It’s not just the triggering nature. I know that this language will be used to attack trans people in the future. Hearing it reinforced is increasing the chance that someone thinks this view is normal enough to attack a trans person over it. It needs to be removed so that trans people can be safe from abuse in the future.
Seeing other queer people say they hate politics is triggering to me, because it reminds me of the way transphobes have attacked my gender in the past. Subjectively, it feels the same as seeing a slur. And I know that this language has horrible effects on the queer community, because I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen gay people attack bi and trans people for being political. I’ve seen trans people attack enbies for being political. I’ve seen enbies with more acceptable genders attack xenogender people and neopronoun users for being political. And I’ve seen white people all over the queer spectrum attack BIPOC queer people for being political. I know from experience that speech like this is going to radicalise queer people against minorities and may contribute to someone being abused.
A person’s right to avoid having anyone disagree with them ends when they harm other people. And this speech is harmful. If the goal is to make everyone safe and prevent hostile disagreements, then the place to start is with removing harmful speech that embraces the narratives of the oppressor and ends with people getting hurt. Nobody had to go and use this speech, it was a choice. It wasn’t an informed or considered choice but it was still a choice that impacts other people. That’s why it needs to be informed and considered. It’s inflammatory and controversial in the impacts it has on how other people think, and I don’t want to see it here. Removing political controversy means removing speech like this.
Either they’re a tankie and start singing the praises of the USSR and PRC and all sorts of totalitarian hellholes, or they start talking about hypothetical economic systems and states which haven’t been shown to be practically achievable
Well allow me to present the third option: communism has been tried in Australia and North America, and it worked. Marx’s ideas of what a communist society would look like were informed by descriptions he read of how the Haudenosaunee people actually organised their society. They did communism for thousands of years and it worked.
That sounds pretty statist. How do you square that with the fact communism is stateless?
I think you’re misunderstanding my intention. I don’t want Abigail to get into arguments about hot button issues. I want Abigail to voice their disdain for arguments about hot button issues in a better manner. I want Abigail to say “I dislike controversy” instead of “I dislike politics”. I think Abigail is embracing a definition of the word “politics” that harms trans people and a lot of other groups, and I think the entire issue could be solved by swapping one word for another. I completely understand and accept Abigail’s dislike of controversy, but I think they’ve been tricked by politicians into thinking controversy and politics are the same thing. I’d like them to have a better understanding of the word “politics” and use it in places that don’t remind me of transphobic arguments.
What are my options here? I could act like Abigail. I could use the language of my oppressor and say I hate politics, and redefine politics into whatever I don’t like. I could implicitly accept the control of the ruling class and use their words to try and defend myself and the rest of the trans community. I could try to make my identity palatable to capitalism. “I’m not political, I promise. I won’t disrupt the status quo”
Or I could say screw that, I’m political and I’m proud. I could reject the premise of the game that capital plays with my life. I could say the things they’re doing are wrong, and I won’t participate. I could use words as I see fit, and use them to protect myself and the community. I could construct a worldview that makes sense and doesn’t oppress anyone.
And that worldview says: everyone loves politics. You’re human beings, and that’s a political identity.
lemmy.blahaj.zone/u/ada
I’m trans and I’ve spent my whole life being told my gender is political. I believe that.
I’m gay and I’ve been told me whole life my sexuality is political. I believe that.
I’m pagan and since I became religious, I’ve been told that’s political. I believe that.
I’m neurodivergent and I’ve been told asking to not be the victim of hate speech is political. I believe that.
Patriarchal society says everything good and decent in my life is political. I believe that. Everything good is political, and politics is awesome.
My whole life people who talk like Abigail have told me that apoliticism means they get to be transphobic. Homophobic. Sexist. Neuronormative. Ableist. Religiously intolerant.
I don’t want people to talk like Abigail anymore. People who talk like that are mean. I want a safe space with lots of politics and trans people and gays and pagans and NDs and disabled people.
You’re right that when most people say politics, they mean “opinions I disagree with”. But if someone hates hearing differing opinions, they should say that instead of saying they hate politics. And the reason for that is that our belief that politics is disagreement with the status quo is propaganda. The ruling class wants us to hate it when people disagree with the status quo, so they find a name for it and tell us it’s bad.
I’ve spoken to dozens of people who “hated politics”, and 90% of them couldn’t even define what politics is. Probably because they didn’t want to admit that what they hated is differing opinions. The word politics as it exists in propaganda is a thought terminating cliche. It destroys introspection, critical thinking, and rational decision making.
The truth is, human beings are given at birth a tremendous love for politics. Humans are a social species, and politics is the building of society. Humans love that shit, they can’t get enough of it. That’s why all the best books and movies are political. That’s why Disney is “woke”. Politics sells because everyone loves it.
I’m not of the mind to bow down to this thought terminating cliche and let people walk around demanding things with no critical thinking. If someone wants to tell me that politics is bad, they better have thought it through, or I’m going to make a fool of them until they stop making a fool of themselves. They better bring a definition to the table, because I’ve got a definition and it says everyone loves politics. If someone can’t define what they hate, then they obviously have no idea what they’re talking about and I’m not going to go along with their cliche. They’re going to have to explain what they mean and say “I want to stop everyone on the internet from disagreeing with me”.
I don’t think Monster has become part of transfem culture. IDK maybe I’m just old. Get off my lawn
Reality is god to realists. That’s what they believe in. They worship it, they obey it, they demand others have the same respect for it. It’s theism.
Animal groups, hobbies, work, and art are political. Art is the best example: artists are often said to hold a mirror up to society. Work’s conditions are dictated by the conditions of capitalism and the entire act of work is an endeavour in practicing capitalism under the direction of a boss who can control you at the office. Animal rights issues are also obviously political, and hobbies is a really vague umbrella term but there’s a whole lot of politics under that umbrella.
Politics is defined by nearly all dictionaries as the field concerning power and decision making in groups. Everything relates to that. I don’t understand what these “non-political” spaces you’re talking about are like. Do you mean being alone? Because if you’re not in a group, then you’re right there wouldn’t be any participation in group decision making. Is that what you mean? That you like your solitude?
I don’t believe you’re an atheist, because you believe in reality. That’s religious thinking.
Only one, my girlfriend. The rest of us don’t identify as people
I hope NATO pulls a WWII and goes to war with the USA when the Republicans start the second holocaust
Anyway, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so much if you weren’t trying to read my mind without consent. No means no, but you didn’t even ask. No wonder you’re in pain, you tried to delve inside my mind and I kicked you back out.
Yeah, I’m neurodivergent in a lot of different ways, and every one of them reduces the efficacy of neurotypical empathy. That sensation you’re experiencing right now from talking to me is the same way neurotypical people feel when they talk to you. No wonder neurotypicals are so ableist to autistics, talking to us causes them pain. But it’s still not right for them to demand we think like them, and it’s still not right for you to demand I think like you. What we have to learn is how to coexist together.
And any coexistence we reach isn’t going to involve always assuming we can read minds effectively. It’s just an unrealistic standard.
Isn’t that the instance where you’re not allowed to tell transphobes they’re wrong?
Hey come on, leave the ableism at the door. This is the last place you should be attacking people’s differences in the way their minds work. I’m not going to think like neurotypical society and I’m not going to mind-meld with the neurotypical hivemind. So you can stop demanding I have sex with you, please.
Yes.