Re:FOSS and the sublimation of commodity fetishism
by moron4hire on Friday November 22, 2013 @11:14AM
(#6781635)
I throw up a huge red flag (and usually just bomb out of the article completely) whenever I see someone using the word "cisgender", because experience has taught me that all it has in store is a lot of complaining about something without any suggestions of fixes. Here is why:
I want to help people and do good by people. I work very hard to try to recognize my own prejudices and try get over them and not let them impact my relationships with people. I especially try very hard to treat people as the individuals they are and not assign attributes to them based on group membership, regardless of what that group is. I try not to give a whole lot of credence to any non-corporeal entities, and there are a LOT of them in our society. Corporations, governments, religions, etc. A lot of people want to act like "The United States Government" is a thing, or "Apple Inc" is a thing, or "the Philadelphia Eagles" is a thing, or "Catholicism" is a thing, or "Art" is a thing, or "Entrepreneurs" is a thing, or "Native Americans" is a thing. They aren't. They are collections of other, real things called people, but they themselves are not real things. They're just ideas. The people are what matter. The United States Government is a particular person in the seat of the President, and his name is Barack Obama, and a particular person in the seat of Vice President, and his name is Joe Biden, and 100 people in the seats of the Senate and 435 people in the seats of the House of Representatives, and a-bunch-of-other-people-I'm-intentionally-skipping-over-for-expedience-so-bring-out-the-internet-pedantic-nitpicking, and all of their particular names can easily be looked up. The point is, we talk a lot about "The X" as if it is one thing, as if it has one conscience, but it isn't. It's hundreds, thousands, millions of people, all trying to get shit done and go home at the end of the day.
The ability to give everyone their due and to not deny opportunities to people just because their personal makeup differs from mine can only be a net benefit for everyone. There are a lot of people who feel just like me. I've had to know a lot of people who aren't at all that way, too. But when someone writes about "white, cis, hetero men", they are lumping us all together. "white, cis, hetero man" isn't a person. In articles and books and talks crying about <strike>the lack of the</strike>[1] "white, cis, hetero man's" attempts to deny the identity of other cultures, they are guilty of nothing but the same. It makes it sound like we are part of the problem.
And it's incredibly frustrating. I know the "white, cis, hetero men" they are talking about. I want nothing of them either. It makes me want to pack my bags and go become a hermit.
It also fails to suggest any sort of solution. Having been involved in a couple of organizations that have tried to "increase their diversity", nobody ever has ideas, or if they have ideas, they are patronizingly transparent and rather prejudiced in their own way. So what are we "white, cis, hetero men" supposed to do? Are we supposed to quit making open source projects? Are we supposed to stop giving software away for free and stop feeling good about the real good that free software is doing for the world? Are we supposed to literally take knowledge out of the hands of poor children?
To the people who write these sorts of articles: you are saying that we're on the inside and the door is closed, barred against The Others. I'm saying I'm on the inside and I'm not doing anything to lock the door. Those other people are not accountable to me. I don't really even know anything about them, I'm too busy paying attention to my own corner. Hell, when I'm not busy actually doing the making of things, I'll hold that damn door wide open. Come on in. Multiculturalism is valuable? I need value in my projects. Bring it. Get your ass in the door.
But no, I'm not going out there to drag you in.
[1] EDIT: need to review my posts before submitting to make sure I don't end one half of a sentence with the other half of a different sentence.
I want to help people and do good by people. I work very hard to try to recognize my own prejudices and try get over them and not let them impact my relationships with people. I especially try very hard to treat people as the individuals they are and not assign attributes to them based on group membership, regardless of what that group is. I try not to give a whole lot of credence to any non-corporeal entities, and there are a LOT of them in our society. Corporations, governments, religions, etc. A lot of people want to act like "The United States Government" is a thing, or "Apple Inc" is a thing, or "the Philadelphia Eagles" is a thing, or "Catholicism" is a thing, or "Art" is a thing, or "Entrepreneurs" is a thing, or "Native Americans" is a thing. They aren't. They are collections of other, real things called people, but they themselves are not real things. They're just ideas. The people are what matter. The United States Government is a particular person in the seat of the President, and his name is Barack Obama, and a particular person in the seat of Vice President, and his name is Joe Biden, and 100 people in the seats of the Senate and 435 people in the seats of the House of Representatives, and a-bunch-of-other-people-I'm-intentionally-skipping-over-for-expedience-so-bring-out-the-internet-pedantic-nitpicking, and all of their particular names can easily be looked up. The point is, we talk a lot about "The X" as if it is one thing, as if it has one conscience, but it isn't. It's hundreds, thousands, millions of people, all trying to get shit done and go home at the end of the day.
The ability to give everyone their due and to not deny opportunities to people just because their personal makeup differs from mine can only be a net benefit for everyone. There are a lot of people who feel just like me. I've had to know a lot of people who aren't at all that way, too. But when someone writes about "white, cis, hetero men", they are lumping us all together. "white, cis, hetero man" isn't a person. In articles and books and talks crying about <strike>the lack of the</strike>[1] "white, cis, hetero man's" attempts to deny the identity of other cultures, they are guilty of nothing but the same. It makes it sound like we are part of the problem.
And it's incredibly frustrating. I know the "white, cis, hetero men" they are talking about. I want nothing of them either. It makes me want to pack my bags and go become a hermit.
It also fails to suggest any sort of solution. Having been involved in a couple of organizations that have tried to "increase their diversity", nobody ever has ideas, or if they have ideas, they are patronizingly transparent and rather prejudiced in their own way. So what are we "white, cis, hetero men" supposed to do? Are we supposed to quit making open source projects? Are we supposed to stop giving software away for free and stop feeling good about the real good that free software is doing for the world? Are we supposed to literally take knowledge out of the hands of poor children?
To the people who write these sorts of articles: you are saying that we're on the inside and the door is closed, barred against The Others. I'm saying I'm on the inside and I'm not doing anything to lock the door. Those other people are not accountable to me. I don't really even know anything about them, I'm too busy paying attention to my own corner. Hell, when I'm not busy actually doing the making of things, I'll hold that damn door wide open. Come on in. Multiculturalism is valuable? I need value in my projects. Bring it. Get your ass in the door.
But no, I'm not going out there to drag you in.
[1] EDIT: need to review my posts before submitting to make sure I don't end one half of a sentence with the other half of a different sentence.