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PC World I had something to say about this but I don't remember what...
Me pondering conflict anxiety and accessibility in online arguments
Fragments of Evolving Manhood: Notes Towards a Discussion of Male Self-Hatred Points out the ugly underbelly of the idea of "protective" dads/big brothers "guarding" girls from their boyfriends. I hate the way fandom gleefully embraces this trope and applies it to male characters who've shown no signs of it (Tenzin from Avatar: The Legend of Korra for example) My dad has always treated my boyfriends like any of my friends and been friendly and welcoming (in his quiet way) and I think this is much more endearing.
Peril Asian Australian online magazine
Pick your battle: a practical guide to social activism I thought this was pretty good for what it was, but I was a bit annoyed by the way it glossed over the possibility of fixing problems with anything other than formal activism (plus there seem to be accessibility issues)
Sure, you can join an organisation for volunteering to visit old people, but why not just visit the ones you already know? There's a division of the world into Activists, Victims, and Ignorant Masses To Be Educated, and while she gives a lot of very good advice about being inclusive it still feels like she's missing something crucial. Perhaps the fact that we all wear all three different hats at different times. There's a danger of people going "I'm an Activist, so by definition I can't be in need of education/complicit with any oppression" etc, or of seeing Activists as better qualified to know how to fix things than the Victims.
Formal activism is the right tool for changing government legislation and other Big Issues, and it's something I want to get more involved in. But I also see a lot of value (and for me, accessibility, an issue she glossed over as well) in smaller more organic connections within one's own community, helping those who need helping and educating/lobbying those who need to change, while also being open to change ourselves.
Another thing that's been making me think about these divisions is some surveys I did about attitudes towards charity, and this charity related quote.
Me pondering conflict anxiety and accessibility in online arguments
Fragments of Evolving Manhood: Notes Towards a Discussion of Male Self-Hatred Points out the ugly underbelly of the idea of "protective" dads/big brothers "guarding" girls from their boyfriends. I hate the way fandom gleefully embraces this trope and applies it to male characters who've shown no signs of it (Tenzin from Avatar: The Legend of Korra for example) My dad has always treated my boyfriends like any of my friends and been friendly and welcoming (in his quiet way) and I think this is much more endearing.
Peril Asian Australian online magazine
Pick your battle: a practical guide to social activism I thought this was pretty good for what it was, but I was a bit annoyed by the way it glossed over the possibility of fixing problems with anything other than formal activism (plus there seem to be accessibility issues)
Sure, you can join an organisation for volunteering to visit old people, but why not just visit the ones you already know? There's a division of the world into Activists, Victims, and Ignorant Masses To Be Educated, and while she gives a lot of very good advice about being inclusive it still feels like she's missing something crucial. Perhaps the fact that we all wear all three different hats at different times. There's a danger of people going "I'm an Activist, so by definition I can't be in need of education/complicit with any oppression" etc, or of seeing Activists as better qualified to know how to fix things than the Victims.
Formal activism is the right tool for changing government legislation and other Big Issues, and it's something I want to get more involved in. But I also see a lot of value (and for me, accessibility, an issue she glossed over as well) in smaller more organic connections within one's own community, helping those who need helping and educating/lobbying those who need to change, while also being open to change ourselves.
Another thing that's been making me think about these divisions is some surveys I did about attitudes towards charity, and this charity related quote.
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Activism
Really intrigued by your comments on accessibility, what does accessibility issues mean? Bare in mind I've created that guide for free, so perhaps you're expecting a level of professionalism normally associated with guides produced by large teams of people being paid to do so? I only intended it to be a guide to be read online by people already familiar with using the Internet. I am aiming to create some hard copies for a local cafe that supports grassroots projects, but that's as far as I can spread it really. I kept it free to make it as accessible as possible. Do you have any other suggestions? It's really hard to spread the word.
Yes the guide is limited in scope but it isn't a guide to anything other than formal activism, so I think those limitations you cite are unfair although I concede I may not have been clear in stating those goals in the introduction. I agree with points about helping old people in your family rather than going to an old folk's home - I mean that's sort of stating the obvious for me. Perhaps it's not so obvious to young people and I needed to state it explicitly? Not sure.
Having said all that I don't want to come across as defensive - the guide is not perfect by any means and I am aware of that - I love hearing what people have to say about it though and criticisms are invaluable to me so I can improve my guide, but I will still felt like defending some of those comments as I felt they missed my point - the whole guide was only aiming to cover formal activism, nothing else. If that needs to be made clearer then that's something I will take on board.
Is formal activism limited? Yes, definitely. You need multiple methods of problem solving to change the world. I think there is a book out there that tries to cover both formal activism and more grassroots community work, it's several hundred pages long and about £30 to buy. Yikes! I'm definitely not trying to compete with that! :D
Anyway thanks again for the mention. :)
-Shreen
Re: Activism