silentpunk

Hello, I'm Jen from greater London.
I like making things and singing and ranting and kicking arse.

Follow me if you like activism, feminism, punk and riot grrrl, vegetarianism, DIY and craft culture, postmodernism, pop culture/critical studies, politics, television, 90s, kittens, gpoy aaaaaand some art.
Jan 23 '12
modernistwitch:

katydidnot:

modernistwitch:

Hm.
My feeling on that is that there’s been such an enormous focus on the girl crying because that’s what happens so often when white people are forced to confront the fact that we benefit from a white supremacist society, and it’s often used as an ‘out’ to escape accountability for privilege & racist actions (whether intentional or not), and that is such an immensely frustrating phenomenon.
And I’ll say it again - yeah, it hurts a lot to realize that you’re the one who benefits from others’ oppression, no matter what you do. But tending to your feelings there is your own bag (I say this as a white person opposed to whiteness!) and it is complicated and most definitely not something that should be characterized as the responsibility of those who are marginalized by privileges you benefit from.

i got the feeling that her crying was mainly just a direct reaction to being yelled at (coming from someone who freaks out nearly-involuntarily when yelled at by authority figures) as opposed to her coming to a larger realization re: privilege, or trying to escape a larger realization re: privilege, thus i figured her crying didn’t have any significance other than “oppression sux”
but like, i’m going only by my experience of freaking out when being yelled at, and i don’t know her reasons behind crying, AND the interpretation of jane elliot in the video is more on the side of your interpretation. 
i think there’s some important stuff too in what i bolded—i don’t think necessarily the girl was doing it intentionally, but yeah crying is still a tool to avoid confrontation. i think the way jane elliot dealt with it in the video was good, definitely—i guess the resulting conversation really depends on whether you interpret her crying as trying to gain sympathy or involuntary?
but yeah basically i agree with everything you are saying.

Rebloggin’ for good points/conversation.

modernistwitch:

katydidnot:

modernistwitch:

Hm.

My feeling on that is that there’s been such an enormous focus on the girl crying because that’s what happens so often when white people are forced to confront the fact that we benefit from a white supremacist society, and it’s often used as an ‘out’ to escape accountability for privilege & racist actions (whether intentional or not), and that is such an immensely frustrating phenomenon.

And I’ll say it again - yeah, it hurts a lot to realize that you’re the one who benefits from others’ oppression, no matter what you do. But tending to your feelings there is your own bag (I say this as a white person opposed to whiteness!) and it is complicated and most definitely not something that should be characterized as the responsibility of those who are marginalized by privileges you benefit from.

i got the feeling that her crying was mainly just a direct reaction to being yelled at (coming from someone who freaks out nearly-involuntarily when yelled at by authority figures) as opposed to her coming to a larger realization re: privilege, or trying to escape a larger realization re: privilege, thus i figured her crying didn’t have any significance other than “oppression sux”

but like, i’m going only by my experience of freaking out when being yelled at, and i don’t know her reasons behind crying, AND the interpretation of jane elliot in the video is more on the side of your interpretation. 

i think there’s some important stuff too in what i bolded—i don’t think necessarily the girl was doing it intentionally, but yeah crying is still a tool to avoid confrontation. i think the way jane elliot dealt with it in the video was good, definitely—i guess the resulting conversation really depends on whether you interpret her crying as trying to gain sympathy or involuntary?

but yeah basically i agree with everything you are saying.

Rebloggin’ for good points/conversation.

(Source: criticalfeministcorgi)

184 notes (via modernistwitch & criticalfeministcorgi)Tags: jane elliot blue eyes/brown eyes oppression submission submission submission

  1. pandaseal reblogged this from criticalfeministcorgi
  2. pencilscrap reblogged this from creatureskissing-intherain
  3. creatureskissing-intherain reblogged this from criticalfeministcorgi
  4. honeyxvanity reblogged this from empressjakedirk
  5. empressjakedirk reblogged this from failedblackwoman
  6. failedblackwoman reblogged this from hamburgerjack
  7. kingchxndrx reblogged this from zoezoloft
  8. baconisbetterthanbacon reblogged this from unnecessaryemotion
  9. zoezoloft reblogged this from unnecessaryemotion
  10. atrapforfools reblogged this from private-revolution and added:
    this is exactly what i’m trying to say!
  11. fuzzybagels reblogged this from banana-bruises and added:
    also she endured what POC deal with daily for only maybe 30 minutes give me a break people of color do not get to sign...
  12. toriathegadjeslayer reblogged this from banana-bruises
  13. banana-bruises reblogged this from gloria-swanson and added:
    Not to mention, everyone in that experiment signed a waiver that stated they would be subjected to severe emotional...
  14. gloria-swanson reblogged this from eshusplayground
  15. unnecessaryemotion reblogged this from ellierantsforever
  16. denullepart reblogged this from the-smartass
  17. searchingforknowledge reblogged this from sanaa-tamir
  18. withrevolutionarycries reblogged this from karnythia
  19. modernistwitch reblogged this from katydidnot and added:
    Rebloggin’ for good points/conversation. There is no definitive answer given as far as I know as to why she was crying,...
  20. silentpunk reblogged this from modernistwitch
  21. katydidnot reblogged this from modernistwitch and added:
    being yelled at (coming from someone who freaks out nearly-involuntarily when yelled at by authority figures)
  22. silentpunk reblogged this from modernistwitch and added:
    I don’t think that’s why she cried tbh. It’s nice and neat for people to think ‘wow that bitch must be crying out all...
  23. katydidnot reblogged this from modernistwitch and added:
    i’m really confused about all this emphasis on that one girl crying, though. i don’t think it makes her...
  24. modernistwitch reblogged this from silentpunk and added:
    Who said anything about punishing anyone? The video is about discrimination and social systems of oppression, not about...
  25. silentpunk reblogged this from modernistwitch and added:
    I am so confused, why do people think she was crying ‘because she was racist’? I mean maybe she was but I just don’t...
  26. sara-laughs reblogged this from modernistwitch
  27. bethasaurus reblogged this from soliloquize
  28. soliloquize reblogged this from modernistwitch
  29. theuppitynegras reblogged this from modernistwitch
  30. modernistwitch reblogged this from cruelyouth and added:
    Besides the awfulness detailed above: The idea that being called out on your racism is somehow the same thing as...