· The second most talked about topic, after the labor reform, are therians and the concern: “is it the expression of how bad we are as a society?”
· Where did they come from? The therianthropy derives from Greek therion (animal) and anthropos (human). In different mythologies and folklore images it is connected with hybrid figures such as centaurs or werewolves.
· Los therian “modern” animals appear in the 1090s in internet forums, where a group of people share experiences of internal identification (spiritual or psychological) with non-human animals.
· Los therian that today worry some people about the future of the West, gather in recreational spaces, wear masks and tails, and practice quadrobics (moving like the animal you identify with).
· Don’t they have points in common with urban tribes or membership groups like emos and floggers in the 2000s in Argentina, especially in Buenos Aires?
Why so much debate now?
· There are conspiracy readings that see an agenda to cover up other things. I think the world is more chaotic and often the explanations for why certain themes are installed are simpler than it seems (although they are used to install different themes).
· Social networks and the way in which news and reactions circulate favor the exaggeration of certain phenomena. The networks are not “guilty”, but they are not neutral either.
· Algorithms are key: there are incentives to replicate, the algorithm rewards you, gives you more views and spins the wheel. It doesn’t matter if it generates identification, ridicule or rejection.
How do therians mix with reactionary speeches?
· How a minority phenomenon, which has existed for thirty years, is used to show it as the logical consequence of society going too far (respecting your gender identity, having the right not to be discriminated against, very basic things).
· For example, an Infobae article maintains that therians promote “visibility and discussions that transcend the subculture to challenge society about the limits of diversity.” Limits to diversity? What limits?
· Another example: the teenager bitten by a therian. Real or fake news? The important thing is that generates fear and opens the conversation: is it normal? Is it a mental health pathology?
· Of course there are mental health pathologies in the world, it is something that is visible, but that does not mean that any behavior outside of established norms at certain times and places is.
· It is a mechanism that has been used other times: your uncle Oscar, who wants to diagnose someone because he gathers in a square wearing a fox mask, surely believed (or believes) that a homosexual person is sick or that a trans person “has some problem” and is a danger.
· In these conversations everything is mixed: identity, self-perception, gender. And reactionary prejudices creep into that chaos.
· When someone says: “Look where we got by accepting their self-perceived identity and giving them their ID. Now they think they are dogs. This is the fault of feminists.”
· Two important clarifications:
· You don’t have to accept anything. Trans, non-binary people or the example you choose do not need you to accept them. The demand is that the right to live as you want is recognized. Some laws (such as the gender identity law in Argentina) enshrine this right with some limits (I say limits less because of the law and more because, who lives freely and really as they want in capitalism?).
· Gender identity is a concept that talks about people and condenses struggles, politics and history of humanity (human beings).
· People who define themselves as therian explain that their experiences are connected with animals, that is, with another species (not with another human genus).
· This distinction matters because reactionaries equate an intimate experience with gender self-perception—which circulates in society; trans or non-binary people do not take off their masks to go to work or the doctor—to ridicule them, demonize them and generate panic.
· Panic is a widely used tool. When equal marriage was voted in 2010 they said: “If we allow marriage between people of the same gender, tomorrow someone will be able to marry a dog.”
· These ridicules, in addition to generating fear, delegitimize feminisms and the LGBT movement, which fight against oppression and discrimination.
· And an element is repeated: the idea of a broken natural order. The world is chaotic because “biology” or “what is natural” is questioned. Returning to that order (which supposedly reigned in the past) provides a feeling of security and fits with authoritarian discourses.
· We can laugh and talk about anything, but it is worth stopping and thinking about how bombing and panic work as a way of trafficking prejudices and generating reactionary consensus to delegitimize struggles and movements that fight so that all people live in freedom.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
