Tumblr-Centric

[queer_scribbling]

(Relatedly, I have much to lament about nonbinary discourse so often taking place on Tumblr [1], and I think these are the consequences of that [2].)

- From a recent comment thread on a post from before I appeared on the Pillowfort scene.

Yes, I found this from Coy's hitching post. I could probably comment on the post itself, but I'm more pulling this out in a 'maybe come back to this' sense. I have a draft that's been collecting some dust from earlier in 2020 called 'Reasons Why I’m (Jokingly) Disowned From Nonbinary Tumblr Spaces' because I didn't click with a section of nonbinary tumblr I tried looking into at one point. I'm not entirely sure it has actual relevance to Coy's original post or the comment thread discussion, but I've been trying to think of how to translate some old gender related posting into a 'hey, I should probably mention this on this new platform' post of some sort.

This post is a cross between 'that linked tumblr post is interesting' and a heads up that I might write about this sometime before 2020 ends.

Archival note: I did not, in fact, write about this before 2020 ended. Some of these links seem to be from publicly visible but rather personal posts, so I only have two archival links:
[1] How Using Tumblr is Undermining Your Community, archived Pillowfort post or WordPress post.
[2] Re: lack of a nonbinary community, archived Tumblr post.

Comments

[queer_scribbling]

What sorts of things would you look for in a nonbinary community space that you feel you haven't found on Tumblr?

I cobbled together enough wiki or glossary level information with some personal experience to feel like nonbinary fit me, but I just don't know what I'd expect out of a community space. Available space for talking about gender things with others (whether similar to the Nonbinary Carnival mentioned in the tumblr link or not)? Space to interact with people who might actually use some of the labels I've only seen in glossaries and see how that reflects in different personal experiences? (Would they hangout in generally nonbinary space to begin with, or would they coalesce in more specific community spaces? Idk, but I'm pretty sure I've run into a few genderqueer and agender folks who don't use nonbinary outside of very basic explanations to certain cisgender people.)

A space that allows for more continuity of history than tumblr can provide and that's more than just a wiki page? (Like, did all of these presentation systems arise out of a common goal of not relying on masculine or feminine in descriptions, or something else? Was there communication between the different creators? Did a group actually collaborate on a system as a communal effort, or have certain systems only been used by the creator?)

I don't want an anti-tumblr space or zero newly created labels or whatever, but sometimes the "I just created a label and flag for this potentially hypothetical gender" areas don't really seem conducive to thinking about why something's being created. (At least one of the presentation systems had a note in it's wiki page that butch and femme were 'lesbian only' words, and that can change how some people would approach the premise and usefulness of that system.) I'm not unaware that this is quite likely due to an aversion to tumblr discourse and questioning something being seen as an exclusionist attack from gatekeepers, but like, these aren't untouchable concepts on a pedestal.

I don't know exactly what I would like out of a nonbinary community space, but sometimes I get the sense that conversations must be happening somewhere because some of these words (example: salmacian) and supposed controversy (some perisex/non-intersex nonbinary folks have described their transition goals as transitioning to intersex) didn't just appear out of thin air. Every once in a while, I'd kind of like to not hear about something secondhand, potentially years after the fact, you know?