OKAY I THINK EVERYONE ON THIS SITE NEEDS TO REPEAT AFTER ME:
- the solution to misogyny IS NOT misandry
- the solution to negative body images IS NOT calling thin girls “ugly”
- the solution to racism IS NOT targeting white people
- the solution to homophobia IS NOT hating straight people
- the solution to transphobia IS NOT hating cisgendered people
- THE SOLUTION TO OPPRESSION IS NOT BY OPPRESSING MORE PEOPLE
THANK YOU.
Sorry, but no. All of the people you are saying are part of the “oppressing more people” group are NOT being oppressed. They are the oppressors. They are the majority. Women cannot oppress men. POCs cannot oppress White people. Queer people cannot oppress straight people. Fat people cannot oppress thin people. Men, white people, thin people, cis people, straight people, and any combination of the above ALL have culpability in the oppression of marginalized groups, be it directly or indirectly. We all live with the negative effects of euro-centric, puritanical colonialism, and no amount of “we all bleed red” whinging will change that.
And I say this as a cis, straight, able-bodied, Black woman: if queer or trans or disabled folks want to throw a little shade my way, I can handle it. They have every right to say “i cant stand straight people!” or “stfu cis folks!” Why? Because those words are usually spoken in frustration and anger of having to deal with day-to-day, moment-by-moment oppression. I don’t get my panties in a bunch when a disabled person vents about some bullshit an able-bodied person put them thru. I don’t chime in with “but not all able-bodied people are like that!” Because I know it’s not about ME per se, it’s about the system that marginalizes and oppresses them on the daily. A system from which I benefit in many ways.
Oppression is privilege + power, so these marginalized groups have little to no power to actually oppress majority groups. I have privilege + power compared to a queer person. I have privilege + power compared to a trans person. I have privilege + power compared to a disabled person. It doesn’t make me a bad person or evil. It just makes me privileged.
Pointing out that you have privilege doesn’t mean you are being oppressed. it means you are being asked to examine how —despite whatever struggles you have had in life— how much more difficult your life would be if you were also a person of color, and/or queer and/or disabled and/or fat and/or trans and/or poor. It’s called intersectionality. Google it.
It is not my place to tell anyone who is part of a marginalized group how to deal with their oppression, and neither is it yours. It IS my job to shut the fuck up and listen to what they have to say.
Perfect commentary was perfect.
If you’re more concerned with people saying mean things about your privileged group than you are with using your privilege to actively oppose oppressive systems, then you’re part of the problem and you’re fucking doing it wrong.
If your first response to a member of an oppressed group giving voice to their frustration and pain over their oppression is to chime in with “but we’re not all like that” then you are EXACTLY “like that”.
No, because you can’t fucking counter hate with more hate. What people NEED to do is, as you said, use their privileged position to fight oppressive systems. And if the new general rule becomes than anyone with privilege deserves to be hated and verbally attacked, that’s not going to fight any system. That’s not going to bring people together. That’s not going to get anyone more respect. That’s going to divide people. You tell ALL of one demographic that they’re awful or that their word doesn’t matter because of what certain members of that group have done in the past, you ARE being hateful, and you ARE attempting to oppress (or at least suppress people. And creating new stereotypes about one group is only going to attach further stereotypes to the accusers. What EVERYBODY needs to do is show EVERYBODY respect, even if you don’t believe they deserve it. Blind hatred begets blind hatred. Nobody deserves hate based on things like this, regardless of their place on the spectrums.
And this is coming from a mixed race, pansexual, gender-apathetic, mentally disabled arthritic teenager. Apparently the fact that you fit into certain “privileged” groups is supposed to aid your stance,so I figure that including my own “oppressed” attributes should support mine as well.
Edit - I’d like to emphasize that I said ATTEMPTING to oppress. If you’re trying to start a movement out of the concept, you are attempting to oppress. There may not be any actual oppression, but it is the idea and the mindset.
