What is a really inappropriate question you have always wanted to ask? (NSFW)

Often, good/skilled/artistic/amazing work done by non-whites and by women are not given as much praise as the same quality of work done by white people, or men.

Look at how Reddit speaks about Tumblr: it only highlights "the crazies". But I'm on Tumblr, and I see FANTASTIC works of art on it every day. I see rational discourse, I see lots of interesting conversations, often between people much younger than me, on topics I didn't even think of discussing when I was that age. That doesn't seem to matter, though...much like the impact of Livejournal and fandom communities was ignored, so too is Tumblr. To this site, Tumblr is apparently only full of man-hating, vegan, PETA-supporting, slutty-shirt wearing, airheaded teen girls...or that's what people want to believe. In actuality, Tumblr is more like Reddit...on Reddit, you'll have a better experience if you follow the well-moderated subs that are close to your own interests. Stay away from trolls and neckbeards. Likewise, on Tumblr, you'll have a better experience if you choose to follow people you find interesting...and stay away from trolls and drama.

Media very much cherry-picks what stories it wants to speak about. In a globalized world, there's actually too much news to give it all the same notice. Things that should be recognized are ignored in favor of talking about Florida Man or Trump or whatever other circus is going on. So awards for certain demographics come into play to try to give people who just aren't being talked about some recognition when they've actually been doing some awesome things.

If you wait for the mainstream to come by and give you awards as a woman/POC/etc. in an effort to not "segregate yourself"...well, you'll be waiting for a long time. Sometimes change doesn't happen until someone is insistent enough on speaking about it...sometimes you have to be a little "rude" to get people to listen to you.

While that's being worked on, it's easier in the meantime to throw yourself a party with others in your community who do recognize your skill and talents. (Mind you, I don't mean the type of "you get award because EVERYONE is special" sort of thing; you can still have a small community that vets itself for talent. For example, in the science fiction and fantasy literary world, you have the Hugo awards, and the Nebula awards, and the Locus awards, which all arose from within the community.) You don't need to keep your head down and be quiet just because the mainstream doesn't "recognize" you; it's perfectly fine to get together with like-minded folks and create your own awards. It's not meant as segregation...it's meant to give people recognition for something they've done that's awesome, when the mainstream is ignoring them.

(If you follow Bernie Sanders at all, you can see what it "looks like" when mainstream media ignores someone. He's breaking records on several different fronts, but it's being kept fairly quiet on the mainstream media. What is happening to him is what happens to women and POC all the time, although granted it's for a very different reason.)

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent