The Thing About Tumblr

This is going to be an opinion piece! Mostly because I've realized that if this is going to be sustainable, it needs to branch out and talk about things I think about stuff. It's going to be long, too. So without further ado, here's my opinion on something I've thought a lot about.

I like Tumblr. It's a social media site that allows like-minded people to get together to discuss their passions. It literally ranges from cats to porn. Sometimes cat porn for the niche audiences. Don't google that. There's probably a government watch list for people who search for it.

Search 'police cat' though. It's hilarious.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have a blog on Tumblr. I use it to follow people who post things related to television shows I like, and pretend to be a character from one of said TV shows. I talked briefly about how helpful it's been to some people who are struggling with issues, and on the whole Tumblr is great for that.

I could link to a million different cases and scenarios on Tumblr where there was inspiration, care, hope and understanding. I could, but it's slowly been taken over by an overwhelming movement of bullying.

At least this bullying is multi-cultural.

Not a bullying of minorities. Tumblr was actually amazing for the marginalized in our culture for a little while. I joined when the opinion on Tumblr was "We're all the same and we want to be treated the same." Now it's become more of "If you're not in the minority, your opinion is wrong."

And that's ridiculous to me. I always thought that if you want to convince someone of something, you present your argument clearly and concisely and when they begin to see your way of thinking, you don't attack them for it. That defeats the entire purpose of gaining acceptance and respect from the people who are marginalizing you.

It can even happen to people who you would think would be good examples of the majority recognizing the minority. Recently, The Fault in Our Stars was released in theaters. You might have seen it if you are a teenage girl or know a teenage girl that made you go.

It's a metaphor.

It's based on a book by John Green, and I will readily admit to never reading any novel by him. I'm not in his demographic; that's fine. But I respect him as a person, because I watch the videos on his YouTube account, VlogBrothers, which he runs with his brother. That's a link to him speaking about the current situation in Ukraine and the background on it. He supports numerous causes and charities and seems like a genuine person.

Clearly, John Green is well-read and well-spoken, and the kind of person you would want to write thought-provoking YA fiction that deconstructs the typical and often questionable issues in the genre. I'm not saying they're groundbreaking, because again I've never read them, but my friend Paige really likes them and she's acutely aware of social issues so I defer to her judgment on this. He also runs a blog on Tumblr.

Before the movie was released, he was basically held up as the 'den mother of Tumblr'. That's not a joke. He was literally called that. And he even acknowledged it. When the movie was coming out, John, like any normal human being, got super excited and maybe a little overzealous. That's cool. Your book is now going to be brought to life onscreen. I'm happy you're happy.

The squirrel is happy for you, too.

Then shit hit the fan. He made an offhand comment on a GIF where the main character, Hazel, initiates a kiss with Gus, her romantic interest. The comment was along the lines of "Very few, if any, YA movies have the girl kiss the guy." It's probably not accurate, he apologized for the inaccuracy and clarified that in his excitement he wanted to congratulate the filmmakers for choosing that for the scene, not himself because in the book it's ambiguous, I guess. He's not perfect, no one is. He made a mistake, was called out on it, and admitted his fault.

That should have been the end of it. But it wasn't. Tumblr exploded. People flooded his inbox criticizing him, his books, basically anything to do with him. I didn't know what was happening, because thankfully I follow intelligent people who don't post or reblog unfounded hate. Many outspoken users began to say that he only wrote about manic pixie dream girls, fetishized disabilities, promoted misogynistic agendas, and sacrificed kittens to Satan. Only one of those isn't real.

It's the misogynistic agenda one.

Literally overnight, Tumblr turned on a man who, up until that point, was regarded as an online champion of intellect who used his position in society to shed light on important social issues.

Which brings us to the root of the problem. It's not Tumblr itself. It's not even all of the people on it. It's the mentality I'm going to call Aggressive Exclusion that thrives in an environment like Tumblr. I'm sure there's a real term for it, but basically it occurs when a member of a marginalized group attacks someone for shedding light on their issue while not being in the margin. It's exacerbated on Tumblr because of anonymity, mob mentality, and by being a refuge for the fringes of society.

It happened to John Green, as I explained. Vlogger Laci Green (who is bisexual herself) received death threats after she used the word 'tranny' without knowing its negative connotation in a video when she was just starting out. Her series, by the way, is dedicated to promoting safe sex and a broader understanding of the LGBTQ community, and received the hate long after she became more educated on the topic. I once had a discussion with someone where I joked about how I felt bad for Leonardo DiCaprio never winning an Oscar and was told that he shouldn't win it because he was white and that a person of color should instead.

Which is still wrong, since it's saying that people of color should be rewarded simply for being people of color, instead of based on their acting ability. It undermines the actual achievements by someone who also happens to be a part of a minority. The real issue with film is that not enough roles that would normally warrant an Academy Award are given to people of color, and the movies that do aren't promoted as heavily because Hollywood is still run by old white men. But I digress.

I'll be back for you later, whitey.

I can understand the thought process behind it. These are people who have been attacked and abused because of who they are, and I can't fault them for lashing out because it's a pretty safe defense mechanism you develop after putting up with the hate. And when you find more people who share your experience, it can be reassuring that you're doing the right thing by defending yourself with antagonism. But an arm for an arm just leaves us all unbalanced.

If I was part of a minority, and I'm clearly not because have you seen how white I am?, then I wouldn't want to be overshadowed by an ally from the majority or be reduced to a talking point. But ideally that's not what allies are trying to do. An ally should be someone who admits they're from a place of privilege but still wants to help everyone be equal. That's a good thing. We should want everyone to be an ally because then everyone will agree that it's shitty to treat people like shit. Then we can finally move on to zebra and lion equality.

Soon.

There's still a lot of good about Tumblr, even in the social justice issues. I genuinely like a lot of the users on it. But I can't stand the culture of Aggressive Exclusion that's happening on it. I don't want to see anyone attacked for expressing their opinions, or feel that they can't talk because they're part of the majority. I think to fix the problem, everyone needs to let their guard down and be willing to be a little vulnerable. Start trusting again. Believe that some people really do want to help and aren't in the business of being allies because it's fashionable or it will get them attention.

Don't stop caring about these issues, by any means. It's incredibly important to educate people on issues like inequality in all forms, rape culture, and poverty. But remember that not everyone in the majority is a G.I. Joe villain who is actively seeking to undermine these causes. Some people are just unaware of the issues, and others are actively trying to assist you but misstep while they're still learning. Don't push them into the mud. Help them understand.

And start with not being a dick to everyone on Tumblr.

But that's just my opinion. Take it for what you will.