Two weeks into navigating myself through the 'Abyss of 2013', and my new "YES" mentality has been serving me well. However it seems not everybody is feeling quite so positive. It would appear that "taking offence is all the rage", and nobody is about to do it quietly. Naturally you can always rely on the Daily Mail to be throwing some kind of hissy fit but last week the media was awash with offended individuals. From the on going critique of comedians (this time Jack Whitehall), the online witch hunt of Suzanne Moore and even the revelation of my own twitter faux pas.
I recently discovered a woman I aspirationally covet had taken offence at something I had done, or rather tweeted. Said woman, who I will not risk offending further, had taken offence to and action against something I had uttered in complete jest and promptly wiped from my memory, (obviously not from hers). It was only when I went to look for her comment on something recently that it came to my attention that she had blocked me on twitter. WHOA. As it turns out I was discovering this nearly six months late but it still shocked me. Why had she taken such offence to my comment? Why did she even care? Why had she bothered to block me? Yes, my tweet to her was mildly offensive, which I was aware of but she had replied in jest too (at least I thought she had) - Would she have replied at all if it had been entirely unprovocative? I guess I am mostly disappointed because I though she was a sharp, funny and grounded woman who wouldn't indulge in the self-importance inherent to this kind of heightened sensitivity. It would appear that somewhere along the line she has lost her sense of humour somewhere up her own arse.
My personal twitter drama aside, Suzanne Moore caused her own furor last week after she republished an essay that seemed to offend and enrage just about everybody, (body being the sensitive issue). Ironically the ugly media storm caused by Suzanne Moore's article 'Seeing red: the power of female anger', in the New Statesman was about celebrating anger, but the anger she evoked was not quite what she had in mind. Moore's article raises some valid points and whilst we must all tread tentatively when it comes to issues of race, gender and sexuality her argument was completely highjacked by the offence virally adopted by a large part of the internet. Her mistake was clumsy and perhaps she should have just apologised immediately but her defiant response in the Guardian reminded me of the importance for those who do have the privilege to open up dialogue. You can't please everyone and who wants to? That's not interesting, or provocative or even productive. The way Moore was mercilessly hounded did not demonstrate the dispelling of her ignorance but more the way in which society finds it so much easier to unite through a negative cause, rather than engage in any kind of positive empowering unification. Commenting on the Moore witch hunt a (gay) friend tweeted, “It's a battle to see who can be the most offended...You both look good in heels! (Unless you think heels objectify you - then you don't)... This is a #minefield". Whilst I completely understand why people were offended by Moore's flippant reference to Brazilian transexuals, my friend's comment exemplifies the damage this kind of uproar can cause, ultimately we will shut down debate and exile people into silence.
Here are some images to which you might want to take offence...
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| "Breading" my cat Jamal |
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| Tiny breasts. |
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| Lana Del Rey "modelling" |
