Help Promote Harmony and Well-being: Join the People Against Discrimination Society
May 23rd 2008 03:59
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Dear Readers,
Earlier this week I found myself being discriminated against on the basis of my sexual orientation. Orble user Ahmed, upon being informed that I was pansexual, suggested that I would have a bright future in the porn industry as a corpophiliac. It has been one of the few times anyone has ever discriminated against me directly that I know of, and it did not feel good. Then I thought, "But wait, this happens all the time (panphobia, homophobia, sexism, racism, other forms of discrimination), and often to people who do not deal with it half as productively as I do... What can I do?"
I decided to start an Orble blog that anyone on Orble could contribute to, called the People Against Discrimination Society. Discrimination affects everybody, whether you are a poor, black, homosexual female or a rich, white, heterosexual man, a fan of Nirvana or Britney Spears, a citizen of a certain country, or not. Even if you have never directly experienced discrimination, people around you will have.
Now, the world as I know if today has never been more tolerant. People are no longer getting publicly beheaded in Europe due to treason, African-Americans are no longer getting lynched in the South, we are all nicer to each other, have granted each other human rights and reinvented what this phrase means.
But one only needs to tune in to the discourse around the Democratic race for the Presidential nominee in the USA to realise that we are only beginning to address many of the deeply seated prejudices which threaten our communities. Proponents of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in what has been called "my discrimination is more constraining than your discrimination" reasoning. But sexism is no more formidable than racism, which are no more formidable than homophobia. They are often interrelated, and just as unfortunate.
I believe a lot of people have a pet topic (mine is homophobia, because I believe it gets even less coverage than sexism and racism). Anyway, I encourage you all to get passionately engaged on the topic of discrimination, join the blog (you can click on the 'apply to write for this blog' option) and post away. You don't need to post regularly - just whenever you have an important contribution to make. I believe that together we can make the world a better place, starting with Orble.
Will you join People Against Discrimination, the blog? Click here to do so!
Here is a reproduction of my Welcome post:
Thank you for joining us as we explore discrimination in all its unhelpful forms - homophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia - these are just some of the issues we hope to cover here. I originally started this post after experiencing panphobia (that is, fear, distrust of hatred of pansexuals) on the Orble network, where I run the blogs Postmodern Critic, Daily Inspirations and Relativity Watch. Instead of getting angry I decided to get productive. It is my hope that PAD will attract people who are interested in eradicating against hateful forms of discrimination which undermine harmony in the world.
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, it's likely that you'll come face to face with discrimination in one form or another. Perhaps a friend of yours will have their race, gender or sexuality used against them. Perhaps you will experience some form of it yourself. PAD is interested in exploring every aspect of discrimination and what can be done to prevent it. Our world has never been more tolerant than it is today, but I know that if we work together we can make it an even more pleasant, productive and joyous one.
I hope that some day women comprise roughly 51% of the politicians in parliament (consistent with the percentage of women in the population), young boys and girls are just as likely to engage in romantic or sexual role play with the same sex as the opposite, and we have a black non-Heterosexual President in the U.S. But for now, let's work on demolishing the attitudes that prevent same-sex marriage from becoming a practice all over the world (with the exception of Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec in Canada and Massachussetts and California in the USA), let's reinvent race relations in South Africa, Singapore, Bulgaria and Hawaii, and let's reverse the limitations placed upon women in the Middle East.
I hope your time with PAD is time well spent,
Epiphanie Bloom (a.k.a. postmoderncritic)
Earlier this week I found myself being discriminated against on the basis of my sexual orientation. Orble user Ahmed, upon being informed that I was pansexual, suggested that I would have a bright future in the porn industry as a corpophiliac. It has been one of the few times anyone has ever discriminated against me directly that I know of, and it did not feel good. Then I thought, "But wait, this happens all the time (panphobia, homophobia, sexism, racism, other forms of discrimination), and often to people who do not deal with it half as productively as I do... What can I do?"
I decided to start an Orble blog that anyone on Orble could contribute to, called the People Against Discrimination Society. Discrimination affects everybody, whether you are a poor, black, homosexual female or a rich, white, heterosexual man, a fan of Nirvana or Britney Spears, a citizen of a certain country, or not. Even if you have never directly experienced discrimination, people around you will have.
Now, the world as I know if today has never been more tolerant. People are no longer getting publicly beheaded in Europe due to treason, African-Americans are no longer getting lynched in the South, we are all nicer to each other, have granted each other human rights and reinvented what this phrase means.
But one only needs to tune in to the discourse around the Democratic race for the Presidential nominee in the USA to realise that we are only beginning to address many of the deeply seated prejudices which threaten our communities. Proponents of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have engaged in what has been called "my discrimination is more constraining than your discrimination" reasoning. But sexism is no more formidable than racism, which are no more formidable than homophobia. They are often interrelated, and just as unfortunate.
I believe a lot of people have a pet topic (mine is homophobia, because I believe it gets even less coverage than sexism and racism). Anyway, I encourage you all to get passionately engaged on the topic of discrimination, join the blog (you can click on the 'apply to write for this blog' option) and post away. You don't need to post regularly - just whenever you have an important contribution to make. I believe that together we can make the world a better place, starting with Orble.
Will you join People Against Discrimination, the blog? Click here to do so!
Help bring about a message of peace, love and beauty
Here is a reproduction of my Welcome post:
Thank you for joining us as we explore discrimination in all its unhelpful forms - homophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia - these are just some of the issues we hope to cover here. I originally started this post after experiencing panphobia (that is, fear, distrust of hatred of pansexuals) on the Orble network, where I run the blogs Postmodern Critic, Daily Inspirations and Relativity Watch. Instead of getting angry I decided to get productive. It is my hope that PAD will attract people who are interested in eradicating against hateful forms of discrimination which undermine harmony in the world.
Whoever you are, wherever you come from, it's likely that you'll come face to face with discrimination in one form or another. Perhaps a friend of yours will have their race, gender or sexuality used against them. Perhaps you will experience some form of it yourself. PAD is interested in exploring every aspect of discrimination and what can be done to prevent it. Our world has never been more tolerant than it is today, but I know that if we work together we can make it an even more pleasant, productive and joyous one.
I hope that some day women comprise roughly 51% of the politicians in parliament (consistent with the percentage of women in the population), young boys and girls are just as likely to engage in romantic or sexual role play with the same sex as the opposite, and we have a black non-Heterosexual President in the U.S. But for now, let's work on demolishing the attitudes that prevent same-sex marriage from becoming a practice all over the world (with the exception of Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec in Canada and Massachussetts and California in the USA), let's reinvent race relations in South Africa, Singapore, Bulgaria and Hawaii, and let's reverse the limitations placed upon women in the Middle East.
I hope your time with PAD is time well spent,
Epiphanie Bloom (a.k.a. postmoderncritic)
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Comment by Mountain Fog
great idea!
It is important for a forum to exist where everyone can openly discuss fears, hurts and wishes that add, in a positive sense, towards building more understanding, and thereby increasing the general well being of the whole community.
A world full of people aware of the importance and need for mutual respect, for each other's differences, would be a much safer, less hateful and more peaceful world to live in.
cheers
fog
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I'm all for peace love and understanding with mutual respect, but i also think that being able to laugh at ourselves is just as valuable a commodity essential for harmony.
Personally I agree with much of what you say, just not so sold on the catalyst for action.
Comment by postmoderncritic
Postmodern Critic
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Very well said, thank you for supporting the initiative!
Hey John Doe,
Well Ahmed himself admitted that he had personally attacked me, and it's funny how he didn't "joke" with me about it until I mentioned I was pansexual.
Clearly the implication was that I was "up for anything". And, seriously, do you know what corpophilia is? I find it disgusting! Interestingly enough, this was a discussion that sprang from my coverage of Senator Barack Obama calling a female reporter 'sweetie', where I had advised that the best way to avoid offense was to ask someone if they minded being referred to with an endearment. So, having just read that, Ahmed didn't ask me how I would feel about calling me something which has much more potential to offend than 'sweetie'. I found it vile, and says a lot about his state of mind - he likes to play with the most degrading concepts he can find.
Also, this isn't the first the Ahmed has made a homophobic comment on Orble. See this and this. When I confronted him about it he accused me of being jumpy and didn't find anything the matter with his behaviour.
Anyway, I passed on the offensive comment to Jon, and he said he would speak to Ahmed about it.
Thanks for stopping by, and I'm glad to hear that most of my post resonated with you.
Comment by Mountain Fog
thanks, and thank you for providing this sorely needed forum!
And JD, I too love tongue in cheek humour, and even black humour that treads near the border of the tasteless, however, I am intrigued you seem to support Ahmed's approach?
The fact that we have a so called free speech society, does not entitle us to denigrate others, whether it be because of their sexuality, race, or religion, for the twisted purposes of someone else's bigoted amusement.
It is fine to good naturedly send up one another, as long as it does not enter into the realm of thinly disguised hate.
There is a distinct difference between parody and villification, wouldn't you agree? There are posts on the internet that go way beyond normal decency and taste, clearly revealing the writer's real intentions, even when the writer attempts to disguise his or her bigotry as 'research', or as a 'question'.
The fact that such articles appear in Australia, means they come under the laws of Australia (and each State or Territory) no matter where they were written. This was set in law via a legal precedent, some years back, when a Melbourne Aussie mining magnate sued an internet publication, based in America, for defamation, and won.
However, defamatory libellous attacks continue on the internet unabated, which says a lot about the laisser faire attitude of internet society in general, where everyone seems to feel they are immune from the normal constraints of law, when indeed they are not!
cheers
fog