A Thought on Social Justice and Being Whiny | Research to be Done (via brute-reason)

Just gonna add something to this to explain why I reblogged it, when usually I wouldn’t.

There’s this attitude goes round in the Homestuck fandom (probably others too, I dunno, I don’t live there…) that Social Justice = BOSSY AND MEAN AND BAD, and as soon as anyone even starts to sound like SJ they get not only shot down but stomped on afterwards. This is an attitude I dislike intensely, and to explain why to my fellow Homestucks, I wish to employ the example of the Vantases.

(If you hate trolls too then I guess you’re pretty much gonna kill me for this, but screw you all the characters rock)

So, when us Homestucks think Social Justice and characters from the comic, the first person who springs to mind is Kankri, right? I mean, that’s what he is, a parody of the worst kind of Social Justice blogger, and we all love to roll our eyes and/or hate the guy.

But if you look a little closer, the things that are really unpleasant and dislikeable about Kankri aren’t his “Social Justice” views- it’s the way he utterly disregards the feelings and opinions of those around him and elevates himself to a moralistic high ground. It’s the way that when Porrim comes to him with a concern of her own, he dismisses it out of hand. It’s the way that he masks his unpleasantness towards Mituna in rhetoric that makes everything okay and harmless. It’s the way he’ll bend Karkat’s ear for HOURS on what Karkat has lived through like he knows what that’s like better than Karkat does.

In short, he thinks he knows what other people are feeling, he acts like he knows best, he uses his own high-handedness as an excuse to be unpleasant to others, and he utterly disregards people who try to tell him their problems or ask for help and support.

Now on the other hand, let’s take Karkat. He’s a massive asshole, but he’ll go through hell and high water for his friends. If someone came to him and said “hey, Karkat, I think I’m being oppressed”- well, okay, he’d probably call them a bunch of names and rant and swear, but then he’d go and kick the ass of whoever was oppressing them. And let’s not forget that before Kankri, we had the Signless- ALIEN SPACE JEGUS, guys, and he’s still awesome and hardcore. He burned to death for trying to bring Social Justice to Alternia. Go on, tell me he’s all talk. Hell, Porrim herself is Social Justice-y, what with her questioning of her societal role. We like her, right?

Now, I don’t tend to do Social Justice stuff, but I have at least one good friend who DOES, and you know what? She might sound like Kankri on the surface, but she’s not anything like him. If I had to pick a character she was like, it’d be Tavros, only instead of FLARP and Fiduspawn and adventure she just really, really, wants to be fair and understanding to others. I follow her on Tumblr, and she sometimes reblogs or posts stuff that IS interesting, or worrying, or probably worthwhile. And half the time I pass over it anyway.

So I am writing this because I am fed up with the side of this fandom which places such a stigma on Social Justice that nobody can find anything even slightly upsetting, or unnerving, or disturbing, or- yeah- offensive, without having their throat ripped out by people who think they know what other people are feeling, act like they know best, use their own high-handedness as an excuse to be unpleasant to others, and utterly disregard people who try to talk about their problems or ask for help and support.

Okay. Rant over, and I shall return to my normal activities forthwith. But next time you’re about to go “Urgh bluh Social Justice” and tell someone not to get so worked up about whatever it is… maybe try and listen like a Karkat instead of a Kankri?

(via celynbrum)

Calling the Anti-SJ side of tumblr/the homestuck fandom Kankri is probably the the best thing that has resulted from Kankri ever.

(via jadescribe)