On these stormy waters, I just navigated out of looking like a dangerous misogynist, into accidently alienating my muse, and now the subject that I was defending is described like the emotional and intellectual equivalent of using gay as a slur. Try not being a feminist for the last three-four years, it’s a... a.. You will mince your words is what I mean.
And it is hard. At least when chauvinism reigned I could play with the discourse without looking like I kicked a kitten. In a social climate where people are this easily accused (or insinuated to be bad) and something like manlands can be taken that personal. A lot of people chose not to talk, or when they do it’s carefully guarded and without much of an in. Threats and curses are easier to deal with than this for someone like me. What I am getting at is that although the social climate looks like it is getting more inclusive, it is more like a shift of who is included, what is allowed to talk about, how we are allowed to talk about it. I mean looking back I can see how it escalated, page 2 looked so harmonic. Maybe claims of censorship and arguments for freedom of speech are stifling, provocative and farfetched somehow, maybe I need to check my privilege and become more grounded and respectful. Maybe there can be an ideological platform that values these equally (but hopefully values freedom of speech just a little bit more). Maybe old school freedom of speech loyalists are truly incompatible with the new school and I am an unfeeling clumsy artifact of the past.
I think they are compatible though, I definitely think there is a middle-ground. We could build culture, inclusivity without erasing culture. In the meantime I will assimilate by calling them creature-lands as a token of goodwill. And because posting in this thread is feeling more and more like Russian roulette and I am running out of bullets.
And it is hard. At least when chauvinism reigned I could play with the discourse without looking like I kicked a kitten. In a social climate where people are this easily accused (or insinuated to be bad) and something like manlands can be taken that personal. A lot of people chose not to talk, or when they do it’s carefully guarded and without much of an in. Threats and curses are easier to deal with than this for someone like me. What I am getting at is that although the social climate looks like it is getting more inclusive, it is more like a shift of who is included, what is allowed to talk about, how we are allowed to talk about it. I mean looking back I can see how it escalated, page 2 looked so harmonic. Maybe claims of censorship and arguments for freedom of speech are stifling, provocative and farfetched somehow, maybe I need to check my privilege and become more grounded and respectful. Maybe there can be an ideological platform that values these equally (but hopefully values freedom of speech just a little bit more). Maybe old school freedom of speech loyalists are truly incompatible with the new school and I am an unfeeling clumsy artifact of the past.
I think they are compatible though, I definitely think there is a middle-ground. We could build culture, inclusivity without erasing culture. In the meantime I will assimilate by calling them creature-lands as a token of goodwill. And because posting in this thread is feeling more and more like Russian roulette and I am running out of bullets.