Emily:
Growing up Jewish, queer, and Autistic in Birmingham, Alabama, I faced a great deal of bullying and prejudice. Instead of stepping in to address the bullying, my parents, teachers, and therapists tried to help me act more “normal,” hide my queerness, and learn how to fit in. I quickly learned one of the most insidious and effective ways that oppression is perpetuated: by holding the oppressed, rather than the oppressor, responsible for it.
In college, I began studying the topic of bullying and getting involved with anti-bullying efforts. I learned that the most common reason children get bullied is due to their weight or size, and instead of preventing this weight-based bullying, many teachers and parents instead encourage children to lose weight. In other words: If you want to be safe in this culture, you need to look the part.
Sarah:
This is an important aspect of visual privilege. In so many ways, the mainstream ethos is simply: “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” As long as you look like everyone else on the outside, and don’t say any different, what you feel on the inside is your business. You want to kill your family, abuse small children, dissect live kittens, build nuclear weapons in your basement, remove your genitals with a hatchet, crash your head into concrete. All good — so long as you say nothing to no one — ever.
[For more on this story by Emily Cutler & Sarah Knutson, go to https://www.madinamerica.com/2...-sanism-paternalism/]
Poster by Gloria Lucas, Nalgona Positivty Pride.
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