"Are you an elitist?/18 revealing ways to know for sure"
one of my dearest friends sent me an article entitled, "Are you an elitist?/18 revealing ways to know for sure" (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/09/12/notes091208.DTL). it is a list of "elitist" stereotypes, one that is supposed to reveal how cool it is for you to identify with the given stereotypes. at the end of the list, i think you are supposed to realize that you are not elitist. you're just liberal, and thank goodness.
i've been reading alot lately. mostly reading just makes me think, "words are slippery."
what i am trying to say to(?), within, and (yet) with all this slippery language is that it's hard for me to hear/see values with which i identify ascribed to images with which i don't identify. it's hard for me to accept that images which hold value for me are viewed with such disdain by "liberal elitists." it's hard when the images in which i hold my values are used in ways that are not in line with... i won't say values. i will say that they are used in ways that are not useful, not helpful, and not understanding. ok, fine -- so used in ways counter to my values, i give up.
i've somewhat digressed. let me try again: i feel as though i've been robbed of language. how do i talk about how i feel when all the images have been claimed?
maybe, i am naive. maybe i am a product of too much time spent in my room. or maybe this man is a jack-ass. will you read this with me? this one is among my favorites, #15 in "ways to know if you are an elitist":
15. You speak a foreign language. This implies you might understand something of the world, have an interest in a culture other than your own, or have perhaps even traveled to some exotic foreign land that isn't Texas or New Jersey or Hawaii, a place where they like weird cheeses and don't fear gay people and ride bicycles to the opera.
because (starting to look glazed with strange annoyance), because if you "speak a foreign language" you clearly know, wait -- he said, "you might understand [my emphasis] something of the world." right, because all the people who ever spoke another language have understood others' experiences. because people who speak foreign (and note that "foreign" here means languages other than English) languages always treat people well. because language has clearly made this man such a kinder and more accepting human being, as he has clearly used his amazing ability to write long sentences in such a non-combative manner. because (and i don't care if he is merely trying to be funny) when he makes Texas an "exotic" country and figures it in opposition to another "exotic" country where "they like weird cheeses and don't fear gay people," he in one stroke has 1) expatriated me from his preferred slice of the United States, as i am from Texas, 2) located all the positive possibilities of "exotic" in Europe, which therefore 3) removes other "exotic" countries such as, say, China or Taiwan (where by the way, they don't always like cheese and might fear gay people) from the realm of acceptable oppositional forces, and has thus essentially (1-3) erased the viability of both my lived home and my family's imagined home.
clearly, liberals understand everything. and they never marginalize anyone. and i -- as i am from Texas, often pray, and enjoy eating pork-filled dumplings -- it is impossible that i might also be complex.
i have homework to do.
i've been reading alot lately. mostly reading just makes me think, "words are slippery."
what i am trying to say to(?), within, and (yet) with all this slippery language is that it's hard for me to hear/see values with which i identify ascribed to images with which i don't identify. it's hard for me to accept that images which hold value for me are viewed with such disdain by "liberal elitists." it's hard when the images in which i hold my values are used in ways that are not in line with... i won't say values. i will say that they are used in ways that are not useful, not helpful, and not understanding. ok, fine -- so used in ways counter to my values, i give up.
i've somewhat digressed. let me try again: i feel as though i've been robbed of language. how do i talk about how i feel when all the images have been claimed?
maybe, i am naive. maybe i am a product of too much time spent in my room. or maybe this man is a jack-ass. will you read this with me? this one is among my favorites, #15 in "ways to know if you are an elitist":
15. You speak a foreign language. This implies you might understand something of the world, have an interest in a culture other than your own, or have perhaps even traveled to some exotic foreign land that isn't Texas or New Jersey or Hawaii, a place where they like weird cheeses and don't fear gay people and ride bicycles to the opera.
because (starting to look glazed with strange annoyance), because if you "speak a foreign language" you clearly know, wait -- he said, "you might understand [my emphasis] something of the world." right, because all the people who ever spoke another language have understood others' experiences. because people who speak foreign (and note that "foreign" here means languages other than English) languages always treat people well. because language has clearly made this man such a kinder and more accepting human being, as he has clearly used his amazing ability to write long sentences in such a non-combative manner. because (and i don't care if he is merely trying to be funny) when he makes Texas an "exotic" country and figures it in opposition to another "exotic" country where "they like weird cheeses and don't fear gay people," he in one stroke has 1) expatriated me from his preferred slice of the United States, as i am from Texas, 2) located all the positive possibilities of "exotic" in Europe, which therefore 3) removes other "exotic" countries such as, say, China or Taiwan (where by the way, they don't always like cheese and might fear gay people) from the realm of acceptable oppositional forces, and has thus essentially (1-3) erased the viability of both my lived home and my family's imagined home.
clearly, liberals understand everything. and they never marginalize anyone. and i -- as i am from Texas, often pray, and enjoy eating pork-filled dumplings -- it is impossible that i might also be complex.
i have homework to do.
posted by J. at 9:54 AM
1 Comments:
I agree that it does suck. Education = Elitism? (Sigh) But I just found this man's reaction so, well, reactionary? Not that my blog entry isn't, but hey. It's a blog.
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