a lot of you hate historians and archaeologists, and i think thatās a problem
look, i fully recognize that there are reasons to be skeptical of history and archaeology. i am very on board with criticizing academia as an oppressive institution, and the way that researchers take their bigotry and bias with them to their work. i also recognize that academia does a pretty bad job of communicating what it does to the public, and thatās a part of why peopleās hostility to it is able to flourish.
but i am disturbed by the pervasive narrative in online leftist spaces that people who research the human past are ignorant and bigoted, and i think we need to do more to combat that narrative.
historiansĀ being homophobicĀ hasĀ become aĀ wholeĀ meme,Ā and it feels likeĀ people are just using historians as a homophobia scapegoat, when in reality the humanities are overwhelmingly left-leaning. people also keep blaming historians for erasing the homoeroticism ofĀ fictional literary characters, which is justā¦ not what historians do. homophobic biases and erasures in the interpretation of history over the past few hundred years are a very real thingĀ thatās important to learn about, but scholars have radically shifted away from that approach in recent generations, and these memes are not helping people outside the field to understand history and reception. instead, a lot of people are coming away with the impression thatā¦
(sourceā¦ really? nobody?)
this threadĀ gets bonus points for the comments claiming that modern historians argue about whether achilles was a top or a bottom using homophobic stereotypes, which i can only guess is a misunderstanding of the erastes/eromenos model (a relationship schema in classical greece; i think people have debated whether achilles and patroclus represent an early version of it). also a commenter claims that the movie troy invented the idea of achilles and patroclus being cousins when no, they were also cousins in lots of ancient sources.
thereāsĀ this postĀ about roman dodecahedra (link includes explanation of why the original post is misleading).
thereās thisĀ threadĀ about how some thin gold spirals from ancient denmark look exactly like materials used in gold embroidery to this day but archaeologists are stupid and donāt know that because they dont talk to embroiderers enough. in fact, the articleĀ says they were most likely used for decorating clothing, whether as a fringe, braided into hair, or embroidered. so the archaeologists in the article basically agree with the post, theyre just less certain about it, because an artifact looking similar to a modern device doesnāt necessarily mean they have identical uses.
this threadĀ has a lot of people interpreting academic nuance as erasure. the museum label literally says that this kind of statue typically depicts a married couple, giving you the factual evidence so you can interpret it. it would be false to say āthese two women are marriedā because there was no gay marriage in ancient egypt. (interpreting nuance as erasure or ignorance is a running theme here, and it points to a disconnect, a public ignorance of how history is studied, that we can very much remedy)
lots of otherĀ conspiracy theory-ishĀ stuff about ancient egypt is common in social justice communities, which egyptologists on this siteĀ have done a good job of debunking
oh, and thisĀ kind of thing has been going around. the problem with it is that there are loads of marginalized academics who research things related to their own lives, and lived experience and rigorous research are different forms of expertise that are both valuable.
so why does this matter?
none of these are isolated incidents. for everything iāve linked here, there are examples i havent linked. anti-intellectualism, especially against the humanities, is rampant lately across the political spectrum, and itās very dangerous. itās not the same as wanting to see and understand evidence for yourself, itās not the same as criticizing institutions of academic research. itās the assumption that scholars are out to get you and the perception that there is no knowledge to be gained from thorough study. that mindset is closely connected to the denial of (political, scientific, and yes historical) facts that weāve been seeing all around us in recent years.
on a personal note, so many marginalized scholars are trying to survive the dumpster fire of academia because we care that much about making sure the stories that are too often unheard donātĀ get left out of historyā¦ and when thatās the entire focus of my life right now, itās disheartening to see how many of my political allies are just going to assume the worst about the entire field
