Taylor Quinn is a junior studying communication-media.
Throughout my life, I have always heard people say they are annoyed that black people have their own television station, award ceremony or even month. These people sometimes go so far as to say that these things are the sole reason racism still exists, that black people actively separate themselves from mainstream society.
And to those people I say: Open your eyes.
Overcompensation is everywhere, and from historically oppressed groups, it is valid.
Feminism has become a culture. Musicians sing about it, celebrities talk about it and many people incorporate its values into their lives. But, sometimes people overcompensate and take feminism to a new level, for example, a girl getting angry at a guy if he opens the door for her. Overcompensation is needed to elicit change, as nobody is going to pay attention to a behavior at first if it is not exaggerated.
The LGBT community has its own award ceremonies and television network as well. I have not heard nearly as many people complain about this as complain about the black community’s claim to those same things. This is disturbing because there are still laws discriminating against the LGBT community and none still in place against the black community, yet people are still uneasy about the fact that the BET network exists. The LGBT community used to hide. For those who identify as LGBT, making themselves visible in multiple places is pivotal to achieving equality. Overcompensation is needed here as well.
Body positivity is another subject that has been exaggerated. Long before we were hearing “All About That Bass” on the radio, bigger people were severely oppressed, but because of the celebration of curves in the media, this problem has been getting better. We didn’t necessarily need Nicki Minaj to proudly say “I got a big, fat a–” and “F–k those skinny b—–s” on her popular track, but I believe it helped.
All of these groups were once considered so low in society that it was necessary for them to separate themselves and celebrate who they are in a big way to get people to notice that they want change. They had to average what society thought of them with what they thought of themselves to better the public opinion. And when you have a really low public opinion to begin with, you have to display a really high opinion of yourself to have that average be, well, average.
Also, besides all of that, it is finally OK for these groups to be public about their achievements and not get chased around by an angry mob (most of the time) for doing so. So, I say celebrate. Why not? I would imagine the people in these groups who have lived and died during their oppression would love to see the new generation celebrating themselves. These groups missed out on many celebrations, so they have some catching up to do.
And back to those people I mentioned in the beginning, I’m taking a wild guess, but I would say their ancestors were always celebrating. So, move over and let the next group put their streamers up. A little party never killed anybody.