Mundane Revelations in Invisibility

 

SOMETIMES I SAY THE OBVIOUS. Actually, I often say the obvious. And I often need to hear what might be thought of as obvious. There are many reasons for this. One reason is because so many truths remain at a hand’s reach when they are simple. Another reason is because I want to be true. And the conversation among people and spewing from radios and televisions is too often toxic with threaded tangles of complexity that serve only to complicate what need not be complicated and to obscure what is true. And because part of how this culture seems to work is that a priority or agenda or value is created and reinforced and then considered unmentionable. This is also a dynamic with dysfunctional families by the way, wherein rules are established but never spoken. Not only does it suppress certain ideas, but it creates an atmosphere of tension, fear, and anxiety in doing so.

When I talk of invisible ideas, I immediately think of a harmless but enlightening (pardon the pun) incident two summers ago when I joked with a friends’ (white) family that the speckles of scar/non-pigmented skin on my left arm that appear pink next to the honey tone of my forearm worried me, and that I feared I was “turning white.” The joke…fell flat. That was the most uncomfortable cocina I found myself in suddenly. And I didn’t know why. I do now, of course. And it hit me pretty shortly afterward what I had done. I had gotten too used to talking with all of you (another “Circle of Sanity”) and brought the talk elsewhere. I had forgotten momentarily that in most places, certain ideas are preferred considered invisible. 

Here are some mundane revelations in invisibility. Some obvious truths preferred by many to be treated as if invisible, or even false. Though I have no doubt that my regular readers will know them to be both obvious, and true.

1. If you put men’s and male and masculine considerations above all else…you don’t need to name it anything. You need not say you are a “Masculinist.” You are invisible in your cause. Meaning, this is the culture’s default and you will be assisted.

2. If you put white people central in all concerns, you don’t need to name it anything. You don’t need to tell people you are into White Power, or looking out for White People’s Issues. You are invisible in your cause. Meaning, this is our culture’s default agenda and you will be assisted.

3. If you put heterosexual people ahead of all others; if you want to make them seem normal and worthy and moral, you need not lift a finger, speak out loud, or put yourself at physical risk by claiming you are “standing up for heterosexual rights and equality.” You can be silent all day because this is the culture’s default message and in your cause, you will be assisted.

4. If you consider rich people more worthy, moral, and able than others; if you want to look down on the poor or the struggling and see them as dirty, weak, stupid or of poor moral fiber you need not say much at all. This is the culture’s default and in your messaging and inventory-taking you will be assisted.

5. The most glaring and dangerous way to become visible in this land of equality and freedom™ is simply to attempt to put women, the Brown™, the homosexual or otherwise marginalized central, ahead, or even equal to these often invisible and unspoken defaults. In many cases this will get you hostility, in some cases—as even recent history shows—it can get you hurt and even killed. You will almost always and at every turn, be resisted.

 

And you know we could go on with examples. And we should. And we will.

Those who know me understand I prefer a healthy shake of spite in my “social justice.” That sprinkle of fuel is what gets me through the briars sometimes. So when I realize these types of things, I decide I will act with great energy and contrary to the established invisible norms. I will make them visible. I will sketch them out with tar and blue poster paint and red clay dust and then I will stomp them all to hell. And I’ll be grinning about it. 

I give notice to the ghosts of this culture, roaming bloody-handed and invisible. Cuidado! I come smiling and stomping today!