#and also yes it’s not just white people bc colorism is rampant in light skinned poc too Lmfao

[humanmaybe]

I know everyone needs to learn somehow especially white / light skinned people who draw like pale is the default but I do die a little bit inside whenever I see art tutorials about coloring & shading dark skin that unfortunately have to tell people not to just turn the brightness down on a pale skin tone :( like fuck!! Why do people have to explain that, and also who does that! Who thinks the best way to draw a brown-skinned person is to literally take a WHITE SKIN TONE and turn it dark!! Brown is right there!! Use brown!! Just use brown from the start oh my GOD

[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)

[rokthespot]

A msg from our friend Abby Hertz of LustNYC

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I have to say something. The past two days it's been hard to watch white friends and family either a.) defend the Nazis under freedom of speech more than they disavow bigotry b.) not care or c.) clutch their pearls in disbelief that our country is still like this.

It is 1 million percent white ppl's privilege to a) march in the streets with semi-automatic weapons and not immediately be shot by cops b.) not care and c.) not have realized before now the insidious bigotry that is rampant all over our country.

I grew up in a small town in Indiana with an active KKK. I am a Jew, and my family is Jewish. I wasn't allowed in several people's homes bc I was a Jew. I was kicked out of my peer group at the local civic theater for being a Jew and yelled at, spit on, and attacked for "lying" to them about who I was/ ie not disclosing I was a Jew.

I was repeatedly forcibly checked for my horns and tail on the playground. I was called dirty, disgusting, a murderer, and kids made threats to me for being a Jew.

Our lunch table was me, my best friend that was Hispanic, the one Asian girl from China that didn't yet speak English, and the one black girl that thought we were a bunch of gross tomboys (she was a girly-girl). Nonetheless, we all sat together bc we were "other."

Kids in my neighborhood would play with me, though. I'm not sure why it was different at school than in my neighborhood. For some reason, outside of school I had the privilege that comes with my white skin. The neighborhood kids didn't apparently care I was a Jew. Not so for the one black girl. The mean ass kids never let her forget she was different and she never played with any of the kids that I saw. When I invited her, she would go back into her house without even talking to me. Looking back now, I am guessing she was not going to play with us bc it would have inevitably entailed some racist shit happening, and she knew that...so it wasn't worth it for her.

Kids are mean, right? But who did they get their ideas from? Their parents, behind closed doors, are telling them that white people, that Christians are better, that you can't trust a Jew, that Jews are dirty, that anyone of color is inferior, that they don't want the Blacks, Jews, or Hispanic kids to come over and to please only invite their other nice white friends. The kids had to get it from somewhere. Children are not born racist. Their parents make them racist.

If you haven't seen racism or bigotry before, it's because you've never had it effect you personally, or someone you care about.

I've lived in Black neighborhoods most of my adult life. Let me tell you a story from this past winter, for those of you that live in white neighborhoods.

The neighbors were all out shoveling snow after a big snowstorm and a cop car drove by with his lights on, abruptly parked, and they got out.

Within a half of a second every one of my neighbors had dropped their shovel and put their hands above their heads in the "hands up don't shoot" that all black parents must teach their black children in order to be safe. Every person, every kid, automatically did this. I didn't. I had never been in a position where I needed to learn that or do that for survival. I grabbed my cell phone and put it on video just in case. The cops walked up and down the block inspecting and then got back in their car and left. The whole 5 minutes this took place no one dared move their arms. I stood by holding my breath with my finger close to the "record" button on my phone.

Yes, white people, it is our privilege that that is not our reality.

When my roommate moved here from London, a place where cops do not carry guns, I had to explain to him that, as a black man, he could not ever reach in his pocked for his wallet/I.D. when/if a cop confronted him. I had to teach him "hands up, don't shoot." White ppl. Think if you've ever had to teach your children this. No? Recognize that is your immense privilege that cops are there to protect you, that your kids admired cops and did not fear them.

It makes me so angry that it takes a literal Nazi rally to wake white people up to racism and bigotry.

Our country is built upon an incredibly intricate and deep system of racial oppression. If you don't realize this, you are privileged to not have to realize this.

As a white-skinned "ethnic" person, that has a white face y'all will recognize and feel safer around to say your bigoted thoughts to, I've been in the position, as many Jews traditionally have, to speak up to you, turn my white face towards your white face and explain as calmly as I can what oppression looks like on a daily basis.

I know you don't "feel" racist or think you're racist, or a bigot, because you're a loving person that just wants peace.

You are able to focus on love and peace and ignore oppression because you don't have to deal with it personally and you are not faced with racism and bigotry on a daily basis.

It's impossible to put yourself in a POC's shoes.

I know you are ITCHING to say "not me" right now and prove to me that you are not racist by stating things like "I have a black friend, I have a black brother-in-law, I judge people by the content of their character" etc etc. Don't. No one wants to look at themselves in the mirror and see a racist. Even the white supremacist guy that became a poster child this week for bigotry came out and said "that's not me" and said he wanted to keep people separate but equal, and wanted his right to think white culture was superior, but that didn't make him racist. People go to great lengths doing mental gymnastics to convince themselves "I'm not a racist, but..."

Instead, LISTEN. Stop talking. Stop saying "but...." LISTEN. Don't force POC to have a conversation or educate you. It is not their responsibility to educate you. If someone spends their time, energy, and intense emotional labor on you, listen, don't interrupt, and thank them. Recognize that POC in this country have a right to be angry. You'd be fucking angry, too, if you experienced half the shit they have to deal with.

We need to start talking about race in this country.

Ignoring it, attempting to be politically correct, just buried the racism for white folks so they/we didn't have to deal with it or face it.

It's time for our country to look at itself in the mirror good and hard. It's time for white ppl to start addressing white ppl on their own bigotry.

I for sure don't have the answer as to how we move forward, but Trump cracked open the surface of racist America by giving white people permission to be bigoted again and stop being "politically correct."

This needed to happen. It needed to come to the surface for white people to address it.

I can't tell you how many times people have not known I'm Jewish and said horribly anti-Semitic things around me, only to make excuses for themselves when I tell them I'm a Jew. They 9/10 say "well, not you, you're an exception" and sometimes "oh and this other Jew I know isn't like that...you are exceptions to the rule." So. The only two Jews you actually know on a personal level aren't like that. Don't you think if you knew more Jews on a personal level, you'd find out that they're all just people, like you and your white family and friends, with their individuality?

Stop making excuses for yourself. If you want to say "not all white people" right now and argue that white people are all individuals, then remember that when you're saying "Jews are greedy cheating liars" or "blacks are inherently xyz" or "Mexicans are..." etc. Do you not think it's racist to not allow them the same privilege of individuality that you fight so hard to retain yourself when you say "not all white people"?

I also hear the unaddressed pain coming from "generic" white folk that they might not recognize from not having a culture. I think that whites losing their ethnic identities has actually hurt our society more than helped it.

Do a "heritage" project and see where your ancestors came from. Learn their stories of coming to this country, of why they had to leave their countries. Learn what cultures you come from and learn what foods, dress, dances, stories, and music comes from those cultures. No one here is a generic American. That's what is so beautiful about our country. We all come from somewhere.

Please also recognize that even if your family, like mine, came here to escape oppression, or even genocide, we came here by choice. African Americans were brought here in chains, kidnapped from their homes, and turned into property. That is entirely different, even from Jews escaping genocide. We have not come far enough in our history as a country for the after-effects of slavery to have disappeared. Not even slightly.

It is scary to write all this out and press "post." I have no idea what my friends on here will remotely think of this. But I know that engaging in conversations about race needs to happen for our country to move forward. We can't hide behind fake and forced politeness anymore. My white friends say they don't talk about race because they're too afraid. You're not doing anyone any favors by completely disengaging, imho.

Again, listen. Don't force people to engage with you. Stop saying "but." Be humble. Be as understanding as you can about other people's experiences. Don't invalidate someone else's experience because it was not your own.

Burying your head in the sand right now and retreating into your safe white communities makes you complicit in perpetuating racism.