An association of student affairs professionals invited Suze Orman, a popular financial advice peddler, to give an address at their convention. It did not go well. Orman gave her schtick, which does not include the popular language of intersectional oppression. That is just not what she does. She gives advice (some good, some not so good, maybe) about how to manage one's own personal finances. Inevitably, the organization apologized for inviting someone like that, since she managed to offend the group. She did not make her money by explaining structural societal barriers to wealth accumulation, but by selling her personal brand of the rags to riches narrative.
3 comments:
I worry this is going to happen to me one day. I cheerfully hand out advice about how to become a "more productive, more effective, and happier academic writer" and I have never thought my advice needs to be adjusted for race, class, or gender. I don't talk about those things either, though I'm sure there are both real imagined barriers to publication at those intersections. It just doesn't change what I tell individual writers. I don't think minority writers should do anything differently (or let's say I don't know what they should do differently) and I'm certain my advice doesn't work better for straight, white men.
One day I'm going to be called out as "tone deaf", I'm sure. I hope I'll be close to retirement.
To what extent would bringing in any differential factors be counterproductive? Telling a student they will have more problems writing because they aren't white, privileged male, etc... would itself be discriminatory.
I'm sure if someone really wanted to come after you there would be enough there already for you to be cancelled.
Thanks, that's comforting! (You raise a good point. I'm fortunate that no one wants to cancel me. I'm mostly a nice guy, I guess. But if everything hinges on my charm, that's a somewhat precarious situation for me.)
I agree with you that raising intersectional concerns in my seminars would be counterproductive. And I imagine the Orman situation is very analogous. She's trying to tell people that, no matter what their current situation may be, there are some smart things they can do financially to move themselves into a better position. Of course, if all she is saying is, "Maybe think about refinancing your third home," then she'll only be speaking to people who have three houses. I try to speak even to people who have not published anything and aren't even writing a paragraph a week.
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