Privilege Part 2, a New Job, ANZAC
Nearly a week on, I am still feeling bitter about the conversation that inspired the below post. I still have not felt at ease with confronting that person and continuing the conversation, and I have the feeling that they are still passive-aggressively attacking me in posts. I have chosen to not respond to it until words are said in real life, which may be a while away as we don't encounter each other at events often. Since then also, one of the people that I tolerate on my page to ground me and force me to continue thinking about things from a different point of view, has written this post:
"Hey hey so, last thing before I get off FB for the night: I've been making photo and video porn with friends for years (for personal use or for people's sex work photos). I've done this for or with heaps and heaps of people.
I would like to form a small explicit/erotic arts collective, made up of minority demographics only, and share ideas. I would love to do more collaborative erotic art, especially photography. I most enjoy photographing people whose bodies are outside of conventional normative beauty standards. I want to collaborate and turn some images into art in other mediums, and I'm sure some of you are amazing at doing that? I want to create an erotic art website/tumblr, a sex and body pos calender for 2016, and to hold a summer camp for erotic arts.
I have a billion sex positive and body positive ideas, and I bet you do too! Shall we talk??"
On first reading, I would have attempted to connect her with another friend who performs in fringe festival with body positivity and pro-specturm messages Virginia Kennard, but then I re-read it. Isn't the point of body positivity that all bodies, shapes, colours, genders and backgrounds irrespective, are equal and beautiful? In which case, why segregate minority groups? To me, that undermines the underpinning idea of one-ness that is the beauty of the body positivity movement. To exclude while preaching body positivity, to me, is madness. However, contributing to the comment conversation that followed afterwards would embarrass my partner (this person is from her social circles), and likely not result in any change of opinion. It infuriates me that Caucasions must be inclusive about their culture, and there is this sort of racism about something that should be as encompassing as art. I am all for empowering your own, and solidarity with your own culture. But this sort of project creates an imperfect picture, in my opinion, and widens the gaps between cultures, rather than trying to create a culture of acceptance and tolerance for all shapes, colours, and sizes.
All of the arguments that I have heard about privilege do this, and tell the story of people desperately trying to hold onto their identity as a culture. Newsflash - your culture cannot be taken. In fact, incorporating it into, and have it influence, the modern day is the best way to have your culture expand and flourish. I firmly believe that the focus of the 21st century should be to cherish the ideas that bring all people together, rather than ideas that push us back and cause us to fight amongst ourselves as we have in less sophisticated times.
***
So I have a new job...and was this week a learning curve. It's not so much the job itself which is a struggle, but the office politics involved between my seniors. They are all individually very nice people. The task that I have been given, is one that I have never done before, especially by myself. The resource material even dictates that someone inexperienced is meant to be guided by someone who is experienced. They are not to be expected to lead a project themselves. So, I was encouraged to develop my own style, and guide my own learning. So, I put together my first "find" pack in a six sigma project.
I very quickly learned that all 3 of my seniors had different ideas about what this meant. I was encouraged to do it quickly as the project itself should be a fairly simple one, but to use all of the tools appropriately. For 2 full days, I attended meetings with all 3, and struggled to fit my ideas about what the problem was into the tools given to me, and their opinions about how the tools should be utilized. I actually broke down on Friday, after the 3rd rework of the data I had after I had put together a powerful slide. I think I finally have an idea of the sort of presentation that they are after, and I'm hoping to show it on Tuesday at the meeting. There may not be time, but I want to show that I improve with feedback, and can handle criticism. I want to show that I am here to learn, and to be of value.
At the same time, my male counterpart has 2 high level projects on the run, and has developed them himself. He has been at this for a lot longer than I have, and has received personal attention from the TL. Not that I'm complaining. But if she has to decide that someone should be dropped - it will definitely be me, and that is distressing. I am trying to muster the determination to succeed that I had when I first started this week, and that is difficult. I think how I go next week will be determined by how my new "find" pack is received. I am hoping that I have a more correct idea of what I am doing now.
At home, things are good. We have planted some trees and fruit vines. I have purchased a green bin so that we can do our gardening without fear of having green waste piling up in the car port. I intend to have a relaxing long weekend.
This weekend I have watched two movies so far - Pitch Perfect and ANZAC - Tides of Blood, a documentary written, directed, and produced by Sam Neill.
Pitch Perfect was the kind of high school/college drama I expected, off the back of Glee, extending high school drama into the sex-fueled world of university. I never attended university in the US, but I don't believe I would have flourished there. The film was intended to be tongue in cheek, but some of the messages that it put forward didn't sit well with me. Nevertheless, it was watchable enough, and all of the cast were quite beautiful. Pity that no one did their own singing. Shameless product placement for apple.
ANZAC was moving and informative, thoughtful and personal. I love Sam Neill. He attempted to remove bias except where appropriate to the story he was telling. There were hat-tips to minority groups at that time, contributing to the story that he was telling about the Nationalism that NZ and Australia developed over the course of those wars. The story feels well-rounded, that he has taken the perspective of a person who does not approve of war, trying to understand and remember those that did, and their effect on our history. At the same time, he draws from the examples of his own family to paint a picture of the modern post-baby boomer NZer. I couldn't recommend this documentary enough, and found myself feeling far more informed than if I would have attended a dawn ceremony. I am pleased that this story is documented for posterity.
"Hey hey so, last thing before I get off FB for the night: I've been making photo and video porn with friends for years (for personal use or for people's sex work photos). I've done this for or with heaps and heaps of people.
I would like to form a small explicit/erotic arts collective, made up of minority demographics only, and share ideas. I would love to do more collaborative erotic art, especially photography. I most enjoy photographing people whose bodies are outside of conventional normative beauty standards. I want to collaborate and turn some images into art in other mediums, and I'm sure some of you are amazing at doing that? I want to create an erotic art website/tumblr, a sex and body pos calender for 2016, and to hold a summer camp for erotic arts.
I have a billion sex positive and body positive ideas, and I bet you do too! Shall we talk??"
On first reading, I would have attempted to connect her with another friend who performs in fringe festival with body positivity and pro-specturm messages Virginia Kennard, but then I re-read it. Isn't the point of body positivity that all bodies, shapes, colours, genders and backgrounds irrespective, are equal and beautiful? In which case, why segregate minority groups? To me, that undermines the underpinning idea of one-ness that is the beauty of the body positivity movement. To exclude while preaching body positivity, to me, is madness. However, contributing to the comment conversation that followed afterwards would embarrass my partner (this person is from her social circles), and likely not result in any change of opinion. It infuriates me that Caucasions must be inclusive about their culture, and there is this sort of racism about something that should be as encompassing as art. I am all for empowering your own, and solidarity with your own culture. But this sort of project creates an imperfect picture, in my opinion, and widens the gaps between cultures, rather than trying to create a culture of acceptance and tolerance for all shapes, colours, and sizes.
All of the arguments that I have heard about privilege do this, and tell the story of people desperately trying to hold onto their identity as a culture. Newsflash - your culture cannot be taken. In fact, incorporating it into, and have it influence, the modern day is the best way to have your culture expand and flourish. I firmly believe that the focus of the 21st century should be to cherish the ideas that bring all people together, rather than ideas that push us back and cause us to fight amongst ourselves as we have in less sophisticated times.
***
So I have a new job...and was this week a learning curve. It's not so much the job itself which is a struggle, but the office politics involved between my seniors. They are all individually very nice people. The task that I have been given, is one that I have never done before, especially by myself. The resource material even dictates that someone inexperienced is meant to be guided by someone who is experienced. They are not to be expected to lead a project themselves. So, I was encouraged to develop my own style, and guide my own learning. So, I put together my first "find" pack in a six sigma project.
I very quickly learned that all 3 of my seniors had different ideas about what this meant. I was encouraged to do it quickly as the project itself should be a fairly simple one, but to use all of the tools appropriately. For 2 full days, I attended meetings with all 3, and struggled to fit my ideas about what the problem was into the tools given to me, and their opinions about how the tools should be utilized. I actually broke down on Friday, after the 3rd rework of the data I had after I had put together a powerful slide. I think I finally have an idea of the sort of presentation that they are after, and I'm hoping to show it on Tuesday at the meeting. There may not be time, but I want to show that I improve with feedback, and can handle criticism. I want to show that I am here to learn, and to be of value.
At the same time, my male counterpart has 2 high level projects on the run, and has developed them himself. He has been at this for a lot longer than I have, and has received personal attention from the TL. Not that I'm complaining. But if she has to decide that someone should be dropped - it will definitely be me, and that is distressing. I am trying to muster the determination to succeed that I had when I first started this week, and that is difficult. I think how I go next week will be determined by how my new "find" pack is received. I am hoping that I have a more correct idea of what I am doing now.
At home, things are good. We have planted some trees and fruit vines. I have purchased a green bin so that we can do our gardening without fear of having green waste piling up in the car port. I intend to have a relaxing long weekend.
This weekend I have watched two movies so far - Pitch Perfect and ANZAC - Tides of Blood, a documentary written, directed, and produced by Sam Neill.
Pitch Perfect was the kind of high school/college drama I expected, off the back of Glee, extending high school drama into the sex-fueled world of university. I never attended university in the US, but I don't believe I would have flourished there. The film was intended to be tongue in cheek, but some of the messages that it put forward didn't sit well with me. Nevertheless, it was watchable enough, and all of the cast were quite beautiful. Pity that no one did their own singing. Shameless product placement for apple.
ANZAC was moving and informative, thoughtful and personal. I love Sam Neill. He attempted to remove bias except where appropriate to the story he was telling. There were hat-tips to minority groups at that time, contributing to the story that he was telling about the Nationalism that NZ and Australia developed over the course of those wars. The story feels well-rounded, that he has taken the perspective of a person who does not approve of war, trying to understand and remember those that did, and their effect on our history. At the same time, he draws from the examples of his own family to paint a picture of the modern post-baby boomer NZer. I couldn't recommend this documentary enough, and found myself feeling far more informed than if I would have attended a dawn ceremony. I am pleased that this story is documented for posterity.