• phoenixz
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    1 month ago

    Sorry, but the entire “cultural appropriation” thing is utter bullshit. It’s made up rules (social construct, anyone?) just to be able to be better than thou.

    Honestly race is a social construct formed

    No, it’s not. There are such things as different races and ancestries. I don’t gaf what rave you are, but I get pissed once you start behaving better than thou.

    This “cultural appropriation” fad is godawful and needs to go. Live and Let live. Saying that somebody can’t do something because they’re from the wrong culture and if not it’s worng think is the exact behavior that you’re supposed to root out. You’re doing the exact thing as the old boomers, just on the other side!

    I practice kyokushin karate, as Japanese (and a bit Korean) as it gets. I have a kyokushin kanji tattooed on my arm. I’m also a gasp white male, oh noes! Cultural appropriation! Just that, you know, I had my shodan exam taken by Shigeru Tabata himself, who is -surprise- Japanese, and who WANTS me to use parts of his culture, he is actively promoting it.

    Most (just, all) people don’t mind when others use parts of their culture, that is what cultures do, they change, mix, and evolve over time. Mexicans don’t give a crap that Americans wear sombreros on Cinco de mayo, they will sell you those sombreros to being with and love it that you love that part of the culture!

    In come the university students who know better than everyone else about their own culture to now tell you that you’re abusing Mexican culture!

    Just. Shut. Up. Already.

    Live and Let live, stop searching for and making up evil monsters, just let people be Happy.

    And yes, you calling jk Rowling a terf bitch shows that you’re not writing this is good faith, you’re just trying to be edgy and punch down.

    • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Just. Shut. Up. Already.

      I’m not sure why you’re angry at me. I never accused anyone of cultural appropriation, merely described a situation where no rational person would. I also generally think the concept is overly policed on the internet and often bullshit. I have argued for years that culture is meant to be shared. I’m a singer, and I do not hesitate to sing songs from cultures outside my own, and indeed I try to find the right way to express that song as much like the other cultures would as I can.

      Like everything else in life, though, this is not black and white. There is such a thing as cultural appropriation, and it is when cultures are belittled and not treated with respect. Participating in a culture is fine. Making your team mascot “Chief Wahoo” is not.

      No, it’s not. There are such things as different races and ancestries.

      I recommend you look into this more. Here is just one example from a quick Google search. What we mean when we talk about race is not nearly as black-and-white (pun intended) as we think, genetically speaking, and is largely something we decide as a society. Thus, a social construct. Like gender. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have meaning or value, just that it isn’t something unchanging. Like, for example, how Irish and Italians weren’t considered “White” and now are. Or how complicated things can get within some Hispanic communities with regard to skin color.

      And yes, you calling jk Rowling a terf bitch shows that you’re not writing this is good faith, you’re just trying to be edgy and punch down.

      I’m not sure it’s possible for me to punch down at a billionaire, least of all by calling out her blatant transphobia. I’m also not sure how taking swings at her means I’m not writing in good faith. I suspect you’re just upset and I’m not entirely sure why. Take a deep breath, my friend.

      • m0darn
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        1 month ago

        I’m with you approximately %100.

        One thing I’ve done when arguing with a person that insists race is real and meaningful is to ask the other person how many races they think there are.

        It gets the gears turning a bit.

        European, African, East Asian, Arabic, South Asian, Indigenous Australian, Indigenous New Zealander/Pacific Islanders (same or different?), North American Indigenous, South American Indigenous? are Mexico’s Indigenous people the same race as Amazonians? Peru? Are they the same race as the Inuit of the arctic?

        etc etc

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          I like showing them pictures of Melanesians and asking them if they can guess which part of Africa they’re from.

          • m0darn
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            1 month ago

            From your link:

            In the study of race and health, scientists organize people in racial categories depending on different factors such as: phenotype, ancestry, social identity, genetic makeup and lived experience.

            Overall, racial health disparities appear to be rooted in social disadvantages associated with race such as implicit stereotyping and average differences in socioeconomic status.

            Cool cool I’m now totally convinced race is meaningful. How many races would you say there are? I probably agree.

            • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              yes, yes, you found a paragraph to be clever with, I’m so destroyed by facts and logic. (I wouldn’t try count myself…a fucking lot.)

              • m0darn
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                29 days ago

                If there are “a fucking lot” of races, are you sure you mean races, and not ethnicities?

                I think race means like, “well there are several races of people: white people, black people, yellow people, brown people and red people” …

                • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
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                  29 days ago

                  ain’t no red people and there more than a few black races that ain’t african type black people.

                  • m0darn
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                    29 days ago

                    I’m of the opinion that there aren’t any biological races and that race is a social construct.

                    Is it your opinion that ‘African type black people’ are a single race?

    • perdvert@lemmynsfw.com
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      1 month ago

      Imagine claiming this level of attainment in martial arts only to have such poor mental control.

      • m0darn
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        1 month ago

        Avoiding cultural appropriation is a easy as treating people and cultures with respect.

        If you don’t have trouble doing that then great. It’s not something most people need to worry about.

      • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Like I said in my reply to phoenixz, the term is overused and over-policed on the internet. Culture is meant to be shared.

        But there is such a thing as cultural appropriation. Participating or celebrating a culture is fine. Naming your mascot “Chief Wahoo” is not.

          • barooboodoo@lemm.ee
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            1 month ago

            Wait a sec, now I’m confused. Aren’t people in black face imitating black people? I thought that was the highest form of flattery? Hold on, could that maybe be a form of cultural appropriation?

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            I understand what they’re trying to say, though. There is a lot of overuse of the term ‘cultural appropriation,’ but blackface was definitely a form of it, as was always casting white guys as Charlie Chan but making them speak in a fake ‘Chinese guy who talks like white people think Confucious wrote’ way. There was a shit ton of cultural appropriation in Hollywood and there really still is with some cultures. Mocking South and East Asians, especially Hindus and Buddhists, still seems to be okay in a lot of American media.

            There doesn’t seem to be an issue in America talking luridly about the Kama Sutra or reducing Buddhism into a bunch of bullshit aphorisms that Siddhartha Gautama never said. And rather than diversify The Simpsons when they stopped having Hank Azaria voice Apu on the show (all the way back in the less enlightened era of 2019), they just retired Apu completely. Notice they did not do that to characters like Dr. Hibbert, who was revoiced with a black actor.

            • Syrc@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              as was always casting white guys as Charlie Chan but making them speak in a fake ‘Chinese guy who talks like white people think Confucious wrote’ way. There was a shit ton of cultural appropriation in Hollywood and there really still is with some cultures.

              How is that “cultural appropriation” and not just… racism?