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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 10, 2023

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I had a good friend transition. The early transition phase is difficult and she dealt with it by dressing very androgynously and not really wearing makeup in public until she had been on hormones for a while. She eventually got to the point where she'd get kicked out of men's rooms wearing jeans and a t-shirt and then she said fuck it and started wearing dresses and makeup publicly.

The early transition fashion/makeup phase is really awkward and there were definitely times when it was kind of weird that she would show up to a board game night in heavy makeup and a nice dress. The voice took a while getting used to and was weird at first. But it's been four or five years later she dresses pretty conventionally and things feel normal. I'm really glad there weren't cameras on me at all times and an obsessive fanbase analyzing me for any signs of awkwardness or discomfort, cause there were times when it was weird. But it doesn't feel weird anymore. There wasn't some profound personality change, socializing with her doesn't feel that different. Plus she's still a killer bass player.

I don't envy Mr. Beast or Chris at all, transitioning in the public eye seems like an awful experience. It's not like trans women don't know that large portions of the public views them as 'grotesques'. I've seen her get spit on in public and it's made me much more of a pro-trans partisan.

Fame and fortune can deform relationships in a lot of ways, and I don't know how professional vs. how genuine Chris and Mr. Beast's relationship is. It seems most likely to me that Mr. Beast is a ruthless click chaser and will gradually phase out anything that reduces engagement or merch sales, but it's possible witnessing a friend be subject to mass online harassment will polarize him on trans issues.