This line strikes me the most. It also sums up the first quote pretty well and puts things into perspective. I was born in the late 90s and I cannot recall that our teachers taught us the same thing. To think that they would tell us something like this is unimaginable today. Things were clearly different back then. Discussing skin colors has to be a complicated task for an elementary teacher.

"Making yourself into something you were not" puts doubt into children. This simply cannot be healthy for them. Ideally, teachers now would tell children to become what they want instead of adjusting to a "norm". Pretending to be someone or something you do not associate with would indeed just end up in alienation and confusion.

I remember a subtle yet similar example however. Remember these coloring books that they gave to children to pass time? Each spot on the picture had a dot in a certain color, indicating this is the color you had to use to fill in the blanks. The skin color of people in these books ended up being peach again. Unless I remember that wrongly of course. It poses the same question once more: why did we not get to choose? How many children actually thought about this?

I interpret this quote as a message telling us to be self-aware and take matters into our own hands. The system, in this context, could likely mean society. If there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that talk of society is one of the most daunting yet profound subjects one could engage with. I've talked with people who feel trapped in this system, unable to act - their lives, influenced and determined by the limitations of rules and societal norms. I think this quote is implying that you shouldn't look at it that way and try to do the opposite: make the best out of what you have, especially if you don't correspond to these norms. People make and break the system.

Let's use a concrete and modern example. There isn't all that much representation of people of color in let's say, fashion advertisements. This means a fashion artist could look into this, make it a subject of research or build a lifetime project around it. By bringing more awareness, you slowly change what is considered the norm. You contribute to the system and the system will change. We inevitably are a part of it. Unless you're a self-sustaining forest hermit perhaps. Change has to come slow, but change is possible.

This quote has so much truth in it. It uses the example of non-gendered bathrooms, claiming we cannot be comfortable in them because we were not taught to be comfortable in them starting from a young age. If children were introduced to concepts like gender binaries early on, less people would think strangely about bumping into a non-gendered bathroom nowadays. It is a subject I pondered about a lot as well personally and I had the same conclusion. We learn about gender binaries as a mostly black and white concept when growing up and that significantly affects how we view things like non-gendered bathrooms as adults.

The Witte de With Center in Rotterdam was admittedly the first time I ever came across a bathroom like that myself. I, too, stood still, thinking that the ones introducing these must have been very brave. It is just very unusual to see something like that and you start worrying about how others who do not understand what it is for, might perceive it. I'm seeing how this quote nicely fits in with the previous two quotes. It is about teaching children the right thing early on. It is also about slowly introducing change.

First things first, I don't like using nor seeing the word "privileged" because it's a word that has been thrown around with negative connotations far too often. It stirs this "you vs me" mentality where one wishes to not be associated with another group, usually with feelings of superiority simply because they had different life experiences. Experiences, in this case, we cannot control (we didn't decide our race or gender, nor the experiences associated with it). If you wanted the other group to start respecting you as a minority group, calling them "privileged" isn't the way to go, even if there's truth in it. I've seen enough people who feel unhappy about being called privileged. One shouldn't feel guilty or bad for being born white, for example. Just treat each other equally.

With that out of the way, it's undeniable that being born in a position where your work isn't being held in question for your race or gender et cetera is something not everyone can afford. Again, it's fine to have different experiences. It's fine to have work that has little connection to serious issues. There's also a certain joy in disconnecting yourself from reality by letting our fantasies come at play. Not everyone wishes to address social issues with their work every time. Myself included.