Elsewhere (309)

Christopher Rufo on Victoria’s Secret and social-justice lingerie: 

The company presented the new spokeswomen not only as representatives of their intersectional identities — the original line-up included an African refugee, a pink-haired lesbian, an obese biracial woman, and a male-to-female transsexual — but as social-justice activists committed to “systemic change.” […] It would be a ghastly faux pas to point out that some of the women… are, to put it delicately, not as beautiful as their predecessors. To the contrary, the public must affirm [“LGBTQIA+ activist” Megan] Rapinoe and [overweight “body advocate” Paloma] Elsesser as at least equally beautiful as the outdated and oppressive standards embodied by Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks. One cannot point out, either, that the Collective’s social-justice activism is mostly a self-serving scam.

Needless to say, the results of this woke rebranding have not been entirely positive.

And Mr Rufo again, on woke Disney: 

The core of Disney’s racial program is a series of training modules on “antiracism.” In one, called “Allyship for Race Consciousness,” the company tells employees that they must “take ownership of educating [themselves] about structural anti-Black racism” and that they should “not rely on [their] Black colleagues to educate [them],” because it is “emotionally taxing.” […] White employees, in particular, must “work through feelings of guilt, shame, and defensiveness to understand what is beneath them and what needs to be healed.” Disney recommends that employees atone by “challeng[ing] colourblind ideologies and rhetoric” such as “All Lives Matter” and “I don’t see colour”; they must “listen with empathy [to] Black colleagues” and must “not question or debate Black colleagues’ lived experience.”

Or put more simply, “You are guilty by default, so just stand there while we scold you.” With seemingly unintended irony, employees are also informed that thoroughness and punctuality are “white-dominant” values and products of “white supremacy culture,” and therefore, presumably, bad. As a measure of woke perversity – one might say, unhingement – a pretty good indicator.

From the comments here, this: 

A Connecticut social worker has filed a race and employment discrimination lawsuit against Bridgewater State University after it asked her to “defend her whiteness” in a job interview.

Pale skin being regarded by the University as “a common obstacle” to both social work and teaching.  

And Not The Bee on creepy teachers and woke journalism: 

You can always tell how insular a person has become in their politics when a term that has been used regularly regarding a topic that has been in the news for years strikes them as something “new”:  

“Fans of Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have a new favourite word: ‘grooming’”

Of course, people who don’t share [Washington Post columnist] Monica Hesse’s… value system have actually been using the word for some time… To understand the disconnect you have to understand that they start with the premise that you are anti-gay (whatever that means) and then move on from there… And so, opposing a bill that would prohibit teachers from talking about sexual matters with kids 4 to 7 years old makes you “squeamish about gay people.”

If an adult’s erotic preference and/or niche sexual ‘identity’ somehow requires the involvement of, and validation by, children, including pre-schoolers, this isn’t exactly a basis for reassurance. That this should apparently need saying is itself quite a thing. 

Or, put another way, “Good morning, class. Today, I’d like you to entertain thoughts about my private life and sexual activity.” I paraphrase a little, but not, I think, wildly.

Somewhat related: 

There’s no such thing as other people’s children. 

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