Showing posts with label defining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label defining. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

[takiwatanga]


Screenshot of tweet by @WFarahslt. 18 Jan 2022. Tweet says: "Takiwatanga" is the Maori word for autism and it means "In their own time and space".



When I saw this tweet the other day, I thought to myself, this is an amazing word! How cool that the Maori had a word for people who are autistic. 

Turns out, that the word was created in 2017. While that did surprise me, it doesn't make it any less legitimate. Language is a living thing and in this case, Keri Opai, a civil servant, worked with the Maori disability community to create about 200 words and phrases specifically for mental health, addiction and disability.

About the word for autism, Keri Opai says
"The word I have coined in te reo Māori for autism is ‘Takiwātanga’. It is a derivation of my phrase for autism: “tōku/tōna anō takiwā” – “my/his/her own time and space”."

 

Read more about how this word came to be in Keri Opai's story (video and text): https://www.altogetherautism.org.nz/a-time-and-space-for-takiwatanga/

Read the short BBC article on this project: https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-40493398

Check out the very cool language glossary, featuring te Reo Maori <> English translations, word collections, plus phrases and proverbs: https://www.tereohapai.nz/

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

minority and minoritized


Minotaur with tie - in the minority but not minoritized. Cartoon by rob g. Image shows five minotaurs. One of the bigger minotaurs is wearing a tie.

Minotaur with tie
in the minority but
not minoritized

I came across a fascinating article discussing the terms minority and minoritized.

I'll introduce the idea this way: It suggests that we change our usage of terms so that minority has to do with numbers (namely, the opposite of majority, or less than half) and minoritized has to do with how people treat other people -- specifically, treating them as if they are less than.

For example, in university, less than half the students wear glasses, so they are in the minority. While the occasional post-secondary student with glasses might be made fun of, overall, they are not treated badly or oppressed because of wearing glasses. Thus, though in the minority, they are not minoritized.

Or to give a more pertinent example, white slave owners and their families were in the minority on the plantations, but it was the slaves who were minoritized. The slave owners had the power and control; the slaves were oppressed and without power.

Here are new definitions proposed by I.E. Smith:
Definition: Minority

1: a group of less than half of the total, a group that is sufficiently smaller in number

2: of or relating to quantities that are comparatively less

3: a relatively small group

Definition: Minoritized

1: groups that are different in race, religious creed, nation of origin, sexuality, and gender and as a result of social constructs have less power or representation compared to other members or groups in society

2. To be a person forced into a group that is mistreated or faces prejudices such as albeism, racism, homophobia, and islamaphobia

3. To be in a small group of people that is discriminated against because of situations outside of personal control

Read the whole article at: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/minority-vs-minoritize



A similar term that I've come across recently is "invisibilized" in contrast to "invisible". It suggests that some groups of people are made invisible...

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

interest convergence


Man says to woman, "I'm against interest convergence..." Woman replies, "Did you know that it will give you an excuse to change your mind?" Man replies, "Oh really? Alright, I'm all for it." Interest convergence cartoon by rob goetze.


Interest Convergence means that you will support something that previously you were against or uninterested in, if it benefits you to do so.

Warren Blumenfeld writes this:
The late Dr. Bell of New York University Law School forwarded the theory of “interest convergence,” meaning that white people will support racial justice only when they understand and see that there is something in it for them, when there is a “convergence” between the “interests” of white people and racial justice. Bell asserted that the Supreme Court ended the longstanding policy in 1954 of “separate but equal” in Brown v. Board of Education because it presented to the world, and in particular, to the Soviet Union during the height of the cold war, a United States that supported civil and human rights.

In like fashion, I posit that evangelicals and other conservative Christians, as they see more and more people supporting and more states passing civil and human rights protections based on sexual and gender identity and expression, and more and more people are leaving those religious institutions that have not caught up as welcoming congregations, evangelicals seemed to have “evolved” somewhat from dictating policies to at least debating varying perspectives. Whether they will eventually soften their stands is another matter.

Quote from: Can LGBTQ people ever forgive Christian evangelicals for their sins?
Author: Warren Blumenfeld
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/04/can-lgbtq-people-ever-forgive-christian-evangelicals-for-their-sins/

Thursday, October 24, 2013

key terms related to exclusion and embrace


This is an ongoing collection of key terms and concepts that people should know and understand, to assist with understanding exclusion and embrace, diversity, and more. Most items are a brief introduction to the concept, with links to more detailed information or discussion.

concept: generous spaciousness*

This is an absolutely key concept, related to the "environment, climate, ethos within expressions of the Christian community as it pertains to engaging with gender and sexual minority persons."

Rather than providing a really brief explanation on this page, read more about generous spaciousness on its own post and then follow up by clicking some of the links on that page.

concept: privilege*

Google offers the following definition of privilege:
"A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to one person or group of people."

KJ Ward, writing at Black Girl Dangerous, defines privilege this way:
"unearned access to a bunch of good stuff and an arbitrarily granted protection from a bunch of bad stuff".

Accordingly, one might think of diplomatic immunity or the privileges that come with membership in an exclusive golf club or with first class plane tickets. But privilege as we are talking about it here is a more complex term, and one which is often difficult for those who are in privileged places to grasp. Let's use an example to illustrate it:
A white person goes into the store to get a birthday gift for their niece. Generally speaking, they never have to think about the following:
Will I be able to find a doll of the same race as my niece?
Will the store staff be worried that I'm going to steal things?
Will store security follow me around?
A black person or an aboriginal person goes into a store for the same purpose, and for them, these are often relevant questions!

Privilege is being able to live your life without ever having to think about such questions.

There are many kinds of privilege: white privilege, male privilege, straight privilege, cis privilege, Christian privilege, and others.

Read more about white privilege (including 50 daily effects of white privilege).
Read more about straight privilege (with parallels to the white privilege article).
Watch some amazing videos by Australian performance poet Joel McKerrow, as he says sorry for the white part in him, the rich part in him, the Christian part of him, and the masculine part of him.
Read Christena Cleveland about Killing Me Softly: On Privilege and Voice.
See also white fragility further down on this page.

Friday, October 11, 2013

[culturally revealing]

A friend lent us a book by René Fumoleau, a French missionary who worked with the Dene in northern Canada in the 1950's.Very interesting and often humorous read which is giving me a broader cultural perspective.

I especially like this story, because of the cultural values which contrast so much with the values I see around me. René writes:
After living for a few months of 1953
with the K'ashot'ine of Rádeli Ko (Fort Good Hope),
I was teaching them the Ten Commandments.
You know them: love God, honour your parents,
don't kill, don't steal, don't lie,
and don't commit adultery.

I explained:

"It is a sin
to do what we shouldn't do,
or not to do what we should do.
Sins are rated as big or small.
What do you think is the worst sin of all?"

The ten Dene discussed together,
and after a while Radisca explained to me:

"We talked it over, and we all agree:
The worst sin people can make
is to lock their door."

From The Secret by René Fumoleau, (Novalis, 1997) p. 13.
Emphasis added.

Monday, June 25, 2012

defining enemy


Turns out that one of the Bible verses about "enemies of God" was in the church lectionary, and pastor decided to preach about it. That's fine, until he made a "real-life application" which included determining who today are the enemies of God.

His words are hurting men and women in his congregation – for themselves or for a loved one. They may even feel that they have to choose between doing what the church thinks is right and what their hearts and conscience tell them to do.

What makes him think he can know? Does he see into people's hearts and minds?

How can our words and actions welcome others, and help them move closer to God?

Friday, May 04, 2012

defining love



Brian, in a comment at Bridging the Gap, says:
I'm reminded of one of my favorite lines from Ellen Degeneres. She was musing about the weird habit some people have of saying something insulting and then saying "just kidding" as if that somehow erases the insult. "You don't know how to kid properly," she quips, "we should both be laughing."

Sometimes I want to yell at the church, "You don't know how to love properly. We should both be feeling the love!"
Brian at conversations-on-generous-spaciousness March 24, 2012 12:03 PM
Who defines love? Just the person claiming to be loving? Or do those who are apparently being loved have a say?

Monday, March 12, 2012

defining anti-gay


The pastor and church doesn't treat lgbt people the same as straight people, yet claims to not be anti-gay. Do you agree? Does it matter how lgbt members of the congregation feel about this?

Who defines anti-gay — the powerful or the powerless? The privileged or the marginalized?

Compare this cartoon with the 'defining hate' cartoon — there it is pretty obvious that we wouldn't and shouldn't let the slave owner decide whether he is being hateful toward his slaves. Is it as easy to decide with this cartoon? While the overall situations are not parallel, do the same principles apply in terms of the minority being given a voice and the right to say whether they feel those in power are against them?

Thursday, March 08, 2012

defining hate


Would you believe the slave owner who says that he does not hate his slaves? Would you even need to ask the slaves their opinion on this question? Or would you say that owning someone is inherently hateful regardless of whether you "take good care of them" or not?

Who defines hate - the powerless or the powerful?