The problem with identity politics
Bookworm on Nov 13 2006 at 8:51 am | Filed under: Identity politics
I admit that it’s not fair to pick on Elton John. Although he is a truly talented musician, I don’t think anyone has ever accused him of being a deep thinker or a well-informed man. Nevertheless, something he said a few days ago caught my eye, because I think it exposes just about everything that’s wrong with identity politics. Here’s the money quote:
Sir Elton John wants religion banned completely — because he believes it promotes hatred of gays.
Speaking to the Observer Music Monthly Magazine the singer said religion lacked compassion and turned people into “hateful lemmings”.
The PRESS ASSOCIATION reports: In a candid interview for a dedicated Gay issue of the magazine he shared his views on topics as varied as being a pop icon to Tony Blair’s stance on the war in Iraq.
He said there was a lack of religious leadership, particularly in world politics, and complained that people do not take to the streets to protest any more.
Sir Elton said: “I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays.
“But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion. From my point of view I would ban religion completely.
“Organised religion doesn’t seem to work. It turns people into really hateful lemmings and it’s not really compassionate.”
That’s it. That’s his entire take on religion: it’s not gay friendly. There’s no room at all in this world view for the fact that the Judeo-Christian religions have had a profoundly moralizing influence on the Western world. There’s no thought for the Old Testament’s focus on justice and and moral behavior; no care for Jesus’ ceaseless preaching about love and generosity. Instead, there’s a simple two-step analysis: Religion doesn’t like gays, therefore it should go.
I remember once having an argument with a friend of mine who had just come out of the closet. I always knew he was gay, so his confession was no surprise. What did surprise me was the speed with which he’d ghettoized himself. He’d moved into gay housing, joined a gay student organization and, instead of introducing himself as a student majoring in chemistry, introduced himself as a gay man. I questioned whether it was a good thing for him to define himself solely by his bedroom conduct, so that all other aspects of himself were swept into that shadow. Frankly, at this distance in time, I can’t remember his defense. I just remember that I wasn’t convinced, but instead felt strongly that he was limiting himself by placing his sexuality front and center.
But that, of course, is always the problem with identity politics. You’re not the sum total of your parts, you’re a one-trick pony, a stereotype. You’re not a brilliant man with an amazing gift for building computers, a wife and two loving children. You’re a black man and, by default setting, oppressed. You’re not a physician, a poet and a musician, you’re a gay man who is a doctor and has some hobbies. You’re not a much sought after computer program, you’re a handicapped woman in a wheel chair who got a job programming computers. The identity comes first nowadays. Everything else is a subset.
And if the identity comes first, everything that impinges on that identity has to go, regardless of whether that impinging thing has any independent merit. Religion? To heck with its civilizing influence and social controls. It offends gays so it’s got to go. Thomas Jefferson? Who cares about his remarkable intellectual contributions to the then-nascent ideas of freedom and democracy. He had slaves, so his ideas must be derided. And on and on. An identity ridden generation can’t separate the wheat from the chaff. I just hope identity politics doesn’t see too many valuable babies tossed away with the offending bathwater. (Sorry for the mixed metaphors, but I liked ‘em both and kept ‘em.)
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11 Responses to “The problem with identity politics”
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The problem with identity politics is that those without identities, simply fighters for entropy, will come in and kill everyone. Psychopaths and Jihadists come to mind. They don’t care what your “identity” is.
If people slot themselves out in this “balkanization” of identity groups and sub-groups, they are all just going to hang separately.
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This is a very good point. I remember when I was mid-early-feminism and all I could think about was how society put women into a box (pretty, supportive, nurturing, etc.). When I realized that being angry was identifying me and limiting me too much. Which is just rambling about agreeing with you, I guess!!
Excellent post!!
I particularly like the indictment of identity politics:
“You’re not a brilliant man with an amazing gift for building computers, a wife and two loving children. You’re a black man and, by default setting, oppressed.” Etc.
So good. It applies to all sorts of conditions — people in wheelchairs; deaf people; single mothers; lawyers; and on and on. And perhaps the saddest is the “bedroom behavior” identity. Heaven forbid that any of the rest of us start in with THAT one! I won’t want to be introduced to anyone at all!
I love this point.
One of the things that particuarly annoyed me was the lack of 1992 celebrations in the US of the 400th aniversary of Columbus’ arrival in the New World.
We all lost out on that one. Because someone got a wild hare attitude about Columbus bringing in the horrifying white invaders, and that attitude spread through the PC crowd of the country in record time, what should have been celebrations with memories for a lifetime, at least equal to if not grander than the BiCentennial, passed unnoticed.
We need this kind of pagentry in our lives as a break from the hum-drum everyday. Also, at the time we were supposedly in a “recession” (I put that in scare quotes because I’m not entirely convinced that there even WAS a recession!), and this sort of celebrating can give the economy a huge boost. This is one of the reasons the royal pagentry is still done in the UK, even though the Queen is pretty much a non-entity in the political life of the UK.
I’m going to be hard put to ever forgive the PC crowd for what they did to Columbus Day, 1992.
I’ve been alternately amused and annoyed by post election comments by German media about Pelosi and Clinton and how a Clinton win in 2008 would put 2 women in power in America. As if their sex is more important than their competence. Gee, maybe we should run Sheehan if all we need is a quota frau.
Elton is a bit mad. He is an artiste after all, all of them are a bit creatively mad with compulsions and what not.
oh I forgot. This matters because if Elton’s thinking is different than 99% of humanity, then he will have problems understanding human nature and what normal human behavior and thinking is. He sees things through his prism, and his prism is pretty selective. Not a lot of people with his talent, thinking, and life experiences. Which means, it is hard for artists to relate to the rest of human, and if you can’t relate in an empathic and understanding manner, you are not gonna be able to come up with any real critical thinking concerning politics.
It is true in a general sense that people who specialize in a field, oftentimes have deficiencies in other, unrelated fields. True of science, true of humans in the arts as well.
Proper understanding of human nature, of human history, and of military history, will allow people to get out of this “box”, however. Elton would have to devote a smidgeon of his time and talent spent on music, to military strategy and military history, before he can get out of his mad genius mozart mode.
Not to be pedantic, Mama — but are you guilty of public school math?
1992 – 1492 = 500 years, even out here in Tennessee…..
I was also really ticked about the suppression of any celebrating or commemoration. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I find your comments fascinating. I spent 25 years (starting at age 10) trying to figure out what I would “be” or failing that “do” when I grew up. (My children tell me that at the age of 55, I haven’t grown up yet.) One of our great failures as a society is that we all need labels.
When people ask me what I “do,” then answer I give is “Good deeds.” (that stops ‘em!)I shudder to think what your friend would answer to that question.