Talk:Respectability politics

But what does it mean?
I've read the article and even made a tiny editing fix. But I don't get what the term means.

Is the phrase "respectability politics" intended as a reference to an effort by blacks/gays/minorities to "clean up their own"?

Is it intended as a reference to a type of "blaming the victim"?

Do the folks using the phrase agree with Cosby/Rock?

Are they refering to what Cosby/Rock are doing or are they refering to what Cosby/Rock are calling on others to do?

Or are they refering to something Cosby/Rock is doing wrong? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1C2:1200:7860:A4FD:BFE6:2E41:6FAB (talk) 02:03, 29 June 2016 (UTC)

Category:Political correctness ?
Can someone explain/justify why this article is in that category? (To be fair I have no idea what "political correctness" even means anymore, other than a derogatory word for anything/anyone whose politics are to the left of Donald Trump.) Jan sewi (talk) 15:26, 21 October 2016 (UTC)


 * I have removed it pending such an explanation to justify the article's inclusion in said category. —Tom Morris (talk) 08:21, 30 November 2016 (UTC)

Arbitrary category?
The article mentions "marginalized groups" but it seems to me that based on the provided evidence, the concept of respectability politics can be applied far more generally. Framing the liberal connotation as such would make it a useful addition, but as it is, it falsely asserts this slant as NPOV. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.66.73.50 (talk) 21:05, 11 February 2017 (UTC)

Heavy weasel infestation
Re When these figures promote respectability politics, this may serve as an attempt to police some of their fellow group members.

Who? How may? Hoe many some?

Change it to concretes: While promoting X the Ys do Ws to Zeds. Zezen (talk) 11:45, 21 June 2020 (UTC)


 * that's my copy from about 50 versions ago. go read the version that preceded it & see if you think this article should even exist. I say let's delete it!! skakEL 18:22, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

re-org and "essay" tag
I moved some content around but didn't really change the content. I suggest the "essay" tag be applied to any specific sections where the copy is not written with an encyclopedic tone, instead of the whole article. if the whole article has this problem, it needs to be re-organized further most likely large sections should be cut & condensed.

this is a very postmodern & academic topic and I think academic bias is becoming a thing here. while an average reader may be able to understand the concept here, the theoretical underpinnings are slippery. even where experts agree, explaining in detail becomes very esoteric. skakEL 18:20, 30 October 2020 (UTC)

Article is not balanced
The content is far from neutral. Everything presented here is just implied to be factual and there's no opposing/alternative viewpoints at all, at least not any that are treated fairly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:8801:7115:B900:502E:B20B:D578:1090 (talk) 07:41, 10 January 2022 (UTC)

No definition in lede
It should be possible to summarise a definition in one sentence and place it in the lede. At present, the lede gives a far more general categorisation rather than a definition. 87.126.21.225 (talk) 22:17, 7 October 2022 (UTC)


 * IP, cam you give us a bit more clarification? Not sure what you're asking for. Valereee (talk) 23:36, 7 October 2022 (UTC)


 * Valereee, what I am asking for is a definition of the concept that the article describes, and I am also asking for it to be placed in the lead paragraph of this article. What is currently found in the lead paragraph is some statements about the concept, including a general category that it belongs to, but not a definition. I hope that the point of my comment is clearer now.--87.126.21.225 (talk) 03:05, 9 October 2022 (UTC)
 * IP, I've copied some description from section, does that help? Valereee (talk) 18:32, 9 October 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm reacting a bit late, but thanks! I don't know if the current definition is the result of what you did, but at any rate it's reasonable and comprehensible now.--87.126.21.225 (talk) 10:02, 15 July 2023 (UTC)

Seriously, What Does It Mean?
As Mr/s Mac Address said six years ago, "I've read the article... [b]ut I don't get what the term means."

WP:LEDE tells use that "The average Wikipedia visit is a few minutes long. The lead is the first thing most people will read upon arriving at an article, and may be the only portion of the article that they read." This article's lede rearranges the words of the subject then tells us that's it's a form of moralistic discourse [which means what?] and that it's a matter of debate and controversy. What is controversial and what are they debating? Whether it's good or bad? Maybe they're just trying to figure out what it means, too.

The rest of the roughly three thousand words waffle about as if afraid of offending someone, but I can't even tell whom we are trying to coddle. "Any behavior that is deemed unworthy of respect within a specific group will consequently be condemned and considered inferior compared to the differing 'respectable' behavior." Absolutely; I completely agree. Is the oppression of dissent 'respectability politics' or is it the flaunting of those community standards? Higginbotham "focused on the revitalization of the black Baptist Church." Was she saying the churches forced conformity or drove a separate Black identity (and which one does respectability politics think is a good idea)? I've read this article through several times and I think it's saying that respectability politics wrongly pushes blind conformity... or the reverse... maybe?

One last note: 'hegemonic' is misused in the LGBT section. The author might have meant 'homogeneous' (enforced sameness), but hegemonic cannot modify society as a whole. We can talk about a straight hegemony within that society (thus pressuring gays into heteronormative lifestyles), or that straights exercise a hegemonic control over the rest of us, but it does not work as written. Cheers, Last1in (talk) 00:58, 8 October 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Gender and Politics in Global Perspective
— Assignment last updated by A.lejla (talk) 19:20, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Black Women and Popular Culture
— Assignment last updated by Bezzza (talk) 23:26, 5 December 2023 (UTC)