It’s common to see comment threads where people note that second-generation immigrants are often the ones most offended by cultural appropriation, whereas first-generation immigrants or people that grew up in their cultural homeland are happy when foreigners want to experience aspects of their culture. Underneath that sentiment is the feeling that the offense taken by second-generation immigrants should be taken less seriously because they didn’t grow up in that culture. But…that’s exactly why cultural appropriation is such a sore point – we didn’t get to grow up in our family’s culture. We straddle two identities. We grew up in places that mocked the weird food we brought to school, the weird clothes we wore, the weird traditions we celebrated. Then when we went to visit extended family, we found that they didn’t accept us either; we were foreign there, too. So when people readily consume the culture that was denied to us – suddenly, our weird food is cool and our weird clothes are ethnic – it hurts.
Re: not eating animals
When discussions about veganism and the commodification of animals devolve into metaethics, it’s interesting how far people will go to justify a few minutes of palatal pleasure.
Re: reacting to asexuality
I’ve told a few people that I’m asexual and I’ve found all of my interactions to be largely positive. Reactions have ranged from immediate acceptance of it as a non-thing to long conversations about the difference between sexual and romantic attraction. For a while, I took questions like “what if you haven’t found the right person yet?” and “how can you be sure?” as indicative of skepticality or erasure of asexuality, but now I see them as indications of curiosity and care. They open up dialogue for me to explain what asexuality broadly means, and what it personally means to me. One of my favorite reactions was from my mom who asked, “are you okay with it?” It showed a level of empathy that I didn’t expect, and showed how much she cares about my own comfort and acceptance of myself. She didn’t question it, but questioned how I felt about it. I can’t describe how much that meant to me. Now, I really like it when people ask questions because it shows that they want to understand me better.
I understand the concept of racial fetishism, but I fail to see why it’s problematic.
So a white guy likes asian women because they’re asian (and thus he associates them with stereotypes like submissiveness and softness etc) and he likes manga and schoolgirls and japanese culture etc. And he wants a gf who looks east asian… so what ?
It’s not that he doesn’t care about these women or doesn’t see their humanity, it’s just that he likes their appearance. And he’s not appropriating the culture or doing anything disrespectful, he just has a preference when it comes to his romantic partners.
Before multiculturalism was a thing, people could say “I prefer blonde girls, I prefer girls with big thighs, I don’t like skinny, I like brown-hair, I like a submissive girl, I like an assertive girl” but now that different people live together and cultures mix together, it’s somehow innapropriate to say “I prefer Japanese girls, or Latinas, or "I don’t wanna date within this particular ethicity”. Why ?
Other people guilty of cultural appropriation: Romans who display genuine Greek red-/black/figure pottery and act like they’re so ~~~cultured~~~~~ (and, y’know, stinking rich) to have it. I BET YOU STOLE IT, STOLEN FROM ITS RIGHTFUL OWNERS IN GREECE!!
Gallo-British torcs, reproduction or original. They’re a symbol of HIGH RANK, worn by NOBLES, not some upper-middle class kid from the suburbs of Rome
Vintage togas that haven’t been in fashion since the Julio-Claudian dynasty, mostly because they’re ugly
Armenian hats worn by people who’ve never been further east than Corinth
“““““Traditional”“““““ handicrafts from ““““Galatia”“““ which are actually made by three Libyan women crammed into an insula room somewhere in Tarentum
Using Oscan words in Latin to ~honour your ancestors~ (or to show off how well-read you are!!!)
Women wearing the toga “ironically” and appropriating from sex workers
Obsession with Romanised Persian food and acting like you’re politically subversive for liking it
I love Trader Joe’s, don’t get me wrong. And right now I live next-door to one, which certainly makes day-to-day planning a big convenience. But my family didn’t shop there much growing up - it didn’t carry bags of rice large enough or offer discount gotta-go frozen meats or stock industrial jugs of Kikkoman; and honestly we thought of it as “fancy” (in fact, we thought of a trip there as a special treat and one time my sister was asked what her favorite restaurant was and she responded “Trader Joe’s”).
Times have changed, obviously. As Trader Joe’s has expanded, the prices have gotten more reasonable and they’ve started including more cultural foods to reflect changing palates and demographics - though their shoyu sucks (and comes in some tiny ass bottle….like is it for dollhouses????) - which seems nice and inclusive in a lot of ways. But I have to admit I definitely paused when I saw generically boxed Mochi Cake Mix, something I grew up calling Butter Mochi that was made by my mom from scratch, being sold to the exact kind of people who looked at me like I was eating a greasy slab of rubber when I was a kid. And I felt that same feeling creep up again when I saw the Chili Lime Flavored Rolled Corn Chips….which are just basically Takis Fuego but packaged to be more approachable to white people, I’m guessing.
So. I’m just gonna go ahead and share the “original” version of some of these TJ’s products because I think it’s just as good to support the companies or the groups that have been making and enjoying this stuff for years, as it is your favorite grocery chain.
Mochi Cake Mix < Hawaii’s Best Hawaiian Butter Mochi Mix
While Butter Mochi requires only mochiko, eggs, butter, sugar, and milk - you can always opt for the mix from Hawaii’s Best which has been pumping out variations on the ono treat (and other local desserts like kulolo and haupia) for years. Not to mention, it’s a Hawaii based company that employs local Hawaiians during a time of financial decline for native Hawaiians in their own homeland. You can buy it from Hawaii’s Best directly, but it’s also available on Amazon or, even better, on Snack Hawaii (another family owned and operated company that has been selling local goods out of Hilo for 25 years). And - shameless plug - I’ve been buying from Snack Hawaii for a long time, so if you need a discount link, HMU.
The company that makes Takis was founded in 1978 and has been pumping these guys out in different flavors since then. And while Trader’s only offers one flavor, the Takis from your local convenience store come in Fuego, Guacamole, Fajita, and Nitro. The company was founded in Lerma Municipality, Mexico, but has since moved to the US. And for me, this is less of a “support your local company” plea (because Barcel is a big corporation) but more of a “support your local culture” plea. Takis is one of those foods that has existed for a long time in specific cultural circles and so, gets looked down on as a marker of being poor or lower class. Which is utter bullshit and which makes the TJ’s version feel like gentrification in snack form. So instead of buying the “safe” version, maybe instead broaden your horizons and support your local Northgate Marketplace, and grab some homemade tamales or visit the panaderia while you’re there? Also, hot tip, Takis cost $1 while the Trader’s version will set you back $3.99.
So this one specifically depends on if you’re looking for Indian, Israeli, or Middle Eastern Amba and Trader Joe’s doesn’t really specify which one they’re aiming for here. But Galil has been selling their Amba since 1985 and has been family-owned and run since then. Their Amba is also Kosher, and you can buy it on Amazon as well as this awesome site called Super Kacher that specializes in Middle Eastern and Israeli specialty food. If you want a more Indian Amba, try Ship Brand, which has been made by Poonjiaji’s Spices in Mumbai since 1883. The bottle looks crazy generic and if you live in LA, can be easily spotted at Bharat Bazaar at Samosa House, or again - available on Amazon!
All this to say, don’t knock the originals because you have to go to H Mart or Tehran Market to get them. Maybe you haven’t been to those places before or maybe you just don’t have time to hit two markets (in which case, I have provided you with links for online shopping) - but give the cultures that have provided fodder for your favorite chain a fighting chance to prove why they were good enough to be appropriated in the first place.
Shout out to Allure for their tutorial on Cultural Appropriation (i.e. teaching white girls how they too can make their hair into an afro). Here’s to the authentic Afro ✊ To quote the incomparable Amandla Stenberg, “Don’t Cash Crop on My Cornrows”
What Native people say about the use of sage: you can use sage, but you cannot smudge as nothing you are doing (waving sage around) is actually smudging. Smudging is a ceremony and you are, we promise, not smudging. Please buy sage from either us, or someone who sources the sage from us. White sage may not be considered endangered by the US government but corperate sourcing is making it difficult for us to source sage for our own religious purposes. Let alone to sell it.
What white people hear: never use sage ever, don’t ever buy it, don’t own it, don’t even look at it.
Look, y’all. There’s a couple of facets to my talk today.
1) Yes! You can buy sage! You really, truly can! Buy it from either native sellers (go to a powwow! Eat our food, buy our stuff, watch some dancing!) Or buy it from a seller who sources the sage from native people. Pick one. And no, buying it from 5 Below doesn’t count.
2) you CANNOT smudge. This isn’t just you “shouldn’t”— this is a YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF SMUDGING. Waving a sage stick around your doorways IS NOT SMUDGING. It is smoke clensing. Smudging, depending on the tradition and tribe, could easily have dancing and drums involved. You, as a white person, do not have the cultural BACKGROUND to even know how it works. At all. Period.
3) please, for FUCKS SAKE, stop making posts here on tumblr where you tell other white people about cultural appropriation and what they can and cannot do. Please stop, your license has been revoked because none of you bother to get the facts right. We native people are FULLY CAPABLE OF DOING IT OURSELVES. Consider instead: a) reblogging our posts where we talk about it! We’re here! We have made posts!! b) Making a post that states what we said and then LINKS BACK TO US. Screenshot with a link if you must. Stop centering your own voices in these conversations. You are already centered in everything, stop centering yourselves in a native space.
A collection of classic books with new culturally diverse covers will make their debut at New York City’s largest bookstore.
To kick off Black History Month, Penguin Random House and Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue is partnering up to give twelve classic young adult novels new covers, known as “Diverse Editions.” The books will hit the shelves on Feb. 5, and Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue will have the books on display in their massive storefront throughout the month of February.
The following books will be on display with their Diverse Edition covers:
Alice in Wonderland
Romeo and Juliet
Three Musketeers
Moby Dick
The Secret Garden
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Emma
The Wizard of Oz
Peter Pan
Treasure Island
Frankenstein
Each title had five culturally diverse custom covers designed to ensure the recognition, representation, and inclusion of various multiethnic backgrounds reflected across the country. The new covers are a part of a new initiative to champion diversity in literature.
Customers who can’t make it in-store to purchase a book can download the new cover online for free.
To celebrate the release of the new covers, Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue is hosting a Diverse Editions Launch & Panel Discussion from 6 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 5. The panel, which will be moderated by TBWA North America’s Chief Diversity Officer Doug Melville, will feature key opinion leaders within the industry including bestselling author MK Asante, literary agent Nena Madonia Oshman (Dupree Miller), Cal Hunter of Barnes & Noble Fifth Avenue, and more.
Additionally, Diverse Editions of the books will be donated to libraries and schools throughout the Tri-state area at the end of the month
Attendance is free to the public, but all must RSVP beforehand. Every attendee will receive a copy of one of the books while supplies last.
I probably did a bad job looking for this but I couldn’t find it on Tumblr and like… This completely blows my mind. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!?! Tbh the article reads like satire but APPARENTLY IT’S NOT
Witchcraft PSA: The Chakras & Cultural Appropriation ❌
Warning: This is probably the longest post I’ve written so far, so be prepared for a VERY long read.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert, a historian, or a theologist. I am simply a witch, a student, and a POC living in the United States where many aspects of pagan spirituality are often appropriated from other cultures and perpetuated through simple ignorance. I’m sure this post will generate some type of controversy, but I do not mean to attack anyone or their beliefs with this post.
So. Here’s the big one, guys. The post I’ve been dreading making but have really wanted to write for a while.
Cultural appropriation is one of the hottest topics in the modern witchcraft community, and the discourse about it on tumblr is far-reaching and incendiary at best. The problem: Where should witches draw a line between explorational spirituality and cultural appropriation?
I’m not here to lay down laws of morality. I’m not the cultural police. But I DID have a very eye-opening experience recently that led me to create this post.
I’m a white-passing minority, and I won’t pretend that this doesn’t lend me a degree of privilege in America. Especially as a witch, many doors are open to me. Just within the witchcraft community, I look white enough to be welcomed whole-heartedly into most neopagan circles. That’s not to say that blatant racism is abundant within the pagan community, but we can’t deny that many non-white cultural practices are heavily stigmatized. For instance, as SOON as any of my “light worker” friends hears that I have a family background in Santeria and Brujeria, the FIRST thing I hear is, “Oh, I don’t mess with that dark stuff,” or “Well, I don’t like the idea of hurting animals and other people.” And don’t get me started on the ignorant conversations one of my dark-skinned, Vodou-practicing friends has had to sit through before.
Like,what?
Because of this, I’m often the first person within my social circles to stand up for cultural barriers and denounce cultural stigma. Above all else, I try to respect the hell out of closed cultures and educate myself about cultural appropriation.
So, it was much to my dismay when I discovered that I have been culturally appropriating the chakra system for the last 11 years of my witchcraft practice.
The chakra system and its use in western occultism is one of the most heavily debated topics in the witchblr community. A simple search will yield dozens upon dozens of posts, each filled with witches claiming that usage of the chakra system either IS or IS NOT appropriation. For the most part, I’ve tried to stay out of this debate. I’ve incorporated the chakras into my practice since I began, but I thought my oriental heritage and my “thorough” understanding of the chakras made this okay. But, lo and behold, I was sorely mistaken.
So, after some deep research into this topic, and after talking to several Hindus and Buddhists, here’s my attempt to shed some light on this issue.
What are the chakras (according to Western occultism)?
As a brief overview, the chakras are believed to be spiraling energy centers that exist within the subtle body. There are seven of them, and they lie along the spine in places where large amounts of nerves and vital organs exist. Similar to the way our brain is a large compilation of nerves, these chakras are believed to be the intersection points of energy currents within our spirit.
Each chakra rules over a particular psychological, physical, and spiritual state of being, and disruptions within the chakras are believed to lead to different types of mental, emotional, and physical illnesses.
These chakras are depicted as lotus flowers with varying numbers of petals, and each is represented by its own color. Each one also corresponds to a Sankskrit syllable mantra which is believed to activate the chakra when spoken aloud.
In order, they are:
❤Muladhara - The Root Chakra - Connection to the Earth and the Self - Located at the base of the spine - Depicted as a red lotus with 4 petals - Mantra: LAM
Swadhisthana- The Sacral Chakra - Connection to sexuality and instinct - Located near the sexual organs - Depicted as an orange lotus with 6 petals - Mantra: VAM
Manipura- The Solar Chakra - Connection to will and identity - Located in the Solar Plexus - Depicted as a yellow lotus with 10 petals - Mantra: RAM
Anahata- The Heart Chakra - Connection to love and relationships - Located in the heart - Depicted as a green lotus with 12 petals - Mantra: YAM
Vishuddha- The Throat Chakra - Connection to voice and communication - Located in the heart - Depicted as a blue lotus with 16 petals - Mantra: HAM
Ajna- The Third Eye Chakra - Connection to spiritual awareness - Located above and between the eyes - Depicted as a purple lotus with 2 petals - Mantra: OM
Sahastrara- The Crown Chakra - Connection to Source/the Universe - Located at the top of the head - Depicted as either a purple, rainbow, or white lotus with 144,000 petals - Mantra: Silence
Along with these associations, each chakra is often associated with various crystals, herbs, and spirits.
What are the chakras within their original cultural context?
The concept of ‘chakras’ arose from a practice known as Tantric Yoga. This was a spiritual system that began to gain popularity in India and other eastern cultures between 600-1300 CE. Up until this point (and concurrently as well), most types of spirituality in these cultures was very transcendental - that is, they had a fundamental belief that the Divine was transcendent and inherently 'above’ the natural world. Therefore, in order to commune with the divine, it was believed that the material world had to be renounced and denied, and higher states of consciousness had to be achieved in order to commune with divinity.
Tantric spirituality flipped the script. It adopted the idea that divinity was an inherent quality of the natural world, and that a person could freely commune with the divine by opening themselves up to the world around them through mindfulness and all-embracing compassion.
The philosophies and teachings of tantric yoga (loosely known as ’tantras’) became extremely widespread throughout this period and dramatically shaped many emerging sects of Hinduism and Buddhism. As this philosophy spread, many different types of specific spiritual practices arose, many of which can be recognized in our Western ideas of holistic meditation - such as mantras, mudras, mandalas, and even modern Western yoga.
One such concept that gained popularity was the idea of chakras - focal points of spiritual energy in the body. However, these chakras were very different than what Westerners think of today.
There were a LOT of different traditions that arose from Tantric teachings, and each one had its own unique belief about chakras. The most obvious difference between these chakra traditions was that each one believed in a different number of chakras. Some systems had three, others had six, others had seven, others had nine, others had 10, others had 21, etc.
Each one approached the chakras a bit differently, and so each one believed in a different number of chakra centers.
What are some of the primary differences between Western Chakras and Tantric Chakras?
The most eye-opening difference for me was that Tantric chakras have none of the associations that Westerners believe in today. Original practitioners of Tantric spirituality did not associate specific colors with each chakra, they did not associate physical or psychological states with them, they did not associate any herbs or crystals or planets with them, and they did not even associate Sanskrit syllables with them. What’s more, they didn’t even believe they were located in fixed points on the body.
Loosely, they believed that the chakras - like all things spiritual - were very fluid. They could often be accessed through general areas of the body, but they definitely were not stagnant, fixed points. This also accounts for the varying number of chakras, because it was believed that the chakras would manifest in different ways depending on what traditional practice you used to approach them.
Many traditions did believe that these chakras could be depicted as lotus flowers with various petals, but these were not meant to inherently describe the individual chakra. Rather, these depictions were meant to serve as a visualization for a person to meditate on when trying to access a specific chakra.
Along with this, these traditions did not assign specific names or syllables to these chakras - at least not the ones we use today. Rather, it was believed that Sanskrit syllables carried an inherent magic or divine energy within them (similar to Kabbalistic views of the Hebrew language), and they assigned various letters and syllables to the petals of each lotus flower, which corresponded to various energies in nature.
The symbols, names, and Sanskrit syllables popularized in the West today don’t even correspond to any kind of Tantric chakras. They actually correspond to the elements within certain traditions of eastern spirituality. They also are not meant to be uniquely associated with any individual chakra. Rather, these syllables were used in meditation to invoke specific elemental energies into different chakras depending on the situation.
If your tradition believed that the heart chakra could affect the relationships in your life, and your personal relationships happened to be very stagnant, you could vibrate the syllable for the Wind element and invoke that energy into your heart chakra to help your personal relationships become more dynamic. Etc.
This brings me to the final thing I’d like to talk about: Westerners are NOT using the chakras for their original purpose.
The only concrete associations that tantric traditions had for the chakras were deities. These traditions believed that each of their chakras was associated with a specific Hindu deity (though the specific order or deities listed varies between tradition and time period).
The original purpose of 'working with chakras’ was to eventually invoke the energy of these specific deities into a person’s chakras in order to become closer to these gods and goddesses and emulate their behavior and teachings in daily life.
How did the original concept of chakras get misconstrued in Western culture?
Oh, boy. This is a tough answer that’s soaked in 1000 years of colonialism, racism, cultural and linguistic barriers, and simple misunderstandings.
But, simply put, the appropriation of tantric chakras can be narrowed down to four specific individuals.
In 1577, a spiritual teacher and academic named Purnananda Yati wrote a treatise of tantric teachings called the Shatchakra Nirupana, or roughly 'An Explanation of the Six Chakras’.
In this treatise, Purnananda lays out the modern framework we see today - six chakra centers within the human spirit, with an additional seventh chakra above the head that connects the spirit to the divine source. He based this concept off of an earlier writing from the 13th century, which also details this framework but openly acknowledges that this is just ONE tradition, and that many other traditions also exist.
In 1918, a British scholar named John Woodroffe translated Purnananda’s treatise from Sanskrit into English, and unfortunately, there were many mistranslations in Woodroffe’s version. This translation was what eventually gained extreme popularity throughout academic and occult circles in the West.
Throughout the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s, the renowned European psychologist, Carl Jung (who you might recognize from your Psych 101 class), became fascinated with the idea of chakras and their relation to consciousness. Throughout this time period, Jung wrote extensively about potential connections between the seven chakra centers and various psychological states. This is where the chakras became associated with different states of being, such as instinct, will, and sexuality.
Finally, in 1987, an American occultist and spiritualist named Anodea Judith published a book entitled Wheels of Life. In this book, Judith talks extensively about the seven chakras, and even lists correspondences between the chakras and various herbs, crystals, elements, planets, tarot cards, deities, and archangels.
Her book became wildly popular within holistic and spiritual circles, and set in stone the way that modern neo-pagans view the chakras in the West.
So, are chakras part of a closed culture?
Yes and no.
Chakras as we view them in the West are, at best, a distorted and bastardized version of a beautiful, ancient belief. They were studied and theorized by many traditions for over a thousand years, and many of these traditions still exist today. Most commonly, they are still used in Shaivism, which is one of the most prevalent forms of Hinduism in the East.
Many of these living traditions ARE, in fact, closed. But more than that, to perpetuate (and worse, claim spirituality from) a distorted, white-washed version of an Eastern religious belief is just plain disrespectful and potentially racist at its worst.
That being said, though, there are certain living traditions which ARE NOT closed, such as the exceedingly popular Tibetan Buddhism. These traditions recognize many of the same teachings and are freely shared with people of any nationality or background - as long as you put in the work to learn about them.
The Main Takeaway
The chakras, as viewed in the West, are incorrect. This is not to disclaim any type of spiritual experience Westerners may have had by utilizing chakras in their practice, but I’m of the opinion that Westerners should recognize that the “chakras” they believe in don’t actually have any basis in ancient spirituality.
That being said, the concept of a subtle body and energy centers within the human spirit is not unique to the Far East.
The concept of currents and centers of energy within the body can be found in cultures the world over, from India to Japan to Korea to Africa to the Middle East, and even among the Native Americans who never came into contact with these other cultures (as far as we know).
The human soul, the subtle body, and spiritual energy are concepts that supercede cultural boundaries, and if studying and utilizing them is an integral part of your craft, then I encourage you to follow your personal path and find connection with the Universe in whatever way you feel called to.
But. Perhaps developing your own unique system and beliefs about the energy centers within the body is the best course of action for us Westerners. Until we ourselves make the effort go join one of those (open) traditions, subscribing to the modern Western system of “chakras” is, in my opinion, cultural appropriation.
[Image description: The image is a Tumblr submission. The submission is from someone who has put their name as “Leonidas” and their email address as “PoC Appropriated My Culture @ Gmail.com”. The message says: “I’d just like to point out that while PoC claim that white people wearing dreadlocks is cultural appropriation, the original wearers of the dreadlocks hairstyle were Neanderthals living in Europe around the last glacial period for about 100,000 years and Spartan warriors living in Greece. So technically, PoC appropriated “non-coloured” cultures.”]
This is important! :D Support Native artists! The Indian Arts & Crafts Act is an important piece of legislation that helps Native people protect their culture from appropriation and disenfranchisement. Please buy Native! Also, if you go to local powwows or find local Native artists, you’ll probably find better prices while simultaneously helping your LOCAL economy! Win-win!
White saviors are so obsessed with calling out things as cultural appropriation that my 100% Chinese friend is scared to enjoy other Asian culture bc of people like y’all. Nothing wrong with having interest in other cultures and trying new things and trends from them. Appreciating culuture isn’t appropriation.
Tweeted to Perez Hilton, “lol what a messy [f-word] you are."She ~sort of~ (but not really) apologized by saying "My most sincere apologies to anyone who was indirectly offended by my foul language. Not sorry for Perez tho. Lol”
as a general rule. if what we’re calling ‘cultural appropriation’ sounds like nazi ideology (i.e. ‘white people should only do white people things and black people should only do black people things’) with progressive language, we are performing a very very poor application of what ‘cultural appropriation’ means. this is troublingly popular in the blogosphere right now and i think we all need to be more critical of what it is we may be saying or implying, even unintentionally.
There is nothing wrong with everyone enjoying each other’s cultures so long as those cultures have been shared.
Eating Chinese food, watching Bollywood movies, going to see Cambodian dancers, or learning to speak Korean so you can watch every K drama in existence is totally fine. The invitation to participate in those things came from within those cultures. The Mexican family that owns the place where I get fajitas wants me to eat fajitas. Their whole business model kind of depends on it, actually.
If you see something from another culture you think you might want to participate in, but you don’t know if that would be disrespectful or appropriative, you can just…ask. Like. A Jewish friend explained what a mezuzah was to me, recently. (It’s the little scroll-thing near their front doors that they touch when they come into their house. It basically means “this is a Jewish household.”)
“Oh, cool,” I said. “Can I touch it? Or is it only for Jewish people?”
“You can touch it or you can not touch it,” she said. “I don’t care.”
“Cool, I’m gonna touch it, then.”
“Cool.”
It’s not hard.
You want to twerk, twerk. I’ve never heard a black person say they didn’t think anybody else should be allowed to twerk. Just that they want us to acknowledge that they invented that shit, not Miley fucking Cyrus.
this is a good post.
Thank you, I was trying to sort this out in my head but you explained it very well.
As a person of color, I’ve learned to expect a certain level of whitewashing from Hollywood. Jake Gyllenhaal as The Prince of Persia? Dude, wtf? Random white dude as Goku – wow, WOW, take it easy, buddy!
And yet, Hollywood execs surprised us with yet another bottle of fuckery by casting Emma Stone as Allison Ng, a character described as a quarter Hawaiian and a quarter Chinese. Let me lean in closer so I can say that again:
Emma Stone, a blonde haired, blue eyed WHITE WOMAN, was chosen to portray an ASIAN-HAWAIIAN PERSON with an Asian last name. I don’t approve of whitewashing, especially when Asian characters get swapped with white ones (see: Ghost in the Shell), but this is a new level of lazy bullshit. How can you go 80% of the way, write a script ABOUT AN ASIAN PERSON but not cast an Asian actress? That’s like making a movie about the Jackson 5 set in the 1960s but casting Honey Boo Boo as Tito and a ham sandwich as Michael – did you even try, bro?!
Hollywood continues to whitewash because white folks don’t see ethnicity as an IDENTITY. They don’t believe race and ethnicity can effect your opportunities and personality in real life, or in a fictional movie. Instead, race is treated like a COSTUME you steal from one person and give to another. In fact, white culture has ALWAYS taken ethnic labels and slapped them onto white products.
We needed more R&B artists so we slapped a label on Justin Timberlake. We lacked diversity in the workplace so we made a category called “White Latinos.”
And yet, when they do consider our ethnicity it’s used in a way to exploit us: to paint us as uneducated thugs, awkward math nerds, and illegal immigrants. They never meet us half-way and write a script about normal ass POCs, acting as if we’re either born into our designated stereotype or we’re colorblind.
If you wanna know how white folks feel truly feel about us, take a look at ANY Hollywood movie and observe the POC characters. When white men were at their peak of Black male intimidation, they made ‘Mandingo’ and 'Birth of a Nation.’ When they were afraid of Asians, they filmed 'Fu Manchu’ and 'The Interview.’
If we can accept the writings of Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston as expressions of Black thought, why aren’t we accepting racist Hollywood films as expressions of white ones?
Practical Reasons for Closed & Initiatory Cultural Practices
Practical Reasons for Closed & Initiatory Cultural Practices
When a spiritual practice is closed, it is not solely from a xenophobic, “hating outsiders” point of view. There are many reasons for a spiritual practice being closed, all focused on maintaining the quality of practice and knowledge. It is important to remember that with all traditional magic, people do not add additional work for the sole reason of making rituals more complicated. There is…
Contrasting Traditional versus Modern Views of Magic and Spirit Work
Contrasting Traditional versus Modern Views of Magic and Spirit Work
Before I begin, let me say that this is not a matter of which is better than the other. Each practitioner’s path is their own, and what path is most fitting is up to them based on their own lifestyle and obligations. Therefore, this post is written specifically for those who feel that their current path does not fit them, who seek to analyze their goals and what is wanted from magic. Please note…
I’m seeing a lot of outrage from witches who refer to smoke cleansing as smudging (cultural appropriation) buy mass market tarot decks (commercialization) and don’t pay much mind to where their own practice comes from. Yes, the kits are problematic - but have you looked at your own practice? What cultures have you taken from? How have you commercialized your practice? Also - WITCHCRAFT IS NOT A RELIGION. It is a secular practice that has roots in many cultures over many years. Stop saying “You don’t see CHRISTIAN starter kits!” It’s not selling a religion.
And maybe this is a nice reminder of what it feels like to have something sacred “taken” (it wasn’t ours to begin with) and sold to the masses.
