Diversity

I was having a short discussion the other day on Twitter about sexism and it seems that Natasha Chart over at MyDD, that bastion of feminism, has taken it out of context to make a point about sexism.

Lovely.

This is the comment I left :

So let me get this straight : You take a comment that was part of a whole conversation about how our culture imposes the tyranny of homogeneity instead of respecting difference and looking at diversity as an asset and you twist it to prove a point about sexism?

that conversation was about how aggressiveness and violence are not necessarily nature. that as a mother of two boys and someone who has taken care of many of my friends girls, i can see how their energies can by nature, be vastly different.

the issue is of holding male energy as the standard of what is good and by assertion, female energy being bad or weak. just as how whiteness is held up as the standard and everything that is not "white" then becomes diminished, poor, disadvantaged, underdeveloped, or plain old not good enough.

but you took that one quote and you built a whole post about how everything about this campaign was sexist attacks that cost Clinton the nomination.

we've had this conversation before online and am going to say it again, it's not the reason why. there's 100 reasons, none having to do with sexism, that cost Hillary Clinton the nomination.

get over it.

and, by the way, this link was sent to me. if you're going to quote me, have the tact next time of emailing me the link.

i take cause with how you present my words here.

there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING wrong not wanting to [be] like men and finding power in that.

I had to use Summize to go back on the twitts of yesterday and find the conversations I was having. I can identify 6 different conversations all revolving around different discussions of sexism.

One of them was with Shannon McKarney of EcoChic, who had this to say :

I wrote that piece last year+believe it more strongly now. Women have to become more "male" to be successful

That's where the whole discussion of homogeneity vs. difference started. That's where I ssaid that I strongly disagree with women needing to be like men to be successful just as I strongly believe this to be one of those sticking points for a lot of feminists of color.

The whole discussion of women vs. men pits oppressed people in many communities of color against each other. Yes, colored men can be sexist and even ruthlessly misogynistic but is that the root of our problems or is it a symptom of a larger structure of violence and exploitation that women and men of color need to unite against?

Memorandum is off the hook this morning with news that Alberto Gonzales has resigned as US Attorney General.

There are cheers and jeers all around the blogosphere for what many consider the worst Attorney General to the worst Presidency in the history of the United States. The press release from Ralph Neas over at People For the American Way better encapsulates what a lot of people in the blogosphere are saying :

The Ennabler General

It’s high time this attorney general resigned. Alberto Gonzales was the 'Enabler General' for the imperial Bush presidency. He undermined the Constitution, made a mockery of the rule of law, and turned the Justice Department into an arm of the Bush Administration’s political operation.

Gonzales protected the interests of George W. Bush over the interests of the American people at every turn. He oversaw a Justice Department that was twisted to serve political interests, from the president’s domestic spying program to bogus allegations of voting fraud that kept minorities and poor people from the ballot box. He showed open contempt for oversight by Congress, and gave testimony under oath that was at best incompetent and at worst, deliberately untrue.

...

Now, it’s time to heal the Justice Department, and find a new attorney general who will restore integrity to the office.

To me though, what's really is important is how Gonzales' fall is not just a foible of his character. To me what is important here is how the Bush administration has used the idea of "diversity" to empower into corruption racial, ethnic and gender minorities.

This weekend is the Personal Democracy Forum Conference here in New York City. I will be participating in what I know will turn out to be a kickass panel. The title of the panel is on this post Is Cyberspace Colorblind? Addressing Race and Class Online.

Ruby Sinreich, of LotusMedia and Orange Politics, is the moderator. The panel promises to be tight with Cheryl Contee Assistant Vice President of IDI.net, Chris Rabb, my blog bro from Afronetizen and Anil Dash, Vice President of Six Apart.

I am really excited about this panel. I know Chris and Anil for quite a while now, have the luck to have met Ruby earlier this year and work with her as part of the advisory crew over at TechPresident and have heard good things about Cheryl's online demographics work.

So Latinos (along with Asians, Native Americans and other 'minorities') are the real ghosts in the media machine. Not that I needed Media Matters to tell me that :

The nearly complete absence of Latinos from the cable shows' guest lists is particularly notable. In 2004, the U.S. Census estimated that Hispanics made up 14 percent of the American population; given patterns of population growth, that number is undoubtedly higher today. Yet Hispanics made up less than 2 percent of the guests on these programs during these three weeks. In fact, this number represents a total of only 13 guest appearances, six of which were by Geraldo Rivera.

No better, by the way, for Asians, Native Americans and other 'minorities'.

The problem with the MSM's corrections to these problems is to get a neo-nazi Speedy Gonzalez look-a-like to be the talking 'cabeza' du jour.

Or, even better --they do as Media Matters and hire just one guy with a latino-sounding name.

Every year I have been blogging (that would be since 2002), I've seen the outbreaks of "where are the women in media and technology? posts pop-up around February or March. And every year there has been an avalanch of cries, denials and recriminations.

This year it seems to have all started with Jason Kottke's Gender diversity at web conferences. Oh boy. Read all about it at BlogHer.

Among the quoted is Anil Dash, VP of Business Development at Six Apart and one of the first names to come to my mind when I coined the expression "digital ethnorati". Anil is the quintessential digital ethnorati : colored, hip,, wired to the tees but more importantly, an influential in his networks who leverages that influence to give back to his minority community.

So when the man lumped me in with an amazing group of women technologists who he believes are The Essentials of Web 2.0 Your Event Doesn't Cover, well, what can I say, I was immensely flattered :

Prejudice: Rehab Won't Solve The Problem, Washington, Gibson And Richards Apologized, But Racism Remains - The ShowBuzz:

It's a little soon to determine how their outbursts will affect them in the long run. But so far Richards' career was nowhere to begin with so he can only go up, Mel Gibson bounced back with "Apocalypto," and Isaiah Washington hasn't been discharged from "Grey's Anatomy." Yet.

Unfortunately, it's too easy to vilify these three stooges for their public outbursts and ignore the fact that racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism remain a real problem in our society.

I do have to say that the United States has come a long way when ethnic whites and black Americans can come together in their bigotry and express with so much gusto the diversity of prejudice we harbor in this country.

At least it is not just one group of people against another. No, it's more like a clusterf0ck of hate.

Hate that gets a slap on the wrist and a tap on the back after the haters 'repent' and announce their sabbatical at a 'rehab' center.

W. T. F.

Kudos to Judy for inspiring the title. Now go and read her whole entry at the Showbuzz.