a thing.
saw this article on The Atlantic's website yesterday titled Poetry and White Privelege: Letter to a Young (White, Male) Poet and clicked on it dubiously because there's only so much burn-all-the-white-dude-art attitude I can take before my fingers start itching to strangle something. but luckily this article enunciates exactly what I want to say
( Read more... )
YES!!! this is so well-put!!! and I understand that it can be difficult at times to stand alongside someone to whom society has granted more priveleges/opportunities than you, and not feel at least a little bit of resentment - but at some point you (the royal you, not... you you) have to understand that there is more depth to that person than skin tone, sexual orientation, and/or socioeconomic background. it's not a zero sum game. everyone has something unique to bring to the table and to turn any one person away is a disservice to all.
My only qualm is that while seeking to achieve this equality, you don't turn the "others" into the villains again
I guess the writer of the article didn't touch on this point because he was addressing poetry specifically, rather than prose and fiction (which is where long narratives of heroes and villains tend to pop up more often), but I definitely agree with this as well. but I'm not terribly well-versed or up-to-date in sci-fi culture... what happened with the Hugo's??
Reply
The Hugos were kinda sabotaged this time by groups of people called The Sad Puppies and the Rabid Puppies, who were of the opinion that sci-fi has become too much about social justice, diverse representation, and women oppression. They argue that it is better if sci-fi was more about space-ships fighting each other (which is, basically, colonialism and territorialism), or heroic white men finding gorgeous Padme Amidala types to take back to their home planet (which is, mostly, objectification and marriage norms) So their argument is that sci-fi has lost its 'fun' quotient due to people of other races/sexes polluting the genre, and as such, white men just can't win anymore. It also helps their case that most of the vocal supporters of said group openly oppose Women Suffrage and homosexuality. (haha *eyeroll*) [Because, according to them, 22 years after Sweden granted women voting rights, they also passed a Guns and Ammo Law which was a BAD THING (and this is correlated to the voting rights thing- apparently giving voting rights to women makes a society individualistic.)] *sarcasm*
Anyway, the sci-fi community is now split between those who support the puppies, and those who oppose them.
Reply
Leave a comment