About this Journal
Current Month
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
Aug. 31st, 2009 @ 09:15 am GMH
Current Mood: smug
Tags: ,

At [info]nekokoban's recommendation, I found GivesMeHope and put it on my Google Reader, so now I get a handful of hopeful true stories every day.

Today I found my own progressive fan version: Sparkymonster GMH!
About this Entry
1 comment
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Aug. 17th, 2009 @ 11:25 am Link-blogging
Tags: , , ,

The people and their cultures: POC and the movies: With the movie "adaptation" of Avatar, a lot more people are becoming aware of the problem of whitewashing in the media, or, as unusualmusic puts it here, "stealing our stories and retelling them with white people. Dressed in our cultures. Which are then considered exotic." What people then need to understand is that The Last Airbender is part of a pattern - a tradition - of white people hijacking other people's stories for their own glory, and Avatar is just the most recently high-profile example of this. However enraged The Last Airbender makes me, it's ultimately only one of many such battles.

If anything I said above comes as the slightest surprise to you, you would do well to read this article. It's beautifully thorough, and explains why this is too persistent to explain away as "unintentional," or "not a big deal," or "just looking for the best actor to play the part."

The Terrible Bargain We Have Regretfully Struck: This is how casual misogyny from the men we love pushes us to make the call of "Swallow shit, or ruin the entire afternoon?" on a daily basis, and how the result is to make us - not hate, which would be easier both for us and for the anti-feminists - but mistrust them. We're "[n]ot fearful; just resigned - and on my guard."

This dynamic translates almost point-for-point to other oppressions, as the writer herself points out. If you are male, white, cisgendered, straight, abled, and/or middle-class, please read this and think about the people you love who are female, of color, transgendered, queer, disabled, and/or poor.

I love you, but there are times I have to defend myself against you.

I know you love me, but there are times you have to defend yourself against me. I will do my best to make myself trustworthy every day.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Apr. 7th, 2009 @ 08:35 pm If it's not about you, it's not about you
Tags: , ,

I've heard that phrase a lot in relation to conversations about oppression and privilege - a reminder to members of privileged groups not to take criticisms of privilege as directed at them individually, or as criticisms of their personal character. I know it, and of course I think it's important. But, uh, it's not always easy to remember it myself.

So, I wanted to rewrite that sex question meme, right? And I did, with lots of help from others. But of course, that doesn't mean that it's perfect, and today I saw some comments criticizing a couple of questions in the new meme.

( In which I attempt to do some learning, and maybe teaching, from my mistakes )

I don't think I'm going to issue yet another version of the meme, because I can see myself editing it into eternity. I'll probably include a note with a link to this post, acknowledging that there are still problematic questions, that the meme can be answered partially or not at all according to people's preference, and that other, better ones can and should be made.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Apr. 2nd, 2009 @ 06:24 pm 5 things make an anti-oppression post
Tags: , , , , , ,

( Some personal background explaining the reasons behind this post )

1. For those who are still asking, "What is RaceFail '09?" the briefest answer I can manage is: what started as another instance of the discussion about misrepresentation/lack of representation of people of color in science fiction and fantasy has resulted in a particularly public and particularly ugly backlash from (often white) writers and readers.

For a timeline of specific events, please start with this summary by Avalon's Willow. Further events occurred later, as described here by [info]rydra_wong, who has also painstakingly collected all the RaceFail-related links she could find, under this tag

If you're ready for further detail, please see my LiveJournal memories for (what I consider) some of the important posts.

And finally, please refer to this guide to the positive, productive actions taken by POC and allies in the face of RaceFail. Not because of. In the face of.

Read as much as you can. Learn as much as you can. If you take nothing else away from this, remember these two things: This is not "just another wankfest," because it's about race, racism, and representation - not individual personality clashes and this or that book. Also, this is not the first or only such conversation, even if it's the first time you've heard of one like this.

2. One of the best responses to RaceFail has, by far, been the creation of Verb Noire, an e-publishing company dedicated to written works by and about people of color and/or queer people. Please support them by donating.

3.I've posted this before, but remember: if you are an Asian woman or an ally, please contribute to the first Asian Women Blog Carnival. The deadline is tomorrow.

4. This is not a new study (it was published in 2007), but it's highly relevant: Subtle Discrimination is More Taxing On The Brain. Instances of ambiguous racism were more detrimental to black test subjects than obvious cases.

"Interestingly, white volunteers were more impaired by overt racism than by the more ambiguous discrimination. Salvatore and Shelton figure this is because whites rarely experience any racism; they do not even notice the subtle forms of racism, and are thrown off balance when they are hit over the head by overt acts. Many blacks, by contrast, have developed coping strategies for the most hateful kinds of racism; it's the constant, vague, just-below-the-surface acts of racism that impair performance, day in and day out."


This is why I'm more disturbed by expressions of privileged ignorance from people whom I have some trust in, rather than dude-on-the-street spouting a racial slur. This is why I care more about creative works that fail in race or other areas when they come from creators who should know better, based on their previous performance (Joss Whedon, I'm looking at you).

5. This is not race-related, but it's important: March 31st was End the R-word Day, a day dedicated to ending the use of "retard"/"retarded" as a derogatory term.

I have succeeded in removing the word from my vocabulary, but I've utterly failed in speaking out to the people around me. There's no excuse for this. I wouldn't tolerate people using "cunt," "pussy," or "gay" as insults to me, so I can't tolerate "retard" used in the same manner.

I will start by resolving to respond to derogatory uses of "retard"/"retarded" by saying, "Please don't use 'retard'/'retarded' as an insult." That's all. It's just a start.
About this Entry
5 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Feb. 17th, 2009 @ 08:00 pm Today at the gym ...
Current Mood: snarky
Tags: ,

... the attendant/coach-person recounted an angry phone call she'd just received. The husband of one of the gym members didn't want his wife to come to the gym anymore. He said that she was becoming Americanized and didn't want to cover her face anymore (and either blamed the gym for this, or considered it a contributing factor - it wasn't clear). He demanded to cancel his wife's gym membership, and the coach informed him that only the owner of the membership could do so (it involves a contract).

Now, the coach recounted this story calmly, expressing frustration over the fact that a) the man was taking his anger out on her/the gym, b) he started asking for information about employees of the gym, and, of course, c) he was acting on his disagreement with his wife by attempting a very controlling, inappropriate action. The coach was justifiably upset. I was uncomfortable, but not because of my coach's words, exactly - rather, because of the fact that we were discussing an "other" form of sexism - as in, one that is foreign to middle-class White culture, and thus easy to demonize as the only/worst form of sexism. The result is that White sexism gets a free pass (or at least minimized) and the non-White culture gets othered as "those backwards foreigners."

However, none of this was stated explicitly. It may have been an underlying attitude - that's usually the case in "polite" conversation - but the coach, for her part, was speaking pretty intelligently and without judgment.

Then one of the gym members spoke up.

Now, this gym member was an older White woman who had been chatting in a friendly manner with other gym members when I arrived. To all outward appearances, she seemed like a nice woman. I'm sure that those who know her would describe her as nice - maybe even sweet - and would say things like, "But she's so nice, she could never be racist!"*

But then "nice White lady" opened up with, "Oh, she must be Muslim."

Uh-oh, I thought.

"I feel sorry for people in that religion."

You DO, do you? Well, I feel sorry for your ignorant cracker ass, but what can you do?

"It's very strict."

Unlike any other religions, of course. Why, I hear that Catholicism is just a skip through the park!

"But there are different kinds."

So nice of you to acknowledge that we're not all an indistinguishable mass of brown people.

"Who would want to cover their face, anyway? It's crazy."

(At this point, I was giving my arms the workout of their life on the pec machine.)

"I bet she saw all the women here being free, and wanted to do that too."

Oh, you mean like women who wear skirts because they want to celebrate their body, but who risk having their pleasure in themselves poisoned by dehumanizing sexual harassment or slut-shaming disapproval? But of course that's better than those weird Muslim men.

"If you're going to move to America, you should adopt all the customs."

SHUT UP SHUT UP YOU STUPID FUCKWIT. LET ME DO MY GODDAMN WORKOUT IN PEACE.

One of my professors once talked about how she had to don her armor every morning, to protect herself against the racism she met on a daily basis. It's times like this, when the White privilege comes from random sources at random moments - I just wanted to get some exercise - that I remember how sadly right she was. I can only imagine how I would've felt if I'd been that wife and heard those words - my culture trivialized and my choices co-opted by the dominant culture. Or if I'd been the husband - my shortcomings used to spread judgment against my entire religion.

So fuck you, Nice White Lady. Fuck you and your "polite" ignorance wounding everyone who doesn't have the privilege of being like you.

*I keep meaning to address this false argument, that somehow nice = anti-racist. I should do it soon.
About this Entry
6 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jun. 24th, 2008 @ 09:17 pm Speaking at the NWSA conference
Current Music: "Quutamo," Apocalyptica
Tags: ,

When I was in college, I often had trouble making myself talk in class. This was for a couple of reasons, not just straight-up shyness or lack of confidence. I usually wanted to take the time to formulate what to say and how to say it - and often, by the time I did that, someone else had already said what I wanted to say, or the conversation would move on. I'm also not very good at thinking on my feet, so by the time I thought of something to contribute, someone else had already said what I wanted to say, or the conversation would move on ... or end completely. XD I would eventually become comfortable enough to talk more, a few weeks into the quarter after I'd gotten a better feel for the course material and the people in my class.

Unsurprisingly, I didn't talk much during the Q&A portions of the sessions I went to at the NWSA conference. I just didn't come up with questions for the presenters, or didn't feel confident enough to voice them. In fact, I didn't speak up until something like the fifth session I attended, which was also the last one I attended at all, on Saturday morning (I spent the afternoon writing my speech for our roundtable discussion ... and yes, I had a good reason for doing it that late :P).

I wish I could've done better. My professor told us that the most important part of conferences like this is networking, and being, you know, unable to talk made it difficult to meet people. On the other hand, I did what I could, and I can't beat myself up about it after the fact. Just do better next time I'm in this kind of situation.

( And then the roundtable discussion )
About this Entry
3 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jun. 23rd, 2008 @ 07:04 pm NWSA conference recap
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: "The Thorn," Leaves' Eyes
Tags: ,

Now that I'm all unpacked and (mostly) de-jetlagged, I can talk about the conference. I will definitely talk about our roundtable later - thank you again to everyone who provided pre-conference support and post-conference congratulations - but the conference itself was definitely a significant experience on its own.

( geeky details below )
About this Entry
6 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
May. 1st, 2008 @ 03:52 pm Staying happy at work
Current Mood: okay
Tags: , ,

1. Things at work are a little craaaaazy right now, but in a good "we are undertaking a big project in order to make things work better" kind of crazy, rather than the sucky "people are mean/stupid/disruptive" crazy. This is the kind of work I'm willing and happy to do, and I wish it made up a greater percentage of my workload.

2. Another bit of happiness is my small group of favorite students, whom I like because they're consistently friendly or solicitous when they come into the office, or they're funny, or (in one notable case) delightfully odd. Yesterday one of them offered to bring me flowers for "bugging" me all the time. That's hardly necessary - it's my job to do things for students - but being appreciated for doing that makes me happy.

3. The salesman who gave me a Starbucks gift card a couple of weeks ago came back for his big presentation/pitch, and thanked me for organizing it by giving me more gift cards. Plus he left the leftover cookies and coffee from the presentation after he was done. :D~

4. Chatted with a coworker over lunch about anti-harassment training in the workplace, and idealism (why can't all such training involve anti-oppression education?) versus practicalities (most companies just want to make sure they don't get sued, rather than pursuing social justice). Things like that - casual discussions about anti-oppression where I don't have to worry about getting accused of being "over-sensitive" or "PC" (in the negative sense, of course) - just make me happier and more comfortable in my workplace.

5. Not work-related, but - going over to [info]ratzeo's tonight! Much geekery will ensue.
About this Entry
6 comments
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Oct. 4th, 2007 @ 11:10 am On being "offended"
Tags:

I don't like the word "offended."

When someone tells me not to get "offended" at racist or sexist content, what they're telling me is that they don't care about the content itself. It doesn't make a difference to them whether there is racism or sexism going on. What they care about is my reaction - whether or not I, shall we say, get my panties in a twist. Whether I make a fuss about it.

Now, that's bad enough by itself - when someone's reaction to potential sexism is not, "What's wrong and how do I fix it?" but rather, "How do I silence your reaction?" But for now, I want to talk about what I hear when people tell me not to "get offended."

Let me tell you what "offends" me. Bad smells offend me. Neon orange next to bright pink offends me. Someone who cuts in line while I'm waiting for the bus offends me. Rudeness, ugliness - petty things.

Racism? Homophobia? That shit pisses me off. It makes me think you're ignorant. It makes me think that you're soaking in privilege and - unless you apologize and try to learn, of course - you don't give a damn about fixing that. "Offended" is too delicate a word for that feeling. It doesn't convey the fire and the steel behind my reaction to privilege.

So when someone dismisses me by saying that I (or feminist comic book fans, or anti-racist sci-fi fans, etc.) get offended at every little thing, they're not being accurate.

I'm not swooning at every random comment or image that violates my poor, delicate sensibilities. I'm also not trying to malign the character of the person who said or did the wrong thing. (See icon.) No, I'm getting pissed off at the rampant ignorance and privilege that poisons the things that I enjoy. I'm getting angry because my hobbies, which should be fun for me, instead perpetuate the forms of oppression fuck up my life, or the lives of others.

"I'm offended" sounds like I'm whining that you should fix something for my sake. (See above re: ugly colors and icky smells.) But when I raise a complaint about classist content or transphobic slurs, I'm saying that something is not right and needs to be changed. Whether or not it "offends" me.

Edit: That's it, anonymous comments are off. I refuse to juggle conversations with different people who won't even sign a name to their argument. Signing up for an LJ account is free, if you want to comment.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
May. 23rd, 2007 @ 10:53 am See if you can follow the logic on this one ...
Tags: , , ,

Reading the anti-feminist whinings of entitlement-junkies tends to get my blood boiling, but there are a few things that are just too funny to get mad about. Like, say, talking about men who are misandrist - and using Joss Whedon as your example. Because, y'know, if ever there was a man who loathed his own gender, and relegated male characters to the same sort of trivializing and degrading roles that misogynist creators use for female characters, it's Joss. All those well-rounded male characters with unique forms of internal strength and ingenuity, damn him.

He must be a misandrist in the same way Jackson Katz is. Or the same way that Tim Wise hates white people. God forbid someone call out their own group on their privileged bullshit.

(Does that make me self-hating, too, when I examine straight privilege or classism? Oh, but wait, clearly I hate men and white people too, right? So I guess I'm limited in my social circle to lesbians of color. Who better not be wealthy, damn them.)

Or maybe, just maybe, this is another case of the normalization of oppression, in which abuses of members of disadvantaged groups are ho-hum, but the slightest infraction against the privileged group is ZOMG! SUCH A CRIME. If members of a group are not "allowed" to do something, it's that much more of an offense when they do. Criticizing a dude's privilege? That's surely as grievous as belittling misogyny or commodifying rape!

That's why, you see, white kids who beat up a black kid are charged with battery, but black kids who beat up a white kid in relatiation are charged with attempted murder. Oh, and those nooses? Just a joke, you oversensitive PC-nazis!

*sigh* Sometimes there's too much ignorance in the world to comprehend.

Oh, well - I guess I can just go spit in a white man's coffee and make up for the history of colonialism or something.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Mar. 23rd, 2007 @ 01:16 am The impossibility of dialogue
Tags: ,

[This post is in honor of the one two (whoops!) year birthday of the Official Shrub.com Blog, where I have been given the privilege to guest-blog for the past several months.]

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently took a class on racism and white privilege. My professor was unflinching in his recognition that some things about anti-oppression work are "impossible." And while this sounds like a pessimistic view of things, I think it was very important that he acknowledged this concept and repeatedly brought it to our attention.

I chose to write about this subject for the two-year anniversary of the Official Shrub.com Blog because of that importance, despite the fact that it also sounds pretty dreary. I mean, it is a bit disheartening to commemorate the birth of an anti-oppression blog by talking about everything it can't do.

But recognizing difficulties can always do two different things: it can bring you down, and it can also help you clarify your path to better accomplish your goals. As you can guess, I hope to do the latter.

( some difficulties of dialogue )

x-posted to Shrub.com
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Mar. 9th, 2007 @ 02:05 am On being an ally
Tags: ,

Today, for the last meeting of my class on racism and white privilege, we had a panel of guest speakers who do anti-racist work from within the university. One was a white man, one a white woman, and one an African American man, so the issue was raised about allies. Allies, in the context of anti-oppression work, are members of a privileged group who work against that privilege: white people in anti-racism, men in feminism, etc.

Allies have a very different place in anti-oppression work than members of the non-privileged group. They don't have the firsthand experience of oppression, and so their knowledge of it is incomplete. They constantly risk perpetuating the oppression themselves - which, of course, all of us do, privileged or not - but with the added risk that, when they slip up, they hurt others rather than hurting themselves. However, allies are also powerful and helpful because of their very privilege, because they can use the social power that they have been arbitrarily and unfairly granted in order to work against the power structure.

Being an ally (and staying one) is also difficult and complicated. The panelists' discussions on what it means to be allies and to have allies (each of them was in a position to address both questions, due to their respective places in various social hierarchies) brought up several helpful points, which can help us as we think about creating and maintaining alliances in our work.

( On being an ally )

x-posted to Shrub.com
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jan. 19th, 2007 @ 01:59 pm It's nice to know that our efforts have paid off
Tags: , ,

Young America's Foundation has made a list called The Dirty Dozen: America's Most Bizarre and Politically Correct College Courses.

#6 on the list is a Special Topics course in my Women Studies department titled "Border Crossings, Borderlands: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Immigration."

GO US!

In the words of my departmental advisor, "I'm deeply disappointed they only picked one and that UW as a university wasn't even ranked."

(Gotta love how they seem to think that one of the really weird and crazy things people could think of studying is ... Native American feminism. 'CAUSE THAT'S SO FREAKY. Racist fucks.)
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Dec. 11th, 2006 @ 08:16 pm Oppression is not a zero-sum game
Tags: , , ,

I have a ton of blog reading to catch up on, due to the fact that the last five days were jammed full with getting all of my Christmas shopping, writing all of my final papers, and doing all my winter-time celebrating (i.e., holiday party and my birthday). But here's the first thing to jump out at me:

Via Jenn at Reappropriate, Rosie O'Donnell makes a racist (anti-Chinese) joke. And surprise, surprise, no one does a goddamn thing about it.

One of the reasons this pisses me off so much is that I recently heard about O'Donnell having a public spar with Kelly Ripa over Ripa's homophobic comment. Ripa insisted she didn't intend to be homophobic, and O'Donnell replied, "I'm just saying from where I sit as a gay person in the world that I have to tell you, that's how it came off to me." In other words, as the non-privileged person, she (rightly) has the broader perspective concerning what is privileged or bigoted. However, when O'Donnell says that her racist comment "was not meant to mock," and Asian-Americans try to assert their perspective, we're told that we just don't have a sense of humor.

Bigoted "humor" is one of the things I hate most. Because when you try to call someone on their privilege, they always use the chickenshit response, "hey, it was a joke, get over it." Instead of taking two seconds to see what's wrong with what they said, they just carry blithely on. And what ends up as a throwaway comment for them is usually the 600th repetition of the oppression I have to face every damn day.

So, Ms. O'Donnell, let me tell you - being a lesbian who knows a lot about queer issues doesn't give you a free pass concerning other forms of oppression. Yes, white women can be racist too - that's kind of what one of the giant schisms in Western feminism is all about.

You know what? Just like I'm tired of sexism in the anti-racist movement, it's also really fucking tiresome to have to deal with racism in the queer movement, feminism, and everything else.

And while we're at it, you know what's not okay? This whole "nobody's racist anymore, but sexism is all over the place" whining from white women who don't have a clue what it's like to deal with both. Or any other form of "my oppression is the only one still out there, so you shut up about yours." We're all stomped on in different ways, so stop trying to be the special snowflake whose hardship is the worst.

On another topic, go take a look at Hey Hetero!, a public art installation in Australia that highlights straight privilege. Which I've got in spades. (Because, you know, being yellow and female doesn't mean I get to forget that I'm a straight person who doesn't get harassed for the gender of my partner. Who'd've thunk?)
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Aug. 16th, 2006 @ 11:52 pm Anger and educating the privileged
Tags: ,

I realize that, lately, I am an angry person.

I read the news, I get angry. I read my blogs - most of which are political in nature - and get angry. I see things in my daily life that make me angry - hateful misogyny, self-serving racism, ruthless economic exploitation, and on and on and on.

On the one hand, I think that's a good thing - "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention" is a truth I live by. While I'm not glad that I'm angry, I'm glad that I have some sort of response to the oppression and mistreatment that goes on every single day in this world. I'm glad I notice at least some of all this, and that I have a visceral response that this world isn't right. If I can still feel outrage - and thus, a desire to change things - then I know I'm still human, and not totally numb or complacent.

( The world pisses me off )

x-posted to Shrub.com
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Aug. 7th, 2006 @ 01:55 pm Feminism and class
Tags: ,

Check out the latest Carnival of Feminists over at Super Babymama: the theme this time around is feminism and poverty.

Class is perhaps the least-covered topic in the feminist blogosphere. Race, as I've experienced it, is often treated poorly, but at least it's treated at all - class issues just tend to be overlooked. Of course, I'm fully implicating myself as well - I don't talk about class much. I have very poor understanding of classism, either how it works on a large scale, or how I perpetuate it personally. I don't even have a classism tag, the way I do for sexism, racism, and homophobia. My class privilege is, I would say, the least examined.

I've had my eyes opened a little bit recently, especially with all my Women Studies courses last quarter - in particular, the global classist structure (tied in with racism and sexism) that perpetuates the "Third World"/"First World" division. But I know thismuch about, say, welfare in the U.S. One of the reasons for that is that the U.S. hates to talk about economic privilege, because we're supposed to be a free market, where everyone has a chance on an equal playing field. Class is like a four-letter word.

Anyway, my point is: this Carnival is a great place to start. I talked about self-education on privilege - well, here we go, a buttload of information dropped onto my lap. I'll be reading through these entries, and I highly recommend that all of you out there do the same - there's far too much ignorance on this topic.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jul. 18th, 2006 @ 01:13 pm Educating links
Tags: ,

In keeping with my earlier post on self-education about privilege, I bring you proof that education is neither hard to find, nor hard to understand.

-How (heterosexual?) men should act around women in public. Short, to the point, and not nearly as hard as anti-feminist whiners would make it out to be.

-A book excerpt (Jackson Katz, woo!) explaining how men's and women's general understandings of sexual assault are fundamentally different.

-Why the 'you're just overreacting' response to accusations of sexual harassment is bullshit. (Amanda's analysis also applies to racist/homophobic/etc. harassment.)

-Why the 'it's your fault for not stopping it' response to accusations of sexual harassment is also bullshit. (I highly, highly recommend reading this post, as well as the personal anecdotes in the comments. I guarantee that any woman who has experienced sexual harassment will recognize herself in them. And Happy's explanation of why women generally respond the way they do is right on.)

-On a different subject, why the 'but there are _____ people who act like this' defense of stereotypes in fiction is bullshit. If you ever worry about relying on stereotypes in your own creations (I know I do), read it. Learn it. Do it.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jul. 13th, 2006 @ 06:01 pm Who teaches you about privilege?
Tags:

One of the common reactions of people who learn about their privilege is to go to the non-privileged group for education. It makes sense, in a way; privilege begets blindness in the privileged, so those who are most likely to have knowledge of privilege and its resultant oppression are members of the non-privileged group.

However. The follow-up to: "I just realized that people like me have been disadvantaging and taking advantage of people like you" should not be: "Now YOU come teach ME about how I've been screwing you over." Because, um, hello, sense of entitlement? One of your first steps should be learning to stop demanding things of the non-privileged group.

So. How do you get educated? I see a lot of frustration from well meaning privileged people who feel stuck, because on the one hand they're not supposed to make non-privileged people be their teachers - but on the other hand, without someone to teach them, how do they make sure not to hurt/offend/piss off people in the future?

( Step 1: Put that frustration in context )
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jul. 13th, 2006 @ 09:57 am Link dump
Tags: , , ,

Some links to start off your morning by making you laugh, cry, or go WTF?

-From the New York Times comes an article about the changing role of the word "slut." A decent treatment of the subject, especially for a mainstream publication - though you gotta love how both Ariel Levy (Female Chauvinist Pigs) and Leora Tanenbaum (Slut! Growing Up Female with a Bad Reputation) are quoted, and yet there is nary a mention of feminism in the article. Ah well.

-Sony has now officially pulled the fucked up PSP ads and apologized ... sorta. From the official statement: [W]e wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended." In other words, We're sorry that YOU have a problem, but it's not really our fault. Gotta love pseudo-apologies like that. (Actually, what you have to really love are the comments in response, which include a few level heads but also some of the most stereotypical racially ignorant statements I have ever seen - including the gem, "i'm white, so i know these things.")

-Of course, not to be outdone by racism in the geek world, sexism makes its own showing by reminding us what a woman's place is. Thanks, Marvel!

-Ragnell shows us how "dynamic" translates into "porntastic anal sex pose" to some in the comics industry. Thanks again, Marvel!

-She also has a lovely and pithy analysis of Princess Leia's empowerment. XD

-And finally, [info]remix17 reminds us that feminists must be careful in their response to these things. Hilarious satire.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link
Jun. 21st, 2006 @ 02:26 pm An important message
Tags: ,

I ran across this gem in another blog:

sometimes i think there are way too many people who mostly understand "racist" as something like:

1) Racism is bad.
2) I am not a bad person.
3) Therefore, I'm not racist.
4) Lather, rinse, repeat.

Perfectly stated.

I wonder, sometimes, what it is that makes people think that being a generally good person is a magical shield against being racist (and/or sexist, homophobic, or otherwise *ist). I mean, I know a bunch of people, myself included, who would think of themselves as good people - yet admit that they have major flaws such as a short temper or the inability to keep deadlines. Doing so doesn't trigger some debilitating cognitive dissonance as we try to wonder, How can I still be a worthwhile person if I needed an extension on my term paper!?

And yet. Pointing out a *ist behavior to a person is like sticking a pig with a needle. A narcissistic, defensive pig, who thinks that self-proclamations of being a "good person" are enough. Regardless of the arguments or evidence presented to them, the metaphorical pigs are determined to persist in their self-image as a good - and non-prejudiced!!1! - person. (Yeah, a man insisting he can determine what is or isn't sexist? A straight person attempting to define homophobia? Is the ridiculousness of this somehow not apparent?)

And, okay, *isms are more serious flaws in character than, say, being late on an assignment. It's natural that the thought of being *ist would be more troubling. But not to the point of denial, and the implication that the member of the oppressed group is somehow wrong in identifying your behavior. On the contrary, being on the bottom of an oppressive system means that someone is more likely to have greater and more intimate knowledge of the oppression. Privilege begets blindness.

Privilege is also pervasive. It's much, much harder to recognize and extinguish it than to accept and ignore it.

I am a part of the interlocking systems of oppression. I dedicate myself to feminism, anti-racism, and everything else that fights oppression - but I still live and function in society, and society is steeped in *isms. Have I internalized sexism against myself and other women? Of course. Have I internalized racism against my race? Ho-boy yeah. Against other non-white races? You betcha. And am I full to the brim of privilege due to being a straight person, a wealthy person, an educated person, a U.S. citizen? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

And yet. Do I still think I'm a good person? Yes.

But that means it's my duty to educate myself about the privileges and oppressions I experience, so I can really earn that label.
About this Entry
Leave a comment
Permanent Link