#also all those asian men who use the actual racism as an excuse to be a horrible misogynist

[peridot-tears]

Ngl seeing everyone fall for Daisuke and going like "He's so pretty" warms my heart. Asian men always either get emasculated or straight up fetishized, usually for doing like an unrealistic seven-step skincare routine, it's nice to see someone just...be appreciated without having to do The Most for it.

[djuvlipen]

The whole slavic anon talk got me thinking, but I don't do original posts so I thought maybe you'd like this little thinkpiece/explanation. Don't feel the need to respond.

Slavic radbrl's extreme defensiveness over being accused of racism/"mixed up with the rest of white people" points me to extreme disconnection from their own community with a pinch of being terminally online. Navigating the power dynamic where you're white but not white enough to be considered part of the "civilized world" is hard and can be painful at times, which is why you'd see slavic people trying so hard to stick with poc with the whole "we're not like other white people" rhetoric. Because xenophobia is never talked or taken about seriously they can't explain why we're treated like that by western europeans, so searching for community with poc just makes sense to them. You see the word racism used by slavic ppl instead of what it actually is (xenophobia) for the exact same reason.

(also, there's legitimate movements to recognise slavic people as people of color, most of them seem to be spearheaded as Ukrainians or people of Ukrainian ancestry, which is not a coincidence imo)

Getting a reality check that yeah, you're still an opressor class, actually, sets off a defensive response in many people because they've personally never gotten the privileges of being a part of the opressor class (or, yknow. Never realised they did), which makes sense, but honestly I'd expect a better attitude from the community that seems to understand how intersectionality works.

But there's also this disconnect where slavic people tend to be very distant from our (admittedly pretty ugly) history and culture, only nit-picking the bits they like, because the rest of it reminds them that we ultimately live in a culture that is incredibly misogynist, racist, homophobic and xenophobic, which doesn't fit with the idea of being that perfect victim a lot of slavic ppl on the internet strive to be.

There's this idea that the only way to gain sympathy from the west (which we subconsciously aim for despite all out sneers at them because sometimes it feels like it's the only way for our countries to survive, and sometimes it actually is) is to make them realise we never actually "deserved" the way we treated. Facing all the pain we've caused to Roma and Jewish people and countless other nations makes you doubt and think that maybe you *did* deserve that - which is a very wrong way to go to begin with, but it's just easier to distance yourself from your history - your responsibility - and live in that comfy little bubble where your people never done any wrong because understanding that we still don't deserve the shit we get from the west despite all this, but at the same time should finally take some action against racism and discrimination we take part in today and at least apologise for what we did in the past takes some damn reflexion and mental resource and thought not all people are capable of. Especially not those who came to radbrl to escape the already painful reality with having to deal with Eastern European men, lol.

Not an excuse, of course, this phenomenon just seems very interesting to me personally since I observe it often in real life too.

(also the whole "slavic countries, aside from Russia" thing just feels so pretentious to me as a Ukrainian. I'd bet some serious money these people only mean Russia's attitude towards Ukraine that came to light recently and maybe other Eastern European countries, but not the North Asian native people that Russian colonised and killed because they wouldn't have even added that little "except Russia" to the list of they knew their own country's history with racism, which I'm sure there is some. Also, all that aside, is Russia not overwhelmingly slavic with slavic mindset and culture anyway? What's your reason for putting it aside like that, anon? Uncomfortable with the fact they're part of our ethnicity? Yeah, me too.)

Hi! Thank you for your input. You made a lot of good points, especially regarding the lack of education about xenophobia, and I don't think I can add much besides saying 'yeah that's true', especially since I'm a Westerner it wouldn't be fair of me to speak over you.

However as a Romani woman there are some parts where I disagree with you. I don't think Slavic people are trying to stick with people of colour by saying they are not like other white people. To me the very statement that Slavic people aren't like other white people is baffling. We can agree that Slavic people face xenophobia and persecution in the West based on the idea that they are not white *enough*, but the emphasis here is on "enough". They are still white and they have historically oppressed Romani people and they continue to do so. I don't see Slavic people distancing themselves from whiteness as an attempt at solidarity with poc. Roma have faced and still face institutionalized segregation, police brutality, forced sterilization, being put in ghettos, being denied access to school and healthcare, they never got compensation for slavery or for the pogroms and massacres they survived. Because the majority of us (esp. in Eastern Europe) are visibly brown and have a dark skin. Slavic people can't relate to that and the fact that they still continue to be so racist against Roma (like, the situation of Roma in Eastern Europe is so appalling, human rights violations are being committed against Roma everyday and we all know it) yet think of themselves as different from other white people is laughable at best. I am not only talking about myself here, all the other Romani women I've talked to on the matter echoed that sentiment and some were way, way less polite than I am when talking about this, because they live(d) in Eastern European countries and they have experienced racism first hand.

The idea that Slavic people are somehow different from other white people lies on the idea that racism against Roma is less reprehensible that racism against other people of colour. Slavic people who argue they are different from white westerners say they never colonized third world countries and say they never enslaved black Africans. So they recognize that racism against third world people and black people is bad. But they can't apply the same thinking when it comes to racism against Roma.

For the same reason, I wouldn't say Slavic people who say this are nit-picking bits of their history to leave aside the parts they don't like. I think it's actively rewriting history to try and pretend Slavic people were never racist against Roma to the same extent white westerners were to other poc. And this erasure has deep consequences on the lives of Roma today: they still haven't gotten reparation for slavery and we barely got any reparation for the Holocaust. The reason white people erase anti-Roma racism from history is because they don't want to compensate us and they don't want to acknowledge anti-Roma racism is bad, because they hate us. And the idea that Slavic people were not like other white people or were even people of colour (ridiculous considering that they have a white skin) has been used to silence acknowledging the severity of anti-Roma racism. Years ago when I was talking about Czech policemen kneeling on a Romani man's neck and smothering him to death, Czech users replied by insulting me, saying I was racist against Czech people, put me on blocklists, and then sent me anon hate telling me my whole family should be shot and Europe should be cleaned of gypsies.

So I think the main characteristic of that "not like other whites" phenomenon is how it erases the history of anti-Roma racism and acts like it isn't as bad as what other poc go through when Romani rights are constantly violated every other day in Slavic countries. But I do agree with a lot of what you are saying, I don't think Slavic people's anti-Roma racism or antisemitism should be used to justify persecuting them, and I agree that more people should be aware of how xenophobia is and works. I agree that there must be a lot of psychological reasons behind this phenomenon, you highlighted them very well and it was very interesting!

[mysticdragon3md3]

ramblings under the cut

Whenever I see anime fans attacked online, for criticizing misogyny or queerphobia in Japanese media (anime, videogames, manga, etc.), I remember this TED Talk from an African author who points out how whenever women try to fight for their rights, the misogynists in her country decry it as an attack on "their culture". She specifically talks about how this mentality has lead to victim-blaming rape victims and how even the high ranking perpetrators will try to portray their victims as "enjoying it", "asking for it", or "at fault for bewitching men with their beauty".

It reminds me of all the queer activist groups within Japan, fighting for their rights and good representation.

And yet, Western otaku are attacking critics of bad representation, no representation, or the perpetuation of toxic socializations, as "trying to impose Western ideals onto Asian cultures". As if there aren't Asian people within those cultures who would also like more human rights. All these bros online lauding anime for "not being political" or for being "free of Western ideas", always/only whenever discussing women's sexual objectification being normalized, racial issues being skipped, or queer people reduced to punchline stereotypes.

As an Asian person, it feels gross to be used as an excuse to allow misogyny, racism, and queerphobia, under the guise of "respecting culture". As if the toxic bros care about "respecting culture". They just want an excuse to have their toxicity go unchallenged and without consequences. They love their toxicity being framed as "um progressive actually", because they "respect different cultures" and "aren't trying to impose their Western ideals onto them".

I'll admit that my family is very much non-traditionally Asian. I cannot relate to a lot of the typical toxic family dynamics that other Asians commiserate about. But I'm glad for it! I'm very glad that my father didn't shame his children for defying gender stereotypes, and that he shut down my mom's authoritarian parenting style! People talk about how moms in my ethnic group are so toxic to their daughters because they only see them as maids and (child) caregivers. My dad didn't let my mom get away with that, and I'm happier for it. He joked a few times about how if my siblings and I grew up in their home country, instead of in America, we'd be ridiculed for having interests that conflicted with gender stereotypes (I'm into carpentry, my sister liked working on cars, and our brother was into home ec and cooking). I'm VERY glad that my dad didn't just accept our Asian culture as-is. But I should probably expect that from a man who protested against his home country's dictator so much that he almost got himself killed, and his family was quick to ship him off to America, so he wouldn't actually die, in the fight against his Asian country's status quo.

Asians also want human rights. Trying to quell the advocation for human rights, under the guise of "respecting a country's traditions" is kind of shitty. The people in those countries want human rights too.

[revenge-of-the-shit]

Racism, antisemitism, and anti-Jedi sentiment in Star Wars (Part 3/4)

Part 3: Antisemitism and Anti-Asian racism

via @shadowaccio6181 :

There is also an article here regarding more current stereotyped perceptions of both Asians and Jewish people that I’ll quote larger sections from, because I think context is important:

This type of “faulty and inflexible generalization” that associates an individual with the perceived wrongs of an entire ethnic/racial group is almost the textbook definition of prejudice. Princeton University psychologist Susan Fiske and her collaborators published a series of articles examining stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. They show people usually assess a group along two dimensions: warmth (are they sincere and sociable?) and competence (are they capable and intelligent?). For example, her work finds the elderly are stereotypically perceived as warm but incompetent; middle-class white Americans as warm and competent; Asians and Jews as cold but competent, and homeless people as cold and incompetent.

People who are not friendly are more dangerous to others than are people who are not competent, who are more dangerous to themselves. When majority-group members with high levels of bias encounter members of minority groups they perceive as cold, biased individuals can feel they must react by verbally harassing, bullying or attacking them. That’s especially true if that minority group is being touted or perceived as threatening — the way some leaders are painting Asian Americans as responsible for spreading the pandemic.

Using a nationally representative, random-sample telephone survey that interviewed 571 respondents in the United States in 2003, Fiske’s research found Asians, along with Jews, are consistently stereotyped as competent but cold. Biased individuals, confronted with people stereotyped as competent-cold, often feel envy and resentful admiration. Envied groups are often scapegoated during periods of widespread social instability, because biased majority-group members perceive those groups as having both the ability and intention to disrupt society.

We also shouldn’t ignore the stereotype of Asian parenting: “the notion that the Asian American parenting style is authoritarian—devoid of warmth, controlling, unfeeling, and undemocratic—versus Western parenting, which is viewed as the more positive authoritative style—firm, but warm, highlighted by intimate parent-child relations… our perceptions of parental warmth are culturally concocted and notes that what is often perceived as “strict parenting” in non-Western or non-Caucasian families is often misunderstood.” Obviously, not all parents are perfect, but this is very much a racist stereotype.

Commentary from Annessarose:

Exactly this.

It is indeed true that some Asian parents are undeniably strict to the point of toxic helicopter parent. I know this for a fact, because I have so many (Chinese) friends who experience it. It is also true that there are Asian parents who are not like this, and that there are many parents who are not toxic, who are supportive of their children.

Ultimately, it's important to note that for many parents, their actions come from good intentions even when it manifests itself in decidedly toxic ways. They are human. This does not excuse toxic parenting in any ways, but painting Asian parents with one brush and portraying all of them as harsh and unfeeling and authoritarian does a disservice to the many parents who are supportive, who listen, who try their best to help their kids. Ultimately, people are complex. Reducing them to stereotypes is dangerous and toxic.

To Jewish Star Wars fans: please please please feel free to add to this conversation! I don't feel qualified to speak on this but I would love to hear & amplify your voice on this.

We also shouldn’t ignore the common stereotypes of Asians in film (source):

I really feel I need to point this out, but as an Asian American, I’m actually thankful Obi-Wan is played by Ewan McGregor, because if he were played by an Asian actor, it would make so much of fandom’s characterizations of him Significantly More Yikes.

Ewan McGregor is known for being naked on-screen and having sexually suggestive scenes. However, there's a stereotype of "the Asian man as effeminate and asexual", or if sexualized, they're "categorized as exotic and different... foreign." This stereotyping "both feminizes Asian-American men and simultaneously constructs alternative gender and sexuality as aberrant." And "it seems as if Asian men are also victim to extremes: In some portrayals, they are cold-hearted villains and ruthless Kung Fu masters, while in other films, are portrayed as “losers” who have all the brains but no social skills or clueless immigrants fresh off the boat." "...men were portrayed more negatively than women; Asian men are perceived as less socially skilled or seen as the enemy." And Asians are often paraded about “as an example for people, showing them to be intelligent, overachieving" but "Asians were more likely to also be perceived as antisocial, awkward, and lacking proper communication skills."

Annessarose's commentary:

Oh, boy. Do I have thoughts on this.

I grew up in a an Asian diaspora. And. Despite living in a primarily Chinese area of that community, these stereotypes still wormed their way into us. At school, many (Chinese) girls would talk about how none of the (Chinese) men were attractive, and how they were dreaming about the white boys they saw on television instead. As we grew older, I had several in-depth discussions with several of my close female friends, and we'd end up talking about how the reason we thought the white guys were more attractive was because the media we watched told us that that was what the beauty standard was.

On top of that, we also had that stereotype of Asians being intelligent overachievers internalized as well. Do you know how many people would cry over an 85%? Do you know how many people would complain about a 92%? Many people ended up placing their self-worth into their academic marks, and it was disastrous. Mental health was all over the place. Bullying based on marks abounded. Granted, this stereotype was not the only reason this happened; it's true that there are indeed parents who take nothing less than 100%, and let me tell you, it really fucked some of my classmates up. It was horrendous. But many parents were not like that, but the constant peer pressure + societal pressure to be perfect in academics and extra-curriculars and everything just so we could feel like what society told us Asians were like was tremendous even in an Asian diaspora.

I remember being assigned to a group of white classmates in elementary school. I remember them saying, "Oh, cool, you're in here!" and I was like "Why me?" They told me "You're Asian, you're smart, so we're gonna do well in this project." Similar stories abounded with my East Asian friends all across elementary school, and shaped how we felt when we entered our high school.

Even in diaspora, western stereotypes & racism can be destructive and toxic.

This is Part 3!

[Part 1] | [Part 2] | [Part 4]

[thegirlisuedtobe]

sorry for beat a dead horse but with the new production premiering you think of writing your thoughts about mata hari again? I know you perspective changed since the last review

(mata hari anon) i meant your thoughts on the production as a whole! i saw your posts about it being orietalist and how you injected it with meaning etc its very different from your first review/impression so i am curious how you "got there"

I realised I should have just replied to the original one since you had to send another ask either way 🤪🤪

But yeah sure, this is going to a little all over the place bc,,, where do I even begin,,,, first of all if u havent read my 2020 essay on the 2016 production please do, I think that will give a lot of context for what problems I have with it structurally. And second, I just want to clarify that when I wrote that essay I didn't have the words/vocabulary to describe the orientalist aspect of the show so I didnt really touch on it a lot but I had always felt off, speaking as a south east asian person.

I think I'll start with my change of heart. When the new production was announced I ended up examining Mata Hari again and the last time I thought about it in detail was like 2 years ago so when I looked at it a lot of things that I could have given a side eye and kept it pushing I can't really ignore all that much anymore? Like I think because the characters were being portrayed by other Asians I deluded myself into thinking that the racial aspects of this story didn't exist because it was an all asian cast. But when you remove the actors from it and look at it from a story stand point its really just a race faking dutch woman who stole culturally sensitive and important dress/dances/ traditions to make her living off of. And its really important that those appropriated dances were sexualised by her and by the context she performed them in, isnt she the person whos attributed with coming up with the first strip tease lmao??? I'm not Indonesian so I can't say if the specific dances she took were indeed sexual but even in the show when she's explaining her backstory to Armand she says that in the height of her misfortunre she saw these women in prayer and was enlightened but what she brought back was a strip tease so???

I think specially for me personally, I'm taking a class on decolonising literature and a lot of what we're talking about in class has kind of helped me understand and reflect on the racial aspect that this show is using as a backdrop. Indonesia the colony and Netherlands (the dutch) the coloniser. When you think about a coloniser white woman stealing/appropriating indonesian dance/tradition is that not disgusting? Don't you feel the orientalism and racism dripping and oozing from the story??

Like the show was written by frank wildhorn and ivan menchell, two white men. They wrote a truly racist and orientalist show! Like what can I say?? And tbh I'm not totally sure how to address the Korean producers part in this but Korea has and still does struggle with cultural appropriation (think african american and native american cultures) so I don't think that they're in the clear either even if a lot of it is that they don't know better (which isn't really an excuse either way).

And also the way that they do use it just as a backdrop to the "love story" pisses me the fuck off LMAO Like Mata Hari being a race faking appropriator can be okay in narrative if the narrative itself refutes that and frames it so that it isnt okay to do that. But never in the show does it actually say that. Which I guess leads to my infusing the story with more meaning than it actually has. I essentially made a story about mata hari and picked and chose the parts i liked to make a show that did have that message, that refuted the figure that is mata hari in her orientalist glory, and threw away what wasn't. I interacted with it in an almost parallel world where the show was actually good, hence the title of my essay. I was engaging with the potential of the story not what the story already was. And now that I engage with it again as the story it is, I've found that in all honesty it's not a story that's worth telling.

But I feel like I've already dedicated so much time I might as well see what the new production is going to show even if begrudgingly doing so. They have another chance I guess to rectify those issues but if I find out they don't then LMAO I'll just drop it. I don't have the time or patience anymore for stories like these.

[lizzibennet]

Is it bad if I see Percy as white? I always feel bad when I see posts about why poc!Percy makes sense bc I still just have the same picture of him in my mind :/ I'm not against it at all! It's just not the way i see him

it’s not inherently harmful to see percy as white. if i’m being honest, it’s what i think rick intended him to be when he was written. i think rick pictured a white boy too. that doesn’t mean he can’t be non-white or that him not being white goes against canon or cheapens his character. in fact, i think his character only has improvements if we read him as not white.

see hermione: some of the most defining features of her character were that she had frizzy, curly hair, that she was teased for a natural feature of her face, her teeth, so much she used magic to permanently alter it, and she was clearly one of the most intelligent students at hogwarts, but she wasn’t taken seriously and called bossy and annoying. are these struggles exclusive to black people? obviously not. do black people deal with these struggles more often than white people? absolutely, because of racism. it’s one thing to be teased for your hair when you’re white and another to be bullied for it when you’re black. the reading of hermione as black not only makes these struggles more believable, it also gives her character more layers as to why she works so hard and why she is so set on freeing house elves. her character is improved through this reading, so much so, in fact, that a black woman was cast to play her in the harry potter play. so even if jk rowling intended hermione to be white at first - which i totally think she did - she understood that this reading of the character is valid and makes sense, so she incorporated it into her canon.

the same can be said for percy: a genuinely nice kid who had a literal manhunt set for him when he was twelve, who has labelled a troublemaker for things out of his control, labelled violent for the disappearance of his mother that he had absolutely no involvement in, for who was clearly used to dealing with this from adults his entire life. again- are these struggles exclusive to non white kids? of course not. do non white kids face this more often and often in more severe ways? yes. it’s time we stop pretending they don’t. every single form of oppression exists under the weight of racism. non-white women deal with misogyny differently than white women, non-white men deal with toxic masculinity differently than white men, and non-white kids deal with prejudice because of their neurodivergences differently than white kids. to pretend it’s all the same is to excuse racism in those circles. intersectionality has to be considered in order to fully understand the situation. so does this mean percy can’t be white? of course not. does it mean that percy being a person of color gives his character more nuance in dealing with the issues named in the books? yes, it does. maybe that wasn’t a concern back in 2005 when the books were released, them dealing with neurodivergence was already pretty amazing for the time, but it’s 2020. if rick riordan is really set on writing fiction for the kids like his son who were ostracized for simply being the way they are, then he knows that making percy not white in the adaptation of the books would hold a different weight and meaning for all these groups he says he wants to help.

this is the case for non-white percy. it makes sense, and that’s not up for debate. it does. just because it makes sense doesn’t mean you have to adopt it. 

but the thing is, why wouldn’t you?

if this reading enriches the character, why wouldn’t you at least entertain it for the sake of bringing up valid issues in fandom? 

if, as you said, it’s just the way you see him and that’s all there is to it, that’s perfectly fine. but you have to remember we all live in a racist society. we all live under the pressure of it and we are all affected by it. seeing percy as a white boy in your mind is not the problem - the problem is denying that he could maybe possibly perhaps not be white, the problem is advocating against it, saying that he cannot possibly be white. he can, we’ve discussed it. why wouldn’t it be possible? is it because heroes are always white? is it because you’re so used to seeing heroes be white your brain just cannot marry the two images - a hero who is latino, black, native, asian? is it because these people are meant to stay in the sidelines?

you may think these things subconsciously. as i said, we all live in a racist world. we, white and non-white people alike, pick up on racist values from the moment we are born, and once we’re made aware of racism and xenophobia, we start a process of deconstructing these values that is lifelong. some of us have a TON of baggage that we need to deconstruct. so let’s say you have worked through the majority of it - you support blacklivesmatter and non-white artists, you think racist violence is outrageous, but you still can’t fathom the thought of percy jackson not being white. why? is it a visceral reaction you have? is it unconscious? why would you be so against it?

it’s important to question that, always, whether or not you think you’re racist. if you can honestly, truthfully tell me it’s not based on any sort of prejudice and it’s just because you sincerely imagine percy as white and that’s all there is to it - great, carry on with your day. but if you have any doubt on your reasoning, there may still be issues you need to confront. that’s normal and part of becoming a better, more respectful person. if you’re going around and advocating against non-white percy, questioning why would people think he isn’t white, replying to posts with Um Actually He’s Greek, then i desperately need you to ask yourself why, and reflect hard on your answer. “i just think he’s white” is seldom all there is to it.

tldr: it’s not bad to think he’s white, it’s bad to outright deny the possibility he could ever not be white, and to try to stop people who think he isn’t and tell them they’re wrong

[tepkunset]

@avatarfandompolice​​​ is a blog that likes to misuse progressive language in attempt to make ignorant, racist posts sound more intelligent than they are. While most of their blog consists of arguing about ‘zutara,’ (which I recently learned is a ship name for Zuko and Katara from an anon), there is also a large number of posts and reblogs under the premise of being “hot takes” on how unfair it is to address racism in fandom and in media.

Avatarfandompolice is very sensitive about people pointing out that Avatar: The Last Airbender is not, in fact, flawless. That a show made by two white men featuring Asian and Indigenous characters and influences is fully capable of getting things wrong. That their western colonial views are influences all on their own, and it shows. Rather than listen to fans of colour point out things like these posts for example: [Link] [Link] [Link], avatarfandompolice has decided that such things must simply be fake, and has made multiple posts complaining it. This is not just regular ignorance, this is wilful ignorance. The dismissal of critique simply because they cannot fathom not everyone being able to handle the amount of issues they are freely educating others on, or people holding the ability to like something overall while also pointing out where it could be better.

It is my firm belief that you should never absorb media with an uncritical eye. If this was the case, if people just accepted everything given to them, then we would never see any progress. We need to be able to look back at something and say here’s what we did right, and here’s what we need to do better with.

The argument that A:TLA was made in 2012 and therefore should not be analyzed with a modern understanding of the world is downright hilarious, too. As if we aren’t taught to write literature analysis on books and plays that are centuries old in school. In particular regards to the whole cop thing... if anyone reading this seriously thinks that hate and fear of the police is just a 2020 trend, you can meet me in the pit. I was four years old when I learned how terrifying cops are. If your experiences differ, let me tell you that does not make them universal. And as for all the 20-somethings talking about it today, well, gentle reminder that as said by avatarfandompolice right here, the show aired in 2012. Little 10-year-old kids don’t have social media, (at least I hope they don’t,) and unless they grew up experiencing first-hand police terror, probably were not aware of it at that age. I do not know why avatarfandompolice insults people's ability to grow and learn. I can only guess it’s jealously from their lack of ability to do so.

Now let’s address their defences of whitewashing, which is easily the most backwards reaching I’ve seen on this issue in a while. Primarily their defence relies on four repetitive “points” —

Fake minuscule percentages to downplay the high prevalence and extremity of whitewashing in the fandom

Deflecting the addressing of whitewashing with rapid-fire fake scenarios and claims of “reverse racism” / “blackwashing”

Claiming whitewashing isn’t real because people only care about it with Katara

Claiming that calling out whitewashing in fandom is wrong because it hurts artists

I have only so much as dipped my toes into the A:TLA fandom, and even I have seen a lot of whitewashed fan art. If you do an image search for fan art, I guarantee within the first couple rows of results, there will be in the absolute least, a few examples. The idea of these artworks not substantially lightening skin is also just plain inaccurate. Just from a quick Google search, this is literally the first result for ‘Avatar The Last Airbender Katara fan art’:

Avatarfandompolice is also hyper-focused on the lightening of skin, and seems to be under the impression that this is the only component of whitewashing. I come to this conclusion because when someone pointed out the equal prevalence of depicting these characters of colour with Western European features instead of their actual eyes, noses, etc., they rip a giant turd out of their ass and scrawl the words “but stereotyping” over it. No, not all Asian peoples and Indigenous peoples look the same. The original poster made no such claim of this at all. Avatarfandompolice jumped to this conclusion all on their own... (which really says a lot in itself). It is entirely unrelated to the point. The point being the erasure of how these characters look, in favour of giving them whiter features. And guess what? This does hurt. But I’ll get to that below.

The lack of understanding of whitewashing is on full display when avatarfandompolice talks about “blackwashing”; the idea that colouring characters with darker skin is just like whitewashing. Firstly, there is no such thing as “blackwashing.” “Blackwashing,” “brownwashing,” etc. does not exist because it is a false equivalency to whitewashing. It is a false equivalency to whitewashing because white people are not even in the slightest loosing representation when a white character is re-imagined as a racial minority, whereas when racial minorities are re-imagined as white people, they are taking away from what is already very little representation for us. If we lived in a world where the statistics of representation were not so drastically disproportionate, then there would be something to talk about. But if you are really wanting to support equality, you should focus on equitably supporting those who actually need it, not white people. As for specifically depicting characters like Sokka and Katara with darker skin than what they have in the show, the same applies, (so long as it’s not racebending them as we really shouldn’t be taking representation away from each other, and the artist avatarfandompolice ridicules above has done no such thing,) because colourism also exists within nonwhite communities as well.

As for the fake questions about cosplaying, the answer is really simple: Cosplay however you want, but don’t make pretending to be a different race part of your cosplay. If you want to cosplay Katara, you can do it without painting your skin darker, aka brownface. If you want to cosplay Zuko, you can do it without editing yourself to look East Asian, aka digital yellowface. The racist history behind this is an internet search away, but I suppose that is too difficult for avatarfandompolice to do.

Avatarfandompolice has made multiple claims that people must not really care about whitewashing if they only call it out for Katara. It is laughable at best, and sad at worst, that this is the conclusion they come to, and not the fact that unfortunately Katara just happens to be subjected to more whitewashing than other characters. I assume this is from a mix of her popularity as well as being a WOC and not MOC. This is not to say that whitewashing does not exist with male characters—not in the slightest. Half the images on this “10 fan art pictures of Sokka that are just the best” list from CBR are whitewashed. Only that across fandoms, whitewashing is more prevalent in female characters, by my observations at least.

Finally—and this one pisses me off the most—avatarfandompolice claims that whitewashing is no big deal, but calling out whitewashing is too harmful to justify. How fucking dare you put the feelings of artists who can’t handle critique of their work (that they publicly share) over fans of colour, who are constantly subjected to seeing our identities and looks not being worth respecting. As if it doesn’t imprint on your mind from a very young age how only villains ever have your facial features, because they’re ugly and I guess that means you’re ugly. As if there is something wrong with you. As if respecting you is regarded as extra effort, and not just common courtesy.

Whitewashing is a form of colourism, which is a form of racism. It is the favouritism, unconscious or not, of white features and the erasure of visible characters of colour. It is not fandom drama. It is not being too lazy to focus on “real issues” because it is part of a real issue. It is yet another part of why fandom spaces are so uninviting to POC. We live in a society that favours lighter skin. Corporations make fortunes from selling products to bleach your skin, products to contour your features away or go as far as surgery, all to meet beauty standards set by and influenced by white colonizers. That does not exist in A:TLA, and that’s called refreshing escapism. But it’s hard to escape that when the fandom constantly reminds you otherwise. It is a perfect example of how the classic “just let people enjoy things” complaint is nothing but disguised racism, because it’s only ever said regarding white fans’ enjoyment, at the expense of fans of colour.

None of the characters in A:TLA are white. Redesigning them and recolouring them as if they are, be it out of accident or intent is wrong. If you get called out for it, apologize, learn from the experience and do better going forward. You’ll also improve your art this way.

Beyond excusing whitewashing, avatarfandompolice has overt racist posts as well. A Black fan said they like to headcanon Katara as being partially Black; “I swear Katara was a sister. Im convinced there ain't no way she didn't have some black in her.” Avatarfandompolice jumps in saying “She's literally an Inuit but ok” as if being an Inuk person means Katara can’t possibly also be Black. The OP never claimed Katara was not Indigenous, simply that they also saw her as Black. Black Indigenous peoples exist. Black Inuk peoples exist. It is overtly anti-Black to say otherwise. But what even is the point of talking to avatarfandompolice about that? You know, you would think in trying to put such a front up of caring about the Inuit, they would do the most basic learning of the proper grammatical use of Inuit and Inuk. (As is the case with a great many Indigenous Nations, Inuit is both the Nation and plural. Inuk is singular. “An Inuit” / “Inuits” as avatarfandompolice has used just makes their dressed-up racism all the more pathetic. It’s similar to as if you said “Chinas” instead of “Chinese”.)

But all this is nothing, nothing compared to the worst post I had the displeasure of seeing. In a single post, avatarfandompolice manages to squeeze in insult against low income people, Mexican people, Jewish people, and Black people in a mockery of financial help posts. Absolutely disgusting, childish behaviour from a place of privilege. As someone who has had no option but to make such a post before, more than once, let me fucking tell you that the embarrassment and desperation when in that situation is unparalleled. It is not done lightly. It is done when you are at the last resort of having nothing but hope that the combined generosity of others will be enough to save you and your family. And what adds a whole other level to the odiousness of avatarfandompolice’s post is that they specifically targeting low income minorities to boot. Because we’re all poor beggars, right?

All in all, for someone who prides themselves in calling others ignorant, avatarfandompolice has to be one of the most obtuse fandom blogs I have ever scrolled through. They are as vile as they are pathetic, and my sincere sympathy for anyone who has been unfortunate enough to interact with them. It has been a while since I so strongly recommend blocking someone.

[meme-loving-stuck]

Not to be all Controversial™ again but whoever started screaming "cringe culture is dead!!!!!" did more to kill off all the collective brain cells of fandom tumblr than like, anything else ever in the history of this site

Like, it's one thing to say "stop making fun of kids for liking harmless shit made for kids" and it's one thing to say "stop making fun of ANYONE for liking harmless shit"

It's another thing ENTIRELY to be saying "Don't criticize ANYONE for liking ANYTHING or you're an ASSHOLE with a SUPERIORITY COMPLEX"

Because you know what is missing from that? The part where it's harmless.

It's all fine and dandy if you like Harry Potter. Or drawing yourself as an Among Us character, they're adorable. Or listening to KPOP.

What's NOT harmless is obsessing over a piece of media to the point where you defend it's creator and flaws to your dying breath, and anyone who dares argue with you is a BIG MEAN ASSHOLE WHO LIKES TO RUIN PEOPLE'S FUN >:((. Pushing THAT idea and mentality is not harmless, it never has been, but that's what y'all have been doing!

Now we've got

fucking KPOP fans infantilizing, fetishizing, obsessing over these "idols" in a way that is literally fueled by racism & fujoshi bullshit. And a lot of KPOP idols, who are literal celebrities, are also racist themselves! Remember the BTS Nazi photoshoot? Or how many of these people think using racial slurs is fine because they're not white? I'll let you google those. Fans fall allll over themselves to defend, excuse, and erase the harm the industry does, the harm the individuals do as public figures, & will now ravenously attack anyone who dares criticize them for their weird fetishization of asian men & women alike.

35 year old Harry-Potter-obsessed cis women harrassing minors online for saying ANYTHING about the series. Anything. I swear to god. But they're even worse if you happen to point out the blatant whitewashing, antisemitism, or racism in the original books AND movies. Bonus points if you try to criticize JKR herself for openly FURTHERING her bigoted bullshit on her multi-million dollar Twitter Throne, and you find out these fans are also transphobic, and they RABIDLY SUPPORT THE AUTHOR. Hmm!

Reylo.

Actually, people shipping, promoting, producing content of abusive, incestual, or pedophilic pairings IN GENERAL. Putting this kind of shit where minors could be exposed to it, and using it as an excuse to groom minors, even. Don't even get me STARTED on if it's a nonstraight ship. Then you literally cannot criticize them or you're a homophobic/transphobic piece of shit and how dare you!!!

Literally just ANY popular piece of British media being 'adapted' and in turn whitewashed, or just openly racist in the way it handles characters! And being written by racists! And having the actors be racist in public where their fans can see it and adore it! So you get entire fandoms JUMPING to defend either the show's, the actor's, or its own racism because it's """"british humor"""" girl I.....

All of this and I'm an asshole for telling you you're a weirdo? Fuck off lmfao it has NOTHING to do with ~Cringe Culture™™™ it has to do with you not being capable of critical thought or critical consumption of media AT ALL. You're not being "bullied" you're being recognized as someone who doesn't consume or interact with any media in a healthy way.

So yeah, you deserve to be called out on it.

[savnofilter]

no nuance november!

a/n: which is basically you have a bunch of opinions and dont explain any of em' and let your followers discuss them (much more suited for tiktok sjsnj). i'll be doing it since it compiles with many topics like fandom, racism, lgbtq+, politics and etc. i highly encourage people to do this simply because why not? feel free to send your own opinions n stuff, i wanna know what my followers think!!

disclaimer!! ⚠️ all of these are broad, not pin pointing certain people or situations. even though these are my opinions these were all in fun and have been collected over the years and will change as time goes on. nothing is sugar-coated so thread carefully. feel free to agree or disagree. :)

warning(s): mentions of racism, p*do micro aggression, fetishizing, toxicity, abuse, politics, labelling, mental health, cancelling, fandoms, ages.

key:

iswis = i said what i said, no explanation to that one.

whe = will happily explain.

stop sexualizing gay/m|m/yaoi relationships. it's not only demonizing to the males, it's also very fetishizing. (iswis)

most times /10 yall root for "feminine men" when you really mean white boys and fetishised asian men on social media. (whe)

bullying someone isnt educating. you either cant cope with the fact people have different opinions from you or you have a struggle with things either always never going your way or the opposite. (iswis)

straight people will never have a say in lgbtq+ issues. stop inserting yourself. (iswis)

white people will never have a say in poc issues. stop inserting yourself. (iswis)

poc will never have a say in black people issues. stop inserting yourself. (vice versa but im black and it happens more often to us lol) (iswis)

using the defense, "but black lives matter, right?" when one black person does something bad isnt facts, youre racist. (iswis)

fandom adults need to stop gatekeeping the target audience (demographics) to animes/shows. (iswis)

poc people can be racist. (whe)

even if a certain site was adult doesnt mean that every adult wants to see your porn. either keep it to yourself or tag properly. (iswis)

saying shit like, "im more xyz than you and im not even xyz" is not only disrespectful but disgusting. just because you believe in a popular opinion of a group does NOT suddenly make you a person in it, get over yourself. (iswis)

dont hate on people for the same things you have done at a young age. (ex: writing fanfic, seggs, etc) (iswis)

blaming a minor/someone mentally unstable for being abused is not only victim blaming, but it enables the notion that people who go those things that they wanted it. (iswis)

going off of that last point, if you do victim blame for situations and been in them yourself you either still havent coped with what you went through and still think it was your fault when it wasnt. (whe)

it's stupid people hate minors for being undeveloped when adults are the reason as to why people get traumas, abused and quite literally are destroying the world right now. (iswis)

gen z is white as fuck. (iswis)

early 2000s kids are equivalent to 90s kids who use to post, "only 90s kids under this" and post something that 2000-5 experienced. (iswis)

dear 2005+ kids, abusing harmful substances and having sex doesnt make you grown. stop it. (iswis)

adults, being able to post porn doesnt make you grown or mature, stop believing that it does. (iswis)

just because it's a coping mechanism doesnt mean it's healthy. (iswis)

avoiding conflict doesnt mean youre mature. if there is an active problem and you know ignoring it will only benefit you and not the actual problem at hand that is selfish. (iswis)

black women generate clout for everyone. when we're hated the person gets patted on the back, someone appreciates black girls they are praised, and people of many groups repeatedly steal from our culture. (iswis)

YES THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING BLACK AND AFRICAN AMERICAN. (whe)

if youre black you do not have to be democrat OR republican, there are many other parties. (whe)

i do not trust either parties, no minority should. (whe)

this 2020 election was not a win for poc people no matter who won. (iswis)

we do not decide whether or not what to do on columbus day. it is up to the natives themselves. (whe)

pointing out other countries (current) faults is not racist. although the issue can be misconstrued, if proper research is done it safe to say it's an educated observation or opinion. (whe)

privilege heavily varies; ex, americans are seen as privileged, while the people who live in it experience a disadvantage because of the societal standards. within the country itself. (whe)

americans, stop saying that america is the worst country and there are other countries who are suffering much worse than we are. yes sometimes it sucks but do not label it as the worst. (iswis + whe)

white people are privileged and will always be until we break the racist issues deep rooted in EVERY community. (iswis)

9/10 when marginalized groups like (women, lgbt) are mostly focused on white people and never address the poc counter parts. using the excuse "well idk much about that" is not good enough and just promotes pseudo-white supremecy. (iswis + whe)

do not use aave. (iswis)

aave is not gen z language, stop calling it that. (iswis)

gay men (white especially) use black women and get praised for the things we do that are called ghetto. (iswis)

yes it is offensive if you touch a black persons hair with or without permission. we are not your pets nor zoo animals. (iswis)

and yes it is offensive if you see a black women with beautiful hair and assume it's fake or ask, "is it yours?" "is it real?" (iswis)

using jailbait as an excuse to lewd minors is just as disgusting. (iswis)

beauty standards for women is rooted from pedophilia. (iswis)

using other pedophilic relationships as an excuse to ship yours is disturbing and you shouldnt be near children at any capacity. (iswis)

everything doesnt need a label. (iswis)

the fact that gangs have been criminalized while mafias havent is racist and feeds the stereotypes that poc are criminals. (iswis)

people are more forgiving to white predators than to poc (neither are good but people let white off the hook more often). (iswis)

if youre okay with your friends being racists, creeps, abusers you are just as bad. (iswis)

although you can like what you like, making dark content shouldnt be as glorified as much as it is. (iswis)

some kinks do deserve to be kink shamed. (iswis)

adults need to be more held accountable when held in situations with minors. (iswis + whe)

everyone perceives the world differently, many people will see the same things you see differently. (iswis)

calling people crazy for questioning the things around them doesnt make them crazy, youre just asleep. (iswis)

the human body can function without a soul. (iswis)

stop disrespecting christianity. you wouldnt do the same with hinduism, islam and etc. (iswis)

the bible was altered by white men and the true meanings have been misconstrued. (iswis + whe)

bullying someone who you THINK is problematic is not excuse to be hateful. youre just scum and feel the need to justify your actions. (iswis)

not everyone has to like you and dont need a reason. (iswis)

just because you dont like someone doesnt mean you have to make a show of it. be mature and move along. (iswis)

yes callouts/cancelling has its place but it's never done right. (iswis)

"cancel culture" wasnt a thing till white people joined in. (iswis)

dont cancel someone for stuff they did years ago. bringing it up is important but not allowing them to understand, reflect, and apologize is not only bullying it defeats the purpose of bringing awareness. (iswis)

big writers need to stop complaining when one fic or a few dont do good. not only does it rub in small writers faces, it shows that if you need people's validation to write you probably shouldnt be writing. some works will be popular and some will flop, get over it. (iswis)

stop witch hunting & crucifying people for shit you have done or your friends have done and going "uwu sorry" when you get caught. (iswis)

90% people believe content creators with bigger audiences. (iswis)

people spontaneously posting, "uwu take care of your mental health" doesnt mean that they actually care. (iswis)

people are always quick to judge people with real mental health such as depression, anxiety, adhd, and etc are always the one to turn and pretend to be exactly what they just mocked. (iswis)

dont have kids if youre not going to take care of them. (iswis)

stop baiting baby otakus (people freshly getting into anime) into watching cp like yarichin bitch club or boku no pico. they are minors, it's not funny, stop it. (iswis)

stop being protective & toxic over anime characters. if they were real they probably wouldnt even like you. (iswis)

just because someone is your friend doesnt mean that they arent toxic or abusive. (iswis)

start believing when people show their true traits. (iswis)

trauma happens in different forms, stop saying something didnt happen because it didnt go the way that has commonly happened or the way it occurred to you. (iswis)

stop saying minors should "know" while also being the loudest to say that our brains arent even developed till 25. (iswis)

the adult age should be raised to 20 years old. (iswis + whe)

tos should be raised to 16 years old. (iswis + whe)

minors take "18+" & "minors dni" out of your bio. (iswis)

yelling at minors for finding the content you freely put out without any care is your fault not theirs. (iswis)

there are plenty of adult sites that are more confined for adults but you guys ignore them because youd rather get popular on writing erotica on a popular social media platform. (iswis)

trying to cancel someone over one mistake and or blowing said things out of proportion is toxic and stupid. (iswis)

if you take someone saying they need to distance themselves for mental health reasons personally and make them feel bad for it youre an actual shitty person. (iswis)

if someone disrespects you, you have the right to say whatever you want in response. (iswis + whe)

stop hypersexualizing everything (adults especially). (iswis)

the excuses of, "they look grown" "i mentally think xyz" "theyre fake" is creepy and weird and yall should come up with a better excuse. (iswis)

yes i do believe minors should be writing for minors only, but i will not give a shit if an adult does if said characters are aged up in every work sfw or not. (iswis)

stop saying teens cant go through traumatic things and cant experience mental illnesses. it just shows that you werent cared for as a child and never get the therapy for it. (iswis)

gen z has a very colonized idea of activism. (iswis)

feminism was never for all women until the rest of us forced ourselves in. and even now it's still an issue whether or not people realize it or not. (iswis)

poc solidarity doesnt exist as much as we try to make it happen. (iswis)

colorism is an issue, and no you will not tell me otherwise. (iswis)

the hot cheeto girl is offensive and demeans black & hispanic culture. (iswis)

stop bashing minors for breathing, just say youre mad youre not young anymore and move on. (iswis)

black men are the white people of black people. (iswis)

there is no reason as to why you anyone would refer to black people as "blacks". nor should you (non-black people) be arguing whether or not to say nigga even with the hard r. (iswis)

if you (pertains to white people) think white privilege doesnt exist but go on to make fun of or ignore minority problems you are the living and breathing example of what we are talking about. (iswis)

loli/shotas are fucking disgusting and people who like it deserve to be tortured for eternity. (iswis)

seriously, stop using theyre "fake" as an excuse. (iswis)

if youre comfortable with being hateful to someone but still consider yourself a nice person because you do the hate minimum to be a decent human, youre either a narcissist or have a god complex. (iswis)

coons have no say in black issues. (iswis)

people need to stop blaming the "home wrecker" for ruining the relationship when it was the s/o's fault as well. there is no home to enter without an owner. (iswis)

stop saying any asian man yo see reminds you of a haikyuu character and or any anime character. it's racist. (iswis)

stop saying any asian person looks like a kpop idol, it's racist. (iswis)

stop downplaying and invalidating when black women go through traumatic things. not only does it promote that we have to be strong and save everyone else's problems, it says that we dont have emotions and cant be a victim which is disgusting. (iswis)

if you say shit like "minors curate your own experience" then go and turn around to say you REFUSE TO TAG YOUR SHIT YOU ARE LITERALLY MAKING THE PROCESS OF CENSORING HARD! (iswis)

white women are just as much of a problem as white men. only difference is sex keeping them apart. (iswis)

stop saying kpop is racist. expecting artists from a different political progression to understand that things can be offensive is bland. (iswis)

people accept boy groups fuck-ups more than they accept girl groups. and most times out of ten, the males are worse. (iswis)

if you engage in nsfw conversation with a minor, it is your fault they responded. (iswis)

anyone can be abused. (iswis)

stop coddling adults and bullying minors. (iswis)

most of you females have internalized misogyny and dont even know it. (iswis)

you can callout issues without having to drag a group of people. same with uplifting. (iswis)

if youre fine with being a sheep unfollow me. (iswis)

seven deadly sins is not a good anime. (iswis)

there is a difference between boku no hero academia fans based on if they call it "bnha" or "mha". (iswis)

ships literally are not serious stop harassing people over ships. (iswis)

do not harass creators of series because they do something with THEIR story. make your own. (iswis)

stop saying horikoshi sexualizes his women too much/mineta is the worst when you guys enjoy shows like one piece, hunter x hunter, naruto and etc. (iswis)

minors often or not are sheeps (heres your sign you dont have to agree with everything other people say). (iswis)

just because minors can be mature doesnt mean that they are adults. stop treating them as such. (iswis)

we should give more voice actors in the asmr (idk what to call it) community more recognition instead of just one. (iswis)

writers are the ones that send hate to other writers. anon hate is so corny and if you do it that goes to show that you are truly a toxic person wearing a fake mask of kindness when youre not on anonymous. (iswis)

stop being mean to smaller writers because they did not have as much luck as you. (iswis)

stop blaming your readers because one story flopped. (iswis)

ignoring someone's shitty actions encourages them to do it more. (iswis)

going to school and getting a job is much harder now than it was before. (iswis)

being an adult doesnt automatically make you mature. just because youre older doesnt mean youre better or you opinion is more valuable. it just shows that you werent heard when you were younger. (iswis)

there should be no reason as to why someone of the age of 18 should be having any romantic relationship with someone who is a minor. (iswis)

hawks is a shitty character. (iswis)

bakudeku isnt toxic. (iswis)

just because bakugo is in a ship, doesnt mean it's toxic. (iswis)

stop shipping male characters together simply because they have screen time together. it's creepy. (iswis)

almost all of 1-a students have ptsd and anything close to the after effects of being traumatized. (iswis)

no, editing characters to be poc is not racist. youre just mad they arent "white" when they never were. theyre asian and come in many colors as well. (iswis)

wanting to only be with a different race to get a mixed baby is fucking disgusting. (iswis)

stop ignoring pedo relationships between older women and younger boys and or with older women in general. (iswis)

males can be abused, stop telling them to suck it up or that they cant go through things. (iswis)

shaming young females about things they cant control is misogynistic and is damaging to their identity and shouldnt be excused. (iswis + whe)

not all females have to shave. (iswis)

what you dont like in someone is the projections you see of yourself on other people that you dont like about yourself. (whe)

popular bl stories extremely misrepresent gay relationships and frankly it's disgusting that theyre boosted as much as they are. (iswis)

jjba isnt ugly, you just watch animes to sexualize the characters. (iswis)

it's shitty that anime and kpop only became cool once white people stated to like it and made it mainstream. go gatekeep family guy or something. (iswis)

if you have been anime fan for a long time you were with bullied/teased for just generally liking it or you were a weirdo who recreated shit from it. (iswis)

weaboo and weeb were bad terms till we made them positive?? literally otaku is the word for it but we use weeb instead lol. (whe)

normalize and promote educating someone without going straight to bullying them. (whe)

haikyuu isnt really a good manga/anime nor is the art style the best but the characters make up for it. (iswis)

stop misusing terms and stop nitpicking definitions to manipulate your narrative. (iswis)

toxic positivity is manipulative and if you have to make it back handed you are not as nice as you like to make it seem. (iswis)

studying a major doesnt mean youre actually good in the subject. (iswis)

normalize people realizing their past mistakes and growing from it. (iswis)

do not self diagnos unless you actually feel like you may have that issue and would like to seek help. mental health is not a personality trait. (iswis)

stop projecting onto people. (iswis)

stop misusing terms and stop nitpicking definitions to fit your narrative. (iswis)

stealing any type of work should not be tolerated. (iswis)

constantly trying to trigger someone to go back to their old ways (being toxic, abusive, addiction, suicidal etc) after changing is toxic and manipulative. (iswis)

if you make jokes about hurting kids and or feel the need speak badly about them i do not want to speak to you. (iswis)

the human brain wasnt developed to understand complex ideas such as death or the universe. (iswis)

we will never truly know what is beyond our skies. (iswis)

thats all, thanks for sifting!

[72crowe89]

Kids’ WB! and Diversity

“It’s so great to see a black superhero.”

This is a direct quote from one of my middle school classmates regarding Static Shock. Even as an eleven-year old girl, I realized the significance of that statement. In a world full of Supermen, Batmen, and Iron men, to have a hero like Static who looked like us and wasn’t a jive talking best friend or an aggressive criminal or a lazy bum was uplifting. Over fifteen years later, seeing diversity within cartoons wax and wane throughout the years has led me to revisiting Static Shock and the cartoon block it was on, Kids’ WB! In its 13-year history, WB has had several cartoons that are diverse in both their characters and their stories. I will go over the ones I’ve seen briefly, then discuss why the shows (mostly) were positive representations of diversity.

Waynehead (1996)

Waynehead was a 13-episode series that centered around Damey Wayans and his friends as they experienced life in their inner-city poor neighborhood. The series was created by Damon Wayans and based off of his own childhood (hence the name of the protagonist). Although the show never had a home release, reruns ran on Cartoon Network in the early 2000s.

Jackie Chan Adventures (2000)

Created by John Rogers and produced by Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan Adventures stars a fictional Jackie Chan who, in his job as an archaeologist, uncovers magical artifacts that make him a target for different natural and supernatural enemies. Luckily, he has the help of his mischievous niece Jade, his magic-using Uncle, and Uncle’s apprentice and reformed villain Tohru, as well as his own martial arts skills. The series was able to last five seasons before ending in 2005.

Static Shock (2000)

Static Shock was created by Dwayne McDuffie and based off of his Milestone Comics series Static. The cartoon follows Virgil Hawkins, a teen who gets caught in the middle of a gang war when chemicals in a nearby building cover all of the participants, given them unique powers. Virgil gains the power to control electricity and, as the superhero Static, protects Dakota City from other empowered individuals like himself. Static Shock ended in 2004 after four seasons.

¡Mucha Lucha! (2002)

¡Mucha Lucha!, roughly “a lot of fighting” in Spanish, was about life in Luchaville, a city were everyone was a Lucha Libre- style wrestler. The series follows main character Rikochet and his best friends Buena Girl and The Flea as they go to school to learn how to be the best luchador they can be, while using and developing body-morphing signature moves along the way.  ¡Mucha Lucha! was created by Eddie Mort and Lili Chin and lasted for three seasons with a direct-to-video movie, concluding in 2005.

Xiaolin Showdown (2003)

Created by Christy Hui, Xiaolin Showdown was about four children from different parts of the world training to become Xiaolin warriors that protected objects of power called Shen Gong Wu from various enemies. The children were Omi, the arrogant Dragon of Water from China, Raimundo, the laid-back Dragon of Wind from Brazil, Kimiko the tech-savvy Dragon of Fire from Japan, and Clay, the calm Dragon of Earth from the United States. Using different Shen Gong Wu and their own elements, the Xiaolin apprentices challenge their enemies to contests called Xiaolin Showdowns for control of the Shen Gong Wu, developing their skills and personalities as the series goes on. Xiaolin Showdown ended in 2006 after three seasons, although a spinoff named Xiaolin Chronicles that lasted another two seasons ran from 2013 to 2015 on Disney XD and Netflix.

Analysis

These five shows boasted widely diverse casts, but many shows during this time did. What makes these shows different, however, is that people of color were either the protagonists or the main focus of these shows. Other shows with diverse casts still usually had the male white lead who was the most developed character. So what are the benefits and drawbacks that come from having a mainly minority cast?

Positives

One of the biggest positives that comes from a POC-led cast is the variety of personalities. In white-led diverse casts, minority characters are often given one personality trait that they never deviate from. This is especially true if the trait is a common stereotype for the minority: Asian nerd, Black athlete, etc... In shows that multiple minority characters, each of them are given widely different personalities such that a stereotype is rarely establish about a particular minority in that particular show. Jackie Chan Adventures, for example, has Asian characters that range from smart, kooky, annoying, strong, evil, and more. Static Shock have African Americans that are outstanding citizens, criminals, and everything in between. This shows illustrated how varied POC are in real life.

Beyond a multitude of personalities is genuine character development. Throughout these series, POC characters who would often be reduced to static characters were allowed to grow and change throughout the series. In Xiaolin Showdown, Omi was humbled many times throughout the show, while Raimundo went from laid back but rash to a smarter and nobler warrior. Jackie and Jade’s relationship in Jackie Chan Adventures actually evolved throughout the course of the series. In these shows and more, the creators were not afraid to show their characters as imperfect-- this in turn leads to greater character development.

Given that the casts were mainly POC, these series often discussed topics that affected those communities. Both Waynehead and Static Shock discussed living in the inner city, homelessness, poverty, and violence, with the latter also discussing racism and black identity. Jackie Chan Adventures used both Chinese mythology and literature as inspiration for its stories as did Xiaolin Showdown to a lesser extent. Finally,  ¡Mucha Lucha! is a celebration of the Mexican lucha libre tradition. Not only are the characters valued in these series, but so are their cultures as well.

Finally, seeing a POC as the main character at a time where most main characters were white was empowering for young POC like myself at the time. We got to see ourselves as heroes, martial artists, warriors, and more.

Negatives

Because the main focus of these series are POCs and their stories, many people may perceive elements of these shows stereotypical, from the strong Hispanic accents in  ¡Mucha Lucha! to the exaggerated features of the characters in Waynehead to gang violence in Static Shock. Stereotypes in of themselves, however, are not bad-- reducing especially minorities characters to those stereotypes is. None of these series do that; all of the characters and situations are well developed in spite of the risk of stereotypes. It helps that most of these series were created and/or produced by people of the same ethnicity as the characters, which led to a more nuance portrayal of stereotypical issues rather than an exaggerated portrayal of them.

Caveats

Of course, there are many white-led cartoons that had well-developed POCs, including both X-Men and X-Men Evolution, Codename: Kids Next Door, As Told by Ginger, Gargoyles (although that was more creature-led) and many more. Minority characters were often just treated like another character rather than significant because of their minority, so they were just as developed as their white counterparts.

Furthermore, Kids’ WB! was not the only company that had cartoons led by diverse characters. From Nickelodeon’s Hawaiian-led Rocket Power, to Disney’s Black-led The Proud Family and Asian-led American Dragon Jake Long, to Cartoon Network’s Asian-led The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, many companies were creating cartoons that celebrated a variety of different backgrounds. What makes Kids’ WB! stand out is that it was a basic channel that everyone could watch rather than a cable channel that many could not pay for. Kids’ WB! also had relatively more diverse series than its basic channel contemporaries like One Saturday Morning or Fox Box/4Kids TV. However, although ethnically diverse, Kids’ WB! was not diverse in other ways.

All of the shows I discussed in this essay have male leads. Even though several of them have well-rounded female characters like Jade in Jackie Chan Adventures and Buena Girl in ¡Mucha Lucha!, Kids’ WB! have only a handful of shows that starred females, which were either cancelled early, borrowed from Cartoon Network, or, in the case of Cardcaptors, edited to give more attention to male characters. The studio wanted to attract more boy viewers rather than girl viewers to sell toys; ironically, this is the same excuse that many studios use for not focusing on ethnic characters-- that white children will not resonate with them.

Another diversity issue is the lack openly queer or genderqueer characters. Now, this is more of a industry-wide problem than just a Kids’ WB! problem. Even today, when we’re getting more queer representation in children’s programming like Steven Universe, Adventure Time, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, The Legend of Korra, and even Arthur, there is still a lot of pushback from “moral” guardians about this type of inclusiveness. Kids’ WB!, however, has a specific example of this. Ritchie Foley, Virgil’s best friend in Static Shock, is a reimagining of Rick Stone from the Static comics. Rick is gay in the comics, and McDuffie revealed after the show was over that Ritchie was too, which would have been an uphill battle now let along in the early 2000s.

Conclusion

Rightfully, more people are demanding more diversity in their media. People want to see shows and movies that are led by ethnic, religious, gender, sexual, and other minorities because that reflects the world they live in. It reflects them as people. Two decades later, it is amazing how Kids’ WB! had ethnically-diverse series that portrayed Black and Asian and Latinos as both heroic and flawed, noble and cruel, intelligent and foolish, and everything in between. Rather than having one minority character to fill a quota, Kids WB! had a multitude of minority characters that accurately illustrate how varied and complex real-life ethnic minorities are.

[casijaz]

Xenophobia is not racism part 24,450 - Electric Boogaloo

@angelina-galkina you have so much to say so I’ll just put your argument right here and comment on it.

I am putting this under a read more tag for all my followers. If you’re interested, please read.

Angelina, your English seems to be well enough for you to understand my original posts, so I figure you will be able to understand me now. I am also not a native English speaker, so if there is miscommunication between us do tell me.

angelina-galkinaheeft gereageerd op je bericht “On Xenophobia and Racism”

Actually, the reason Europeans hate Slavs is because they think Slavs are Asians or all mixed with Asians. Slavs were seen as low as blacks people on the Nazi “racial hierarchy” scale. It was because Slavs were not considered white, (which was decided by those white European men you mentioned earlier who classified race.) They think Slavs are “secretly asian” or something like that. To be specific, manyyyyy Russian Slavs are mixed with central asian/ middle eastern at this point.

In Poland and Ukraine, the white nationalists there (like you said, there are a lot) dont consider Russian Slavs white (I am a Siberian Yup’ik, so don’t think I’m getting defensive, I’m not white lol) Russian Slavs experience xenophobia, and that xenophobia is rooted in racism in Europe. In America, the hate of Russians is rooted in dumb political reasons.

When I say that the xenophobia against Slavs in Europe is rooted in racism, I mean to say that they hate Slavs because Slavs aren’t white to them. Again, many Slavs are only partially white (so I guess they are only partly Slav?) This is sort of confusing, apologies.

Also, when you say that the hate of Slavs is geographically based, that is partially true. Because Slavs are so Eastward, they have mixed many times with Central and west Asians. So it is rooted in racism, but the insult is that they are part non-white so it’s not directly racism. I just don’t like misinformation being spread.

Note: {I am from Russia, (English isn’t my first language, sorry) and I know primarily about Russian Slavs, so I am only speaking about them.} Russia is both a multi-racial/multi-ethnic country. 

angelina-galkina heeft gereageerd op je bericht “Okay non-European tumblr”

They were talking about their own issues within Europe. It had nothing to do with people of other races. They were talking about how white people hate other white people, BASED ON racism against other races. It isn’t white racist people hating other white people, it is white racist people hating on other white people who “aren’t white to them” They never said anything bad.

Let’s unpack all of this for a second.

First off all. Who do you refer to when you say Europeans? People of Slavic descent are European. If by European you mean north/west ones I can tell you as one from that area that they are definitely European. These white people do not think they are Asian. Racial discrimination against Asians is something that is experienced by a lot in my country, but not by eastern European immigrants.

“Slavs were seen as low as blacks people on the Nazi “racial hierarchy” scale. ” In my original post I said whiteness was a social construct subject to change. While Nazis have had a hand or two in defining races, the construct of race was not created by them. It was European men in the 1600s. What you are also implying is that Slavic people only experience racism by being related or in proximity to ACTUAL non-whiteness. This is a tactic that has been used a lot in the defining of racism. But let me tell you. The people they’re compared to are always off worse. Also. Don’t ever say blacks again. It’s a racist term.

I have no insight in the genetic background of all Slavic ethnic groups in Russia. However from what I could find from these studies: http://www.khazaria.com/genetics/russians.html and https://bmcgenet.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12863-017-0578-3 is that there’s virtually little to no Asian heritage among Russian and eastern European Slavic peoples. There was almost no middle eastern genetic heritage found among these groups either. This was a study done with a group of 1000 people. You could make an argument that they misrepresented the population, but I actually have a problem with people claiming non-white heritage just for an excuse to absolve themselves of white privilege.

Xenophobia is a complex issue that IS tied to racism but is not racism. Please re-read the post I made. In Europe, xenophobia can be strengthened by racism. For example, in a lot of northern countries the south of Europe is seen as more ‘exotic.’ This is because they are in proximity to non-white countries. In the United States of America, xenophobia is not just all about ‘dumb political reasons.’ The United States of America is a former colony placed on stolen indigenous land by white Europeans from all over the place. They brought their values and systems regarding race along with them. This means Europe and the U.S. have similar systems, simply because it’s the same people who made them.

I think you’re onto something when you say ‘not white to them,’ but you need to realise that they still are white. I don’t know what your experience with racism is if you’re part of a non-white ethnic group in Russia. I can tell you my experience as mixed black person who is not white passing and lives in Europe. Whatever Slavic immigrants face for discrimination, and what I face, are completely different. Their discrimination is not nor ever based on their race. They are white. They don’t get blackface thrown in their faces. They don’t get called racial slurs. They don’t get their bodies or cultural aspects dubbed dirty or inferior on basis of their race. If they do experience discrimination it is based on the geographical history we’ve had in Europe.

What I can definitely agree on with you is that southern and eastern Europeans experience xenophobia on basis of their relation to non-whiteness on a geographical and historical basis. Many countries were colonised by the Ottoman Empire once. In the 1900s they were described as being ‘too close to the east.’ However note that I say ‘too close,’ but not ‘IN’ the east. In the 1800s while northwest European men were defining races they deemed a lot of races not quite white by relating them to races they had definitively deemed not-white. But we no longer live within the racial confines of neither the 1800s nor Nazi Germany. The racial hierarchy scale however is here to stay. It is subject to change, has been, and always will be, but there are certain groups of people whose claim to whiteness can never happen. Among them are black people.

Now to the reaction I made to the non-European Tumblr post going around! I am European! I was talking about my own issues too! These are my issues! White people hate white people because of geographical and cultural differences. They are both white. So they can’t be racist against each other. Both are at the top of the racial hierarchy. They did say something bad. When us ACTUAL non-white Europeans try talking about racism they try and hijack the conversation by stating they can’t possibly be racist because it works differently in Europe. It doesn’t. The U.S. and Europe have the same racial systems. The U.S. even has some of the same xenophobic basis for discriminating groups of people as Europe because the white population of the U.S. consists out of solely (people descended from) European immigrants.

Don’t ever tell a European of colour to not talk about their own issues. These are my issues and I will only stop talking about them when racism and xenophobia cease to exist.

[glassesandkim]

All I'm saying is it's really obvious this fandom is mostly made up of young white women. Really, really obvious. The casual racism (that "isn't really" there!!!), the top/bottom mentality, the way Levi and Nico are written... It's really obvious. And for those of us not in that demographic, it can be uncomfortable to see shit like that. And I'm not sorry if the young white girls don't like hearing it. The very fact that actual gay men and poc feel unwelcome in the schmico fandom is a problem.

I think this is an important ask too. Especially about how it can be uncomfortable for people who aren’t part of the major or common demographic. 

Now I don’t want to start anything and I don’t like pointing fingers or really talking about fandom but I think I have to because no one else will if I don’t. To preface, I’m not able to validate the fact that some people feel unwelcome but I’m sorry to hear that they do and I can see why. I’m fortunate and privileged in this aspect to have been able to blog about schmico without feeling unwelcomed. 

And I can’t validate what the demographic is of the schmico fandom but I have said in the past that this fandom is … in kinder words… a baby fandom. Very new and very much afraid. Sometimes I come across something and I’ll look at it and just think, “Ah… yikes…” Like what I did with the original hc post. I read it. Took a day and half to decide how I wanted to respond. Ultimately decided that I’d rather not and let it just be a sweet and cute hc. And I will admit, my response was a disservice to poc. My reason was that I didn’t think the fandom would’ve been able to understand if I said, “Well this is kinda um yucky and kinda racist but it’s cute???” 

So I know this post may not be interpreted correctly for some of you and that’s fine. Unfortunate, but fine. 

(And it’s always a damn surprise to me when people want to talk about Nico and the fact that he’s Asian/Korean. I am accustomed to not talking about these things and almost in a way, feel like I can’t. And this, everyone, is another example of a product of our world’s racist history.)

For me personally and for many reasons, I am not scared of things like Nico being written off or dying a tragic death. I’ll be sad and mad but I am not scared. I will just be tired and disappointed yet again if it happens. 

Because, well… they do that shit all. the. time. to people who look like me. 

I’m used to seeing Asian characters as side characters or side kicks, used as comedic relief (often playing out stereotypes) or as plot device to drive a white character’s arc, 

Why? Probably and most likely because Hollywood doesn’t view its Asian characters, and also other poc characters as important as their white characters. (Media is also infamous for doing the same thing to its queer characters). 

Look at Link’s character: introduced in exactly the same way as Nico. But Link’s character had significantly more screen time, more interaction with other characters, and had more backstory. Nico Kim’s character is basically a blank canvas with the words “Hot and Good at His Job” and now probably stained in red marker that says “Also killed someone and was mean to his boyfriend.” 

So no wonder fandom romanticizes the hell out of Nico. The show isn’t doing shit to help and media in general gives little to no information to the masses on what it means to be an Asian, gay man in the US. 

So it’s up to us now to fill in the blanks. To do better than them. And that’s why it’s important to remember Nico is Asian and queer and such shapes his character. 

Representation is so important. 

Anyway, I do hope today’s series of asks was informative and educational though. I do hope it has encouraged some of you to think more about Nico and other non-white, non-het characters as characters with very different stories and experiences and feelings compared to their white and het counterparts. It’s more work but the excuse of “I don’t see colour” is boring and old. The world in colour is a lot better. 

[theculturedmarxist]

The left is in crisis across the West. It is out of power in most countries and out of touch with its historical working-class base. Class politics has given way to identity politics. And noble causes like anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-discrimination have congealed into a stifling morass of political correctness and competitive victimhood.

Thankfully, there are some pockets on the left who recognise this predicament. I’m in New York to try to understand the thinking behind the ‘dirtbag left’. The phrase was coined by Amber A’Lee Frost, a writer, commentator and activist, to describe a loose constellation of American leftists who reject the civility, piety and PC that has come to characterise much of the left.

Frost is a co-host of the hugely successful Chapo Trap House, which offers a funny, irony-laden and often downright vulgar take on contemporary politics from the left. She also writes a column for the Baffler and is a trade unionist.

Newer on the scene is the acerbic and wickedly funny Anna Khachiyan, art critic turned cultural commentator, who co-hosts the podcast Red Scare. Red Scare saves its most biting criticism for ‘neoliberal’ feminism.

Among the most refreshing things about Frost and Khachiyan is that their politics are resolutely not woke. ‘You can tell people that I’m trans’, says Khachiyan, with characteristic irreverence, as Frost, Khachiyan and myself sit down to talk at Eastwood in the Lower East Side. ‘I’m not trans, but you can say that just for fun.’ Their reasons for rejecting wokeness are both pragmatic and political. ‘The majority of people are not woke’, explains Frost: ‘Why would we dismiss the majority of people as hopelessly reactionary?’

Not only that, for Frost, identitarian divisions based on gender, race and sexuality are ‘a distraction at best, an active detriment at worst’. ‘The biggest divide in American society is class and that’s it. I’m a class-first person’, she tells me. ‘You’re hearing in the election how much we need to elect a woman or we need to elect a woman of colour. But the most left-wing candidate is an old, white, heterosexual man [Bernie Sanders] and I want him to win… I’m a Bernie bro. I was a Bernie bro in 2016 and I am now.’

But would the first woman president not be a breakthrough for women? ‘They’re always talking about the “little girls” – how would little girls know that they can be president? It’s just so stupid. I was a little girl once, I’ve never felt limited by this stuff’, says Frost. She raises Margaret Thatcher: ‘You [Brits] had a girl boss – she showed those bro miners!’

Frost describes herself as a socialist. She says she came to socialism through feminist organising. But the current wave of media feminism turns her off. It is about ‘middle-class women trying to get spots in the boardroom’. ‘A lot of this stuff is “fight the power, put me on the throne”.’ Or it’s, ‘Men are rude to me and they explain things to me’, she jokes.

Of course, I suggest, there are many real struggles that women face, particularly working-class women – from low pay to childcare – so why do these issues barely get a look in? ‘They don’t care about working-class women’, Frost says of contemporary feminists. ‘Half the time they’re smearing them as reactionaries because they voted for Trump.’

‘I fundamentally think they are disgusted and horrified by working-class people’, says Khachiyan. ‘Real women don’t live up to the liberal-feminist pieties’, adds Frost. ‘And I think that’s very threatening for the uptight, white, overeducated, liberal women to be confronted with’, replies Khachiyan.

So why did so many people vote for Trump? ‘There are two categories of Trump voters worth discussing separately’, says Frost. ‘There was the wealthy, petit-bourgeois reactionary. But there were also working-class people who heard only one of the candidates talking about jobs.’

Trump has many faults, of course. ‘Fundamentally, he is a cruel, stupid man’, says Frost. But he has ‘a very good observational talent’. Liberals, suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, have been far too moralistic about the Trump vote, she argues: ‘Most people don’t believe that presidential candidates are telling the truth the entire time.’

Worse, the left’s response to Trump has been totally counterproductive: ‘Do you want to tell people how bad they are? Do you want them to repent because they’re bad racists? Or do you want them to pursue a left-wing project?’

‘Those people are ours to win’, says Frost. The populist moment is an opportunity, she says, but one which ‘I can totally see us pissing away’. ‘The self-identified left are very sceptical of the populist stuff. Look at their takes on the yellow vests: “They’re all fascists!” They’re probably just fucking French people – and who can tell the difference?’

Just as significant as Trump’s victory was Hillary Clinton’s loss, they tell me, in that it represented a rejection of an era of neoliberalism. ‘I’m from Indiana’, Frost tells me. ‘Bill signs NAFTA. That obliterated the towns where I’m from. People are extremely bitter about Bill Clinton for very good reasons. And she is married to that, literally and figuratively – she defends that legacy. How did we not see Trump coming?’

What’s more, Trump represented a repudiation of the entire establishment – Democrats and Republicans. ‘There is a severe crisis of legitimacy in our institutions’, says Frost: ‘The Republicans did not want Trump to win either… He was nobody’s first choice, except the American people’s, apparently.’

For Khachiyan, ‘You can say a lot of bad things about Donald Trump, but you can’t say the man is boring’.

‘Trump should be an artist, not a politician’, she adds. ‘He says, “I’ve never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke”, and he loves Diet Coke, that’s his drink of choice. I don’t know if he’s self-aware or not.’

The problem with liberals, she says, is that ‘they can’t differentiate between their political critiques of Trump and their aesthetic critiques of him… He really brings to the fore all these inarticulable taboos. But as a politician, he’s not very exceptional.’ It is not so much Trump’s policies that anger the liberals, but his brashness, his demeanour. Frost adds, by way of example, that Obama also ‘threw tear gas at the border’.

Three years on from the 2016 presidential election, Democrats are still largely in denial or in despair about Trump’s victory. The now-discredited Russia-collusion narrative provided an excuse to avoid any soul-searching. ‘The whole Rachel Maddow and the NBC crowd have infected the minds of boomers with this dystopian narrative’, Khachiyan tells me. ‘Even my mom, who’s from Russia, buys the collusion narrative.’

‘The narrative isn’t itself so interesting’, she argues, but it shows ‘the willful failure of the Democratic Party. Again and again, they fall on their face. There’s some kind of Freudian, masochistic thing they have where they get off on publicly humiliating themselves.’

But while liberals may be electorally challenged, they still dominate mainstream culture. ‘“Liberal’ is the political denomination, but “nerd” is the cultural denomination’, says Khachiyan. ‘We’re living under the triumph of the nerds… If you had an American Psycho-esque novel today, there wouldn’t be this broad-shouldered besuited guy who looked like he walked out of the pages of an advertisement. It would be about a fin-tech soy boy. He’d be hunched over, clutching his tote-bag’, she says.

‘Bret Easton Ellis said there could never be the great Millennial novel – we’ll see. I haven’t read that Sally Rooney book that everybody’s writing about’, Khachiyan says, referring to the Irish author’s breakthrough novel, Normal People, which focuses on a millennial relationship. Frost adds that she read the book ‘with the intent of savaging it’, because ‘all the Guardian feminists like her’, but found ‘there was a lot of good shit in there’. ‘I think the women who like it don’t understand why they do… women today aren’t allowed to want a traditional relationship’, she says. Khachiyan adds: ‘Which is what most people since the dawn of time have wanted… There’s nothing reactionary about wanting a boyfriend!’

The conversation turns back to Bret Easton Ellis, a critic of what he calls snowflake culture, who is frequently accused of being a reactionary. ‘A lot of artists either don’t have any politics or their politics are retarded’, says Khachiyan. ‘His whole virtue as a writer is being a great stylist and a great narrator who retains plausible deniability. American Psycho has references to killing homeless black people, calling Asians “slant eyes”. And a lot of these woke SJW people sincerely think he’s a racist because he describes the condition… Artists are sometimes unassailable… The whole impulse to peg someone for what they are now is bizarre.’

Another recent favourite author among Guardian feminists is Kristen Roupenian, whose short story, ‘Cat Person’, went viral. The story is about a young woman who realises – slightly too late in the day – that the sexual encounter she is about to embark on is not what she wants. When the man finally realises he has been rejected, he lashes out. ‘Guardian feminists liked it because it “proved” men are trash because the man called her a whore at the end’, says Khachiyan. ‘Actually what it showed is that men can be sad and pathetic’, adds Frost.

Khachiyan tells me about an event she was at with Roupenian recently. (‘Hands down one of the most inarticulate, scatter-brained speakers – but the woman can write!’) Lena Dunham was meant to speak, she says, but didn’t show up because ‘she cooked up a fake illness’. ‘It was around the time she had her uterus removed’, she says. Frost adds that lots of American women are ‘voluntary removing their reproductive organs’. ‘Nobody is talking about this. It’s a middle-class, very elite phenomenon, where they’re like, “I have menstrual problems, I’m going to remove my womb”. Lena Dunham wrote a whole fucking essay about it.’

I asked how the seeming frigidity of the #MeToo moment, let alone the alleged epidemic of uterus removals, sits alongside modern feminism’s ‘sex positive’ celebration of polyamory, pansexuality and sex workers. ‘It’s because these people would rather negotiate sex than actually have it… They don’t want to take responsibility’, says Khachiyan. ‘That’s why nerds love this stuff’, says Frost. ‘It’s huge in Silicon Valley. They like games and rules. These are people who consider themselves leftists but probably don’t like anything about socialism except the gulags.’

Khachiyan says ‘a lot of these people are tyrannical narcissists’. ‘They are noncommittal, incapable of tolerating conflict or taking consequences. So they would rather have a system like polyamory where you kick that can down the road.’ Frost adds that many millennials ‘think they can eliminate jealousy… But sometimes you’re going to have bad sex, sometimes you’re going to be jealous. It’s not the end of the world.’

We move from jealousy to hate, and to the alleged epidemic of racism or even fascism often talked up by the left. Hate speech, we’re told, must be contained. Khachiyan takes a refreshingly liberal line: ‘You should be able to hate and hatred should be protected, as long as it doesn’t spill over into physical violence.’ ‘There’s this idea that we live in a white supremacist country when we fundamentally don’t’, says Khachiyan. She mentions antifa, the self-styled anti-fascist group that, since our conversation, has hit the headlines for beating up a right-leaning journalist in Portland. ‘Antifa have manufactured a threat to have some semblance of an identity’, she says. ‘All these people who say they are anti-fascist don’t know what it means to be persecuted.’

Frost and Khachiyan have a Marxist understanding of race. ‘We invented race to justify exploitation’, says Frost. ‘Splitting people on the basis of race was used to morally justify slavery… Racial discourse was created after hyper-exploitation.’ But ever since, argues Frost, ‘When we tried to not be racist, we ended up using the same framework’, which today also lives on in identitarian form. ‘All “race” is, is that some people don’t sunburn. That’s the entirety of racial difference.’

But how much can Marxism really illuminate today’s mad world? ‘Twitter call-out culture’, Frost concedes, ‘has no Marxist explanation. It makes no sense economically or even logically.’ Marx cannot account for a ‘social phenomenon where you rat out your closest friends’ and ‘describe them as reactionary’: ‘Why would you do that? Of course it will be bad for you.’

While there are plenty of woke types queuing up to ‘call out’ Frost, Khachiyan and their collaborators – even accusing them of being Nazis – let’s hope the dirtbag left can resist being ‘cancelled’ altogether. Voices like these, challenging woke orthodoxy and standing up for traditional left values, are needed now more than ever. Here’s to the dirtbags.

Fraser Myers is a staff writer at spiked and host of the spiked podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @FraserMyers.

[janiedean]

Why do you think the SW fandom is so knee-deep in SJ Calvinism? Because I understand wanting representation or being upset because a movie didn’t fulfill your expectations, but the “if you don’t ship X you’re racist” “if you don’t stan Y you’re bigoted” and the harassment over a disappointing movie is surprising just because of how pervasive it is. I was trying to find some St*rmpilot blogs to follow and the amount of hate is Yikes, especially the hate for Rose and the stans of a Certain Ship

eeeeeeh I think it’s because ep. 7 came out at the height of the... well, reaping the seeds the social justice calvinism had sown since 2014 so to speak? I mean, SW is hardly the one fandom where it happened (*cough* voltron and SU *cough*) but as SW is way broader in audience than those other shows that certainly didn’t help, but like, if you think on it, since 2013-ish (but I think before as well, I mean, I’ve been here since 2011 and already when I got here I felt like something was going very wrong when it came to politics-in-fandom-attitude), basically people on tumblr have progressively, when it came to fandoms:

pushed the idea that you have to over-analyze everything you consume through political lens;

pushed the idea that what you like and how you like it also has to be pushed through political lens and what you like says things about who you are as a person or your political leanings;

pushed the idea that if you care for something *problematic* just because you like it you’re excusing it;

pushed the idea that if you were problematic once you can’t ever not be problematic, you can’t change your mind and you can’t learn also because ‘it’s not my job to educate you’ so people either learn themselves or idek what but again, calvinism.

now obviously those politics are tumblr-politics which are also US centric like woah and are also high-school petty like woah, and since more or less then people have:

continuously other-ed lgbt people from *straight*/heterosexual people pushing a narrative where straight = bad and therefore putting it before anything automatically makes it a valid insult which added to the above means that if you ship het you’re already problematic regardless of whether you’re straight or not (and if you are.. lol);

pushed the performative feminism of Doom TM that says men and women should be equal but is like, an excuse to shit on men and on women who like men (see the rampant biphobia around and the whole ‘straight girls are so stupid if they’re into men they should try women’ discourse);

pushed the US terminology when it comes to the POC discourse, in the sense that everything works on the US-centered context where white people = white anglosaxon protestant, poc = everything else without realizing that in the rest of the world white does not equal wasp, that poc = black people only in most of europe (and no one who’s actually black or not white who lives in africa or asia and so on would describe themselves as poc because why the hell would you when your skin color/ethinicity is the norm where you live?), which also goes with the whole white passing debate which where I live would not exist but in that context is a mess because again, oscar i*saac is schroedinger’s poc (as in, he’s poc automatically for american standards because he’s latin-american but like he has the same skin tone as my mother and my mother in italy is white same as 90% of us, which means endless confusion) and assumed that all of us have to accept that terminology/context regardless of whether it’s valid in our countries;

kept on progressively putting minorities against each other in an endless loop of WHO HAS IT WORST/oppression olympics;

kept on progressively split hairs on issues that aren’t exactly, like, that important if there’s more urgent stuff to deal with because 90% of the activism here is performative;

made the 180° turn for which headcanons and shit are seen as, like, doing representation instead of, you know, supporting what rep is there never mind when people decide *one* ship is the right one and if another is canonized and it’s rep it gets thoroughly ignored;

pushed on a mindset for which if something isn’t perfect at the get-go then it’s canceled.

and so on.

like, all of that shit has been continuously not criticized because criticizing it especially if you don’t belong to a minority means that you’re out of line/discussing things that don’t concern you, but if you’re a minority and you criticize it then it’s suddenly YOU BETRAYED OUR CAUSE *INSERT SLUR HERE ABOUT PANDERING TO THE MAJORITY*, and the result exploded in toxic af fandoms, but like... if you look at the issues of the SW sequel trilogy fandom it’s all of that in a nutshell because:

k/ylo ren is automatically the worst because he’s white (horrible), a man (even worse), not canonically attractive (I didn’t touch on that topic bc I’m honestly not up for it mentally but lmao that counts too) and presumably heterosexual (or well, no one said he’s not but you know, since he’s a white dude on the bad side [supposedly] then we don’t give him the benefit of the doubt that he might be bi), so if you like ky/lo ren or relate to him you’re automatically problematic;

shipping re/ylo because automatically problematic because it’s a *straight* (evil) ship made of two white people (when there’s options to ship them both with people that aren’t white, so IT’S RACIST), they have an age gap (BAD BECAUSE POWER IMBALANCE) and it’s enemies to lovers, so it’s a context where people who don’t conceive redemption or that people can become better are basically crying problematic all the time, and the fact that people decided it’s *abusive* when it has like nothing that can equate it to a really abusive relationship says all;

ky/lux being the most popular slash ship immediately means that it’s the fault of the horrible straight (white) women fetishizing the (white) men on the dark side (when it’s most likely because for a while ky/lux was literally the only side of that fandom where people were chill/there wasn’t wank every other moment);

st/ormpilot has been declared The Right Ship because it’s two non-white men and it’s not straight which automatically turns into what I said before about hating other ships that would be rep anyway and feeds into the lowkey oppression olympics racism, because like if finn/rose becomes canon it’s still a mixed/biracial ship because he’s black and she’s asian....... except that it’s not the right ship for people who decided that finn has to be either with rey or poe (and guess what rey is white and poe is... schroedinger’s poc because oscar isaac in europe wouldn’t pass for *poc*), which to me has stank of lowkey racism since tlj came out because sorry but if ‘finn deserves better than rose’ or ‘finn should be with rey because if he doesn’t get rey then it’s unfair’ and the various other bullshit I read on the topic basically says that the white woman is *worthier* than the asian woman or that rose is a downgrade from rey which is fucking bullshit, rose isn’t even a bad character all the contrary. and that’s for the het side of it, but like then it’s not as good as stormpilot because it’s a straight ship (NOOOO THEY MADE FINN STRAIGHT/THEY’RE NOT MAKING THEM GAY THIS IS SUCH BULLSHIT = stuff I legit saw on the tag) and ngl I’m 100% sure that the fact that daisy is Standard Attractive and kelly marie t/ran is lovely but doesn't conform to the usual beauty standard western-viewers apply on asian women did play a role in there, but: what did I say before? the slash ship is automatically better than the het ship never mind that they’re both biracial and rose is actually a rep (asian girls who don’t adhere to stereotypical body shapes - and like, the rep for all body types and shapes should be valid for all women, not just white) that isn’t exactly popular especially in mainstream cinema, so people should be happy.... but since rose is Not A Dude and Not Rey and Not The Right Kind Of Representation For That Crowd, automatically rose is a shit character and deserves to be viciously hated on. and this is a thing done by people who most likely then turn on the other side and talk shit about horrible straight women who hate the only female character for getting in the way of their slash ship without realizing that their rose hate is exactly that. and of course since sto/rmpilot is the two good guys, if you ship that then you also have to hate re/ylo because how can you, a person who ships The Good Ship On The Light Side, support such a problematic enemies to lovers thing? yeah, right, hahaha.

this also tbqh also pairs up with how on tumblr people only recognize mental health issues/abuse victims when the narrative suits them - like, being a bad victim automatically means you lose sympathy and mental health issues are only valid if you aren’t ***privileged*** otherwise why would you have them, which shows transparently in how a lot of people absolutely deny that ky/lo ren is a) an abuse victim, b) obviously mentally ill however it is that he deals with it, but no, he has to be The Most Horrible In Existence Because Otherwise We Should Have Empathy For A Bad Guy Who Also Might Get Redeemed And Redemption Is Not Happening Ever Because Bad People Don’t Deserve it.

like, all of the issues sw sequel trilogy has when it comes to the fandom are direct consequences of the nonsensical social justice calvinism climate on tumblr dot com that no one took care to put a stop to since 2013 and of its ridiculous oppression olympics and pitting people against each other and that was my take. cheers.

(ps: I also ship sto/rmpilot like woah and it’s my otp but there’s a reason why I unfollowed most SP blogs I followed and why I don’t go into the tag anymore - I’m not here for the anti-rose racism dressed up as performative wokeness, I’m not here to get lectured about as a white person I fetishize poc gay men if I ship it - yes I read that too - and I’m not here to read a bunch of meta about how re/ylo is a bad ship and blah blah blah, so yeah. I feel you.) (pps: ky/lo ren isn’t even my favorite character and I care relatively but gdi the way the fandom approaches him is honestly mindboggling in that sense, and I don’t mean people who actually dislike him because fair reasons, I mean people who can’t recognize his abuse victim status and the precarious status of his mental health. like, not all abuse victims and mentally ill people are the right victim or come from the right background and you can be cool motive still murder and still recognize that he’s like that because he has issues, not because he was drawn that way. /bye)

[roidespd-blog]

Chapter Three : THE DESOLATION OF THE GRINDR USER

« Grindr is a sociopath nest », Anonymous 

Grindr was launched on March 25, 2009. About a month or so earlier, I lost my virginity to the sweetest guy you could imagine. I met him on what we could consider one of Grindr’s ancestors, Gaypax— I still have that account, out of nostalgia. The design is so ugly I wonder now how I did spend so much time on it (we weren’t picky back then…) So Grindr was born at the exact time my sexual and romantic life was unfolding. It means that, except for the few years I’ve spent frenetically masturbating to La Redoute’s underwear catalogues and downloading dirty pictures of Brad Pitt naked with a very slow wifi, I’ve always been accustomed to gay apps.

Recently, the new and improved french magazine Tétu published an article called « Faut-il brûler Grindr?». Though not as detailed as I was hoping it would be, it did not changed my general opinion about the dating app paradigm. 

FLASHBACK France, 1971. A young gay man living in a beautiful city called Paris. Mike Brant just released his first major hit, Rock’N’Roll is slowly dying and Les Bidasses en Folie is this year’s biggest success at the box office. Unfortunately for him, the Gay Rights Movement is just at its infancy, homosexuality is still considered a mental illness and sodomy is punishable by law. So he shut his mouth and do his dirty business privately. he spends time around Place de Clichy and finds very discreet bars that can welcome him without too much judgement. He takes long walks toward the Tuileries bushes and sucks a stranger’s dong without any verbal exchange. He ends up marrying that fine young Marie, daughter of a friend of his dad, makes a couple of kids and from time to time, goes back to those places, shameful of himself.

That was the life of a gay man in France. If he didn’t get killed along the way. CUT TO 2009. Grindr is the first official gay dating app launched around the world. In France, the ban on sodomy disappeared in 1981 and since 1992, you are no longer considered a crazy person for being attracted to a person of the same sex (well, not from an official medical point, anyway). The app came to fruition through a simple question asked by its creator, Joel Simkhai : « WHO ELSE IS GAY AROUND HERE? ».

By 2012, 4 million people were using the App. 27 million as of 2017. Tinder followed in 2012 — you are welcome, straight people. Then SCRUFF, GAYROMEO, HORNET, BLUED, … What is wrong, then ? You damn well know something is wrong.

SMARTPHONE, 21st CENTURY’S NEW BACKROOM

If you go to a bar, you have to talk to the bartender, exchange a least a fews words with strangers, even dance as your look around and are being seen by others in the flesh. If you go to a gaybar, the same thing happens. If you go to a gaybar then the gaybar’s backroomn, rules change.

As the dating apps was closing in on worldwide domination, it became clear that the natural human kindness and respect would ultimately have no effect on the way people would communicate with one another on Grindr. I’ve been working in a bookstore for the past four years, you see. I expect a “hello”, “goodbye” and a smile during any interactions with clients — from them and myself. So there’s nothing more annoying that someone coming up to you, barking what they want to and leaving without any civility whatsoever. The Grindr equivalent would be Step 1 : A DICK PICK (or ass pick. I once had a fisting commemorative photo sent to me) straight up. Step 2 : A terribly convenient “cc sava tu ch?” or a “cho?” Step 3A : If you are polite enough to answer something, a conclusive “tu reçoi” or “tu bouge” Step 3B : you did not answer a singe word and the guy either sends you a “????” or insults the shit out of you. I sometimes do not answer impolite clients at work. Guess what ? Bitches say hello if you stare down at them long enough. On the internet, never gonna happen.

I remember the first couple of times I went on Grindr. I tried to answer everyone, even a “no, thank you”. There was always some “Hello”s, “How are you?”s, a few “My name is”s. But as the years went by, gay men (as I mostly talk to gay or bisexual cis men on these apps, I can only give my opinion on that category of people) adopted a series of unofficial rules to talk to each other.

1. If we are on this app, we are ready to fuck. 2. We do not have time for small talk. 3. We do not need your name, but dick size and multiple nudes are welcome. A picture is worth a thousand blablablahs. 4. We need to be very precise about what we want, so as not to waste our precious time. 5. Seriously, give us a full diagnosis of your body shape through pics, boy. 6. Chems ? 9. There are no rule 7 & 8, because 6 & 9. Now, turn around.

There are also lots of personal rules users seem keen on sharing them publicly as to implement unofficial rule number 4.

NO FEMS, NO BLACKS, NO ASIANS

“Pretty chill guy here. Very open minded and friendly. I love men from different cultures. Just no Asians. Asians leave me alone. I’m not racist” “Don’t message me. I’ll message you :). No Blacks Asians or fems. Love it when fats call themselves masc. hahahaha.” “Tell me if top/btm. Don’t really believe in “vers”. […] Attracted to Latin & White (trying to sound PC)” “Chill masc sane… just described nobody on here… Over 35, Asian or fem = block.. haha” “99% of you are losers. I’m the top 1%. So prove yourself first” The last one was written by a white male, by the way. They all were.

In our modern society, we’re not fools enough to believe that racism disappeared and everyone is accepting of others. Just look at the whole series of events called “while Black” where white people called cops on black folks for getting out of their airbnbs, talking in a Starbucks without ordering or falling asleep in a communal room at college. Nevertheless, you don’t see parades of racists proudly marching with “NO BLACKS” signs on the streets — you see another type of marches, yes. Free speech and stuff, sure. So why has it become acceptable in people’s minds to shade light on their racism in their profiles, barely hiding behind the “sexual preference” bullshit excuse ?

In an article dated September 2018 called “Why is it OK for online dates to block whole ethnic groups?” (2), the Observer related the appalling anecdote of an elderly white man who responded to a Grindr user of asian descent : “Asian, ew gross”.

I myself was told that I was too fat, too small, too twinkish, then not enough of those, or too white (but so we’re clear : RESERVE RACISM IS NOT A THING. STOP TRYING TO MAKE IT A THING!).

Racism also works with the beliefs that if you look or act a certain way, you obviously are what someone’s fantasy is. You are a black man so I assume that my hole will expand by ten once you’re inside me. You a blond light weight with feminine traits. You’re a submissive bottom and a real whore.

The world works on assumptions (ex : the myth of the BIG BLACK DICK or the for-sure global instinct that Tom Hanks would never have to face any #MeToo accusations) and apps follow that same path but without any policing. The absence of ramifications from someone’s actions further implement a feeling of unapologetic mindfulness — the same way being in a dark backroom with strangers you can’t see does not seem to add any consequences to what you’ll do next.

Recently, Grindr tried to course correct its past errors by creating “Kindr” (3). Was it a new app that would prevent people from actively using hate speech ? WELL WHY DON’T YOU PREVENT IT ON GRINDR THEN ? Was it a new platform to exchange ideas and experiences so that we can find another way to communicate together ?

Here’s how they introduce Kindr on their official site : At Grindr, we’re into diversity (MONEY), inclusion, and users who treat each other with respect. We’re not into racism, bullying, or other forms of toxic behavior (YOU ARE THE TOXIC BEHAVIOR). These are our preferences, and we’ve updated our Community Guidelines to better reflect them. Same app. New rules (DID YOU THOUGH?) Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Their type. Their tastes. But nobody is entitled to tear someone else down because of their race, size, gender, HIV status, age, or — quite simply — being who they are. (AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT PUT YOUR BUSINESS IN A RISKY POSITION) Join us in building a kinder Grindr. (DO YOUR OWN DAMN WORK). Express yourself, but not at the expense of someone else (OR US). Report discrimination when you see it (LIKE WITH THE JEWS BACK THEN. ALSO, WE THE USERS, ALREADY DID THAT). Use your voice and share your story to call out prejudice and spark change. Together, we can amplify the conversation and take steps towards a kinder, more respectful community (SEE, WE AT GRINDR ARE WOKE).

There you have it. A marketing scam to ease the pain of millions of users whose relationships and self esteem were affected by Grindr’s lack of interest in their consumers. How many years did it take for a simple statement from the CEO ? What’s actually concrete about these actions ?

in the community guide lines, it is stated that they “will remove any discriminatory statements displayed on profiles. […] Profile language that is used to openly discriminate against other users’ traits and characteristics will not be tolerated and will be subject to review by our moderation team”. FINE. So, if someone says “no short fat asians”, theoretically it would be removed from the profile. But if it says “more into vanilla and spice than chocolate and rice. So hit me up if this is you” (an actual Grindr profile, by the way), what can a Grindr moderator do about it ? The racism is still there. Are we to believe that EVERY single profile is being reviewed in detail ?

#deletegrindr was a popular hashtag over a year ago. I’m not on twitter and I still heard about it. Was it a cultural shift in the way gay people wanted to treat other gay people ? Were we on the verge of a revolution ? Nop. Grindr released data informations of thousands and thousands of profiles about HIV status (something that you can put on your Grindr profile) to third party companies. Since then, Grindr released the Kindr initiative and rewrote its policies.

I’m not against dating apps. I think it was a wonderful tool back in the day to extend one’s horizon, explore and experiment with love, sex and adventures. It no longer works that way. I didn’t even talk about the spreading of drug using through profile description and the real danger of stimulants in someone’s sex life.

#deletegrindr should come back and this time, it has to work. Silicon Valley, go make an app from scratch. One that would implement actual kindness to the machine, not based on popularity. Think of what people need, not what they want. People are shitheads. I’m a shithead. What I want is never good for me.

And YOU. You, little queer boy reading this. Don’t go on Grindr before going to bed to check the hotties in your area. Forget about that 6'2 monster cock Swedish god that lives nearby and offered you a quick hump for the ride. Ask him for a drink, put down your phone, get to know him a little and then fuck his brains out. You’re still gonna fuck but you’ll find humanity where there was once none.

That’s my preaching for the night. I gave up long ago on apps. I delete them all and stay away for months. Then, I feel lonely and get back to one or two. I met this new guy that way (4).The nice thing about it was that we did not talk dick sizes, favorite positions or any sexual desires until way after we actually met (and we’re talking two full weeks of messages). I’m not on any dating apps now.

(1) https://tetu.com (2) https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/29/wltm-colour-blind-dating-app-racial-discrimination-grindr-tinder-algorithm-racism (3) https://www.kindr.grindr.com (4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Miller

[wasneeplus]

Responding to the Alt-Right playbook, part 1

Disclaimer: I wrote this after seeing the first four minutes of the video. While watching the rest I noticed a few things I bring up are addressed later, though in such a way as to lead to even more questions. Still, I think most of it stands, and it’s still useful as a kind of stream of consciousness response, so I’ll leave it untouched.

Sometimes, in the wee hours of the morning when I just finished reading my newspaper, I will enjoy myself with a few infuriating youtube videos. Lately I’ve been quite disillusioned by the part of youtube calling itself liberal spouting nationalist propaganda at my beloved European project, so I’ve switched to some corners of the website which are friendlier to my blood pressure. That’s how I came across a video called "The Alt-Right Playbook: The Card Says Moops” by Innuendo Studios. Apparently he is somewhat of a big deal with his 150k plus subscribers, though I never heard of him. Just two minutes into the video though I knew I was going to write this response. While it didn’t make me angry the way I might have been in the past, there’s just so much wrong here, I cant bottle this up any longer.

Say, for the sake of argument, you’re online blogging about a black journalists’ commentary on marketing trends in video games, movies and comic books and you’re saying how the vitriol in response to her fairly benign opinions reveals the deep seated racism and misogyny in a number of fan communities, most especially those that lean right,...

Quite an unlikely scenario since I’m not in the business of assuming ones leanings on race, gender or politics based on their opinions on movies, games or comic books, but let’s roll with it I guess.

...When a right leaning commenter pops in to say: “Or maybe they just actually disagree with her about marketing trends! For Christs sake, there’s no mystery here. People aren’t speaking in coded language. They are telling you wat they believe. She had a bad opinion. Why do you have to make it bigger than that? Why can’t you ever take people at their word?”

Here’s where I feel validated in making this response, because while I don’t consider myself right leaning, as hard as that might be to believe for some, this is exactly the kind of response I might have given. So props to Innuendo Studios for accurately portraying an argument of one of his opponents. Unfortunately he then continues:

You pause and ponder this for a moment. Hmmm. Uh heck with it! You’re in a discoursing mood. Let’s do this! Mister conservative, in order for me to take you at your word your words would have to show some consistency. Let me just lightning-round a few questions about the reactionary web’s positions on marketing trends.

The first major problem should be obvious to anyone right about now. How is anyone supposed to answer for the “reactionary web”? Hell, I don’t even know what that’s supposed to be. The caricature in the video wears a 4chan logo on its chest, so maybe he’s referring to the /pol/ imageboard. Well, I don’t hang out there, and I’m pretty sure most of the people who would have been critical of that opinion piece don’t either. Therefore I feel justified in ignoring that particular remark and just give my own answers to these questions. After all:  the people on /pol/ are clearly not the only ones he’s talking to at this point.

Do you believe that having the option to romance same sex characters in an rpg turns the game into queer propaganda...

No. On a side note though: the video at this point shows an image of the game Mass Effect. I remember when that game came out there was some controversy over the game showing sex scenes between the characters. Remember that this was but a few years sine the GTA hot coffee mod upheaval, so people where a bit more sensitive about such things. But never have I heard anyone complain about the same sex romance options. I can imagine there were a few disapproving voices but I never came across them, even though I followed the launch very closely at the time.

...or do you believe that killing strippers in an action game can’t be sexist because no one’s making you do it?

I believe it can be sexist, but I never seen an example of it actually being sexist. Not because no one makes you do it, though. It’s because the amount of strippers killed in video games pales in comparison to the amount of other people killed. I’m willing to bet that video games depict more men being killed by women than the other way around, with the vast majority being male on male killings. The fact that there’s one or two games where a man has the option to kill some female sex workers hardly seems significant in that light.

Do you believe that the pervasiveness of sexualised young women in pop culture is just there because it sells and that’s capitalism and we all need to deal with it...

Yes, for the most part. I guess one can add a few nuances here and there, but that about covers the gist of it.

...or do yo believe that a franchise has an obligation to cater to its core audience even if diversifying beyond that audience is more profitable?

Ooh boy, where do I start? Okay, first of all: those two are not mutually exclusive. I know there is this pervasive idea in some parts of western culture that people can only identify with others of the same sex, race and/or cultural background, but that’s just not true. As such it’s perfectly possible to be both diverse and give your core audience what they want. Criticism of a failure to do the second does not automatically translate to criticism of succeeding at the first. Where the two usually meet is when creators use the first as an excuse to take away from the second, either because of their own incompetence or their disinterest in the franchise they are working on. 

Which brings us to our second point: while diversity does not have to hurt a franchise, too often creators are too lazy to put effort in making sure it doesn’t because they haven’t got their priorities straight. They think that covering their bases in terms of diversity is the most important thing and everything else is an afterthought. The movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi, who’s cast is partly depicted in the video at this point, is actually a perfect example of this. No one thought Finn and Rose were such interesting characters that audiences wanted to see an entire subplot devoted exclusively to them. They were clearly there just to tick some boxes, not because of a creative spark that led an artist to lovingly craft these characters. The result was perhaps the most universally despised part of the movie, at least among hardcore fans. And yeah, they do deserve a bit more consideration than any other demographic, don’t you think? They are the ones who made this into a franchise to begin with. Without them this movie wouldn’t even have been made.

Lastly: there is a reason the saying “get woke, go broke” exists. If Rose was just there to appeal to Asian markets that would be one thing. I do think there’s something to the idea that putting characters of the same race as the target audience in your movie makes them easier to market. The thing is though: it didn’t work! The movie bombed in China, and I think that’s also because of the messages the creators were trying to send. To take a timeless hero’s journey narrative like Star Wars and try to insert current events and political messages in it just can’t end well. Yet, the creators persisted, and this is reflective of a lot of the culture behind those narratives. When a political message becomes the driving force behind the creative process it’s almost certain to produce sub par results. A creator has to be extremely talented to pull this off, and lets face it: most aren’t up to the task. Instead the art devolves into soulless political propaganda, and this is what stings people who love the franchise so much. Me personally, I am a big fan of making the political personal when you want to convey a political message. We can identify with personal struggles much more than with abstract political ideas. So characters should always be the focus, even if you want to make a statement.

Do you think words are inherently harmless and only oversensitive snowflakes would care about racialised language...

Words? Yes. The ideas expressed by those words? No. That’s why intention is so important to me, and the “oversensitive snowflakes” who focus on just the words are so not helping the debate in my opinion.

...or do you think it’s racist if someone calls you mayonaise boy?

Probably, yes. Though I can’t think of any reason why someone would call me that, other than to insult me by way of my race. On the other hand, I do really like mayonaise...

And as long as I’ve got your ear: are you the party that believes in the right to keep and bear arms because you’re distrustful of all authority and what if we need to overthrow the government some day...

No, no and no. I am not a party, nor am I affiliated with any party that espouses those kinds of opinions on the possession of arms. I personally do not believe in the right to bear arms, though I’m not especially passionate about it one way or the other. I guess being Dutch means I'm not really caught up in any debate surrounding arms, since it’s a bit of a non-issue here. Also: while I think authority should always be scrutinised, I wouldn’t characterise this as distrust.

...or do you believe that cops are civil servants and we should trust their account of events whenever they shoot a black man for looking like he might have a gun.

Well, aren’t cops civil servants? I seem to remember so. Anyway, I don’t think “looking like they might have a gun” is ever a good excuse to shoot anyone, so there you have it. Do keep in mind that we send cops out on the street partly to use force in neutralising dangerous individuals, so we shouldn’t be surprised when that gets out of hand sometimes. But honestly, I am not well informed enough on this topic to know how much trust to put in any side of this issue. I think looking at this on a case by case basis is the only thing we can do.

Does optional content reveal a game’s ideology, or doesn’t it?

Not necessarily, no

Is capitalism a defence for decisions you don’t agree with, or isn’t it?

That’s a rather broad statement. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. It depends on what you are trying to defend.

Is language harmful, or not?

If you use it to promote harmful ideas, then yes.

Do you hate authority, or love cops and the troops?

Neither, really. I don’t hate authority just for being authority, and if anything soldiers and cops invoke pity in me. I guess that comes from growing up with  a PTSD ridden veteran for a father.

Well, that’s the end of the questions. One might think I wasted a lot of time going through that, because shortly afterwards he goes on to say:

Now, I know the right is not a monolith and maybe these arguments are contradictory because they’re coming from different people.

Gee, you think? However, what then follows is an excuse to lump al these people together anyway.

We’ll call them Engelbert and Charlemagne. Maybe Engelbert’s the one who thinks any institution funded by tax money is socialist and therefore bad, and Charlemagne’s the one who says we should dump even more tax money into the military and thinking otherwise is unamerican.

I happen to hold neither of those opinions. Yes, it is actually possible to completely stand behind the hypothetical statement you made in the beginning of the video, and not subscribe to typical right wing convictions like that. But I know that there are people who do, so let’s see where his is going.

But here’s the thing: y’all have have very fundamentally different beliefs and you’re so passionate bout them that you’re entering search terms into twitter to find people you don’t even follow and aggressively disagree with them...

That’s quite a lot of assumptions there mate. I don’t think this is even a remotely fair representation of your opposition. Certainly not true for me. I don’t even have a twitter account (no, I wasn’t kicked off. I never had an account there to begin with), let alone do I ever browse that website. Putting that aside though, how do you know if there’s anyone who actually does this? People can retweet things after all; maybe that’s how they find the contentious twitter users. I found your video because youtube recommended it, and I clicked on it because the title intrigued me. I didn’t set out to look for things to disagree with, despite my quips at the beginning of this piece.

...and yet you’re always yelling at me, and never yelling at each other.

Certainly not true either. I've had quite a few online arguments with alt-righters, who in my opinion differ from actual Nazi’s in only slight and insignificant ways, and fervent nationalists. Of course that’s never going to garner the kind of attention as when Sargon of Akkad sends a mean tweet to a female politician. Speaking of Carl, his vicious disagreement with the alt-right is well documented, and their hatred for him caused quite a few equally vicious attacks against him and his family. But I don’t blame you for not knowing that. The majority of both of their vitriol is still directed at the extreme left, and why shouldn’t it? I don’t think there is an extremist position so pervasive in the western media these days. Again: there is no alt-right equivalent of Star Wars: the Last Jedi, because none of those people work in Hollywood, or anywhere else of note (with the possible and unfortunate exception of the white house).

...and I can’t say how often it happens, but I know if I let Engelbert go on long enough he sometimes makes a Charlemagne argument and vise versa.

Either you’re saying that both of them contradict themselves while framing it in quite an unnecessarily suggestive way, or you’re displaying a rather tribalist mindset in which worldviews can never overlap. Either way, I don’t think the following statement is justified...

See, I don’t take you at your word because I cannot form a coherent worldview out of the things you say.

The fault might lie with you in this case I’m afraid. The reason I went over those questions in the beginning is to show that it is perfectly possible to have consistent views on all of those issues and still be counted among those who would oppose you on this one. I don’t think you really know who it is that you’re projecting all this on. You think my worldview has to have inconsistencies if I disagree with you on the nature of the discourse surrounding popular media, but you’ve yet to correctly identify any. I think the saying “truth resists simplicity” is one you should tale to heart a lot more. Case in point:

Why are you so capable of respecting disagreement between each other yet so incapable of respecting me, or, for that matter, a black woman.

While that may seem like a coherent statement at a first glance, it actually betrays an incredibly simplistic way of looking at things. You see, you’re comparing three entirely different things one can respect: the fact of genuine disagreement between two parties, you, an individual person, and any given black woman, that is: a demographic. The first has to be respected, otherwise discourse is impossible. Though it must be said that me and the alt-right probably have very little respect for each others motivations, but unlike you the alt-right doesn’t ever really ask for my respect. The second deserves respect only when earned, and the third deserves neither respect nor disparagement, because it’s an incredibly varied group of people, some of whom deserve respect and some of whom don’t.

It kinda seems like you’re playing games and I’m the opposing team, and anyone who’s against me is your ally...

That entirely depends on what we’re talking about, doesn’t it? If we’re talking about diversity in media and the issues surrounding it, I will find myself on one side of the board surrounded by people I would usually disagree with, and you would find yourself on the other side, presumably only surrounded by people who agree with you one hundred percent of the time. It seems you think it a bad thing that people can temporarily overcome their differences when faced with a common problem. That’s why some call you radical: you cannot ally with anyone who isn’t in complete lockstep with you, because they are not pure enough in their conviction. But that’s what fracturing societies are made of, so if you don’t mind I’ll stick to my methods. If that leaves you outnumbered on your side of the board it’s because you chose to champion a very unpopular opinion, and I can’t help that.

...and you’re not really taking a position, but claiming to believe in whatever would need to be true in order to score points against me.

If I did that then why even bother engaging with me? Clearly I don’t actually believe anything I say, so there’s no need to convince me otherwise. Are you sure it’s me who is supposed to have contradictory opinions? But in all seriousness, I don’t see why I would ever adopt such a strategy unless I’m either just a troll or addicted to arguments, and hey: there are people like that, but they don’t represent your entire political opposition. Get a grip.

After that we get the title drop, which, I have to admit, was really clever and amusing. I never watched Seinfeld, but maybe I should. Anyway, my free Saturday is passing me by like a speeding train, so I will continue this later.... maybe.