La Daronne is the queen of not-so-stupid advice, covered with a large dose of more or less subtle humor. Here she is back to help a reader!
The question for Daronne
Dear Daronne,
I take the liberty of sending you this letter because (like everyone else, I think) I am very shocked by what is happening in Palestine. I would like to do something, but at the same time I don’t know what.
I see many things happening online, sometimes criticism of those who do nothing or continue to live their lives as if everything was fine. On the one hand I blame myself, because I recognize myself in these attacks and I know I am privileged, but on the other: what should I do? I feel totally helpless and, by and large, we all are, I think.
She
Daronne’s response
My little red riding hood,
I remember that when “it all began”, before Christmas, some of my Instagram contacts were outraged by our stories of Christmas trees and other turkeys with chestnuts even if only 3,000 km away… You know what happens at Just 3,000 km.
Since I wasn’t the last one to share photos of my dish, I felt targeted and this made me angry: how could anyone believe that I, GAUCHO, WOKE, don’t give a damn! Posting photos of my homemade turd-shaped yule log did nothing to stop my heart from bleeding for Gaza. I’ve been volunteering for years, writing about feminism and inequality, and often saying things like: It reeks of neocolonialism« , « The problem is capitalism ” and other ” There’s no way my kids are wearing camouflage-patterned clothing and playing with plastic weapons!“.
I’m on the good side!
Yes, there you go, I made a nice big one #notallmen.
Let’s stop philosophizing
Even though I was damn upset, I had to recognize that I wasn’t actually doing much for the Palestinians (or anyone else). Like you, I started to wonder. What can you do that is really useful in these cases? Transmit information on Instagram? Do I in turn rebel against our collective silence?
If that were the case, the video of civilians in disarray was sandwiched between the story of my daughter baking Christmas cookies and a photo of our city’s main square invaded by fir trees, hello hypocrisy.
Ultimately, is this hypocrisy serious? Personally I concluded no, as long as I don't tell myself fairy tales. I wasn't going to take responsibility for a pain that wasn't mine by pretending that my existence was also on hold. I couldn't imagine how these civilians felt, and I was a privileged middle-class woman, the mother of privileged middle-class people. Good for us, but we're not here to talk about ourselves.
Instead of getting depressed, what can we do?
We can actually share information over networks. Personally, I would avoid inserting a post of complaint between two photos of love and well-being, as a matter of respect. Having said that, those interested do not follow us on Instagram and perhaps believe that what matters is that we talk about it.
In addition to sharing the information, I have a few other suggestions:
Talk about it IRL: Currently we mostly talk about online attacks, but avoid the topic in real life. Starting to discuss it "in real life" would already make the situation concrete and materialize its reality. We thus move away from existential questions to face the problem: what do we do?
Donate to associations: They are a bit of a killjoy, but I advise you not to launch a collection, or any action, without first inquiring with the associations that intervene on the spot. Transporting food to crisis areas is often complicated, if not impossible. The associations don't need mountains of jars cluttering up their warehouses, they need money to invest on site, according to the proven needs of the populations. So, if we can: let's not hesitate to donate to renowned structures such as Doctors of the World and Doctors Without Borders.
Don't divert the cause : What is happening in Palestine is not a conflict or a religious war. Just because we are the same size as the cosmos doesn't mean we have to start discriminating against each other.
I'm leaving you, I'll try to resume normal activity,
La Bisette
Your Daronne
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Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
