Sep. 9th, 2003 05:05 am
Truisms of the day
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
textualdevianceBeing queer does not mean you can't be homophobic.
Being of a non-white race does not mean you can't be racist.
Being a woman doesn't mean you can't be sexist.
Being non-Christian does not mean you can't be a religious bigot
Being fat does not mean you can't be fatphobic
etc...
These prejudices are not just screwy opinions held by a few whackjobs. They are deeply ingrained cultural phenomena, and they are hammered into people, especially in US culture, from birth. Whether it manifests itself as self-loathing or a hatred of others of one's kind, or a knee-jerk reaction and an irrational hatred of anyone who isn't of one's kind, the "isms' are deeply in the subconscious of most people, even those with very liberal upbringings. If you believe, in any way, that differences in physical features, plumbing or the plumbing of those you love, etc. make you or anyone else less worthy of respect, less deserving of a full, honest life, less than the straightwhitechristianablebodiedrichslendermale, you have bought into the isms.
When we stop behaving as if we should be ashamed of who we are and what our bodies are like, we cease sending the message to other people that they should be ashamed of themselves as well.
When we celebrate all lives, loves and bodies, we celebrate ourselves.
When we go beyond divisiveness and either-or and us-them, we break down walls and build bridges.
When we claim each other as family regardless of what traits we share, we will all have love.
All of us need to learn these things-- I need to learn some of them, too. But allowing cultural brainwashing to make us believe that we or others are less than full people, with full rights, and a right to be considered a subject and not an object gets us nowhere.
Yes, practicality dictates caution sometimes. Situations can be complex, change takes a while to happen. Those who share our traits are often the best ones to understand our struggles.
But I believe that someday we will all just be *people* and not merely the sum of our labels, and that what labels we have will not be cause for oppression, whether external *or* internal.
Being of a non-white race does not mean you can't be racist.
Being a woman doesn't mean you can't be sexist.
Being non-Christian does not mean you can't be a religious bigot
Being fat does not mean you can't be fatphobic
etc...
These prejudices are not just screwy opinions held by a few whackjobs. They are deeply ingrained cultural phenomena, and they are hammered into people, especially in US culture, from birth. Whether it manifests itself as self-loathing or a hatred of others of one's kind, or a knee-jerk reaction and an irrational hatred of anyone who isn't of one's kind, the "isms' are deeply in the subconscious of most people, even those with very liberal upbringings. If you believe, in any way, that differences in physical features, plumbing or the plumbing of those you love, etc. make you or anyone else less worthy of respect, less deserving of a full, honest life, less than the straightwhitechristianablebodiedrichslendermale, you have bought into the isms.
When we stop behaving as if we should be ashamed of who we are and what our bodies are like, we cease sending the message to other people that they should be ashamed of themselves as well.
When we celebrate all lives, loves and bodies, we celebrate ourselves.
When we go beyond divisiveness and either-or and us-them, we break down walls and build bridges.
When we claim each other as family regardless of what traits we share, we will all have love.
All of us need to learn these things-- I need to learn some of them, too. But allowing cultural brainwashing to make us believe that we or others are less than full people, with full rights, and a right to be considered a subject and not an object gets us nowhere.
Yes, practicality dictates caution sometimes. Situations can be complex, change takes a while to happen. Those who share our traits are often the best ones to understand our struggles.
But I believe that someday we will all just be *people* and not merely the sum of our labels, and that what labels we have will not be cause for oppression, whether external *or* internal.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Word.