Consuming Media Is Not Activism
Jun. 15th, 2021 07:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingFirst, you don't have to read anything that hates you.
Second, you don't have to read anything that makes you hate yourself.
It doesn't matter who wrote it, or why. Consuming media is not activism.
I've often had this problem with the sort of Japanese male writers that American and British men seem to enjoy translating. Like, they'll pick the worst and most disgusting writers - mainly bestselling authors who are unironically into rape, pedophilia, and being racist against China and Korea - and try to pass off their sensationalist garbage as literature because "that's their culture."
But also, there are a lot of Americans who hate women and super hate gay people, and they justify their hate by making it about race or ethnicity. I completely understand why that sort of work is trendy right now, and why critics are so quick to praise it, but I still don't think it's "woke" to hate broad categories of people because of their gender or sexuality.
I've found myself reading a lot of work that's not written in English during the past two years. This may seem like escapism, mainly because it is. I'm definitely interested in diverse stories from diverse voices, but I also need to live my life without feeling forced to read highly praised books written by people who don't make any secret of the fact that they would cross the street to get away from me.
Second, you don't have to read anything that makes you hate yourself.
It doesn't matter who wrote it, or why. Consuming media is not activism.
I've often had this problem with the sort of Japanese male writers that American and British men seem to enjoy translating. Like, they'll pick the worst and most disgusting writers - mainly bestselling authors who are unironically into rape, pedophilia, and being racist against China and Korea - and try to pass off their sensationalist garbage as literature because "that's their culture."
But also, there are a lot of Americans who hate women and super hate gay people, and they justify their hate by making it about race or ethnicity. I completely understand why that sort of work is trendy right now, and why critics are so quick to praise it, but I still don't think it's "woke" to hate broad categories of people because of their gender or sexuality.
I've found myself reading a lot of work that's not written in English during the past two years. This may seem like escapism, mainly because it is. I'm definitely interested in diverse stories from diverse voices, but I also need to live my life without feeling forced to read highly praised books written by people who don't make any secret of the fact that they would cross the street to get away from me.
