One Night in LA
I'm a snarky cynic from Los Angeles. I'm obsessed with cartoons, comics, video games, books, and the '80s.
This blog is an inconsistent piece o' crap; all I do is reblog, make pointless personal posts, crack lame jokes, chat up my followers, reblog like there's no tomorrow, and talk about my book which I am currently writing.
Oooooooooooooooooooooowned.
By one of my abso-favorite non-Natives. Because if you sit down and listen long enough to mount this kind of argument, you sorta renew my faith in the outside world a little.
This reply from a friend, recent events, and the fact that when people say “educate me” I rip my hair out has inspired me to write this.
I’m from Los Angeles, the home of this:
I was born and raised under the powerful influence of Hollywood, especially since when I walk out my door and go down the street it’s right there. It takes me awhile to adjust to the lack movie billboards and Star Line Tour vehicles on every corner when I got to another city.
So for the longest time, Hollywood’s depictions of Natives were just that, depictions. Not dehumanizing racism. I never thought racism was dead but I thought it was only thriving in individuals, not society itself. I just never bothered to think much of it.
Then I picked up a copy of Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie for a school project. I was shocked to discover that his portrayal of Natives was so distant from my own. I read more and more of his books, disturbed and confused with every one. Those books lead me to Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr. which was the book that convinced me to do more research on the subject.
danceswithfaeriesunderthemoon:
Don’t you just love seeing white privileged hipsters telling oppressed ethnic groups that they’re ‘taking things too seriously’ for being offended that their cultures are being appropriated into shitty fashion trends?
Yes of course, we’re definitely taking things too seriously.
Shame on us.
DEPICTIONS LIKE THIS ARE HURTFUL.
Cultural appropriation is not beautiful. It’s not cute. It’s not excusable because you didn’t know any better.
Check out some links:
Cultural Appropriation on Wikipedia
Here’s a quick checklist for whether it’s ok to wear a war bonnet:
Was it placed onto your head by an elder/legitimate authority figure from a select number of plains nations because you personally achieved something so great that it is worthy of that kind of honor? (corrolary: If yes to the above, are you currently wearing it in an appropriate ceremonial fashion/setting? Like are you at a powwow or speaking with the president?)
If you answered ‘no’ then IT IS NOT OK.
Any more than it would be ok to buy a decorated veteran’s purple heart that he had to pawn and put -that- on for a sexy photoshoot -because you were bored-. What you are doing is that kind of disrespect, on top of the slap in the face that is cultural appropriation in general.
Please take this picture down. Don’t post more like it. It is your choice to reblog racist, appropriative images. You don’t have to do it.
CONGRATS! You’ve been chosen to receive a REAL INDIAN NAME! From REAL INDIANS.
The Council has decided, your name will be: Dances With Chew Toys
Avoid the blog called NativeAmericanIndian.
You’re interested in learning about indigenous cultures and people or have any question concerning them, do not go to this blog.
They may or may not be Native but either way, they are ignorant and perpetuate said ignorance and stereotypes. They spread false information and cater to white imperialistic ideals. They have no knowledge on issues and ignore anyone who tries to explain to them why they are in the wrong.
This blogger has been harassing Natives for more than two weeks now and has been pron to using racial slurs such as the n-word to address people. They defend their use of offensive language because of “context”.
All in all, ignore this person. Block them. Don’t listen to them unless you want to get caught up in their racism.
They also are on multiple accounts. Keep an eye out for any urls that contain “cecily” in them.
In response to this.
I sent her a message.
My Message: To respond to what you said, it doesn’t matter if you don’t see a problem with it if you’re not Native. It’s racism. It’s making light of genocide. Many Natives are fighting for the respect of their culture and humor like that is dehumanizing. It’s not offending a small group of people. It’s oppressing an entire, diverse multi-cultural people who have had to deal with enough. You can still think it’s funny and laugh at it. But that doesn’t make it less racist and ignorant.
Then she decided to respond with this contradicting piece of crap.
The bold is what she sent me while normal text is my response. I had to break this down piece by piece; this much shit is hard to wade through.
Runawaydragons’s Privileged Bullshit Response:
Nowhere did I say that I didn’t “see a problem with it if you’re not Native” and if you don’t believe me, go back and look at both posts (here and here). I said I didn’t have a problem with the photo, which is something completely different. If I did say I had a problem with the photo I could be accused on hating celebrities, the British people, anyone with pink hair, people in costumes, or cowgirls, not just Native Americans.
You don’t make much sense, shug. You’re trying to defend yourself and you’re complete shit at it. This is kind of cute.
You don’t see a problem with that photo you say, let me restate what I put on the photo when I reblogged it from you.
Last I checked Christmas (Pagan-based) and Halloween (All Hallows Eve) have no nasty back story. What’s done with them is rather nasty however like cultural appropriation on Halloween and the so-called “War on Christmas” because our society is attempting to be considerate of all holidays that take place during the winter season.
I sent a response to your ask but I feel like this needs to be seen.
I don’t think many will appreciate you “making light” of their ancestors systematic oppression and slaughter. If you want to do a satire, why not get rid of the Hollywood-racism and the Cowboys vs Indians bullshit and actually make some historical jokes. Why not make fun of the fact we make genocidal maniacs heroes in the country who are no better than Hitler simply because they were American.
And this is not “how we move on”. How we move on is promoting equality and listening to the voice of those who were hurt. And I have seen many owner’s of said voices say, “Cut this kind of a shit out.”
If you’re not listening, you’re not fixing. You’re just continuing the racism and turning a blind eye to the ignorance. Why? Because you don’t see anything wrong with it. But honestly, if you’re not indigenous, whether you see something wrong with this picture or not, it doesn’t matter. You’re not in the group that’s being afflicted. Their opinion, their pain, that should be enough to end this kind of crap.
Still don’t see a problem with that photo? You’re one of those people who think that there is nothing wrong with naming the bird in Dumbo Jim Crow either…because it’s a kids cartoon, aren’t ya? That’s cute. Way to flaunt your ignorance.
I have a huge problem with racism, the white-washing of history, the way the media glosses over things that people should know about, and the corruption in our government that makes all of these things worse.
Then why do you think that fucking photo is funny and you think there is nothing wrong with it if you’re against white-wash, media-glossing, and corruption. ‘Cause guess what honey, that’s ALL in that photo.
What about the Holocaust? Is anyone who dresses up as a Jewish person making light of genocide? Same could be said of dressing up as a christian, as they too were slaughtered. If you look back over time, there is one repeating theme, one group of humans slaughtering another because they looked different or believed in something different, or a combination of the both. I have a diverse family tree and I’m descended from plenty of people who were killed because of their race or beliefs.
“Dressing up as a Jewish person”….you mean in a t-shirt and jeans? OH! You mean a racist stereotype. Oh no, you’re not making light of genocide. You’re just being a fuckass racist.
And “dressing up as Christian”, that ain’t a culture. They don’t have attire. And also, hahahaha. They have been oppressed once in history. The rest of the time, they have been conquering and slaughtering in the name of their Lord. Slavery, genocide, sexism, and all sort of dehumanizing oppression have been the Christian forte since they gained power. They are now the majority. Don’t even try to make them look like the victims when they are the murderers and destroyers.
Yes, I see that pattern clearly. Don’t get all New Ager on me, sweetie. You’re contradicting yourself. You say you’re against but you also defended it when you said “I see nothing wrong with this photo”.
Oh you were too? That’s sad. But that’s a good as an excuse as a cultural appropriator saying, “But my grandma was a Cherokee princess!”
As for what I may find funny… what I found funny about that photo wasn’t their costumes but the looks on their faces, the thought of what he might have done to make his wife look at him that way. I laughed because I’ve looked at my husband that way, and could relate it to something from my life. Because I don’t go looking for some deeper meaning in every photo that pops up on my dash.
Okay, but you said saw nothing wrong with the photo and then defended the racism in the costumes by going on about “that’s how we move on”.
Also that line…so a rape victim should make rape jokes to move on? I don’t think so. That just trivializes it.
And that’s where the problems lies. You’re ignorant. You don’t want to see the hateful truth that is depicted in those photos because you want to live in your own little privileged world where everything is perfect and the people who are hurt have no voice to disturb your catatonic brain.
Again, if you wish to really do something for Native Americans, lend your voice to the cause in a positive way so it can help it be heard on a national or international stage.
Don’t. You. Fucking dare tell ME to do something positive for Natives, when you’re the one who defending that photo. That continued racism and oppression. That horrid picture that says, “It’s fine to make fun of genocide teehee”.
And what I did, what I told you. That was helping because every Native I have met in my life so far is hurt by those pictures. It’s offensive.
And by ignoring that you’re being an indifferent racist. I’m actually extremely pissed off at this last part.
You have some big cajones to tell me how I can help Natives. You don’t get a fucking say. Only someone who is indigenous can tell me what is helpful and what is not. Only they can tell me how to help and how not to. You, the addition to the problem, get no say.
You.
You are the worst kind of person, darlin’.
(I’m answering this privately in case you don’t want this to be public, but publish it if you like, I don’t care.)
I think you should care that a lot of people will see this. This post is attached to you. The internet is forever. Your racism and ignorance are now documented on my blog until the end of Tumblr for all to see.
I think you’re the one who shouldn’t want this to be public. For everyone to see you contradict yourself. I see from your blog you believe in transgender rights so it’s sad to see that you’re this way. That you are selective about who you think has the right to be respected.
And I think you need to get educated on activism and other points of view before you start pretending like you know what you’re talking about.
I got this message. I don’t remember her, hipsters aren’t worth it to me, but she’s defending her cultural appropriation. I answered her privately but I wanted her message to be seen.
This may be drastic but maybe we should write an email or letter to the tribe telling them about companies and Etsy using their name…
It’s illegal right? It could stop this madness and maybe give the tribe some money.
adrie-duh said:
We never even started.
I was going to keep this private but you are a little coward. I was civil but you want to be a little turd so I’ll treat you like on.
“i know damn well, you don’t know me, so don’t assume i don’t respect other cultures when i do”
Then why the hell are you parading around in something sacred? And wearing Urban Outfitters?
Oh yeah, ‘cause daddy dearest makes a shit ton of money that you can spend willy-nilly on shitty clothes mass-produced by children in China. Wow, what a worldly little shit you are. Tots spiritual.
You think you’re so open but you won’t even realize that your doing it rather low and racist. I can go on and on about how people like you make it okay for others to be stepped on and abused but you know what I won’t.
Because you’re on Tumblr where there are hundreds of people just waiting to rip right into you and your adorable privilege.
Don’t think that because you can send me a rude messages and win just because you blocked me before I could respond, which would have been done politely but now.
Now it’s Brinxy the Bitch vs Adrie-duh the Dumbfuck.
I better never see you on any tags I follow.
Or shit will go down.
You think you’ve fucked me?
Well I fuck harder.
Hipsters are tots ironic: all peace signs and worldly and wise until you point out they’re wrong.
So before I get into this post, I do want to put the warning out there that this does contain some discussion on sex as the title would suggest.
A bit of back story: I identify as a queer, desi (identifies with the South Asian diaspora) lady folk who has lived in Australia for a massive portion of her life. This means I’ve spoken the main language as fluently as I can, engaged in the mainstream Western culture and Australian discourse, studied in it, worked in it and so on.
Now after all these years and experiences, you’d think I’d be taken in as a functioning member of society who is full of complexities and other cool things. You’d think I wouldn’t be an “other” any more. That my existence wouldn’t be watered down to a mere stereotype. You’d think so yeah?
Don’t worry, I’m crying too.
The thing is, despite engaging in all these things and all, I’m still an “other”. And this “otherness” has certainly been internalised, confronted, rejected and been the the trigger for many of my escapades with fried food. And the thing is, I was the last one to know of my otherness. And when I recognised it, it through everything I had struggled for to integrate into this society right out the metaphorical window.
This otherness certainly defined my most intimate aspect of my identity to the outside world before I even explored that facet of myself. My sexuality.
I think the first time it actually hit me was when this guy I was dating stated “so are you gonna show me a few tricks from the kama sutra eh?”. I was lost for words no lie. We hadn’t even made out yet and he already defined what I meant to him.
And then the statements got even more whack, one non-POC person at a time
“oh I thought you were different, you were new to try”
“but the way you do things is so exotic” (because apparently blowjobs are an exotic phenomenon? )
“give me some of that curried love” (no my vagina is not lined with spices that’s unhygienic )
“tell me how the caste system works” (mid-way through making out I MEAN REALLY PEOPLE. REALLY.)
“mmm spicy”(I USE DEODERANT MA’AM. THE SAME ONE AS YOU. )
“I can feel the Sahara in you” (I’M NOT EVEN AFRICAN WHO ARE YOU LEAVE ME ALONE IM EATING DONUTS HERE)
YES PEOPLE. THESE ARE ALL REAL THINGS THAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID TO ME.
AND APPARENTLY I’M SUPPOSED ACCEPT THESE AS A COMPLEMENT.
OH AND THIS ONE TAKES THE CAKE FIRST REAL DATE IN THE SPRING OF 2007
“Oh you’re Indian? I love Indian food!” WHAT IS WITH YOU PEOPLE AND ASSOCIATING US NON WHITE PEOPLE WITH FOOD
I started keeping a look out on POC representation in Western Media. Any POC rep. Especially from the sexuality angle. I observed that most black people of tv were hyper sexualised, magical, soulful, angry and/ or were still stuck in pre civil rights movement days. Or in plantations. Indigenous people of any type did not exist and if they did they lived in the forest. They too were hyper sexualised savages (why I do not know). The Asian man was either desexualised or incredibly hyper sexualised whilst the Asian women were a fetish. Middle Easter Men and Desi Men shared the same fate as the Asian man AS WELL AS BEING TERRORISTS YAY. Whilst the women were oppressed, scared of all of their male relatives, exotic belly dancers who will cook for you or you know, nonexistent. I admit to not discussing queer identities but I have observed that the reps of queer folks let alone POC queers is just as appalling.
Key words here- POC reps on sexuality often end in them being hyper-sexualised of lacking of any sexuality- and they were all rooted in oppressive fear mongering type stereotypes. When I raised this issue with a few “friends” at the time, they told me to quit whining and take it as a complement.
yeah
I longed to break that statement down and ask them how they would feel if the every essence of who they were was broken down to a food flavouring aka spicy. I longed to ask them how they would feel like if the entire grouping of white people had to conform to a sexual stereotype, but then it dawned on me. White people don’t have stereotypes in the mainstream because they are portrayed as complex, layered people with hobbies and favourite things to do and jobs and allergies and pets and shit. When white people had sex- they weren’t having “white sex” it was called sex. When they made out, it was called “kissing” not “white kissing”.
I felt a unbearable amount of helplessness and invisibility when I realised this. I could never compare them or argue with them when regarding to cultural and sexual references because non-POC folk had millions of identities to look at. They had plenty of positive representations of sex and sexuality.
Their sexuality came from within. Mine apparently came from the kama sutra.
Now I do believe that women still have shit rep in media in general. But even then there is a heir-achy. Without a doubt if we had to put a black woman up with a white woman in the media, I think it’s quite obvious to see who would be the main character. Who would be the love interest. Who would be whimsy cool complex hipster chick and who would be sassy angry friend with no heart? Who gets to make out with Ryan Gosling or some other hot leading dude at the end of the day? Replace the black woman with a woman of another ethnicity and you still have the same dynamic. She’s still viewed as less desirable.
And if a POC woman is desirable? It’s not because of who she is, but because of her POC-ness (as I often observed). She’s exotic. She’s a flavour. She’s an “outer world experience”.The thing is, these are common portrayals of POC women in our media. These are the norms in what we see, and these norms influence us. They even get internalised by some of us POC’s who’ve grown up in Western society for all our lives.
Fed up and hurt by the failure in representation of WOC sexuality, I didn’t know what to do. I saw a few recommendations for this one show called Misfits, and I thought “what have I got to lose I’ll be drinking anyway”.
Damn was I wrong. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t seen good portrayals of POC women before (Skins, Degrassi, The Cosby Show, ATLA etc) but to see a POC woman being treated in a main couple, being showered with real affection and love, having awesome sex because she can, being called beautiful because she really was and not because of her “POC-ness” just blew my mind. This scene alone just meant so many things to me
Not once did I ever hear Simon say something that high-lighted her otherness. She wasn’t called his “chocolate girl” or his “exotic beauty”. There wasn’t this massive issue made about the fact that they were an interracial couple. They were just a couple.
And the thing is, Misfits did it again.
and again
And not once was I left disappointed with their portrayal of POC folks in relationships and all.
But you think I’d be appeased by this and never criticise tv and movies ever again yeah? No- I got more critical. I was always on the lookout now. Again, I will make a shout out to Skins (all seasons) and Degrassi too- but I am a bit detached from those shows because I can’t really personalise with them, though I am interested in what teen POC’s and people who do connect with these shows have to say about them.
So after my Misfits binge of POC reppin goodness, a good friend of mine suggested the show- Being Human, to me ( the UK version of course).
Look, I don’t want to make the comparison that British tv is better than US television-because I have seen some pretty epic US based shows- but so far in my limited adventures in TV land, the UK does pretty well in repping POC folks and their sexualities. Once again, I was impressed by the portrayal of Annie. Like, they gave her depth, they gave her a sence of agency over her sexuality, and there wasn’t this sense of “othering” when she engaged in that glorious relationship with Mitchell.
Now don’t get me wrong, POC rep wasn’t the only thing that got me to love these shows. Like the writing was epic, the acting was glorious, I mean both shows did such an epic job at story telling and characterisation well I could babble on forever.
But as a POC woman who for most of her life was only ever shown other POC women on tv as flimsy stereotypes and side characters who turned into weird fetishes when they had sex- this was ground breaking stuff for me. Shows like this told me that WOC had a place in romances and leading roles and could embrace their sexualities. These shows told me that WOC didn’t have to be raped or experience some sort of sexual violence to be complex individuals. I look to Skins for the next example- if there was one thing I loved about that show, it was the diversity in POC people in that show. People could watch these shows without being given the opportunity to stereotype POC’s the way a lot of the media often does. Again, I do accept that Skins was also riddled in some problematic stuff and I’m not haling it as the beacon on all things diverse- but it did a far better job at it than most other shows have done.
I do admit to the obvious fact that there are probably a lot of other Western shows out there that also done a good job at repping POC folk, but I have not had the opportunity to see them yet. But shows like Misfits and Being human give me hope for the future of POC representation especially in regard to our sexuality and our identity in general. I’m keen on seeing more complex explorations of Asian identities in a Western society. The same goes for Middle Eastern identities. Indigenous. African. Just generally marginalised ethnicities and cultures which are often appropriated and erased in the process of making it into mainstream media.
I dunno how to end this or what I’m asking the reader to do here- but I guess as a POC woman, I’m just tired of what have to see and deal with in real life and in the media. I’m just longing for the day when the word “exotic” is removed as a way of describing someone.
I also to accept and acknowledge that I may have skipped to some vital shows and point that I did not mention, so I’d also like to make this my invitation to anyone else who’d like to add to this or create more discussion from it. This certainly won’t be my last post on the topic of POC identities and sexualities in Western society.
this this this all of this
I have this weird tendency to make myself an Other, probably because I look and am perceived by most folks as white. So I make a big deal out of my nativeness to validate my identity, I guess? I’m really starting to feel how damaging that is though, because then people I’m hooking up with (usually dudes, for some reason most girls are cooler about race? actually I’ve never been with a white girl…) start doing what you were describing. Especially when I consider how disturbingly native women get treated by white people/society (missing and murdered Aboriginal women, ridiculously high rape statistics, etc). So I guess I suck.
…and now I really need to start watching those shows
ALSO in the American remake of Shameless, there was this awesome interracial couple (white dude, black girl) who love each other so much, get pretty great character development, and have lots of awesome sex
This is so awesome.
OMG OMG
SOPHIE SOPHIE WHERE ARE YOU OMG
!!!!!
I’M HERE I’M HERE
flawless~
- DIY project: backyard teepee (read more on the etsy blog)
Why? Why couldn’t it be just a tent? You know this is only going to get the kids to “play Indians” which is perpetuating the harmful stereotypes. Its not ok to dress up and impersonate real people, and this will just promote that to children.
Instead of calling it a tipi, call it a tent, or a fort, or something else. Don’t have them paint “tribal prints” and symbols meant to represent Natives. Have them paint what ever they want: flowers, cars, sunshine, animals, movie characters, ANYTHING that is actually relevant to them, and NOT appropriating a culture they don’t belong to.
THIS
A great satire/parody of cultural appropriation in the fashion world (that is probably a little too true to life in some instances). Filmmaker Daniella Pineda sent it over with this quick back story:
“This is a new video I made about a fictitious actress who starts her own “Native American Fashion line.” I live in Brooklyn so like I’m bombarded with drunk white hipster girls dancing around with headdresses. Also this past summer urban outfitters and top shop were pushing this hard. So I made this video.”
