The Dark Side of Classics
How to spot and avoid the insidious creep of the alt-right into Classics
The Classics community both online and in the ‘real’ world is a truly remarkable thing. People with limitless knowledge, experience and wisdom join together to share the best and newest ideas from the study of antiquity. Add to this artists, writers, podcasters, bloggers, vloggers, actors and, heaven forbid, people who post silly memes. The end result of this is a thriving community, a marketplace of ideas where we can share so much - including not infrequent drama! Unfortunately, not everyone in these spaces has good intentions or intellectual motivations.
People who have followed me for a while will know that I go out of my way to signal that my page is a safe space for a diverse range of people, and at the same time does not tolerate the worst of the world - misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia and similar ideas. The reason I have to do this, and do it regularly, is that there are many people in the world who still cling to these views and see the Ancient World as a gateway to lure people down their rabbit hole. These people come in many shapes and sizes, but today I need to talk about the most insidious group that I deal with a lot.
Something of a running joke on Twitter, we often refer to them as the Marble Bust Profile Picture™. It may be a gag but it also rings true - it is a signifier amongst these communities of shared ideals. But what lies behind this mask? Often referred to as ‘trad’ or ‘RETVRN’ types, these are the people who present a simple, presentable outward idea that hides a wealth of noxious ideologies. Their stated aim is to ‘return’ to a simpler time - a past time free from the modernist ideas that they rail against. But what comes with that is the idea that the past was a pleasure cruise for these special people - usually white men, who see diversity and progress as a sign of their ‘cultural destruction’.
So, naturally, the aesthetic of the Ancient World is a strong target for these people. The white marble statues of Greece and Rome represent an idealised form of history and culture - where the statues stand in for a perceived concept of whiteness that was later co-opted by Europeans post-renaissance. It’s an extremely apt metaphor, ironically, since the statues were once brightly painted and likely represented a cultural mélange far removed from these so-called ‘white’ people. It is symptomatic of their methods that they twist the idea of the past itself to suit whatever narrative they wish to present. Likewise the people, buildings, artefacts, writings and so much more are all targets for them, as well as the Renaissance culture they inspired.
How do you spot these types of people on Social Media? Here are 10 signs that an account is trying to draw people in before insidiously leading them down their slippery slope.
First, as we said before the marble bust picture is an indicator. Of course, some people might accidentally fall into the trap simply because they like them, so we can’t always judge them on face value - but it should give you pause.
Second, they may have a name which positions them as some sort of intellectual or a critic, as well as some oblique reference to the Ancient World to attract people interested in it.
Key words are important to spot - obsession with ‘tradition’ and the past as an amorphous concept are indicators that they are not dealing with objective truth, but rather that idealised world that they can populate with their own ideas.
Asking rhetorical questions like “What happened to us?” or “Where did we go wrong?” whilst juxtaposing this idealised past with an over-the-top modern example to make a deceitful point. The ‘Never forget what they took from you’ posts are almost a parody now, it became so overused.
In the same vein, comparison of two cherrypicked examples to represent entire sides of an argument is a classic tool - for example, choosing an elaborately decorated ornate ancient building and setting it against a modernist one deliberately designed to be provocative. It’s a dishonest way of convincing others of the validity of your entire case by arguing from extremes.
The occasional pushing of boundaries - tapping into ‘contentious’ modern issues (such as ideas of race/gender/sexuality) by extension from their usual ones -another dog whistle to those who share their beliefs already, and an opportunity to draw others in.
Promotion of ‘ideals’ of masculinity and femininity - focus on historical gender roles, body image and depictions of men and women that fit into their particular perceptions.
Cherry-picking information that fits, and denial of facts that do not. This is especially rife in their dealings with the Ancient world, where they will deny the existence of people of colour and diverse sexualities, despite a wealth of evidence to support it.
Linking to this, is the use of opposition to their views as evidence of their persecution - it’s easier to convince people that their way of life is ‘under attack’ when you are met with resistance from the people you rail against.
The other 50-90% of their content is completely unassuming - it’s often just aesthetic posts or memes that don’t disclose anything about their motives, but draw in an unsuspecting audience.
So, what can we do? We need to be vigilant obviously - call out the shit when you see it, keep an eye out for friends sharing their content and tell them about it - especially if it is the gateway stuff. These ideas fester in the darkness, so shine a light on them wherever you can. Next time you see a marble bust profile, have a look at who they follow - more often than not you’ll find some of the most hateful people and accounts right at the top of that list.
The Dark Side of Classics
You say you have a safe space and won't tolerate racism and other things. Among others, my question is, what's the current definition of racism?