Other Kin

IdleRich

IdleRich
Otherkin are a subculture of people who identify as not entirely human. Some otherkin believe their identity derives from reincarnation, a non-human soul, ancestry, symbolism, or metaphor. Others attribute it to unusual psychology and do not hold spiritual beliefs on the subject. Categories of otherkin include Fictionkin, those who identify as fictional characters; Conceptkin, who identify as abstract concepts; Weatherkin, who identify as weather systems; as well as a number of other more obscure categories.Joseph P. Laycock, assistant professor of religious studies at Texas State University, considers otherkin beliefs to have a religious dimension, but asserts that "the argument that Otherkin identity claims conform to a substantive definition of religion is problematic". Many otherkin themselves reject the notion that being otherkin is a religious belief. A controversial but frequently made analogy is to the transgender condition and gender dysphoria, leading to the terms trans-species or trans-speciesism and species dysphoria.

I can see that that last bit might be a little-controversial. Anyway, let's leave that aside for a moment... I found a potentially useful place on reddit where users will help you work out what kind of thing you really are

Hey! I’m a other kin but not sure what kind. I have a feeling I have bat wings. At the same time I eat flowers and act like a cat +i bite people I don’t wanna assume, any tips / ideas?

They identify as NOT with



What's going on here eh? I got a few of my own thoughts but interested to hear what the rest of you think first.
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Employers will be legally obliged to provide stand-up wheeled water tanks for mermaidkin and bin bags of food scraps for foxkin.

And yet I still won't be allowed to identify as Polynesian
 
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john eden

male pale and stale
It is interesting to watch young people develop creative strategies that help foster community and break down the alienation so many of them experience.
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Not convinced that performing one's alienation by joining a community that might have one other member per million people is ideal.

Better to go watch one's local football team
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
"I have an absolute beast of a prey drive, and it's almost impossible for me to not have a go at any small, quick-moving animal that crosses my line of sight. Even if I don't stalk or give chase, there's still that tensing and lowering of the body. I'm mostly asking how to stop this so that I don't pull a smooth brain move and get stung by a bee or something, since we have flowers opening and that means we'll have pollinators, but I'm also asking because I'm going to be in a densely populated area soon and there will likely be a lot of city animals around. I just cannot restrain myself when it comes to pigeons, and human society is so judgmental." https://www.kinmunity.com/threads/how-to-diminish-prey-drive.4621/
 

martin

----
Mermaids are real, one tried to lure me to my death once - sucked for her that I swam for Barnet Copthall Under-11s.
Come to think of it, I saw a prostitute with a lion's face in Amsterdam once ('saw' as in saw her from the street, not 'booked a sesh with her', before someone strikes up).
These people surely aren't as annoying as Nick Cave fans.
 

Leo

Well-known member
Seems ripe for a week of discussion on all the evening Fox News opinion shows, Tucker Carlson would love all this stuff.
 

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
Also being alienated in a way no one else is is another kind of panacea
Yeah this I think is accurate. There is a defense mechanism to be found in building a construct around your alienation, a construct so singular nobody can relate to it, and thus nobody can dismiss it or dismantle it. You can tell yourself that nobody knows what its like to go through what you're going through.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
One thing I can't help but wonder about is the bit where I said "let's leave that aside for the moment" - ie this bit

A controversial but frequently made analogy is to the transgender condition and gender dysphoria, leading to the terms trans-species or trans-speciesism and species dysphoria.

Cos what I wonder about... well, I think about, you know those cunts who go "I identify as a helicopter" or whatever as some kind of hilariously witty and devastatingly effective attack on trans people? I sort of think that some of what these otherkin are saying looks a bit like that. Except, I really don't think it's done maliciously, but it feels that they are using these arguments in a way they are not really entitled to and it makes me a bit uncomfortable.

So on that otherkin page you've got someone saying that they identify as a dragon, in fact, in reality they ARE a dragon - and they are pretty much saying "I AM a dragon is true in the way that a trans gender person saying, I AM a woman is true" but... I don't think it is true, or at least I strongly suspect it's not true. I mean, they are all dragons, unicorns or mermaids right, not too many maggots or even donkeys in there, and straight away that makes me think that these people are choosing glamorous fantasy versions of themselves, not uncovering their real hidden self. Like when people regress to their past lives and - ooh how exciting - they are always Julius Caesar or Mary Queen of Scots or something.

I feel that this is quite delicate territory and I may be sort of blundering around in it, I don't mean to offend anyone for sure, I think that someone insisting that they are really a dragon is probably someone who is not totally happy and they are trying to find a way to cheer themselves up - so I automatically feel mean for criticising that. That said it does seem that by borrowing arguments from and drawing parallels to transgender stuff, they are playing into the hands of the people I mention above - they risk trivialising real problems by drawing silly parallels, and I'm not sure that - if somehow someone was able to win on this point - being recognised as a dragon would turn out to be the solution to all their problems.

Maybe I'm talking shite, perhaps their numbers are so small that they don't really have any affect on any other arguments and, if a load of people want to be mermaids, then I should shut up and let them. But, to me, the first line on the wiki is about the controversies associated with the position and that immediately makes me think it's not as easy as that.
 
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