In yesterday’s post, I was talking about where to draw the line when it came to problematic creators. It always amuses/frustrates me when people try to lecture me about not giving my money to someone I personally abhor. Even if they were objectively true that I should not use my purchasing power in that way–
Which, by the way. Let’s unpack and dissect that a bit. Capitalism is based on buying what you want/need. And the basic tenet is ‘let the market decide’. In tangent, we are told that people ‘vote with their wallets’. To me, this means that me deciding NOT to give money to JKR, for example, is exactly how capitalism/politics are supposed to work. And yet, I’m told that somehow I’m doing her wrong by not buying her shit?
I want to emphasize again that no one is owed my money. I’m not talking about bills, of course, but about creators who are trying to entice me to part with my dollars. While I support the arts in general, I am not obligated to support any one artist. It’s fascinating to me that the political right, who are big proponents of capitalism (so they say) are the ones who throw a hissy fit when they perceive ‘cancel culture’ is happening.
Look. You can’t really have it both ways. You can’t say let the market decide unless it goes against my point of view. I mean, you can say that, but it’s not being internally logical. Which, I know. It may not surprise you to know that I don’t think much of the right and their ability to maintain an internal logic.
More to the point, though, is that they are really good at staying on message. It’s one thing I envy about the Republicans. Less so since that guy took over the party, but still. They will line up dutifully behind their party and repeat the talking points ad nauseam.
I wish the Democrats were as on message, but for better and worse, we are the big tent party. I have been a Dem since I was eighteen. Before that, really, but maybe not vocally.
I saw Ronald Reagan speak on TV when I was a kid. As president, I mean. So it was when I was in my teens, actually. I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying, but I did not like him. At all. Honestly, just because of that, I was turned off the Republican Party. That was only reinforced when I was old enough to vote.
By the way, the first person I could have voted for was Bill Clinton (the first time). I was studying abroad, though, at the time, so I did not vote. Four years later, I did not want to vote for him because I did not like him as a president or a person.
I did not want to vote for him, so I waited until about an hour before the polls closed. When I found out that Clinton was predicted to carry Minnesota, I voted for Nader instead. Please note this was not the year Gore technically won, but lost in reality to W.
Side note: When Clinton was impeached, the rightwing Republican (he had Rush Limbaugh on high in his office) where I was working (the county) crowed, “What do you think about your boy now?” I said, “He’s not mine. I never voted for him.” That flummoxed the Reublican because I was pretty open about being a Democrat.
I really wish, though, that being a Democrat didn’t usually mean voting for the lesser of two evils. I will never vote for a Republican, especially in this day and age, but I have only been really enthused about one candidate–Obama. That’s on the national stage, I mean. Locally, there have been some that I am pleased by. Actually, I really like my own representative: she’s fucking cool.
How the….I’ve done again. gon ecompletely off the rails.
Oh, right. The fact that Republicans have twisted ‘cancel culture’ into something that most definitely exists and harms innocent people–like JKR. Even though they, themselves, are champions of ‘let the market decide’.
And the white-knighing to protect poor, misunderstood JKR is, well, nauseating. As I said in the RKG Discord, JKR is doing just fine. Even if she never sold another book in her lifetime, she is set for life. Plus, with all the fame she has, the fact that she ‘innocently’ RTs and likes tweets by transphobes means that she’s amplifying their voices to the nth degree. It’s disingenuous to say that her agreeing with so many rancid transphobes is just coincidence.
And, come on. She doesn’t have to actually say, “I AM A TRANSPHOBE!” to be one. That’s what makes me so frustrated. People’s words and behaviors belie the stated disclaimer that they personally are not any kind of ist.
The word ‘microaggression’ sometimes gets overused, but one of the true microaggressions is when someone gets offended by the merest hint that they might have said or done something remotely bigoted.
Again, louder for the people in th eback, it’s much worst to be any kind of ist than to be called one. I know it’s instinct to deny being an ist because who would want to think that about themselves? But we all are biased to some degree. You cannot help but be when you grow up in this environment.
For example, when I was reading a post on Ask A Manager, the letter writer said something about running into an old college friend who became their spouse. I said something about their husband, and another commenter pointed out that the LW did not mention. My instinct was to be indignant. “I’m 95% of the time on it when it comes to gender! Leave me be!” I swallowed that impulse, though, because the other commenter was right. And it’s important not to misgender people.
Here’s the thing, though. If you (general you) can listen to the comment without getting defensive or take it as a personal attack, you’ll be better able to change your problematic behavior. Very few people think of themselves as racist, sexist, queerphobic, etc. So saying, “So-and-so doesn’t mean to be _____” doesn’t really matter in the end. Sure, intent makes a bit of difference, but in the end, if someone is being any kind of bigot, it would behoove them to, well, not.