The Anatomy of a Call Out (And Why It Needs To Change)

[hayi]

I recomend reading this first, to get a proper understanding of some of the terms used in the article.

I’m sure we’re all familiar with the activist community privilege or bigotry “call out”.

For those that aren’t, it is a method for either revealing privileged, bigoted or problematic behaviors to others publicly or to attempt to reveal to an

Comments

[entelodont]

I just want to add something about the BFP incident. I've been holding my tongue, but it since it keeps coming up and in this particular context, it must be said.

Some of the people who reacted badly, very badly to BFP's article were survivors themselves. They were hurt, they'd been listening to weeks of non-survivors justifying that song, and they reacted viscerally. I don't think anyone can argue that this was an appropriate forum for such a sensitive topic, but I don't think they were wrong to do so. The shit-stirrers who wandered in later definitely behaved badly, and the post was a disaster, but I do not think the gut reaction of survivors should be blithely lumped in with that.

I am not sure if BFP ever made the distinction. And while of course I cannot dictate what she does or does not do, I can personally ask that it is vital to consider the reality of each situation before we make sweeping statements about them. /rant

Some of the aforelinked posts have recommended abolishing the callout. I don’t agree with that. And this is as someone who has previously made mistakes with call outs of the very type described here and been struck by those same mistakes from others. What I do recommend is that the call out be returned to its proper place. As a small level tool, part of a wide range of methods that activists use, used in conjunction with other methodologies and only used in situations where it will have the maximum impact on creating social change. I won’t deny us the tools we need to fight oppression. But I will expect those tools be used appropriately, thoughtfully and not abusively.

I fully agree with this.

[whomp]

From what I understand it has something to do with this person called BFP and an ontd_f post that directed lots of (possibly) negative traffic her way?

[cabaththeboy]

eh

The thing about the whole bfp incident is this: we had a bunch of abuse survivors calling out another abuse survivor.

I understand anger, I understand bottled feelings, but bfp is not the enemy. Instead of giving her voice and her experiences (that most probably are shared by other people as well) the space and consideration they deserve we silenced her. That's not anything to be proud about.

Sometimes the experiences of women don't fit into the acceptable frames we have constructed (and calling out is a very effective method of keeping these alternative narratives in check) but we still have to listen to them and learn from them, and not follow the knee-jerk reaction to attack them.

[102bb]

I really agree with this.

[hip_hop_korner]

I agree. The BFP post made some really good points, and even though I did not agree with everything that she said, she did not deserve the disgusting response that she received here. Also, the "allies" who came in later on made that post even worse.

[entelodont]

she did not deserve the disgusting response that she received here.

Are you talking about the responses of survivors or non-survivors, or do you not make that distinction at all? I am very uncomfortable with seeing the former framed as "disgusting" when we are talking about highly triggering material.

[hip_hop_korner]

I'm talking about the nonsurvivors who made jokes about BFP deleting the blog entry, the ones who DIDN'T EVEN READ THE POST but thought it was their right to comment about the situation anyways, and the "allies" who, like I said, made it even worse. And I'm pretty sure there was also a person who compared the author to an animal, which is disgusting, especially with the history of women of color being seen as animals.

And I (and I'm sure there's other people, too) felt silenced by the reactions in that post, as if our narrative as survivors isn't right for this community. It's not fair that every survivor's experience isn't respected here.

There was also the blatant ignoring of how intersectionality factors into abuse.

[hip_hop_korner]

BTW "ally" is synonymous with "nonsurvivor" in this context.

[entelodont]

I have been talking about the misrepresentation of survivors from the start. I do not disagree that everyone else was out of line. My beef is with the fact that those survivors are being counted with the others. The post did not turn out well, and the subject was not appropriate for a forum like this. Every survivor I've talked to, regardless of whether their narrative was perceived to "fit" or not, said they were made extremely uncomfortable by that post and its aftermath, which to me says the problem is more about a lack of respect and/or understanding for all survivors rather than for a certain kind of survivor. (And it must be noted that, since some of those people chose not to disclose in that post, it's unfair to make assumptions about who falls where and what their particular position in the kyriarchal scheme is.)

[hip_hop_korner]

Well then there needs to be more discussions about how people within a marginalized group can RESPECT EACH OTHER and every unique experience.

And again, I'm talking about allies also, because I'm pretty sure there were people in that post who said they were nonsurvivors.

[lisaquestions]

Well then there needs to be more discussions about how people within a marginalized group can RESPECT EACH OTHER and every unique experience.

Yeah, and this is something that's central to what bfp posted (and linked in the post above) and I was trying to get at in my own post, and I don't think those concepts are getting much attention here, although this post is more about Genderbitch's post and not the others so I can understand that. But I think it sort of emphasizes certain parts of the conversation.

[entelodont]

Who is "we"? The problem is, once again, that no one is distinguishing between the survivors and the people who were causing unnecessary drama. A survivor expressing themselves is not "silencing".

Sometimes the experiences of women don't fit into the acceptable frames we have constructed

Such as responding in a manner deemed inappropriate by others? I am not going to sit here and say abuse survivors have any responsibility to sit back and carefully consider if their feelings are wrong. As I said, this forum was not appropriate for such a sensitive discussion, but I will not accept the line that survivors have to "listen and learn" and be polite when they are feeling raw and angry. That is completely fucked up. It's not about being "proud" of that shitstorm, for God's sake.

[cabaththeboy]

The anger of the oppressed is not my problem here. My problem is that sometimes it gets directed at similarly oppressed people who don't deserve it. How about in the context of marginalized people sharing their experiences about the oppression they have experienced and the ways they responded to it, we leave our feelings out of the equation for just a second and stop to listen? I'm not talking about letting privileged people off the hook. I'm talking about realizing that not everyone is an enemy.

Argh, this is really hurried, I'm sorry. I'm already late for the first class of this semester and I really must dash off. I may be way out of line and if so, I apologize.

[entelodont]

That's a nice idea, but telling people who are hurt and angry to control themselves is truly silencing behavior. The problem is that there is no "right" or "wrong" here. BFP's feelings are valid. The feelings of those who responded to her are valid. That article should not have been posted here. Non-survivors had no business mocking and attacking her. It is possible to accept all these things. It's not about "enemies", it's about recognizing that people are human and when something hits them is a genuinely sensitive area, they may well say things that are not pleasant to hear. And I'm okay with that. I have no right not to be. No one does. Portraying survivor's reactions as something that has to do with them perceiving BFP as an enemy is pretty fucked up.

[brecho]

IA completely.