So, I was loungin’ in my modern den of inequity (firearms & liquor welcome!) furrowing my crooked eyebrows and cursin’ the government for makin’ cold meds that contain pseudoephedrine behind the counter, one box per customer and requiring of ID and leaving of address…because I actually have a goddamn cold, people…so being me I made someone else buy ‘em for me. After all, with my burn scar, sketchy tattoos and such I don’t wanna be seen, let alone documented, buying shit that oh, one might use for the production of crank, and I came to a wildly profound realization:
Y’all are gonna be in for a real shocker here:
I am one pissed off, burned out, angry, disappointed and bitter gal-which you all knew already I reckon, but then I got to thinking about the why for of that- aside from just being wired that way and predisposed to it- and truth is, much of my…ahem…loathing of my fellow human, regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexuality, or religion…comes about from what many people would consider little nit picks but they really aren’t, and in my most recent and amazingly laughable and frustrating trip around blogland, I have come to the conclusion that there is shit that I figure needs discussing and no one else out there, not the big shiny blogs, not the hipster feminist blogs, not the cool kids smarter, better, richer and worldlier than you blogs, not the males dealing with gender stereotype blogs, are gonna do it. So I guess I have to.
And I can almost promise a lot of the shit I’m gonna say? Well a lot of those who read here aren’t gonna like it. But, interestingly enough, I got an email today from a fellow blogger who said she and another blogger familiar with me were discussing me and my blogging, and what kept them coming back was that even if they did not agree with me, or if I pissed ‘em off, or I was caustic and hostile or whatever the fuck other charming thing I might be… I was honest, called it like I saw it, remained consistent, and did not alter or change my views like some wishy-washy dish rag lookin’ to win a popularity contest. And you know what? They’re right. Besides, I ain’t never won a popularity contest in my life and I reckon I am not about to start now. The simple fact is, I don’t much give a fuck if people agree with me or not, because you know-sometimes I am just right and like it or not, folk are gonna have to suck that up and deal with it. Like it or not. I am not afraid to call it like I see it, so I will. And I am not afraid to say shit other people won’t and in truth, I am sick to death of pansy ass whiners who dodge any topic or issue that is hard to deal with or unpopular and won’t take a fuckin’ stand because it might tarnish their gold plated liberal creds. I am even sicker of folk statin’ shit like it is word one handed down from some omnipotent being and utter fact then refusing to be challenged on it. I see so much holier than thou gender is bunk feministy uber academia liberalese wanna be genius bullshit out there that is missing so many basics it just makes me wanna puke…so fuck it. I am done. Done bein’ nice and civil and sugar coating shit. Done with not challenging the way people think and see shit. Hell, apparently I had a knack for that back at the old joint, so let’s see if I can kick folk in the grey matter with a verbal steel toed boot here. I am done with makin’ shit easy and the rest of that crap. If people don’t want to think, they can go elsewhere, it’s that simple. So, let’s get to it people. Let’s get to the dirty business that ain’t easy and popular, and lets start with the biggest Elephant in The Room: Class.
I hear you now, “here she goes again” but guess what? Class is the one thing missing from just about every fucking discussion on every goddamn thing out there. People love to discuss and debate race and gender and sexuality and all those things but class? Oh no, we can’t touch that one with a ten foot fuckin’ pole, at least not with any seriousness, and you wanna know why? Because classism is a dirty, dirty topic for dirty, dirty people and holy shit, it just don’t affect women, or people of color, it can affect….anyone, and everyone, including…white folk, and…yep, white dudes! And they are eeeevil, so everyone just brushes class and classism under the rug and leaves it pretty much out of any discussion about anything and by doing so manage to make themselves look like self righteous fools who believe in fairies. unicorns and that everyone out there has dreams of sugar plumbs and PhD’s and can afford one or both of them.
Well, here is a little reality and hardline for ya, folks. Class can and does affect people just as much as race, or gender, or sexuality or any one of those other things people love to discuss. Just like other so called advantages in life, being of, from, or in a higher class strata makes life easier for you, and just like other disadvantages in life, being of, from, or in a lower class strata can make life harder for you, and all the shit that goes with it- all of it- can and often does erase other advantages lower class people have in life. Point blank, right there, between the eyes. If people think you’re trash, they don’t much care what color you are, what god you worship, what’s between your legs or who you prefer fucking. They simply disdain you, regardless of any other adjective that falls before the word trash.
And how do I know this? Well, I know it, just like I know the sun rises in the morning and oceans have tides and the V8, enviro-friendly or not, kicks ass, because I have seen it with my own eyes. I know from that great bastard of a teacher: experience. The truth of that has been shown to me, again and again and again, and like anyone, I find proof in repeated case studies and experiments and via facts in evidence. And even amid the low class, there is one group, a sordid, unsavory subset worthy of nothing but contempt, mocking and disdain, and that group is low class white folk. White trash. The lowest of the low. The last bastion of acceptable hatred, the remaining dregs of human scum it is sporting to make fun of, the one group of subhuman filth the New, Modern, PC World reckons it is okay to rag on; without shame, guilt, or repercussion. Hell, its funny to pick on those sorts, all in good fun and edgy and shit. Hillbillies, Hicks, Rednecks, Trailer Park Trash, White Folk of a low socio-economic stations, they are fair game, the men and the women alike, and you can see these pariahs lambasted in everything from high brow indy theater to kids cartoons, and its all A-Okay. Some of the old Looney Toon’s episodes have been locked away forever because of their insulting racial connotations, but flip on Nickelodeon and sure enough, you will see parodies of poor white folk everywhere. It’s okay to pick on them-even in front of children, some of whom may be “those people”. Why?
Well, they are…gasp…white folk. And white folk, well, you know, they are supposed to have it all: all that privilege and power and money, nice things and good educations and the best things in life because well, they are white folk. If they are white and blue collar or even worse-poor, well shit, they must have…done something wrong. Be off somehow. Fucked up. They must be…well, inbred or dumb or lazy. They must be drunks or junkies or the products of poor breeding. Or Irish. They, those super privileged above all white people-especially the male ones- they are supposed to, by legend and the annals of the Oppression Olympics and by sheer force and determination, have it all. The White Collar I Won the Game American Dream on a Silver Platter: a quiche (fixed by a domestic) in every oven, a BMW in every garage, a double mochachino in every hand, perfect partners and 2.2 children, headed for Harvard! White people are…special and lucky and rule the world right? So if they don’t manage to oh, have the right house in the right neighborhood with the right look and all that right stuff white people are fabled to have…well, then there must be something wrong with those under-achieving loathsome scum. They must be deeply flawed. If they live in crap neighborhoods in crap houses (or trailers) with crap jobs and crap lives and problems, well, they obviously failed at winning the white privilege game and thus they are: trash. Go ahead and rag on them, because even with all that white advantage (especially the dudes) they still managed to turn their lives into a giant shit sandwich and they deserve it. They have weird ways and don’t fit in with the little white li(f)e and aren’t special. They, more than any other remaining group of people, are fair game for anyone and anything and no hit is below the belt. Hillbillies and Hicks and Rednecks and White Trash are the perpetrators of hate speech and hate crimes, right? They are never on the receiving end, right?
Bullshit. Turn on your television, or radio, or go to a movie, or read a book, or look at a newspaper, or hell, think of every joke about West Virginia, Alabama, Ohio, Georgia, Nebraska, Wyoming or Montana you have ever heard. If you actually want me to cite specific examples, I can and will do so…I am a bit of a stickler for that. And as the New American Nightmare, a Hick who not only likes guns, but has college degrees, I will say this: Everywhere I look -when people are writing about power, or politics, or gender, or feminism, or the sex industry, or just about any other fucking subject on the face of the earth they almost always leave class out of it, and they avoid talking about classism and its affects on white people like a rat with a broken leg would avoid a starving rattlesnake. No one discusses this shit in depth. No one wants to be “that guy”. It is the great white elephant in the room.
That fuckin’ elephant is lookin’ at me. I guess I am “that guy”. It’s part of the reason I am in fact one pissed off, burned out, angry, disappointed and bitter gal. And sure as shit, I am just getting started…
Coming Soon: “We as a Society Seek to Help our Most Disadvantaged Citizens – If they Look The Part”, “Modern Feminism is for Women who don’t Really Have to Work for a Living: A Personal Tale”, “Why Hipsters Should Replace Hillbillies, Rednecks and White Trash as Acceptable Humans for Mocking” and “Poor White Kids & Bored American Nobility- They all Just Wanna Die a Little Bit” (not necessarily in that order)
*and yeah, totally love my 2 am with a cold self portrait!
