A part of my job as a blogger on CC is writing cultural criticism. To many, I am this blog’s biggest hater. “Why are you always complaining?” “I bet if this person were Black, you wouldn’t even be hating on them!” “You’re just jealous.” “This is bullshit.” These are all comments I’ve received and those aren’t the ones that resort to insulting me.
I am here to tell you that I get it. I care about what all of you have to say even if the only point is to insult me. The goal of cultural criticism is to foster discussion. My voice allows you to have a voice in the comments. Some of you may wonder why I am always the one to write about race, class, gender, sexism and feminism—well, it’s because most writers don’t want to. Probably because they will get hate over it.
I get a ton of nasty comments, just as many nice comments but what I like the most are comments that are critical. My job is to be critical, so when you, as readers, are equally critical that gets us excited. I was on the debate team in high school, debating is my jam. If you think I am being mean-spirited or dismissive or biased then it is your right as a reader to say, “WTF?!” Shout it at me. It does make a difference.
A few days ago some of our readers noticed that there were creepy ads on a post I had written about Eliot Rodger and wanted to know how I could speak so strongly about feminism and then have my words surrounded by advertisements that degrade women. I don’t have any control over the ads on this site but as soon as we saw this (which we hadn’t noticed) we went to the higher ups and they did, best as they could, to fix the problem.
As Senior Editor, I want you all to know that your voices are heard. However, based on some of the comments I read, I know that some people selectively read and willfully misinterpret things that are said because something in the language of the author triggers the wrong spot and makes the reader feel defensive.
I can make 1 million criticisms about Beyoncé and someone will agree but if the same standard of judgment is applied to someone else, like Lana Del Rey, and that very same person is a huge fan of hers then the criticism will seem more difficult to accept. I am in no business to say that my opinions are 100% valid all of the time. Nevertheless, my opinions aren’t entirely unfounded. I read studies, books, articles—I can guarantee that I know more about your favorite celebrity than you and I don’t even like your favorite celebrity.
Truthfully, though, you have no reason to trust me over yourself and why should you? Who am I to you? I get that. I can assure you I studied cultural criticism, writing and social theory at NYU and graduated summa cum laude. I am not totally unequipped for this, guys. Yet, I know, why me? Why should you listen to me? I am not going to even try to convince you of that. I respect your autonomy and integrity too much. You can listen to whoever you want. The only reason I can assert is that even if you don’t agree with me, we probably share the same values. We probably both want equality and pizza for all.
Most importantly, I don’t want or need you to agree with me. I do however desperately want you to understand me as much as I try to understand you, dear reader. That’s why it’s important to understand the difference between hating and criticizing.
Criticism isn’t bad, it’s useful. None of the criticisms I offer to Kim Kardashian are ever going to reach her but they will reach you and hopefully provide you with enough food for thought to feed yourself for even a few moments. Criticism is an examination of a subject. It’s making inferences and connections based on whichever paradigm is at hand (art, celebrities, tv, etc.) and the point is to discuss a person or a thing in its context. That means saying why it’s good and saying why it’s bad.
Hating is mocking. It’s headlines and stories that are dismissive of Kim Kardashian because she is “trash” and “doesn’t deserve to be famous.” These kinds of things lack context and the sole purpose is to shame something without any reasoning. It’s irrational finger pointing. To use the example of Kim, you can say she doesn’t deserve to be famous because she has no discernible talent but that would be selectively reading. She turned an extreme violation of her privacy, her sex tape, into a multi-million dollar industry. To add more context, Kim couldn’t be famous if there wasn’t a demand from the public to see her that way.
Criticism sees multitudes, hating is reductive. But I am not above hating. I am human. It’s sometimes too easy to make a snide comment and I know that one mean thing can negate the entire credibility of my piece. I have to keep an eye on myself and sometimes I misstep. I think sometimes our readers misstep too. A friend told me that if he had just “skimmed” my article about Eliot Rodger he would have thought that I was saying all men are sexist. To that I would say, why would you create a fully formed opinion about an article you just skimmed? Writing is a sum of its parts not one sentence taken out of context or a headline or a paragraph skimmed.
I am not accusing our readers of being “bad readers” most of you are excellent at stating your opinion clearly and effectively without being needlessly cruel. Great comments inspire writers to write better and think more critically about themselves. That makes the content better. We can only have thoughtful interactions if we aren’t “skimming” or making assumptions about each other. We have to see what’s there.
I want you to know that I am not walking around thinking about how I can insult the things you love and by the transitive property insult you. Everyday I have to be critical of the things that I love for this job, I have to read about rape and oppression and it sucks and it’s daunting and can put a damper on my day. Yet, I do it because talking about the hardest things is really the best thing. It’s really the only way to push culture forward. It may seem mean but it’s not, it’s merely acknowledging that things are complex. If you are unaware of weakness you can never turn it into a strength. My being a feminist cannot stop me from being critical of other women. If the point is equality then only being critical of our male counterparts totally negates the point.
Shailene Woodley denouncing feminism isn’t going to stop me from enjoying her as an actress, it won’t stop me from enjoying Lana Del Rey as a musician. No one is one thing. One incident doesn’t define a person, yet, at times, on the internet it can feel that way. That’s merely because we write and discuss things as they happen. We can’t see the future but we can reference the past.
So from here on out, I say, we stop hating and keep criticizing. We point out what’s problematic and praise what is great. We keep the balance. I write, you critique. Then maybe by the end of all this we will have learned something. Pizza and equality for all!
The Difference Between "Hating" And "Criticizing"
