Bonded Book Club: I'm Judging You Discussion

Join us as we discuss March's #BondedBookClub pick, I'm Judging You by Luvvie Ajayi. Through hilarious essays, I'm Judging You dissects a range of topics, including personal hygiene, social media etiquette, racism, sex tapes, rape culture, plastic surgery, weight, homophobia, reality television, feminism, and even the Comic Sans font. The book is a light, 21st-century discussion of manners and morals, with Ajayi taking people to task for oversharing on social media or for being casually bigoted.

The following videos feature five selected chapters from I'm Judging you. Settle in as Sam and Brittany work through discussion questions from topics ranging from racism and privilege, to social media and fake news.

Follow along as Samantha delves into Luvvie's oh-so-relevant chapter, Dumbed Down News.

Question 1: On page 180 Luvvie writes: “I understand that the traditional press is trying to compete by making sure they constantly stay on the pulse of things and report them as they happen. However, this means they are not taking the time to confirm stories, verify sources, and double-check facts. In the culture of ‘FIRST,’ it is easy to fall into this trap because if you aren’t first, are you relevant?” What do you think?

Question 2: In our current political and news climate, we have a two different, but related problems at work. First, is the idea that it is better to report first, without fact checking, simply to be first. Second, is the deliberate creation and spreading of fake news. Luvvie makes the assertion that “perception is usually more important than the actual truth.” Considering how difficult it has been to debunk fake stories, or correct those that were misreported, do you agree with her assertion?

Question 3: Luvvie spends much of this chapter looking at the responsibilities and shortcomings of major media and news outlets as it relates to accurate reporting but what responsibility do you think we as the consumers of media when it comes to fact checking, or spreading of fake news?

Brittany continues the conversation with Luvvie's chapter, The Privilege Principle.

Question 1: What is privilege?

Question 2: What are examples of privilege?

Question 3: Acknowledging my privilege makes me uncomfortable. Did I do something wrong?

Question 4: Why does knowing about my privilege matter?

Question 5: What’s the effect of not acknowledging privilege?

Question 6: Luvvie says: “Being quiet about race or not wanting to acknowledge it, is being a part of the problem, no matter how nonracist you personally are.” Are people that don’t want to acknowledge or discuss race, propping up a system of racism?

Question 7: How can I do better in regards to my privilege?

Understand Luvvie's chapter, Racism Is For Assholes, and learn steps you can take to combat centuries of systemic racism.

Question 1: On page 73, Luvvie writes: “First of all, even nice people can be racists, because racism does not depend on malicious intent.” What role do you believe intent plays in racism? Can you be racist if you meant well? (hint: yes)

Question 2: What is the difference between equality and equity? Why does it matter?

Question 3: Why do you think Luvvie choose to bold the names of certain people she discussed in this chapter? Was it effective? (Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Stanley Jones)

Join Brittany as she discusses Your Facebook Is My Favorite Soap Opera, Luvvie's ode to social media oversharers.

Question 1: Has social media allowed us to create a culture of oversharing? Question 2: And/or has social media enabled us to fabricate a totally fake, unrealistic projection of what we want our life to appear like to other people consuming it? Question 3: If either or both of these are true, is it problematic?

Sam wraps up our discussion with Luvvie's hilarious chapter, How To Succeed At Business Failure.

Question 1: Does formality matter anymore? Should it? (ex. the font we use, the format of the letter we send, the clothes we wear to work, etc.)

Question 2: Where is the line between projecting confidence and valuing your skills, and misrepresenting yourself?

---

Be sure to join us for Bonded Book Club in April. We'll be reading Bastard Out Of Carolina: A Novel by Dorothy Allison for Sexual Assault Awareness Month in conjunction with SCCADVASA. Join us April 26th on Facebook Live for a discussion of Dorothy Allison's semi-autobiographical book with activist, Page Chilton.