Merf. Thinking is Hard.

deluxvivens:

seegercove:

ATTN: the “Racebending” Tumblr group and other interested parties.

I am white, and over the years, have come to find myself frustrated by cultural appropriation. Blithely pilfering aspects from a culture and removing their significance and meaning, like hipsters wearing the headdresses of first nations people, it seems like kicking people who are already down.

The problem is, I am working on developing a series of fantasy novels, wherein the cultures of the different tribes in the books are influenced by the cultures and mythologies of the Hawaiian, Maori, Samoan and Tongan people. I’ve been working on this book for almost a decade, and long before I understood cultural appropriation as an issue, and the story and the characters have grown on me.

I based their cultures on real, existing cultures because I thought that making them vaguely “tribal,” as I had initially done in my ignorance, was far more insulting, and at least now, they have ties to the real world. People who are unfamiliar with the Samoan or Hawaiian cultures can read the book and realize the aspects the cultures of the tribes in the book can be traced to things that actually existed. In a way, this is what Avatar did (I’m disappointed that it’s taken me this long to actually watch that show, and I’m saving the final episode of S3 for Friday night). There’s such precious little information about these cultures to be found online or in print, and their eccentric mythologies, their royalty’s dress, their beliefs, their architecture and ways of life, they’re so fascinating.

But I am not Tongan, or Hawaiian, or Samoan or Maori. I am Germanic, and have no ties to any of the above cultures, but I still wish to go ahead with this book, knowing full well that I am appropriating a culture while simultaneously loathing people who appropriate cultures. At times, I feel like I can see how I must look to others- like some greedy white anthropologist, looking for museum pieces.

But at the same time, I am not simply parading around a kihili like it’s part of some shitty dollar store halloween costume. I’m trying to stay faithful to these cultures, to retain the cultural significances of such items as the kihil. I want people to learn what a Kahuna actually is and does, or understand the significance of a luau or a lei - aspects of a culture that haoli have thoughtlessly taken for themselves and turned into kitschy novelty items for backyard barbecues, when they actually have a history and a significance to them… which is the basis for why so many people (myself included) loathe cultural appropriation in the first place. I’m struggling with the idea of there being such a thing as “appropriating a culture in a positive way,” but just typing that out and seeing it in front of me makes me think that I might just be making excuses.

So I ask you, as good people who are just as much fans of Avatar AND into racially-tuned social justice as I am: I want to gather a body of opinions on this. I’m putting myself and my work out for scrutiny, not to be made a martyr or for cheap reassurance or asspats, but in genuine interest. My actions contradict my beliefs. I can’t halt or shelve this project, because it’s been almost half a decade in development I’m already writing the first and second chapters, and in light of this, I want to understand people’s perspectives on it. I’m not here to make enemies or friends, just to gather perspectives.

I’m sorry for such a long post. I know that’s kind of taboo on the internet.

so there’s a lot to unpack here, but i’ll just ask about this bit right here:

<i> I want people to learn what a Kahuna actually is and does, or understand the significance of a luau or a lei - aspects of a culture that haoli have thoughtlessly taken for themselves</i>

Why would it be your responsibility to teach this?

Is it “literally cannot halt this process of writing a book I am deeply attached to because someone’s holding a gun to my head or something” or “unwilling to halt the process which I have invested so much time in because then I would feel like a failure for not following through”? 

The alternative is: write your goddamn book since it’s so precious to you that you finish it, but shelve it afterwards. Never let it see light of day. Your act of appropriation must not be put forward with any legitimacy. While it’s true that non-POC have been able to write POC cultures well, there is a massive amount of non-POC work that only serves as a white lens on POC cultures, just another part of the colonization process. There is a massive imbalance between non-POC putting forward their works and knowledge of POC cultures and POC themselves finding the avenues to put forward their first-hand knowledge of their own cultures. YOU don’t need to add to that imbalance. You’ll still have the satisfaction of having finished this work and done as much research as you can, without adding to the injustice of being yet another non-POC voice holding forth on a POC culture.

idiot-legs:

The Wire

serene-quill:

It wasn’t a coat hanger. It was a wire.

The theory was that by inserting the wire through the cervix, moving it around a bit and then removing it, an infection would result and the pregnancy would be aborted. It worked. It was March 1967.

Afterward, after I watched the ‘doctor’ wash his hands with one of those little soaps wrapped in white paper, after he tilted the bedside lamp just so and after he said, “That should do it,” I got dressed, left the motel with the flashing vacancy sign, made my way to the bus station in downtown Detroit, and rode in the dark in the eerie silence of a mostly empty Greyhound all the way back to Mt. Pleasant, the tiny Michigan town where I was a freshman in college. Curled up next to the window under my black pea coat, I wondered how long it would take, whether it would be on the bus or later. I worried that something a lot worse than being pregnant would happen to me because of what happened in the motel room, that I’d get sick or bleed to death. I wondered if I would ever feel right about what I had done and if there had been choices that I hadn’t considered. I remember feeling like a mouse that had found the tiniest hole for escape while a giant tomcat loomed. I was distraught, empty, and alone on that bus. Back in my dorm room, Jane, my roommate, held both of my hands in hers and said, “It will be ok. You’ll see. You’ll have lots of children when the time is right.” It was a gesture of kindness and compassion that even now brings tears to my eyes.

I was 19. I had slept with my boyfriend just a single time. When I missed my period, I ever so reluctantly made an appointment with the town gynecologist who confirmed the pregnancy and then quizzed me incessantly about whether I knew who the father was. Did I know who the father was? Of course. There had only been one person ever. Yes, I knew.

The doctor told me to tell my parents but I couldn’t. My mother who had suffered for almost her entire adult life with severe depression was so deep in her terrible place, on the couch or in bed all day, sleeping or staring, that I almost cancelled my departure to college. The last child at home for many years, I had become her driver and caregiver when these episodes occurred. Leaving seemed like the worst kind of betrayal and yet the pull of the relief I knew I would feel being out from under her mental illness was irresistible. I really wanted to be in a place where people were happy. The thought of going home, sitting down on the couch, where I knew she would be, to tell her I’d gotten pregnant was unfathomable. Without question, I could not do that. My problem, then, was mine to solve.

My father, matter of fact as he was about everything, would line up a Justice of the Peace and get us married but my boyfriend had already nixed that plan. He had a friend who had a friend who knew about the ‘wire’ plan. We didn’t have the $250 it would cost to pay a bonafide illegal abortionist so the only option was amateur hour. There was no real discussion. The wire became the path we would follow. I was cornered. I knew I was alone with the consequences whatever they would be. My boyfriend could walk away and no one would ever know. He was free. I was cornered.

I grieved and was wild for a full year after that. I broke up with my boyfriend, realizing right away that any man who would advocate the wire wasn’t lifetime commitment material. I drank too much, bounced from guy to guy, and remember not much from that time except long times in the shower crying in grief and guilt. For years, I counted the days and months - how old the child would be if the pregnancy had not been terminated. The guilt was overwhelming. But as I matured, I recognized the decision for what it was - what I believed was right. I accepted responsibility and forgave myself. In the truest terms, I did what I had to do.

But what I had to do was a dreadful thing. The lack of safe, legal, and affordable abortion put me in a dingy motel in downtown Detroit to undergo a risky, unsanitary procedure that could easily have maimed or killed me. That I lived to tell the tale, to write about it on this page, is a small miracle of my life.

Six years later, abortion became legal in the United States. Of any accomplishment of the women’s movement, this one was always at my core. It wasn’t right for women to risk so much in order to be in control of their own reproductive lives. It wasn’t right to punish women who have been cornered by circumstances - unplanned pregnancy, no job, no money, no options - by daring them to find the $250 illegal abortionist in their city or worse. It wasn’t right that women should have to pay for a mistake with their fear, risk their future health and their very lives while men could walk away and be free. I was happy, so happy about Roe v. Wade. At last, I thought, this one thing for women - at last.

Twenty-five years after my abortion, busloads of anti-abortion protesters came to my town. Each morning they would pick a different abortion clinic and turn out by the hundreds to harass women coming for their abortion appointments. The crowds could be enormous with people waving signs with what they claimed to be pictures of aborted fetuses, and singing “My God is an Awesome God” verse after verse, hour after hour. Right away, I signed up to be a clinic defender and each morning I’d get up at 5, pick up a friend, and go lock arms with hundreds of like-minded folks to ‘protect’ that day’s abortion clinic and the women who needed its services. We’d stand there silently while the protesters yelled at us and sang their hymns. They’d call us baby killers and murderers.

Sometimes it would be nose to nose, shoulder to shoulder. The protesters would bring their children, too, and they would be singing “Jesus Loves Me” between choruses of “Awesome God.” We’d all be standing in a giant scrum while morning traffic zoomed by, horns honking in support of both sides. Special protectors in orange vests would shepherd each woman into the clinic for her appointment while protesters surged to scream at her. I couldn’t believe how evil and cruel it was to be screaming at a woman when she was in such a terrible situation, when she was cornered.  I wanted to yell at them, “HASN’T ANYTHING BAD EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

Where is your loving kindness?

And here we are again. Demonizing women. Limiting birth control. Shrinking access to legal and safe abortion. Daring women to go find the wire. All while men can walk away and be free.

It makes my 64-year old soul angrier than almost anything. The extreme hatred for women voiced by politicians, the talk of legitimate rape, the unbelievability of the idea of an ultrasound probe, the intent to demean me/us - it all puts me back on the bus in the dark, by myself, cornered and alone.

It’s so wrong to treat women this way. So wrong.  We just can’t go back.

fuckyeahgenderstudies:

I had to share this with you all. (Forgive typos please)

When the DSM-III was being revised in the mid-80s (in the preparation of DSM-III-R), Robert Spitzer, the effective God of Prescriptive Psychiatric Policing and Supreme Arbiter of Crazy (Bitches), got dead gung-ho about trying to include a new disorder, Masochistic Personality Disorder, to the manual. This was what was written in the October 1985 draft:

301.89 Masochistic Personality Disorder

Feelings of Martyrdom and Self-Defeating behavior as indicated by at least six of the following:

1. remains in relationships in which others exploit, abuse or take advantage of him or her, despite opportunities to alter the situation
2. believes that he or she almost always sacrifices own interests for those of others
3. rejects help, gifts or favours so as not to be a burden on others
4. complains, directly or indirectly, about being underappreciated
5. responds to success or positive events by feeling undeserving or worrying excessively
6. always pessimistic about the future and preoccupied with the worst aspects of the past and present
7. thinks only about his or her worst features and ignores positive features
8. sabotages his or her own intended goals
9. repeatedly turns down opportunities for pleasure

I hope you all can see how this “diagnosis” is objectionable. And on hearing about it, people (other than white men, who fucking loved it) did object. 

These objections began with Jean Hamilton, who was part of the work group revising DSM-III, resigned in protest. Teresa Bernadez, who was then the chair of the APA*’s Committee on Women (which was meant to be consulted on all matters concerning/affecting women) was not told about the proposal for MPD (or another “disorder”, “Coercive Rapism”, which was also proposed in the same revision). Nobody on the committee was informed. At all. But she found out and rallied some feminists to begin opposing the plans.

And the APA started freaking out, so they planned some hearings on the topic for November 1985. So Spitzer invited reps from the APA’s Committee on Women and the AP-logA** Committee on Women in Psychology and he also got together his own committee who were in support of the new “diagnosis”. The only woman on Spitzer’s committee was his wife; the rest were men. The committee only allowed six women critics to speak.

“Spitzer opened the hearings by explaining that they were trying through the DSM revision to make diagnosis more scientific. Then he offered as evidence his study of eight patients of psychiatrists in his department of psychiatry at Columbia University. Richard Simons, the president of the [AP-analA] and a longtime proponent of [MPD] then presented a historical overview in which he argued that similar diagnoses had been used in the past and were therefore valid….

Then the women critics were allowed to speak. Lenore Walker, a psychological researcher who had done extensive research on battered women, explained to the panel that domestic violence often causes women to behave in the very ways that were now being considered as eveidence of [MPD]. She explained that the reason battered women do not strike back or leave their husbands is that they fear even worse battering and the possibility of being murdered, not that they seek punishment. She based her remarks on research. Lynne Rosewater, a forensic psychologist who was chair of the Steering Committee of the Feminist Therapy Institute, described how each of the proposed criteria was a behavior typical of victims of abuse. She indicated to the panel that her institute would file a lawsuit if the APA passed the proposed diagnosis.

The panel members were not impressed. They told the women that they [the women] had never looked at any of their [the men’s] studies and that the domestic violence research presented was “irrelevant”. The hearing ended at noon, although it was scheduled to last all day. Spitzer said that he had heard enough from the women, that the panel would start drafting diagnoses, and that the women should leave. The women protested their dismissal and they were allowed to stay—but only if they did not speak. In the afternoon session the panelists discussed among themselves how to define masochism; they made little reference to research. Diagnostic criteria were discussed and keyed into a computer. Lynne Rosewater recalled that during the discussion of a criterion of [MPD] Spitzer’s wife said, “I do that sometimes,” and Spitzer says, “Okay, take it out”. “You watch this”, said Rosewater, “and you say, ‘Wait a second, we don’t have the right to criticize them because this is a “science”?’ It was really frightening”.

From Making Us Crazy: DSM: the Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders by Herb Kutchins and Stuart A Kirk. London: Constable, 1999. 140-141.

(Amazon.com link)
(Amazon.co.uk link) 

* APA = American Psychiatric Association

** AP-logA = American Psychological Association
*** AP-analA = American Psychoanalytic Association 

blue-mage:

tokokomo:

racismschool:

The Proud- This bigot is most likely to call their hate an opinion and talk about how everyone is entitled to their own. They will continue by speaking of their misguided understanding of Freedom of Speech. The important thing to remember when dealing with “The Proud” bigot is that it is only their opinion and their Freedom of Speech that they believe should be protected. Those that oppose them are somehow anti-freedom. Those that oppose them are not using Freedom of Speech but are in fact trying to squelch it.      

The Enlightened- This bigot calls for peace. The problem is, their call for peace is only directed at the victim of hate. Rarely, if ever, is this “Call for peace” directed at the person who has caused the pain. They are anti-retaliation but not so much anti-attack. This bigot will talk of Ghandi or quote “An eye for an eye…” They’ll say, “Whatever the hate fueled person did was bad BUT…” All the while stepping directly on the hurt person and remaining completely silent in the face of the person who has caused the harm. They will often go on a faux peace rant, end it with an incorrect use of Nameste and be completely shocked that everyone doesn’t immediately fall at their feet and start singing We are the World. 

The Troll- The troll is more common to internet life. Most people have either encountered a troll or have at least seen others dealing with one. Trolls are the most temperamental of all the bigots. They are “Trolls” in the first place because they like control. The only problem with The Troll is that they only like having control, not being controlled. In most cases, the thing that makes a troll sit in a ball and cry is doing nothing. These are weak willed people. They are incapable of human discourse so they’ve found a way of convincing themselves that what they are doing is for “Entertainment” purposes and if you get upset, it’s because YOU don’t have a strong constitution. Those that have shut a troll down, know that The Troll is by far the most likely to cry and pander for others to attack than any other bigot.

The Teacher- This bigot is perhaps the most dangerous to the weak minded. The Teacher is a person who spews “Facts” but each and every fact will actually be something they heard or something they’ve conjured up in their own mind. You see an influx of this sort of thing around time when people are trying to get money for college. They’ll talk of who get’s scholarships and be 100% factually incorrect. Often, they’ll even make up percentages that never seem to be linked or backed up in any way. These people are dangerous to those that don’t do their own research, those that don’t ask questions and those that believe anything they are told. Unfortunately, those that are most likely to be susceptible to “The Teacher” are also those most likely to become “The Teacher.”

The Almost- The Almost is likely your favorite if you have studied in whatever field they claim to be an expert in! “The Almost” is the person who gives information that was at one time considered factually correct. One ongoing example is: The Science Expert! You’ll see “The Almost” talk about how one race is inferior to another based on skull shape. The problem is, this theory has been disproved several times, over several years by several different well known scientist. However, it was considered true AT ONE TIME, so this person will use something that was ONCE considered true, ignore all current data that disproves the theory and justify their reasoning for their bigoted views. 

The Comedian- This is the “It was just a joke” bigot. No matter what they said, what they did or who they hurt, in their feeble minds, it should all be allowed, encouraged and completely acceptable as long as they say “It was a joke.” The Comedian is second only to The Troll in over sensitivity. As a matter of fact, one of the favorite tools of The Comedian is to say that they were “Just trolling” when then have reached a point when they no longer can think of anything better to say to justify their ignorance. It’s often a last ditch effort. They will say, do and be horrible in every way but when called on their ignorance will cry and say that EVERYONE ELSE is overreacting. This person will also often use the line “Stop being offended by everything” or “Everyone is offended by something. People need to calm down.” All the while, crying about how mean everyone is to them. 

The Magician- This bigot is the emotional terrorist of the group. Though all forms of the bigot will attack you on an emotional level, “The Magician” makes it an art form. The magician spews hate, then once this bigot is either called on their crap or proven factually incorrect, they claim that they have a mental illness. Yes, it magically appears! This illness can rarely, if ever, be truly proven. This is used as a quick turn-of-events playing card. The Magician will attack at will. Then, when they see that they are losing the battle, they invoke an illness that you previously knew nothing about. Next, this illness becomes the reason that YOU, not them, but YOU are wrong for “Attacking” them. It’s clever but certainly a vile move. Only those who live in the depths of sub-humanism are capable of this sort of action. 

while this is a great list, i feel like it’s missing one: The Devil’s Advocate.

The Devil’s Advocate is a weird mix between The Troll, The Enlightened, The Teacher, and The Almost. they, like The Troll, are in it for the satisfaction. however, their satisfaction is drawn from seeing your point completely and then trying to find a way to tear it down or refute it using tactics that The Teacher and The Almost uses. throughout the entire argument, or as they see it, “argument”, they will use these tactics along with any new information you provide to try and shake you up. because The Devil’s Advocate thinks that they’re helping you. They think that by frustrating you, that they are helping you create a better argument. they will continue on until they feel you voiced your argument strongly enough or until you’re completely flustered, at which point they’ll say that they were “playing the devil’s advocate for fun” or “making sure you knew what you were talking about”. sometimes this is genuine, other times it’s a cop-out. they will even sometimes end with a “I agree with you”. but they don’t realize that all they’ve done is waste your time and theirs. there is absolutely no other reason to be The Devil’s Advocate outside of debate training, so The Devil’s Advocate is purposely arguing for the bigot while being a bigot. you’ll find that The Devil’s Advocate will usually be a wannabe lawyer, politician, or psychologist and they’ll rarely self-examine the reasons why they feel the need to be in such a role

The Student/False Ally- This bigot will pose as someone genuinely interested in learning why what they did was wrong. Their key trait is that they’ll ask, expect, or demand to be educated. If they are refused, they’ll cry victim, that they’re trying to learn, and big bad POC won’t be their ever dedicated teachers. They’ll rally others to show how they tried and were rebuffed in an effort to put themselves in the right and garner sympathy. If they are given explanations they’ll take nothing from it and steadfastly keep with their initial argument.  

The Detective- This bigot will demand irrefutable proof that what they did was wrong when called out. Often they’ll offer hypotheticals with skewed logic. For example, if an unprovoked Detective uses a racial slur, some would ask “Yeah, well if a POC stole someone’s boyfriend and beat them up and killed their mother for no reason, would it still be bad to use that slur?” and ask the engaged to prove that the slur would be wrong to use in their hypothetical situation. If engaged and actually proven wrong, they’ll usually give a half-assed apology, saying they feel bad that people got offended and try to turn the victim spotlight on them. If not they’ll take the same route as The Student. 

The Magpie Eye- The Magpie Eye will take an aspect of a POC’s culture to “appreciate” it. If met with resistance they might say that you don’t understand their sense of style or that they’re simply admiring. Don’t be fooled. If met with further resistance the Magpie Eye is likely to lash out at the people daring to tell them what they can or cannot use, and will claim to continue their offensive behavior out of spite for the one’s calling them out. 

ophiucha replied to your post: What the hell is this, Rogers… you have 19…

I just got a new cellphone and the only one my provider had that wasn’t a smart phone was this weird military-grade one you can apparently run over with a car and it’s thicker than my balled up fist and doesn’t fit in half of my pockets. :/

Ah, a ruggedized phone… I would consider that a better alternative but yeah, they can be oversized and hard as fuck to store easily. I mean I like the idea of a phone that will take all my abuse easily but the options aren’t that great =( Or even that many!

What the hell is this, Rogers… you have 19 Smartphone models, 10 Smartphone Lite, 8 iPhone models… and only TWO classic phones? What the shit is wrong with you.

In fact, what’s wrong with the ENTIRE HANDPHONE MARKET THAT HAS DECIDED SMARTPHONES, WHICH ARE ACTUALLY STUPID, BY THE WAY, ARE THE ONLY WAY TO GO. Like has it occurred to these phone production companies maybe there are some of us who would like to stick with having some actual fucking buttons for our phones instead of annoying finger numbing touchscreens? Wait, i know, the answer is no. 

Clearly the telco market is run by and caters to a bunch of fucking assholes who live under the illusion of great freedom of choice. 

My phone woes continue.

alexandrasdreambook replied to your post: alexandrasdreambook replied to…

Is it even possible to escape the consumer culture? Just wondering.

I s’pose you could attempt to become a self-sustaining hermit living off the land but that would take a lot of privilege and still have a root in whatever you come from part of which is consumer culture. 

I would also like to add that consumer culture in itself doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but the way it’s structured now through capitalism and colonialism makes it quite the steaming pile of horseshit that we all have to live with.