Think outside the box
I'm beginning to feel really irritated by the US centrism in this community, and I bet I'm not the only one.
Every day when I look at this community, I see people saying things like "this country" and "our government" when referring to the USA. People post about the supreme court of the USA as if everybody knows how it works and is familiar with the candidates Bush has nominated. What if a new member from any country other than the US came on here and saw the multitude of posts that start off something like "The nomination of Harriet Miers is looking scarier every day." What if they have no idea who Harriet Miers is? What has she been nominated for? I'm not suggesting that everybody should stop posting about important feminist issues affecting the USA, but I'm asking you to please think about the assumptions you make and the wording you use.
I'm scottish, and if I posted here saying something like "I'm so pissed off that people still tell women they're not allowed to attend Burns suppers! Do I need a penis to appreciate poetry and eat a bit of haggis? Why is such sexist shit still accepted in this country?" people would (rightly) be confused. I'd probably get a few comments asking what a Burns supper is; a couple complaining that I was assuming everybody in this comm lived in scotland and maybe one saying "Duuuuuude! Is it true haggis is made of sheep guts?!". Some important feminist issues affecting Scotland are prostitution tolerance zones and the proposed licensing of lap dancing bars in Glasgow with a ban on VIP areas. If I made individual posts about these issues I'd make it clear what country and city I was talking about. When discussing it with other members I wouldn't assume that the laws affecting these issues are the same for all of the commenters. I've seen this happen before in threads and it's very annoying.
On the rare occasions when I've seen someone promoting an event in the UK or posting about an issue that doesn't affect the US, somebody usually comments saying "Look, this is great and all but can you put it behind a cut? We don't all live in _____." I agree that anybody promoting an event should put it behind a cut that says where it's taking place, but I find these complaints really irritating when most members who post about US events or issues don't show the same courtesy.
I've been getting more and more frustrated over time, but the thing that triggered this was the recent post asking people what their favourite achievement of feminism is. At first it mildly irritated me, but I look at it now and I find it really offensive. This is feminist, not usfeminists or westernfeminism. It's supposed to be an international community, but the vast majority of the membership here seem to be assuming either A) Feminism has achieved the same things all over the world or B) Feminism in the USA is the only feminism that really matters. The post gave reproductive choice as one of the options, but there are still countries where access to abortion is extremely restricted or outright illegal. Did you know that in England, Wales and Scotland a woman must obtain the signatures of two doctors before she can have an abortion? Did you know that the doctors must be willing to say that the woman's mental or physical health will be affected by carrying a pregnancy to term? Did you know that abortion isn't technically legal, we just have a legal defence for obtaining one? Did you know that in Northern Ireland, abortion is illegal unless the mother's life is in danger? Did you know that each year thousands of Irish women travel to England to have an elective abortion? I'm not even touching on the countries where women can never obtain an abortion. Women can't even drive in Saudi Arabia, never mind vote!
The US is not more important than anybody else's country and you shouldn't assume that everybody is clued up about its internal affairs. Please think about the way you word your posts and don't assume that we're all living in the USA. It's exclusionary and extremely irritating.
Every day when I look at this community, I see people saying things like "this country" and "our government" when referring to the USA. People post about the supreme court of the USA as if everybody knows how it works and is familiar with the candidates Bush has nominated. What if a new member from any country other than the US came on here and saw the multitude of posts that start off something like "The nomination of Harriet Miers is looking scarier every day." What if they have no idea who Harriet Miers is? What has she been nominated for? I'm not suggesting that everybody should stop posting about important feminist issues affecting the USA, but I'm asking you to please think about the assumptions you make and the wording you use.
I'm scottish, and if I posted here saying something like "I'm so pissed off that people still tell women they're not allowed to attend Burns suppers! Do I need a penis to appreciate poetry and eat a bit of haggis? Why is such sexist shit still accepted in this country?" people would (rightly) be confused. I'd probably get a few comments asking what a Burns supper is; a couple complaining that I was assuming everybody in this comm lived in scotland and maybe one saying "Duuuuuude! Is it true haggis is made of sheep guts?!". Some important feminist issues affecting Scotland are prostitution tolerance zones and the proposed licensing of lap dancing bars in Glasgow with a ban on VIP areas. If I made individual posts about these issues I'd make it clear what country and city I was talking about. When discussing it with other members I wouldn't assume that the laws affecting these issues are the same for all of the commenters. I've seen this happen before in threads and it's very annoying.
On the rare occasions when I've seen someone promoting an event in the UK or posting about an issue that doesn't affect the US, somebody usually comments saying "Look, this is great and all but can you put it behind a cut? We don't all live in _____." I agree that anybody promoting an event should put it behind a cut that says where it's taking place, but I find these complaints really irritating when most members who post about US events or issues don't show the same courtesy.
I've been getting more and more frustrated over time, but the thing that triggered this was the recent post asking people what their favourite achievement of feminism is. At first it mildly irritated me, but I look at it now and I find it really offensive. This is feminist, not usfeminists or westernfeminism. It's supposed to be an international community, but the vast majority of the membership here seem to be assuming either A) Feminism has achieved the same things all over the world or B) Feminism in the USA is the only feminism that really matters. The post gave reproductive choice as one of the options, but there are still countries where access to abortion is extremely restricted or outright illegal. Did you know that in England, Wales and Scotland a woman must obtain the signatures of two doctors before she can have an abortion? Did you know that the doctors must be willing to say that the woman's mental or physical health will be affected by carrying a pregnancy to term? Did you know that abortion isn't technically legal, we just have a legal defence for obtaining one? Did you know that in Northern Ireland, abortion is illegal unless the mother's life is in danger? Did you know that each year thousands of Irish women travel to England to have an elective abortion? I'm not even touching on the countries where women can never obtain an abortion. Women can't even drive in Saudi Arabia, never mind vote!
The US is not more important than anybody else's country and you shouldn't assume that everybody is clued up about its internal affairs. Please think about the way you word your posts and don't assume that we're all living in the USA. It's exclusionary and extremely irritating.