Apathy and Other Obstacles to Change
by Kelly
Alright folks, I’ve been through academic hell of late – 4 papers and 2 exams crammed into one week (not to mention packing my entire wardrobe and shamefully expansive shoe collection – the horror, the horror!). Now that the dust has settled, I find myself able to kick back with some Pinot Grigio and Mr. Bungle’s California album…and write a post for Rotten Little Girls!
I’d love to post about how the world has become full of rainbows and unicorns and smiling mushrooms (hey, it’s my fantasy okay?) since Obama has taken office. However, I regret to report that not much has changed. This of course, is not President Obama’s fault at all – in reality I see that the people around me are still caught up in “everydayness.” Americans are still completely complacent and apathetic, at least among the folks I’ve encountered lately. Take for example the following conversation I had with a friend of mine:
Friend: “I know you are a feminist, but I am not going to lie. I’m anti-feminist myself.”
Me: “Why is that? Don’t you want women to have equal rights?”
Friend: “That’s not what feminism is about. Feminism is the opposite of misogyny…it’s a bunch of women who hate men and want women to have more rights than men.”
Me: “Uh, no actually most feminists want everyone to have equal rights and privilege…it’s about raising everyone up rather than bringing anyone down.”
Friend: “Whatever, as long as I can live my life without being bothered, I don’t care.”
I didn’t pursue this conversation because I had an essay due the next morning. Though I wish I had the time to say this to her face, I feel like it would be a pointless gesture. So, dear reader, I will share my thoughts with you instead.
I hope it is obvious that her definition of feminism is completely off-base. Sure, there might be some women who hate men, just as there are tons of men who dislike women and treat them poorly. I feel it is a fair assessment to say that these man-hating women are in the minority.
As for her comment about not wanting to be “bothered”…What the hell? You’re white, you’re rich, you live in a McMansion on the coast of California and your dad pays your 50K college tuition by check. You don’t work a job and you are unconcerned by grades or your future. What exactly do you have to be bothered by? It’s the people like me who fight for your right to an abortion, who fight to save the environment and reduce the excess of consumerism – while you put cans and plastic into the trash and shop at American Apparel. I don’t mean this to be a personal attack – in fact, many of the students I go to college with fit this description. Apathy is rampant among many college students these days – their biggest worry is where to score their next eighth of marijuana. Where are the sentiments that fueled the student protests in the 1960’s?
In the end, it is conversations like these that inspire me to blog. I want to engage with people who are open-minded, spread the word about issues I find important and attempt to make some small change in the world through my writing. I’ve already learned so much from blogging and reading other blogs – I feel like I can articulate and defend my beliefs much more so now that I have written and discussed them with other bloggers and readers.
I blog to combat my own detachment from social and political issues. It’s hard to think about upsetting issues like global warming and sexism all day, every day. It is too easy to ignore these problems and focus on fashion, or school, or hobbies. This blog keeps me aware and keeps me engaged with current events. The biggest obstacle I see to changing the world for the better is collective apathy.
So, I leave you with this quote from Mumia Abu-Jamal:
“If you ain’t angry, you ain’t paying attention.”
Excited to be back! — Dollface
What an excellent post! In fact this is an issue I have been thinking about lately, but in relation to not just feminism but more broad social justice issues. People just don’t understand why it’s important, and who can blame them? The media doesn’t exactly help and neither do our schools or our parents. I think society as a whole reinforces peoples’ apathy by not prioritizing social justice but prioritizing wealth, fame, consumerism and materialism.
The other day another of my friends as well, was telling me how she didn’t want to hear about international development issues and people starving because “it’s just too depressing and I don’t want to learn about it, doesn’t matter that much and I’d rather just be happy” and I was horrified, because she is basically saying that these issues don’t matter and that she’d rather remain in her own bubble rather than think about the REALITY of things. But she and I, we are all so lucky, it is hard to make people passionate about social issues or change.
I was thinking, though, a lot of activists get angry at the “general” public for not caring…doesn’t this make us elitist? It’s very condescending in a way. Doesn’t everyone have their role in life, whether it is to work for feminism or to be a part of a big corporation or to work as a journalist…whatever it is don’t we need all types of people & professions to make the world go round??
You are not the only one who is faced with this apathy issue. I am finding that even people in their 30s and 40s care about no one but themselves and everyone else be damned. Please keep blogging so I can read it and keep my sanity!
@ Akhila — Thanks, glad you liked it. I feel the same way you do…though feminism and environmentalism are my “pet topics” I find that apathy extends to most social and/or political issues.
I do wonder about being elitist…I know I fall into that trap sometimes. To be honest, I think I tend to think people who are apathetic are ignorant. I think those are two very different things however. If you’re ignorant, there’s a chance for you to be enlightened about a particular issue. If you’re apathetic, it’s really up to you to motivate yourself to care. I could attempt to persuade people, appeal to their emotions, but at the end of the day it’s up to them.
I think what we tend to overlook is the fact that numbers = power. In my mind, if a majority of Americans decided they didn’t want to support some company (say, KFC for its awful treatment of chickens), as consumers & voters we hold more power by acting collectively. Unfortunately, so few people seem to realize this, and the activists are generally the exception to the norm.
We all have our role in life, but what if everyone was an engaged citizen? I’d love to the see the kind of changes we could bring about.
It’s hard for me to fathom how a woman could be anti-feminist. I mean, it’s especially hard for me to fathom when some of my female friend’s say feminism is stupid because they’re generally open-minded individuals.
I feel bad about this, but sometimes I look down on others who think feminism is stupid. I try not to think that way, especially since it seems to go against everything feminism stands for.
Anyway, good to have you posting again!
Great post, and I’m glad that other people’s apathy is only fuel for your awesome fire.
@ Dollface – I totally agree. Unfortunately, the more and more I read and learn about issues, the more “elitist” perspective I feel like I’m beginning to take. More and more, I simply start to equate apathy to ignorance, but I have to say that this sort of thinking separates us, the activists, from the “general public” making it seem like we are better in some way for caring about these issues. Whether or not this is true I still think we have to remain down to earth and open to understanding that everyone is entitled to their own perspective, whether we agree with them or not. Otherwise, we run the risk of alienating and annoying anyone who we criticize for being ignorant. And, we don’t want to do so — better to work alongside people and by our own passion for issues, slowly but surely raise their awareness of it, by virtue of association. This is the importance of being humble.
After thinking about it more, I realize we can’t expect everyone to simply give up their lives to dedicate themselves to various social issues and problems. Perhaps, though, the important thing is to raise peoples’ awareness of issues, especially targeting those who don’t have a knowledge of them and therefore might have a changed perspective IF they learn about issues. Moreover, I think everyone CAN be a more informed citizen, a better advocate, and dedicate some of their time to social causes — even if they don’t pursue it full time.
@ Kristina Duncan: Thanks…blogging (and reading blogs) helps me keep my sanity too. I’ll be sure to check out your blog as well!
@ Jackie: I can’t help but feel the same way…I was really taken aback when my friend was so anti-feminist. It honestly caused me to reconsider how close we could be if our core values are so different.
@ Tash: Aww you’re making me blush :)
@ Akhila — You raise a really good point. We really do have to try to remain humble — otherwise we fall into the trap of being the “vanguard of the proletariat”…and we all know how THAT turned out (cough, Lenin, cough). Spreading awareness is the best avenue to take…I’m not a fan when religious missionaries attempt to convert me and I would hope I’m not engaging in the same kind of tactics in terms of my politics.
I see this sort of thing all of the time and I have a theory that the internet and rapid communication tools have been the biggest boon and curse of the last two or three generations. I think that the overwhelming amount of information available has left us unable to process and prioritize it. The pace that things change in our world is ever quickening and we are bombarded constantly by this flow of information, so much of it conflicting, so much of heartbreaking. We are flooded with terrible events happening around the world, sex slavery, wage slavery, flat out slavery, genocide, oppression, starvation, pandemics, and just about everything and we don’t know where to begin so we stop caring. Certainly these tools have changed our lives, made our brains adapt, and made us more aware of the world, but at what cost. I love the internet, I love being able to call my mother, fiance, best friend, or boss anytime I want to, I love the way the balance of power has shifted, but we don’t know how to deal with it yet and things are only going to get worse before we can really be equipped to fix them.
Ian…you are so right on. I am so overwhelmed by the wealth of information; sometimes it seems impossible to make even an ounce of change in the world when there are so many problems. However, if we don’t try…who will?