Five words meme thing
Oct. 6th, 2009 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetNabbed from branewurms/![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
woodburner, who gave me some very interesting words with very interesting intersectionality and stuff :3
1) feminism
Duuuude, feminism ¦Db Feminism is my new drug.
See, I've pretty much always been a feminist in one form or another. When I was in grade school, my feminism was fairly limited. I knew I wanted everyone to be equal, but outside of sexism (which was proven to exist by Grrl Power episodes of television shows; if sexism didn't exist anymore, why would we have those episodes?), I didn't know there was much to it. Yes, obviously, the really overt -isms were bad, but I didn't see [notice] a lot of those in my every day life; I was steeped in privilege.
I started learning to look in junior high from a woman who I consider to be a personal hero. She introduced me (pretty much any class she taught, actually) to gay rights, and the idea that being neuroatypical, even in "small" ways, was normal. She's quite possibly also the reason I got help for my clinical depression as early as I did; she's bipolar herself, and stressed that, if something was wrong, you should get help because help was possible.
I noticed more things as time went by, but mostly they were small, or just extensions of what I had already embraced. Gay rights eventually took forefront in my thoughts and efforts. And then last year's election hit, and I read Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack for the first time. Feminism for me went in bursts from there. The Avatar live action casting was when I first started working on my internalized racism. Then, in March, IIRC, I learned of RaceFail, which spurred epic reading sprees to learn as much as possible about how race was treated in our current culture. Somewhere along the way, I caught a tag or a link about the Open Source Boob Project, and took a brief break from race to read about that. It was through this that I discovered Shakesville, one of my current internet hangouts, and quite possibly the most progressive place I've ever been.
It was a very steep learning curve for a while, because while I was already working on my own internalized racism, sexism, ablism and so forth, I hadn't quite cottoned on to exactly how much more to everything there was. It was emotionally and mentally exhausting, trying to "catch up" to everything I'd overlooked in my privilege, and I'm sure I still have a ways to go, but I'm so grateful to be learning.
Feminism is a core part of my identity. If I were forced to give it up, my personality would change drastically. It has taught me to think more deeply about what I do and why I do it. It has taught me to reexamine my own work from different angles. Most importantly, it has taught me strategies for how to avoid hurting people, and how to deal with the fallout when I do.
Feminism is about equality. It's about owning privilege and defining yourself. It's a tool to help recognize where things are wrong in society, and how we can change them. It's a formula for making the world a better place - not just for women, not just for marginalized groups, but for everyone. It's about the steps we can take to get there.
And I can't get enough of it.
2) avatar
And now, on a less serious note! \o\ Avatar is totally my favorite show in my life so far. It's got some serious feminist messages worked in in such a way that itmostly doesn't contradict itself. It's got wonderful, lovable characters in a gorgeous, incredibly intricate setting. It's got an engaging, epic plot, using elements unexplored by most of Western media, and staying true to its sources. It is not without its flaws (I would've liked some old women in the White Lotus group, for example), but it's as close to everything I could ask for as I may ever see in mainstream media (hint hint, world).
And now, a bunch of people in Hollywood are trampling all over most of that. *sigh* I'll just be over here, watching the season one finale for the nth time.
3) slash
Hmmm, slash. Well, as a word, I like its inclusivity; while it's still widely considered separate from het (to the best of my knowledge), it includes a lot of different romantic arrangement schemes, from m/m to f/f to three- and moresomes. It's a very flexible concept, and it's fun to stretch my mind with it :)
4) books
I love books \o/ I love them soooo much. Possibly it is because both of my parents are librarians, and met at the library, even. Possibly it is because I was read to nightly from a very early age. Possibly it is because there was a bookshelf in every room of the house I used to live in save one, and it was either love them or do something drastic and regrettable. The smell of the pages, the weight of each volume, the way the paper feels to my fingers... I just really, really love books.
And also reading! Which I don't really consider too separate from books. Reportedly, a teacher once told my mom that she loved it when I was reading in class and laughed out loud, because it showed the other kids that reading could be fun (gasp!). Just the idea that a few squiggles on a page can contain the blueprints for another universe, and all the materials are in my imagination, and all I have to do to go there is interpret them according to concrete rules...
I love it so much, someday I want to make my own :)
5) activism in fandom
And we're back to the first and second topics XD
Seriously, though. A lot of our culture is defined by media, and also reflected in media. If we ever want to change the way the world is seen, we have to do it on both sides. Frequently, this starts with noticing problems in the first place. From there, we have two (not mutually exclusive!) options: create something new in the media genre that deals with the problem correctly, and express displeasure with the original's problem to its creator(s). There's a lot of noise from the people who uphold the status quo about just doing the former if you have complaints about how it's done now, but that can be quite difficult even without fighting the system in small and large ways. The latter can be done by writing letters, making posters, talking to friends and people you meet at conventions, or even just not buying something that gets it wrong and spending money on something that gets it right. That's a form of activism, as well, and it's certainly capable of getting things done.
Isms in media have their own inertia, and without both new people with better ideals entering the industry and people who will hold those already there to basic standards of human decency, they are very likely to keep perpetuating themselves, and even getting worse. Considering how bad things are already, I hate to think of where they could go.
----
Whee, long entry is long! Anyhow, comment here asking for words, and I'll give you five to talk about. I'll try for five topics I associate with you, but may fail miserably and have to pull stuff out of thin air ^^a
On a completely different note, we've currently got two to three cups of fresh raspberries in the fridge. Anyone have any good recipes?
branewurms/woodburner, who gave me some very interesting words with very interesting intersectionality and stuff :31) feminism
Duuuude, feminism ¦Db Feminism is my new drug.
See, I've pretty much always been a feminist in one form or another. When I was in grade school, my feminism was fairly limited. I knew I wanted everyone to be equal, but outside of sexism (which was proven to exist by Grrl Power episodes of television shows; if sexism didn't exist anymore, why would we have those episodes?), I didn't know there was much to it. Yes, obviously, the really overt -isms were bad, but I didn't see [notice] a lot of those in my every day life; I was steeped in privilege.
I started learning to look in junior high from a woman who I consider to be a personal hero. She introduced me (pretty much any class she taught, actually) to gay rights, and the idea that being neuroatypical, even in "small" ways, was normal. She's quite possibly also the reason I got help for my clinical depression as early as I did; she's bipolar herself, and stressed that, if something was wrong, you should get help because help was possible.
I noticed more things as time went by, but mostly they were small, or just extensions of what I had already embraced. Gay rights eventually took forefront in my thoughts and efforts. And then last year's election hit, and I read Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack for the first time. Feminism for me went in bursts from there. The Avatar live action casting was when I first started working on my internalized racism. Then, in March, IIRC, I learned of RaceFail, which spurred epic reading sprees to learn as much as possible about how race was treated in our current culture. Somewhere along the way, I caught a tag or a link about the Open Source Boob Project, and took a brief break from race to read about that. It was through this that I discovered Shakesville, one of my current internet hangouts, and quite possibly the most progressive place I've ever been.
It was a very steep learning curve for a while, because while I was already working on my own internalized racism, sexism, ablism and so forth, I hadn't quite cottoned on to exactly how much more to everything there was. It was emotionally and mentally exhausting, trying to "catch up" to everything I'd overlooked in my privilege, and I'm sure I still have a ways to go, but I'm so grateful to be learning.
Feminism is a core part of my identity. If I were forced to give it up, my personality would change drastically. It has taught me to think more deeply about what I do and why I do it. It has taught me to reexamine my own work from different angles. Most importantly, it has taught me strategies for how to avoid hurting people, and how to deal with the fallout when I do.
Feminism is about equality. It's about owning privilege and defining yourself. It's a tool to help recognize where things are wrong in society, and how we can change them. It's a formula for making the world a better place - not just for women, not just for marginalized groups, but for everyone. It's about the steps we can take to get there.
And I can't get enough of it.
2) avatar
And now, on a less serious note! \o\ Avatar is totally my favorite show in my life so far. It's got some serious feminist messages worked in in such a way that it
And now, a bunch of people in Hollywood are trampling all over most of that. *sigh* I'll just be over here, watching the season one finale for the nth time.
3) slash
Hmmm, slash. Well, as a word, I like its inclusivity; while it's still widely considered separate from het (to the best of my knowledge), it includes a lot of different romantic arrangement schemes, from m/m to f/f to three- and moresomes. It's a very flexible concept, and it's fun to stretch my mind with it :)
4) books
I love books \o/ I love them soooo much. Possibly it is because both of my parents are librarians, and met at the library, even. Possibly it is because I was read to nightly from a very early age. Possibly it is because there was a bookshelf in every room of the house I used to live in save one, and it was either love them or do something drastic and regrettable. The smell of the pages, the weight of each volume, the way the paper feels to my fingers... I just really, really love books.
And also reading! Which I don't really consider too separate from books. Reportedly, a teacher once told my mom that she loved it when I was reading in class and laughed out loud, because it showed the other kids that reading could be fun (gasp!). Just the idea that a few squiggles on a page can contain the blueprints for another universe, and all the materials are in my imagination, and all I have to do to go there is interpret them according to concrete rules...
I love it so much, someday I want to make my own :)
5) activism in fandom
And we're back to the first and second topics XD
Seriously, though. A lot of our culture is defined by media, and also reflected in media. If we ever want to change the way the world is seen, we have to do it on both sides. Frequently, this starts with noticing problems in the first place. From there, we have two (not mutually exclusive!) options: create something new in the media genre that deals with the problem correctly, and express displeasure with the original's problem to its creator(s). There's a lot of noise from the people who uphold the status quo about just doing the former if you have complaints about how it's done now, but that can be quite difficult even without fighting the system in small and large ways. The latter can be done by writing letters, making posters, talking to friends and people you meet at conventions, or even just not buying something that gets it wrong and spending money on something that gets it right. That's a form of activism, as well, and it's certainly capable of getting things done.
Isms in media have their own inertia, and without both new people with better ideals entering the industry and people who will hold those already there to basic standards of human decency, they are very likely to keep perpetuating themselves, and even getting worse. Considering how bad things are already, I hate to think of where they could go.
----
Whee, long entry is long! Anyhow, comment here asking for words, and I'll give you five to talk about. I'll try for five topics I associate with you, but may fail miserably and have to pull stuff out of thin air ^^a
On a completely different note, we've currently got two to three cups of fresh raspberries in the fridge. Anyone have any good recipes?
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no subject
Date: 2009-10-07 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-10 05:32 am (UTC)Both of your parents being librarians and meeting at the library - sounds like something in a manga! :3
no subject
Date: 2009-10-14 12:28 am (UTC)It does, now that you mention it! I could totally write that incredibly fluffy shoujo story.