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I had every intention of going to sleep when I headed to the bedroom at a reasonable hour (This is after the nap you insisted I take Fickle). But I just couldn't. Anxiety cranked up and up, so I had to find something to research to soothe myself. Eh, that did not go well and the results of what I did end up reading/surfing are at the bottom of the post.
But, I've realized where my current pain is coming from. Yes it is raining. Yes I do have joint pain. But I also have womb pain. A particular type of womb pain. A panic induced womb pain. Oh how I did not miss it. And yes it's related to my mother. Anyway it explains why I didn't want to go to bed when it came on - fears of nightmares no doubt just under my subconscious.
I will get to my doctor's appt in the rain today, but this kind of pain is even more debilitating when I'm out of the house. So eff la de dah brain, you craven politician you.
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Backtracking January, possibly doing exposure to the harmful stimuli therapy for desensization or something around those lines, I came across this line, from someone who'd had several people patiently explaining to them their ass was showing.
Note stopping conversation for a family emergency - totally valid. It's just sigh + eye roll when they decide this is the best response t things that had been pointed out to them:
"Praise is MORE IMPORTANT when dealing with the -isms, even though it's true that we shouldn't HAVE to praise people for doing the right thing."
Apparently some of us in this world need to walk around with backpack ovens so we can hand out fresh baked cookies all the time as a first impulse.
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Haven't read all your comments, I am sure someone has pointed out that part of the reason the Japanese elements disappear is that the Japanese elements are seen, by a lot of those consuming the animan(ga/hwa/hua) as fantasy elements already; due to them seeing the characters as white.
So of course it's noteworthy when someone brings (back) the Japanese culture to fanworks. And of course they feel perfectly validated transferring the stories of the, in their minds, white characters to a (white) setting that is more comfortable and pleasing for them.
I just flat out do not read fanfic anymore, have cut it out of how I fan, because it tends to immediately drop the characters of colour into background flavour and/or erase the non white history of the piece completely.
Having intentionally thrown myself into anime this time around (as opposed to a more passive interaction as a child) I'm even more aware of how intentional the ignoring of the Japanese(and other Asian) cultures is; The Tale Of Gengii comes up as legend being quoted in other works via style or plot (sometimes even in the author notes). The various periods of Dynasty for each country in that region also come up - at least, in scanlations. I've observed that American English publishing rights via varied publishing houses, come with a white-washing and American culturalizing 'for a broader audience' or 'to make it more relevant' that neatly slots the Japanese culture that cannot be cut and Ameri-culture grafted on, into odd elements, leaving them to become aligned with whatever supernatural or fantastical elements also occur in the genre as a whole, if not in that specific work.
I've had it explained to me, that for the most part, voice work acting for dub is a chicken scratch industry where part of the Americanized voices is failure to act and part of it is bad direction in attempts to convey dialects and locality accents which ends up further giving the impression of whiteness; because of the underlying 'white is the default' alongside familiar Midwestern and East Coast, Surfer Californian & upper crust British accents. (And yes I know that a British accent doesn't automatically mean white. But I also know that Britain has more than one accent in the first place).
For my own part I've observed a difference in translation of intent in dialogue, such that character traits come across as American exceptionalism and NOT as traditional Japanese virtues. But I've done some reading lately that makes me think that while industry neglect or lack of talent and funds may well be a factor, a likelier or heavier factor is, again, intentional (and likely very much taking advantage of any neglect). Because anime and manga are brought to the US to be consumed, and marketers have determined and actually have a stake in perpetuating 'everyone in the world is just like the US, but with a few quirks'; because it makes things simple and the simpler a thing is, the more easily it can be consumed.
Thus essential Asianess, whether it is Japaneseness, Koreaness, Chineseness, and others, etc... is presented as similar to Midwesterness, East Coastness, Southerness etc... a geographic peculiarity with local legends and quirks that is essentially American.
This is not a new tactic. The British Empire thrived on this; women making saris into 'sari cloth' and having their very British dresses made from it. The spices of the region becoming a peculiarity of some British taste, vs it being the cooking hand of a completely different culture, etc. It is Colonialism plain and simple; though instead of the header 'We Will Make Them Just Like Us', it is put across as 'They Are Already Just Like Us'.
A Colonialism of the mind is much more palatable than occupation and enslavement of a native population. Let those thought of as 'Others' be seen to 'freely' give you their resources; via treaties, loan agreements, the building blocks of a global free market etc... Let those who are under your rule think of those resources as their right, thereby creating the market's need and sustaining your current practices.
All that is left, is to marginalize the voices who do not believe the creative endeavours of another culture are theirs to exploit as they will. Have them mocked as taking things too seriously, being too PC, being over sensitive.
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And now an aside: For those who will want to comment to me that I am being too oversensitive, too PC, taking things way too seriously, it's just anime and wow, look at how I'm claiming some kind of conspiracy - I say this. Capitalism does not need to be a conspiracy as it is already a well established THEORY (of economics), with several schools (and schools of thought), and many published works. It has fermented rebellion and overthrown dynasties. It has condoned slavery. It has started wars and prolonged occupations to. this. day. Why on earth would I claim such a thing was a SECRET?
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It is late. I am in pain, would like to sleep but can't. And something flits across my surf of the internet and turns into one of those last straws.
Here's the deal, the next time someone says "It's not like I'm a Nazi wanting to exterminate the Jews / It's not like I'm a KKK member / It's not like I'm __ insert whatever extreme hate group they want to use to benchmark their own isms__"; the next time someone says something like that? I suggest your reply be this.
"Yeah, it's not like an abusive spouse is a serial murderer; it's not like a violent cop is Josef Mengele; it's not like a school yard bully is someone who abuses and kills dogs!"
Cause what they're doing is another form of Oppression Olympics. Only the competitors are the actual oppressors. And they believe they or whomever they're defending didn't even get the bronze; so why are you even saying anything? So it's a good idea, to at least state publicly what the fuck it is they're doing with their twisted logic.
Cause seriously?
"It's a Halloween costume, is not like someone kidnapped you and placed you in a living SAW movie." Is someone who is not you, trying to measure your pain, heartache, discomfort and rage. And y'know, doctors can't even do that shit. That's why they came up with the frigging PAIN SCALE (it is a clearer way of taking the patient's word for it). So a non medically trained person definitely needs to SHUT. THE FUCK. UP. And if they are medically trained, they do not deserve their licence.
And before someone comes and tells me how white people/ straight people/cis people/able bodied have pain too; Y'know what? a) I don't care and b) not like in my (or your) head they don't. They don't feel the personalized, history compounding experience that is mental scar tissue on me or you.*
Cause again? Benchmarking? IS IGNORANT.
The fibromyalgia having individual, does not compare his or hir or her discomfort to the chemotherapy cancer patient. The person with the broken leg, does not compare themselves to the person who had to have invasive surgery. When physical pains are understood at least part of the time as individual and unique in both circumstance and person it is pure willful ignorance to think psychological pain doesn't as well.
[Current pain due to lack of social justice: immeasurable]
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* This statement is about what they lack to assess things. A lack that often has them deciding on what is or is not painful based on what they feel, all cocooned in the cottonwool of said lack.
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You were wondering who to support and who not to support?
Do not support THESE assholes. These are people who've signed a petition to 'Free Roman Polanski'. They want to free a man who raped a 13 year old girl, plead guilty, and then ran away. His warrant is over 30 years old.
Hollywood apparently thinks his actions are ok or somehow deserving of a pass.
Thank you Hollywood for cementing the fact I shouldn't even try to pick and choose anymore and should just walk the fuck away forever.
( ETA - with mentions of what he did, thus might be triggery. Also my anger at the whole 'Let The White Man Be Free' )
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Ogi_Ogas Quote:
Well, slash is kind of the female equivalent of the straight male interest in transsexuals. That is, the opposite of what culture would predict. So it probably reflects a more direct subcortical effect. Also, there's already data out there about romance novels we can use, which probably overlaps with relationships in fan fic, but we do have a few questions that aren't specific to slash. Maybe we'll have more in the next round.
And then comes a bevy of well meaning (I would guess) journalers who immediately jump to "WTF! Why did you overlook the obvious parallel of straight men liking lesbian themed porn!" Meanwhile I'm still sitting with my head spinning at how one paragraph can insult so many people, while utilizing so many stereotypes at once. And before I can take a breath, seemingly cisgendered women are clamoring about 'Why did you bring in transexuals' - which, yes, is a valid question. But I'm still trying to catch my breath at the swift upper cut implication that any attraction to trans individuals is deviant and in need of scientific study. But lo, the need to defend slash is more important than the insult just given to trans individuals, their lives, emotions, sensuality and sexuality. The need to point out misogyny is more important than transphobia. G'damn white feminist, narrow viewing happy slashers making me want to puke at the very sight of them. Daily 2009 builds brick upon brick, a house of reason that describes why I should hate the whole damn human race and cleave to a few precious and gifted individuals.
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I've finally figured out what I feel puzzled about at the mention of the channel that '10 Things I Hate About You' is on. That's because I stopped watching ABC back when they were promoting Laura Schlessinger's show but had cancelled Ellen. And when I stop using a product I tend to forget it exists. It's been what? Several, several years since Ellen?
And now this; transgender myths personified on a show, a transgender person made into a villain and apparently needing to be hit to be made to stop all so a cisgendered, heterosexual white woman can feel safe/protected.
Am I saying 'It's ABC, don't expect any better'? Well, yes. Disney or no Disney - It's ABC don't expect any better. However, that doesn't mean 'don't protest' and 'don't contact them to tell them how full of fail they are'.
If there are links to such a thing, drop me a line please? I'm currently awash in Heath Ledger links and reviews for the original movie. My search engine fu is failing. And also, I think I want to get off the net. It's only been about an hour and a half and already 'THE FAIL IS STRONG TODAY' and I want out.
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My comment c/p-ed from here:
If there are feminists who dislike what the word feminist is coming to mean to so many - then they need to make themselves visible and loud and take back their word.
Feminists != man hating, humourless, ugly bulldykes with hairy legs to me.
It means = personality/psyche ugly, self involved, majority white women who from the very beginning threw intersectioned women to the curb in their fight to attain the power of the cis, het, white man.
You say womanism and imply a dead end without input from Audre Lourde. bell hooks (and more) and black feminism. And then say 'No! Use this term instead! This is how you should self identify!' (or that's how it's coming across).
I say you can self identify how you want and then come explain to me what you mean by that if I say 'Oh really' and arch an eyebrow. But to invoke the kiearchy as a reason for many women to shift from self-naming, self-identifying and community aligning autonomy, to say:
"But can't you see we're all women together."
Mirror echoes the ones who go "But what about The Sisterhood!" Only when they feel like it/ want to remember that more arms make less work - but only ever on a point of their choosing and once the job is done, they forget again.
Long story short? You're coming across very much like a feminist and all that word means to me.
Own the ugly in your movement and correct it before implying that any other path is not true social justice. Feminism is NOT the only game in town, no matter how many cries of 'Sisterhood!' get made.
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Consider this a PSA on the topic from me.
ETA: Also, I know straight up why some of my WoC friends are hard-core for social justice but embrace the term feminist. The name means power to them, the way the phrase 'social justice' means power to me - aka - self identification. Also, if someone even STARTS with bland weak tea - 'but feminism has done so much for: Women in the Congo, Women in Afghanistan, Women in the Middle East, Women In War Torn States, Women Right Now In Iran, The "Fight Against" The Burqua and Niquab, First Nations Women, Women With Disabilities, Women In Countries Dictated To By The IMF, Transwomen or anything along those lines? I WILL RIP YOU A NEW ASSHOLE. And then I will shove your head up in it.
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It's beginning to feel as if I should ban livejournal.com in my browser and have as exceptions individuals I like to read, or could read and possibly enjoy. The list of jackasses I've accumulated so far seems like it might slow the browser down.
In other news - Just read the whole 'fedex arrow' ism analogy by innerbrat@lj. Not linking. And it rubbed me the wrong way somehow. Not to the extent some of the people attempting to derail conversation in her comments have irked me. But I walk away from it feeling, somehow, that it's a very white pov. That there's privilege involved there, in the mention of 'moving on' and the mention of 'calling someone out on something has become an insult' - that reads far too much like 'playing a race/gender/trans' card and the whole 'calling someone a racist is the worse insult in the world/worse thing you can do' - which is often also equated with; calling someone a racist is worse than being racist.
Then again, maybe it has to do with the audience being written to, and that audience being white thus there's no need to focus on the hurt and accumulation of hurt and frustration that could lead to someone telling off in very blunt terms or lead someone to not wanting to have anything to do with a particular property, or its fans. Then again maybe the audience is also meant to be cissgendered and heterosexual -- I think perhaps I'm in a place to feel feminist issues vs gender equality issues (which could and likey in areas do intersect with trans issues), obscure things and shift focus. Or perhaps it was the inclusion of 'tone' and the whole process written about how to mollify individuals that their cluelessness isn't part of a larger symptom - ie, they're racist because they're raised in a racist society or they're misogynistic because they're raised in a misogynistic society.
But it irks me and seems off. And I'm not sure I'm not gonna flinch if someone comments on my journal about Fedex Arrows. Innerbrat got the analogy from Yukie1013@lj. And Yukie1013's point seems to be that once a thing is seen, it cannot be unseen and someone's ability to see these things, doesn't mean another person can't learn to see them and also doesn't mean they're seeing something that isn't there. Right now though, instinct is to flinch and sigh and roll my eyes.
Though it'll be far worse if they insist that I draw the outline of the shape for them - because that's handholding. I don't do handholding.
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outraged
pissed off