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Thursday 25 July 2013

On Invalidating Experiences

There seems to be a trend at the moment of excusing behaviour and shutting down debate by starting a sentence 'as a...'

As soon as I see it I (to borrow a phrase from @spaceviolin) nope the fuck out of there.

It irritates the living fuck out of me.

Intersectional feminism means recognising others experiences and seeing how they intersect with your own and the struggle at large.

Much like 'check your privilege' it is supposed to open debate, not stifle it.

And here is another thing. Just because YOU don't find something offensive, it doesn't mean I won't.

Even if we have had similar experiences.

Rape survivor who doesn't get offended at people being 'fraped' on Facebook? Good for you. In a world where lads mags banter about rape, where you could buy a keep calm and rape her t-shirt, where women are objects to be cat called, groped, raped and then blamed for it, I have a zero tolerance for it.

Woman of colour who thinks Jane Austen on a banknote is an insult? You are entitled to your opinion. Just don't lump me in with it as I happen to think we should be celebrating every victory. Even, especially the small ones.

'as a mother...' NOPE! I've had three of the little darlings and they don't come with a manual OR a magical insight spell.

'as a white man...' fuck nope.

You get the drift.

I'll try not to invalidate your experiences if you try not to speak for mine.

As human beings I think we can manage that.

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