After re-watching The Sandlot last night I had some bedtime thoughts.
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After re-watching The Sandlot last night I had some bedtime thoughts.
When people pine for that 'simpler time' what they're really talking about is a time of less friction. To white and otherwise privileged kids of that era, this manifested as simplicity and freedom concern.
Not because there wasn't dissent or oppression, but because you were not allowed to express those things. White men absolutely and completely controlled the nation.
An ambitious woman could not get a loan without a man, open a checking account or get a credit cars (in most/many states) without a man. This was irrespective of her abilities, and wholly about her gender. Gay and trans people were not allowed to exist outside the confines of their bedrooms lest they be imprisoned or institutionalized. A gay child trying to figure out what was 'wrong' with themselves may not even know what 'gay' actually is, other than an insult they heard.
This was 'less friction'' that created that 'simpler' time. Conformity. Not having to wrestle with things like inequality or the 'other'. The authorities would take care of those people. That was what made it "simpler". If you were a white or otherwise privileged kid then, it was simpler and easier because of oppression, not goodness or wholesomeness.
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After re-watching The Sandlot last night I had some bedtime thoughts.
When people pine for that 'simpler time' what they're really talking about is a time of less friction. To white and otherwise privileged kids of that era, this manifested as simplicity and freedom concern.
Not because there wasn't dissent or oppression, but because you were not allowed to express those things. White men absolutely and completely controlled the nation.
An ambitious woman could not get a loan without a man, open a checking account or get a credit cars (in most/many states) without a man. This was irrespective of her abilities, and wholly about her gender. Gay and trans people were not allowed to exist outside the confines of their bedrooms lest they be imprisoned or institutionalized. A gay child trying to figure out what was 'wrong' with themselves may not even know what 'gay' actually is, other than an insult they heard.
This was 'less friction'' that created that 'simpler' time. Conformity. Not having to wrestle with things like inequality or the 'other'. The authorities would take care of those people. That was what made it "simpler". If you were a white or otherwise privileged kid then, it was simpler and easier because of oppression, not goodness or wholesomeness.
@tankgrrl Yeah when people say things like "I want to live in the past" I reply, "You want to live in a movie version of the past for white men" where you don't have to worry about exactly what you said. Or medical issues because, well, science and medicine now is way better and we should be incredibly grateful for it.
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@tankgrrl Yeah when people say things like "I want to live in the past" I reply, "You want to live in a movie version of the past for white men" where you don't have to worry about exactly what you said. Or medical issues because, well, science and medicine now is way better and we should be incredibly grateful for it.
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@tankgrrl @virtualbri The "good old days" were only good for White men, preferably those with money, but they all had control over their women.
Though, I do long for the days in which things were moving forward and anti-fascism was universally known to be a good thing...
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J jwcph@helvede.net shared this topic
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@tankgrrl @virtualbri The "good old days" were only good for White men, preferably those with money, but they all had control over their women.
Though, I do long for the days in which things were moving forward and anti-fascism was universally known to be a good thing...
@CStamp @tankgrrl @virtualbri I think Cody of "Some More News" does a pretty good job of running down what he - rightly, I believe - calls toxic nostalgia; the weaponized longing for a time where everything was simpler because you were a privileged child with no responsibilities... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEddowzqOQE
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