Hey everyone, I’m currently a high school student and trying to figure out my future, what I want to study in college and stuff like that. I would really like to, in some way, help MAPs become more accepted and fight for their/your rights. It’s something that I feel passionate about, and I really want to do something.
I’m not sure what to study to achieve that goal, and I was hoping to get some suggestions. At the moment my strongest subject and thing I’m best at is art, but I don’t think I can cause change or help MAPs with that, so I’ll probably just keep that as a hobby. I like journalism and I think that would help more than art, but not by much. I love computers / programming and had the idea of creating secure messaging services or private social media that targets the general public, but would allow MAPs to speak without fear, but that idea sounds very difficult to achieve, and platforms like that already do exist, such as Signal, so it may be a bit pointless.
What are some careers that you think can help push forward MAP rights, and if you’re currently studying in college, have already finished or are planning to go - what did you study, and those who have the same idea I have - what did you end up doing, if anything?
I’d love to hear any suggestions, especially since I haven’t talked about this with anyone yet, and don’t plan to at the moment in case it lands me in hot water
I also think what I’m saying might sound silly, excuse me for that. I’m still trying to get general ideas of what I want to do in the future, I thought here might be a good place to ask.
Thanks!
(also, is there a Tor Onion v3 address for the forum? the v2 address isn’t working anymore)
I’m glad you are passionate about supporting us although I presume you’re not a MAP yourself, I which there were more people like you.
Ultimately, I think it would be an individual success if you were able to just change the views of those close to you, or interact with you in some direct manner. The unfortunate reality is that even the “big players” in this regard are still tiny in the grander scheme of things. Take Prostasia for example, for all the people invested in it, and all the work its done, research its contributed to - All it took was some small time YouTube personality(shoe0nhead) to shake it to its foundation. And the unfortunate reality is that things have only returned to some semblance of normalcy because she lost interest.
What is important to do on the individual level is to be consistent, create a atmosphere of accountability. To use words responsibly regardless of whether or not there’s some external compunction to. And treat others in a way that’s fundamentally fair, equitable, and compassionate regardless how you may feel about them. If you can move those around as well in that direction, then that’s a success.
Societies view on MAPS is merely one example of the problematic ways in which we treat those deemed “deviant” broadly speaking. We will never make MAPS the exception to this unfortunate paradigm, and so we have to address the disease at it’s root.
I correct people all the time that’s how little I care about their reactions. It’s honestly not as bad as people think.
It’s how you say it, not what you say. You really feel how little thought people put into the topic of pedophilia when you correct them, or have a discussion. It only gets bad when you meet some stubborn guy/girl, but they exist within every topic. I don’t just defend x, but also y and z. So this shrinks the area of attack since people can’t single it down to “u support pedos”.
How you say it and who says it are key to the success. It’s sad, but if a very wholesome, good looking guy who did lots of good stuff would do what you want to do then the likelyhood of the message being received as less negative would be way higher. Donald Trump is a prime example for the “how you say it” part.
Anyways, thanks for caring and trying to make the world a better place for MAPs around you.
Hi this is my first comment on here but I would just like to say thank you! I wish that there were more people like you in the world and hopefully one day there will be.
I understand that you’re passionate about this but I think that your career path should be your decision and should be something YOU love/want to do and I feel like it would be selfish of me to suggest any particular path for you to take.
However if you’re truly feeling passionate and want to help out, one of the best things you can do is to try and correct misinformation, exaggerations & lies you see online (and perhaps irl) about MAP’s and researchers and by signing that petition to save Allyn Walker if you haven’t already.
Thank you again and good luck finding your purpose!
I think I’ll choose something to study that isn’t directly linked to MAP activism or research, but try to help the community out in other ways. Like you all said, it’s hard to really make a difference as just one person, unless that person is very influential or respected, so it would be best to focus on changing the views of those around / close to you if possible. Of course the internet also exists, so trying to help open peoples minds online is something I’ll do whenever possible, and if I go down the road of becoming an artist / journalist I’ll make sure to contribute towards MAP understanding in some way.
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Indeed, I’m not a MAP, the main thing that drew me towards learning more about MAPs was that I found a lot of similarities between how LGBT folks were treated not too long ago and how MAPs are treated today. There’s so much stigma and hate targeted towards MAPs and it doesn’t benefit anyone. The lack of understanding and blind hate only serves to ruin the lives of those born with minor attractions, there is no upside.
I completely agree with you, and this is one of the exact things that made me take interest in MAPs. There’s always going to be a group of people seen as ‘other’ or ‘worse than’ the majority of people. Once MAPs are understood more by the general public and become more accepted, something is bound to replace them, there’s going to be some other minority that will receive the same stigma that exists for MAPs now. It’s possible that MAPs may be the final minority to face these issues, but I’m doubtful about that.
That’s why we’re all here, so same to you! <3
Thank you for your words!
Awh, thank you so much. Your entire message was very wholesome. I’m convinced that it’s only a matter of time until more people are understanding of MAPs, hopefully it’ll be within our lifetimes. I’ve also gone ahead and signed that petition, hope everything turns out well for Allyn, it’s scary how vocal some people can be about their hate.
If you listen to Tom Robinson’s words, it’s scary how relevant to MAPS they are, even though many in the LGBTQ… community (in “western democracies”) probably consider most of it a nostalgic acknowledgement of the atrocities and disdain their ancestors had to both endure and crusade against 40 or 50 odd years ago.
