User blog comment:BradP27/Why RR was the Best Season Since the Original TDI--if not better/@comment-1376932-20151014074350/@comment-1888444-20151015171504

TDIFan13, why have we not met before? Loving the social justice tag team.

Fedora Kid, you seem like someone who appreciates hard facts and data. Would you be willing to listen to an empirical, statistical case for why this discussion matters? I don't want to waste my time on a comment (or another blog post) if you are not going to take it seriously, but there is a lot of really solid social science data about how problematic representations of characters on television can create or reinforce racist, sexist, homophobic, & transphobic attitudes, or induce poor body image and eating disorders such as bulimia in young girls. I'm happy to take the time to make that case, and to tie that research directly to characters that are portrayed problematically in one way or another (among them: LeShawna, DJ, Lindsay, Jo, Mike, Chef, Owen, MacArthur, Sugar, Beth), and talk specifically about the ways the show has gotten FAR BETTER, especially in RR, and prove that it can still be a skewering satire without making LGBT folks/women/people of color/overweight people the butt of the joke. I'm not saying this just to make a point: I'm saying it because, again, we as the fanbase have a sizable amount of influence over the show, and we have the ability/opportunity (responsibility?) to use that influence to call out problematic content when we see it and suggest alternatives.

I'd also like to point out that these are discussions that affect people in a personal way (for instance, my partner is bi and has struggled with eating disorders, etc), and that it is natural for people to get frustrated and emotional when talking about negative societal attitudes that have the potential to literally ruin their life or that of a loved one. And when someone does get heated or emotional about an issue that affects them personally, that shouldn't be used to negate the actual meat of their argument. Saying someone is "hyper-sensitive and too hysterical" when they get heated about these issues is not very kind. You and I, as straight, male, and (I'm guessing) white dudes have the privilege of being able to talk about these issues in a detached context because we will never have to worry about not getting a job or being subject to violence or threats on the basis of our race, gender, or orientation. Not everyone has that luxury--and the fact that these issues cut deep and present real threats can lead to anger or frustration that we have no good reason to critique.

More on this, if you have 5 minutes to read:

https://medium.com/@chanda/what-s-the-harm-in-tone-policing-e933d90af247

Politics aside, I'm glad you like the blog! I'll try to write more.