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advicefromasupervillain:

People really, really like to ignore anything unpleasant, in the world or about themselves.

In many ways our culture is binary — two genders, two sides to every story, two sexualities (gay and straight). But anybody with half a brain knows that experience is a spectrum, not this-or-that. So there is a tension, if you will, between how people are told they should act and how they want to act. This tension leads to anxiety and fear that they’ll be perceived as a bad or evil or mean or cruel or stupid person for doing the most basic things. For setting boundaries. For being in love. For wanting to kiss somebody. For saying no. For saying yes. For saying goodbye, just because they want to. For walking away.

It also means that people are rarely asked to take responsibility for their own actions. Why would you, if the easier thing to do, and the thing that is more condoned the more privilege you have, is just to ignore the ugly parts of your own personality?

I do not believe that all people are inherently willing to treat other people with respect and dignity, but I do believe that most people are. And I do not believe that treating people — and yourself, most importantly yourself — with respect and dignity is at odds with my career (the details of which I hope to share more often). 

I decided to give advice as a supervillain because, being a supervillain, I have intentionally set myself outside of the boundaries of conventional wisdom. I can give you exactly the answers I want to, because I do not give a flying fuck about what anybody thinks of me.

It’s freeing.

Yours,
A Supervillain