WAIW | Transphobia & Gender Reveal Parties
For once, it seems I ruffled some feathers on my personal Facebook page instead of the T.O.F.U. page, which I have to admit is something I’m okay with. Although I’m not a big fan of conflict, knowing that I reached some people who don’t completely agree with my view on something is refreshing given how Facebook and so many other platforms are set-up to show you what you want to see these days. Being in a bubble is nice in some ways, but I also often wonder if I’m really changing anyone’s mind when all I see are people liking my posts.
That being said, I can’t say that the conflict has been super productive so far, but I also don’t believe in really measuring things based on whether or not you change a commenter’s mind. For me, it’s always about the people reading and reacting on the sidelines. Chance are, the commenter isn’t going to really consider the points you make (no matter how well thought out they are), but putting in the effort to make your argument (when you have the spoons) is worth it considering that other people who have been on the fence about the subject just might be persuaded by what you say.
And so, even though I’ve talked about this in many ways before, I decided to take today’s WAIW episode to sum up my opinion on the matter at hand and basically any other case where an oppressed group declares something as harmful and someone outside of the group takes offence to being told not to do it. I don’t expect it to change the minds of the people I’m currently debating on my wall, but perhaps it will help to change yours.
