Tears

I found the poem Those Tears through a Carnival of Feminists, if memory serves.
I really like it because it expresses so eloquently why safe spaces are so important for oppressed peoples, why outsiders aren’t welcome, and why it’s not at all the same as when those oppressed peoples are shut out of mainstream things. When I was in High School, I was a member of the anime/D&D club, which included plenty of outcasts. There was the Guy Who Wore Skirts (not kilts, skirts) To School, tomboyishly androgynous me, and a bunch of other folks who were basically cliqueless. Had any of the popular kids tried to attend our meetings, we would have been upset. Our meetings were a chance to get away from the popular kids and be amongst folks with whom we could be ourselves without having to keep our shields up in case of attack.
Now, at the time I didn’t see it that way. Hell, at the time I refused to acknowledge that cliques existed and ignored the popular kids as much as humanly possible. But looking back, our club was a safe space for us outcasts.
It’s the same with the Lesbians Of Color potluck in the poem — it’s a safe space for an oppressed group to get together with each other and not have to deal with the ruling classes. It fascinates me that outsiders try to get into that sort of event, and then get enraged when they’re cast out. I think it’s the same phenomenon as the Right-Wingers or Masculinists who turn up in the comment section of Feminist Blogs and get pissed off when they’re told to stick to the topic at hand and quit trying to turn it around to be about men’s issues.
I’m feeling a bit out of it today so my musings may not make a ton of sense, but here they are anyway. Enjoy the poem.