Offence, Power and Progress

Analysis

BBC

News, Politics

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2017

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2017 it's easier than ever to express offence. The angry face icon on Facebook, a sarcasm-loaded tweet or a (comparatively) old-fashioned blog post allow us to highlight the insensitivities of others and how they make us feel - in a matter of moments. Increasingly, offence has consequences: people are told what they can and cannot wear, comedy characters are put to bed. Earlier this year, a white artist was condemned for her depiction of the body of a murdered black teenager. Those who were offended demanded that the painting be destroyed because 'white creative freedoms have been founded on the constraint of others'. It's easy to scoff. Detractors refer to those asking for a new level of cultural sensitivity as "snowflakes" and insist the offence they feel is self-indulgent. But history teaches that fringe discussions often graduate to mainstream norms. So are these new idealists setting a fresh standard for cultural sensitivity? A standard that society will eventually come to observe? Mobeen Azhar puts aside familiar critiques about the threat to free speech. Instead, he tries to understand the challenging arguments put forward by those who are pushing for new norms, and who believe that being offended will create a more culturally aware, progressive society.

Featuring contributions from X-Factor star Honey G, black lesbian punk rockers Big Joanie and RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Charlie Hides

Producer: Tim Mansel.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.6	My name's Linda Davies and I commission podcast for BBC Sounds.
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0:36.0	Thanks for downloading analysis, the podcast about the ideas behind the news.
0:41.0	Why not give us a rating or a review on the site where you get your
0:44.6	podcasts? We really appreciate it. And now, Mabin Azar sets out to understand why a
0:50.6	younger generation believes that being offended will create a more culturally
0:54.8	aware and progressive society.
0:56.7	So what are you playing me?
1:00.9	I'm putting on crooked room, which is actually about being a black woman in society. Sardine Taylor Stone calls herself a cultural producer.
1:18.6	That's what would more traditionally be known as an activist.
1:25.0	She's also the drummer and singer of online for venues who want to book them.
1:42.0	It said that white people wearing anything that is not of their culture
1:46.3	is offensive.
1:47.8	That includes dreadlocks, saris and bindies,
1:50.8	the forehead marking rooted in Hinduism. The objective to create a safe space for the
1:57.2	band in which the ills of cultural appropriation are understood by the venue's staff and the audience. I meet
2:04.8	shardine at her flat in South London.
	...

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