Just something that’s been on my mind. Tumblr has this specific way of handling communities. These are just the ones that come by on my dash, I’m sure there are plenty more examples.

First they start out nice, tolerant, willing to listen and learn.

But they quickly become too nice and tolerant. Rather than simply accepting group X, they begin to overglorify them. They make them into something more special than people outside of group X, and coupled with their compulsive need to belong and feel special, desire to be a part of it too.

In comes the appropriation. If they can’t be a part of it, they’ll make themselves a part of it, one way or another. And is someone in group X not acting the way their fantasy version of them acts? Call them out on it!

They become so fanatical that they begin to talk over, or drive out the original people of group X.

And then finally they manage to become so hateful, their initial tolerance has turned into cold, terrifying intolerance. Calling gay/trans men privileged over white straight cis women, telling transsexual people to die, purposefully triggering people they dislike into panic attacks, defending Muslims to the point of calling the attack on Charlie Hebdo justified. And sending death threats to anyone who dares to disagree.

Being excluded from a group or community because you don’t belong there is not oppression.

It simply means that group does not describe or fit you as an individual.

If you can’t accept that, you have far deeper issues than your imagined ‘oppression’.