Art & The Artist

So, I've posted more than a few times on Facebook about a particular author and the harm she is causing the trans community. More than a few people have made the argument that they can condemn the artist and love the art. Can they?

They can certainly claim it, but the fact is, it's from a place of privilege. When you're not the one being harmed by the artist, it's much easier to make that distinction. But for those being actively harmed, that's not a reasonable thing to expect. There's an additional cost here, that gets overlooked by those in that privileged place, and that is the demand that they are making on us to do the emotional labour to distinguish between their love of the work and their dislike of the creator. That's a big ask when you won't even do the bare minimum of allyship here.

I'm seeing these kinds of argument far too often. People claiming that you can disagree or dislike the opinion or idea, but still like the person is another one. That's fine if we're talking pizza toppings or ice cream flavours, but it's an absurd ask when we're talking human rights, access to care, and more. This demand, again, comes from a place of privilege. When you're not the one being harmed, you're not in a position to expect that of me.

I'll paraphrase Mona Eltahawy here: I will not grant civility to those who will not grant my full humanity.