Fury and capitalism
Aug. 19th, 2020 06:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soniaI am taking a zoom class in Narrative Medicine (maybe listening to people is healing?), taught by a massage therapist, where we read/watch/experience media, discuss, write briefly in response to prompts, and discuss further. The description includes, "We will focus on works created by BIPOC, LGBTQIA, Disabled People and other historically marginalized communities in order to explore their stories and examine our relationships with those stories and the people to whom they belong." (bold added)
For today's class we watched a 20 minute arty movie, made by a white man, where the white man subjugates a Black man in a way that leads to his death. In class, I waited to hear how this was from a marginalized viewpoint, and it emerged that maybe it was a film class project or something, *shrug*. I AM LIVID.
I said to the class that it's not okay with me to watch media where Black men are subjugated for our entertainment, and brought up the experience of the Black actor in the film. I emailed the teacher about feeling betrayed, and asked whether the rest of the class materials are from actual marginalized viewpoints. I haven't heard back yet.
Meanwhile, I'm not displeased with what came out of our 5 minute writing period in response to the prompt, "Being trapped." My handwriting sprawls furiously on the page.
I thought running my own business could separate me from dependence on and endorsement of mainstream capitalism. Then I had a client who got the money to come see me from pole dancing. And I realized that I may be off in a little eddy but I am still entirely dependent on and in the flow of mainstream capitalism. Money comes from power and exploitation and we are participating in and endorsing it however we get our dollars and however we spend them. We are there stripping and objectifying our bodies, and we are there leering and using our money to consume someone else's objectification. None of us are innocent. None of us are free. We are all complicit in the destruction of the Earth and each other. We are all interconnected. We can tug on the threads a bit, try to send out ripples of a new way. We can carve out little islands of care. We can notice and acknowledge our complicity.
The one white guy in the class said my piece made him feel trapped, which is a step forward from being in denial. \o/
ETA: As I posted a couple of weeks ago, indigenous folks are skillfully not despoiling the earth. I wish I were participating in that kind of economy instead!
ETA2: Not intended as a judgment of sex work when it is voluntary rather than forced for economic survival.
For today's class we watched a 20 minute arty movie, made by a white man, where the white man subjugates a Black man in a way that leads to his death. In class, I waited to hear how this was from a marginalized viewpoint, and it emerged that maybe it was a film class project or something, *shrug*. I AM LIVID.
I said to the class that it's not okay with me to watch media where Black men are subjugated for our entertainment, and brought up the experience of the Black actor in the film. I emailed the teacher about feeling betrayed, and asked whether the rest of the class materials are from actual marginalized viewpoints. I haven't heard back yet.
Meanwhile, I'm not displeased with what came out of our 5 minute writing period in response to the prompt, "Being trapped." My handwriting sprawls furiously on the page.
I thought running my own business could separate me from dependence on and endorsement of mainstream capitalism. Then I had a client who got the money to come see me from pole dancing. And I realized that I may be off in a little eddy but I am still entirely dependent on and in the flow of mainstream capitalism. Money comes from power and exploitation and we are participating in and endorsing it however we get our dollars and however we spend them. We are there stripping and objectifying our bodies, and we are there leering and using our money to consume someone else's objectification. None of us are innocent. None of us are free. We are all complicit in the destruction of the Earth and each other. We are all interconnected. We can tug on the threads a bit, try to send out ripples of a new way. We can carve out little islands of care. We can notice and acknowledge our complicity.
The one white guy in the class said my piece made him feel trapped, which is a step forward from being in denial. \o/
ETA: As I posted a couple of weeks ago, indigenous folks are skillfully not despoiling the earth. I wish I were participating in that kind of economy instead!
ETA2: Not intended as a judgment of sex work when it is voluntary rather than forced for economic survival.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-24 08:05 pm (UTC)Wow howdy shit.
The good news is that we (your electronic friends) have in fact learned something along the way. Not enough!
That cartoon is outstanding.
Menominee County is coterminous with the Menominee Reservation and astronauts have mentioned that it's visible from space thanks to the tree density.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 02:03 am (UTC)