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Margaret H. Parkinson
ISTs and ISMs
How important is diversity anyway? |
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All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All
things wise and wonderful --
The Lord God made them all.
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This past Spring I spent a day feasting on the "bright and beautiful" of
Washington State (USA) tulip fields. Standing tall,
flowers spread from one breathtaking field to another. Enormous
stretches of brilliant color for as far as the eye could see.
Row after row after row of red abruptly changing to row after row after row
of yellow, then white, then violet. A glorious
carpet from nature's palette. When my eyes adjusted to the
overall beauty I noticed the occasional yellow tulip scattered among the
red. Looking further I picked out stray pinks and reds among the
yellows -- apparently "out of sync" blooms
growing randomly in every field.
At first the stray colors were invisible, coming into focus only
when I looked for them. Were they accidents or simply
"the way things are"? How easy it is to think of differences as
mistakes. A yellow tulip among a sea of red? Someone
has not been paying attention! But there was beauty in the
diversity and I smiled to see a proud solitary yellow strutting itself among
a red majority.
I thought of making similar judgments in other circumstances and of being
oblivious to narrow opinions. When reds are majority we tend to
ignore yellows, call them weeds and pluck them out, or try to
change them to red. Such human tendencies are referred to
as ISMs and I call the people suffering from them ISTs.
Racists: ISTs who suffer from racism
-- a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and
capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a
particular race.* These are ISTs (usually people of
racial majority) who think their race is superior to
others. I hear you! Of course YOU are not
racist. You embrace diversity. Do you?
One hundred percent? If you are Caucasian living in a
predominantly white community do you assume everyone is white unless
identified otherwise? Do you use racial descriptors for racial
minorities but never for Caucasians? Aren't you a little nervous
when you find yourself alone in a group of folks of a different
color? How many groups do you attend where there are more than a
few faces of color?
Ethnocentrists: ISTs who suffer from
ethnocentrism -- the attitude that one's own group is
superior.* These are ISTs who not only think that the
customs and behaviors of their particular groups are superior but they
believe their customs and behaviors make more sense and are more effective
than those of other groups. Not you of course! You
enjoy differences. Are you sure? Wouldn't you be
uncomfortable visiting a household serving one meal a day when you are used
to three? Don't the practices of other religions seem rather
superstitious while yours make perfect sense? Have you ever
been confused, as a new arrival in a foreign country, to find
unfamiliar products on store shelves; different names for familiar
objects; unknown expected behaviors when someone dies or a baby is
born? We are insecure when customs are different from those we
are used to and we tend to believe that "the way we do it at
home" is better.
Ageists: ISTs who suffer from ageism
-- prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and
especially the elderly.* Oh no! You don't even want
to hear about this one! Of course you don't discriminate against
your elders! They are the salt of the earth. But
haven't you spoken a little louder or a little more simply to someone over
75? Haven't you had conversations about "what to do about
Granddad" without discussing it with Granddad himself?
Are you less careful to be on time for an elderly person than you are for
someone younger? Haven't you made jokes about the aging process
as if it is a negative thing? Haven't you felt nervous about a
white-haired, wrinkled-faced technician, surgeon,
driver? Do you think of an older person as someone rigid and out
of date?
Sexists: ISTs who suffer from sexism
-- behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes
of social roles based on sex.* Most people like to think they
are not sexist but many have laughed at a "blond" joke. Many
complain about the "poor driving skills of women". Many
are surprised to hear of a primary child-care-giving father married to a
primary wage-earning mother. Is it hard to drop the "male" from
"male nurse"? When a man and a woman sales clerk are standing
side by side do you approach the man first for information? Do
you ever call adult females "girls"? Do you forget to use the
term "police officer" instead of "policeman" or "firefighter" instead of
"fireman". Do you still refer to God as he?
Heterosexists: ISTs who suffer from
heterosexism -- the belief that heterosexuality is superior to
other sexual or affectional orientations. Heterosexism is
related to homophobia but is not identical. Some Christians wear
homophobia (the irrational fear of, aversion to, or
discrimination againsts homosexuality or homosexuals*) as a badge of
honor, claiming homosexuality an abomination against God.
Other Christians acknowledge sexual and gender minorities as part of
the "wise and wonderful". However, even if not
grossly homophobic, most of us are heterosexist -- our
society is heterosexist. Couples are assumed to be opposite
genders. Marriage rituals are reserved for confirmation of the
love and commitment of heterosexuals. A woman kissing a man on
film is "family viewing" but a man kissing a man demands warnings to
keep the children away. Advertisements rarely show same gender
couples. Legal, medical, and other forms rarely
provide for other than heterosexual unions. Heterosexuality is
the norm and assumptions are made on this basis. Is this
fair? Should everyone be assumed heterosexual until proven
otherwise when we know that a large minority are not? Wouldn't
it be more useful to understand that human beings love in a variety of
ways, all of which are valid?
Speciesist: ISTs who suffer from
speciesism -- a belief that the human species is superior in
nature to other species. OK, now I have gone too
far! Of course the human species is superior to
others. Don't we have dominion over non-human
creatures? Do we really? Should we? Who
said? Isn't it true that the reason we do whatever we want with
non-human creatures is because we can? Isn't it because they
don't speak our language that we put them on our tables and call them food
and place them on our bodies and call them clothes? The lives of
non-human creatures are as valuable to them as ours are to us.
Even people who claim to be immune to this particular ISM sometimes lapse
into speciesistic phrases such as "you dirty dog", "rat on a
rat", "he is a turkey", or describe criminal behavior as being
like that of an animal. Peter Singer said (Defense of
Animals) "From an ethical point of view we all stand on an equal
footing -- whether we stand on two feet, or four, or
none at all."
It is a scary thing to be an IST suffering from an ISM. When so
labelled we become defensive. I am NOT a racist!
Don't you call me sexist. I have worked for the rights of women
all my life! I am not heterosexist, but I don't want my
kids to watch Ellen kissing her girlfriend on TV. I am not
ageist, but that silly old man in the parking lot drove me crazy with
his slow driving. Really? You are not even a little
bit of an IST? You don't suffer from a tiny dose of
ISM? Most of us do. These are feelings way below our
everyday consciousness. I have come to the conclusion that I am
probably at least a little bit of all of them. The best thing is
to acknowledge such failings and try to identify how they reveal themselves
in my behavior. Then I may have a chance of eliminating them.
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All
things wise and wonderful --
The Lord God made them all.
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"The Lord God made them all". It doesn't say that the Lord God
made them all except for black, brown, yellow and red
people. The Lord God made them all except for those from
non-western cultures. The Lord God made them all except for old
folks. The Lord God made them all except for homosexual,
bisexual, and transgendered people. The Lord God made
them all except for non-human creatures. If this were true the
last line of that old chestnut would be "The Lord God made all the
white, western, Christian, young, male,
heterosexual humans."
Whatever way we understand the concept of "The Lord God" we
know that discrimination and invisibility are not part of it.
Let's acknowledge ourselves as ISTs, strive to understand our own
personal ISMs, and work diligently to eliminate them. A
yellow tulip has just as much right to a place in the sun as a red.
Margaret H. Parkinson
Seattle
(Margaret is an expatriate New Zealander living in Seattle,
Washington, USA, with her life-partner Karen. She
was raised in a Methodist family in Rotorua, and has connected with our
Dunedin parish through cyberspace.)
* An asterisk beside a definition indicates that it comes from the Merriam
Webster Collegiate Dictionary.
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