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Sarah Palin Was A Token….and is now a what? « .Elise.Anne..

Can a woman be successful in politics without prostituting her image? Hillary receives a lot of negative response to her supposedly unfeminine image, but she does not have nearly as many sexually doctored photos circling on the internet, have people voting for her because of her sex appeal, or have people passing her off as a ditz or bimbo. Sarah was marketed as the polar opposite. She receives a lot of negative attention for her stylish feminine image in the form of critiques and sexism, but she doesn’t have nearly as many people call her b-tch, butch, power-hungry, man-eating, man-controlling, etc. The goal is to not sell out in either way. To be able to be “feminine” and respected as a woman, not a sexual plaything, and not as only as good as her designer label or complimenting accessories. To also be practical (duh!) in appearance and image, and respected as a woman, not as a b-tch, assumed lesbian, or man eater.

You should read more of Elise’s post when you get the chance the entire post is pretty awesome. I think when you are a minority in a majority context the question of selling out will arise in some form or other. Irv Cross, was the first African-American sportscaster on national television, and for a while served as the Athletic Director at Macalester College. I had the privilege of hearing him speak at a Macalester Christian Fellowship meeting where he shared the story of how in his first season on tv, the producers had wanted him to dress with his shirt open down to his chest, and wearing a large gold chain (he also tells this story here).  They wanted him to be the sex symbol, to be an African American stereotype. They wanted him to sell out. Cross refused, it wasn’t who he was.

It’s hard being the first of your kind, whether that kind is female, African American, queer, Korean, etc. There’s always the pressure to either sell out by becoming a caricature, or to sell out by suppressing that part of your identity that is different. To not be a sell out is, like Cross, to know who you are, and what are the things that make you who you are. To not be a sell out also means to understand the world around you, and the boxes that the world wants to put you in. To not sell out means to know your boundaries and your margins long before they are tested, so that when the time comes it is easy for you to say “This far, but no further.”

On the large scale of things, I’ve been fine, but I’ve also been at a point in life where I am considering the directions of my life and making concrete decisions. That naturally involves considering this blog and what’s it’s purpose. I suspect (though I make no promises) that my next post will be talking about some of that, and why I’m not sure the title of the blog is appropriate any more. In the meantime, I’d like to hear what you think of the issue of selling out. It’s a complicated question that has more facets than I’ve included above. I’d love to hear some comments.

So The Last Airbender comes out this summer. Here’s a good summary of my thoughts on the upcoming movie.

The Blog of Gene Luen Yang – The Last Airbender Movie.

So here are some interesting relationship-related data things I’ve been finding around the web. I suspect you might find this interesting, and I’d be curious to hear your take on it.

First the pretty non-scientific from BoingBoing and Google

Using Google to learn what boyfriends and girlfriends want from each other Boing Boing.

Then the more scientific from the surprisingly compelling blog of okCupid

The takeaway here is that although race shouldn’t matter in messaging, it does. A lot.

via Your Race Affects Whether People Write You Back « OkTrends.

And consider the following on attractiveness and message replies

As you can see from the gray line, women rate an incredible 80% of guys as worse-looking than medium. Very harsh. On the other hand, when it comes to actual messaging, women shift their expectations only just slightly ahead of the curve, which is a healthier pattern than guys’ pursuing the all-but-unattainable. But with the basic ratings so out-of-whack, the two curves together suggest some strange possibilities for the female thought process, the most salient of which is that the average-looking woman has convinced herself that the vast majority of males aren’t good enough for her, but she then goes right out and messages them anyway.

Your Looks and Your Inbox « OkTrends.

Elise posted this link in the comments of the last post and I thought it was cool enough to get a post of it’s own. You should check out the entire post (and the comments to the last post, as well as Elise’s blog) if you haven’t had the chance yet. Here’s a teaser.

The thing is, I knew when I was writing the e-mail that I was taking a risk.  I talk to white people about being “kicked out of the club.” It’s the moment that they realize that speaking up about race or racism distances them from other white people.  It’s when they find out that other white people won’t necessarily support them when they raise issues of racism.

via So now I know. « Resist racism.

P.S.  you should also check out the We heard it before page.

Big sale on vinyl Obama Hope Rebel flag – Boing Boing.

What do you think about the above flag (and yes it’s a single flag). I think the most interesting thing about the linked article is the disagreement in the comments over what the confederate flag means.

Some samples:

mn_camera replied to comment from Brainspore | October 8, 2009 4:54 PM |

The Stars and Bars really ought to be seen as the American equivalent to the swastika at this point.

What’s to be proud of in taking up arms against your countrymen in order to be able to own other human beings?

and

bcsizemo | October 8, 2009 5:36 PM |

I wasn’t aware that in my Southern heritage that we systematically rounded up large groups of people and gassed them… or invaded other countries…

I happen to find the rebel flag a nice reminder of where I’m from and what it means for me to be an American. I understand that’s probably as foreign to everyone else as eating “grits”, but it’s where I’m from and that means something to me.

I’m curious about what you guys think about all this. What do you first think of when you see the confederate flag, racism or a celebration of southern heritage? What do you think of people who see it the other way? How should we handle the disagreement?

via: Boing Boing

Last year I went to my first Renaissance Festival and I loved it. I loved the juggling, firebreathing, jousting, costumes, crafts, and the good-natured fun of the entire scene. To be honest, I was never a huge history buff, but I liked how it was this close to the Fantasy and Swashbuckling stories that formed a large part of my imagination as I grew up. The Princess Bride is still probably my favorite movie of all time. And so, as the geek that I am, I resolved to dress up next year, that’s when I had a problem. Being of Afro-Caribbean descent, it meant that during the time periods portrayed at Ren Faires, my ancestors were likely slaves. Obviously, I was not going to dress up as a slave. It’s possible that my ancestors weren’t slaves, but I couldn’t see where people of African Descent fit into the Ren Faire aesthetic.

From the article below it seems like Steampunkers of Color face the same issue.  Here’s a quote.

Nevertheless, his talk about wearing the clothes of the imperialist doesn’t necessarily resolve one of my main issues as a steampunk of colour: if I buy into this aesthetic, what does it say about how I feel towards my own culture? Do I appropriate Victorianism as someone who’s clearly a minority? (Is that possible?) How does my cultural identity play into my steampunk’d sense of fashion?

This is a question that many a steampunk asks, even those who are white and descended from peoples that the Victorians oppressed. How do we take the trappings of the enemy and use it against them without simply assimilating into the imperialist’s culture?

Another major problem with steampunk is that it romanticizes a Victorian era. While the British empire was arguably cosmopolitan (cue the ORLY owl), it was still racist, classist, sexist, and all-round oppressive. The Victorians, busy with industrializing their country, couldn’t even be bothered to care for their own, and their Far East colonies were Oriental, spaces of Other, where they got tea, mined for tin, and imported their fine china from.

The Intersection of Race and Steampunk: Colonialism’s After-Effects & Other Stories, from a Steampunk of Colour’s Perspective [Essay] at Racialicious – the intersection of race and pop culture.

The big picture question is this: How can we make it so that minority children now and of the future, do not feel a conflict between their real life ethnic identity, and the adventure stories they are supposed to identify with?

The small picture question is this: What should I wear to RenFest this year?

I had seen this comic a while ago and forgotten to post it. Take a moment to head over to Top Shelf’s website and read it, I’ll be here when you get back

Cakewalk > Top Shelf 2.0.

Some questions for pondering (and discussion if you feel so inclined):-

• Do you see racism portrayed in this story? If so…
• Where do you see racism in this story?
• Who is (are) the victim(s) of racism in this story?
• Who is (are) the perpetrators of racism in this story?
• What would you do if you were a teacher in this situation, or the principal, or the pastor, or a family friend?
• What would you do if you were Angela’s parents?

I have thoughts, but I’m having a hard time being cohesive about them. So for now, you have questions.

hat tip to Pop Culture Shock for reminding me about this comic. Rich Johnston has some good thoughts here too.

edit: Welcome to everyone who’s here from When Fangirls Attack . And to my regular readers, if you are curious about issues of gender, race issues, etc in the comic industry, WFA is a good place to find out what’s going on.

So I’ve been getting a lot of hits from Google over the last couple of days regarding the movie based on Avatar: The Last Airbender (probably because the first set pictures were released). So I figured I would do a sort of summary post of my thoughts on the casting.

So what’s the problem?

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a hit cartoon that is set in a fantasy version of Asia. The culture, writing, and fighting portrayed in the series show a strong and obvious eastern influence, with many direct analogues. Now as the live action movie is being made, the main cast members (and all of the good main characters) are being played by white actors.

So why is this important?

Firstly, it’s important because every piece of media plays a part in a kid’s self image, as well as that kid’s image of others.  Gene Yang says it well when he says …

But intentionally or not, they are adding another chapter to Hollywood’s long, sordid history of Yellowface. By giving white actors roles that are so obviously Asian – and by stating from the get-go their preference for Caucasians – they tell Asian-Americans that who we are and how we look make us inherently inadequate for American audiences, even in a movie that celebrates our culture.

The truth is, we are not a post-race society, and it isn’t just the ethnicities of African descent that are affected by this fact. The values that have been a part of the past, influence the images that we see today, which in turn influences the values that will be in the future. The effects of racism have been compared to a moving walkway, if we do nothing, it keeps rolling along, and takes us with it.

This is why I will not be seeing the movie. I still love the series, and will recommend it to anyone. I may even have viewing parties as alternative events.  But for now, I don’t like where this walkway is going, and I think I’m going to start walking backwards.

I know I was sort of done with the Avatar thing, but I’m sort of surprised I missed this. The original casting call definitely shows an intentionality on the part of the casting directors of the movie. Read it, and let me know if you can guess what their intention was.

Lowbright: Diggin’.

These were the original casting calls:

AANG: 12-15 years-old, Male, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. We are looking for a young man to play the lead role in a motion picture franchise. He must be athletic and graceful with an ability in Martial Arts (not necessarily extensive experience, but at least an aptitude for it). Kids with experience in gymnastics, dance, or sports could also be good. He is a young adventurer and should seem like the type of young man who will grow up to be heroic.

KATARA: 14-17 years-old, Female, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. She is Sokka’s younger sister. She is a headstrong and determined girl with a real sense of idealism. She believes in herself and feels that she can play on the same team as the boys. She is beautiful, intelligent, passionate, feisty, and has a real sense of adventure.

SOKKA: 16-20 years-old, Male, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. He is Katara¹s older brother. He is intelligent but awkward, and very funny (although not necessarily intentionally so). He aspires to greatness, but he tends to doubt himself. He is always one to be swayed by a pretty girl.

ZUKO: 16-20 years-old, Male, Caucasian or any other ethnicity. He is a brooding, intense young man who wrestles – not always successfully – with being good. Regaining his honor is a driving impetus for him. He is extremely handsome and is the type of dangerous boy every girl falls in love with. Athletic and/or martial arts experience is a plus.