you know that uncomfortable feeling if YET again you read another book, or watch other series that uses the same old sexist/racist/(dis)ableist/queerphobic and plainly oppressive tropes, right?
Currently I’m reading ‘Kirihito’ by the so-called manga god Osamu Tezuka, and it’s overflowing with women as sexy plot-devices, with depictions of mental illness as dangerous mysteries, and even though it sometimes manages to call out racism, it doesn’t bat an eye when using racial stereotypes at other places.
And my initial reflex is to tell myself, “this manga is from 1970. It was a different time back then. Cut it some slack.”
And that’s what they keep telling us, right? If, for example, you critique an influential philosopher from the 18th century and call out how their influence established racism and sexism and all other forms of oppression, what you hear people say is: “That’s how it was back then. You got to consider the context back then.”
NOOOO!!
Can we please collectively, as a society, stop excusing these privileged white men?
Read women authors from the 18th century, black authors, disabled authors, queer authors, or any combination thereof- and it’s not hard to find voices who disagree with the so-called ‘Zeitgeist’.
It’s not like the time period itself dictates that people can only have oppressive thoughts like the privileged white men have. It’s just that these men can afford to IGNORE anything non-conforming to their attitude.
It’s not like people back then were INCAPABLE of thinking the equality of women, black and brown people, disabled people or queer people etc.
What HAPPENED is: Privileged white men who FORMED the public discourse CHOSE to ignore those people and their voices. And that has little to do with the ‘Zeitgeist’ and everything with how privileged people use their resources, knowledge and societal influence.
tl;dr: The idea of ‘Zeitgeist’ is NOT an apology for oppression and it is NOT a shield for criticism.
The bias of ‘Zeitgeist’
Published
Thoughtfulfangirling 