Nobody is entitled to your listening | Meet Me In The Margins →

Great post from Wendy RM about the power of listening and people’s felt entitlement to be listened to:

“My voice matters.” This has been a mantra for the last five years. And, yes, of course it fucking does, but my listening matters too. And what’s more it matters in the same way. It matters because it is a part of who I am. It’s also a force/tool with which I can have an impact (hopefully positive) on my culture and surroundings. Listening can be just as powerful a force as speaking and storytelling.

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Thing is, unless I am being paid for it, (&man are there limits and problematic capitalist hierarchies to that!) I’ve realized that nobody is entitled to my listening. It is a gift. A tool I have crafted and honed and nobody has a right to participate in my attention it unless I say so.

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4 months ago  /  6 notes  /