I'm often fascinated by bigoted statements which show through when we make statements in support of certain groups of marginalized people. Take, for example, this web-comic (Darwin Carmichael is Going to Hell).
In it two of the characters, Patrick and Skittles, and playing Grand Theft Auto. Patrick runs over a lady and Skittles gets incensed and demands to know why he had done this. Paraphrased:
Supposedly Biggoted Comment: I ran over her because she's a prostitute and running over sex workers is okay.
Supposedly Tolerant Comment: That was wrong because she might have been supporting a family and you have hurt her family.
Of course, what I took away from it was that the crime committed wasn't the violence against the sex worker but the harm that it could have caused her potential family. Had it just been the prostitute everything would have been peachy.
That's a pretty messed up message.
Of course, this doesn't mean in any way that either author of this strip is bigoted towards sex workers. But that's the point, isn't it? It's not about their bigotry so much as it is about an entire system that allows these messages to be considered so normal as to, well, be normal.
Hello world!
1 year ago
1 comment:
I agree. Both comments are outright bigotry against sex workers.
The supposedly tolerant statement only changes the focus of the person's supposed contribution to society. It assumes there is no validity to the life of someone who works in the sex trade. The supposedly tolerant comment is a much more dangerous messsage.
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