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shweta_narayan for the link to this:
The article itself is a commentary on the recently passed measure in Switzerland that would ban the construction of minarets, which are a kind of architecture used in mosques, but that one statement can apply to so many things on the large and small scales.
I deplore the Swiss government's decision to let such a thing be passed and hope action will soon be taken to strike down such an obviously Islamaphobic law, but I can't say that we're doing much better about being tolerant and understanding here in the United States of such things.
The quote, however, reaches deeper than just the conflict in Switzerland or Lilburn. I think it's particularly applicable to the phenomena known as White Woman's Tears. It's something I try to keep in mind when reading things like this about white women's tears and the affect on women of color and their ability to express themselves. It seems like WWT's are the perfect example of abusers acting as though they are victims, using feigned or overblown grievances to justify depriving others of empowerment and access.
I find a sad irony in realizing that we often give the support and empowerment to those who falsely claim to be victims that we ought to be granting to those who truly are being victimized.
So there's your cheery thought for the day.
shweta_narayan for the link to this:
Abusers typically, in the moment they are exercising their power, believe themselves to be the victims. The Nazis feared the Jews, the slaveholders feared the slaves, rapists feel humiliated and controlled by short skirts. There's something much scarier about this detachment from reality than there would be in mere cynical political manipulation. The most dangerous people in the world are the powerful caught in a fever dream of victimhood.
The article itself is a commentary on the recently passed measure in Switzerland that would ban the construction of minarets, which are a kind of architecture used in mosques, but that one statement can apply to so many things on the large and small scales.
I deplore the Swiss government's decision to let such a thing be passed and hope action will soon be taken to strike down such an obviously Islamaphobic law, but I can't say that we're doing much better about being tolerant and understanding here in the United States of such things.
The quote, however, reaches deeper than just the conflict in Switzerland or Lilburn. I think it's particularly applicable to the phenomena known as White Woman's Tears. It's something I try to keep in mind when reading things like this about white women's tears and the affect on women of color and their ability to express themselves. It seems like WWT's are the perfect example of abusers acting as though they are victims, using feigned or overblown grievances to justify depriving others of empowerment and access.
I find a sad irony in realizing that we often give the support and empowerment to those who falsely claim to be victims that we ought to be granting to those who truly are being victimized.
So there's your cheery thought for the day.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 05:48 pm (UTC)I'm right there with you. I got just about tired of seeing response after response calling anyone who wanted to talk about why these things were being written in genre fiction and what we could do about it a giant racist or an abuser or a troll or something - especially when it was obvious they were doing so for defensive reasons.
The whole "if you talk about race, you're racist" thing is just another mechanism of white supremacy to keep dominant structures in place. Because if we don't talk about racism, then not only will those scary people of color and their very legitimate complaints go away (or so the hope is), but white people will keep acting the way they've been acting - which will continue to oppress the people they've been oppressing.
And may I just say I want to hit the entire "well, there was bad behavior on both sides" thing in the face and then slam it against a wall? Because there really was NOT bad behavior on both sides. There was defensive, ass-covering, clueless, and yes, racist behavior on one side. The other side was TRYING to have a discussion and maybe get some people to change hurtful behaviors and had the audacity to demand respect and fairness and weren't interested in rewarding people for profiting off of other people's oppression.
Which is apparently as bad as trolling, threatening, outing, and stalking people.
I love the SF/F genre and fandom, I really do, but sometimes the degree to which my fellow white women can fail on a topic so important and vital to the good of everyone just staggers me. Especially when it comes from white women who I did, at one time, admire and aspire to be like.