Stephen Fry: King

It is completely unoriginal to say so, and it will be news to no one (that matters, anyway) that Stephen Fry is one of the greatest people living today - perhaps ever. If you don't know who he is, you suck. Go look him up. This evening, instead of doing homework like a good year 12 student, I spent several hours catching up on his blog, much of which i have missed due to said year 12ness. In his latest blog he talks candidly about the perpetuation of gay stereotypes being a part of gay culture - that oppressing flamboyant characters because they perpetuate stereotypes is moving backwards in gay rights. I'm not gay, but what he wrote was so well put together and so true that I thought I'd share it with my (non-existent) readership.

His musings on the status of gays within society, combined with a common room conversation I had this afternoon about Aboriginal Australians has prompted me to put my thoughts on paper (at least, virtual paper).

I have long believed that drawing attention to gay, or aboriginal, or any kind of minority rights, only marginalises the group further. Of course, a basic awareness and understanding of social issues is vital to any community, but there is a big difference between knowing and understanding this issues, and doing everything you can to make a song and dance about it. My point is well illustrated in the 5th episode of season 2 of that brilliant Masterpiece, South Park. Conjoined Fetus Lady has a dinner scene where a lady with a physical abnormality, but who is perfectly comfortable with said abnormality, is berated by Kyle's mum in an effort to make her feel ok about her deformity, which, as I have said, she already is.

Now, I know that I really can have no authority of opinion when I am a straight, white, middle-class, 21st Century woman. I have never experienced any serious prejudice, racism or oppression in my (dare I say it) charmed life. But I have seen what pushing these issues too far can do.

Anyone who has recently grown up in Australia will tell you that the plight of the Indigenous Australians has been shoved down our throats from a very early age. This is good. We need to know about it. But oh my god! We need to know about it, we don't need to hear about it so often, study it in such depth, and be sent on a constant guilt trip whenever someone acknowledges the rightful owners of the land, the Wurundjeri people, so as we reach a stage where we can't stand to hear another word about it!

This is a very long winded way of saying that there is such a thing as TOO MUCH.

Similarly, being over-conscious of minority groups only sets them further apart. Focusing on their differences only ostracises them further. It's important to acknowledge them, understand and maintain their cultures, but more important to consider them one of the whole community, rather than a separate entity.

But, what do I know, right?