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Mar. 20th, 2008 09:55 amI will probably be participating in the content strike on Friday. I wasn't going to, except possibly passively (since I so rarely post), but I'm appalled by Anton Nosik's interview (translated text here). I've seen a few comments saying that the tone of the interview is less offensive in Russian for cultural reasons. That's not something I can speak to, and I'm not sure that something being acceptable in any single culture is a reason why nobody else should be offended.
My feelings on the content strike are complicated. I don't know how useful it will be, but I'm quite sure that doing nothing at all won't be useful. I've seen people commenting that protesting after LJ has begun fixing the problems decreases their motivation to fix future problems. That's possible. Rewarding a remedy with a kick tends not to make friends, but... One day is a small thing. Walking away for one day is a demonstration. Walking away forever or until certain demands are met, that's a strike. I tend to see a one day thing a way to show that, yes, there are people paying attention beyond those who scream on various news posts and such.
I've seen a few people mention that the chosen date is a bad one, that Good Friday would likely see a drop in posting anyway. I'm not sure how true that is-- or isn't-- Good Friday's by no means universally observed. People who aren't Christian or who aren't observant wouldn't necessarily note the date as important. (Scott's family does. Mine doesn't.) And Good Friday may go both ways. The people organizing the demonstration can claim any person who's absent as a participant.
Another post of my friends list pointed out an ugly wrinkle-- Apparently there's a contingent of folks supporting the strike because they object to SUP as a 'company run by Jews." (See here for a few links.) That's offensive. That's creepy and nasty. I don't want to go near people like that. I'm not sure that posting during the strike is the way to show my opposition to anti-Semitism because it allows people I disagree with strongly to control my response to an unrelated issue. I'm not sure the best way to show opposition to the anti-Semites. Some of that may be that I have the privilege of overlooking that aspect of things, but there are people I care about who don't. Any ideas?
On a personal front, Friday's a bad time for me to be separated from my online support structure, given the LTD related appointment and that Scott won't be available that evening (Delia will be with Scott's parents over night), so I'll probably have AIM and Google chat open and may post to my IJ (I'm 'the_rck' over there. I usually mirror) if I have something that needs saying. I'm hoping to set up some sort of social interaction with one or more local friends, but I'm not going to hold my breath that I'll be successful on this short notice.
I've seen people on my friends list commenting on IJ and the things that bother them about it. I, too, am not keen on the terminology as I don't find mental illness funny. Then again, gallows humor exists. It's a valid form of expression and acts as stress relief for some people even as it causes other people pain. I've decided that I can deal with the terminology by viewing it as gallows humor of a sort. That is, I can take it and make it at least partly mine.
I am disabled. I am mentally ill. Anxiety cripples me. The terms IJ uses can hurt people like me. They don't hurt me in this case, but that doesn't mean the usage on IJ doesn't hurt other people, especially when used by people who have never had those terms applied to them as some people at IJ haven't (though many on my friends list there have had). Words have hard edges and all sorts of lurking nastiness underneath when one flips them over. It's easy to forget that when the particular words aren't shaped like one's own bruises.
So I can be comfortable on IJ, but I do understand why some people can't. The terminology not being meant to hurt doesn't mean that it won't, and nobody should have to spend time somewhere that hurts them. I expect to keep mirroring entries on the two sites (and reading and commenting both places) until something makes me leave one or the other. I probably won't go for a standalone blog on my site. I *could* do it, but I think that my impulse to write entries is too weak to sustain that. Also, though there's crossover between my fic and rec site and my LJ/IJ, it's not something that want to push from the website side. I use my LJ/IJ primarily for talking about real life stuff. I don't mind having people who like my fics reading along, but I'm not really writing for them, and I don't know that I want my posts about Delia sitting next to my fics and recs.
My feelings on the content strike are complicated. I don't know how useful it will be, but I'm quite sure that doing nothing at all won't be useful. I've seen people commenting that protesting after LJ has begun fixing the problems decreases their motivation to fix future problems. That's possible. Rewarding a remedy with a kick tends not to make friends, but... One day is a small thing. Walking away for one day is a demonstration. Walking away forever or until certain demands are met, that's a strike. I tend to see a one day thing a way to show that, yes, there are people paying attention beyond those who scream on various news posts and such.
I've seen a few people mention that the chosen date is a bad one, that Good Friday would likely see a drop in posting anyway. I'm not sure how true that is-- or isn't-- Good Friday's by no means universally observed. People who aren't Christian or who aren't observant wouldn't necessarily note the date as important. (Scott's family does. Mine doesn't.) And Good Friday may go both ways. The people organizing the demonstration can claim any person who's absent as a participant.
Another post of my friends list pointed out an ugly wrinkle-- Apparently there's a contingent of folks supporting the strike because they object to SUP as a 'company run by Jews." (See here for a few links.) That's offensive. That's creepy and nasty. I don't want to go near people like that. I'm not sure that posting during the strike is the way to show my opposition to anti-Semitism because it allows people I disagree with strongly to control my response to an unrelated issue. I'm not sure the best way to show opposition to the anti-Semites. Some of that may be that I have the privilege of overlooking that aspect of things, but there are people I care about who don't. Any ideas?
On a personal front, Friday's a bad time for me to be separated from my online support structure, given the LTD related appointment and that Scott won't be available that evening (Delia will be with Scott's parents over night), so I'll probably have AIM and Google chat open and may post to my IJ (I'm 'the_rck' over there. I usually mirror) if I have something that needs saying. I'm hoping to set up some sort of social interaction with one or more local friends, but I'm not going to hold my breath that I'll be successful on this short notice.
I've seen people on my friends list commenting on IJ and the things that bother them about it. I, too, am not keen on the terminology as I don't find mental illness funny. Then again, gallows humor exists. It's a valid form of expression and acts as stress relief for some people even as it causes other people pain. I've decided that I can deal with the terminology by viewing it as gallows humor of a sort. That is, I can take it and make it at least partly mine.
I am disabled. I am mentally ill. Anxiety cripples me. The terms IJ uses can hurt people like me. They don't hurt me in this case, but that doesn't mean the usage on IJ doesn't hurt other people, especially when used by people who have never had those terms applied to them as some people at IJ haven't (though many on my friends list there have had). Words have hard edges and all sorts of lurking nastiness underneath when one flips them over. It's easy to forget that when the particular words aren't shaped like one's own bruises.
So I can be comfortable on IJ, but I do understand why some people can't. The terminology not being meant to hurt doesn't mean that it won't, and nobody should have to spend time somewhere that hurts them. I expect to keep mirroring entries on the two sites (and reading and commenting both places) until something makes me leave one or the other. I probably won't go for a standalone blog on my site. I *could* do it, but I think that my impulse to write entries is too weak to sustain that. Also, though there's crossover between my fic and rec site and my LJ/IJ, it's not something that want to push from the website side. I use my LJ/IJ primarily for talking about real life stuff. I don't mind having people who like my fics reading along, but I'm not really writing for them, and I don't know that I want my posts about Delia sitting next to my fics and recs.
