It's not crack and biscuits all the time.

[hackthis_archive]

1. miram_heddy is talking about racial perceptions in fandom and I was fascinated to read not just her post, but the subsequent responses. Talking about race is always a hot-bed topic for me, and one likely to send my blood pressure ratcheting exponentially, as more than one person will attest. So, I point this out, not because I'm interested in a big sociological discussion today, because those tend to take a lot of Valium on my part, but just because it’s always interesting to read other people's opinions.

2. voodoo_in_tx has some advice on what to do if you feel a bit more shitastic ™ than normal. *Both 1 & 2 are gacked from voleuse

3. In case I'm really not the last person to have read cereta's fabulous post on fandom and male privilege, you can check it out here -- Might I suggest you read this one and miriam_heddy's together and have yourself a good long think? Your head'll explode, sure, but it's certainly food for thought.

4. There are all kinds of labels we attach to ourselves: liberal, conservative, straight, bi, gay, undecided, black, white, Asian, Latino, male, female, in-between, sexual, chaste, slutty, English, Welsh, French, American, Indian, Canadian, New Yorker, Californian, Londoner, Christian, Atheist, Jewish, Muslim, tall, short, medium, fat, thin, scrawny, obese, corpulent, Rubenesque, zaftig, professional, working class, rich, poor, skint, flush, smart, stupid, blonde, brunette, ginger, bald, mental, sane, in need of therapy -- why do we do this to ourselves?

Why is it when people ask, "What are you?" we don’t just say," I'm me, motherfucker, why do you ask?"


*Today's links are brought to you by hackthis's underutilized brain, which sometimes just has to have a moment to itself. During this moment, I felt I should also ask for a Jake icon that says, "gay cowboy marine," a George/Brad icon that says Big Gay Uncles, and a George icon that says, "makes his man trade go to Kentucky."

Comments

[acroamatica.livejournal.com]

Re: #4.

We do it because it puts us in groups. Even calling yourself totally unique puts you in a group of people - those who all say that about themselves. We do it to ourselves because we like to be in groups; we do it to others because it aids the mental sorting of all the thousands of people we meet. Where this method goes wrong is when we sort someone into the wrong bin, or when we assume because they are in one bin, they wouldn't also fit in another, or when we refuse to change a label based on new information. And so we supply the labels we want to have put on us, depending on the situation. I'm quite comfortable being labelled, as long as those labels will help me get what I want. Do I mind that people at work assume I'm straight, square, and a bit of a swot? Not any more than I mind my friends knowing I'm bi, way more wild than I let on, and not really the scholar type. I don't wear my leather collar, jeans, and studded cuffs to work, because I want my boss to think I'm vanilla and inoffensive and therefore no-one any customer would look sideways at; I do, on the other hand, wear them to the record shop, because it encourages the clerks to sort me as the sort of person they don't need to talk down to. *shrug* It's a tool, like everything else in the world.