I'm not joking there. In 8 hours, you're done. The first game took at least a week and a half to beat. Instead of doing what The Division did in terms of making the missions challenging, Watch Dogs 2 thinks it can try and pull a fast one by "letting you play your own way", which is a total lie because the game punishes you for doing anything other than what it secretly wants you to do. Oh look at all these ways I can do the mission! Except why would I choose any method other than the one that actually is effective? The stealth mechanics? They're not much better. If you're spotted, everyone in the bloody area automatically knows your location, even if you're in a giant building. You can say it's because of their tech, but given how the only way to lose enemies is to leave the AO, that's not stealth, that's cat and mouse. Back to the shooting. This time around, Marcus is a fucking pincushion in contrast to Aiden being a bullet sponge. There's no balance here. If a bunch of enemies are raining down on you, you're pretty much forced behind cover otherwise you're dead in seconds. 

The hacking elements are a slight step up from the last game, but even then it's still the same old "push a button to fuck around" routine. You have more options this time and can select up to 3 things to do with a hackable item. Unfortunately, most of the options are inconsequential. Drive a car forward? Why would I need to do that? Which leads me to the driving. It's slightly better but the vehicles are still incredibly hard to control and are barely durable. They still don't allow you to shoot from your car, which is a shame since that's one thing that would've definitely been a good addition. 

And since this is a feminist blog, I think it's time we talked about the women in this game. One criticism against the first game was the poor representation of the female characters. Only 2 types of woman existed: the damsel in distress, and the strong character that gets killed like a punk. Watch Dogs 2 gave us Sitara, and holy fuck did we get cheated. She mostly takes a back seat and just plays music for Marcus when she's capable of so much more. I was thinking to myself, why wasn't SHE the protagonist? That aside, Watch Dogs 2 introduces female enemies like security guards and police officers, which is kinda cool. That is until I came to the realisation that I'm just gunning these women down or bashing their skulls in with an 8 ball. That was, discomforting, to say the least. 

Speaking of that, one thing I honestly did not care for was their advertisement of moral choices. The first game had these already, and it made sense in the narrative because you were playing as a vigilante. Why are they bigging this up now? Will there be more than what we were given in Watch Dogs 1? Lol nope, it's the same thing. The only "choice" you have is to use take downs instead of guns, and that makes no sense since non lethal take downs still involve the enemy being hit with moves that would kill them. Why am I being told that I have moral choices when the only options I have are to be a complete cyber terrorist or a sleuthing batterer? 

Then there's the online, which was a huge letdown. Watch Dogs 1 had a terrible online component, so them saying Watch Dogs 2's online component would be an improvement made me a bit giddy. But instead of doing what GTA 5 did, all they gave us was the ability to dress Marcus a different way and do game modes like Team Deathmatch or kill each other on the street in the open world. How am I supposed to feel like my individual self if all my fellow players are the same guy? That's like if Metal Gear Online made everyone play as Snake with absolutely no individuality. You might as well just fuck around in the single player because there's nothing worth doing in the online mode. 

Watch Dogs 1 had a pretty deep story that was complemented by adequate gameplay. Here we have mediocre gameplay with a story that barely tries, and that's not what an open world video game is a supposed to be like. Watch Dogs 1 left an influx of emotions through every player, with all of them hoping to see what was next for them, and to see it followed up with this is so disheartening. This is one of the most disappointing games I've played since Duke Nukem Forever, and I'm not even exaggerating. I may be in the minority here, but truth is, when Ubisoft announces a third game in the Watch Dogs series, the one thing I'll be thinking to myself is "at least it can't be as bad as Watch Dogs 2". 

What Is A 'Natural Body'?

Yes I'm back and absolutely nothing in this world has changed.

I apologise for my unexpected hiatus, I've been preoccupied with my job and stuff.

Anyway, in my absence, I pondered the topic of my next blog post since I realised I had less material than a biodegradable tupperware bin. Then it hit me; why not do one on natural bodies?

So for anyone who doesn't know, which I don't expect you to know since I never told you up to this point, I also do some modeling on the side. And since I have curves, I believe I take part in the #effyourbeautystandards trend that's following the internet. One thing I feel must be gotten across is the idea of a natural body, and what one looks like. Our perception of women and men is often warped by the media's standards of what a perfect person is, or at least a perfect looking person. I wanna help shatter a few of those things. Also I'm gonna focus mainly on women since we experience this firsthand, but I recommend the dudes stick around and try and pick something up from this. It could help you a lot.

The media has brainwashed us into thinking that women should all be these one-note creatures. We all have size 2 dresses, long blonde hair, dashing hazel eyes, and always have a seductive look on our face. They also want to tell you that women are infantile. Most model shootouts involve us sucking on lollipops or playing with stuffed toys. I mean sure, we women can act like adolescents quite a lot but I think that's a bit of a stretch don't ya think? Because of these unrealistic standards, men now develop "trust issues" and look for a woman that fits exactly what a Victoria's Secret magazine convinces them what we look like. They tell us to watch out for stretch marks, watch our weight, and never have any cellulite because that's "imperfect".

The truth is boys, pretty much every woman you'll meet has those. Hell, I have butt cellulite. There's stretch marks on my breasts and shoulders. Am I a freak for that? No. It's my own body, and I have no reason to think that I'm not natural. Girls on average never escape voluptuity. At age 11, we hit puberty and our thighs widen. We begin storing fat in our respective areas. Our bums and breasts grow. Women generally gain weight more than men due to our biological structure and to help us carry a baby. We acquire these tiny imperfections that make us all the cuter :). Here's a pic of Denise Bidot that encapsulates the point and drives it home and tucks it to bed:

I'm sure you've seen this one before. She is posing with the average mannequin. Now for the truth bomb: Denise is an average sized woman. Her dress size is 18, her measurements are 42-32-45, and her weight is 205 lbs. She is also 5'11", taller than the average woman, so she proves that not all tall girls are lean. But beyond all that, Denise is absolutely gorgeous, and she understands that. A while ago, plus size fellow Brit Iskra Lawrence stripped down on a NYC subway train to pep people into the thought that how we look should be appreciated at all times. Denise and Iskra both warn us about how the media is out to get us, destroy us for being comfortable in our own skin.

Here's another complaint of mine. It's the use of girl and woman. Let me set the record straight here, a girl is a female human under the legal age of adulthood and a woman is an adult human female. Get it? Got it? Good, because the media seems to not get that. According to most men, attractive females are called girls. And by attractive I mean the magazine's manipulations of what an attractive female looks like. But when they see overweight or unidealistic females, they're called women. Apparently girls are attractive and women are ugly. Does this apply to boys and men? Oh of course not, males are always attractive and perfect, can't you tell? 

Speaking of which, men may not realise this, but they also should be comfortable in their own skin. They don't have to be these hairless bodybuilders with picky suave haircuts and rustic beards. No, if you're a broad chested slim and hairless guy, be happy with yourself. Unfortunately, it's easier for you than it is for us. Men are usually told to be successful through their talents and not their looks, i.e., having a personality. Women are constantly reduced to their physical appearance, and it prevents them from being taken seriously or recognised for their personality. Honestly, if Megyn Kelly wasn't beautiful, I sincerely doubt conservatives would even host her. I can't say the same about Trump because he's no sight for sore eyes yet people seem to respect him enough to fucking vote for him despite having zero experience (yes I'm still salty about that). 

Also I'd be pretty negligent to not mention the lack of attractive black figures. Haven't you found it odd that a lot of these mainstream models are white? Ethnic diversity is important in eliminating unrealistic standards because limiting sexuality and attractiveness to white people only is just a flagrant example of racism. And no, saying deez black hoes got them phat asses doesn't count as finding non-white women attractive, that just makes you sound like a perverted dickhead. People like Isaiah Mustafa and Naomi Campbell (despite the fact that she's a bloody psychopath) have helped to showcase people of colour's abilities to become fashion figures and idols of what can be considered physically attractive.

There's no right or wrong way to be a woman. And there's certainly no right or wrong body type. If you feel happy being skinny or fat, all power to you. Who knows, you may end up looking like what you consider unattractive. Whether or not you decide to stop placing boundaries on beauty standards because of this will be up to you. 

What To Expect From the Trump Administration

This election and its decision left me hollow, glacial levels of disgust. And I really didn't wanna come here to tell you that. I wanted to come here and celebrate Clinton's what seemed like inevitable victory. But instead, a clear fix in the votes followed by the advantage that the bigots that plague this country had proved otherwise. I can't stop worrying about this, and I know plenty others who can relate with me. But I think it's worth writing a post about it and try to assist you in these dark times.

Trump has made it quite clear how he stands on certain things like foreign policy and nuclear deals. He's a selfish entitled white (or orange) boy, yes boy, who only cares for the benefits of people who are like him, and even then that's a stretch. But what exactly will happen? Is the country bound for doom like we really anticipated? Maybe not. 


First, we have to remember what powers the President really holds. The President is merely an arbitrator for Congress and its several bureaus. We're under complete republican control now, so I can see the threat for miles. However, if we recall correctly, the republicans themselves have disowned Trump. Many of the orange doofus's plans are so batshit crazy that you'd have to be under evolved slime to actually pass them, even if you're republican. He also cannot reverse any executive order made by the Supreme Court or previous presidency. Doing so would be unconstitutional. 

Another thing Trump can't do is wage war. Congress may only do that, and they won't go to war if they understand the catastrophic results that could potentially occur. So Trump's megalomania with wanting to shoot the ones with Russia and North Korea are unlikely to be acquiesced. Besides, to attack Russia he'd first need to disarm the Russian weapons that ISIL and the Taliban are using to fight American troops ;). 

Now I'm sure you're all thinking when I'm gonna address the real problem here: his supporters. For anyone out of the loop, Trump's under-evolved specimens of so-called humanity (big words FTW) have already begun their pogroms on minorities as some sort of indoctrination into the new age. College students have even begun giving "safe zones" with dog counseling and swear to God, colouring books. Imagine that, a room full of adults, many in their 20s, entertaining themselves with things that I'd used when I thought that sparkly pink tennis shoes were the shit. 

Like what the actual fuck. Do you really think this will solve anything? Must we revert to childhood to cope with an election? Oh who am I kidding? This country's president and vice president are undereducated man babies so what difference does it impose? 

It's one thing if this seriously gets under your skin for reasons beyond disappointment. I myself have had patients call me up for appointments wanting me to help them get over emotional stress over Trump's election (I'm a counselor btw). But you see, they're adults, and I treated them as such. When adults face trouble that they can't deal with, they need a shoulder to lean on. And if college students really need some sort of stress relief, let them sit in a room and talk amongst themselves with books to read or art supplies so they can release their feelings onto a canvas. For the record, being an adult isn't the same as just taking it up the arse when you're in emotional turmoil. But Jesus fuck people, show some dignity. 

I can't really provide safety precautions if you're a minority living in a pro-Trump state. However, I'll make it as simple as possible. If you see an immigrant, welcome them to your neighborhood. If you see a refugee, inform them of the benefits they should apply for. If you see a black person, step in if they're challenged for their race. If you see a non-straight, treat them as if they're normal. If you see a woman, make sure she's safe. The main beneficiaries of the Trump administration will be white straight males with a decent size wallet. If you happen to be a privileged male, that's totally fine. Be the change society needs to see. You needn't worry about yourselves, but extend your sympathies with those who do require aid. It's gonna be a long 4 years, let's at least make something count.