Rant of The Week: The Activists Paradox
I could never be a vegan. I rely too much on meat due to my diet based primarily of Filipino or Mexican food. I also love sneakers (as you may have figured out), too much to not wear leather. In fact, those are just a few reasons I could never be a vegan.
Don't get me wrong. I'll try and support natural sustainable friendly farming when I can, and by that I mean when I can afford to do it regularly. But some things, I just couldn't let go of.
I firmly believe that if you are a vegan, it is completely back-asswards (yes you read that right) to wear leather sneakers– particularly if they are Nike's, Adidas, Pumas etc. Case in point: There was an entire group of guys at my college who were vegans and spoke of social justice and revolution and what not but all had squeaky clean kicks. We called them the 'Activist Frat'.
So is this situation, and others like it, The Activists Paradox?
Right now I live, breathe and eat the words "social justice," "equity," as well as other buzz words related to education and improving it.
As an undergrad I lived, breathed and ate all things related to race/ethnic studies & the sociologies of the two.
So naturally I've always encountered different degrees of what I'm naming here, the Activists Paradox. But now... now its manifesting in other ways. Now it's just blatant indifference to certain behaviors that I would have otherwise, at one point or another, not stood for.
Long story short: I splurged on a manicure. I don't do it often but I thought what the hell. I'm more of a pedicure kind of girl b/c if given the opportunity, I'd live somewhere that did not require closed toed shoes ever, barefootedness recommended. In browsing the colors I came across a weird whiteish-beigeish color called "Let them Eat Rice Cake". Buggin! It bothered me, but not enough to ignore other colors with weird names. In the past I have been known to actually choose colors based primarily on their names (the brand at the salon I frequent is particularly clever with this) like "Cajun Shrimp" and "My Chihuahua Bites." Today I choose a neutral called "Miso Happy with this Color," which I, even with my initial reaction to the first color, seemed to be indifferent to. "They're a UK company", I thought. "They're just being cheeky."
But it wasn't until I walked home that I was bothred more, not by the colors or the company, but by my indifference. Is the nail polish battle a battle to be dealt with? Should I feel wrong that in all the work I do to work with equity, equality and diversity, I still have room to wear like 2 cents worth of nail polish with a possibly racist name? (I will note the entire cost of the manicure is for the expert cuticle trimming, nail shapping and hand massage, so get with it).
I can't say that I care as much about something like that. I care about the big things. The blatant things. But how blatant is it? After 'googlizing' the first rice related color I came across the company's other ethnic collections. And while they might be wrong. And they might be disturbing... they're kind of clever and crack my shit up. Here are some favorites, shameful favorites. The colors I could care less about, but man these are clever puns. I'll work out the Activist Paradox in time. For now I need laughs.
