isola | it/theyMar 12
amanda, pastry paladin
Kinda fucked up how you can be shut out of social/educational/employment opportunities because you "just seem kind of weird". Not necessarily because you're clockably queer or neurodivergent or whatever (though that can be part of it), but just because the interviewer/committee/friend group doesn't think you're "one of us." Doesn't matter WHY you're weird. It's perfectly legal and extremely common to be passed over in material ways because you're different in a way that isn't legally protected.
Mar 12 at 12:51pmWeb
Show threadamanda, pastry paladinMar 12

The first example that came to mind was the thing that happens to you when you don't grow up watching a lot of TV.

Doesn't matter WHY you didn't watch a lot of TV. Maybe it was a religious thing. Maybe your parents were hippie intellectuals. Maybe you couldn't afford it. There are a number of reasons why you might not watch TV.

The end result is that you miss pop culture references, fashion trends, current slang, all kinds of things that people use as in-group shibboleths.

Show threadamanda, pastry paladinMar 12
So, by the extremely morally neutral fact that you didn't watch a lot of TV growing up, you end up "culturally weird." You talk funny. You dress funny. You don't have the same jokes and references as everyone else. You seem like you might have "something wrong with you": politically, intellectually, religiously, sexually, culturally.
Show threadamanda, pastry paladinMar 12

This is also why I massively rolled my eyes a few years ago when social media decided that it's bad and rude and mean-spirited to poke fun at "sportsball." No one has ever been socially or economically penalized for being into sports.

Now, NOT being into sports? That's dangerous, subversive, and un-American. So I think sports fans can maybe cope with feeling a little bit othered over "sportsball."

Show threadSamUpstate (he/him)Mar 12
@alpine_thistle I think the same is true for those of us who don't listen to popular music or watch sports
Show threadamanda, pastry paladinMar 12
@SamUpstate oh yeah. The sports thing is huge, since sports are an icebreaker and "I'm not really into sports" is a red flag for people who are into sports
Show threadFranchescaMar 12
@alpine_thistle @SamUpstate Did you see that ludicrous display last night? (From an episode of the IT Crowd about exactly this).
Show threadSamUpstate (he/him)Mar 13
@Frantasaur @alpine_thistle the trouble with Arsenal is they always try to walk it in 😂
Show threadNaga (he/him)Mar 17
@alpine_thistle @SamUpstate I would get hit with that a lot because my undergrad and sometime workplace (same university) has been a Power in a sport for decades.
Show threadDaveyMar 12
@alpine_thistle that's why they call it "culture fit" instead of "thing we could be sued for" - the fuckers
Show threadKat the LeopardessMar 12
@alpine_thistle Its one of the reasons I have always regarded my job interview clothes as Responsible Normal Person Cosplay.
Show threadMagical Grrrl BettyMar 12
@alpine_thistle even "legally protected" reasons are a complete joke that there are workarounds for.
Show threadqueer as in fuck your bordersMar 12
@alpine_thistle Being fat is another example that came immediately to mind. Legal protections for access to housing, jobs, etc. is very needed and almost unheard of.
Show threadNaga (he/him)Mar 17
@alpine_thistle Also, obviously, looking like anything other than cis white man tilts you toward "weird" from the beginning (alter as necessary for pink-collar work)