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Wednesday, August 7, 2024

The Recognition of the Mainstream Culture

 

I must say that at first, I felt a joyous sense of historical vindication when I saw professional Cornhole being played on a national sports television network. This meant that the activity of tossing beanbags into holes for points was now being recognized as legitimate by the mainstream culture. And that meant that, by extension, cripples were also being recognized as legitimate by the mainstream culture.

Because there was a time when tossing a beanbag was something only cripples spent a lot of time doing. As a  criplet, I tossed a lot of beanbags into holes on boards, like Cornhole, or into garbage cans or whatever. I feel stupid now that I thought it was kind of fun at the time, when, in fact, it was a useless activity. It seemed destined to always be a resoundingly unmarketable skill, no matter how zealously I developed it. It was indicative of the low expectations placed on cripples.

I never dreamed that I’d see the day when tossing beanbags would be looked upon as cool enough to be covered by a national sports television network. I never dreamed that if I played my cards right, I might someday land a million-dollar beanbag endorsement deal.  I never dreamed that tossing beanbags might someday make me a chick magnet.

But then I noticed that none of the people playing Cornhole on television were crippled.  So I wondered if this was really just a matter of cultural appropriation. Because there’s a thin line between cultural appropriation and being recognized as legitimate by mainstream culture. Cultural appropriation is when the mainstream culture steals something that someone else created and pretends that they are the ones who thought it up. Why do we need the recognition of mainstream culture to feel validated? It’s like busting your ass day in and day out trying to win your father’s approval. It’s such a relief when you finally give up trying to do that and say to yourself, “Screw it. I’m cool whether he says so or not.”

That’s when my joyous sense of historical vindication went away. So now I’m thinking, “Fuck you, mainstream culture! Who needs you?

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