As you'll see from your flist, I just posted my academic and scholarly thoughts on it as a non-participant, and they're not "yay!" But I don't disagree with anything you wrote above, either. I just think that there are two elements to it.
A group of people just walking around with buttons, having determined they were going to do this and here's why? Yay, for all of the reasons you set out for thinking it was positive. But asking people to participate seems to be to me where the problematic natures of consent and objectification come into play--to me, that's where a good idea became a bad idea. Not a malicious idea. Not an "end of the world" idea--and I really disagree with those who've been commenting over the universe as if this IS a world-ending OMG FANDOM IS BROKEN sort of thing. But I think there are privilege lessons to be learned from the ways some people experienced the activity itself AND the way people experienced the "manifesto." If that makes any sense.
However, my thoughts on it are almost totally academic and far more related to the manifesto and responses rather than the practice as it went. If that makes any sense.
I don't judge anyone for participating. I don't even judge anyone for putting it together. I just think there are invisible ways patriarchal privilege works, and it can have an impact. I think that the almost immediate efforts to sort of nullify other people's reactions to it, particularly to the post on it, fueled the fire. I don't think anyone needs to be stoned, or even disliked. I don't think this says anything about anyone's character. But I think there are things that can be learned about the ways different people experience oppression and just move on from there.
no subject
As you'll see from your flist, I just posted my academic and scholarly thoughts on it as a non-participant, and they're not "yay!" But I don't disagree with anything you wrote above, either. I just think that there are two elements to it.
A group of people just walking around with buttons, having determined they were going to do this and here's why? Yay, for all of the reasons you set out for thinking it was positive. But asking people to participate seems to be to me where the problematic natures of consent and objectification come into play--to me, that's where a good idea became a bad idea. Not a malicious idea. Not an "end of the world" idea--and I really disagree with those who've been commenting over the universe as if this IS a world-ending OMG FANDOM IS BROKEN sort of thing. But I think there are privilege lessons to be learned from the ways some people experienced the activity itself AND the way people experienced the "manifesto." If that makes any sense.
However, my thoughts on it are almost totally academic and far more related to the manifesto and responses rather than the practice as it went. If that makes any sense.
I don't judge anyone for participating. I don't even judge anyone for putting it together. I just think there are invisible ways patriarchal privilege works, and it can have an impact. I think that the almost immediate efforts to sort of nullify other people's reactions to it, particularly to the post on it, fueled the fire. I don't think anyone needs to be stoned, or even disliked. I don't think this says anything about anyone's character. But I think there are things that can be learned about the ways different people experience oppression and just move on from there.