Try to See it Someone Else's Way.
Wiscon told Elizabeth Moon to go make them a sandwich. Her opinion and experiences did not matter in the scope of their agenda, to the people who were hosting her. Oh, the irony.
I don't agree with many of the things she said, but I can respect how she would feel them. The emotions that drove them. Wiscon told her it's not okay to be different. They said to her that her voice does not mean anything to them. That somehow, she's too dangerous or controversial to have at a convention that prides itself on allowing women in the genre a voice and expressing themselves.
Also...
Juan Williams got fired by NPR for stating an opinion. He gets nervous when Muslims get on planes with him.
America, home of the free. Land of the double standard.
Listen, the First Amendment still protects what people say, even if you don't agree with it. And there is the argument that it doesn't mean people can't get mad at you and uninvite you from conventions or get you fired. to that, I say, people are fired and uninvited because others are afraid of them.
We don't live in a vacuum. People's personal experiences are going to color their opinion, if you cannot see that, you aren't dealing with reality. If the emotions and feelings of EVERYONE cannot be respected, then what is the fucking point?
I have had many discussions with many people from different backgrounds. The ones I enjoy speaking with are the most are the ones who are willing to accept that other people have different experiences that make them who they are.
Muslims who acknowledge that people are afraid of Muslims because of ignorance, yet offer forgiveness and a williness to say, "listen, buddy, you've got us wrong. Maybe we've got you wrong too." I've had that experience. I hope I'm better off for it.
Other unpopular opinions are going around too.
Many American citizens think illegal immigration is unfair. Many immigrants happen to agree. Others think that the system caters to illegal immigrants more than it helps citizens.
A good number of Democrats think that a lot of their party members are rabid and full of shit. Some Republicans also think the same thing about their ilk.
I don't think life should be lived on the terms of someone else. A political agenda. A religious dogma. A popular trend. Be an individual. Respect individuality. Respect other people's fears and concerns. Was Elizabeth Moon wrong in some of her assumptions? Yes. Was her fear valid? The emotion behind her words? Yes. Absolutely. She's seen things the rest of us have had the privilege to never see. Her opinion is colored by her experiences. Who are any of us to take that away? Were her facts shaky? Certainly. Was it worth kicking her out of WisCon? Who actually looks sanctimonious in this situation now?
If a woman is raped, are her resulting fears unfounded and irrational? Not to her they aren't. But to many, they would say, get over the hell you've been through. Not everyone is the same as that rapist! But in her mind, and her heart, that may be impossible to believe.
If a person of color is repeatedly harassed by the police while living in a white neighborhood, would they be wrong to assume cops are a bunch of racists. Not in their experience.
I get nervous when I get around cowboys (goat ropers). I got the absolute shit beat out of me by six of them when I was in Junior High. My animosity towards people with big belt buckles and brush popper shirts might be unfounded, silly to some, but I can't get over it due to trauma. I fucking hate cowboys.
In Elizabeth Moon's experience, the war she experienced was trauma. 9/11 was trauma for others. It doesn't have to make sense. It's not something a lot of people can just get over with because it's not the popular opinion. I have an uncle who fought in World War II who still hates the Japanese for Bataan and Pearl Harbor. There's nothing I can do to change his mind. He has to live with his trauma, and I respect that. I don't have to share it, but I'm not going to uninvite him from family gatherings because he still refers to them with racial epithets.
Many American Indians see alcohol as the white man's way to continue to force their culture into extinction. Most of us just flip the channel when the beer commercials come on.
There are places like Auschwitz that have become museums to account for the atrocities and hate inflicted on others. No, those people won't forget. Should they?
A lot of black people to this day REFUSE to ride in the back of a bus.
There are people who can't drive past a place they used to work because of how they were treated at that job. Nothing violent ever happened to them there, but the idea of being there is too much for them to bear.
Am I crazy to think that it's hard for some to separate their experience from how they are "supposed" to feel? The bruja-ha with the PC Parrots struck a cord with me, as has the kerfluffle about the Arizona law on immigration. A lot of people have been called out on this because they have been told their their experiences are Wrong. That they have no right to feel different or voice their opinions about things because they don't fit with the latest trends of how people are supposed to act.
The PC movement hides behind the rubrick of "we're just saying treat people with tolerance and respect." That really isn't a lot to ask. Some of the most followed religions out there are based on this. But, we aren't computers. We can't be programmed what to think or feel. Each of us is a product of our environment and experiences. We survive by learned behavior and reactions to danger. Sometimes those dangers are idiotic, ignorant, and "wrong" but they are part of each of us, nonetheless.
For one person to say, "you are a lunatic for thinking that!" and immediately discount everything they say from then on as paranoid ramblings, aren't being tolerant of that person's experiences. Maybe, instead of labeling them and making assumptions that we should all think alike, they should be objective and try to understand that other person. They shouldn't just yell "privilige!" or "fascist!"at someone else. Who are they to judge anyway? I calling me crazy your professional opinion, doctor? Oh, you aren't a doctor? Well, then what the fuck do you know anyway?
Am I a bigot? Am I a racist? Am I a paranoid asshole because we don't happen to agree? Or are those just cheap words meant to silence me? Why? Am I that dangerous? You don't like my rants? My tone? I'm sorry, but maybe I don't like your complacency. I, like many of us, have known fear, have suffered, have got the shit end of the stick from the world (and I by no means have had it nearly as bad as some). If you haven't, then I am sorry, we have no common ground. If we have, maybe we can be brothers or sisters and stop fooling ourselves that any of us is perfect. There is plenty of time for rest in the grave, so it has been said. We shouldn't rest. We shouldn't be complacent. No moral dogma, no puritanical rubric of behavior is going to save us. Only being receptive to each other's experiences is going to help us. Knowing that each of us is a collection of their world, lets us see the world through our neighbors and their voices. Why should we close our eyes to the world? Is it too much to handle? Is it dangerous? Are they going to shake the foundations of our existences if we listen? If we listen, truly listen, we can filter through the damage and understand them. And maybe we can see the injustices in this world and make life better for everyone?
I see life as more homeopathic than what a religion or a political agenda or a system of conduct can offer. Each of us has that power to understand that they are damaged and maybe we can help each other cope with that fact, rather than marginalize those who are different in any capacity.
I tend to rant and rave, but really its an externalization of a perpetual internal struggle, to analyze and dissect the world around me. Please don't take it too personally. Once I get these things out of my system, the storm generally passes and I am able to go on and obsess about something else. Just don't sneak up on me while wearing a cowboy hat. Okay?
I don't agree with many of the things she said, but I can respect how she would feel them. The emotions that drove them. Wiscon told her it's not okay to be different. They said to her that her voice does not mean anything to them. That somehow, she's too dangerous or controversial to have at a convention that prides itself on allowing women in the genre a voice and expressing themselves.
Also...
Juan Williams got fired by NPR for stating an opinion. He gets nervous when Muslims get on planes with him.
America, home of the free. Land of the double standard.
Listen, the First Amendment still protects what people say, even if you don't agree with it. And there is the argument that it doesn't mean people can't get mad at you and uninvite you from conventions or get you fired. to that, I say, people are fired and uninvited because others are afraid of them.
We don't live in a vacuum. People's personal experiences are going to color their opinion, if you cannot see that, you aren't dealing with reality. If the emotions and feelings of EVERYONE cannot be respected, then what is the fucking point?
I have had many discussions with many people from different backgrounds. The ones I enjoy speaking with are the most are the ones who are willing to accept that other people have different experiences that make them who they are.
Muslims who acknowledge that people are afraid of Muslims because of ignorance, yet offer forgiveness and a williness to say, "listen, buddy, you've got us wrong. Maybe we've got you wrong too." I've had that experience. I hope I'm better off for it.
Other unpopular opinions are going around too.
Many American citizens think illegal immigration is unfair. Many immigrants happen to agree. Others think that the system caters to illegal immigrants more than it helps citizens.
A good number of Democrats think that a lot of their party members are rabid and full of shit. Some Republicans also think the same thing about their ilk.
I don't think life should be lived on the terms of someone else. A political agenda. A religious dogma. A popular trend. Be an individual. Respect individuality. Respect other people's fears and concerns. Was Elizabeth Moon wrong in some of her assumptions? Yes. Was her fear valid? The emotion behind her words? Yes. Absolutely. She's seen things the rest of us have had the privilege to never see. Her opinion is colored by her experiences. Who are any of us to take that away? Were her facts shaky? Certainly. Was it worth kicking her out of WisCon? Who actually looks sanctimonious in this situation now?
If a woman is raped, are her resulting fears unfounded and irrational? Not to her they aren't. But to many, they would say, get over the hell you've been through. Not everyone is the same as that rapist! But in her mind, and her heart, that may be impossible to believe.
If a person of color is repeatedly harassed by the police while living in a white neighborhood, would they be wrong to assume cops are a bunch of racists. Not in their experience.
I get nervous when I get around cowboys (goat ropers). I got the absolute shit beat out of me by six of them when I was in Junior High. My animosity towards people with big belt buckles and brush popper shirts might be unfounded, silly to some, but I can't get over it due to trauma. I fucking hate cowboys.
In Elizabeth Moon's experience, the war she experienced was trauma. 9/11 was trauma for others. It doesn't have to make sense. It's not something a lot of people can just get over with because it's not the popular opinion. I have an uncle who fought in World War II who still hates the Japanese for Bataan and Pearl Harbor. There's nothing I can do to change his mind. He has to live with his trauma, and I respect that. I don't have to share it, but I'm not going to uninvite him from family gatherings because he still refers to them with racial epithets.
Many American Indians see alcohol as the white man's way to continue to force their culture into extinction. Most of us just flip the channel when the beer commercials come on.
There are places like Auschwitz that have become museums to account for the atrocities and hate inflicted on others. No, those people won't forget. Should they?
A lot of black people to this day REFUSE to ride in the back of a bus.
There are people who can't drive past a place they used to work because of how they were treated at that job. Nothing violent ever happened to them there, but the idea of being there is too much for them to bear.
Am I crazy to think that it's hard for some to separate their experience from how they are "supposed" to feel? The bruja-ha with the PC Parrots struck a cord with me, as has the kerfluffle about the Arizona law on immigration. A lot of people have been called out on this because they have been told their their experiences are Wrong. That they have no right to feel different or voice their opinions about things because they don't fit with the latest trends of how people are supposed to act.
The PC movement hides behind the rubrick of "we're just saying treat people with tolerance and respect." That really isn't a lot to ask. Some of the most followed religions out there are based on this. But, we aren't computers. We can't be programmed what to think or feel. Each of us is a product of our environment and experiences. We survive by learned behavior and reactions to danger. Sometimes those dangers are idiotic, ignorant, and "wrong" but they are part of each of us, nonetheless.
For one person to say, "you are a lunatic for thinking that!" and immediately discount everything they say from then on as paranoid ramblings, aren't being tolerant of that person's experiences. Maybe, instead of labeling them and making assumptions that we should all think alike, they should be objective and try to understand that other person. They shouldn't just yell "privilige!" or "fascist!"at someone else. Who are they to judge anyway? I calling me crazy your professional opinion, doctor? Oh, you aren't a doctor? Well, then what the fuck do you know anyway?
Am I a bigot? Am I a racist? Am I a paranoid asshole because we don't happen to agree? Or are those just cheap words meant to silence me? Why? Am I that dangerous? You don't like my rants? My tone? I'm sorry, but maybe I don't like your complacency. I, like many of us, have known fear, have suffered, have got the shit end of the stick from the world (and I by no means have had it nearly as bad as some). If you haven't, then I am sorry, we have no common ground. If we have, maybe we can be brothers or sisters and stop fooling ourselves that any of us is perfect. There is plenty of time for rest in the grave, so it has been said. We shouldn't rest. We shouldn't be complacent. No moral dogma, no puritanical rubric of behavior is going to save us. Only being receptive to each other's experiences is going to help us. Knowing that each of us is a collection of their world, lets us see the world through our neighbors and their voices. Why should we close our eyes to the world? Is it too much to handle? Is it dangerous? Are they going to shake the foundations of our existences if we listen? If we listen, truly listen, we can filter through the damage and understand them. And maybe we can see the injustices in this world and make life better for everyone?
I see life as more homeopathic than what a religion or a political agenda or a system of conduct can offer. Each of us has that power to understand that they are damaged and maybe we can help each other cope with that fact, rather than marginalize those who are different in any capacity.
I tend to rant and rave, but really its an externalization of a perpetual internal struggle, to analyze and dissect the world around me. Please don't take it too personally. Once I get these things out of my system, the storm generally passes and I am able to go on and obsess about something else. Just don't sneak up on me while wearing a cowboy hat. Okay?