In the early aughts the remarkably encouraging young yoga teacher I met modeled a place of inclusion for me in stark contrast to the other social options available to me. But these days I have noticed yoga studios are increasingly populated with scary "Karens," by that I mean people who value order over justice: People who chant that mantra of acceptance and forgiveness so that they can consider themselves "good" people for overlooking a racist or homophobe in their midst. They don't seem to understand or care that when good people are silent the bad ALWAYS win. Not saying anything to someone who is cruel to a trans kid, because you "want to accept everyone and their views" ironically crushes the more vulnerable person. It's tone deaf in ways I can't even explain to the perpetrators despite trying very hard
Of course not so true of yoga studios in urban settings, but the suburbs are certainly increasingly stubbornly non-diverse. It's maddening the way they have painted themselves as the victims (all they want is a place to themselves!) and as fragile, (we just want to feel safe in our neighborhoods!) And point the finger at anyone who calls them out (No, You're the hater!). Maddening. It's hard to be a kid. It's hard to be an LGBTQ kid. It's hard to be trans. They need our support, our tangible protection - not just hopes and prayers. I know you know that, just wanted to get it off my chest
I am the worst at getting back to people, but I did see this and smile. And I do like your engagement. True. Right, order over justice and what a clear summary. Yes. Because under capitalism if you choose moving towards justice, it'll slow down the bottom line (Sara in the back will be disruptive because Sara is a socially awkward person who tends to alienate people but a good teacher will not highlight her awkwardness because she/they believe in inclusive environments). I mainly am at the point where I don't have answers only questions. I know for example that my classes I was teaching 4 years ago weren't accessible to disabled bodies and I know tbh that they might not have moved in that direction because there are so many needs already that one tries to meet. I'm still kinda shocked that most teachers that are hired are white and are not only straight-sized, but between sizes 0-4. I have no idea who needs to see this, and I know that folks who have always been a 2 have blind spots about teaching (unless they've aggressively pursued education). I guess on some level I'd rather walk into a studio and know they don't give a f*** about inclusion than walk into a studio after it became politically and capitalistically smart to embrace the BLM movement and see they've added a black teacher or two. I think a lot of this social signaling actually is for white people or straight people. For example, you can hire the newest member of our queer community (cis, white, completely new to queer culture) and you might actually be doing more harm than good (i.e. we need folks who are invested in making life better for our communities and usually folks who don't live at the margins don't understand how to measure partially because they think social signaling is doing the thing and it's not at all).
In the early aughts the remarkably encouraging young yoga teacher I met modeled a place of inclusion for me in stark contrast to the other social options available to me. But these days I have noticed yoga studios are increasingly populated with scary "Karens," by that I mean people who value order over justice: People who chant that mantra of acceptance and forgiveness so that they can consider themselves "good" people for overlooking a racist or homophobe in their midst. They don't seem to understand or care that when good people are silent the bad ALWAYS win. Not saying anything to someone who is cruel to a trans kid, because you "want to accept everyone and their views" ironically crushes the more vulnerable person. It's tone deaf in ways I can't even explain to the perpetrators despite trying very hard
Of course not so true of yoga studios in urban settings, but the suburbs are certainly increasingly stubbornly non-diverse. It's maddening the way they have painted themselves as the victims (all they want is a place to themselves!) and as fragile, (we just want to feel safe in our neighborhoods!) And point the finger at anyone who calls them out (No, You're the hater!). Maddening. It's hard to be a kid. It's hard to be an LGBTQ kid. It's hard to be trans. They need our support, our tangible protection - not just hopes and prayers. I know you know that, just wanted to get it off my chest
I am the worst at getting back to people, but I did see this and smile. And I do like your engagement. True. Right, order over justice and what a clear summary. Yes. Because under capitalism if you choose moving towards justice, it'll slow down the bottom line (Sara in the back will be disruptive because Sara is a socially awkward person who tends to alienate people but a good teacher will not highlight her awkwardness because she/they believe in inclusive environments). I mainly am at the point where I don't have answers only questions. I know for example that my classes I was teaching 4 years ago weren't accessible to disabled bodies and I know tbh that they might not have moved in that direction because there are so many needs already that one tries to meet. I'm still kinda shocked that most teachers that are hired are white and are not only straight-sized, but between sizes 0-4. I have no idea who needs to see this, and I know that folks who have always been a 2 have blind spots about teaching (unless they've aggressively pursued education). I guess on some level I'd rather walk into a studio and know they don't give a f*** about inclusion than walk into a studio after it became politically and capitalistically smart to embrace the BLM movement and see they've added a black teacher or two. I think a lot of this social signaling actually is for white people or straight people. For example, you can hire the newest member of our queer community (cis, white, completely new to queer culture) and you might actually be doing more harm than good (i.e. we need folks who are invested in making life better for our communities and usually folks who don't live at the margins don't understand how to measure partially because they think social signaling is doing the thing and it's not at all).
Thanks for sharing. You are the best.