Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces by Catlin Karen

Author:Catlin, Karen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781732723320
Publisher: Better Allies Press
Published: 2019-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Allies can use their positions of privilege to stop idea hijacking in its tracks. Let’s amplify and showcase the ideas coming from the marginalized people all around us. Let’s make this happen.

Off-Topic Questions and Showboating

In August 2018, the Washington Post wrote about how conservative commentator Ben Shapiro challenged New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to a debate, offering to donate $10,000 to her campaign or a charity of choice if she accepted.7 Ben was not running for office at all—much less as an opponent to Alexandria —and his offer of payment would likely have been a campaign violation. This was not an offer made in good faith, this was showboating. After attempting to ignore the gambit for a day or so, Alexandria responded via Twitter, saying: “Just like catcalling, I don't owe a response to unsolicited requests from men with bad intentions. And also like catcalling, for some reason they feel entitled to one.”

In presentations during meetings, a similar phenomenon can happen. People might ask off-topic questions to test presenters, undermine their credibility, and make themselves look smart in the process. It’s a power play that’s been used for years and can be incredibly distracting, forcing someone who was in a position of authority at the beginning of the meeting to suddenly have to defend their expertise.

Just like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed out, women don't owe a response to off-topic requests from men (or anyone else). Marginalized people shouldn’t have to defend themselves when disruptors feel the need to question their credentials. Allies can be on the lookout for these kinds of questions and shut them down.

Want an example of how an ally handled showboating beautifully? Hilary J. Scarsella—an expert in trauma, theology, and religious practice—told her Facebook audience about an experience she had at an airport after speaking at a conference. In a nutshell, she was sitting next to another speaker from the conference, and a man sitting across from them started a conversation. When he heard about the conference they’d spoken at, he launched into a diatribe about her area of expertise.

And then an epic and inspiring thing happened. As the man stood up to catch his plane, the other speaker leaned over and said, “Dude, you missed an opportunity. You had an expert in theology and trauma sitting in front of you. You say you’re interested in these things but you didn’t ask her a single question. You didn’t try to learn anything at all from her.” The speaker continued: “You know she has advanced degrees and is published but you just tried to show her that you know more about her work than she does. You missed out. Big fail, man.”8

Well played.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.