The Color of My Ears
by Laric, 11/20/02

I've decided why most discussions of Otherkin differences tend to trigger the disgust reaction in me.

We have been in cities a number of times when there have been pride marches for one group or another. A number of times, we became party to watching those of Black Pride Uniting, for example, which often caused more negative resentment in those they sought to unite against than guilt. All who were not dark of skin color would be categorized as white regardless of if they were of Asian heritage to European to beyond. Those who had attempted to treat all races equally now found themselves thrust into a side by default, and quite naturally, hostility arose when they faced catcalls of people who claimed to be showing off their identification with their ancestors.

Some people had good cause. Some people jumped aboard because they wanted a pack status that would let them get away with screaming things like "uppity white boy looking down at me cuz I'm a niggah!" at people whose crime happened to be walking down the street that day, and who weren't even looking in their direction.

Many were happy to insist that any interaction between themselves and another which was negative was simply because the other was prejudiced against their skin color--not because of how they might have actually behaved.

Quite simply, it was a problem that was made worse due to the revival of an Us vs. Them dynamic. You can see it everywhere, not just in the arguments of skin tone. People will insist that a body's gender grants them higher empathy or intelligence, or that one's ancestors bequeath automatic genius upon their spawn. There may be arguments for or against these points, but the prime factor is that people claim for breeding to be so strict that they can make assumptions which exclude those outside certain sections of DNA.

Asking me to organize my fields appropriately in consideration to one's supposed genetic background is, and always will be, ridiculous. I do not care what color a person's skin is. I do not care where they have grown up. In the manner of how they perform is how I will judge them, and not upon their shape, and this is treated on an individual basis each time. I will not believe elves to have any more jurisdiction over nature than any other being, or even the sensitivities regarding such. I will not believe that I should treat the words of an angel on spiritualism any differently than if those words came from a troll. It is the words themselves which shall be observed--unless I am being pressured into registering them as of higher validation than any other simply due to the breeding of the one speaking them.

To insist that origins grant comprehension is much like saying that I should listen to male bodies on matters of rationality, because they do not have the emotional baggage that female bodies do. It is insisting that I subscribe to the theory that all women begin with one step up on healthy parenting techniques no matter how foolish that woman is, or that one who has endured trauma when they are young will grow up to never reenact it again. All who have suffered pain are not enlightened. Many times, they just become twice the assholes.

It is buying into the lines which would have us believe that skin color matters.

If I see proof of one's capacity to back their words up with actions, then and only then might I respect them for what they claim they can do--and then because I am judging on what I have seen actual, tangible results on. Do you believe you have the powers of a dragon? Then go out there and do something with them instead of telling us how much of a horror it is living among the mundies. I have met Otherkin whom I have no issue with whatsoever because they do give two shakes about this world and improvement of it between people regardless of their color or shape.

Else, claiming that one species has an automatic set of traits in comparison to another is nothing more than a glorified version of making judgments based upon stereotypes. Continue upon that path if you so desire, but do us all a favor and do not claim it to be anything more than simply another -ism.