meta recs + the privilege to dismiss
chopchica:
So yes, I get more than enough of this in my daily life, and my question is, in fandom - where everybody is willing to discuss (the very valid issues of) Martha the maid, female characters being hated and ignored because they’re female and not male, het sex being thought of as gross and needing specific warnings, miscegenation, whether 'playing gay' is in any way analogous to blackface, and a billion other things about the daily homophobia/sexism/racism that exists on television, in movies, in books, in bands, and everywhere else - why have I yet to see any of these issues about Judaism and anti-Semitism addressed? ( here )
technosage: (in response to chopchica)
Yet...when someone clearly is being anti-Semitic, and since I'm Jewish and vitriolic on the subject of anti-Semitism, I ought to call them on it. Learn some tools for saying "this conversation isn't about anti-Semitism, and this isn't the place to have this conversation, but what you've said is incredibly offensive to me. I'd like to engage you about it somewhere else."
I mean, I could just say that, right? But... I don't. And it's not for fear of co-opting the narrative. It's because...
It's because it's a fuckton harder to rock the boat on my own behalf than on that of someone else. It's much harder to hear "wtf are you whining about, you people have all the money and all the education?" than it is to hear "will you stop talking about color already? dude, you're harshing my squee." ( here )
kita0610: (also in response to chopchica)
Try and come up with the last full on Jewish show. Not a "very special Channukah with the Rug Rats." I mean a show where the leading man/woman/children etc. were Jewish and it was a big part of their lives and it *mattered* to the plot.
I'll wait.
Just because you do not see racism does not mean there isn't racism inherent in the system. ( here )
I can't rec these posts enough.
I was writing this up and talking to friends, and I had the sudden horrible thought that, hey, if my closest friends and I hadn't been discussing Judaism or Jewishness lately, or if my best friends weren't Jewish, or if I hadn't been reading and doing a lot of personal questioning about what it all means to me that I could very likely brush it off as not applicable to me or anyone I know.
I'd have read the first few lines, thought 'Antisemitism, that doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm neither a Jew nor a skinhead.' I might even have read the comments chopchica linked to and thought 'That's not so bad. Wow, she's so lol sensitive and raising a ruckus for nothing.'
But still, I know there are people who may skim past the posts because it makes them uncomfortable or because they think it doesn't apply to them or because they don't see what the big deal is. They don't have to think about it because that is their privilege.
It's easy to be blind to 'invisible' bigotry or racism. If someone isn't being killed or called racial epithets, it is a very easy thing to ignore it -- if you're not part of the oppressed group.
I have done and said stupid, racist things because of privilege and blindness. I laughed at some of the fandom race discussions. I let comments go because I didn't see what the big deal was. I skimmed or ignored posts about ethnic identity or racism in the media. I thought everyone talking about it was just being too sensitive, or actively searching for things to bitch about because they liked to cause trouble. But, hey, I'd get all bent out of whack and confused if someone had the nerve to defriend me or tell me I was being racist or dismissive or a stupid white chick.
I don't think I can apologize for any of that without it coming off as disingenuous. Lip service isn't what I'm aiming for here. But I was wrong.
I'm just saying -- people have privilege. White privilege is what we hear about the most, but there are other kinds of privilege, too, and it's not just getting a job or not being stopped by the police. If you're not transgendered, you can ignore the health care issues of trans people. If you're not Native American, you can ignore the governmental issues of Native Americans. If you're not mentally disabled (or related to someone who is), you can ignore when someone uses the word 'retard'. Or use it yourself and laugh about it.
If you're not a part of this group you can ignore this group's issues.
Most people don't think 'I am Privileged, therefore I don't have to examine this.' Having privilege means you don't have to think of it that way. It means you can dismiss something as 'not a big deal' or not affecting you. Your brain can do a weird disconnection whenever you see the words 'race issues'. Or someone can make a valid complaint about Jewish stereotypes and you can think 'why does it matter if I say Jews have money? it's not even negative!' Or you can compare or weigh oppression and say 'well, I have to deal with a lot worse than that, so it doesn't matter'.
What I like about this recent discussion is that there are a lot of people going 'I never thought about that. This makes me uncomfortable, but now I will be much more likely to see instances of Antisemitism when they occur'. And that is always a good thing. Looking at what I've been able to ignore (intentionally or not) gives me a horrible, skeevy feeling. It makes me uncomfortable to talk about and confront it. It's hard. But when I think about a friend getting hurt, offended, or angry because of an offhand remark some idiot made, and I think about how hurt, offended, or angry I have made people in the past, and I think of all the people who deal with these things all the time, I can't not do something (even if the 'something' is simply questioning my own assumptions) just because it's difficult.
So yes, I get more than enough of this in my daily life, and my question is, in fandom - where everybody is willing to discuss (the very valid issues of) Martha the maid, female characters being hated and ignored because they’re female and not male, het sex being thought of as gross and needing specific warnings, miscegenation, whether 'playing gay' is in any way analogous to blackface, and a billion other things about the daily homophobia/sexism/racism that exists on television, in movies, in books, in bands, and everywhere else - why have I yet to see any of these issues about Judaism and anti-Semitism addressed? ( here )
technosage: (in response to chopchica)
Yet...when someone clearly is being anti-Semitic, and since I'm Jewish and vitriolic on the subject of anti-Semitism, I ought to call them on it. Learn some tools for saying "this conversation isn't about anti-Semitism, and this isn't the place to have this conversation, but what you've said is incredibly offensive to me. I'd like to engage you about it somewhere else."
I mean, I could just say that, right? But... I don't. And it's not for fear of co-opting the narrative. It's because...
It's because it's a fuckton harder to rock the boat on my own behalf than on that of someone else. It's much harder to hear "wtf are you whining about, you people have all the money and all the education?" than it is to hear "will you stop talking about color already? dude, you're harshing my squee." ( here )
kita0610: (also in response to chopchica)
Try and come up with the last full on Jewish show. Not a "very special Channukah with the Rug Rats." I mean a show where the leading man/woman/children etc. were Jewish and it was a big part of their lives and it *mattered* to the plot.
I'll wait.
Just because you do not see racism does not mean there isn't racism inherent in the system. ( here )
I can't rec these posts enough.
I was writing this up and talking to friends, and I had the sudden horrible thought that, hey, if my closest friends and I hadn't been discussing Judaism or Jewishness lately, or if my best friends weren't Jewish, or if I hadn't been reading and doing a lot of personal questioning about what it all means to me that I could very likely brush it off as not applicable to me or anyone I know.
I'd have read the first few lines, thought 'Antisemitism, that doesn't have anything to do with me. I'm neither a Jew nor a skinhead.' I might even have read the comments chopchica linked to and thought 'That's not so bad. Wow, she's so lol sensitive and raising a ruckus for nothing.'
But still, I know there are people who may skim past the posts because it makes them uncomfortable or because they think it doesn't apply to them or because they don't see what the big deal is. They don't have to think about it because that is their privilege.
It's easy to be blind to 'invisible' bigotry or racism. If someone isn't being killed or called racial epithets, it is a very easy thing to ignore it -- if you're not part of the oppressed group.
I have done and said stupid, racist things because of privilege and blindness. I laughed at some of the fandom race discussions. I let comments go because I didn't see what the big deal was. I skimmed or ignored posts about ethnic identity or racism in the media. I thought everyone talking about it was just being too sensitive, or actively searching for things to bitch about because they liked to cause trouble. But, hey, I'd get all bent out of whack and confused if someone had the nerve to defriend me or tell me I was being racist or dismissive or a stupid white chick.
I don't think I can apologize for any of that without it coming off as disingenuous. Lip service isn't what I'm aiming for here. But I was wrong.
I'm just saying -- people have privilege. White privilege is what we hear about the most, but there are other kinds of privilege, too, and it's not just getting a job or not being stopped by the police. If you're not transgendered, you can ignore the health care issues of trans people. If you're not Native American, you can ignore the governmental issues of Native Americans. If you're not mentally disabled (or related to someone who is), you can ignore when someone uses the word 'retard'. Or use it yourself and laugh about it.
If you're not a part of this group you can ignore this group's issues.
Most people don't think 'I am Privileged, therefore I don't have to examine this.' Having privilege means you don't have to think of it that way. It means you can dismiss something as 'not a big deal' or not affecting you. Your brain can do a weird disconnection whenever you see the words 'race issues'. Or someone can make a valid complaint about Jewish stereotypes and you can think 'why does it matter if I say Jews have money? it's not even negative!' Or you can compare or weigh oppression and say 'well, I have to deal with a lot worse than that, so it doesn't matter'.
What I like about this recent discussion is that there are a lot of people going 'I never thought about that. This makes me uncomfortable, but now I will be much more likely to see instances of Antisemitism when they occur'. And that is always a good thing. Looking at what I've been able to ignore (intentionally or not) gives me a horrible, skeevy feeling. It makes me uncomfortable to talk about and confront it. It's hard. But when I think about a friend getting hurt, offended, or angry because of an offhand remark some idiot made, and I think about how hurt, offended, or angry I have made people in the past, and I think of all the people who deal with these things all the time, I can't not do something (even if the 'something' is simply questioning my own assumptions) just because it's difficult.