xx-tea-and-books-xx

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

White-Washing Dark Academia

ALRIGHT,, so now with the blm movement getting the recognition it has always deserved, I think it’s time we have the talk. I love this little community of dark academics I can vibe with, but there is an ungodly amount of idolization of “white” academia. By this I mean overly romanticizing and highlighting England/European influence on academia, white people in academia, books written by predominantly white authors, you get the gist. This is not to belittle European influence !! The problem is that while idolizing a white culture in academia, we tend to belittle the accomplishments and influences of POC. Academia is NOT an aesthetic made just by or just for white people. It is important that we decolonize dark academia and focus on inclusiveness. There are so many cultures and languages out there that have influenced our community, and it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on communities of color that have done so.

TL;DR: Stop idolizing white culture in dark academia, and educate yourself on POC that have influenced it to work towards the inclusiveness and normalization of POC in academia.

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

had to be said.......

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

pictures from september🍂

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

i love the rare book room at my university

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

I’m a Singaporean Chinese dark academia aesthete, and I don’t want to feel out of place anymore.

Been reading a lot about the lack of POC in the dark academia community and academia as a whole, and there’s lots that I’m upset about, but it isn’t something we can change overnight. The starting steps that comes to my mind are:

To explore more works that come from Asian/Middle Eastern/South American/Native American/African/East European origins. I’ve been reading quite a bit of Kazuo Ishiguro, and I want to delve into Chinese classics but I really don’t have the standard of Chinese required to do that yet. (One of my resolutions is to develop my Chinese next year. It’s a beautiful language.)

To gradually stop associating Greek/Latin with being the pinnacle of the dark academia aesthetic. I’ve seen many posts about the dark academia aesthetic containing “learn Greek and Latin!” as an aspect of dark academia. Was not the point of this community a deep and genuine desire to learn? Acknowledge your Greek scientists and Latin authors, yes, but also acknowledge your ancient Mayan inventors, Arabian mathematicians, Chinese philosophers, and Japanese engineers who have had just as much a helping hand in shaping the world as Europeans did. Learning was the point of all this, so we learn equally and with love to all.

To gradually stop glamourising overwork, and to start talking about how other cultures view their work as well. I don’t know about the USA and I don’t know about the UK that much, but in Singaporean and Chinese culture, grades are so important. This isn’t a good thing. It’s a tragedy. Yet, what I read is constantly about the Western experience of working yourself to the brink of exhaustion. Essentially, not only dark academia classics and the dark academia circle glorify that level of intense work. Some real world cultures do, too. (And it’s a very toxic culture to live in.) I understand that Western media is becoming more and more mainstream, and that’s unavoidable, but I would love to see and discuss how poisonous Asian work ethics are as well. And how, as a community bent on escaping social expectation, we can escape that toxicity and approach the work with wonder and a healthy mind.

Maybe I’m just tired of the lack of representation. Maybe I’m just tired of seeing beauty and horror associated only with pale faces and European features. Maybe I’m tired of seeing quotes only in Latin, Greek and English. Maybe I’m sick of myself only speaking English fluently, and not English and Chinese. All these together have made me feel out of place. I don’t think the problem of racism can be eradicated in academia entirely, but as a pretty active online community with deep sensitivity, I think we can start being better slowly but surely.

We’re a community of good people, yes? If we’ve been trying to include POC more, here’s a voice of colour explaining its significance.

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

academic fashion ideas

dark academia

a brown woolen turtleneck, your trousers of choice, a watch, a long vintage grey plaid coat, lace up boots, a dark lip if you feel daring.

light academia

a white button down shirt, a favourite wool jumper, a dust of eyeshadow, brown/pale plaid trousers, your necklace of choice, brown dr marten 1461s and lace socks.

romantic academia

the fanciest white shirt you own (preferably with pirate sleeves), tucked into tweed trousers, a black blazer with some fancy buttons, black lace up ankle boots or oxfords. try and look as put together as possible. alternatively, throw on a ballgown and you're good to go!

chaotic academia

your favourite shirt with the two top buttons undone, coloured jeans or corduroy trousers (whatever suits you), oxfords, a satchel, and a pocket watch if you have a shirt pocket.

here is some inspiration!

i found the first two pictures on tumblr, please check these two out!

1)

2)

i found the rest of the pictures on a board on pinterest, which is credited as the source.

have fun, academics!

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

im on tumblr bc im a romantic this energy doesnt exist on any other platform

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

thank you dearly, you are so incredibly kind

this is how the dark academia community talks on this website

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

kissing is so underrated, I could just lie in bed and kiss all day

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

just watched maurice and i have many thoughts but this is what matters:

the parallel of clive closing his shutters in a final act of repressing his homosexuality and former feelings for maurice vs maurice opening his window unknowingly allowing alec to climb though and embrace him?

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

me, being stupid, dumb and gay: *blows a kiss up to the sky* for maurice

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

hmmm

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

Academic aesthetics

Dark Academia

Long Black coats, thunder but no lightning, red wine, blood, forests in winter, a single guttering candle, latin, bones, all of history in your hands, Tchaikovsky, piles of old books, the hour before sunrise, complicated cravats, Hozier, true crime, Donna Tartt, secret diaries.

Light Academia

Sunshine in shallow water, white cotton, lacy dresses, champagne, the plays of Oscar Wilde, summer rain, wind rustling the pages of a book, jacket over on shoulder, Maurice, frost covering new flowers, Florence + the machine, roses, bare feet, girls school, old books about species of plant or butterflies, biological Diagrams, flowers in your hair, perfect notes.

Chaotic Academia

Two top buttons undone, scribbled notes in pencil or biro, kill your darlings, untied laces, so much coffee, all nighters, crying in the library, Mozart, writing film scripts for fun, rain Storms, moorland, swimming in the dark, movie soundtracks while studying, procrastination, muddy boots, unsent letters.

Grey Academia

Jane eyre, sunrise, cold hands, perfect handwriting, beat gen, Edgar Alan Poe, crows, small animal bones, writing essays until 2am, Vivaldi, February or November, zodiacs, loving history and art, Leonardo davinci, Tamino.

Romantic Academia

Billowing pirate sleeves, Lord Byron, theatre, violets, achilles, reading poetry aloud, bloody cheekbones, love letters, doodling in class, doc Martins, long ball dresses, gothic churches, dead poets society, sword fights back stage, wind and mist and violent Storms, tea, long journal entries, wide brimmed hats, museums.

Spring Academia

Cotton shirts with large jumpers, celendines, maypole dancing, reading short stories, old traditions, Jane Austen, new term, beautiful notes, pastel colours, period dramas, magpies, 2005 pride and prejudice soundtrack, new leaves, cold feet, dancing.

Summer Academia

Flower crowns, studying late while the sun is still up, full moons, parties outside, sun dresses, warm rainstorms, exam season, bare feet, ancient Greece, herb tea, singing to the radio, lying in the grass, bird song, biology textbooks, the Lord of the rings, studying outside, mystery of love by sufjan Stevens.

Autumn Academia

Foxes, dead leaves, large coats and scarves, old stone walls, steaming black tea, mist, travel journals, forgetting to study until the last minute, frankenstein, old songs, nostalgia, carrying a book everywhere, rebel rebel, the picture of dorian gray, soup, studying in the morning as the sun rises.

Winter Academia

Long walks, misty breath, so much reading, shunning capitalist society, sad music, learning about witch hunts, philosophy, wuthering heights, mystery books, Dracula, black and white photos, transcribing music, old statues, silence.

Feral Academia

Pin stripe jacket with jeans, Dionysus, "norse" makeup, cold sweet tea, running through the forest, mythology, I got an unconditional so I don't need to try hard, scraping the grades, shouty music, helenic polytheism, obsessive interests, reading a 500 page book in one sitting, love learning, hate the education system, vive le revolution.

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

When you, a touch-starved queer, start watching Maurice (1987) and are just overwhelmed by The Tenderness and The Yearning...

[xx-tea-and-books-xx]

We have the marvelous gift of making everything insignificant

- Nikolai Gogol