I have never been asked to “check my privilege”. That is by no means indicative of my actual status in life, one that’s already vastly higher than most by virtue of being born in a First World country. Not only do I come from a middle class family in a wealthy nation, but I also happen to be both male and straight. Those two facets of my person alone have freed me from a world of verbal [and potentially physical] abuse. It’s no mystery to me how good I have it going.
Replace “U. S. of A.” with “Canada” and this pretty much sums it up.
Taking all of that into account, and I really do dwell on the reality of how much better off I am than others on an almost daily basis, I can say with confidence that I would not enjoy hearing those three words. I acknowledge that they would feel like not only an admonishment for not thinking through whatever I had just said or written, but an outright dismissal of my viewpoints.
I want to state this as clearly as possible: no part of me supports the usage of anyphrase to “strike down opinions” or otherwise silence others. I am a strong proponent of discussion and this activity flies in the very face of that. My issue is that the purpose of the article I’m responding to appears to be the throwing out of these three words completely, and in generally appears to completely miss the point.
The article is, as the title of this post indicates, “Meet The Poster Child For ‘White Privilege’ – Then Have Your Mind Blown”. Before we get into the actual words of Tal Fortgang, a white 20-year-old Princeton freshman and the article’s titular poster child, we need to break down the language used in the introduction leading up to them. Written by associate editor Jennifer Kabbany, it emotionally primes readers, swaying them to one perspective through overgeneralizations and descriptions of injustice.
Firstly, there’s the assertion that those leveling the term against the young man in question are “ethnic and feminist studies college students and professors who frequently and vehemently complain that this country is steeped in racism and sexism and is only fair and just and equal for white, heterosexual males.” To start with, the United States of America is rife with racism and sexism. Donald Sterling may have received [what I hope to be a fraction of] his comeuppance two days ago, but he owned the LA Clippers for 33 years. There may be no place for him in the NBA now, but at one point there was, and that continues to be a problem. On top of that the assumption that every one of these individuals believes that things are “only fair and just and equal for white, heterosexual males” is a gross hyperbole.
Secondly, and this sums up the heart of Fortgang’s “powerful message”, is that associate editor Jennifer Kabbany informs us readers what those words are supposed to mean. She tells us that “check your privilege”:
“…is meant to remind white, heterosexual males that they have it so good because they’re white, heterosexual males. They haven’t faced tough times, they don’t know what it’s like to be judged by the color of their skin.”
Given an introduction that pigeonholes those spouting the phrase and asserts their intentions in doing so we can now move on to the meat of the article, or what Fortgang himself has to say to those people who are “sick of being labeled” and who “are the very same ones doing it to others.”
joamettelikesthings asked: Hi! Do you know if anyone is talking about the Star Wars VII casting yet re: Daisey Ridley being chosen after every rumor pointed to a black woman playing that role and the description being "young black or mixed-race woman who may be a descendent of Jedi Knight Ben Kenobi?"
Not sure, but surely someone is. I guess so far Abrams’s Star Wars isn’t less race progressive than Abram’s Star Trek. With Star Trek he replicated the exact same racial dynamics of TOS, with an added garnish of whitewashing.
With Abram’s Star Wars it’s the same formula: one white woman, one black man, several white men. We had that with Leia and Lando, too. It’s like how Marvel’s idea of diversity is adding white women (to represent women) and black men (to represent PoC). Forget intersectionality and forget women of color. We never had a chance.
-M
EDIT: I looked into this more closely and saw that Oscar Isaac was cast in Star Wars, too! So that’s an additional man of color…but yeah, one new lady character. Really?
There’s apparently still one more “significant’ female cast member who hasn’t been nailed down yet, and thus was not included in the announcement.
Is this music video exemplifying Japanese culture? Seeing as how it was created by a fair number of Japanese people I think it was meant to be representative of a subculture within the country. The issue being that as literal outsiders [I don’t know how many of you are reading this from Japan] we can’t help but view this as being extremely one-dimensional. Toshi Nakamura of Kotaku East, believes that “Avril Lavigne’s Latest Video isn’t Racist, But It is Disappointing“. In that article he says that “if anything, the video feels like surface-layer self-indulgence of the more stereotypical Japanese image as perceived by a foreigner. Not racist – just shallow.”
“As perceived by a foreigner” works on another level that I mentioned, that being us as a Western audience. If a performer from Africa came and created a music video for North Americans that was founded on certain preconceived [yet accurate] notions we wouldn’t view it as them boiling us down to a single series of images. It’s all contextual, and that’s what we’re really missing here.
Anonymous asked: Tom, does it worry you that in 40 years time you will be dead and I will still be alive and happy that the world is richer without you in it?
I reviewed the new issue of Ms. Marvel, like I do. Paid particularly close attention to how Wilson is writing about Kamala’s faith, which I think was the high point of a pretty amazing book.
So I put this together because tumblr really failed me when it came to providing gifs of this exact scene, which I needed for my review of the episode.
Actually it is a jar full of chocolate covered raisins on top of a dirty TV tray. But pretend the raisins are interesting and well rounded fictional characters with significant roles in their stories.
We’re sharing these raisins at a party for…
Your actual opinion on chocolate raisins is inconsequential. This is the best visual aid for why we needracial representation that I have ever seen.
I finally finished genderbending some of my favorite disney girls ^———^
I’m not proud of some of those though…
first genderb*nd is a slur only trans people can reclaim
but also: i am entirely sick of seeing disney girls being drawn as cis guys. girls already have such shitty representation, it’s annoying to have the few ones we have get changed into the omnipresent cis boy
I’m not about to comment on the term as a slur against trans people because it’s something I know next to nothing about, but the critique on the art itself feels … unnecessary.
Diversity in representation in all forms of media is something that I’m personally very passionate about, I’m basically writing about it every week, but calling out this artist because she [I’m presuming based on their url] Rule 63’d a few female Disney characters is ridiculous.
It’s fan art, plain and simple. Is there fan art out there of male Disney characters being portrayed as females? Of course there is. Are they all cisgendered? Yes, but that’s a choice on the part of the artists, and there’s absolutely nothing stopping others of drawing fan art of characters, Disney or otherwise, as genderqueer.
If you don’t like numbered lists [the internet does have more than enough] then try to look past the digits and view this as a general collection of items, free of any form of ran or order, as to why you should head over to your local comic book store and pick up a copy of Iron Patriot #1.
1. It’s a Jumping On Point For Movie Fans
I fully realize that many comic book readers do not like it when their medium of choice makes changes to appear more in line with what takes place on the big screen. That being said, Col. James Rhodes has been wearing the red, white, and blue power suit for a little while now and it’s led to some pretty great stories.
Let’s also not forget that Iron Man 3made $1.2 billion worldwide. That is a lot of people who know and understand Rhodey to look like the love child of Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. If you loved the film and the characters this is a great place for you to get in on the world of comics.
2. It’s Relevant
The United States of America is a complicated place, and the flag doesn’t mean the same thing it did even ten years ago. Writer Ales Kot is not unaware of how over a decade of war and the fear of domestic terrorism has affected the nation, and has kept them in mind when penning the story:
“I look forward to exploring the effects of the modern American military complex on all of us as citizens and / or people who are affected by it. Exploring it through (and with) such an idealist — but also a military man — as James Rhodes brings insights from varied points of view.”
Americans have, for a very long time, considered themselves to be on the side of unequivocal right. Breaches of privacy and newfound knowledge of exactly how far the government will go to protects its citizens has caused this to weaken more than ever, making this a tale that hits closer to home than most.
I fully realize that many comic book readers do not like it when their medium of choice makes changes to appear more in line with what takes place on the big screen. That being said, Col. James Rhodes has been wearing the red, white, and blue power suit for a little while now and it’s led to some pretty great stories.