Although we haven't reached that point yet, I'm concerned that's the direction we're heading. All societies have various ways to categorize and divide people up, but it's the increase in the intensity of the divisions in the last ten years that's got me worried. A lot has been discussed here and at the other blog about the massive changes on the left in particular in recent years, but one way I can see to summarize many of the changes is that there's been a shift from softening boundaries to hardening them. From the Civil Rights era (and even before) right through the Bush years and even into the early Obama years, barriers were being slowly broken down between people of different races, genders and sexual orientations were all human and had much in common. The increase in acceptance of gays and lesbians was really quite rapid once the message was that they were simply fellow humans wanting to live their lives like anyone else. Of course nothing was perfect during that period and there were plenty of other issues in society but I'd say those particular issues were improving.
Now the modern social justice scene has turned around and re-kindled the divisions again. Yes, many of those involved have good intentions, in their minds they're doing this to help others, but I don't see the end result of this as helping anyone. Greater acceptance usually comes from divisions becoming "not a big deal", not from certain groups claiming to be special, whether it's the majority or minority groups. I'm not saying people should give up their cultures or pretend to be something they're not, just that it works well when the differences become just something interesting to talk about rather than points of contention. Take Italians or Irish in America for example. At one time, both of these ethnicities were marginalized groups here. Their plight improved enough that they're never considered such these days. It became not a big deal. Some people with Italian ancestry make it a central point of their identity and some don't, and either is fine. That's what it looks like when a formerly marginalized group achieves equality with the rest of society.
I wonder if anyone ever has done a detailed study of formerly marginalized groups that have improved their plight in society? That seems like it would be an extremely helpful resource for anyone who's actually interested in currently marginalized groups achieving the same goal. The fact that almost nobody seems to be asking that question is very strange to me.
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branchandroot
Re: breaking the binary
Date: 2022-11-12 02:44 am (UTC)Now the modern social justice scene has turned around and re-kindled the divisions again. Yes, many of those involved have good intentions, in their minds they're doing this to help others, but I don't see the end result of this as helping anyone. Greater acceptance usually comes from divisions becoming "not a big deal", not from certain groups claiming to be special, whether it's the majority or minority groups. I'm not saying people should give up their cultures or pretend to be something they're not, just that it works well when the differences become just something interesting to talk about rather than points of contention. Take Italians or Irish in America for example. At one time, both of these ethnicities were marginalized groups here. Their plight improved enough that they're never considered such these days. It became not a big deal. Some people with Italian ancestry make it a central point of their identity and some don't, and either is fine. That's what it looks like when a formerly marginalized group achieves equality with the rest of society.
I wonder if anyone ever has done a detailed study of formerly marginalized groups that have improved their plight in society? That seems like it would be an extremely helpful resource for anyone who's actually interested in currently marginalized groups achieving the same goal. The fact that almost nobody seems to be asking that question is very strange to me.