this post was submitted on 03 Oct 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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- If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
- A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
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I think having a cute stage name is something people accept after you're famous.
I'm gonna come in with maybe an unpopular hot take. I have no problems people being trans or choosing a name that suits your preferred gender, but--perhaps because of the repression earlier in life--it seems there is often an... aggressively creative search for names?
I know about 8 MtF people (0 FtM for some reason?), and they are not picking mainstream names like Mary, Samantha, or Norah for example. Eris, Athena, Cybelle, Malice, and Laika are 5 of the 8 names chosen. It's not a problem, you pick it and I will use it, but it IS jarring. I'm not making excuses for transphobia because that's stupid, but it is strange to me to ostensibly want to blend in with everybody else, but then choose a name that obviously marks you out? It's like the line between choosing a name for your heroine DND character and for yourself is suddenly completely erased and it's absolutely your right, but as an outsider it's honestly kinda weird.
I support a parents right to pick names for their kids, but aeslyn and breeleigh and brandaeden are weird names. Same for people who pick their own names regardless of gender identity. If you pick a name that is kinda weird... well it's kinda weird.
Coming up with a stage name is usually something that agents will tell their clients to do if their name sounds "too ethnic". Happens when they are auditioning for roles, not when they get famous.
Random fact I heard the other day: Leonardo DiCaprio almost sent out headshots with a stage name at the advice of his agent, but his dad talked him out of it and told him to be proud of his name. I forget what they told him his stage name should be, but it was way more generic and forgettable than his real name.
Dang, we could have had Longboy DiCaprio. Or like Lyman or something.
As a transperson with a weird name; I picked mine because I have never fit in, and instead of causing a desire to fit in, it made angry (but that might be because I am autistic as well, who knows). Choosing an unique name was kind of a middle finger and a final stamp of refusing to conform, if that makes any sense. If I'm not accepted anyway then I sure as hell am going to do whatever the fuck I want with my name and identity
It makes a ton of sense actually.
To make sure the line you quoted is giving you the right impression what I mean to say is if you pick a weird name well then it's a weird name, not that it's weird to pick it. You can't guarantee everyone will like any name you pick no matter who you are, and you sure can't force them to.
Oh yeah no, I think I get it. I just thought I'd add one perspective to why weird names might be so appealing to transfolks even though it can cause more issues than calling yourself Jean or something
What a silly argument. The name has to be on the list that you feel is an appropriate name for what ever gender were talking about. I feel you are perpetuating the problem.
So change your name to pupscent IRL?
You or anyone else can change their names to anything you want anytime; however, you can't force people to like it.
Sure, if you want dream_weasel to like it, you can ask for the approved list. If you want to name yourself General Buttfuckingnaked you absolutely can, but if people don't like it that's YOUR problem. It isn't trans insensitive to be weirded out by you naming yourself Incestte, it's just a weird fucking name.
I feel like if you're trying to mandate what people MUST like, you are CAUSING a problem. You can't force me to say a black belt and brown pants and shoes go together because a trans person picked it, that is still a shitty choice. Names are same deal. Being trans doesn't mean you are instantly exempt from every form of taste.
There was a time when women could not wear pants. Men couldn't have long hair. Bellbottoms,.... well, enuf said.
There are always people who have issues with how others talked/behaved/looked etc. In each case I don't think those people gave a shit if others liked it or not or they would have made a greater effort to be accepted by the masses.
I'm hearing from your posts that it's important to be liked by others. I personally don't give a shit if people like me or not. I'm not willing to take on that burden.
You get out of life what you put into it.
That comment is easy to say, but much harder to fully embrace. Life experiences have a way of teaching you this lesson.
I'm not sure what youre basing this allegory on. There's nobody saying that trans folks (or anyone else) shouldn't be able to pick whatever name they like. I'm not even saying that people SHOULD like any name and it frankly isn't that important. It's not like don't wear pants or don't grow long hair. What I AM saying is that if you choose a name that is offbeat and people don't love it, like (whoopi, sure) that has nothing to do with being trans and having chosen a name that suits your gender identity, but rather with people having preferences about names that you can't control.
The unspoken premise of the original post, which I disagree with, is that people don't like some set of names because trans people pick them. Instead, surprised Pikachu, there are names people don't really like. It's not trans stigma, it's filling your candy dish with black jelly beans and candy corn then saying, "people just don't like my candy because I'm pupscent and they are all backward cynophobes". If you like those candies then of course eat them, but let's not call it stigma if other people don't share your tastes.
And PupScent.
The smell of a puppies breath when it's still feeding from its mother.