Please Allow me to Introduce Myself

My name is Truth Smidgen...well actually see that's not my name, but it'll do for now.

For a while now, we've been amazingly lighthearted in our blogging entries here at Smidgen of Truth and that's been a good thing. But, I started this blog to also have some place to state the not so lighthearted things I think about the world. I am not writing about them because I need feedback from others, but mostly because I need some place to remember what I have thought at some moments so I can realize when I have either a) become a hypocrite or b) changed my mind.

In an effort at full disclosure, I consider myself a feminist, a political sociologist and I study social inequality especially as it relates to race, class, gender, disability status, social movements and social policies. In case it matters, I am also a Ph.D. candidate, a sociology professor and a heterosexual, married woman of color.

As my previous post should demonstrate I'm incredibly silly, foul-of-mouth and generally willing to say the most ludicrous things (including things I do not believe and would be too cowardly to act upon if I did believe them) just to get my friends to laugh.

I am politically-speaking generally regarded as highly liberal almost to the point of ridiculousness. The most common refrains from the uninitiated are "You must be kidding" and "You can't possibly believe that." But, no, I'm not kidding and yes, I truly believe what I am saying. Having embraced a willingness to be unpopular in my thinking I've also had to come to terms with the fact that sometimes I will be wrong. And even more often, I will be right for the wrong reasons or without reason.

So what kind of proof can I offer to support my claims of crazy liberalness?

I think that racism is pandemic in America and that we are not nearly as far along in solving the race problem as most Americans would like to think. Therefore, I think affirmative action is problematic but desirable.

I think that gay people should be allowed to get married, adopt children, teach schools, serve in the military and should never be asked not to talk about being gay.

Here's where I really jump off the deep-end, I love the idea of American-style democracy, where everyone gets a voice and government is not some far off abstract concept but a result of the beliefs and ideas of the people. But I am also troubled by it. When you are a person who frequently find yourself in the minority you come to understand how this type of democracy sometimes omits any incentives for compromise.

I do not think that people should be forced to give cochlear implants to their deaf children and I do not think it is child abuse when they do not. I think that there is almost nothing that you or I can do that a person with a disability should not be able to do.

And to make it abundantly clear that I one of the crazy liberals, I do not care how much it costs to make things accessible, if you can't afford to build your restaurant AND make it accessible then as far as I'm concerned you can't afford to build a restaurant. I see this in the same way that I see that if you can't afford to build a building with smoke detectors and fire extinguishers then you can't afford to build the building at all.

I think a democracy where people with disabilities are denied the right to vote because polling places are not wheelchair accessible or ballots are not readily available in Braille is a democracy that should be ashamed of itself.

And just to make it clear that I am willing to offend people who might otherwise agree with my positions, I think it is sexist when women won't go to a male gynecologist. I've heard all the "I'm just more comfortable with a woman" and "she can understand my body better crap" and I still say then just say you are a sexist and move on with it. Because in the end you are using your power as a consumer of medical care to close off opportunities to people from one gender. And that my friend is one aspect of sexism in a nutshell. So, cool enjoy and say "hi, fellow traveler" to the person who says that they just prefer to fly on planes piloted by men, because you know they are just "more comfortable with a man" and "men just seem to be able to deal with high pressure situations better than women."

So while this in no way exhausts my variety of ways that I am a crazy liberal, here's a sampling.