jhameia | Entries tagged with racism

- I have encountered more cockroaches in the ten days living here than I have my entire three years at my last apartment. The other night when I was sleepless? I saw FOUR. Granted they ranged from extremely tiny (2mm) to rather small (1cm) but they are still there. I feel I've been finding one once a day since. It's aggravating. I had lizards in my last apartment and I wish I brought them over. (Especially since one of them was calm enough to let me pet it.)

- I feel strangely about the apartment set up. The front door opens to a closet, and we currently have a couch against the wall close to the door, so it feels kind of bottle-necked there. It doesn't seem like something I could go in and out of. The walkway to the door passes the front windows of the neighbours, and that makes me feel strange. Supposedly this means my side has more privacy but I don't feel that way.

- Last night, while walking with YL (and her German bf) to the bustop to go downtown, we passed a woman on a bench, who yelled at us racist invectives, that we should go back to China, and that China's trying to take over. I yelled back at her, 'and we'd be good at it' and YL also told her to fuck off. Fifty-years, with a deep tan, and she stopped after I yelled at her. I don't think she expected us to talk back.

This is literally the first time I've had racist bullshit thrown at me on the street (usually it's catcalling, and even that's rare enough for me to not notice), and I wonder if it would have happened if I had been alone. (I walk like I might murder people.) I'm slightly pissed that this happened on YL's literal 4th day in the States. She doesn't seem to have minded much, and spent the rest of the evening crowing about how much she likes Riverside.

- Oh but I'm still feeling very out of sorts.

So I was having a pretty decent day right. I went to the Baltimore House to hang out with local steampunks, went to watch The Amazing Spider-Man and had dinner with Sarah. I was hoping to hang out with Martha but we missed her.

And then I had to come home to deal with this triflin' fool.

Which was followed by dealing with ANOTHER triflin' fool who thought he could take a conversation about how POC are erased from SFF through transformation into robots or aliens by white writers, into one that's "about justice, not race."

Four hours later I'm annoyed as shit and grumpy and in need of more chocolate.

Transcript:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the time.

Mr. Speaker? I am tired of burying young black boys.

I am tired of watching them suffer at the hands of those who fear them and despise them. I’m tired of comforting mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, and brothers after such unnecessary, heinous crimes of violence.

In Florida, almost 3 years ago, as I served in the Florida senate, a young black boy, Martin Lee Anderson, was beaten to death at a Florida bootcamp. It was all captured on a State of Florida Corrections video and shown all over the world. Martin Lee Anderson was beaten and tortured until his lifeless body couldn’t take anymore, and then Martin Lee Anderson was dead, at the hands of several bootcamp guards. A young boy, who wanted to be somebody! A young boy who was trying to turn his life around.

After they beat him to death on international TV as the world watched, over and over again—not one guard was sent to prison. Not one was even reprimanded. In fact, after we closed down every bootcamp in Florida, many of the accused received promotions.

Well, guess what? In Florida, we have another Martin—Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was shot to death by a renegade wannabe policeman neighborhood watchman.

Trayvon Martin lived in Miami, Florida, in District 17—my congressional district. Trayvon, a 140-pound young black boy, 17 years old, was just trying to live and reach 18. In spite of that, the accused killer, George Zimmerman, has not been charged, and is using the term of “self-defense.”

The 911 audio tapes tell it all. They tell the story of the last moments of Trayvon Martin’s life, just as the videotapes told so visibly the story of Martin Lee Anderson’s last moments.

Trayvon was running for his life. He was screaming for help, fighting for his life, and then he was murdered—shot dead.

Today, I applaud the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the FBI, and the Federal Department of Justice for their intervention. I encourage the citizens of Florida and the citizens from around the world to continue to fight for justice for Trayvon Martin. Justice must be served. No more racial profiling.

I’m tired of fighting when the evidence is so clear, so transparent.

Twenty years ago, while serving as a school board member, I founded the Five Thousand Role Models of Excellence project: A million-dollar nationally recognized and honored foundation that specifically addresses the trials and tribulations of young black boys, and sends them to college. It impacts almost 20,000 young men throughout Florida.

In spite of that, we still have to march, and demonstrate, and write letters, and protest, and fight, and have prayer vigils, and sue, and sit in, just to be heard.

No more! No more, Florida. No more, America! No more hiding your criminal racial profiling by using self-defense to get away with murder. Stand up for Trayvon Martin! Stand up for justice! Stand up for our children!

I’m tired, tired, tired of burying young black boys.

Thank you, and I turn back the balance of my time.

A lady calls into 911, and Trayvon Martin is screaming in the background. The screaming suddenly stops.

Fuck George Zimmerman's defenders claiming he was acting in "self-defense". The kid only had a pack of fucking Skittles. And now he's dead because some honky decided to play vigilante on a black child.

I just can't with the world tonight.

Hi Lou,

Fan here and hopefully future SFWA member, and I find your lack of knowledge and perspective about this issue appalling.

The USA has a long history of dehumanizing huge swaths of people in order to exploit their labour. Even today in the animal rights movement, there are organizations that use tactics that dehumanize actual people in the name of saving animals. These issues permeate everything, from media representation to political representation, right down to how individuals speak to each other.

Your affection to your companion animals does not in any way elevate them, on any institutional level, to the rank of human beings, many of whom still face obstacles to have any decent quality of life that you have no problem giving your own dogs. Many individuals suffer being thought of as animals, not quite human, on a systemic level, and yet here you are utterly unable to comprehend that perhaps this is a larger issue beyond what you think about your dogs. People are denied citizenship, denied humanity, and denied basic respect, based on their ethnicity, and somehow, Nisi is taking herself "way too seriously" because you don't understand why the ethnic identity movement exists? A movement which has spread to encompass other forms of identity, beyond ethnicity?

What, then, qualifies you to run on a platform that touts "diversity", when you clearly don't understand the concept? What qualifies you to tell a woman of colour, who will face dehumanization on a more regular basis than you, or your dogs, ever will, how she should approach the issue? How dare you, in fact, tell her, a woman who probably has faced more racism in the last month than you have your entire life, that's she's speaking of something esoteric?

As someone who may potentially become a permanent resident of North America, facing immigration issues, it's deeply insulting to see that dogs are granted immediate citizenship over humans. It is deeply enraging to see the hyphen of identity, used and insisted on by so many minority groups to claim just a little piece of America for themselves, trivialized in such a way for animals, because some random dude thinks it's cute and funny.

I strongly urge you, whether you win or not, to research what the term "diversity" means and can truly encompass, so that you can learn for yourself how you are participating in the trivializing and whitewashing of the term, your participation of which perpetuates the racism that permeates the system that people of colour are forced to survive.

Perhaps in that search you will also see how your apology isn't truly an apology. Nisi may have accepted it, but since you clearly don't understand why you're giving it, it doesn't mean much in the long run. I understand the impulse to give the apology; I've done it before. And that's why I can tell you, there is more to apologizing than saying, "if it means that much to you, here are the five letters that make up this word."

ONCE AGAIN, WITH FEELING.

Con or Bust, the fundraiser that helped me get to WisCon34 back in 2010, has now opened for bidding on its various items! I also has an item up for bidding!

You can find most general information about Con or Bust at its site but I would like to give my own perspective on why you should bid, or perhaps even donate, to Con or Bust.

I tend to see people ask, "what do we do to help racism go away?" Or "what can we do to encourage POC participation at events?" And sometimes infuriatingly, "yeah we know racism is bad: what are you doing about it?"

Racism being less just insults or individual prejudices and more a system of excluding people of colour from acts of self-empowerment and equal participation, requires a mass action on the parts of many individuals. It requires acknowledgement of exclusion and active movement to address this exclusion. It requires a communal effort of raising ourselves and each other and a pooling of our already-scarce resources.

When I asked for funding to go to WisCon, I indirectly also used that money to fund my trip to Steampunk World's Fair, 2010, because it was just two weeks before, and I didn't feel like traveling back into Canada and out again, when I could just stay in the States. After SPWF, I traveled from New Jersey to Wisconsin, and stayed with a friend of my father's, before checking into the Concourse for WisCon34.

I actually did not honestly expect to get as much money as I did for my trip down: I simply told

kate_nepveu the breakdown of expected costs for my trip. And somehow, that is what I got. I've actually been feeling quite guilty about that since then, because I was expecting maybe half of the amount, or less. "Whatever you can spare," I told her.

But I can say that I remain immensely grateful for that money, even though it was some two years ago. I don't know if there's a way to really articulate how much it meant to me that I was given such a lump sum, no questions asked about my credentials or eligibility, to attend what was to me a really big convention, more importantly, a really important conversation. I know for some WisCon is just another fan convention, but for me, then and now, WisCon is THE convention to get some grounding in how feminist theory, intersectionality and speculative fiction are wound together and grounded in the realities of actual writers and fans of the genre, who then transfer these values we learn over into "real life".

Sara Ahmed's written about having a place at the family table and being the feminist killjoy who ruins the family dinner. Con or Bust essentially gives us the wherewithal to even secure a place at the table in the first place. For so many of us who are consistently excluded from the table, because we don't have the time or money or resources to get there, it becomes an invaluable opportunity to make sure we are counted, our voices are part of the discourse, and our perspectives count for something.

So this is what Con or Bust has been doing about racism: we have been addressing the glaringly empty gaps in POC convention attendees and taking steps to fill them. This is what Con or Bust does for a larger purpose of addressing racial disparity in geekdom. Many geeks consider themselves marginalized by mainstream without considering ways that their spaces just re-create and reinforce the problems of the mainstream. Con or Bust's existence is a reminder of how marginalization comes in many forms.

Fans of colour and non-white fans are not always well-represented at fan conventions. I've shared this joke with several people, which runs along these lines:

"I counter X [racialized] people at this con!"
"Wow! We're reaching our quota!"

It is sad and somewhat infuriating that part of our fandom reality is that we feel we have a quota to our presences as people of colour in a gathering that's supposed to be for all sorts of people. That there is a tipping point of how many people of colour can be at any given event before we start becoming threats. This is something that can only happen when it is so abnormal to see people of colour in large numbers, interacting as if we belong there.

And we do. Fundraisers like Con or Bust give us the wherewithal to prove that we have a place and that we belong. Because we as fans of colour are valuable to fan conventions. We bring a perspective that an all-white-with-tokens space cannot have, and the spaces to which we bring our stories to become all the fuller and richer for it.

So if you've ever asked, "what can I do about racism?" then supporting efforts like Con or Bust, run by and for people of colour, in a world where our exclusion is a matter of course without intention, is an action you can take to purposefully address and begin to help allay racial disparity.

Thanks for reading. Now go bid!

After over a year of not hearing from him, all it took was one friendly overture to him and Nick Ottens (remember him? Of Victoriental fame) had to plug his cluelessness right into my blog. And I got so angry, compounded by other shit that happened at SteamCon.

And via a long thought process, I found out how to make origami lotus and found some origami jewelry.

My mood is slightly better now, but I'm still undersleeping for no reason, am depressed, can't focus on anything (at least I get a paragraph of my statement of interest done a day?) AND have my period.

>:{

Hopefully after a nap:

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK, WISCON???????

OK, to reiterate:

1) Bigots are dangerous. When allowed to talk free, they make other bigots bolder. To the point where they are dangerous to people they are bigoted towards.

3) Attitudes are dangerous because they provide justification for action later on.

3) This is not a "OMG HYPERBOLE" screed. Why the fuck do we fight sexist, racist language if it didn't lead to sexist, racist actions?

4) When such bigotry is announced present in particular people, they make folks to whom the bigotry is aimed at feel unsafe. When they feel unsafe, and thus unwelcome, they don't feel free to join the party and speak their mind.

5) We are left with bigots talking free and people who shouldn't be scared too scared to talk.

SO.

1) E Moon is a bigot towards Muslims.

2) Muslims already have a lot of bigotry in their daily lives.

3) E Moon's presence will exacerbate any lack of safety they already feel.

4) At a convention meant to be as inclusive and welcoming, to traditionally marginalized peoples, no less.

And sooo... the best way to handle this is to honour E Moon.

IDE, ya'll. IDE. The solution is so fucking self-evident that it boggles to even discuss this. It boggles that the WisCon concom thinks that having more panels and stuff will outweigh EMoon's presence. It boggles, because yes, this is great, having panels on Islam and Muslims! We really need to hear their voices!

Except, with E Moon there, how many people do you think will willingly sign up for these panels, knowing there's someone there who thinks they're not worthy of being part of the social fabric? And since birds of a fucking feather flock together, how can Muslims trust that non-Muslims aren't bigots?

Not to mention, we SHOULD be having such panels ANYWAY, whether E Moon is being honoured or not. And we don't NEED E Moon there to "start a dialogue". Why should Muslims even have to start a dialog with someone who thinks they don't count? And with E Moon there, how many Muslims are going to feel safe attending, feel safe contributing their valuable voices?

Because WisCon is still honouring E Moon, and so these panels, which should be awesome and fun and shiny, feel like a sop to the angry masses.

Anyways.

To be honest I didn't even really register that E Moon was GoH. I knew Nisi was, and E Moon was easily disregarded as "someone who ought to be neat since she's WisCon's GoH" but obviously not as important. So I'm gonna say, I'm still going to go to WisCon (assuming I can get the monies) and when I get there, I am going to have a damned fine time mingling with Internetz people who have beautiful brilliant minds, and I am walking out when E Moon gives her GoH speech.

But of course.... I can afford to do so. E Moon's not hating on me. And I got a bucketload of outrage that there's a whole group of people who can't.

hotcoffeems has a great response here.

That Elizabeth Moon essay. I don't even. What. The. Fuck.

I just read Edward Said's chapter "On Defiance and Taking a Position" and I read it after a particularly trying article which was classist AND racist (I had a chat with another classmate about this article earlier today) and I gotta say, after reading the clusterfuck that was Moon's essay (and that troll in comments, who actually said that Japanese-Americans who submitted quietly to interment camps showed commendable behaviour, that that is how good citizens should behave in the face of a threatened state), I need a panacea of equal measure.

SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST READ.

UGH.

HAPPY MALAYSIA DAY, EVERYBODY.

h/t from Jeff Vandermeer, MOON JUST DELETED THE COMMENTS!!!!

OK so I discovered this. RaceFail participants would know who/what I'm talking about.

An authour recently wrote a book as a tribute to his adopted Chinese daughter.

This book has a SEAsian protagonist.

Who is bought and raised to be a courtesan-assassin. ETA:

yeloson reminded me in comments - bought by a white man!

And has several scenes of titillating sex. Lesbian sex. With a character who raises her, even.

The climax occurs when the antagonist is distracted because the protagonist has lesbian sex in front of him and distracts him.

Let's see. Asian = "exotic" trope. Courtesan = "sexualized" trope. Assassin = "dragon lady" trope.

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT IF MY DAD WROTE A STORY LIKE THIS AS A TRIBUTE TO ME I WOULD BE REALLY CREEPED OUT.

The fact that said authour claims to be progressive and can't possibly be racist because he has a Chinese daughter makes this whole thing worse.

But OF COURSE we Asian women need yet another character out there boxing us into exotic sexualized dragon lady narratives. I mean, that's all we're fucking good for, amirite?

I am so fucking heartsick right now that this was published and is available on the market for public consumption as regular fantasy fare.

I just.

... OMG WHITE MALE PRIVILEGE! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO EXPRESS MY HORROR AT THE SCREWED UP PEOPLE IT PRODUCES!

IDE! AI. DEE. EE.

Fury of the Phoenix's cover:

I went looking through my portfolio, and I'm not even particularly proud of this image but I AM FEELING KIND OF STABBITY ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW:

Seriously, book publishing/distributing industry, WE HAVE GONE THROUGH THIS BEFORE. WHITEWASHED COVERS WILL MAKE PEOPLE ANGRY.

I read Silver Phoenix a little after it first came out. I bought the hardcover, although I don't actually like getting hardcovers, because I believe in supporting Asian writers where I see them, and because I think scifi/fantasy is so goddamn whitewashed already, I needed a fucking break from European settings after doing all that steampunk reading (NO, JAY LAKE'S MAINSPRING DOES NOT COUNT). I waited for reviews and when many of them were positive, I got it. I wasn't too impressed with it, but that's my ish, because I just didn't like the fact that the love interest was half-white, and the cover looked kind of Orientalized. However! It was still a Chinese girl! Who looks FIERCE! On the cover of a book released in the States! OMG! Must buy! I was starving - starving - after the whole debacles with Justine Labalestier's Liar and Jaclyn Dolamore's Magic Under Glass.

However, this new cover has our very Chinese heroine replaced by... Kristin Kreuk?!?! Who is arguably Asian but can also pass as white? And the costuming isn't even Chinese?!

And the new book's cover isn't even AMBIGUOUSLY ASIAN - brown hair! Pink-tinted skin! I bet they're not showing the eyes of the model because then she would be either unmistakably Asian or unmistakably white, so, okay, they can have an argument there. And of course, since we must APPEAL TO AS WIDE A MARKET AS POSSIBLE (because, you know, the market cannot handle not being able to imagine their white selves in the position of an Asian character since sf/f is all about wish fulfillment or something), no more over the top Orientalized images for Fury of the Phoenix! Instead we get a cover that.... has no phoenix, no Asian, no fury. And what the fuck is she wearing? And what the hell is that in her hands? I would expect that from a YA urban fantasy with a white heroine playing with generic exotic artifacts. What, exactly, can I code as Asian in this cover?

What the hell, book distributors? Silver Phoenix as it was wasn't good enough for you? Too exotic and alienating for your book buyers? Too Asian? I ordered Silver Phoenix from an indie bookstore, but that's because I believe in supporting local businesses, but damn! The lack of faith from B&N is severely disappointing! How can anyone begin to argue that Asian fantasy doesn't sell when Asian fantasy isn't even given a chance?!

You guys. I don't even. This shit is alienating to this Asian sf/f fan.

RACEFAIL. STILL HAPPENING.

ETA Do you want to see an example of cover changes done RIGHT? Here, have the Indonesian cover of Adrienne Kress' Alex and the Ironic Gentleman. IF BROWN PEOPLE CAN DO WHITE CHARACTERS JUSTICE, WHY CAN'T WHITE PEOPLE DO THE SAME?

That Fail that is RaceBending is so far gone, this is how I'm feeling about the whole goddamn thing:

I'm getting snappy even at my own friends who don't grasp the concept, that's how Fail-ful the bloody fucking thing is.

ETA: An example of me snapping.

>_>

Anti-Racism: What Went Wrong? (Namely, too many white people took over. Oh irony!)

Columbus, Go Home!

PhDork fisks this "feminine-ist" article

A timeline of Geocities services. Epic.

The Pornography of Non-Rejection, or, why the fuck is Twilight so goddamn popular?

Ten Webcomics You Should Read and more recommended in the comments!

In Defense of using the term "Douchebag" as an insult, because you know, women aren't allowed to choose insults we use.

John Cho goodness. John Cho totes gives my Asian brothers hotness cred <345678

What is "authentic" Americcanness?

Ian McKellen on religious bigotry, out actors, and his epitaph.

Shakers of Shakeville had varying but great conversations on the Nova Scotian forms

Cripchick warns allies about the term "professionalism".

This just in: Family Friendly Workplace Politics Enhance Competitiveness. NO REALLY?

Adorable little video on the fall of empires

Horrible advice given to a woman who got ditched by her husband after she decided to keep her baby conceived when she was raped by her boss. Because, you know, men are assholes, apparently. Hugo Schwyzer, M. LeBlanc, Amanda Hess and Amanda Marcotte weigh in.

Here's a random academic sentence generator! Still Life with Cat has a an interesting take on what it does.

How Not To Be An Asshole, by the Czech

A quote on the loss of 'membership' to a group once you start speaking out against its -isms.

Zuzka on some academic chick who excludes feminists even though feminism is what gave said woman the right to belong in academia in the first goddamn place.

I have a TON of links for you this weekend, dear readers!

First, a great deal of abuse has been hurled at Lou Jing, a Shanghai girl who participated in a reality show, Let's Go! Oriental Angels -- because she is half-black and it shows. ChinaGeeks (which I think I'll have to add to my blogroll) has a discussion on the appalling racism Lou Jing faced. Here is a video interview with Lou Jing. Thank goodness for transcripts. (h/t

jolantru for tweeting)

Harper's "Canada Has No History of Colonialism" Fail
Recently, at the G20 summit, Canadian PM Stephen Harper went on record talking about how wonderful Canada is, how other countries would like to be Canada, and also, Canada "has no history of colonialism". D: Whut? Canada's history is based on colonialism. Shit, some Canadian institutions still run on old colonial practices. Click for the Racialicious open thread on this fail.

"Straight Allies Bitching about Oppression of New Lambda Awards Restrictions" Fail
Yes, there is an award given out for fiction featuring GLBTQ characters and issues. I never knew this until recently. Anyway, restrictions were suddenly imposed on this year's Lamba Literary Foundation award - only authours identifying as GLBTQ could win them. Now, this came somewhere in the middle of the whole thing so understandably, it was upsetting. But how upsetting is this to straight "allies"? Upsetting enough to compare the new restrictions to lynching, segregation, hate crimes, et al. Here's a further explanation on why this kerfuffle is made of Fail. For further reactions, please check out this linkspam

The "Free Roman Polanski" Fail
Surely you must have heard about this by now, but allow me to summarize for those who haven't. In 1977, Roman Polanski, famous Hollywood director, during the filming of Chinatown, asked a 13-year-old girl to come over to a friend's house for a photoshoot. During which time, he plied her with champagne, fed her a quaalude, then proceeded to rape her over her protestations. He was arrested, pled guilty to the charges of rape, spent 40-odd days in jail, and then fled America before he was sentenced. Due to stupid international laws regarding criminals and stuff, he couldn't be arrested in France where he's been in all this while. Recently, at a film festival in Switzerland - one country which said would extridite him if he got there - he was arrested. Huge outcry followed, with a lot of Fail, with some nonsensical bullshit defending Polanski like Whoopi Goldberg's "it's rape, but it's not rape-rape." (This, in particular, burned, because I'm a huge fan of Goldberg's. A petition to free Polanski was drawn up with big-name Hollywood actors signing it.

So, here're transcripts from the 1977 guilty plea, Polanski's own reaction over the media circus surrounding his arrest, which clearly demonstrates his lack of remorse, and a link to Google Books on further lack of remorse from Polanski.

Here's an editorial on the whole affair. Melissa McEwan nicely encapsulates the whole things at Comment Is Free on why the outcry from Hollywood is telling of the rape culture perpetuated. Kate Harding has a reminder for them: Polanski raped a child. There was a movie-documentary made about Polanski's arrest, which has been pointed out to be unashamed rape apologia. One of the lawyers interviewd for the movie has admitted to lying on camera. His reason? He was told it would air in France, not America. Polanski also had promised to pay $500k to his victim in a 1993 settlement, but never did.

The response has been RAEG-ful: here is a list of people who have signed the petition to free Polanski. Names included: Natalie Portman, Tilda Swinton, Whoopi Goldberg, Monica Belucci, Terry Gilliam, Guillermo del Toro. Here's a link listing people who're on record saying they don't support Polanski. Their awesome names include: Luc Besson, Neil Gaiman, Lisa Kudrow, Bill Maher (wtf?) and Jay Smooth. And of course, Eve Ensler. Chris Rock, as misogynistic as some of his acts can be, can still be coherent about the fact that this act was rape. Filmmaker Allison Anders, who I'd never heard of until now, has a guest-post on how art is not enough to justify Polanski's crime.

From the blogosphere? little light has a little puzzle activity time over at Feministe for people unconvinced that Polanski should be charged for rape. Lauren tackles the "GET OVER IT" sentiment - namely, how we can't "just get over it". Jennifer Kesler of the Hathor Legacy reminds is that the point of this trial is to judge his actions, not whether he was an amazing artist. She also has something to say about the "it's rape, but not rape-rape" nonsense. Talullah Mankiller tackles Roman Polanski's claim that his victim looked older than she was (but he knew she was still 13, just a couple of weeks away from 14, as if that makes a difference, and still raped her anyway).

When the victim came out saying she wanted to put it to rest, all of Polanski's defenders started co-opting her words. Melissa McEwan points out, his defenders are pretending to give a shit about the victim when all they want to do is protect the rapist. Finally, an article from Kate Harding comparing the reactions to Dakota Fanning's involvement in a rape scene in the movie Hounddog, for which she, her parents and the filmmaker were shamed for depicting a young girl on the big screen in a sexual assault scene -- and how suddenly, when Polanski actually, physically raped a child, everyone comes to Polanski's defense:

In many cases, there's overlap between two of the most common defenses of him: "He only pled guilty to sex with a minor, not non-consensual sex," and "We should listen to what the victim says -- she doesn't want him prosecuted!" We should listen to what the victim says now, as a 45-year-old woman, when it fits with the narrative that Polanski's already suffered enough and shouldn't endure further indignities. But what about listening to what the victim said then, at 13? What about listening to her testimony that she said no, that she asked him to stop, as he raped her orally, vaginally and anally? Some people are making very curious arguments about when, exactly, it's important to listen to the victim.

And when I consider that alongside people's refusal to listen to what Dakota Fanning said at 13 about her decision to play the lead in "Hounddog," her reasons for doing it, her distinct lack of traumatization, and her pride in providing a voice for actual victims, I can only conclude that as a society, we're just not much interested in listening to 13-year-old girls' thoughts on what they do with their own bodies, and what's done to them.

It really rings true, what Melissa McEwan wrote and I'll paraphrase here: there's only one Roman Polanski, and thirteen-year-old girls are a dime a dozen.

So tonight I revisited a post written by the awesome cycads on "foreign bodies as sexual playgrounds". Namely, the fetishization of foreign women by (mostly white) men.

I've said before, one of the reasons why I don't often discuss my own fetishes is that I don't feel I can own them, because I, as an Asian woman, AM a fetish. Most people don't surf for "white girl porn". They're usually just looking for porn. But "Asian" - ah, that's a specialty genre. It creeps me out when I hear guys drool over how cute Asian girls are (and usually, girls), how Eastern brides (whether or not Asian, sometimes European) are so much more submissive than [America]s.

Tonight, I read a(n admittedly old) comment which perfectly exemplifies all the fucking skeeviness about guys searching for foreign brides:

Right now, I have been hoping to find a nice foreign wife, and I am most interested particular groups. I would be greatly satisfied to find an equally special wife of my own ethnicity, but I want her different ethnicity cultural background to in a way help represent a certain pureness that is not easily obtained.

What is this pureness, cycads asks. Surely you mean 'uniqueness'. Oh no, according to this guy,

The [laugh]….”pureness” I was speaking of is actually all part of my intent to find a girl whose character is is very special. A virtuous woman.

This virtuous woman, who must be specifically from a different ethnicity and heritage because somehow, that enables her to retain her purity? What the hell does her heritage have to do with it, besides his wanting to spread his genetics further afield (ew yuck!)?

Her difference and race is an additional attempt to amplify the idea. Kinda like pulling an angel from the heavens into a land far from their own.

HOLD ON.

....

HOLD ON.

....

OH MY JESUS ALLAH BUDDHA.

Kinda like pulling an angel from the heavens into a land far from their own.

OH, HI, GUY?

We are not your pets and toys.

We do not exist to be shaped and molded by you.

In fact, that is VERY reminiscent of what abusers do to their victims: isolate them from where they belong to, force them to conform to their ideals.

WTF is this? It's so reminiscent of guys who take virgins so they can train said virgins to their own specific tastes. Sure, it makes sense on some level. If you, you know, make the assumption that your partner is not a person who deserves to live and be shaped by her own experiences. If you like your partner to not be her own person when you claim her.

The whole "partner as possession" factor is made of creepiness. I used to think it was hot, but the more confident I become in myself, the more independent I am (and liking it), the scarier this thought is. And it is everywhere.

The worst thing? This is supposed to be ROMANTIC. The whole "average dude wins angel" trope is supposed to be AWESOME and COOL because it shows that WOMEN ARE TOTALLY NOT SUPERFICIAL (no wait, isn't it the OTHER way around???) and that Good Guys Win the Girl!

Sick sad Nice Guy™ Waiting To Happen backpedals:

It’s clear you may not have immediately understood that I didn’t mean by force and I didn’t literally mean “pulling”. I simply mean just earning the company of someone by “drawing” their attention or interests to oneself.

My response? It is clear you do not come even close to comprehending just how goddamn problematic that framing is. It doesn't matter that you didn't mean that literally. Either way, if that is what you mean, you are filled with Communication Fail.

The company of women is not something to be "earned". By saying that, you frame women as something to be "earned", thus as trophies, as objects to be won. Ergo, as objects.

It is clear you do not even realize you have echoed the sentiments of abusers who isolate their victims, taking the latter from places of comfort for the former's amusement (or sense of control). Or maybe you do realize it and you're just backpedaling.

It is clear you do not even see how you have Other'd cultures different from your own, and women in general.

It is also damned clear you are a Nice Guy-ism™ waiting to happen.

Hell, you know what, I don't even care what you meant.

Attitudes like that are poisonous to both men and women, setting up impossible standards, boxing people into specific codes of behaviour which we could all do without. I am NOT an exotic foreign bride waiting to enter into your life and give you the happiness you oh-so-long-for - neither is ANY OTHER WOMAN, whether Asian or not.

Women aren't trophies, dammit. We're not the fucking Stanley Cup, we're not something you EARN like a fucking salary to keep you alive, we're not something you turn tricks for so you can get our attention. We're people. Stop talking about us like we're not.

*stabbities*

They look corny as shit, but damn if Dev Patel doesn't look pretty fucking hot. What a fucking shame he was miscast.

I mean, seriously. Remember JK Rowling doing all that fucking wangsting over casting the right people who look just like the characters as she envisioned them for the Harry Potter movies? Even if it meant getting inexperienced, untried actors, variable unknowns? People whom we couldn't be sure of to keep the spirit of the characters until we saw the movie for ourselves?

So, apparently, if the characters aren't white, they don't deserve the same respect.

If you want to support this issue, check out

aang_aint_white and

racebending!! They have some really great suggestions on what you can do! (That is, if you haven't already. But the bookmark thing is hilarious.)

This is from the former's User Info:

I fucking cracked up.

So I was on the bus right? This glorious morning, I was on the bus to work.

And two kids were talking behind me. Started with some discussion on where the guy was from (middle-East, didn't specify) because the gal thought he was from the same place as their Cuban friend. He said, something to the effect of, "after eight months of cold weather, a day like this is a miracle" (it was a low of 16'c, high of 29'c).

Gal: I don't understand why anybody would want to leave a warm country and come to Canada.
Guy: You don't get it, it's SO HOT, like 50 degrees (I assume he meant celcius).
Gal: Yeah, but still, that's so awesome, why would you want to leave that. It's so frigging cold here.
Guy: It's so HOT, like, people can't even go to work sometimes, because it's so hot.
Gal: Man, if it were me, I'd be at the pool all day.

...

Way to miss the fucking point. He's telling her about how some people can't even WORK, and she's talking about lazing about at the POOL? What the hell does she think middle-Easterners are made of, fucking gold? Where the hell did the idea of a bloody pool to hang out at even come from, when he was talking about how hot it was that people can't work?

Yeah, when people are talking about third-world countries solely in the context of tourist-y places to visit with all attendent luxuries, I wonder what the hell I'm doing in a place that's cold eight months of the year, too.

Good thing that I'm surrounded daily by people who actually like me for me and think I'm silly and hilarious and listen to me when I have ideas and do their best not to talk over me and ask rather than assume.

So as I basked in the sun today (I did at some point), I also basked in the luxury I have of being surrounded by people who don't say stupid shit to me after I've explained stuff to them.

And M.Night, you really should have fucking known better. I'm gonna cut you some slack and consider the possibility that maybe you didn't have the choice of cast you wanted. Maybe. But holy shit, M.Night, DO YOU NOT SEE HOW ASIANS ARE ALREADY UNDER-REPRESENTED IN HOLLYWOOD? and now, actual roles that could be filled by actual Asians, and Asians are shafted in favour of the likes of the pretty white faces that continue to dominate the world.

Don't give me bullshit about how the Avatar universe ISN'T EARTH and thus ANYBODY can play the characters - the Avatar universe was DEFINITELY inspired by Asian cultures. I don't watch the show, BUT ANY FUCKING IDIOT WITH EYES CAN SEE THAT, OKAY?

And Jackson fucking Rathbone is starting to piss me right off:

Due in theaters in summer 2010, "Airbender" has already begun to face a bit of controversy over the casting of white actors like Rathbone, Ringer and McCartney to play Asian characters — a concern the actor was quick to dismiss. "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," he said of the transformation he'll go through to look more like Sokka.

Where the HELL do you get off dismissing the major DIMINISHING OF A WHOLE SET OF PEOPLE, Rathbone? How the HELL do you assume that a hairstyle, lack of facial hair and a FUCKING TAN will make you ANY LESS WHITE, ANY MORE ASIAN?

"It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

A little bit? You mean A LOT! A VERY FUCKING LOT OF DISBELIEF!

Talk about an overinflated sense of entitlement!

(Actually, I was pissed off about this much earlier, but just haven't had the time to articulate myself.)

Or at least Europe has.

Seriously, Spanish basketball, men's team. Then the women's team. Then the tennis team. And now Argentine's women's soccer team.

How OLD are you folks?

And why do you keep justifying your dumbass racist bullshit? I don't care what your intentions are - that's still racist. And no, "sorry if you're offended" is not an apology - it just pretends to be. The plain fact is, it HAS offended people and you're not actually saying sorry.

It was funny like, the FIRST time. I know I snorted a little the first time before going "wtf m8?" Now it's just becoming more and more clear you just don't respect Chinese people.

And how is it a good idea to piss off, oh, OVER A BILLION PEOPLE in the world?

Disgrasian has the most amazing takedown.

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Reaching Out

The rest of the world is always there

just putting some shit things here

NGARHG.

Congresswoman Wilson’s House floor speech on the shooting death of Trayvon Martin

TW for violence: 911 call from Trayvon Martin murder

So i had to post this

Con or Bust! Auction is Open!

(no subject)

To be returned to at a further point in time

The FUCK.

(no subject)

OK LOOK YOU GUYS

My heart breaks for Silver Phoenix

Bah, I say.

The, uh, Late Sunday Linkfest

Sunday Linkfest of FAIL

(no subject)

'Last Airbender' Stills

facepalm

Well, Fuck You Too, Hollywood.

The world has gone INSANE.

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January 2025

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