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holliHaving gotten over, a little, my initial reaction to current events, which mostly consisted of swearing, I think I have to make a real post now. Because I've been thinking about what it means to be an invisible minority since IBARW, and more and more the conclusion that I've come to is this: the only way to not be invisible is to make fucking sure that people see you.
Because when I list Jewish characters in the fiction I love, the list is way too short. And when I list Jewish fans, I *know* the list is shorter than it should be, because nobody makes a big deal out of the fact that they're Jewish until they have to. And it seems like an awful lot of people don't seem to get that "Judeo-Christian" is a term that means something entirely different to the people in the front half than it does to the people who generally use it.
Being invisible means that it doesn't occur to anyone that we *should* be there; it means that when we *are* there, it doesn't occur to anyone that we're not just like them, or that we don't *want* to be just like them. Think about how many Jewish characters you see when you turn on your television. Not actors, not writers-- characters. Did Willow Rosenberg have a bat mitzvah? Does she ever act like her Jewish identity has been a meaningful influence on her life? Are there *any* Jews on TV who act that way?
And as for the idea that Jews have it "better" than most minorities, so we should stop complaining-- wow. Shut the fuck up. You know how I know anti-Semitism still exists? Because of assholes who say shit like that, is how. The fact is, you don't have to scratch the surface much at *all* to find a fuck of a lot of anti-Semitism in this country, and it's only bothered trying to hide itself in the last quarter-century. And the really insidious thing is, I suspect a big reason for that is that American Jews have gotten really, really good at looking like the rest of white, Christian America. It gets harder to be an anti-Semite when you can't tell who the Jews are. Once they stop being invisible, though-- ah, there's all the old bullshit, rearing its ugly head again.
And one more thing, because I need to say it: I don't recognize the divinity of Jesus Christ. I don't consider his birthday to be a secular holiday. Yes, I know it was co-opted from the pagans. It's still Jesus's birthday. You can call it a holiday tree if you like, but I'm still not putting one up in my house.
I'm not saying I won't do secret santas, since "non-denomniational holiday gift exchange" is damn unwieldy, and I'm as religious about language as I am about religion. But... it's still a secret santa, and I still grew up knowing that even if I'd been a good little girl, Santa wasn't bringing me anything. He's not *for* me. He's not secular, any more than the tree or the candy canes, and insisting that he is-- that any of it is, and we shouldn't be take offense at the idea that it is-- well, no. I'll help you pick out your tree, help you decorate it, celebrate cheerfully alongside you, but I'm still lighting a menorah when I get home. There *is* a difference, and it matters to me. The only thing I like less than self-imposed invisibility is the kind other people try to force on me.
Because when I list Jewish characters in the fiction I love, the list is way too short. And when I list Jewish fans, I *know* the list is shorter than it should be, because nobody makes a big deal out of the fact that they're Jewish until they have to. And it seems like an awful lot of people don't seem to get that "Judeo-Christian" is a term that means something entirely different to the people in the front half than it does to the people who generally use it.
Being invisible means that it doesn't occur to anyone that we *should* be there; it means that when we *are* there, it doesn't occur to anyone that we're not just like them, or that we don't *want* to be just like them. Think about how many Jewish characters you see when you turn on your television. Not actors, not writers-- characters. Did Willow Rosenberg have a bat mitzvah? Does she ever act like her Jewish identity has been a meaningful influence on her life? Are there *any* Jews on TV who act that way?
And as for the idea that Jews have it "better" than most minorities, so we should stop complaining-- wow. Shut the fuck up. You know how I know anti-Semitism still exists? Because of assholes who say shit like that, is how. The fact is, you don't have to scratch the surface much at *all* to find a fuck of a lot of anti-Semitism in this country, and it's only bothered trying to hide itself in the last quarter-century. And the really insidious thing is, I suspect a big reason for that is that American Jews have gotten really, really good at looking like the rest of white, Christian America. It gets harder to be an anti-Semite when you can't tell who the Jews are. Once they stop being invisible, though-- ah, there's all the old bullshit, rearing its ugly head again.
And one more thing, because I need to say it: I don't recognize the divinity of Jesus Christ. I don't consider his birthday to be a secular holiday. Yes, I know it was co-opted from the pagans. It's still Jesus's birthday. You can call it a holiday tree if you like, but I'm still not putting one up in my house.
I'm not saying I won't do secret santas, since "non-denomniational holiday gift exchange" is damn unwieldy, and I'm as religious about language as I am about religion. But... it's still a secret santa, and I still grew up knowing that even if I'd been a good little girl, Santa wasn't bringing me anything. He's not *for* me. He's not secular, any more than the tree or the candy canes, and insisting that he is-- that any of it is, and we shouldn't be take offense at the idea that it is-- well, no. I'll help you pick out your tree, help you decorate it, celebrate cheerfully alongside you, but I'm still lighting a menorah when I get home. There *is* a difference, and it matters to me. The only thing I like less than self-imposed invisibility is the kind other people try to force on me.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-13 04:21 am (UTC)Does she ever act like her Jewish identity has been a meaningful influence on her life? Are there *any* Jews on TV who act that way?
Some of the family on Brothers and Sisters! (Which is pretty much the only good thing I can say about that show -- it's one of the most melodramatic and unintentionally hilarious things I've ever seen.)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-13 07:09 pm (UTC)It's tricky as hell. My family is half-Jewish and half Anglican, and the beloved uncle whom I consider the truest parent I ever had was a practicing Buddhist. I don't recognise ANY divinity except that of the individual.
But anti-semitism makes me want to kill things. It's very fashionable right now, too, almost as fashionable as it is for practicing Christians to gasp and announce they're offended if you call their structural hierarchy on any of its shit, such as, well, trying to pretend that their messiah's so-called birthday should be Celebrated! By! EVERYONE!
Dude. Christmas is a day I throw a party. Know why? Because everyone I know is off work, so I can get them to my house and feed them and that's the ONLY reason.
And the people in charge, the members of the Dominant Paradigm, can stop bitching about we non-believers are dissing their deity. You have all the power and all the rights, you don't get to bitch and I'm not interested in your offendedness.
Why yes, I've given the subject some thought...
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 01:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 01:51 am (UTC)My father was a Russian Jewish peasant. He lost two uncles when they were burned to death in a pogrom that was orchestrated, organised and very well funded by the local Orthodox Church. Nor was that anything unusual.
And man, if they toasted my great-uncles for being Jewish, what would they have done to me, in the name of Jesus? Holy crap, a reallyo trulyo Atheist! She doesn't believe in ANY of that! Dude, I'd have been drawn and quartered for the good of what they define as my soul. Sod them.
Like I said, I am well beyond even lip service to defenders of the Faith being offended because I take issue with some of their stuff. You know?
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 03:13 am (UTC)Got the same reaction from a friend from Japan, and one from North Dakota.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 03:22 am (UTC)My mother's mother once tried to explain my family by saying "Your mother's family - that's us - were the people who sat around English country houses in the years leading up to World War II, discussing the Jewish Problem. Your father - bless his heart - is the Jewish Problem."
They adored my father; hell, my grandmother preferred the lefty Russian Jewish peasant to her chilly daughter. She wasn't being remotely antisemitic. When they were stuck in Berlin in 1941, my mother's snooty Anglo people tore European diplomacy apart to get them out. And, trust me, they were far more worried about my father than my mother.