In the past few months I have been seen more and more examples of virulent racist, sexist and anti-LGBTQ reactions in the Romanian press. My unpleasant surprise was to find such attitudes in a part of the Romanian society which I thought shared my ideas on politics and society. One can find many educated, well-paid, westward-looking young people showing a profound misunderstanding concerning the problems of minorities (of all kinds). It is really sad to read on channels I used to trust climato-sceptic, anti-feminist and anti-“cancel-culture” articles, or to hear that people I thought to be the future of Romania expressing homophobic or anti-vaccination ideas.

I found particularly wrenching the
fake controversy around Gone with the wind. Probably it is simply a problem of mistaken extrapolation: because we share some ideas about the future of the country does not mean that they think like me. But I am still scared because it seems to me that a believer in one conspiracy is a believer in all conspiracies.

Anyway, I am convinced that one problem is that most people malign the others without having any understanding of their life. Articles like ‘How LGBT+ scientists would like to be included and welcomed in STEM workplaces’, remind me that it is really difficult to imagine where they come from.

Romanian commentators are particularly excited by news pieces about talks and seminars about maleness and whiteness so much maligned by conservatives (White House directs federal agencies to cancel race-related training sessions it calls ‘un-American propaganda). Myself I would really be interested to explore my understanding of what it means not to be white and male.