we did talk about this on the cultural appropriation panel.
I actually wrote a friend of mine a short letter on how I suggest people find and deal with Betas when they are looking for advice on particular, highly charged subjects:
I think it's good for people to look for expert first readers, but it seems like the problems come in when people assume that A) all people are experts (e.g. that a random person of color is interested in doing a race analysis of a text, as opposed to someone who actively works in anti-racism or African American studies, etc.), B) they presume on people with whom they have no relationship, C) they assume the people they ask are in some way obligated to them, and fail to offer reasonable compensation (which, for other writers, usually seems to be reciprocal critiques, plus maybe a meal), and/or D) they decide that since person X had opinion Y, therefore all people who share trait Z must also share opinion Y...
I also, personally, try to make myself available to talk about issues on which I can potentially consult for social justice stuff. I think my willingness to be in that role also makes it more possible for me to reciprocate w/ people.
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timeasmymeasure
betas
Date: 2011-06-01 06:14 pm (UTC)I actually wrote a friend of mine a short letter on how I suggest people find and deal with Betas when they are looking for advice on particular, highly charged subjects:
I think it's good for people to look for expert first readers, but it seems like the problems come in when people assume that A) all people are experts (e.g. that a random person of color is interested in doing a race analysis of a text, as opposed to someone who actively works in anti-racism or African American studies, etc.), B) they presume on people with whom they have no relationship, C) they assume the people they ask are in some way obligated to them, and fail to offer reasonable compensation (which, for other writers, usually seems to be reciprocal critiques, plus maybe a meal), and/or D) they decide that since person X had opinion Y, therefore all people who share trait Z must also share opinion Y...
I also, personally, try to make myself available to talk about issues on which I can potentially consult for social justice stuff. I think my willingness to be in that role also makes it more possible for me to reciprocate w/ people.
--Rachel Swirsky