We should all be decent, empathetic, and compassionate enough people that the demographic breakdown doesn’t create a negative effect like that.
I’m one of the many cis dudes here, and I just cannot get offended when it gets pointed out that other dudes can be assholes. Or that other Americans can be assholes. Or other humans, for that matter.
Unfortunately that is hardly ever the case. Most people’s way to think about themselves and how they act differs greatly and thus they have to bridge this gap in some way. People like to think of themselves as tolerant, open-minded or empathetic, but once you start to confront them in any way with how they are acting problematic in any way, they usually start to get defensive or try to twist reality around so that it fits with their positive view on themselves. And by “confronting” I don’t necessarily mean that you even have to actually have to tell them about this mismatch, just by existing as a person can trigger this reaction in person. That is, only by being trans or by beingvegan people think that they have to defend themselves somehow. And it gets even trickier to actively help people reflect upon their own actions. The huge number of people that have tried to explain me that discrimination isn’t real is so frustrating. Most people life in their fantasy world not wanting to think critically about themselves. And if one has these mental barriers, empathy or compassion doesn’t really help either because in order to protect their skewed view on themselves they cannot access their empathy.
We should all be decent, empathetic, and compassionate enough people that the demographic breakdown doesn’t create a negative effect like that.
I’m one of the many cis dudes here, and I just cannot get offended when it gets pointed out that other dudes can be assholes. Or that other Americans can be assholes. Or other humans, for that matter.
Unfortunately that is hardly ever the case. Most people’s way to think about themselves and how they act differs greatly and thus they have to bridge this gap in some way. People like to think of themselves as tolerant, open-minded or empathetic, but once you start to confront them in any way with how they are acting problematic in any way, they usually start to get defensive or try to twist reality around so that it fits with their positive view on themselves. And by “confronting” I don’t necessarily mean that you even have to actually have to tell them about this mismatch, just by existing as a person can trigger this reaction in person. That is, only by being trans or by beingvegan people think that they have to defend themselves somehow. And it gets even trickier to actively help people reflect upon their own actions. The huge number of people that have tried to explain me that discrimination isn’t real is so frustrating. Most people life in their fantasy world not wanting to think critically about themselves. And if one has these mental barriers, empathy or compassion doesn’t really help either because in order to protect their skewed view on themselves they cannot access their empathy.