Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Open Season on White Men

Am I the only person getting sick of articles and movies directed at white people (usually in the title)? and a whole other subset of articles directed at attacking men?
The point of these articles is usually "white men are insensitive assholes, and they are racist, sexist, and oppressive"  with a nice subtext of "hey white guy- none of your merits or positivity will outweigh our ability to be angry at you for something some other white guy did" ... in short- it seems pretty OK by society to sling shit blindly at white men.

I get it- white men are to blame for much of the horrible things in the world.  I walk into a room, and I FEEL women and minorities recoil from me- intimidation? fear? or valid retreat from another oppressive white man?
I AM strong. I AM scary.  I am capable of all those awful things... just as any man is capable of evil.  However, isolating me and attacking me- recoiling from me, and treating me with fear- is unlikely to help change these white male behavior patterns being complained about.

A few months back, I put myself in the hospital overworking, and being unable to sleep.  Before I was hospitalized, I reached out to friends and family, but was repeatedly denied sympathy or empathy.  Friends told me to shut up- I had nothing to complain about.  My mother ignored me, and continues to do so.  5-7 days without sleep my behavior was erratic, and my 'friend' drove me off and left me in the car on the side of the road- rather than give me sympathy.  I hated myself, and I wanted to die, and the only thing I was asking was for a moment to be weak... to rely on the support of my community... to lay on the ground, and give up until I was ready to try again... but my community let me down. Healthy white men are not permitted to be victims in this society.

I was raised by a self proclaimed feminist.  My mother was abused by men in her childhood, and her scars have become my scars.  I was raised being taught that my masculinity and sexuality were bad things.  My mother told people I was gay before age 6, and I was punished for acting masculine while encouraged to grow long hair, dance ballet, and act.  I am still struggling with what it means to be a man, and the shots being taken at me- are not helping.

If we want everyone to be even, then we need to stop drawing lines, and passing judgement in all directions.  Women and minorities- while your voices have been quieted through history- you still need to listen to be heard.  I don't want another generation of angry insecure white men going around abusing people... but I don't think shaming the gender or race is an effective way to get that done.  Quit blaming white men for the tragedies in your life.  Every day is NOT white man day.  We struggle too, and if you leave us out in the cold- with no community- there's no telling what kind of drastic things someone might do to feel safe and loved again... maybe like- band together with other white men, forging the exact clic of angry racist sexist white men we were all trying to avoid in the first place!