The more you know
This month here at the more you know you will found some news and tips of how to be a better person, hope you all enjoy this reading!
International Women's Day.
March 8th
"International Women's Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
Speak up for women's rights, no matter how you choose to do it.
Whether you join a protest, sign a petition, contact a legislator, or even post something in solidarity on the internet, using your voice to express support for those who are fighting for their rights is important. And it is also the easiest thing you can do to stand in allyship with women. Your voice is powerful. Use it.
Remember: passivity is one of the greatest enemies in the fight for change.
Autism Representation in film: Why is it Important?
By: Audrey Baratto
The word “representation” has been thrown around quite a bit when speaking about movies. Representation in terms of film refers to characters that represent a group of people. Everyone wants to see a version of themselves represented in their favorite movies and shows. It helps make people feel seen and validated for who they are, especially people who belong to minority groups. It’s important for filmmakers and showrunners to be mindful of the representation they want to focus on and if they are doing it in a way that caters to the minority audience. If they are not careful with how they write their minority characters, they can receive all kinds of backlash, as well as put those who are a part of that group in real life at risk for harm. When it comes to movies made with disabled characters, there are very few that get made every year. This is especially true for autistic characters.
Many members of the autism community, including myself, do not have many movies or shows that represent us accurately, if at all. This is mostly due to the fact that not a lot of writers want to include autistic characters. They do not want to include us because they fear that autistic characters are bad for ratings and we are not good enough to write serious roles for. Whenever we do appear in films, oftentimes we are used to inspire the main character or to be the joke of the movie. We barely get any humanizing traits, and the ones we do get imply that we are dangerous, uncontrollable, and unworthy of a healthy relationship without being infantilized. On top of that, these autistic roles are almost never written or played by autistic people. Autistic actors and writers don’t get hired on film sets because we are seen as a liability, even though we’re not.
Many people may ask “why does this matter? It’s just a movie/show.” What people see on the screen translates to how people get treated in real life. For example, when people see an autistic person in the media having a violent episode, they assume that all autistics are a danger to others. This could not be further from the truth. Representation like this puts all autistics at risk in real life. A trend that has been happening recently with the “violent autistic” trope has been putting autistic women and people of color at a big risk. This trope shows a white male autistic who is being violent towards someone, mostly women, and gets away with it because everyone blames it on his autism. This creates a very toxic and harmful environment for autistic women and feminine-presenting people, both inside the autism community and outside of it. Being autistic doesn't mean that you get a free pass to be violent and abusive toward others. Spreading this misinformation gives dangerous autistic people chances to be violent and harass others without consequences.
We need to hold these dangerous people accountable, as well as the filmmakers and showrunners who perpetuate these stereotypes.
When it comes to playing the role of an autistic character, only autistic actors should be able to play that role. It is insulting, degrading, and unfair for allistic (non autistic) actors to take these roles. It’s not “just acting” when it comes to parts like this. In any other scenario, if someone were to “act autistic” it would be considered insulting by most people. However, as a society, we for some reason excuse it when there’s a camera in front of that insulting act. It has never been okay and we need to call it out when we see it. Allistics don’t have that inside perspective on what it’s like to be autistic. Their performances come off as stereotypical and disingenuous. It is also incredibly difficult for actually autistic actors to find work in this industry because there are so few roles written for us that by the time a role does come around, they’re already being given to allistics.
Ableism is one of the strongest forms of discrimination in the film industry.
Filmmakers and showrunners need to be held accountable for their anti-autism biases and start to hire more autistic actors, especially autistic women and/or people of color. We also need to be behind the scenes too, as writers, producers, and directors. We are not a liability and we are not impossible to work with. Sure, a lot of us need accommodations when working on set, but that should not get in the way of us being able to produce great performances and films. I’m an autistic film student who is going to break down all the negative stereotypes about my community once I can get my foot in the door. I’m very passionate about my love for television and film and I want myself and other actually autistic actors to have a space in this industry.
-@jaudreybaratto
UN member countries have agreed to the first-ever treaty to protect the world's international oceans!
Via NPR, "After nearly two decades of planning and negotiations, members of the United Nations have agreed on an international treaty to protect biodiversity in international waters, which cover nearly two-thirds of the ocean.
The agreement lays the groundwork for global collaboration to tackle the ocean's persistent threats like biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change."
The UN Secretary-General appointed new climate leaders to the Youth Advisory Group; stressed the importance of young people getting involved in climate action!
Via AP News, "United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres named seven young climate leaders Thursday to be his Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. They include advocates, tribal land defenders, educators, and activists and will serve through the end of next year. They're the second-ever group of climate youth advisers, the first having been selected in 2020.
Guterres urged young climate advocates around the world to continue raising their voices and said that the 'unrelenting conviction' of young people is essential to keeping climate goals within reach, lowering fossil fuel emissions, and delivering climate justice."
Here are the tips that I try to follow in everyday life, and I highlight them as one of the most important * The first is, of course, the water balance. Drinking enough water (1.5-2 liters per day) is very beneficial for the body. Kidney function improves, and metabolism works more actively. Drinking a glass of water in the morning, wake up your body, start the work of the stomach and other important organs. At the same time, it is important to observe the “golden mean” and choose the amount of water that your body requires. The second is healthy sleep (7-8 hours). Old, but forever. Healthy skin color, vivacity, and a burst of energy are some of the advantages of observing a sleep schedule. And the third, probably not as obvious as the first two points, these are vitamins. They can be drunk in a course or drunk on an ongoing basis. Vitamins for joints, hair, calcium, magnesium, omega 3, vitamin D, etc. Everything that the body may lack, you can help it make up with the help of dietary supplements. Moreover, often we do not even realize how much we miss them, and how much they help us improve our health and well-being. Proper nutrition can also be included here, which is VERY IMPORTANT, and this topic is quite sensitive since everyone has a different body and everyone has their own diet. Therefore, this topic is rather subjective, although of course there are certain norms that can be observed) With love, Nastya<3
-@aidanlxfive
Thank you so much for reading, see you next month!