I've started and then stopped several essays about queer narcissism in the past - this piece resonates with that impulse. It's difficult to articulate a contempt for the performance of "tolerance" without coming across as someone who is "anti-tolerance." The whole thing is exasperating and tiresome and I wouldn't really care about it at all except for the fact that I've had queer narcissists tell me to my face that my heterosexuality and supposed "whiteness" precludes participation in vital arts scenes. It's not "so over" but it is definitely "so bad" in most creative scenes in the US where identity narcissism is the de rigueur framework for evaluating someone's work. It's real goofy, especially when these same types seem shocked by heterosexual white people flocking to apolitical or vaguely reactionary corners in response to this prevailing climate - isn't this what they wanted - to have immutable characteristics be the sole source of values and aesthetic alignment?
I've started and then stopped several essays about queer narcissism in the past - this piece resonates with that impulse. It's difficult to articulate a contempt for the performance of "tolerance" without coming across as someone who is "anti-tolerance." The whole thing is exasperating and tiresome and I wouldn't really care about it at all except for the fact that I've had queer narcissists tell me to my face that my heterosexuality and supposed "whiteness" precludes participation in vital arts scenes. It's not "so over" but it is definitely "so bad" in most creative scenes in the US where identity narcissism is the de rigueur framework for evaluating someone's work. It's real goofy, especially when these same types seem shocked by heterosexual white people flocking to apolitical or vaguely reactionary corners in response to this prevailing climate - isn't this what they wanted - to have immutable characteristics be the sole source of values and aesthetic alignment?