'Filling the Gaps' - the 'calling out' culture and feminist blogs

[thisglasnost]

You have a right to be respected in feminist spaces, but you do not have the right to constant and full validation. It is not the job of any blogger to cater fully and comprehensively to your particular interests and perspectives. It is not their job to represent Feminism exactly as you want it represented; it is not their job to do Feminism

Comments

[3dog]

I think I disagree with this overall.

I think callouts are a good thing. Yes, they seem to shut down voices, however the voices they are shutting down are typically ignorant, if not hateful. When someone has said something hurtful to me I don't usually go out of my way to "nicely" let them know, and I wouldn't expect someone else to grant me that courtesy either.

People who get called out on something are usually coming from some place of privilege (wrt what they're talking about) and they might find being called out online surprising when they've never been called out irl. I think this comes from the fact that the anonymity the internet grants diffuses fear and anxiety that would be coupled with an irl call out, which is why they are so prevalent on the blogosphere. In a way the internet is one of the few places where you can safely call a person out and discuss privilege-owning.

basically I think calling out is a good thing overall.

[dayswithbunnies]

I think these are basically my thoughts too.

[misters]

yeah i don't quite understand where the shutting people down argument is coming from. the people being called out are generally the ones whose voices are unnecessary anyway, which is why they're being called out in the first place. there's always the risk that after a privileged person is called out they'll get all huffy and decide they don't want anything to do with this after all, but it's unfair to expect the [usually marginalized] person doing the calling out to downplay their hurt feelings for the sake of making it more palatable.

[leastconcern]

I agree. I also think this was a cop-out from Feministe to cover their own asses about not promoting a book. I also like how they basically blame the author for -wanting- to promote their book, because in reality it is EXTREMELY common for WOC to be left out in feminist circles, and Jessica Yee's book discusses that. It was like she was poo-pooing the efforts of Yee and the other authors in that anthology for their WOC voices being heard.

I am indigenous, and tweet-friends with Yee and I am actually planning on doing a review for the book at Womanist Musings. I didn't see Yee say anything negative, but her FANS definitely saw and called Feministe out on their shit.

[insane_duckfish]

I think calling out is a good thing when it is used in this way - like you mentioned, god knows there's little enough of it in the real world, even when it would be entirely appropriate