Comments on: individuality, respect, and more on criticism http://loveallbeings.org/blog/individuality/ Living Opposed to Violence and Exploitation Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:25:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: fiercefemme http://loveallbeings.org/blog/individuality/comment-page-1/#comment-167 fiercefemme Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:00:47 +0000 http://loveallbeings.org/?p=241#comment-167 "I am just trying to be more conscious of the fact that people’s life experiences vary dramatically. It’s just another step to recognizing my privilege and respecting all life." I think you hit the nail on the head here. Different individuals' lived experience of certain language/phenomena/etc is definitely going to impact how they view those things. I also have to remember to tread lightly when using language that refers to a group of which I'm not a part, and how my own privilege comes into play in these situations. Thanks for such a thought-provoking post. “I am just trying to be more conscious of the fact that people’s life experiences vary dramatically. It’s just another step to recognizing my privilege and respecting all life.”

I think you hit the nail on the head here. Different individuals’ lived experience of certain language/phenomena/etc is definitely going to impact how they view those things. I also have to remember to tread lightly when using language that refers to a group of which I’m not a part, and how my own privilege comes into play in these situations. Thanks for such a thought-provoking post.

]]> By: jenna http://loveallbeings.org/blog/individuality/comment-page-1/#comment-166 jenna Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:37:02 +0000 http://loveallbeings.org/?p=241#comment-166 Thank you so much for your comments, ff, you bring up some great points. I should have mentioned in my post that having discussed this video with people who identify as trans and trans allies, many did not find it offensive in the least and in fact embrace the usage of "tranny" just as you have described above. One person suggested that "tranny" -- as well as the word "queer," which is a word I use to describe myself for the same reasons you've suggested -- is a term that removes the pathology from something that is typically (and very negatively) viewed as a medical or mental condition. I guess my intent with drawing the parallels between the video and the interview was just to illustrate the spectrum of different and possible reactions people can have to words, images, and actions. Even in something as simple as designing a logo for the L.O.V.E. collective, we are finding that different imagery can have wildly different meanings from one person to another, and I am just trying to be more conscious of the fact that people's life experiences vary dramatically. It's just another step to recognizing my privilege and respecting all life. Thanks so much for weighing in. <3 Thank you so much for your comments, ff, you bring up some great points. I should have mentioned in my post that having discussed this video with people who identify as trans and trans allies, many did not find it offensive in the least and in fact embrace the usage of “tranny” just as you have described above. One person suggested that “tranny” — as well as the word “queer,” which is a word I use to describe myself for the same reasons you’ve suggested — is a term that removes the pathology from something that is typically (and very negatively) viewed as a medical or mental condition.

I guess my intent with drawing the parallels between the video and the interview was just to illustrate the spectrum of different and possible reactions people can have to words, images, and actions. Even in something as simple as designing a logo for the L.O.V.E. collective, we are finding that different imagery can have wildly different meanings from one person to another, and I am just trying to be more conscious of the fact that people’s life experiences vary dramatically. It’s just another step to recognizing my privilege and respecting all life. Thanks so much for weighing in. <3

]]> By: fiercefemme http://loveallbeings.org/blog/individuality/comment-page-1/#comment-165 fiercefemme Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:18:02 +0000 http://loveallbeings.org/?p=241#comment-165 Thanks for this post, Jenna. I think you bring up a lot of complicated issues. I completely agree with you that a member of an oppressed group can be complicit in the oppression of that group. But I think we have to be careful in what we assume to be oppressive. It appears that many were insulted by the use of the word "tranny" in that video, but there are many members of the trans community who embrace that word as a self-descriptor, and would be quite upset if we suggested they did so out of internalized transphobia. Similarly, I've been looked at with scorn by certain segments of the LGBT community for choosing to use the word "queer" to describe myself - a term deemed offensive by some of them. They deem the term derogatory, perhaps even oppressive, while I view it as an attempt to free myself from a binary model of sexual orientation that is ultimately limiting to everyone. What I'm getting at is that I don't think there's always an easy answer to the question of how oppression is working in such multi-layered situations. Thanks for this post, Jenna. I think you bring up a lot of complicated issues. I completely agree with you that a member of an oppressed group can be complicit in the oppression of that group. But I think we have to be careful in what we assume to be oppressive. It appears that many were insulted by the use of the word “tranny” in that video, but there are many members of the trans community who embrace that word as a self-descriptor, and would be quite upset if we suggested they did so out of internalized transphobia. Similarly, I’ve been looked at with scorn by certain segments of the LGBT community for choosing to use the word “queer” to describe myself – a term deemed offensive by some of them. They deem the term derogatory, perhaps even oppressive, while I view it as an attempt to free myself from a binary model of sexual orientation that is ultimately limiting to everyone. What I’m getting at is that I don’t think there’s always an easy answer to the question of how oppression is working in such multi-layered situations.

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