fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2486 ]

[ SECRET POST #2486 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2486 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 024 secrets from Secret Submission Post #355.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Almost all of the complaints I've seen about cultural appropriation (both on tumblr and the various JL-type sites) were obviously made by people who had no idea what cultural appropriation actually was.

They seem to think it's "white person interested in a non-white culture". Or worse "American interested in a white European culture" (somebody seriously said Brave was cultural appropriation)

Is it cultural appropriation when a Japanese show uses Christian symbolism out of context in nonsensical ways?

No, because Japanese are oppressed minorities. Even in a country that is 95% Japanese, they are always oppressed minorities.

That always makes me cringe. Especially since there's that brownface trend in Japan where they paint their faces brown and wear Hawaiian style flowers in their hair.

Far as I knew, that was based on the 'beach blonde' ideal?

super 'tanned' with blonde/light hair and insane makeup?

Still freaky as fuck if you ask me!

((Also MH icon for MH thread. Woot woot!))

Also Also: I'm not part Yeti, will I get in trouble for cosplaying Abbey? (in my icon)

Have Christian/European people been systematically oppressed by Japanese people? Nope... the converse isn't as true however.

I'm not sure I get the relevance of that. Privileges should be given as DIRECT compensation (for instance, people in wheelchairs get help getting on the bus because they need help getting on the bus.) Allowing people who haven't oppressed other people to appropriate, while not allowing people who have oppressed other people to appropriate, is a direct compensation only if you assume that those allowed to appropriate somehow need to do so (for instance, to patch up holes left by the systematic annihilation of their original culture.) I don't think that applies in this case, so I don't see why you'd allow the Japanese to appropriate if you didn't allow Europeans to appropriate.

What? I don't know what country you're from, but I'm from the West and have spent a lot of time travelling in non-Western countries, including Japan. Appropriation of Western culture is rife and I fail utterly to see that this is in any way a harmful thing in and of itself. Whereas Western appropriation in the form of Orientalism and the like can actually be pretty harmful. Japanese people are generally pretty well placed today in the West, but it's not so happy for indigenous peoples or others experiencing racism and disenfranchisement in the West who have had parts of their culture used in disrespectful or racist or income-diverting ways.

...are you arguing that it's not harmful? I'm not really interested in reiterating the cliff notes about that.

I don't see any outright harm in, say, an American video game that pillages Japanese mythology while getting all the details wrong. I think it's STUPID, but I don't see the harm. (Then again, it sounds like what you're talking about as "appropriation" might be things like portraying an existing religion as evil demon worship, which is a hell of a lot worse than just plain getting things wrong. Then again again, I've never complained about those Japanese video games where you kill the Christian god, even though Christians are oppressed in Japan.)

I didn't realise there were Christians who were oppressed in Japan D: Mea culpa.

Er... there is a not-insiginificant number of practicing Christians living in Japan, most of whom are ethnically Japanese, and depending on what part of the country you're visiting and who you're talking to, treatment of people practicing the religion can get pretty shitty. And this isn't new, persecution of Japanese Christians has been going on since Japan first encountered the religion through Portugese traders in the 16th century. For most of the Shogunate era, it was outright banned. So... yeah, Christianity has been systematically oppressed in Japan.

I don't think I'd call Evengelion's use of Christian imagery stripped of all meaning and context cultural appropriation, but I wouldn't exactly call it okay, either.

I had no idea. I just saw Japanese people using several different religions to mark different important aspects of their lives. I get what you're saying, and obviously have to educate myself further.

During the Tokugawa era yes... it was illegal to be Christian until the Meiji restoration, Japanese Christians were heavily persecuted, and almost wiped out though a small underground group remained.

lmao, did you know that christians were fucking killed for hundreds of years in Japan? there were even a group of them boiled alive for nothing more than being christian, not to mention several other sites where christian martyrs were killed are historic landmarks. p sure they were oppressed there, js. Granted, nowadays they aren't (and religion is... very very different in Japan than it is in the West as it is anyway, I really need to refind that one article that discusses it in depth one of these days askjfhsdfk), but that doesn't mean Japan never oppressed Christians.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2486 ]

no subject

To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .

Re: To see if I'm understanding what cultural appropriation actually is . . .