Why aren’t reverse -isms real?
- Based on individualism
- Makes experiences of individual prejudice collective when they aren’t.
- Recenters the experiences of privileged people
- Ignores the validity of sociology and other academic/scientific disciplines.
As a Deaf, Black and Disabled person who identifies as a genderueer trans* lesbian woman, there are some things listed below that I, as a individual, could not possibly have done to hearing, abled white cis straight men, divided up into categories.
“Reverse audism”
- I have never called hearing folks deaf impaired.
- I have never denied hearing folks their right to English in daily life, including in such things as:
- Work
- School
- Family
- With friends/acquiaintances
- Church
- Media
- I have never demeaned English as a language, including saying that it is just something you move your mouths to communicate with
- I have never forced hearing folks to become Deaf
- I have never abused a hearing person in any of the following ways, just because they are hearing.
- Physically
- Verbally
- Emotionally
- Psychologically
- Spiritually
- Financially
- Culturally
- Neglectfully
“Reverse ableism”
- I have never dehumanized abled people with words that target their ability status.
- I have never been socialized to not desire to accommodate their ability to move around in the world hinder free. My hypothetical non-desire would be manifestable in…
- Saying financial constraints make it impossible to accommodate abled people.
- Deciding for abled people what they need.
- Refusng to be flexible for specific situations.
- i have never denied service to abled people in my own businessss just because they were abled.
- I have never been scarred of abled people just because they were abled.
“Reverse racism”
- I have never called White folks “cracker” as a way of putting them down for who they are.
- I have never forced White folks into slavery, and thus taken away their:
- Livelihood
- Culture
- Ability to make a living
- I have never abused a White person just because they were White, in any of the following ways:
- Physically
- Verbally
- Emotionally
- Psychologically
- Spiritually
- Financially
- Culturally
- Neglectfully
- I have never been taught to feel suspicious of White people in a systematically centered way.
- I have never kicked White people out of my racially safe spaces only beecause they were White, but always because of their individulist attitudes toward oppression.
“Reverse cissexism”
- I have never refused to respect cis people’s names, gender identities or pronouns just because they were cis.
- I have never said or implied that cis people don’t exist. Related to this, I have never said that a particular cis person is not actually whatever gender they identify as.
- i have never said that cis people shouldn’t get hormone replacement therapy just because they were cis.
- I have never said that all cis people want gender reconfirmation surgery (aka SRS, sexual reassignment surgery).
“Reverse heterosexism”
- I have never been socialized to think that being lesbin, gay and bisexual is the only normal way to be.
- I have never made two straight people kiss each other.
- I have never demonized heterosexuality.
- I have never included homoness in “family values” as a way to continue the cycle of capitalistic homonormativity.
- I have never deniied straight people the right to be together.
- i have never tried to force straight people to become lesbian, gay or bisexual.
“Reverse sexism”
- I have never made men feel that they have to keep themselves safe.
- I have never taken over the voices of men in a primarily all-man space.
i have never been socialized to harm men just because they are men.
