Thursday, April 16, 2009

No SUPER for you!

I'm sure you've all read the hullabaloo about Angela Slater's latest stroke of genius, but in case you're not tired of hearing about it, here's my $0.02.
I have to agree that the term 'superhuman' has some funny connotations. But using it doesn't mean we think we're innately better than baseline humans. It's not an endorsement of eugenics, world-conquering, George Bernard Shaw or Nietzsche. It just means we are something different, but still human. How do I say this without sounding cliche? Many (dare I say most?) of us have lived as baseline humans at some point. We were raised by baseline humans. We will marry baseline humans and raise baseline human kids. You can't just throw us off the 'human' boat. We're not a different species. We're a minority, a normal variation of humanity, no matter how we got our powers or what we do with them. We don't somehow forfeit our humanity (along with some very important civil rights) just because we can do a few things that you can't. You need to recognize and respect that.
We've been 'superhumans' since the 1940s. It's what we call ourselves, and how we think of ourselves, and how we include ALL of us- the planet-movers, the telepaths, the cryogenetics, the people with the little weird powers that nobody has a name for yet. It's part of our identity, our subculture. And if you're not part of that culture, you don't get to name it. Seriously, human privilege much?
If Ms. Slater would like to call herself an 'original human', she can go right ahead. She can start her own little 'original human' parade, for all I care. I will support a person's right to call herself whatever she wants. If the rest of you supers out there want to be called metahumans, parahumans, post-humans, uberhumans, pinksnorglyhuffalump humans, then go fly your freak flag. But don't tell anyone else they can't fly theirs.

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