Tonight I was chatting with my Sikh author friend Pardip, and we were trying to talk about Arabs. Pardip is a relatively well known author, I think I probably outstrip him for international audience and sheer graft, but he has a loyal following.
Now Pardip really hates Arabs, apparently they did something to Punjabis that is hated to this day.
It became apparent after a few minutes that it was not at all possible to have a rational conversation with Pardip, so I am sorry to say I muted him and moved on to an apparent snowflake American, who suggested to me that all cultures must be respected in all countries.
That would seem to be racist? I said.
Bitch from hell that I am, I was explaining the new laws on domestic abuse.
Why would a Lybian woman living in Scotland have less rights than a Scottish woman? I asked. Can you see the problem?
Alas this yank seems to have been a bit thick. He is also very kinky, which means that assumed subservience is his thang. Agreed subservience is a very different topic to legal subservience.
What the kinkies were worried about, is that in their situation of agreed consent, would the new laws on bullying and domestic abuse affect them getting their jollies?
Obviously not until somebody somewhere decides they are not OK in exactly the same situation they were in yesterday and forgets to actually say so, like a perfectly normal adult.
In my case I was concerned about this, since our rich Libyan friend, below decided suddenly to apply his culture and gender to mine and was actually entertained in doing so because, according to him, of his money.
My great grandfather started a revolution on the basis of equalizing rights. It is looking as if I have to do the same thing, in the face of a lot of confusion and coy racism, where people think yes let us have battered women from country X because it is OK there. Let us pretend we think this is OK because to do otherwise would be racist.
That is the same principle as allowing an adult male to use the police to bully a woman who went to a great deal of trouble to create a gift and do him a favour.
Do we want to live like this? Is there really any confusion as to whether a Pakistani/Indian/African/European woman has the same rights as a Scottish woman to answer back?
If you think there is, then you’re the racist.