>>It seems like a lot of social justice ideas are like that. Which makes sense, since it can be very hard to examine the status quo and see what forces hold it in place...at first it's just 'how things are', and it's hard to find a frame of reference to look at it critically.<<
Yes, it's "the water that fish don't see." Many people are immersed in their own culture and find it difficult or impossible to perceive. Others, however, have grown up never feeling an affinity for the mainstream culture, maybe not for any particular culture. And once you've learned to see the lines of a culture in one regard, it becomes easier to spot them elsewhere. A similar effect happens when people study history, sociology, anthropology, etc. -- you start looking at all these different cultures, and perhaps realize that your culture is just one more example and not the only way. So that likewise makes it more possible to see the lines. Which can complicate your life immeasurably.
I've actually got a character in Schrodinger's Heroes, Chris, who grows up straight and white and relatively ordinary in Texas ... and then falls in with a bunch of quantum physicists and their friends running a dimensional portal. It's a very diverse group in terms of ethnicity and sexuality, and Chris finds his worldview getting bounced off the walls fairly often. http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/1752525.html
>>I love the cage analogy! That really helps pull it together. I'm learning a lot today <<
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service! I've done my duty as an information dispensary today.
Re: Thoughts
Yes, it's "the water that fish don't see." Many people are immersed in their own culture and find it difficult or impossible to perceive. Others, however, have grown up never feeling an affinity for the mainstream culture, maybe not for any particular culture. And once you've learned to see the lines of a culture in one regard, it becomes easier to spot them elsewhere. A similar effect happens when people study history, sociology, anthropology, etc. -- you start looking at all these different cultures, and perhaps realize that your culture is just one more example and not the only way. So that likewise makes it more possible to see the lines. Which can complicate your life immeasurably.
I've actually got a character in Schrodinger's Heroes, Chris, who grows up straight and white and relatively ordinary in Texas ... and then falls in with a bunch of quantum physicists and their friends running a dimensional portal. It's a very diverse group in terms of ethnicity and sexuality, and Chris finds his worldview getting bounced off the walls fairly often.
http://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/1752525.html
>>I love the cage analogy! That really helps pull it together. I'm learning a lot today <<
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service! I've done my duty as an information dispensary today.