You know, I don't understand why people seem to think that writing about multiplicity is any different from, say, writing about another ethnic group, or about life in another country. You don't go writing books set in China if all you know about it is what you've seen in late night kung fu movies. Or a story about life in the ghetto if you're a middle-class white person who doesn't know anything about life outside the suburbs. You don't go writing books where the main character is Hispanic or American Indian or whatever, if you're of a different ethnic group, without doing at least -some- research on the experience of that group. And not just research; you need to -know- and -talk- to people who would have firsthand experience, people who've -lived- it, and put aside any preconceptions you might have had and listen seriously to what they have to say about their own life. So how come people think that just because they watched Sybil, and had a few psychology classes, they're qualified to write stories with characters who are multiple, without ever having met or talked to any multiples; or, if they do, without bothering to do research on ALL the points of view that are out there and trying to find people willing to talk about each one? If you wig out just at the idea of a system not wanting to integrate, you REALLY haven't done your homework. You know, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that, in their way, writing the stereotypes of Frank The Big Mean Protector Who Breaks Stuff, Betsy Sue The Frightened Child, and Fifi The Slut Who Goes To Bed With Guys She Doesn't Even Know, is just as offensive as stereotypes like 40s black maids and inscrutable Orientals and lisping gay men. They're just as far removed from my own life. They're not even using the stereotypes for any decent messages. To me, it is offensive because it gives non-plurals a fradulent idea of what my life is all about, and makes them that much more likely to either fear me (because I've got to have a serial killer in there somewhere) or try to exploit me (because I've got to have a slut in there somewhere). And what gets me is that most of the singlets who do this think they're 'sensitive' for being able to write about this 'tragic illness.' Hey, if you really wanted to tell a socially redeeming message about multiplicity, you could tell a story about plurals being mistreated and abused by therapists. It would certainly do a better public service than ohhh look at these pathetic people and their awful illness, they can't even drive because they keep switching, and OMG THERE'S AN AXE MURDERER IN THERE. I just don't see what kind of arrogance drives people to think they have grounds to write about a way of life which is extremely different from theirs in many ways, without reading beyond the sensationalized popular accounts of it, without talking to plenty of people who actually LIVE it. I don't see why everyone and her sister who's watched a few movies thinks they're an expert on multiplicity. I mean, seriously, is it that much of a stretch to ask someone to put aside completely all their preconceptions and ideas and just ASK "Tell me about your experience" without assuming or making judgements? Is it that hard to have a little humility when the subject in question is a 'crazy person'? Do you really need someone to feel superior to and more sane than? No, don't answer that question. I have a feeling I don't really want to know. Back |