Five
1. Happy belated birthday to blue_lotus! I hope this year is as magnificent as you are!
2. If anyone is thinking of Zombie-tagging me on Facebook, please don't. It's nothing personal, I just have no sense of humour when it comes to zombies. To me they're only slightly less scary than clowns.
3. Speaking of scared, I haven't been able to watch the news since the Mississippi River Bridge collapse two weeks ago. I am terrified of driving over bridges! I used to tell myself, "You're just being irrational. Bridges are safe and sturdy." Now I've seen no less than five news reports about how every bridge in the world is a precarious, hanging death trap.
4. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow! I'm excited...and fickle!
5. Thanks for your queries on racism!
From starfishchick: Is everyone a little bit racist sometimes? (Serious question.)
I don't know that absolutely everyone is specifically racist sometimes, but in my experience most people are prone to at least occasional fits of prejudice. I once attended a seminar, wherein the speaker put forth the idea that we all have a personal story that we're living. It's how we make sense of the world and it colours our perception of people, events, etc. I think it would be extremely difficult to assess people soley as individuals. I think making evaluative judgments about people based on external cues is part of the human condition. Because of that, we all have a tremendous capacity to be racists, sexists, ageists, beauty-ists, size-ists, etc....
From cryptophile: Is it racist to discount someone for a job based on English mistakes in their resume, if they are a non-native English speaker? Does the answer change if you replace "English" with "French" above (in Canada, that is)?
No, it's not racist. Anglophilia and Francophilia aren't races. I know that's not what you're asking, but I just wanted to clarify that point because it aggravates me when people use "race" to describe any cultural or ethnic designation. (Tangential aside for starfishchick: That part in "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" when they argue about "Jesus is white", "No, I'm pretty sure Jesus was black," and then Nicky says, "Guys! Jesus was Jewish"? It totally annoys me because being Jewish doesn't negate being white or black.)
Discounting someone based on an error in their resume isn't prejudice if spelling has been established as a filter for all resumes. Because I just asked you, I know you're assuming the candidate to be non-English speaking based on their name. That is pretty prejudiced. This is my feeling regardless of the applicant being anglophone or francophone.
From hardcormier (a question in two parts): 1.Given that it's now politically incorrect to make sexist or racist jokes, what other type of minority should we be picking on? Alternatively, are all races created equal, or is there a racial minority that I can still safely poke fun at and not look like an asshole in front of my wife?
While it's no longer socially acceptable in Canadian society to poke fun at marginalized minority groups, it seems you can mock powerful minority groups without fear of reprisal. Supermodels and women who look like them; the CEO's of large, multinational corporations; Politicans; The Clan (Klan?). Also, you can make fun of yourself. A single person is as minor as they come and self-deprication is very "in" these days.
By the way, there's no way you can specifically seek out people to make fun of and not look like an asshole.
2.Also, do you get as irritated as I do when people confuse nationality with race? As in - "Polish jokes are hate crimes, you racist bastards!"
Absolutely. See my response to cryptophile's question above.
From jits: I would be curious to hear if you'd ever encountered racism as part of an 'inter-racial' (I've decided I don't like that word, it makes it sound like being with someone with different coloured skin is freaky) marriage.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the term "interracial marriage" either. The idea that my marriage needs a qualifier that racially homogeneous unions don't really bugs me.
I haven't had to deal with too much racism in my relationship with Drama King. When we first started dating, some of his relatives weren't happy but that was about my not being Jewish, as opposed to being black. All but a few of those relatives have come around in subsequent years.
I once ran into a girl I'd known back in high school who, because I read a lot of books and had a certain way of speaking, accused me of wanting to be white. She learned I'd married a "white boy". To her, this confirmed my status as an "Oreo" (black on the outside, white on the inside).
DK and I tend to be a little cautious if we're travelling through the Southern U.S. We don't stay overnight in smaller communities, just in case. Admittedly, this is prejudice on our part but I'd rather be safe than righteous.
My boyfriend before DK was also white. Though I didn't realize it at the time, there was a very unhealthy racial dynamic in that relationship. I was the first black woman my ex had known intimately. While he loved me in a way, he also tended to fetishize me. I remember once he said I was the "least black black woman" he'd ever known. He meant as a compliment and I took it as such, but now I realize what a fucked up comment that was. He'd occasionally tell racist jokes or make racist comments about other black people, then gauge my reaction. If I didn't laugh, he'd try to persuade me it was just light-hearted fun. He grew up with a lot of racist thinking and he used me as a social barometer, trying to sort out what was acceptable and what wasn't. The worst part of all, is that I let him. Because I had terrible self-esteem, because having a boyfriend made me feel at least somewhat valuable, I put up with all that crap. To this day, I have unresolved guilt about that.
2. If anyone is thinking of Zombie-tagging me on Facebook, please don't. It's nothing personal, I just have no sense of humour when it comes to zombies. To me they're only slightly less scary than clowns.
3. Speaking of scared, I haven't been able to watch the news since the Mississippi River Bridge collapse two weeks ago. I am terrified of driving over bridges! I used to tell myself, "You're just being irrational. Bridges are safe and sturdy." Now I've seen no less than five news reports about how every bridge in the world is a precarious, hanging death trap.
4. I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow! I'm excited...and fickle!
5. Thanks for your queries on racism!
From starfishchick: Is everyone a little bit racist sometimes? (Serious question.)
I don't know that absolutely everyone is specifically racist sometimes, but in my experience most people are prone to at least occasional fits of prejudice. I once attended a seminar, wherein the speaker put forth the idea that we all have a personal story that we're living. It's how we make sense of the world and it colours our perception of people, events, etc. I think it would be extremely difficult to assess people soley as individuals. I think making evaluative judgments about people based on external cues is part of the human condition. Because of that, we all have a tremendous capacity to be racists, sexists, ageists, beauty-ists, size-ists, etc....
From cryptophile: Is it racist to discount someone for a job based on English mistakes in their resume, if they are a non-native English speaker? Does the answer change if you replace "English" with "French" above (in Canada, that is)?
No, it's not racist. Anglophilia and Francophilia aren't races. I know that's not what you're asking, but I just wanted to clarify that point because it aggravates me when people use "race" to describe any cultural or ethnic designation. (Tangential aside for starfishchick: That part in "Everyone's A Little Bit Racist" when they argue about "Jesus is white", "No, I'm pretty sure Jesus was black," and then Nicky says, "Guys! Jesus was Jewish"? It totally annoys me because being Jewish doesn't negate being white or black.)
Discounting someone based on an error in their resume isn't prejudice if spelling has been established as a filter for all resumes. Because I just asked you, I know you're assuming the candidate to be non-English speaking based on their name. That is pretty prejudiced. This is my feeling regardless of the applicant being anglophone or francophone.
From hardcormier (a question in two parts): 1.Given that it's now politically incorrect to make sexist or racist jokes, what other type of minority should we be picking on? Alternatively, are all races created equal, or is there a racial minority that I can still safely poke fun at and not look like an asshole in front of my wife?
While it's no longer socially acceptable in Canadian society to poke fun at marginalized minority groups, it seems you can mock powerful minority groups without fear of reprisal. Supermodels and women who look like them; the CEO's of large, multinational corporations; Politicans; The Clan (Klan?). Also, you can make fun of yourself. A single person is as minor as they come and self-deprication is very "in" these days.
By the way, there's no way you can specifically seek out people to make fun of and not look like an asshole.
2.Also, do you get as irritated as I do when people confuse nationality with race? As in - "Polish jokes are hate crimes, you racist bastards!"
Absolutely. See my response to cryptophile's question above.
From jits: I would be curious to hear if you'd ever encountered racism as part of an 'inter-racial' (I've decided I don't like that word, it makes it sound like being with someone with different coloured skin is freaky) marriage.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the term "interracial marriage" either. The idea that my marriage needs a qualifier that racially homogeneous unions don't really bugs me.
I haven't had to deal with too much racism in my relationship with Drama King. When we first started dating, some of his relatives weren't happy but that was about my not being Jewish, as opposed to being black. All but a few of those relatives have come around in subsequent years.
I once ran into a girl I'd known back in high school who, because I read a lot of books and had a certain way of speaking, accused me of wanting to be white. She learned I'd married a "white boy". To her, this confirmed my status as an "Oreo" (black on the outside, white on the inside).
DK and I tend to be a little cautious if we're travelling through the Southern U.S. We don't stay overnight in smaller communities, just in case. Admittedly, this is prejudice on our part but I'd rather be safe than righteous.
My boyfriend before DK was also white. Though I didn't realize it at the time, there was a very unhealthy racial dynamic in that relationship. I was the first black woman my ex had known intimately. While he loved me in a way, he also tended to fetishize me. I remember once he said I was the "least black black woman" he'd ever known. He meant as a compliment and I took it as such, but now I realize what a fucked up comment that was. He'd occasionally tell racist jokes or make racist comments about other black people, then gauge my reaction. If I didn't laugh, he'd try to persuade me it was just light-hearted fun. He grew up with a lot of racist thinking and he used me as a social barometer, trying to sort out what was acceptable and what wasn't. The worst part of all, is that I let him. Because I had terrible self-esteem, because having a boyfriend made me feel at least somewhat valuable, I put up with all that crap. To this day, I have unresolved guilt about that.