What I've learned on DU

[patrice]

49. BTW, #47 was about what you called "tolerance for misogyny", not about racism. I think racism is so

well known and more politically acceptable to call out, so it does get more attention than misogyny does, which is more universal, crosses race boundaries, so it's easier to earn social rewards for misogyny.

Personally, I think ALL of us, all races, all genders, have prejudices about one another. Individually those prejudices are more or less flexible, more or less universal, more or less high-value, that is, there are variations in how people hold their prejudices, but the prejudices are there in all colors all sexes. Party of the reason for that is because the human brain just naturally stereotypes, because it needs to, so that when you walk into a room full of strangers you don't do inappropriate shit. Stereotyping is actually somewhat functional. It becomes dysfunctional if it hardens and you don't let people out of the stereotype you have of them; that's bigotry and it prejudices all of one's thoughts about others by class and type. I was surprised to see someone wish for genocide of the South after the Civil War, here, lastnight, likely trollery, a prejudice so strong as to reach back about 150 years and include millions of people, even children, that one knows little or nothing about.

The ways that we treat one another affect the ways that we treat one another. All of it is a two-way street, so the best questions are how to admit that and also about what is going on in a specific situation between specific people.