why is one of the most prominent mentally ill tumblr communities so toxic and staining why do you guys make it such a big deal
This post is a great example of why. Because people keep insisting we’re a community centered around mental illness, despite those of us who were around when the damn thing was founded (over a decade ago) repeating over and over again that it isn’t. Never has been, never will be. Trolls and anti-kin have been calling us mentally ill since they first heard of us, and we’re sure as hell not gonna let that come from people calling themselves a part of our community now.
Our community is a “big deal” because it matters to us. Just because dumbasses on tumblr treat it like a fashion statement aesthetic and ignore its actual history doesn’t mean that’s what it is.
I repeat it again – the reason otherkin, etc, was ever inherently associated with mental illness started with ableist assholes on the internet declaring it “crazy” and “delusional” for being weird, usually without even looking into what it was outside of some internet rando making a fuss about someone “believing their an animal”. It was pathologizing mindsets that differed from the norm so that people outside those communities felt better disregarding them altogether. Considering for some of us the roots of our otherkin identities are cultural or religious too, you could probably even argue that it ventures into the realms of xenophobia too. And none of this was ever OK intra-community prior to it being swept into discussion and positivity for mental illness on tumblr. Even where people mean well, they’re ending up spreading a pretty ableist “definition” of otherkin.
Again, saying otherkin and fictionkin was an illness was for it being weird, and in the same swoop summing up mental illness as laughable cringy and crazy, and it’s been harmful to both communities while pushing otherkin into social issues that don’t apply the way they do to mentally ill people (’Kin aren’t oppressed and don’t require aid for being ‘kin, but mentally ill people are oppressed and often need their disabilities accounted for and actually need to be fought for).
This might be a messy mish-mash of words (words are hard right now) but I hope the general idea gets across, ack.
