MEMES for Fun...
Copy and Paste 'em Everywhere!
"The term "culture wars" is used by many well-meaning people, including many progressive writers and activists I admire. It's a convenient way to refer to a number of issues. But in this current political moment, I think it's a highly misleading euphemism. What we are experiencing in America right now is an asymmetrical attack on basic freedoms -- a fascist movement that thrives on targeting certain groups, erasing history, and spreading dangerous falsehoods through a vast media apparatus. To call this a "culture war" is to legitimize the contemporary GOP and its extremist counterparts as a coherent and authentic "culture" worthy of respect. This is a misuse of the concept of culture, creating a false equivalence between marginalized groups and those who would harm or eliminate them in a quest for ever more power. Depending on the issue, more accurate language might include the words authoritarianism, theocracy, or demonization. Or simply the aforementioned "fascism"!
A "culture war" also implies a degree of abstraction in the realm of ideas instead of lived experiences. It's a polite way of putting things on the plane of debate. But would we refer to the segregated South of the 1950s as a mere clash of cultures? Or does that obfuscate reality?
Fun fact: in the early aughts, I did some website work for a professor who wrote the book that popularized the term "culture wars." Written in 1991, it was about the battles between traditional orthodoxy vs. progressivism. In the context of the time, when there were many news stories about the religious right railing against the arts, I think the terminology made a little more sense." -- Jen Sorensen
A "culture war" also implies a degree of abstraction in the realm of ideas instead of lived experiences. It's a polite way of putting things on the plane of debate. But would we refer to the segregated South of the 1950s as a mere clash of cultures? Or does that obfuscate reality?
Fun fact: in the early aughts, I did some website work for a professor who wrote the book that popularized the term "culture wars." Written in 1991, it was about the battles between traditional orthodoxy vs. progressivism. In the context of the time, when there were many news stories about the religious right railing against the arts, I think the terminology made a little more sense." -- Jen Sorensen
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