Gatekeeping gender terms is patently harmful, because it also erases and denies the gender experiences of people the gatekeepers feel do not “qualify”. Gender transcends the sex and the sex traits a person is born with, and so too must gender terms.
Read More
Instead of promoting healing, toxic forgiveness usually gives perpetrators a free pass on bad behavior and allows toxic or abusive situations to continue.
Read More
From craft names to deadnames, nicknames to married names, usernames to aliases, there are innumerable reasons that most people have multiple names they currently use or have previously used to identify themselves. Despite what bureaucratic systems would have us believe, names, even magical names, are mutable and can change over time as our circumstances change and we, ourselves, change. Most of those names have deeper meaning than the specific letters spelled out on our birth certificates or driver’s licenses.
Read More
It is common to see acceptance and tolerance treated as synonyms, but this creates a false equivalency that distorts the core meanings of both words.
Read More
“Baby Witch” is a very problematic term when it is not self-applied. Calling someone a “baby”, especially a stranger, infantilizes, degrades, and harasses in most situations.
Read More
When hurtful and exclusionary words come from authorities in pagan, pword, and magical circles, that diminishes our communities and supports an unwelcoming atmosphere for marginalized people. It can be hard to know how to avoid such harm, so here are some tips on why, when, and how to use gender neutral language.
Read More