Is not a mindset I can get behind.
I have seen too many contexts where abuse and exploitation rely on enforcing a standard of positivity that stigmatizes critical, “pessimistic” takes. Because the goal is to render it so that negative thoughts and statements are always seen as inappropriate, abnormal, intrusive, or problematic to some extent that they can be vilified and dismissed.
Positivity cannot be held in a place of privilege. This is not in the interest of anyone being hurt, taken advantage of, or otherwise in a position of powerlessness.
Hell, even outside the cults, enforced positivity is a key component of what makes U.S. culture so oppressive. The working-class is constantly expected to give the riches and the customers a Disneyland experience. A review on all that would be it’s own blogpost.
I also think the cynical version of Hanlon’s Razor matters here, to emphasize that it doesn’t matter if the intention is to stigmatize negativity or not: “Sufficiently advanced idiocy is indistinguishable from malice.”
On another tangent, a post on Tumblr is not the same as someone vibing on the street or at the bar. That context? I generally let them do them even if it annoys me.
Here is different. This is media. This is an environment of persuasion. An inextricable part of its nature is influencing how the people on here view and experience reality. Every post is selling something, whether it be an idea, a person’s image, or even some product/other media.
A constant, unchallenged parade of positivity becomes part of a narrative that says positivity is the norm, that positivity is good, and that people who aren’t positive have something wrong with them.
If one user sees something they take exception or views as problematic, they are well within their rights to come in and counter-claim with whatever information or context they choose to provide. Because if they see someone trying to convince someone of something they know or believe is harmful, they are allowed to warn others and say “Wait, this is harmful.”
Why come in bringing up my religious trauma? Because it’s a context where it makes sense for someone to react viscerally to positivity platitudes. It’s a life experience where someone could reasonably come out more attuned to how even attempts at positivity can be harmful. The catch to confiding that in a space of public discourse is that I don’t get to choose how anyone responds to it, I could/will get some replies I REALLY don’t want to read.
By the same token, that is the case for anyone coming spewing positivity crap. You don’t always know you’re about to step on someone’s toes until your heel has already made landfall. But it says a lot about a person if their response to the yelp of pain is “Well, you shouldn’t have had your foot there.”
tangentwithtanner
romaincrisis
areudirty
andulkaphoto
titsay
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