This person is SO cool.
May. 29th, 2008 11:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gementRecommended reading (a short essay): On matters of passing, by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
rm. It's about what it means to pass, and what it means to stand up for one's identity politics (on any issue) when one has a choice of hiding them. I pass very easily. Reading this meant a lot to me.
This is the person I'm rooting for in the LJ election (which ends today). This kind of post is why.
On a related note, I stumbled across a thread in dot_poly_snark. Someone made an poorly thought-out statement about embarrassing people being the loudest spokespeople for alternative lifestyles. In it, she lumped fat people and freaky hairstyles in with body odor and poor social skills.
There was a gem of a response in the resulting comment blaze, which concluded with: "If they hadn't blazed the trail, if they weren't pushing the boundaries of what was considered acceptable by the mainstream, your 'normal'/HWP/whatever ass would still be so far back in the Poly closet you'd see Narnia."
As a 'normal'/HWP/whatever looking person, when I identify with a minority group, I always wonder if I'm doing it enough, somehow. If I'm minority enough to count. I mean, how can I when no one can see it, when I don't have to live with it painted across my face every day? How can I stand up? How much stranger is it for people when I do, and how much more heated the response? And why do I keep risking it?
rm. It's about what it means to pass, and what it means to stand up for one's identity politics (on any issue) when one has a choice of hiding them. I pass very easily. Reading this meant a lot to me.This is the person I'm rooting for in the LJ election (which ends today). This kind of post is why.
On a related note, I stumbled across a thread in dot_poly_snark. Someone made an poorly thought-out statement about embarrassing people being the loudest spokespeople for alternative lifestyles. In it, she lumped fat people and freaky hairstyles in with body odor and poor social skills.
There was a gem of a response in the resulting comment blaze, which concluded with: "If they hadn't blazed the trail, if they weren't pushing the boundaries of what was considered acceptable by the mainstream, your 'normal'/HWP/whatever ass would still be so far back in the Poly closet you'd see Narnia."
As a 'normal'/HWP/whatever looking person, when I identify with a minority group, I always wonder if I'm doing it enough, somehow. If I'm minority enough to count. I mean, how can I when no one can see it, when I don't have to live with it painted across my face every day? How can I stand up? How much stranger is it for people when I do, and how much more heated the response? And why do I keep risking it?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Non-visible minorities.
Date: 2008-07-27 07:34 am (UTC)My very best friend, and favourite person on the planet, happens to be a Canadian treaty Indian. She is a Kootenay.
She also happens to be Cree, and also happens to be Métis, in the sense that she looks like what people think a Caucasian should look like, instead of what people think a treaty Indian should look like.
She commented once that she is entitled to the twin joys, of both having
the Federal Government muck about in her personal life, and of hearing what white people think when they think there are no non- aboriginal people around.
Being mistaken for a member of the official in group, when one is not, is far from being an unalloyed pleasure, and while it comes with it's privilege derived responsibilities, it also comes with it's own unique brand of ickyness.
My IQ is now headed for the low 80s. Time to abed.
Re: found while filling things into folders
Date: 2008-08-04 05:09 am (UTC)non-aboriginal people around.See, now it makes sense.
Re: found while filling things into folders
Date: 2008-08-04 05:38 am (UTC)Speaking of sense-making, I'm not doing any. Bed time. (Thanks for the call today. It's mind-boggling that your mom is actually snappier with these facts than you are. More time to practice, I suppose, but still!)
Re: found while filling things into folders
Date: 2008-08-04 05:52 am (UTC)