"Safe space."
For a lot of people, the first thing that comes to their minds is a vision of twenty somethings in American Apparel with thick-rimmed glasses and androgynous haircuts, pressing their knees against their chest, rocking back and forth while hyperventilating, perhaps stopping every now and then to check twitter, muttering under their breath "i'm so offended".
If this is your immediate thought when imagining a safe space, I assure you, this is not the case. However, this article is for you.
Imagine a room with regular furniture, perhaps a TV and some snacks on the coffee table, with a group of young people all doing their thing. Some are working on homework, others are listening to music, a few are eating snacks and online shopping, and maybe one just walked in with everyone's Starbuck's orders from a little while ago.
Imagine a place of worship, people walking in with their families, laughing about what happened during their weeks, greetings and smiles from those they worship with, perhaps an older woman pulling out her cell phone to show everyone her daughter's graduation pictures afterward.
Imagine a group chat of five people, helping each other figure out how to study for finals, offering relationship advice, sometimes planning get-togethers, maybe going to a concert together or just grabbing lunch.
These are all safe spaces. They are not places where college students cower in the corner, crying because a classmate is a republican, they are not places where people stick their fingers in their ears and shout "la la la" until anything they don't want to hear is over, they are not dimly lit rooms filled with angst-driven teens on twitter reporting everything they see.
If you think this way when you imagine safe spaces, chances are high that you've never actually needed one.
Safe spaces are not designed so that people are supposed to come in and moan about everything that offended them that day, but they are designed so that people are allowed to do so. They are also allowed to sit, relax, listen to music, study, live.
If the thought of someone having a designated space to be able to express themselves bothers you, odds are your life itself is a designated safe space. You have never had the need to step back and be in a place where your existence is acknowledged positively, because that is an everyday occurrence for you. There is no reason to run when you are a living breathing representation of societal norms.
The rejection of safe spaces on the grounds that it makes one too timid and offers an easy way out of uncomfortable situations ignores the fact that not everyone was born with the same abilities, rights, and privileges, and what is an "uncomfortable situation" to one can be a lifestyle of received prejudice and hate to another. It is not unfair to need a break from that kind of lifestyle.
Your BSA's, GSA's, multicultural support groups, best buddies clubs, and any other safe spaces you can imagine are there so that people who have not seen the phrase "socially acceptable" tacked on their foreheads since birth can finally be in a place where their being is not only accepted, but celebrated. If you don't like safe spaces, that just means that they were never meant for you in the first place. Your world is a safe space. You are already free to be who you want and love who you want and pray how you want; all privileges that many people aren't allowed every day.
Don't condemn others because they want, even if only for a few hours, the very lifestyle you take for granted every day.
