The bullying and gatekeeping on just about everything. It was in every facet of social life as well as larger significant institutions. For whatever reason it was really important to body check people (particularly new people) in everything. It would be usually this very performative checks too, they were done usually in public and often like ambushes. For whatever reason from the 1990s to the mid 2010s it was "cool" to just be a bully to new people.
From nerd shit like video games and comics, to serious things like regular working jobs to political organizations. It was super prevalent while at the same time everyone was saying they wanted change. It was a strange time, everyone was just a jerk while using “authenticity/keeping it real/keeping the posers out” as a shield for that jerk-y-ness. New guy on the job? Be a jerk to see if he's "tough enough for the gig". Black woman in at the comic shop? Gatekeep her knowledge of Spawn and Lupin The 3rd. Someone is new to leftist thought? Call them an op and a plant until they can quote all of Capital Vol.1.
I remember as well that calling it out made you extra "Weenie Hut Jr." baby for some reason, you bullied for calling out bullying. I remember at the time being "tough on fakers" (not that people used the word "fakers" at the time but you know what I mean) was "cool".
I don't miss that exclusionary mindset at all. It sucked. It sucked to be bullied, it sucked to see bullying, and it sucked having to maintain a faux authenticity when trying new things. It was a weird time that growth and growing was meant to be in the shadows, which prevented a lot of people from growing.
My general assumption is bullying/gatekeeping was our grand scale Matrix social software trying to maintain the status quo. I am glad we got a more inclusive (in the non-:LIB: meaning of the word) update in the 2015s and beyond.
The bullying and gatekeeping on just about everything. It was in every facet of social life as well as larger significant institutions. For whatever reason it was really important to body check people (particularly new people) in everything. It would be usually this very performative checks too, they were done usually in public and often like ambushes. For whatever reason from the 1990s to the mid 2010s it was "cool" to just be a bully to new people.
From nerd shit like video games and comics, to serious things like regular working jobs to political organizations. It was super prevalent while at the same time everyone was saying they wanted change. It was a strange time, everyone was just a jerk while using “authenticity/keeping it real/keeping the posers out” as a shield for that jerk-y-ness. New guy on the job? Be a jerk to see if he's "tough enough for the gig". Black woman in at the comic shop? Gatekeep her knowledge of Spawn and Lupin The 3rd. Someone is new to leftist thought? Call them an op and a plant until they can quote all of Capital Vol.1.
I remember as well that calling it out made you extra "Weenie Hut Jr." baby for some reason, you bullied for calling out bullying. I remember at the time being "tough on fakers" (not that people used the word "fakers" at the time but you know what I mean) was "cool".
I don't miss that exclusionary mindset at all. It sucked. It sucked to be bullied, it sucked to see bullying, and it sucked having to maintain a faux authenticity when trying new things. It was a weird time that growth and growing was meant to be in the shadows, which prevented a lot of people from growing.
My general assumption is bullying/gatekeeping was our grand scale Matrix social software trying to maintain the status quo. I am glad we got a more inclusive (in the non-:LIB: meaning of the word) update in the 2015s and beyond.