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Notes on Cant IV
Jul. 3rd, 2013 03:00 pmInteresting report on an interesting study: Why Good Deeds Don't Go Unpunished:
( Excerpts )
I think it's likely that the Cant annoys people who are inclined towards sympathy to the underlying movement more than it does committed and deliberate sexists. To those enemies, the Cant is just a load of rubbish your enemies say. Their reaction is similar to your likely reaction to a fundamentalist sermon expounding end-times prophecy. It's hostile, but fortunately it's bullshit.
To people with some basic sympathy to feminist or progressive ideas, the Cant is aggressive. It sounds like moral one-upmanship. It sounds like Cant speakers are eager to establish themselves as experts in virtuous thoughts and words, with the necessary implication that you'll never measure up. Unsurprisingly, it attracts resentment, even for people who sympathize with the underlying ideals. This is one of the reasons why the Cant bothers me, at any rate.
( Excerpts )
I think it's likely that the Cant annoys people who are inclined towards sympathy to the underlying movement more than it does committed and deliberate sexists. To those enemies, the Cant is just a load of rubbish your enemies say. Their reaction is similar to your likely reaction to a fundamentalist sermon expounding end-times prophecy. It's hostile, but fortunately it's bullshit.
To people with some basic sympathy to feminist or progressive ideas, the Cant is aggressive. It sounds like moral one-upmanship. It sounds like Cant speakers are eager to establish themselves as experts in virtuous thoughts and words, with the necessary implication that you'll never measure up. Unsurprisingly, it attracts resentment, even for people who sympathize with the underlying ideals. This is one of the reasons why the Cant bothers me, at any rate.
