ew, how 101
if you are nondisabled and working in the disability community…if you are white and working with people of color…if you are an adult working with youth…or, quite often, if you are a nondisabled white adult working with disabled youth, many who have been abandoned by our education system because of racism/classism/ableism…basically if you are a person who has authority and privilege and are working with people who traditionally have not…
think hard as hell before you leverage “professionalism.” if it silences people, you are not helping us, let alone being an ally. there is constructive criticism and there are times when things, like “tone” and “professionalism” are used as a strategy to steal people from their power. it’s not a new technique. we know it when we see it.
(& frankly, i do not agree w/ your definition of professionalism. i would much rather hire people who make spelling mistakes and do not always use the right words if they are liberation-oriented. professionalism to me is being able to interact with one’s community in a way that recognizes humanity, is accountable to learning, and builds respect among people. you can keep your little bureaucrat. how ableist & nonprofit industrial complex-y of you. gross.)
It can’t be said often enough.
And “ew, how 101″ has got to be the funniest post title, ever.
Kowalski
27 Oct 09 at 10:06 PM
” i would much rather hire people who make spelling mistakes and do not always use the right words if they are liberation-oriented.”
Yes. Something else (stating the obvious here, but I think it needs saying) when “professionalism” comes to mean “wearing a suit and knowing jargon from university-level education” then “professionalism” becomes difficult/impossible for lower-income people (and whenever classism enters the room, it drags in its bestest buddy, racism.)
When “professionalism” comes to mean “fitting social norms, communicating in standard ways, using the ‘right’ words, never making spelling mistakes” then only neurotypical people can ever be truly “professional.”
“professionalism to me is being able to interact with one’s community in a way that recognizes humanity, is accountable to learning, and builds respect among people.”
That’s the best definition I’ve come accross.
sanabituranima
28 Oct 09 at 7:03 AM
sanabituranima, wow— i love how succinct you are in just a comment. that is describes it perfectly.
kowalski, love to you, as always! <3
cripchick
28 Oct 09 at 4:58 PM
You cut right to the chase as always. I will try to hold this in my heart. It should be a partnership relying on the best skills of us all, not where one person’s skills silence the others…
Terri
28 Oct 09 at 5:41 PM
I love this post. would you mind possibly guest posting it to my blog. i’m all about telling privilege people these days to sit down and stfu (myself included) and i think this is another great essay on why. going back into academia i’ve remembered how silencing the discourse of “intellectual engagemen” is. i just want to collect a couple of different voices on this issue. edit it or don’t if you’re down you can just shoot a copy to my email if you’re interested.
gogojojo
29 Oct 09 at 5:41 PM
I’ve always believed “professionalism” is a classist concept (either as compliment OR as a put-down). When I press people who use the word to DEFINE it, I have found it usually means nothing truly substantial and measurable–or at least we can say the qualitative definition is highly subjective and very particular to each person who employs the word.
It often means values that white society has assigned. I enjoyed this post, describing a black man (without even bothering to use his name!) in these terms…they would undoubtedly refer to this man as having the necessary and coveted “professionalism”…I have also been described in this condescending fashion throughout my working life, as if the elites are amazed I can spell or do anything right at all. It has always pissed me off; I fully recognize the insult being delivered.
They can shove their so-called professionalism right up their asses…
DaisyDeadhead
30 Oct 09 at 11:33 AM
All I can say is “amen to that.” THis entry has given me a whole new outlook on what that word truly means.
Daria
30 Oct 09 at 1:39 PM
When professionalism means learning to use the language of the oppressor and using the very language created by & used by& strictly for the very system we r trying to dismantle-i will take heart & stuttering & passion thank u very much
noemi
5 Nov 09 at 7:45 PM
I certainly struggle with perceived and/or real authority figures, but perhaps it would be an interesting exercise to — instead of condescending to “professionalistics” — take an opportunity kindly reflect back to the person how their comment might be perceived by the traditionally disempowered. Their success is yours if you help to create it.
No?
Anittah Patrick
11 Nov 09 at 1:53 PM
As a disabled person, who does strive for professionalism, you’ve given me a lot of food for thought here. (I will say that I strive for professionalism because if I act professional, people listen to me, instead of ignoring what I have to say. You’re right, though, that “professionalism” is the same as “white, able-bodied, working, upper-middle-class”, and that is not an OK thing to value.) Thank you for pointing this out, and checking my privilege.
Avendya
17 Nov 09 at 8:04 PM
Found via FWD.
Find it a very interesting post. My boss who is very welcoming and generally great commented recently that I am very much a take me as I am person and that maybe I need to be more “professional”(working in academia, research not teaching per se). Still grappling with what that was supposed to mean and whether it was constructive or not. I am a woman with “invisible” disabilities, passionate about what I do but who doesn’t have the energy to try to “pass” all the time and don’t feel I should have to. I think that makes people uncomfortable.
curiousities
18 Nov 09 at 3:22 AM
This is very well said. I think that professionalism is important but it gets way too distorted. On one hand, sometimes it’s because the professional is struggling with the barriers, but on the other, it’s a lack of ability to identify with the client/person that is supposed to being served. That attitude gets us nowhere.
Nickie
20 Nov 09 at 8:35 AM
if you are nondisabled and working in the disability community…if you are white and working with people of color…if you are an adult working with youth…or, quite often, if you are a nondisabled white adult working with disabled youth, many who have been abandoned by our education system because of racism/classism/ableism…basically if you are a person who has authority and privilege and are working with people who traditionally have not…
think hard as hell before you leverage “professionalism.”
I agree, the class in power can use professionalism as a way to leverage authority. It is true that white, non-disabilied adults can use such “professionalism” to assert power. They should “think hard as hell” before continuing their push for more power.
At the same time, PWD’s, people of color and youth can use the same stratagie to incress their own power… but at what cost? Every time we as a people use “professionalism” to incress our power we reinforce the notion that “professionalism” has some value. We may inadvertintly be reinforcing the notion that professionalism can be used to define a persons worth. What bullshit!
We, as PWD’s, should ALSO “think hard as hell” before we leverage “progessionalism”.
Michael Murray
5 Mar 10 at 10:59 AM