fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #6455 ]

[ SECRET POST #6455 ]

⌈ Secret Post #6455 ⌋

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-Reads People magazine
-Is extremely vocal about only buying/eating Organic food
-Uses phrases like "good schools" in a non-sarcastic manner

Uses phrases like "good schools" in a non-sarcastic manner

What? Like when you're buying a house, good schools in the area are important. I'm confused.

Yeah, I wonder if OP anon lives somewhere where that isn't an issue? The schools in my city have a wide variety of quality and there are some schools I'm shocked are still open they are so bad.

AYRT

I elaborated on this in another part of the thread.

https://fandomsecrets.dreamwidth.org/3072050.html?thread=1128057650#cmt1128057650

Would you care to elaborate on the People magazine and 'good schools' bit? I get the extremely vocal part - that habit is annoying no matter what they're being all super vocal bordering on preachy about.

AYRT

With regards to the People magazine bit, there are two things that make me wary of it. The magazine is written for reading levels below the national average. While I do understand that reading education varies widely, it's not a great sign if this magazine is what you tend to reach for when given a choice. Even Reader's Digest would be a more digestable option. This ties into the other thing I am not big on. People magazine is willing to give a platform to problematic groups (such as fundie families) and allow not-so great ideas to gain mainstream acceptance.

As for the good schools bit? That phrase has historically been used to subtly indicate neighborhoods that haven't been impacted by redlining, but it has gone mainstream. The connotations of that kind of phrase have stuck around and toe the line of microaggression.

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/great-schools-real-meaning-36651444

https://www.teachingtraveling.com/school-segregation-nice-white-parents/

https://www.mckissock.com/blog/appraisal/say-this-not-that-words-and-phrases-to-replace-in-your-appraisal-reports/

I guarantee that 90% of people who say "good schools" mean it literally and are not aware of the things you refer to here.

AYRT

I ran this by a friend of mine who lives in a different part of the country than myself. His exact words: "I always figured 'good schools' was a dogwhistle for white mid-upper class." I suspect that percentage is below 90%, especially in the northern US.

Ah, yes, because 1 friend of yours says so, it must be true.

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-07 22:55 (UTC) - Expand

Where I'm from a "good school" meant as white as they can get. They would segregate if they could get away with it.

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-07 23:06 (UTC) - Expand

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-08 00:03 (UTC) - Expand

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-08 20:10 (UTC) - Expand

Is your friend a parent with school-age children?

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-08 13:35 (UTC) - Expand

It's kind of a dogwhistle for "middle class +" because the "better" schools in terms of college admission tend to be "middle class +" because...middle class and above students are just more likely to opt for college education anyway because it's a class-based expectation and the property tax dollars are there AND parents who have means and free time are often more involved/volunteer.

There are still "better" schools if you live in a racially-homogenous area. They're in the rich neighborhoods.

I see. I'm... still not really sure that the term is as suspect as you seem to think. Some people might certainly use it as some sort of dog whistle term, but I think most people just mean... a good school, because they want their kids to attend a good school.

I'm a POC, by the way.

AYRT

I'd like to believe that's the case. I think parents who actually want good schools can articulate what they're looking for and consult their kids for their feedback. That said, after observing my co-workers and extended family discuss the process of putting their kids into and through school, I don't think most parents actually know what a quality education looks like for their kids and just follow (outdated) social cues.

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-08 02:36 (UTC) - Expand

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-08 13:46 (UTC) - Expand

Re: What do you consider a red flag in real life?

(Anonymous) - 2024-09-08 14:13 (UTC) - Expand

DA

Same, really depends on the area and who's saying it. Like a POC parent is looking for "good schools," I'm willing to take them at face value. Especially if they're an immigrant.

The "best" public school in my hometown had more POC than the other "worse" public schools who were predominantly white. A lot of POC parents moved into our area specifically because they wanted to be in the place with the "good schools," while white parents seemed to care less, comparatively. All in neighborhoods with extremely similar levels of income.

I'm also curious what you think people are saying when they say "good schools". When I was a kid, a good school district was one of the top priorities in my parents' house-hunting because they wanted a school that had a good academic program with plenty of honors/AP courses, good teachers, that kind of thing. And that's what they did. Not every school district in my city has honors/AP courses or a good track record for students testing high, attaining national merit scholar status, etc.

AYRT

I responded here: https://fandomsecrets.dreamwidth.org/3072050.html?thread=1128057650#cmt1128057650

What's wrong with only buying or eating organic food? (I cannot afford to do that, BTW.)

Because some people can't afford it, people who can are evil, obviously.

I think it's less about buying/eating it and more about making it your whole personality. The kind of person who snarks and comments negatively on someone else's food choices because they're not solely eating organic foods.

AYRT

Along with many people making it their personality, this action perpetuates a lot of pseudoscience and misinformation around agriculture. For example, there's a persistent myth that organic produce has no pesticides. Not only does it use pesticides, it also uses higher amounts of them. This continued spreading of misinformation boils my boil something fierce.

The label for "organic" is a legal one, not a scientific one. Current "organic" farming methods are worse for the environment, use more pesticides, unable to actually be "organic" in reality (i.e. forbidden types of treatments blowing over from the neighboring "non-organic" farm), and are basically ways for production companies to charge through the nose for a worse quality product. It feeds into people who want to seem like they're doing something, but who don't or won't actually put in the work to understand the science, which perpetuates gross scientific ignorance.

In short, someone who says they only eat organic is a person who doesn't do their research, which probably extends to other things in their life as well.

I'm sick of labels that make it seem like you can pay capitalism more than the going rate to get the thing you were actually trying to pay for - in this case, nutritious, reasonable food. And I'm just as fed up with NGOs claiming that the world will be better when more people generously pay extra for their pet litany of "superior, more ethically produced" products.

But I think criticizing people for not according with my particular buying preferences is a dead end. We all have limited time and limited information, and the fact is you usually can't get firsthand information about ANY of the promises on labels. The companies are greedy and corrupt and the government is more than happy to drop the ball on regulation. In light of that, going "but you should have researched it longer and realized that was a scam" seems a little unfair.

I recently read an article by Cory Doctorow where he said "Paying for the product doesn’t fill your vapid boss’s shriveled heart with so much joy that he decides to stop trying to think of ways to fuck you over. [...] If you’re not paying for the product, you’re the product, and if you are paying for the product, you’re still the product.

Just ask the farmers who are expected to swap parts into their own busted, half-million dollar, mission-critical tractors, but can’t actually use those parts until a technician charges them $200 to drive out to the farm and type a parts pairing unlock code into their console.

John Deere’s not giving away tractors. Give John Deere a half mil for a tractor and you will be the product."

Really, I think that's the situation facing people. In supermarkets, and just about everywhere else.

A lot of organic food is not any better tasting or healthier than other food, the people who sell it just want you to think it is so they can charge more money for it.

I met a family who only ate organic because they believed the government was poisoning other foods. And also spying on us with drones, and forcing kids to be trans. It was so weird I went online to see what was up and learned there's an entire subculture of people like this.

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