There’s no denying that we live in a very frightening time. Sea levels are rising, the middle class is disappearing, and the threat of nuclear war constantly dangles over our heads. Most frightening of all is that every new problem that arises drives Americans further apart. In an interview earlier this year, Christine LaRocca (a staunch liberal Democrat and my mother) professed that she feels more alienated by our current political state than she ever has before. Yet this is true on the other side of the aisle as well. In her book Strangers in Their Own Land, Arlie Russell Hochschild notes that conservative Americans have felt equally disenfranchised by increased government regulation and “inclusive” policies like affirmative action. As our country splits further down partisan lines, many cities have made names for themselves as liberal or conservative strongholds. Portland is one of the former; its automatic association with the “weird” has attracted many marginalized and disenfranchised people. A 2015 Gallup News poll found that Portland has the second highest percentage of LGBT+ citizens in the country, further reinforcing the city’s image as an inclusive haven.
Welcome to liberal paradise?
But how far does that liberal inclusivity go? The picture that I’m focusing on in this post is not from Portland, but the message it sends certainly applies to our city. In early 2017, a nationwide debate over transgender bathroom laws prompted some businesses to make their toilets a bit more inclusive. The traditional stick-figure men and women denoting which bathroom was which were replaced seemingly overnight by gender neutral or gender mixed signage. In cities like Portland, thousands celebrated what would certainly herald a new era of acceptance and an end to the bathroom debate. I celebrated too; I think gender neutral bathrooms are an important step towards reducing the hatred trans people face in this country. I don’t however, think the fight for equal bathroom rights is over, and here’s why.
How neoliberal of them.
The sign on the left claims this bathroom is for everyone regardless of age, race, or gender, but the sign on the right makes it clear that “everyone” really means “everyone who has money.” This is a symptom of what some sociologists call late capitalism, which is basically when neoliberalism hits critical mass. It’s the point when businesses and corporations abandon all pretext of catering to the individual and make it clear they’re just out here to make as much money as they possibly can. It’s a step away from barring people from entering a store unless they have some proof of capital, similar to how California treated refugees of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. And it’s incredibly important in cities like Portland, where almost 4,000 people don't have permanent housing.
The first time I saw that picture, I didn’t really understand what was wrong with it. After all, every corner store and restaurant I’d ever been to had the same rules. When I finally realized that it was, in essence, a violent edict against the poor, I was shocked. How could I have gone my entire life without realizing how twisted these policies were? Duncan Watts approaches this problem in “Why Everything That Seems Obvious Isn’t.” He claims that “one problem with common sense is that what we learn from experience does not lead to a well-defined, self-consistent system for understanding the world in the first place” (33). In this case, the neoliberal system I grew up with condones discrimination against the poor, which in turn normalizes any further discrimination I might witness. It’s subtle, of course; the bathroom signs don’t say “Murder The Homeless!” But they do open the gates for other oppressive practices, many of them much more blatant than the bathroom issue.
On November 10 of this year, Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle threatened to move the headquarters for his brand Sorel from Portland, citing “menacing” people “camping in the doorway.” He didn’t cite any specific violence against his employees, and I doubt that any specific violence has actually occurred.Mayor Ted Wheeler’s official response was to tweet that “homelessness is not a crime.” Ironic, considering he’s determined to designate eight city blocks as “pedestrian use zones.” What that really means is that homeless people would be barred from sitting or sleeping on these blocks, which just so happen to include the Columbia headquarters in question. It’s a step away from some of the policies adopted in my home town of Denver, where the city has lined some shop entrances with spikes to deter the disadvantaged from resting there.
I love Portland. I love that so many of its citizens seem dedicated to fighting injustice in all its myriad forms. But a big part of that fight is inward reflection; realizing that what we see and process often doesn’t correspond with what’s actually happening. Liberals and the left are right to rejoice inclusive bathroom laws, but that inclusivity needs to apply to everybody.
I really enjoyed this article and how you examined the "inclusive" measures that are being taken with gender neutral bathrooms. I think that it can be difficult to notice the prominence of neoliberal policies when they don't always directly affect you. I find that neoliberal ideology focuses on trying to appear socially equal, but only if they are able to continue to make money. Social progress for marginalized groups is good, but it is necessary to focus on all groups, including the poor.
ReplyDeleteI definitely learned a lot of new things in this article, especially about the horrifying policies that people enact in order to deter the homeless from occupying spaces. This was a great analysis!