Amanda Youmans

Intellect & romance triumphs over brute force & cynicism.

[Amanda Youmans @AmroseYou]

Intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism.

[Page Kennedy @PageKennedy]

Can we plz get #HowToDieAlone on the front page of Hulu. I can’t find it anywhere unless i type it in. It needs to be visible to get new eye balls to see it plz. We need to support @natasharothwell she wrote this. Created it. EP. This is her baby and deserves the full shot. Ty 😀

[Amanda Youmans @AmroseYou]

I did not get the rom-com airport ending I hoped for in last year's Ted Lasso finale. I'm hoping
#HowToDieAlone comes through with a more satisfying ending.

[Amanda Youmans @AmroseYou]

There is no justice. The system is cruel and that is the point.

[Innocence Project @innocence]

BREAKING: The @USSupremeCourt has denied a stay of execution and declined to grant review to Marcellus Williams, allowing his execution to go forward at 6 p.m. CT today. https://t.co/Nv50v0LUp8

[Amanda Youmans @AmroseYou]

Is this the "invisible fat black woman" wig?

@ashleyn1cole @nicolebyer @natasharothwell @BlackLadySketch #HowToDieAlone

[On threads as Big__Relly @awkward_duck]

NYPD shot 4 people, including one of their own officers, over a $2.90 fare evasion. They shot at someone over $2.90. This is what we mean when we say police protect property (wealth), not people.

[Keith Boykin @keithboykin]

Amber Thurman needed a procedure to remove tissue from her uterus. But Georgia Republicans passed an anti-abortion law that made it illegal. The 28-year-old mother waited in an Atlanta-area hospital for 20 hours before doctors could operate. And she died.

https://t.co/3Re1ILPt7N

[TrekCore.com 🖖 @TrekCore]

Happy Bell Riots day to all who, uh, celebrate

#StarTrek #DS9

[Jay Jurden @JayJurden]

The guy in the middle can still hug his kids though

[Amanda Youmans @AmroseYou]

Now she's a gold medalist queen.

[Algeria FC @Algeria_FC]

🇩🇿 Imane Khelif goes for gold tonight in the Women's Featherweight final

Khelif goes into the fight knowing that she is guaranteed a silver medal, but more importantly, that she has already won over the entire world with her immense resilience, strength and class against an orchestrated campaign of misinformation, hate and vitriol

Win or lose, she is our champion ! 🙌

#Olympics #Paris2024

[SCAM GODDESS @DivaLaci]

Peaceful protesting is supposed to be “disruptive” and “annoyin”. Just because there’s truly only one option in this election doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be taken to task. 🤷🏾‍♀️

[Light Bowgun Brigadier @SourceDuMal]

And her coworkers. That man should have gotten a full pot of coffee on his head.

A man twice her size grabbing her over the counter and none of them tell him to leave?!?!

She need to sue for real cus they actively put her in danger!!!

[Light Bowgun Brigadier @SourceDuMal]

Fuck that manager for letting him just order instead of KICKING HIM OUT FOR ASSAULTING HER.

[Mike Nellis @MikeNellis]

Since launching #WhiteDudesforHarris last Friday, I have faced a barrage of right-wing attacks on Twitter, bizarrely focused on my weight rather than the actual message of what we're trying to accomplish. There have been countless posts about my body shape, with people zooming in on photos of my stomach. It’s weird stuff, but I want to reflect on it.

First, let me say I couldn't care less about what people say about me online, especially those trying to be cruel. It's not the first time people have made fun of my weight. When I was a local organizer back in Nebraska, Republican consultants used to post memes mocking me as fat and a slob. I'm not surprised by it, nor does it really bother me. But I want to discuss my weight in the context of our work because it matters.

@RossMoRock spoke eloquently about this on Monday’s call. Men face an epidemic of loneliness, anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Statistics show that deaths of despair—suicides, drug overdoses—disproportionately affect white men, but also young men in general. It’s happening because of poor mental health and men being trapped in a vortex of negative thoughts about what it means to be a man in a society that’s evolving, creating a sense of coldness and loneliness.

That nearly happened to me. I'm lucky to be here. I could have easily been a death of despair. I've struggled with anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation almost my entire life, especially as an adult. For a long time, I ignored these feelings, finding ways to disassociate.

In my 20s, I disassociated by staying up all night, drinking whiskey, playing video games, and eating an absurd amount of calories. In hindsight, I now know I had been trying to kill myself with food for twenty years. I ballooned to what I assume was 600 pounds at my largest; the highest I ever actually weighed in was 550 pounds because I was too scared to step on a scale. This stress eating helped me cope with every professional and personal trauma, loneliness, shame, and the disconnection and lack of identity I struggled with.

In 2020, during the pandemic, my loneliness and anxiety escalated, like it did for a lot of people. In the summer of 2020, I had the worst anxiety attack of my life, leading to weeks of sleepless nights and an inability to even function. I was not the husband, father, and leader I wanted to be. I became consumed with thoughts of ending it all, unable to tell anyone.

After my wife asked if she could go on a trip back to Omaha to visit her folks, I finally blurted out how afraid I was of being alone because I feared I would hurt myself. We both broke down. That was my lowest point. I will never forget the look of fear in her eyes. But because I said it out loud, it made it real. It made it something I could overcome. So, I began therapy, addressing my anxiety, depression, loneliness, and identity issues. It took about a year to get back to some sense of normal, but I did the work and I got there. I’m okay, most of the time.

Then I looked in the mirror. I saw a 550-pound dude who couldn't walk up a flight of stairs, play with his son, or live the life he wanted. I realized that I had been trying to kill myself with food. But with a clear head, help from my family and friends, and a whole lot of vulnerability, I started working out, improving my diet, and addressing my bad habits. Over the last two years, I've lost 200 pounds—an entire person I carried for most of my adult life. Though I still have work to do, and those mocking photos are real and nothing to be ashamed of, I'm committed to continuing my journey to good health.

Being a man isn't about looking like a roided-out buff freak. It's about being real with yourself and others, leading with empathy and heart, and facing challenges head-on with vulnerability. We need more empathetic conversations, as we're losing too many young people to drug addiction, abuse, and suicidal ideation.

Changing the narrative around men seeking the help they need and building healthy connections is crucial. It’s one of the reasons I dove headfirst into #WhiteDudesforHarris. I don't care about the mockery, but the culture it perpetuates makes it harder for men to seek help. Those perpetuating this culture should be ashamed of themselves.

I've lost 200 pounds, finished an 8K a few months ago, traveled across Europe, taken up great new hobbies like golf, and done things these trolls couldn’t imagine. I'm doing the work and will continue to do so. Those mocking my weight have work to do too, deciding the kind of person they want to be and the world they want to leave behind for their kids. I know what kind of world I want to leave behind for mine.

P.S. Here's a photo of me completing my first 8K a few months ago 👇

[Jeet Heer @HeerJeet]

Prime example of how transphobia inevitably leads to the policing of cisgender women along narrowest possible spectrum of acceptable femininity

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

I put together an 11-minute supercut of Trump angrily self-immolating at the NABJ before his handlers pulled him from the stage. https://t.co/JmkbECDKdA

[feminist next door @emrazz]

Happy caturday to my fellow ogres. May you spend it in peace, maybe with a delicious sandwich, some cookies, or both, and without the burden of societal expectation to chain yourself to anyone, especially not someone who wont tell their friends to stop raping your friends.

[Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End, etc @JasonKPargin]

Wait is this it