Nora Charles (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
noracharles) wrote2010-01-05 10:27 pm
noracharles) wrote2010-01-05 10:27 pm
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A clarification for the privileged
An emotion is not an opinion. We can not agree or disagree with an emotion, but we can sympathize (feel the same) or empathize (understand or care about the person's emotions).
An experience is not an opinion. We can not agree or disagree with it, but we can believe or disbelieve, or understand the experience being relayed.
An opinion is an opinion, and we can agree or disagree with it, or argue for or against it.
Someone who has a mental health issue and reacts in an unusual way emotionally may have emotions we can't sympathize with. But that doesn't mean we have to disbelieve their experiences, or disagree with their opinions.
Irrational is a not a synonym for wrong, or "thing I disbelieve" or "thing I disagree with."
Sane is not a synonym for right, or "thing I believe" or "thing I agree with."
And a pertinent example:
"Because of my social anxiety, I don't like having my fic archived on public archives, including the AO3" is not the same as "I have political or philosophical objections to the AO3".
When you use mental health to judge who are right and who are wrong in a disagreement, you are not just arguing for your opinion, you are also contributing to the oppression of all people with mental health issues (including those who agree with you about the matter at hand).
An experience is not an opinion. We can not agree or disagree with it, but we can believe or disbelieve, or understand the experience being relayed.
An opinion is an opinion, and we can agree or disagree with it, or argue for or against it.
Someone who has a mental health issue and reacts in an unusual way emotionally may have emotions we can't sympathize with. But that doesn't mean we have to disbelieve their experiences, or disagree with their opinions.
Irrational is a not a synonym for wrong, or "thing I disbelieve" or "thing I disagree with."
Sane is not a synonym for right, or "thing I believe" or "thing I agree with."
And a pertinent example:
"Because of my social anxiety, I don't like having my fic archived on public archives, including the AO3" is not the same as "I have political or philosophical objections to the AO3".
When you use mental health to judge who are right and who are wrong in a disagreement, you are not just arguing for your opinion, you are also contributing to the oppression of all people with mental health issues (including those who agree with you about the matter at hand).
Re: 'irrational' and possible connotations
You are right about the colloquial meaning of "irrational", and for that reason, I also prefer to use the term "non-rational" when talking about emotions, faith, intuition, and so on. But I don't think the word irrational in itself is ableist or despective, only a certain usage of it, and I do think it's a better alternative in many contexts.
It's unfortunate that a more accurate and politically correct term introduced or promoted to replace a despective word will gradually shift to occupy the place of the despective term, including all its connotations.
But really, what you're saying is that people have sloppy thinking about mental health issues and cognitive ability and lucidity because they are confirmed in those stereotypes daily by ableist attitudes permeating society. I am not seeing the word used in ableist ways because the word is vague or has shifted in meaning: I am seeing the word used in ableist ways because society is ableist and has shifted the meaning of the word to express a particular kind of irrationally caused by a flaw in cognitive processing.
I don't really care what word people use to talk about irrational anxieties. I care about using mental health issues to discredit opponents in debates. I care about using the circular argument that your emotions are opinions in disguise, so your emotions aren't valid; your opinions are based on emotions, so your opinions aren't valid; therefore nothing you just said is valid, and you should stfu and gtfo.
I don't think your explanation of the connotations of the word was derailing at all, and it's good to have it clarified so we all know what we're talking about. I just think it's correlation, not causation ;-)