life, liberty, and the pursuit of privilege
Over the past few months, I've found myself in bed with a lot of people with strong political opinions. In the past, I've not had strong political opinions myself - preferring to leave it to the people that want change in some way or another. I'm a horrible lesbian because I am not political about who I love, and do not analyze or debate why I am entitled to love her. I'm a horrible woman because though I hate the system, I recognise the fact that I have to move through it in order to get ahead, and that railing against the patriarchy will not help me - though it may help the next generation. I'm a horrible member of the queer community, because I hate labels, and reject people that have to have names for an infinite spectrum of desire.
I guess you could call me apathetic - it's probably correct.
The argument about privilege bugs me no end.
Do I have a right to use a design that was originally worn on a Sari simply because I like the pattern? Would it be ok if I decided to put my hair in dreadlocks? Is it hypocritical to ask a Chinese medicine man about what I should have in my house to help the feng shui? Will I offend someone by asking stupid hypothetical questions.
Were the Maori hard done by? Yes I suppose they were.
Were the African Americans hard done by? Sure...no argument.
Were the Jews hard done by? Yup...
Were the Gays repressed? Totally...until very recently and still.
Everyone at some stage in history has been hard done by. The Americans were oppressed by the British. The British and French were oppressed by the Romans. The Turks were oppressed by the Greeks. The Japanese were oppressed by the Chinese, and the Chinese by the Mongols.
Which makes it ridiculous to compare who owes what to whom. The (idealistic) idea behind having a social structure is that they try to even out who is struggling, regardless of background, and trying to help them to cope. Admittedly, that isn't the way it always turns out. Do I believe that some people need more help than others? Of course. That's the case in any culture. Do I believe that I am one of those people? No. Which is why I pay inflated taxes so people can use the systems that are in place to help them. Which is why I have never been on the dole, even when I had to do supermarket jobs for far too long. I am grateful for what I have, and so I leave those resources for people that need them. People saying that these resources aren't good enough, is probably true. But we have elected a government that doesn't believe in those ideals. They are not a government I voted for, but let us not forget that 1/3 of NZ is more apathetic than me.
I refuse to feel guilty for what I have. My parents, and their parents, worked hard for what they had - for privilege. And Jews, 2 generations ago, had many of the same issues that other minorities had. The same amount of them get through and adapt to the system as do other minority groups. Others hover in their small communities and cling to each other and wish that the world was still the same as it once was.
Well the world isn't the same as it once was. It has evolved - perhaps not in the best ways, but in ways that the powerful have gotten away with. We all reap the benefits of the modern world - transportation, internet, ready access to food, choices about the way we live our lives, safe-ish houses, and a bit of a pick me up if you haven't got one. The reason that people are privileged or not is whether their parents taught them to survive in the modern world, or whether they are having to learn it for themselves - whether their parents trailblazed, and you have the ability to learn from their mistakes.
Everyone has that. The question is how well it prepares you for the modern world.
While race is a factor - it's more about adaptivity. I am not the most adaptive person. I do have a head start because my mother, and her father and mother, were adaptable people. There are plenty of white people who are not the same. There are plenty of POC who are and have had parents who are adaptable. There are also plenty that were not. The same with Islanders, the same with Asians.
But to ask me to feel guilty because of that head start - I'm sorry. I don't. And I hate that people assume what I think about it before asking me, or because I've asked a question that strikes a chord with them.
I have had racist "under-privileged" customers tell me that I shouldn't work at my job. I've had discussions on my page about why using food names is inappropriate to describe a woman of colour. I've had people place the "cis" label on me without my consent, and without asking me whether it's something I agree with or not. I've had people assume that because I'm white, life is easy for me.
Well fuck that.
/endrant
I guess you could call me apathetic - it's probably correct.
The argument about privilege bugs me no end.
Do I have a right to use a design that was originally worn on a Sari simply because I like the pattern? Would it be ok if I decided to put my hair in dreadlocks? Is it hypocritical to ask a Chinese medicine man about what I should have in my house to help the feng shui? Will I offend someone by asking stupid hypothetical questions.
Were the Maori hard done by? Yes I suppose they were.
Were the African Americans hard done by? Sure...no argument.
Were the Jews hard done by? Yup...
Were the Gays repressed? Totally...until very recently and still.
Everyone at some stage in history has been hard done by. The Americans were oppressed by the British. The British and French were oppressed by the Romans. The Turks were oppressed by the Greeks. The Japanese were oppressed by the Chinese, and the Chinese by the Mongols.
Which makes it ridiculous to compare who owes what to whom. The (idealistic) idea behind having a social structure is that they try to even out who is struggling, regardless of background, and trying to help them to cope. Admittedly, that isn't the way it always turns out. Do I believe that some people need more help than others? Of course. That's the case in any culture. Do I believe that I am one of those people? No. Which is why I pay inflated taxes so people can use the systems that are in place to help them. Which is why I have never been on the dole, even when I had to do supermarket jobs for far too long. I am grateful for what I have, and so I leave those resources for people that need them. People saying that these resources aren't good enough, is probably true. But we have elected a government that doesn't believe in those ideals. They are not a government I voted for, but let us not forget that 1/3 of NZ is more apathetic than me.
I refuse to feel guilty for what I have. My parents, and their parents, worked hard for what they had - for privilege. And Jews, 2 generations ago, had many of the same issues that other minorities had. The same amount of them get through and adapt to the system as do other minority groups. Others hover in their small communities and cling to each other and wish that the world was still the same as it once was.
Well the world isn't the same as it once was. It has evolved - perhaps not in the best ways, but in ways that the powerful have gotten away with. We all reap the benefits of the modern world - transportation, internet, ready access to food, choices about the way we live our lives, safe-ish houses, and a bit of a pick me up if you haven't got one. The reason that people are privileged or not is whether their parents taught them to survive in the modern world, or whether they are having to learn it for themselves - whether their parents trailblazed, and you have the ability to learn from their mistakes.
Everyone has that. The question is how well it prepares you for the modern world.
While race is a factor - it's more about adaptivity. I am not the most adaptive person. I do have a head start because my mother, and her father and mother, were adaptable people. There are plenty of white people who are not the same. There are plenty of POC who are and have had parents who are adaptable. There are also plenty that were not. The same with Islanders, the same with Asians.
But to ask me to feel guilty because of that head start - I'm sorry. I don't. And I hate that people assume what I think about it before asking me, or because I've asked a question that strikes a chord with them.
I have had racist "under-privileged" customers tell me that I shouldn't work at my job. I've had discussions on my page about why using food names is inappropriate to describe a woman of colour. I've had people place the "cis" label on me without my consent, and without asking me whether it's something I agree with or not. I've had people assume that because I'm white, life is easy for me.
Well fuck that.
/endrant