Well, see, the thing is, the user who said they don’t like to talk about politics repeatedly misgendered me and said some misogynist stuff about it later on. So, I was right.
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.
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
Oh, you enjoy cute animals apolitically? That’s super weird. Most people enjoy pictures of cute animals politically. They want to go into the comments and talk to other people who also find the animal cute. They want to make puns and use pwubby spweek. They want to engage in the collective action of agreeing on something simple as a way of feeling part of a community, to satisfy the primal urge within the human species to be political.
I guess I can understand not wanting to enjoy kitty cat pictures politically if you have ASPD or something.
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?
Isn’t that the instance where you’re not allowed to tell transphobes they’re wrong?
Actions speak louder than words, and words speak louder than thoughts. If they aren’t acting on left wing ideology, then they’re not left wing ideologically. They’re just liars.
I never met anyone in my life who didn’t act on their beliefs. I met plenty of hypocrites, people who said they believed different than they acted, and usually their professed beliefs were better than their actions. But those weren’t their beliefs, they were just liars. There’s no such thing as a person who doesn’t believe in their actions.
If you knew any theory, you’d know that communism is anarchist.
That’s ridiculous, because communism is the opposite of authoritarianism. Communism is defined by Marx as classless and stateless. Whatever you think is just as authoritarian as fascism, it’s not communism. Maybe you think state capitalism is communist and that’s why you’re confused.
I agree, this “left unity” BS is propaganda and it’s wrong. True unity means making a space welcoming to everyone by kicking out intolerance. Left unity is created by deplatforming authoritarians and transphobes, and building systems that provide justice to the marginalised. Welcoming fascists and bigots means disunity, as much as they love to scream otherwise.
Everything is political. Not taking sides here, just confused that you don’t like politics. If you’ve removed politics from your feed doesn’t that mean you’ve removed all content?
I’ve been really mellow since I caught covid and I like it. I’m finally happy. It’s like when Homer put the crayon back in his brain because he realised that being smart made him miserable.
My password is the bee movie script
I agree. In fact, communism is defined as stateless, so “communist state” is as much an oxymoron as “dry water”. However, communist societies did exist in North America and Australia prior to colonisation