SATIRE: Writing a character as racist in order to call out that particular brand of racism, deconstruct its normalisation and belittle those who demonstrate it in the real world.
NOT SATIRE: Writing a character as racist to “shock” audiences and “push barriers” because you think that’s actually a beneficial or important part of comedy.
Which, incidentally, is only something you think because you’re an ignorant and talentless hack.
Tag: important
I’m here for the girls who unwillingly consented to sex or sexual acts because they were in a situation where they didn’t feel as if they had the right to say no and now feel violated but don’t feel like they can say they were raped or molested.
this is probably one of the most important text posts i have ever seen because i feel like this is a HUGE issue among teenagers especially young girls in today’s social culture and nobody talks about it. nobody tells you that you were in fact abused and sometimes it takes you years to finally realize what happened to you was wrong, and it’s really scary and confusing! we need to teach each other that “rape” or “molestation” can happen in many circumstances and not just the ones we are taught!!!!
If I could somehow find everyone who ever bullied me and ask them why they targeted me, not a single one would say it was because I was autistic. None of them even knew I was.
Instead they’d say it was because I liked Pokemon too much after it stopped being cool, or my clothes looked ridiculous and I wore the same pair of jeans 3 days a week, or that I was just weird/nerdy/unpopular. In many, many cases, that is what neurodiversity looks like. Not someone with an obvious disability, but someone who’s just weird.
I see so many allistics and neurotypicals on here that claim to be anti-ableism but turn around and make jokes at the expense of people who are eccentric but harmless.
If you’re an allistic that claims to support autistic people, but then you turn around and make fun of the woman who wears a bizarre outfit or the guy who speaks in a monotone or the teenager who carries a teddy bear everywhere, you’re a bad ally and I don’t trust you.
THIS THIS THIS
As disabled people, we are constantly expected to do our very best, to push ourselves as much as possibly in an attempt to keep up with ablebodied, neurotypical expectations. We might not make it, but at least we’re always doing out best, right?
This is your daily reminder that you do not always have to do your best. Us disabled people often have to spend tremendous amounts of energy on things that most people take for granted – and we are expected to do that. All the time. Everyday.
To make up for the fact that we are disabled, we don’t get to be lazy. We don’t get to say “I don’t want to do that” when we could, even when doing it would mean spending so many spoons that we can hardly leave our bed for days afterwards. We are constantly fighting the notion that we’re lazy, that we could do everything we’re expected to do if only we tried harder – and in fighting that notion, actually being lazy can often seems like a privilege for neurotypical, ablebodied people.
That’s bullshit. You’re allowed to be lazy sometimes. You are allowed to say no to something, not because you are incapable of doing it, but because you don’t want to or because you’d rather use your time and energy on something else. No one can do their best 24/7. No one can press themselves to the limit all the time. No one should have to.
here’s the deal with self care, for me:
pleasure, in the fun late-capitalism hellhole of present-day america, is treated like a luxury. it’s expensive. it’s frivolous. it’s guilty. if we want to eat ice cream out of the carton and be socially acceptable at the same time, we’d better have earned that ice cream. maybe by like running a marathon or getting dumped by an asshole. if we’re going to duck into the corner store and buy fresh flowers, it’s because we’ve had a hard week, not because flowers are nice. we can take a day off work, but only if we’re sick. we have to suffer before we’re allowed extra kindness.
in this equation pleasure is optional (irresponsible, even), except when it’s a balm for suffering.
however! we need pleasure to live. a life without nice feelings in it is like a diet with no vitamins in it. it’ll make you sick and eventually it’ll kill you. we know this because people with depression stop feeling pleasure, and they often kill themselves. left untreated, depression is a fatal disease.
pleasure is not optional. pleasure is not a luxury. without it, we die. that is literally the opposite of a luxury.
because pleasure is treated like a luxury, and priced accordingly, it is fucking hard to get. it’s hard to take time to relax and see loved ones when corporations aren’t required to offer paid vacation. it’s hard to buy that special face scrub or art print or pretty yarn when it costs $35 and student loans are breathing down your neck. so pleasure gets saved up for when things are really bad. pleasure gets budgeted. pleasure, once again, becomes something we have to earn by abstaining and hurting and gritting our teeth.
do this to people long enough and pleasure becomes potently associated with guilt. this thing we need desperately to stay alive is suddenly something we can’t seek out without looking over our shoulder and wondering if we’re allowed to have it.
that’s why it’s so important that we talk about self care, and tell ourselves and each other that it is okay to do things that feel good. it is necessary to do things that feel good. we have to uncouple suffering and pleasure, because the idea that we have to earn feeling good by first feeling bad is monstrous and wrong.
take care of yourselves, darlings. don’t feel bad about it.
this is p important
Why what you do doesn’t seem important, but actually is
When I was in college, I had a wonderful mentor/professor who helped me learn lessons that keep being relevant as I go through life—which, if you ask me, is the tell-tale sign that he was a great professor.
One of those lessons was that it could be almost impossible to establish self-worth, and to recognize self-acheivement. After we’ve learned how to do something—ANYTHING—really well, it seems almost like second nature for us to do it. Even if we’re producing quality work, we look at it and think ‘well, sure this turned out well but anyone out there could have done it if they put the time in.’ We forget that WE are the ones that put the time in to learn the skill, and that WE are the ones who now have something special for it.
Here’s an example:
This professor told me about a time when he was at a conference giving a talk. After he was done with his seminar (which was probably about something awesome like chaotic oscillators) he went on to listen to other professors and industry professionals give their talks. There was one he was sitting on, thinking to himself ‘WOW this guy is cool. Here he is building a genetic search engine (or some other incredible topic) while I’m just dorking around with chaotic oscillators.’ but then, after the talk, my professor went up to him. He wanted to tell him how neat he found the subject and the guys research… And when he got up there, the guy went ‘OH WOW you are that professor with the chaotic oscillators! I saw your seminar and I was so excited by it! You’re really doing something incredible while I’m just dorking around with genetic search engines.’ And thats when my professor realized that JUST BECAUSE THINGS SEEM COMMON TO US DOESN’T MEAN THAT THEY ARE COMMON. Our skills, our lessons, and our experiences are unique to each of us, we just are looking at them through the fogged glass of ‘been there, done that.’ Others won’t be looking at them through that same glass.
If you ever see artwork and say ‘wow I wish mine was that good,’ or read a story and say ‘gee I wish that I could write like that,’ you have to also remember that there is probably someone out there saying the same exact thing about your work to themselves. It might even be the exact same person who you’re envying.
Please never forget that your experiences have made your own work into something valuable. YOU have put the time into it. YOU have something unique. YOU have something that it would take somebody else at least as long to duplicate, and it would still never come out the same way that you do it.
We fixate so often on comparing ourselves to other people, but we judge ourselves the most unfairly. We look at what they have, and we fret about what we don’t have, and we forget that we aren’t defined by what we don’t have.
Your work is important, and it is only going to get more important from here.
Today at training this lady was really impressed by the stuff I know about various disabilities and it was weird to me that it was impressive to her but it made me happy.
When I mention feeling boring and stagnant and I get sheer disbelief, it really helps. Impostor syndrome/generally feeling like nothing I have to say is interesting might not ever be truly defeated, but I can take strides to rein it in.
It’s weird how some people are so convinced that being sensitive and inoffensive is like some sort of “caving in” or “selling out” or just some cheap shot at mass appeal “to the PC crowd” when the exact opposite is the case. Not caring who you hurt is the lazy way to popularity and a submission to mainstream peer pressure; just ask Seth Macfarlane’s ten thousand identical TV shows.
Or, just ask me between 10-15 years ago when hostile, irreverent webforums were my only social experience and things like Somethingawful or Adult Swim were my only point of reference for what I was “supposed” to be doing if I wanted to entertain people. I was conforming to critiques and advice from the same crowds who are probably today’s gamergaters and anti-SJW’s. It was a dark time I’m amazed I survived, though there’s a few things I wrote, drew or animated I wish I could go back in a time machine and assassinate.
I only started seeing any measurable “success” when I started writing only what I personally find funny, and it turns out that’s bad puns and baby level humor. Huh!
a good thing to do for your friends with anxiety disorders: if you have a question you need to ask them or something you need to tell them, explain the subject of the question/the statement in the same message as your opening one!
so basically: instead of saying “can i ask you a question?” and sending just that (which, as a person with an anxiety disorder, makes my anxiety go into hyperdrive) go “can i ask you a question about ___?”
it’s a little thing but honestly few things make me anxious like “i have a question for you” or “there’s something i need to tell you” without immediate explanation. thanks!
Same
okay jesus fuck this conversation has gone far enough so:
hey, so you like bernie sanders! i like bernie sanders too! i agree with his politics! he is doing better than people expected in the democratic primaries, which is cool!
what are you going to do if he loses?
because given the tone of the conversations i hear on this website right now– given the sheer hatred of hillary that’s emerging, given the overwhelming feeling that bernie sanders is amazing and the messiah and the only candidate that’s worth voting for in america– here’s what i see happening in mid-2016:
- bernie sanders, who despite his better-than-expected performance still has an unbelievably low chance of winning the primaries, loses the primaries to hillary clinton
- the leftist wing of the democratic party (that’s us– tumblr, yeah, but also the whole occupy-black lives matter-third wave feminist-young educated millennials crowd), having spent the past 10 months campaigning against hillary clinton, is overwhelmingly disappointed
- while a few people are willing to bite the bullet and campaign for hillary, energy is low, disillusionment is high, and many leftist americans don’t campaign, don’t donate, and don’t vote (or vote for third-party candidates, like the green party or the peace and freedom party)
- the republican party wins the presidential election.
(i literally shivered as i typed that last bullet point, btw– i know there are people voting in 2016 who were ten years old when obama was elected, and y’all may not remember much of the bush years. i was only 13 when bush left, but jesus christ– remember when hurricane katrina was overwhelmingly badly handled? remember when the patriot act passed? remember when the housing bubble collapsed? remember when the president said god told him to invade iraq? y’all wanna do that again?)
so what are you going to do if bernie sanders loses?
i need you to think about that now. i need you to not be surprised when it happens. i need you to not put all your hopes in one basket.
you think the gop won’t be pouring all their resources into this election? you think the superpacs and the koch brothers and the oil lobbyists won’t be throwing their money at ballot boxes until they spit out the result they want? you think the rich and powerful and conservative won’t be bringing their best game?
they will, and if we don’t work twice as hard as they do– no matter who the democratic nominee is– we are fucked.
i need you to be okay with the idea of hillary clinton being president of the united states, and i need you to make peace with that before she wins the primaries, so that you’re prepared and ready to campaign for her with all your might if she’s the democratic nominee.
because i honest-to-god believe this country will not survive another four, eight, twelve years of a republican administration.
The White Girl’s Guide To Not Being Ignorant
A lot of people don’t realize that in their attempt to take part in a culture, they’re actually being incredibly racist. Of course, sometimes it’s not their fault! Some people really just aren’t aware that they’re being disrespectful. So, to avoid that problem here’s a handy guide to figure out if what you’re doing is ignorant as hell:
“Wow I really love the style of [blank] clothing!”
- Appropriation: Wearing a bindi, headdress, or kimono to Coachella or Hard Summer to complete your ‘bohemian/gypsy/earth goddess’ look. Not only do you look stupid, but you’re also being racist. Those aren’t even the same cultures. Stop it.
**For those wondering why it’s racist to wear something like a bindi or kimono, have your hair in dreads, etc, the answer is quite simple: people get ridiculed all the time for embracing their culture, and some are forced to completely alter their identity for school, work, etc. However, as soon as white people wear the same exact things, it suddenly becomes ‘fashion’. You can’t simultaneously degrade someone for their culture, but still want to wear it as a costume.That’s why it’s racist.- Appreciation: Have your best friend’s traditional Indian wedding to go to? Great, ask if you can wear a sari then go ham. Invited to an event at a religious space? Go ahead and don the respective attire in order to, you know, be respectful.
“[Blank] language is so beautiful!”
- Appropriation: Getting a tattoo in a language you don’t know because you enjoy the ~*~~*~aesthetic~*~~*~ of said language.
**This also goes for slang/aave. For example, if you’re not Black, don’t use the N-word. Don’t even argue with this.- Appreciation: Learn to read, write, and/or speak the language that you’re so obsessed with. Simple stuff.
“I really like the idea of [blank] religion!”
- Appropriation: Captioning ‘#namastebitches’ with the Om symbol on your weekly yoga instagram post, keeping a Buddha statue in your room because it’s ‘just so cute!’, wearing a headscarf because it’s trendy, and/or wearing religious symbols as a part of your #ootd. You’re minimizing the significance of all these religious aspects and frankly, you’re being rude.
- Appreciation: Learning about the religion and visiting various places of religious worship in order to get some hands on experience with it.
“The art, music, literature, etc from [blank] is so cool!”
- Appropriation: Buying henna kits from your local Walmart, purchasing mass produced ‘ethnic’ art, or supporting white people writing about their completely life-changing and inspirational ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ experiences in a random foreign country.
- Appreciation: Support artists from the culture you’re admiring. Buy their books and visual art pieces, go to their shows, signal boost their work, etc. If you really love their work, you’ll get it from the source.
“I love [blank] food!”
- There is literally no way to appropriate this. Just enjoy the damn food and credit it to its proper culture. Take it one step further and go to actual Mexican-owned Mexican restaurants instead of Taco Bell.
In a nutshell, things you as an outsider may find insignificant are things that we actually find to be really important aspects of our identity. All we ask is that you respect that, put in the effort to research what you may be doing or wearing or saying, and if you have any questions: there are literally millions of us to ask. Literally millions.
Now take your new knowledge and go forth, dear friends. Don’t be dumb. I believe in you.
[If you’d like to read the article (or others like it) on Coming of Faith’s site, click here!]
This Is a Backup Blog 