(no subject)
Sometimes I forget that within my own social circle there are people with little to no belief in social justice, because I tend to surround myself with liberals--and by that, I don't mean the Canadian political party or the way Ronald Dworkin means it. When I remember that these people are like that, it is so disappointing. It feels like a betrayal, like these people have misrepresented themselves to me and I've been tricked into liking them, even though that isn't fair because it's not their fault I didn't realize that they're really socially conservative.
Pragmatism. I am so fucking sick of having to argue against people's "pragmatism." It is probably the number one argument people give against changing things: "Things have already gotten better, the progress is not "nothing," there are other priorities...what? Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy, you Feminazi? I'm just being pragmatic!" "Pragmatism" is one of the reasons marginalized people remain marginalized--because the people who have the power are "being pragmatic" and doing what benefits the majority. Doing what the majority has prioritized, which clearly is what benefits them with little regard to what might benefit other people who do not have their privilege, whether that's white privilege, male privilege, able-bodied privilege, cisgender privilege, class privilege, or whatever. In Montréal, this translates into not spending money to bring the public transport system into the twenty-first century to make it accessible. There are no elevators in any métro station I've been in. The way the streets are plowed means that even if the STM sends wheelchair-accessible buses when they say they're going to (which they often can't even manage to do), someone in a wheelchair can't get on the bus because there's a huge ridge of snow between the sidewalk and the bus (not to mention the giant gap between the curb and the bus even without the snow). And once that person does get onto the bus, they have to execute a weird three-point turn to back into the designated spot, often after having to ASK the people sitting in the seats that need to fold up to move so they can do so and not go careening down the aisle. (Granted, having to ask people to move isn't the city of Montréal or the Canadian government's fault, but it's still bullshit.) Perhaps it is not "pragmatic" for me, as a white, upper middle class, read-as-straight (queer) ciswoman to continue to complain that sexism still exists, because I have access to most things I want to do in life and the people I care about will not physically hurt me or demean me on the basis of my gender. I don't give a flying fuck. Yes, my privilege shields me from a lot of awful things. No, that doesn't mean I don't have a right to be furious that my body is still seen as something that is to be used for men's purposes and for capitalism's purposes, that doesn't mean I don't have a right to be furious that I am automatically sexualized and pathologized, that doesn't mean I don't have a right to DEMAND change, to DEMAND that the blame for sexual violence be placed where it belongs (squarely on the head of those who perpetrate it, thank you very much) and that I be granted the agency to decide where and when I want to go somewhere or do something. And demanding those things is what is right. I do not know ANYONE, except perhaps rapists and maybe not even then, because they don't see themselves as rapists due to our totally fucked up culture of masculinity, power, and sexuality, who would say that it is not the right of women to demand that sexual violence end. Yeah, that demand is hard, and will take a long time, but what I want is an effort, a visible effort, put forth in good faith, to make that happen, and I absolutely do not see it. I do not see that kind of effort on the part of the city of Montréal to make their city accessible to all of their citizens either.
I don't understand how anyone that considers themselves to be an empathetic, accepting person could not see that as a huge failing on the part of the city (at least, if not the province). If the people in power continue to say that things like that aren't a priority because they don't affect "most people," or they aren't affected by these issues themselves, all that happens is that we continue to fuck over fellow citizens and human beings. It's not "pragmatic" to say that Montréal has a bus system for differently abled people (one that is nowhere near comprehensive and requires people using it to wait for hours before actually being able to go anywhere) and it's priorities are elsewhere. It's discriminatory.
Pragmatism. I am so fucking sick of having to argue against people's "pragmatism." It is probably the number one argument people give against changing things: "Things have already gotten better, the progress is not "nothing," there are other priorities...what? Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy, you Feminazi? I'm just being pragmatic!" "Pragmatism" is one of the reasons marginalized people remain marginalized--because the people who have the power are "being pragmatic" and doing what benefits the majority. Doing what the majority has prioritized, which clearly is what benefits them with little regard to what might benefit other people who do not have their privilege, whether that's white privilege, male privilege, able-bodied privilege, cisgender privilege, class privilege, or whatever. In Montréal, this translates into not spending money to bring the public transport system into the twenty-first century to make it accessible. There are no elevators in any métro station I've been in. The way the streets are plowed means that even if the STM sends wheelchair-accessible buses when they say they're going to (which they often can't even manage to do), someone in a wheelchair can't get on the bus because there's a huge ridge of snow between the sidewalk and the bus (not to mention the giant gap between the curb and the bus even without the snow). And once that person does get onto the bus, they have to execute a weird three-point turn to back into the designated spot, often after having to ASK the people sitting in the seats that need to fold up to move so they can do so and not go careening down the aisle. (Granted, having to ask people to move isn't the city of Montréal or the Canadian government's fault, but it's still bullshit.) Perhaps it is not "pragmatic" for me, as a white, upper middle class, read-as-straight (queer) ciswoman to continue to complain that sexism still exists, because I have access to most things I want to do in life and the people I care about will not physically hurt me or demean me on the basis of my gender. I don't give a flying fuck. Yes, my privilege shields me from a lot of awful things. No, that doesn't mean I don't have a right to be furious that my body is still seen as something that is to be used for men's purposes and for capitalism's purposes, that doesn't mean I don't have a right to be furious that I am automatically sexualized and pathologized, that doesn't mean I don't have a right to DEMAND change, to DEMAND that the blame for sexual violence be placed where it belongs (squarely on the head of those who perpetrate it, thank you very much) and that I be granted the agency to decide where and when I want to go somewhere or do something. And demanding those things is what is right. I do not know ANYONE, except perhaps rapists and maybe not even then, because they don't see themselves as rapists due to our totally fucked up culture of masculinity, power, and sexuality, who would say that it is not the right of women to demand that sexual violence end. Yeah, that demand is hard, and will take a long time, but what I want is an effort, a visible effort, put forth in good faith, to make that happen, and I absolutely do not see it. I do not see that kind of effort on the part of the city of Montréal to make their city accessible to all of their citizens either.
I don't understand how anyone that considers themselves to be an empathetic, accepting person could not see that as a huge failing on the part of the city (at least, if not the province). If the people in power continue to say that things like that aren't a priority because they don't affect "most people," or they aren't affected by these issues themselves, all that happens is that we continue to fuck over fellow citizens and human beings. It's not "pragmatic" to say that Montréal has a bus system for differently abled people (one that is nowhere near comprehensive and requires people using it to wait for hours before actually being able to go anywhere) and it's priorities are elsewhere. It's discriminatory.