Let me say, for the record, and to no one's surprise, that I don't like Donald Trump's policies or politics. I think his manner and his mouth have created an atmosphere that endorses violence and encourages prejudice. There, I've said it.
Many of the people I know personally and virtually feel the same way.
Let me also say that I don't care about his hair, his tan, his weight or any other superficial thing about him. I don't think that any of those things have any place in the debate about his policies. I believe it's what he does that makes him concerning to people like me - I think calling him names about his supposed 'orangeness' trivializes the danger he poses and makes arguments against his policies seem secondary to his look and his presence.
I'm only guessing here but I'd say that less than 10 percent of the posts I read that are anti-Trump speak strictly about his policies and his politics. All the rest have some element that would be classified as 'bully' commentary about him physically. Everyone seems to be trying to outdo everyone else in regards to put downs about his looks in one way or another.
These are the self same people who post anti-bullying memes and make public statements about fat shaming and about other forms of lookist propaganda. There seems to be a belief that when someone else says it, they are a bully, when I say it it's funny commentary.
I don't like Trump.
I don't like his policies.
His politics scare me.
I think that he will put forward platforms and make changes that will kill people.
Can we talk about that?
And not about his hair?
Or his weight?
Or his tan?
We should be so against bullying and teasing and name calling that we don't do it, even against those that we don't like. It's easy not to bully a friend. It's a piece of cake not to tease someone you love. The test of our mettle is when it comes to applying the same standard of behaviour to those who we, even violently, oppose.
Stop Bullying.
You want to thump Trump, do it with respectful, loud, challenges to what he is DOING.
Not only are the personal criticisms bullying and therefore not at all appropriate, Trump is not bothered by the opinions of the faceless public. So he goes along doing what he wants to do while we mutter and chatter. If he is publicly disrespected by someone whose approval he seeks, he lashes out.
ReplyDeleteFor the rest of us, it is about taking action of some sort - just talking to those who agree with you already doesn't count.
As you say, doing damns the darkness.
clairesmum
Thank you!! I was just complaining about the same thing this morning. As a trans man, all the focus on Trump's genitals (and "small hands") really throws me under the bus to get at him. I tried telling people that for s long time, but no one cared. They told me to lighten up. They said it wasn't about me. They said it was OK because he was so awful.
ReplyDeleteIt's never OK. If it's not OK to body shame, it's never OK to body shame. It's not OK to shame people over there wait, over their genitalia, but calling them a "neck beard". It's never OK.
I've also said the same thing about calling him orange, or cheeto, trivializing the very real danger he presents and had that brushed aside as well.
Thank you so much for saying these important things.
indeed!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dave.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest . . . I don't think Mr. Trump has any idea of what he's doing. He's Robert Redford's "The Candidate" and his ascendance to the Presidency was America's "Fuck It" moment.
ReplyDeleteCari, you've just proven that you can do *exactly* what Dave's talking about - you talked clearly and with passion about how Trump's policies will affect disabled people, and not once did you resort to calling him names or mocking his appearance or making ableist comments about his mental health status. His policies are heinous enough on their own without sinking to the level that he's proven he can, with the name-calling and the shaming (of all kinds) and the mocking and multiple "-isms".
ReplyDeleteWe can resist without being pulled to a lower level of discourse.