*headdesk*

[oyceter]

Fandom, why so stupid? (link goes to chopchica's handy link round up to good posts discussing the stupid occurring, not to the stupid itself, which is on f_w by and large)

In other words...

Q: This event is specific to a majority and makes the minority feel excluded.

BAD way to disagree:
A: You are wrong! Also, it's not specific to the majority! Also, you are too sensitive and there is no anti-semitism here! You Jewish people are all so touchy! And you're oppressing me by making me remember all these weird, unfamiliar holidays! Neener!

GOOD way to disagree:
A: Ohhh. Hrm. Hello there, my privilege. I will acknowledge you and note that you exist. Maybe I do not agree with everything in the original note or the solution, but I see where it's coming from and acknowledge that you may have a very different perspective on this from me because my perspective is privileged and I get to ignore a lot of stuff.

ETA: Just to clarify, my problem isn't with Yuletide or the Yuletide organizers, but rather with the responses on f_w and in the comments of many posts. I particularly like untrue_accounts' post detailing the issues and heartily agree with her.

Comments

[oyceter]

I don't really think this has to do with privilege, though; it has to do with lack of knowledge from outside a culture. People don't keep track of holidays they don't celebrate

I do think it has to do with privilege, and part of that is because I am fairly certain most Muslims, Jews and atheists who don't celebrate Christmas in the US could tell you when it is.

The only reason the major holidays on the American calendar are celebrated by the majority is that they've become so commercialized that their religious significance (if any) gets glossed over.

The commercialization of those holidays still doesn't make them religiously neutral. Some people choose to celebrate them as such, which is cool, but it still doesn't negate Christian culture as the default culture in much of the western world.

[seaya.livejournal.com]

Giant smooches to you.

You win the entire internet.

Thank you for being an ally.

[oyceter]

It's the least I can do!

[chopchica.livejournal.com]

Word to all of this.

I do think it has to do with privilege, and part of that is because I am fairly certain most Muslims, Jews and atheists who don't celebrate Christmas in the US could tell you when it is.

I've lost count of the number of comments I've seen saying that they've never heard of Sukkot, so whatever. It's a pretty important Jewish holiday. Way to negate it!

"American" holidays

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

Being Hellenistic, of course Christianity is massively culturally appropriational, but I'm always amused that so many of the U.S.'s holidays are secularizations -- like Halloween.
But immediately here, the great, most-All-American holiday of Thanksgiving ws invented partly in imitation of Sukkot!

[oyceter]

Yeah, it's... I don't expect people to know all of my holidays and such or when Chinese New Year is every year, but. After a while, it hurts to get yet another reminder that you are not mainstream, you are not majority culture.