I like this and how you expand on a Brandon Taylor's essay and your own feelings of anxiety. Which are valid and familiar.
It becomes impossible to write if you let your inner critic read over your shoulder, and worrying that you will be perceived from that prosecutorial view has our inner critics on high alert. Editing our work with empathy for others is critical, but you are not alone in worrying that everything you write will be assumed to be hurtful and voices with malice, or worse, indifference or ignorance to the experiences of others. I think this kind of prosecutorial reading has been weaponized with the intent of making valid criticism irrelevant.
Jan 21, 2022·edited Jan 22, 2022Liked by Ilana Masad
Really enjoyed this Ilana. Thank you! And congrats on passing your oral exams.
Sorry you've been feeling anxious. I think we all do. It's a pretty fraught atmosphere online and in the twitterverse - there's a real 'gotcha' vibe at the moment in the way that people take joy in / pile on to people saying the wrong thing or expressing themselves clumsily. I've really felt sad about the lack of generosity in how we interpret each other's comments. No wonder we're all cowering a bit. I mean, even when I send a text message to a friend with a joke or some kind of acerbic remark, I kind of have to give myself a pep talk along the lines of 'this person knows you to be a friendly well-meaning person; he/she will interpret what you've said in the spirit it was intended; no need to apologise and over-explain yourself' etc etc. Ergh!
Thanks and look forward to hearing about what books you're reading :)
I like this and how you expand on a Brandon Taylor's essay and your own feelings of anxiety. Which are valid and familiar.
It becomes impossible to write if you let your inner critic read over your shoulder, and worrying that you will be perceived from that prosecutorial view has our inner critics on high alert. Editing our work with empathy for others is critical, but you are not alone in worrying that everything you write will be assumed to be hurtful and voices with malice, or worse, indifference or ignorance to the experiences of others. I think this kind of prosecutorial reading has been weaponized with the intent of making valid criticism irrelevant.
Really enjoyed this Ilana. Thank you! And congrats on passing your oral exams.
Sorry you've been feeling anxious. I think we all do. It's a pretty fraught atmosphere online and in the twitterverse - there's a real 'gotcha' vibe at the moment in the way that people take joy in / pile on to people saying the wrong thing or expressing themselves clumsily. I've really felt sad about the lack of generosity in how we interpret each other's comments. No wonder we're all cowering a bit. I mean, even when I send a text message to a friend with a joke or some kind of acerbic remark, I kind of have to give myself a pep talk along the lines of 'this person knows you to be a friendly well-meaning person; he/she will interpret what you've said in the spirit it was intended; no need to apologise and over-explain yourself' etc etc. Ergh!
Thanks and look forward to hearing about what books you're reading :)