Greta Christina has been writing professionally since 1989, on topics including atheism, sexuality and sex-positivity, LGBT issues, politics, culture, and whatever crosses her mind. She is author of
The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life, of
Comforting Thoughts About Death That Have Nothing to Do with God, of
Coming Out Atheist: How to Do It, How to Help Each Other, and Why, of
Why Are You Atheists So Angry? 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, and of
Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More, and is editor of
Paying For It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients. She has been a public speaker for many years, and many of her talks can be seen on YouTube. Her writing has appeared in multiple magazines and newspapers, including Ms., Penthouse, Chicago Sun-Times, On Our Backs, and Skeptical Inquirer, and numerous anthologies, including
Everything You Know About God Is Wrong and three volumes of
Best American Erotica. (Any views she expresses in this blog are solely hers, and do not necessarily represent this organizations.) She lives in San Francisco with her wife, Ingrid. You can email her at gretachristina (at) gmail (dot) com, or follow her on
Facebook.
It’s easy to say your oppression isn’t as important as the oppression of some other person (far, far away), so it excuses any attempt to fix what’s right under one’s nose.
It’s easy to say the problem is too big to fix when you have no intention of helping.
It’s easy to demand solutions when you won’t be part of them.
Doesn’t fit your format, but the main thought I’ve been having lately:
Too many people think issues of racism or sexism or similar concepts are merely “offending someone,” as if racism is bad predominantly because it might hurt someone’s feelings. People don’t believe oppression actually exists. People don’t believe privilege or disadvantage even exist. I have conversations with people where it’s clear we have vastly different views on reality. I think racism, sexism, etc. actually harm people and are a negative force in society. They think people need to stop whining over merely getting their feeling hurt.
So maybe…
It’s easy to say oppression is about nothing more than “being offended” when you aren’t the one disadvantaged.
It’s easy to listen to people if you would sometimes just stop fucking talking.
OK, I decided it sounds punchier if I eliminate the qualifier so…..
It’s easy to listen to people if you would just stop fucking talking.
Social Justice is divisive. It divides out the assholes and obstructionists. Your part is deciding which side of the divide to be on.
It’s easy to dismiss my oppression because it’s not as bad as yours, when it isn’t really a zero-sum game.
It’s easy to think of other people as not actual people until you’ve met them.
It’s easy for a certain kind of person to go on thinking that even after they have.
It’s easy to dismiss one person’s marginalization when it doesn’t look or work exactly the same as the ones you’re more familiar with.
It’s easy to say “those people” when you’ve never met any of those people.