Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Re: Blog Thread IIIb : Look Who's Blogging Now
ackblom12:
Touristy things are quite regularly incredibly racist.
I would agree that it's racist, though maybe not incredibly so. It's the same kind of subtle everyday racism that clothing with various Native American symbols on it has.
pwhodges:
Oh look, a concert today. Now I know why he was playing the Debussy so much when I was with him over Christmas; and I heard him play the Birtwistle (which was written for him) just ten days ago.
Redball:
--- Quote from: Barmymoo on 20 Jan 2013, 23:59 ---I think a big problem is that my radiator will never SHUT THE FUCK UP. Last night I plugged my ears with tissue for a while and just about managed to block out the noise by covering my head with my duvet but I couldn't sleep for worrying that the tissue would get stuck in my ear canal, so I had to take it out. I was kept awake for two hours and then woke up again at 2.30, and finally at 7.20. I've put in a maintenance request to have the fucker bled but what I really want is to have it removed. I would rather be cold and get some sleep.
--- End quote ---
I admit I've thought it funny and appealing when a young woman not known for profanity utters some, unexpectedly. And you need soft foam earplugs. Not perfect for light sleepers, but better than tissue, no question of getting stuck and very inexpensive.
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: ackblom12 on 21 Jan 2013, 06:16 ---I would agree that it's racist, though maybe not incredibly so. It's the same kind of subtle everyday racism that clothing with various Native American symbols on it has.
--- End quote ---
Tourist reminders may give a very unbalanced view of the culture they are taken from, but is this necessarily racist? That would imply that any incomplete account, which is therefore inherently unrepresentative, could be considered racist - and I think that widening the concept that far is a bad thing, because it serves to remove focus from the cases that matter more.
Perhaps one test is whether a Japanese person (in the case at issue) would be able to buy it without embarrassment.
Bluesummers:
Indeed...I mean, if the shirt has Thomas Nast-style caricatures of Asians, with tiny slits for eyes, big teeth and no hair save for a long braid at the back, then it's racist...otherwise, it's just bad fashion sense.
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 21 Jan 2013, 06:32 ---Perhaps one test is whether a Japanese person (in the case at issue) would be able to buy it without embarrassment.
--- End quote ---
English-speaking people buy "Engrish" clothing all the time, because they think it's hilarious. Isn't this similar?
After all, marketing that language barrier into t-shirts is how Hot Topic gets half its revenue.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version