That article was not at all what I expected from the title! I thought it would have to do with representation in fiction. My instinctive priorities, let me introduce you to them.
Also I think I disagree with it a little. When it starts by invoking the question—
Were they really being bigoted or are they just being rude?
—it gets very near but does not actually clarify outright that this framing is something of a false binary, because the degree to which people feel free to be rude is influenced by how much they feel licensed by their circumstances to do it, i.e. you may get a wider spectrum of acceptable targets if the insulation is money or class rather than simply gender or race or able-bodiedness, but the whole idea of being able to distinguish between prejudiced bad interactions and interactions that were just plain bad is really muddy, especially with so many intersecting factors in play.
(I agree with the assertion that even low-grade whataboutism isn't helping.)
This edifying comment makes me very glad I put this essay in my journal (not least because I'm currently contemplating "were they being autistic and/or rude and/or bigoted?")
I've gotten hung up on the section "How is oppression different from normal life challenges?" because the pervasiveness and carrying over from one place to another, though not the actual punching, is so very reminiscent of my experience of being a child among children. And then it goes on to say that it seems intuitive that there's a difference between that and "someone being mean to you". but my experience of people being mean personally based on an individually (but sometimes very rapidly) acquired dislike is ... so much like that.
Which is I think a neurodivergence thing. But it doesn't have the transferring blame to+from the group aspect, because nobody knew what group it was.
This is a really good point. (I am not allowed to borrow the TARDIS to go beat up some middle schoolers, right?)
There's "this person is being mean to me as an interchangeable member of a demographic group."
There's "this person is being mean to me personally, using my membership in a demographic group as a weapon."
There's "this person is being mean to me personally because they dislike what they see as a personal quality of mine which is also my membership in a demographic group."
There's "this person is being mean to me personally out of personal dislike."
But all these categories are overlapping and fuzzy bordered at best. And there's an amoutn of "how much does it matter when they are being MEAN TO ME and now I have to survive that?"
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malionette
no subject
Date: 2023-02-03 11:06 pm (UTC)Also I think I disagree with it a little. When it starts by invoking the question—
Were they really being bigoted or are they just being rude?
—it gets very near but does not actually clarify outright that this framing is something of a false binary, because the degree to which people feel free to be rude is influenced by how much they feel licensed by their circumstances to do it, i.e. you may get a wider spectrum of acceptable targets if the insulation is money or class rather than simply gender or race or able-bodiedness, but the whole idea of being able to distinguish between prejudiced bad interactions and interactions that were just plain bad is really muddy, especially with so many intersecting factors in play.
(I agree with the assertion that even low-grade whataboutism isn't helping.)
no subject
Date: 2023-02-04 12:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-07 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-04 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-07 04:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-04 12:12 pm (UTC)Which is I think a neurodivergence thing. But it doesn't have the transferring blame to+from the group aspect, because nobody knew what group it was.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-07 04:16 pm (UTC)There's "this person is being mean to me as an interchangeable member of a demographic group."
There's "this person is being mean to me personally, using my membership in a demographic group as a weapon."
There's "this person is being mean to me personally because they dislike what they see as a personal quality of mine which is also my membership in a demographic group."
There's "this person is being mean to me personally out of personal dislike."
But all these categories are overlapping and fuzzy bordered at best. And there's an amoutn of "how much does it matter when they are being MEAN TO ME and now I have to survive that?"
no subject
Date: 2023-02-04 01:31 pm (UTC)