as small as a world and as large as alone

8:57pm October 6, 2014

bittersnurr:

fierceawakening:

randomlancila:

Stereotyping does not occur in a vacuum. It’s the first step on a really dark path. Words mean things. Assumptions mean things. Be aware of this.

This is why the whole social-justicey “It’s not an *ism until it’s prejudice PLUS POWER!” bothers me. I get the point, and I don’t think random prejudice from socially disenfranchised people is anywhere near as dangerous as institutionalized discrimination or bias. I get why people say “Oh stop, that’s just annoying. You have no idea what really being on the receiving end of horrible stuff is like at all.”

But I also don’t think you need power to be doing something from a very dark and wrong place, either.

And I think “but I have no power” can be a very handy excuse if you want to let yourself do that.

And that worries me.

Like, I understand “Hey, I don’t have much power! All I can do with my prejudice is really mess someone’s day up! Come on!”

But I don’t think it should be out of bounds to wonder why exactly you’re looking so intensely for permission to really mess someone’s day up.

I would argue tbh that the “prejudice” section probably leaks into the “hate” one.

Because the power system isn’t the only way to have power over someone.

If your parents are prejudiced against you, you might not feel safe in your home. If your boss is prejudiced against you, you are going to have a tough time at work and maybe get fired. If the staff at your school is prejudiced against you, you are not going to get any help and maybe flunk out of school from it. All of these are pretty major things that will fuck up your life.

And it doesn’t need to be a real reason as long as someone has that little amount of power over you. All someone needs is to not like you.

A lot of the problems are mixed in with Tumblr Recognized Bigotry but it normally isn’t counted as such. Like I see a lot of social justice people for example laugh at bronies if they get bullied for liking a little girls cartoon even though that really is sexism/homophobia they are being teased for being into something considered feminine/gay. Just because they are straight dudes doesn’t mean the intent wasn’t fueled by bigotry.

One of the BIGGEST issues I have with this blind spot is for example I was bullied a lot as a kid. Not for something big, not even for anything real. They would just make stuff up and tease me for it. Stuff I never liked or did most of the time. I was teased for answering questions when the teacher called on me even if they were correct. None of these things had anything to do with systematic oppression. But it doesn’t matter if you are in a situation you can’t change because you still don’t have enough power to do anything about it.

Even though I have quite a few Tumblr Recognized Bigotry Labels now I didn’t really then that would be obvious from the outside except “girl” and so were almost all of my bullies so it shouldn’t count right? It’s only prejudice and not oppression.

But apparently prejudice is plenty enough to cause PTSD. So can we put more focus on this behavior is wrong period and not just “if member of x group”?

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