This Pocahontas-Anne Frank analogy was spot on

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http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/06/cul ... ion-wrong/

I refuse outright the concept of cultural appropriation, it is segregation and racism pure and simple. Cultures are never closed, you cannot own it, you are not owed it, and it is always changing. When you come to America then you accept that you are joining a culture that is not the same as wherever you came from but at the same time Americans are an accepting people who have a lot of interest in other cultures as our country is made up of so many and I think that's part of the reason America assimilates immigrants better than any country in the world especially Europe who is up its own butt in "multiculturalism". I believe there should be a monoculture, I believe in the melting pot idea, you leave the old country behind when you come to this country and you become an American and if that doesn't interest you then go somewhere else. Our culture is now, our culture is the future, you can't preach this progressive social message then turn around and say "but we need to protect and preserve this culture from outsiders", that doesn't make any sense at all to me.

This isn't denying or whitewashing the bad things this country has done in its past, I just believe dividing ourselves by race or culture or whatever will do our not country in the short or long term. SJWs seem to have a real hard time with self awareness, how their beliefs analogue a lot of what true racists believe. SJWs will cry about harassment then turn around and do it themselves, they're just awful self serving people. They would be right at home in the Khmer Rouge.

The way you end racism is by ending race, people that are so attached to the concept of racial division are racists be it the KKK or SJWs. Think about it, SJWs essentially support racial purity(for everyone except white people of course) and they have this extreme black and white thinking where they divide everyone between oppressor and oppressed.

Let's start here. What about where it's really tacky and contrived, but pushed as authoritative by lots of white people? Let's start with Memoirs of a Geisha. I remember when I took Japanese classes, my parents (and yes my parents and I are white) pushed this on me even though it seemed boring. (Playing up guilt when I didn't read it.) Now I realize it was written by some white dude who knew little about the subject and wanted to spice things up, I suppose:

http://ubeempress.com/2015/05/20/an-exp ... xcuse-you/

I've always hated what Disney did to Pocahontas (always hated Disney in general...). I hated how they tried to make the Hunchback of Notre Dame into some fun kid's story when the book is just horrible. We did use to joke about Disney trying to make a movie out of Anne Frank, and it would not have surprised us if they had.

As far as having a little girl dress up as Pocahontas because she admires her, I don't think that should be frowned upon. I think people need to understand the true story, though, rather than the absolute horse pucky Disney came out with.

There was a discussion about whether non-Indians should be allowed to wear saris and the like, and all the white SJW types were saying that it was culture appropriation and should be banned, but all the people from India said that they were happy people were wearing their clothing styles, that it was an honor to their culture. There's a vast difference between someone trying to mock a culture, and someone appreciating another culture. We should not discourage people from being able to appreciate another culture.

Like the Japanese exchange students we had. They loved us wearing kimonos and yukatas and haoris, but they made sure we knew how to wear them correctly and explained everything to us. They loved other people being interested in their culture.



But like this, Memoirs of a Geisha was not honoring their culture. Too many things Hollywood grabs onto does no honor to any culture.

Actual geisha aren't the only people allowed to write stories about them tho, fiction and even non-fiction would probably be pretty boring if you were only allowed to write about what you personally experienced. They're not prostitutes but to say that there has never been a sexual component to geisha would probably be wrong. I don't consider this cultural appropriation, he wrote a fictional book about a culture that wasn't his own.

Hey Mr White Conservative, does it ever occur to you that if you don't like having to listen to non-whites whining about 'cultural appropriation' (or whatever their latest buzzword is), then segregation is the answer?

'Cultural appropriation' is just a meme used by anti-whites to attack whites. The way to respond to such whining is to tell non-whites that they are appropriating white culture when they use computers, electricity and motor cars. Then you tell them to get stuffed.

Alternatively, if you're a conservative, you can keep whining that it doesn't make any sense, and we all just need to come together as one people - LOL.

Can blue men sing the whites?

Don't blame everyone because a certain group of mostly white college educated women decide that they should be the grand arbitrator of all things race and gender. Real people aren't like this, this type of thinking only exists in the world of academia and social media. I just ignore the activists because they are irrelevant to my life. Its pretty funny that if you had some big SJW meeting, you'd probably see more diversity in hair color than you would skin.

As someone in the real world, I can tell you that most people are pretty similar given the same circumstances and we all pretty much want the same things. People are equal, some cultures aren't. I feel no connection to white people as some monolithic grouping, in fact probably the worst people to live around are older upper class white people in my experience since they're more apt to call the cops or complain on you. I don't look at Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush and think they're like me at all, I have FAR more in common with the blacks and Hispanics that I grew up around than these old money elites. The world is divided far more by class than by race and they use race to distract us from seeing other people in similar circumstance as in the same boat as us.

"If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected."

If only Sun Tzu were required reading in colleges.

Jacoby,

You sure like to shut down discussion, don't you? Well, that's on you. I gave you a chance to open up and you got defensive.

BTW, the second link I posted was by a biracial Asian-American woman echoing the views of many Asian-Americans!

Quite the contrary, I like it when people challenge my views and I guess I assumed the same for everybody. Sorry you feel like I was shutting this done, I just disagree. Where do you think I am getting defensive?

What do you mean by "probably"?

The problem with Memoirs of a Geisha is obvious even to me: It erases the voices of Asians themselves. It's about a rather un-knowledgeable white man's take on a foreign culture and what he thinks would appeal to a western audience. No Asians necessary, or if they are they fulfill only stereotypical roles understood by the average westerner. Why do whites like pushing that stuff on other whites so much?

This report shows how disproportionately excluded from media both women and people of color are, in case you thought the previous paragraph was hyperbole:

http://wmc.3cdn.net/2e85f9517dc2bf164e_htm62xgan.pdf

Considering the questions Asian-Americans get, like "Where are you really from?" it is clear that Asian-Americans are often considered to be foreigners in their own country:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3092701/

Jacoby likes to speak as if all this is simply going on in the heads of all Asian-Americans, and like he is the reasonable default (read white) voice in all this, but he is incorrect. When you answer "Where are you from?" with an American accent and an answer like "Columbus, Ohio," and the next question is "No. Where are you really from?" how on God's green earth are you not going to think you're being treated like a foreigner? It is quite clear from the round of questioning that the questioner does not consider the answerer to be an American.

This has been a frequent problem for Asian-Americans, and as the Pubmed article shows also for Latino/a-Americans.

Following up, it seems that from the perspectives of Asian-Americans, the very same Americans who would treat them like perpetual foreigners and seem to have no interest in their actual perspectives are the ones who like to think of themselves as cultured and accessorize themselves with Asian things for profit and showing off to other Americans that aren't treated as perpetual foreigners. Basically, it's like we the majority of Americans like to stomp Asian-Americans on the ground and then take their cultural icons and wave it around and dance all around with it. It's blatant mockery. Basically, we could do with having, not guilt, not that strawman that Americans in denial like to put up only to knock down, but increased self-awareness regarding this issue, which should begin to manifest in our behaviors.

What I mean by probably is that there is a little more nuance to it than whether or not they partake in prostitution, what they do might be not necessarily be seen as prostitution in their eyes but might appear different to outsiders and what they might do traditionally in the most classy joints might not be what is common among the rest. An escort isn't technically a prostitute either, you pay for "companionship" but we all know what that really implies.

From what I read, geisha actually are not really allowed or at least it is severely frowned upon to talk about their experiences and with any secretive group invites intrigue. Perhaps 'Memoirs of Geisha' was such a success because nobody ever wrote about the subject before. Looking around, I actually found an interview with the author of the book and he said that he had actually written the entire book as a third person observer but nobody would touch it unless it was a from a first person view so the author never actually intended to impersonate or steal anybody's voice.

As for the "microagressions" or whatever, can you understand why they don't seem like a big deal to people? Like what is the problem, what is the actual harm? Like I get annoying questions suck but doesn't mean it is racist, a super tall person will get asked if they play basketball. People make assumptions and sometimes they are wrong. As for the "where are you from" stuff, I think part of it is that white people in this country are such a diverse grouping and are very interested in foreign cultures so its just a natural question. I think most white Americans can probably name off like 5 different ancestries of their own whereas minorities in this country are usually one thing from one place. The whole "white as default" stuff is dumb, the country is mostly white so yeah most people in America think of white people first just as someone from Zimbabwe would probably picture a black person before white one in their culture.

Also please don't put words in my mouth. Sometimes when I make posts I attack the premise or idea or the people I feel are responsible for those views and the person I am responding to might take it personally. Sorry if that's how you took what I wrote, when I wrote SJW I was not speaking about you specifically at all.

I disagree with the idea of cultural appropriation and think it is good when people share cultures with each other, I don't think there is a downside at all. Mocking each other is something entirely different but that's not what we're talking about here, mocking would be like minstrel show and those racist Looney Toon cartoons from way back when. What the problem they seem to have is that white people are partaking in their culture that they feel they have exclusive ownership over and they don't want them to be apart of it, shoe on the other foot and that is definitely is racist. The classic SJW line that its only racist when an oppressor does it is not accepted by any one outside their bubble, they redefined racism so they themselves wouldn't get called out on it. Real world people know everybody is capable of being racist.

Jacoby,

I think giving a bit more consideration to others is in order here.

I don't understand what you mean by this, perhaps it is better to just agree to disagree since it seems like we both seem pretty convinced of our opinions on this. FWIW, I consider myself a pretty empathetic and considerate person relative to most people I come across on a day to day basis. If there is something specific you take issue with, then go ahead and shoot as I am not intimidated to defend or explain anything I post otherwise I wouldn't post it to begin with.