Minority persons understand the point of view of people in the majority. They're intimately familiar with it. They have to be to survive. That point of view is the basis of most interactions people have in daily life.
Your point of view isn't irrelevant, it's taken as read. We'd like to stop getting bogged down in what we all know and actually make some headway, that's all.
As it says in the column itself:
I cannot figure out how this aspect of the discussion always gets missed. I mean, if we're sticking our discussion on "rationality" and "objectivity" (which, in most cases, is total horse-pucky anyway), the upset reaction to pointing out that, well, yeah, there tends to be a certain group of people whose members are the ones vocally protesting any kind of change to either character or reader demographics is... well, an upset, emotional reaction lacking dispassionate objectivity, innit?Even if you are worried that your race, gender, political alignment or orientation is part of the group that's part of the problem, it doesn't mean anyone is accusing you, personally.
So, you think the post I quoted showed any understanding of my point of view? I agree with the premise of what you are saying but I am talking about specifics that are happening in communities like this where I could point out a number of examples just in this thread and it is those examples I am pointing out do not help with what this topic was trying to achieve.
"Race is a social construct, they say. And I remind them that money is a social construct, too. Social constructs have power." — DeRay Mckesson
Definitely, it helps to see people like yourself as equals. And also there was more acceptance after Ellen came out and even after Will&Grace were on TV (maybe not the greatest showing but it was a gay guy in people's home's each week)
Certainly both are better than the person who grows up with a family behind the curve and doesn't see themselves in anything. But there's more: part of representation also isn't just for the people in it, it's for normalizing other groups for the viewer. People who only see one depiction of black people begin to think that's the only kind of black people. People who only see one depiction of LGBT think that's the only way LGBT exist.
If a kid sees women as scientists in a TV show, he might not be so surprised to see on in a college class. If he sees black superheroes he might not think all black people are thugs. If he sees LGBT at all he might realize we are real.
Well there's an argument about how many villains are "queer coded" just as how many criminals in TV/Film just happen to be brown. Bigotry is't always so obvious but then you realize the only brown people in that are villains and the only gender non-conforming are creepy and the team is led but a white male.I don't remember the last movie i saw that actually vilified gay people.
You got to aim high to reach high.
Last edited by PretenderNX01; 03-21-2015 at 10:23 AM.
Oh yeah. Rational, objective and reason are abused in these debates. Some people seem to define them as "truths handed down by me from atop white guy mountain, where I can see the issues affecting your minority group better than you."
Uh, you don't remember the "fake geek girl" controversy or the attractive cosplayers witch hunts? It's not just white males, but male fans routinely play gatekeeper at cons.
Last edited by Shawn Hopkins; 03-21-2015 at 10:36 AM.
I do not think supporting someone means you ought to accept vitriol and abuse. I also do not think that having a valid complaint means you get a pass on being abusive. If a group spends a great deal of time attacking its supporters, I do not see why those supporters should stick around. The group makes it clear that what is wanted is not their support, just the appearance of it.
Is there a way for you to rephrase your questions that do not require the person answering to do the catch 22 dance?
Asking if "white people try to exclude everyone else from comic conventions" means you want those to lump all white people together when everyone knows that's not true.