> As with being a Woman in Tech- if you don’t look like them, or like they expect- you become “problematic”. You don’t count, and no help or advocacy will ever come from those with the power to make a difference.
> Even if you have used your platform to advocate for them countless times. Even if you are the living embodiment of the values they espouse. There is no reciprocation- your staunch advocacy is treated like natives giving flower necklaces to missionaries, they interpret it as a sign of obeisance. When their fellow missionaries burn your village down you will be treated to quiet asides about how problematic and unhelpful your screams are because their friends are such nice people and good “allies”.
> No value or principle comes before what is most important to them- knowing your place in their imagined social hierarchy. If you don’t know your place, don’t fit their narrative, they will first ignore you, exclude you and deny your existence- if your light burns too brightly, they will try to extinguish it and erase you.
> One lesson has been beaten into me at this point. “Ignoring the haters” is a bad strategy when they are not trying to seek your attention but trying to make you disappear. The larger the platform, the louder the megaphone, the less appealing a target I would be. When the wolves circle you don’t hide, you wave a torch and shout. More wolves? Get a bigger torch.
Point taken Naomi.
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