12 Signs Your Exhaustion Is Due to Emotional Labor — And How to Create Healthy Boundaries December 22, 2019 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment Much has been written with regards to emotional labor in the past few years. Specifically, women have been writing about the emotional labor they must bear in the world in various ways, specifically, with cis men and their own families. As a trans-femme of color with light-skinned privilege, I have had my share of emotional labor. I do become exhausted with providing emotional … [Read more...]
12 maneras de saber si tu cansancio se debe al trabajo emocional y cómo construir limites saludables September 8, 2019 by Ramona Rio and Emanuel Urrea Leave a Comment Se ha escrito mucho respecto al trabajo emocional en los últimos años. Particularmente, son las mujeres quienes han escrito sobre el trabajo emocional que deben soportar en este mundo en sus distintas variantes, específicamente con relación a varones cis y a sus propias familias. Como mujer trans con el privilegio de tener piel clara, he tenido mi cuota de trabajo emocional. … [Read more...]
7 Things Not to Say to a Child Wrestling With Their Sexuality August 23, 2019 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment As a young person, I didn’t have any queer adult mentors to teach me about the positivity of exploring my sexual orientation, not to mention my gender identity. Most of what I learned about being LGBTIQ came from '90s mainstream media and my Gay Straight Alliance in high school. After high school, a couple of my friends eventually came out as gay. I listened and learned from … [Read more...]
How Your Everyday Language Reinforces Homophobia & Transphobia November 13, 2018 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment Our spoken language is rooted in assumptions based from the worldview of cis people and heteronormativity. Our language is also deeply rooted in patriarchy. It is through our everyday language that homophobia and transphobia, essentially cis-hetero-patriarchy, expresses itself. The titles we so commonly use in reference to address family members all refer to binary gender … [Read more...]
7 Ways We Attempt to Build Safety In a Less Safe World for Trans Folk November 4, 2018 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment Being trans is to constantly live a life in terror. But, being trans also means to live a life in one’s own true selfhood. This is the duality of being trans, to live a life of suffering and agony, and to also live a life of self-determination and authenticity. Living a life of terror is to experience various forms of violence on a continuum. From one’s family and friends … [Read more...]
“How Can I Best Support You?” & 6 Other Questions to Ask When Your Friend is Suffering August 24, 2018 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment When I hit rock-bottom in my drug addiction and mental health, I spent a whole year and a half recovering. Six months of that time, I slept almost every day until two or three in the afternoon. I would not say that I had nothing to live for, but I felt there was nothing in my immediate future to work towards. I did not even see it as time to “work on myself” because I was … [Read more...]
How Your Everyday Language Reinforces Homophobia & Transphobia – Part 2 July 9, 2018 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment *The first part of this necessary conversation by Ramona Rio can be found here. Politically and personally, there is a continued conversation about the nuances between cis gender identities and trans identities. Specifically, conversations about words and language used to deconstruct patriarchy and recenter womanhood have simultaneously been conversations about dismantling … [Read more...]
Why Taking the Job Home Is Killing Us: Beyond the Binary of “Work” and “Home” September 30, 2016 by Ramona Rio Leave a Comment Three years ago, I got my first job out of graduate school as a therapist working with at-risk youth and their families. Because this was my first job out of grad school, I felt I had to give it my all. Not only that, I took a year off after school, during which I hit rock bottom in my own drug addiction. A year coming out of my drug addiction is when I got that job, and, … [Read more...]
