mrow

safest spaces pt. 2

It was just a few weeks ago that a man in the next aisle over at Newbury Comics was changing all the words in a Steven Malkmus song to "homo". Paying no mind to the fact that it was a public space. It probably didn't cross his mind and if you ask him he'd probably say that he'd just grown accustom to saying words like this. As this has been the response from just about anyone whom I've had to confront due to the abundance of derogatory language they used in front of me. The good thing to know is that these people, more often than not have admitted their wrong and agreed to try and avoid these words in the future. Growing up in a town sheltered from much of the worlds diversity- I was shocked to see how much ignorance was inbred in society when I moved to Boston. The racism and homophobia was a little more blatant as cultures from across the country converge to attend the many universities in town. But what really scared me was the slow onset of the realization that sexism is bred whether we are aware or not in our everyday actions. Evin in certain musical communities who profess their beliefs against these thoughts that cripple basic human empathy, we find people, who unbeknownst to them are alienating others whether they realize it or not. Lets take a second to think about how many times we've seen "female fronted" attached to the promotion of a group, which only perpetuates the fact that there is something novel about it. Or how many times you've seen a group with a female member and when you tell your male friends they ask "is she hot?". Sure it is a part of human nature for people to be attracted to others especially when they are bold enough to get in front of a crowd and display their art. But when these impulses take priority over the music itself in a chain of thought you might be able to understand why this might make someone uncomfortable. So I urge you- the reader, to let others know who might not be aware that these thoughts exist and are quite destructive. If you know of a space that can be utilized to meed and create awareness whether it be an artistic setting or just your community, let it be known, If you don't have the resources to do so, maybe someone else does. Though the new age of technology has helped breed positive empathy, don't let your action stop at this. Live it out in your day to day life and if you hear someone spouting ignorance- SPEAK UP, sebaceous you might be able to feel like the world they live in is a safer space.