Being Difficult.

[kumar]

often people conflate political correctness with politeness etc

 

[luka]

I didn't really consider that angle. Being difficult as the noble path. But it fits under the heading so why not

 

[boxedjoy]

It's funny because I think of "being difficult" as the exact opposite of being polite. When you belong to an Othered group the expectation on you is the source of difficultness.

RuPauls Drag Race had a storyline around this recently and it was fascinating to watch. One of the contestants was reacting against being set up as the "angry black one" pointing out that if they weren't a person of colour they wouldn't have been expected to face the same hurdles so why should they be expected to deal with them with grace and poise on top of everything else?

 

[line b]

This reminds me of the crowley maxim that words are incantations. being difficult is an attempt to reject the spell. But theres abreactions- I cant help but dumb myself down when around arrogant people, a defense mechanism against dawning their bad habits, but Ill have a very hard time snapping out of it. It can get to a point where I effectively become an actual idiot.

 

[version]

There's being difficult and there's "being difficult". The former being genuine sabotage and disruption, the latter being the dismissive hand waving of people who can't be bothered to engage, e.g. a man branding a woman "difficult" because she refuses to be pushed around.

 

[luka]

What the quote concerns is being difficult as self sabotage