Do you ever wonder if maybe Wonderland is more of reality than what Alice perceived as reality? I suppose it's relative. Maybe you could argue that Wonderland is really her escape. That's her filter from the harshness of reality, but even there in Wonderland there were various horrors.
I feel like when we open our minds to learning, to seeing the injustice, oppression, and madness that surround us every waking moment, it's removing whatever filters keep us from feeling reality. It's easy to let things go because they are seen as the norm, rather than to question behaviors that feel wrong but persist because we have been taught to believe they are normal. Embracing feminism has really helped remove the filters that society wants to keep there. Privileged oppressors exercise a sort of magic or glamour, similar to when a filter is used on film to make it look like night when it's really the middle of the day.
Each day I research things, I find myself wishing I could discuss serious issues with more people so I could learn from them, and/or possibly teach them something. I've always loved learning. There is so much in the world to learn, and new things are discovered every single day!
Unfortunately, where there is an abundance of resources to learn from and people to discuss these things with, there is also an exceptional amount of people that are persistently oppressive and ignorant. I wish it wasn't so, I truly do, but it is. I see it frequently, and had the misfortune of associating with many of these people when I did not have the knowledge I currently am armed with at my disposal. I simply knew in an abstract sense that things people would say, and even some things I felt and said, were wrong. I would like to think I've learned, and I continue to do so. Socialized behavior is difficult to change, but it is possible.
I watched this video, a discussion between two transgender women who work openly in the media, and it definitely gave me some ground work to learn more about these issues. I am not transgender, and I do not pretend for a moment to fully comprehend anything a transgender person experiences. I do see how these women's experiences reflected the damage ravaging our society. The war on women, on races other than white, on non-heterosexual orientation remains persistent. There has been progress, and with that progress there comes backlash, there comes the right-wing crazies that refuse to abandon the desire to put down anyone who dares to be different, or dares to be comfortable with that difference, who patronize, silence, and abuse anyone who is oppressed.
When we begin to read and research how this oppression came to be, we realize we have this righteous anger, a rightful anger, that fuels our whole being. When we remove the filters that distract us and keep us from seeing the truth, we are rightfully irate at the fact that there exists people with power who want to make anyone who is not privileged enough not count as a human. It is sad, painful, and even now just thinking of it makes me angry. What's worse is that there are those who are members of oppressed groups who actively stand with the oppressors. I am thoroughly convinced that these people are certifiably psychotic, based on the fact that I can't really understand what logic is behind not wanting to allow the freedom to get an abortion, affordable contraception, same-sex marriage, accessible government funding when needed for basic needs, education, and so on.
Two women I remember strongly voicing anti-choice (anti-abortion, specifically) opinions I truly believe are insane. I don't say that to be dismissive, ableist, or anything of the sort. I truly believe they are unstable.
No one but myself has control over my body. Just as I have no control over what someone else choose's to do with their body.
Anyway, there is no real purpose to this post other than to express these thoughts and to help absorb the basic gateway to knowledge upon watching that video. I definitely want to understand the struggles of others, and not be dismissed. I often feel we are pitted against one another, be it within our own group (women versus women, for example) or between other groups. I want to understand my privileges and how I've had it good, just as much as I want others to know their privileges and how things aren't always so good. Getting rid of sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. will help everyone.
It is the mission of activists and advocates to spread the awareness, no matter how much resistance we are met with.
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