Re:Is There Any Point to Protesting?
by wpietri on Saturday August 26, 2017 @10:07AM
(#15105502)
I encourage you to spend more time thinking through your views relating to that last paragraph, as it comes across as pretty muddled to me.
Identity and gender are social constructs, sure. But social constructs like "black" and "gay" were created by dominant groups as means of control and exploitation. The left's desire to protect people in certain groups is about undoing that historical oppression. So it's not about "liking" or "agreeing with". It's about solving systemic problems.
As an example, I'm a straight, white dude. I'm also opposed to dominance as a way of running things. Historically, people who aren't straight white dudes have gotten the short end of the stick. So I support action to stop the deepening of that and to erase the historical effects. But I oppose similar action in favor of straight white dudes because that would reinforce the historical imbalance.
If you really struggle with sentences about, say, white men, then just replace words you don't like with things "group that benefits from structural oppression" and "group that is harmed by structural oppression". That may make it easier to see that it's not about you personally, but mainly about hundreds of years of history.
As a side note, I also didn't have many social skills. I was weird and awkward. But they are skills! You can learn them! Find a good therapist and spend a few years catching up.
Identity and gender are social constructs, sure. But social constructs like "black" and "gay" were created by dominant groups as means of control and exploitation. The left's desire to protect people in certain groups is about undoing that historical oppression. So it's not about "liking" or "agreeing with". It's about solving systemic problems.
As an example, I'm a straight, white dude. I'm also opposed to dominance as a way of running things. Historically, people who aren't straight white dudes have gotten the short end of the stick. So I support action to stop the deepening of that and to erase the historical effects. But I oppose similar action in favor of straight white dudes because that would reinforce the historical imbalance.
If you really struggle with sentences about, say, white men, then just replace words you don't like with things "group that benefits from structural oppression" and "group that is harmed by structural oppression". That may make it easier to see that it's not about you personally, but mainly about hundreds of years of history.
As a side note, I also didn't have many social skills. I was weird and awkward. But they are skills! You can learn them! Find a good therapist and spend a few years catching up.