There are a few different posts going around analyzing the concept of fictional superpowers or magical abilities or whatever… and how they’re used as an analogy for various real human marginalizations, and the problems that can come with that (e.g. viewing actual minorities as potentially dangerous) …and the ways a good interpretation can avoid those problems.

And some good points have been made.

But here’s one i haven’t seen addressed yet.

Often, the closest real-world analogy to a potentially dangerous superpower (in terms of how oppressors respond to it) is an actual, real ability that marginalized people have.

And it is the ability to see through bullshit.

People who have not faced any significant amount of hardship in life (or, hell, even many people who have faced some and assume that’s all of it) often genuinely believe that the world is better and fairer than it really is. And they’re very resistant to being convinced otherwise.

And this often makes them very useful tools for those who want to control the world in ways that make it worse and more unfair.

But people who have faced marginalization– of any of a lot of kinds– are, just by virtue of this experience, more likely to have the mundane but too-rare little superpower of being aware of how shitty society can be.

And from the viewpoint of someone trying to be a dictator, this power is dangerous.

Because it’s what gives people a motivation to protest. And to vote against would-be dictators.

Knowledge is power. And experience– including the shittiest experience of being oppressed– is knowledge.

And that isn’t the original reason oppression starts… but often, in real life, it is the entire reason why someone tries to continue keeping a minority oppressed.

Discredit the words of the marginalized, because they foment protest if believed. Suppress the votes of minorities, because of how they’re likely to vote.

I think sometimes the analogy really is that simple.

…