Hello, friends. My name is Ariel and I am very excited to have been invited to guest blog here at Feministe.
This is where you can usually find me on the internet: www.interestinginteresting.net and http://www.twitter.com/arielariel.
These are some things I do: raise funds for social justice. Go to clown school. Tap dance. Solder. Make tiny movies. Try to be a good person. Watch pop and dance music videos on YouTube and draw parallels. (Sorry about the dumb completely unnecessary [thanks, Jennifer!] subtitles on that first video link there! The real original is nowhere to be seen.)
This is what I have to say about my politics:
- WHAT DO I WANT? an end to racism, sexism, ableism, classism, heterosexism, cisgenderism, transmisogyny, and all other forms of oppression! WHEN DO I WANT IT? Now!
- WHAT DO I WANT? Justice and liberation and self-determination for all people! WHEN DO I WANT IT? Now!
- 2 4 6 8 smash a gay movement that prioritize a romantic/sexual dyadic union over any other form of liberation or struggle or intersectional analysis of privilege, power, and need, smash the state!
- WHAT DO I WANT? A world where people are overt about privilege and talk about the privileges they have rather than pretending they got where they got only through hard work and luck! WHEN DO I WANT IT? Now!
- WHAT DO I WANT? New cheers for the movement! WHEN DO I WANT IT? NOW.
These are my identity cards: I am a white person. I am a woman person. I am cissexual. I am overinvested in my own gender fluidity. I am a practicing homosexual. I am carnivorous with omnivorous aspirations. I feel lucky that my body lets me do everything I want to do. I am twenty-six. I am a Jew. I am a 3, an ENFP, and a Capricorn. For the first time ever I am working a job that provides me with a wage I can thrive on instead of just surviving.
These are some things I am thinking about: hypertext and the interactive web. Community interventions into technology. Being a good person of privilege. Non-profit sustainability. The role of artists in the blogosphere. Whether Twitter is really a good way to spend my time and how many people in the world really care about the mundane details of my life. The subway system. What it is to choose to be different vs. be forced to be different. Participatory internet art.
These are some things I plan to do with my time here: write about grammar and stylistics for new language we are learning. Make you all make a map with me. Write about different kinds of porn. Write about my grandma and different kinds of immigration narratives. Make you all participate in a FEMINISTE VIDEO CHALLENGE. Write about the history of 1970s swinger afghans. Write about gender. Make you all make other internet meme art with me.
Here is an internet meme for us to play today. Do you know what a LOL is? If you do not, congratulations! You have lots of things to do with your time. Here is a link to a LOLcat. Here is another link to a LOLcat. Today’s challenge — maybe you are reading this Monday morning, maybe you’re tired — is to make a LOL. LOLs have a style all their own and they can do a lot of interesting things. Here is one for inspiration:
(I can’t find a credit for this but I sure wish I could. Evidently it is part of a series. I will give you an internet million dollars if you can find the whole thing. Laura M gets the internet million dollars! The original cite is here: http://elusis.livejournal.com/1744514.html)
Go to the lolcat generator here: http://cheezburger.com/default.aspx?v=1. Post your results in the comments. Or just say hello. PS some people do say LOLcat grammar is racist. I am not sure that it is always true. You do not have to make it in LOLgrammar. Maybe this is a great place to talk about it!
I am so VERY pleased to meet you all.
Oh, one addition the next morning: I am NOT at a computer during the day. This means if you go in this mod queue, it may take me a minute to approve things. Sorry if it makes you mad or upset. My only moderation policy for the most part is “people who are ridiculous will probably hang themselves, given enough rope,” but if anyone gets unnecessarily personal or harassing, I reserve my rights to Take Steps.
Hello, Ariel!
The black and white kittehs are from this post: http://elusis.livejournal.com/1744514.html :)
You win the internet! Thank you very much. Your internet million dollar check is in the internet mail. ;)
Welcome, Ariel! I get the impression your guest stint will be an interesting one. ;)
<blockquote cite="(Sorry about the dumb subtitles on that first video link there! The real original is nowhere to be seen.)”>
You say you want an end to ableism? You might start by not utilizing ableist terms.
@jennifer Ding ding ding, you are totally correct, and I fixed it above. Words like “dumb” and “crazy” have been some of the hardest for me to get out of my everyday vocabulary.
Speaking generally: especially here on the internet, where we all have the ability to go back and edit and learn, I feel really fine about just saying “ok, you think that word is offensive, I can try to find another” most of the time. Why cut people out of the dialogue because of speech they find hateful and exclusionary?
I don’t see the point of trying to argue whether or not a word is offensive. If it offends someone, I am not going to be able to talk them out of being offended. To them, they’re offended, and that is what matters. I do think about whether or not I choose to use the word KNOWING IT IS OFFENSIVE TO SOME PEOPLE. I still get the right to decide for myself about my language, but I think it is important to make the decision knowing how you might piss people off — and knowing they’ll react to being continually offended.
Ha, tag-fail.
My point remains.
I know this is going to be a huge mistake, especially as I don’t have the time or inclination to engage in yet another long drawn-out internet war, but: does anyone actually use “dumb” in the literal sense on a regular basis anymore? Do most people EVER use it literally? Since when is the meaning of words in any language fixed? And isn’t it true that if we really examined the etymology of many of the terms we use, we’d find the entire language is riddled with privilege & bigotry to the point that we’d pretty much have to invent a new language from scratch in order to be “pure”?
In short, I can see not using terms like “gay” to mean tacky or silly or “retard” because those are terms which are currently used by MANY people in the literal sense (well, not “gay” as not all that long ago, it had an ENTIRELY different meaning to most people–which kind of lends support to the idea that words do in fact change, sometimes radically, over time), but “dumb” has, for almost everyone in the English-speaking world, lost any connotations about the ability to speak.
I don’t know about the US but dumb for someone who can’t speak is commonly used in India.
Some people think LOL Speak is racist? Why is that? My Googling of the idea was not very fruitful.
Crys, I’ve talked with people who are Deaf about “dumb” = “stupid”, and for the people I’ve talked to (who, of course, do not Represent All Deaf People Everywhere), it bothers them. (And now I can’t find a link to that discussion. Darn it.)
Also, in casual conversations, I will hear people use “dumb” to mean “people who can’t speak”. I can’t remember why they didn’t use “mute”, but it is still in common-enough usage.
I do not bring an appropriate cat macro, but I do bring a link to the Cat Macros song.
I’ve always been of the opinion that LOLspeak was more ableist than racist, but either way you’re talking about something that saw a lot of it’s initial (and continued) development on forums like /b/ and Something Awful. The general objection is that the style developed in these (and other) memes mocks nonstandard English grammar and style. Different people seem to track the mocking back to different targets but, given the nature of memes, theres likely truth to both sides.
The point is, when someone uses “gay” to mean crap, there is a clear link in that person’s head between the idea of gay=homosexual and crapness. With “dumb” meaning silly or stupid, for most if not all English speakers, there is no link between that concept and not being able to speak. You are talking about a case where a word has come to have 2 COMPLETELY different meanings. Whether that was the original case or not.
And as I said, if we studied all the words and expressions we commonly use, we’d find that a shocking number of them have origins we’d find objectionable, whether we’re aware of them or not. We really would have to remake English from the ground up. For example, I’m sure that if we traced the origins of words like “stupid” or “silly,” we’d find that they originally had connotations that we’d find unacceptable. But which counts more, those origins or the meanings those words carry for present-day speakers in the here and now?
Just because you have not heard it used that way does not mean it isn’t.
Think of the men who say they have not seen sexual harassment on public transportation (bus/train/trolley) therefore it never happens.
You’re basically waving your privilege around here.
I highly recommend reading Mandolin’s post.
And also, re LOLspeak: I always understood that to be based on the sort of babytalk that some animal owners use with their pets.
Crys, the people I’ve talked to who use “gay” as a pejorative are often quick to tell me they don’t think being gay is bad. They just use gay to mean bad because… well, they don’t think there’s anything bad with being gay. (I don’t follow their logic at all.)
Lindra talks about her feelings regarding “dumb” and why it bothers her here.
*clears throat* *ahem*
WELCOME ARIEL
O:-D
Welcome Ariel!
Hehehe… welcome to Feministe!
I guess I’m confused.
You want an end to a lot of -isms, then proclaim your sexuality? If you want the world to not care about it, why proclaim it? Also, since you want to eliminate racism, why proclaim your race?
“And as I said, if we studied all the words and expressions we commonly use, we’d find that a shocking number of them have origins we’d find objectionable, whether we’re aware of them or not. We really would have to remake English from the ground up. “
What, has it been five minutes already since the last go-round on this? Please read some of the recent ableism threads here. And Amandaw’s link.
Welcome, Ariel.
uh, Monty, the problem isn’t with any person’s identity. It’s with how those identities are treated. Here’s a helpful link that illustrates pretty awesomely how “colour-blindness” arguments are used *against* anti-racism. There also used to be an incredible post by Deepa D available explaining why racial identities, particularly oppressed ones, should be celebrated, not hidden, but she’s had to hide all of her posts because of racist crap thrown at her. If anyone knows where the post, “Reappropriating My Man” (or any of her other posts) are still archived, I’d be grateful for the link.
You can also extrapolate from this to other identities beyond racial identities. The point is that A) people should be not be shamed for their identities, and B) it is important to own one’s identity and be clear where one is coming from, particularly when privilege is involved.
Well, I’m always in favor of Lolcatz.
Less in favor of “smashing the state” and the movement for marriage equality….
But hey, it wouldn’t be as fun without a little stirring of the pot, eh? Welcome!
Ah ha, I should have checked Dreamwidth!
Here is Deepa’s Reappropriating My Man. And her equally powerful, I Didn’t Dream of Dragons.
Killing the derail… Welcome, Ariel! Participatory Internet FTW. May ceiling cat be with you.
Huge WTF at both Crys T and Monty.
But yes, welcome Ariel.
OK, that SHOULD work. You should probably know that MC actually is an ArabKitteh ™ and the photo was taken in Rabat.
Um, actually, it didn’t work at all…..does anyone know how we are supposed to embed our Lolcats?
Chava, I’ve never tried it in the comment section of a blog before, but theoretically at least, the “img src” tag should work.
(Instead of typing “a href=link to image” type “img src=link to image”)
You want an end to a lot of -isms, then proclaim your sexuality? If you want the world to not care about it, why proclaim it? Also, since you want to eliminate racism, why proclaim your race?
Not to speak for Ariel, but for me, when I’m on the internet especially I try to make a point of saying I am white. This is despite (and rather due to) the fact people will default to assuming that. The most useful thing anyone ever told me about race back when I was baby gudbuytjane was that point about colourblindness. Pretending race doesn’t exist or have systemic influence maintains the racist system. Acknowledging those parts of our identities which give us privilege is important to have any framework to become aware of how those privileges play out in the world.
In any case, looking forward to more discussions about language, and reading another voice on Feministe.
Oh, and hello and welcome, Ariel… :)
Hm. The tag is not working. Sadness. Can someone delete my failed efforts when then they have a moment?
Here are the links:
http://cheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=4688383
http://cheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=4688548
I made this a while back as part of my general crankiness with my city’s transmisogyny, marginalization in the queer community, and for Vancouver generally being one of the less-fun places to be both a trans woman and queer.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/tragiclovejunkie/transinclusionfail.png
Because not mentioning status is something which only people of relative privilege need to do. When you have a dominant culture, the idea of ending an -ism isn’t to make everyone the same through blindness. Thats pretty much the default situation. Ending an -ism isn’t generally about establishing a situation in which everyone is treated as the same. All that would do is negate the differences that caused oppressed peoples to need to agitate against the -ism in the first place, which is what oppressors were already doing with the dominant culture. The idea is to make it OK for someone to differ from the imposed norm. These are some pretty basic concepts that you likely would have begun to pick up on had you paid a bit more attention to your surroundings rather than trying to pull of a nice “GOTCHA!”
tl;dr – Lurk moar!
Welcome, Ariel.
I live with a lolcat. She’s been on icanhascheezburger and everything. I’ve never made a social justice lolcat out of her though. I shall ponder.
There, I made my cat into an Unacknowledged Privilege lolcat.
http://cheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=4691166
Welcome Ariel! I look very very forward to your posts!
Welcome Ariel! Anyone who supports LOLcatz is ok by me. One of my kittehz was on icanhascheezburger many many moons ago, and the new babeh kittehz will make an appearance as soon as I can get them to stay still long enough to get pictures that are not just gray streaks going across the photo.
Hoo boy, I’m gonna like you. :D
let’s see. here is what I have to say:
@monty I advertise my homosexuality so I can get more girls to have sex with me. I advertise my whiteness so people know they can ask me for high-SPF sunscreen. I advertise my privilege to be honest and to combat the ways in which privileged people become the unannounced norm.
About “dumb” — I messed up! I changed it. I don’t feel a really big need to defend my right to use this word if it means other people feel grumpy. There are other words I defend my right to use, and I also allow that using those words mean other people might think I am an asshole. And that’s within their rights.
About lolcats: I will make a followup post that links to all of them. KEEP IT GOING.
I ask ariel for high-SPF sunscreen all the time! Even though I don’t need it as much as white people, I feel safe knowing that if I go to the beach with her, her sunscreen will be more than sufficient for my own slightly more melanotastic needs. It doesn’t hurt to go a little overkill with SPF! On top of that, her homosexuality + Jewishness comes in handy in her (secret? oh noes!) guise as Queer Yenta of the greater New York metropolitan area.
Another Lolkitteh:
http://cheezburger.com/view.aspx?ciid=4693908
Also, ya’ll should know that the stuffed penguin is a SANTA penguin, otherwise the joke makes no sense.
@ Ariel
“About “dumb” — I messed up! I changed it. I don’t feel a really big need to defend my right to use this word if it means other people feel grumpy. There are other words I defend my right to use, and I also allow that using those words mean other people might think I am an asshole. And that’s within their rights.”
Just so we’re clear, I don’t think you’re an asshole. I do realize I was quite direct, but that was because I had to leave relatively quickly. I appreciate your amendment – and, belatedly, welcome.
Oh, and now I just saw the comment directed at me that I previously missed. Thank you! I very much do appreciate your attitude towards being called out.
HA! Ariel, I like you.
That is all.
Oh, and welcome!
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