Ranting about a Tumblr thing...
Jan. 24th, 2015 07:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redwoodalchan So apparently on Tumblr there's a meme circulating that says something along the lines of "Reblog if you care about women who were victims of domestic or sexual violence." I'm pretty sure that memes like this are part of the reason I'm such a cynical old man about a lot of social-justice stuff I find online. It's not that I don't care about the issues--I care quite a lot. But there's trying to raise awareness of an issue, and then there's straight-up guilt-tripping.
The thing is, regardless of my own personal views on any given issue, I will almost never post about it on Tumblr. I have no compelling interest in turning my blog into a lamentation about everything that's wrong with the world, especially since there are a million blogs that do that already. Besides that, I figure I'll be of more use trying to find solutions to the issues in the real world than simply posting about it on a blog that only a tiny fraction of the Tumblr community even follows. I will occasionally post something pertaining to this or that issue, but only on occasions where I think the post can be put to real, practical use--or on those rare occasions where I have something to say about it that I don't think anyone else has said before. In light of all this, I never know how to respond to posts like the one I outlined above. I could take the bait and reblog the thing, but I don't feel like I should have to post anything to show that I care about an issue. Yet the implicit assumption of all this is that if you don't take the time to reblog it means you're a heartless person who doesn't sympathize with the plight of women all over the world, or you're okay with letting the patriarchy do its thing. Basically, that you have to openly declare yourself in favor of civil rights and/or turn your blog into a civil-rights platform, or else it's taken as a given that you don't care at all. And I really don't think that's right or fair.
The thing is, regardless of my own personal views on any given issue, I will almost never post about it on Tumblr. I have no compelling interest in turning my blog into a lamentation about everything that's wrong with the world, especially since there are a million blogs that do that already. Besides that, I figure I'll be of more use trying to find solutions to the issues in the real world than simply posting about it on a blog that only a tiny fraction of the Tumblr community even follows. I will occasionally post something pertaining to this or that issue, but only on occasions where I think the post can be put to real, practical use--or on those rare occasions where I have something to say about it that I don't think anyone else has said before. In light of all this, I never know how to respond to posts like the one I outlined above. I could take the bait and reblog the thing, but I don't feel like I should have to post anything to show that I care about an issue. Yet the implicit assumption of all this is that if you don't take the time to reblog it means you're a heartless person who doesn't sympathize with the plight of women all over the world, or you're okay with letting the patriarchy do its thing. Basically, that you have to openly declare yourself in favor of civil rights and/or turn your blog into a civil-rights platform, or else it's taken as a given that you don't care at all. And I really don't think that's right or fair.
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Date: 2015-01-25 09:51 am (UTC)