I say this as a member of several oppressed groups: I really don't jive with using "Listen to [members of x oppressed group]!" as a blanket statement.
1) I've seen it used so many times to silence people w/ sincere q's & concerns
2) I automatically distrust ANYTHING that reeks of "just listen to me & agree w/ me instead of making up ur own mind" & so often "listen to x" devolves into that. Teach ppl to think & question things for themselves, not to agree lockstep w/ w/e you say.
3) Most importantly: this then gets into the issue of "ok, which x do I listen to?"
Here's a real life example: I'm disabled. Another disabled person interpreted a joke as ableism. I didn't. Who should able-bodied ppl "listen to," esp. if that automatically means "agree with"?
I think the joke is funny & not ableist, & I have no problem w/ abled people laughing at it, but other disabled ppl may disagree. So who should abled ppl believe here?
It seems like a lot of times the answer online is "automatically agree w/ whoever is angriest".
Then again, here's another example: on a discord I belong to, a young man recently claimed women are not discriminated against medically. I & several other women told him he's wrong & that it's really common. Yet I'm sure there are women out there who'd agree w/ him, too.
So again, who does he listen to? You can't just scream "listen to women" @ him when women give him so many conflicting answers.
Anyway I'm not sure what the solution is here but this is just my current reservations w/ the whole "listen to x" thing.
I think for me the crux of it is how we define "listen." In leftist circles & especially online, "listen" has come to mean "agree."
But here's the thing: I can listen to you & value & respect your input but still come to a different conclusion.
"Listening" should be a PART of the critical thinking process. It should be ONE avenue of data collection before you make your conclusion. It should not be the sum & parts together.
4) This also gets into the simple fact of the matter that sometimes minorities are just demonstrably wrong, even about issues involving themselves. Example: Lesbians who claim that bi wlw have never been part of the lesbian community. Historically false statement.
& yet if that small minority of lesbians tells you to "listen to lesbians" about it...well, are you supposed to just agree w/ them? or do you go research the facts for yourself & find out if what they're telling you is accurate?
How about the time a black man told me that the Ferengi of Star Trek are an anti-black stereotype, not an antisemitic one? That was more a matter of interpretation, but it's still one hell of a reach (esp. w/ the perpetual casting of black men as *Klingons*).
When I told him he was wrong, an angry (white) leftist swooped into scold me for not listening to a black man. Even tho agreeing w/ him would've meant 1) throwing what I already know out the window, and 2) ignoring the existence of blatant antisemitism.
Anyway I really am done now (I think), I just had more thoughts about how this whole "listening to" = "agreeing with" thing tends to devolve into absurdity in the hands of internet discourse.
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