Okay, as many of you know, I consider myself to be a very liberal person. Earlier today, I went to dinner with a couple of members from a local UU church and some political topics came up. If I typed it all out, it would take up to much space (and possibly be TL;DR). Therefore, I'll give bullet points.
One of the women I went to dinner with is a Queer feminist and is very involved in LGBT activism. If it wasn't bad enough that I said that I think the current state of the LGBT community is rather flawed, I stated that I consider myself more of a Humanist and Egalitarian, rather than a feminist. That I agreed with the message of equality within Feminism, but I felt that movements such as Feminism and LGBT activism where too exclusive. That with Humanism and Egalitarianism, it was more inclusive and doesn't single a single group out. That they have the potential to help most, if not all, groups of people in need.
However, I was told that, as a biological male, that using terms like "egalitarian" could be mistaken as Anti-Feminist or Male Rights sympathy. However, since they know I'm gay, and not a "bad person", it was okay for me to use that term; however flawed it was. :sarcastic
People of color and woman can be bigoted and discriminatory, but they can't be racist towards whites or sexist towards men. Racism and Sexism are institutionalized and benefit the majority (white people), and to put down minorities. Since people of color and woman don't have as much institutional power as white, biological men, they can't be inherently sexist or racist.
When the topic of racist humor came up, the UU members said that, if there is a TV show or movie written by white people, featuring ethnic characters, and having humor involving stereotypes, then it is racist and people should not laugh at it. However, if an asian person writes stereotyping jokes about asians, or a black writer writes a movie script filled with racist jokes at the expense of black people, then it is okay. However, it would still be not okay for white people to laugh at such jokes.
What do you think about all of this? On one hand, I do agree that there is a major unbalance in institutionalized power in the US, and that non-heterosexuals, non-whites, and women have been discriminated against viscously. However, I also think it's a major over-generalization to say that, even though that certain groups don't hold much institutional power, that somehow makes them inherently incapable of being racist or sexist. Also the idea that feminism is the only path to gender equality.
Thoughts?
- Humanism and Egalitarianism are not as good as Feminism.
One of the women I went to dinner with is a Queer feminist and is very involved in LGBT activism. If it wasn't bad enough that I said that I think the current state of the LGBT community is rather flawed, I stated that I consider myself more of a Humanist and Egalitarian, rather than a feminist. That I agreed with the message of equality within Feminism, but I felt that movements such as Feminism and LGBT activism where too exclusive. That with Humanism and Egalitarianism, it was more inclusive and doesn't single a single group out. That they have the potential to help most, if not all, groups of people in need.
However, I was told that, as a biological male, that using terms like "egalitarian" could be mistaken as Anti-Feminist or Male Rights sympathy. However, since they know I'm gay, and not a "bad person", it was okay for me to use that term; however flawed it was. :sarcastic
- People of color can't be racist and woman can't be sexist
People of color and woman can be bigoted and discriminatory, but they can't be racist towards whites or sexist towards men. Racism and Sexism are institutionalized and benefit the majority (white people), and to put down minorities. Since people of color and woman don't have as much institutional power as white, biological men, they can't be inherently sexist or racist.
- White people can't laugh at racist jokes, but other racial groups can.
When the topic of racist humor came up, the UU members said that, if there is a TV show or movie written by white people, featuring ethnic characters, and having humor involving stereotypes, then it is racist and people should not laugh at it. However, if an asian person writes stereotyping jokes about asians, or a black writer writes a movie script filled with racist jokes at the expense of black people, then it is okay. However, it would still be not okay for white people to laugh at such jokes.
What do you think about all of this? On one hand, I do agree that there is a major unbalance in institutionalized power in the US, and that non-heterosexuals, non-whites, and women have been discriminated against viscously. However, I also think it's a major over-generalization to say that, even though that certain groups don't hold much institutional power, that somehow makes them inherently incapable of being racist or sexist. Also the idea that feminism is the only path to gender equality.
Thoughts?
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