Vicariously Offended

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It's a tough line to draw, because even if they aren't the main profitees, the culture where the thing originated often still profited. e.g. AFAIK rock'n'roll getting popular with white americans was pretty good for black americans, even though many of the best selling artists (e.g. Elvis Presley) were white.

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also when it becomes an issue is influenced by how accurate it is, how overused it feels, and (obviously) if it was made with the intent to insult

Rentlar

I agree with you the main faux pas is trivializing things others hold sacred. Using costume to mock and make fun of any race or faith is different than wanting to embody it, which is where I think some cultural sensitivity policies sometimes mistakenly conflate. There is some nuance when it comes to historical and current power dynamics, certain costumes rooted in racism (e.g. blackface), which would be suitable justification to allow or bar certain specific costumes. However on the whole, I think ethnic cultures should be able to be expressed by anyone, when done in a positive, respectful manner.

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Although the Chinese on XHS are actually quite annoyed at the waiguoren invasion right now

My feed is mostly english speakers, but every post I saw to the effect of "gtfo this is a chinese space" was getting mocked by chinese people pointing out IP indicated it was posted from America.

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Lol, reminds me of one of the Mario games a while back - no idea what the context was, but Mario took on different personas, which I'm assuming gave him abilities specific to whatever 'form' he took kinda like Kirby.

Anywho, one of them was a Mexican theme, which made Mario don a sombrero and poncho. Lots of touchy white people on the internet were PISSED cuz how could Nintendo be so insensitive to the Mexican culture?!

...meanwhile, Mexican gamers were fucking ecstatic cuz HOLY SHIT MARIO'S WEARING A SOMBRERO! LET'S GOOOOOO!!!

Good times.

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Nah dude we're all 16/f/cali for reals

Captain Aggravated

I saw a The Onion video where a white woman pledged to never say a word that began with the letter N. Not only the N word, all N words.

"I was shouted down for wearing black facepaint and white lipstick, so why does Tom get to wear a kimono?"

ElectricMachman

Case in point: Mexicans loved Speedy Gonzalez.

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They aren't thongs unless they come from the Thong region of Australia, otherwise they are just sparkling flip-flops

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I mean I'm Bavarian and if people wear Lederhosen and set up their own Oktoberfest it's kinda lame. Not that I think it's bad, it's just that I'm not a fan of that stuff here either.
You can totally have all of that. I keep the many many small breweries making fantastic beer.

Owl

Ahh… The Onion, my favorite, most reliable, 100% not parodic news outlet

NONE

You know what? you're right.

Usually, to solve that, what I do is look at who did it and ask (the person directly or myself) why they did it.

A practical example: You know that new DC animated series? I think it's called Creature Commandos. I haven't seen it, but I hear it's very good. Mind you, if you have seen it, can you tell me if anything happens, anything at all, related to Venezuela?

What happens is that they used as intro a very famous and beloved Venezuelan song: "Moliendo Café" (grinding coffee). All the other Venezuelans I've seen have loved it, but I remain skeptical, because I can't help wondering: Did they chose that song because it's somehow related to what is told in the story? Because Gunn just wanted to? Or because it sounded "very Latin" and different enough from the Mexican songs they always reuse? If it's the first, great; if it's the second, no problem; but the third...?

And the thing is, if I happen to come across the Youtube channel of some Swiss guy doing a electric guitar cover of "Moliendo Café", I wouldn't even go to his comments and yell "Cultural Appropriation!", because he's just an individual and what he does is harmless (and pretty neat). But a big company like Warner/Discovery...?

Unless the main people responsible are from or have roots in the country where the cultural expression comes from, it can't be anything but exploitation and, of course, cultural appropriation.

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This is just completely tone-deaf bullshit. Equating modern working conditions (in western countries) to slavery is like comparing a contemporary Scandinavian prison to Auschwitz. It's by very far not the same.

Captain Aggravated

Yes, The Onion is satire, but we're talking about the idea The Onion was satirizing.

ඞmir

"whites"

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Thanks for explaining. I never understood the American outrage about cultural appropriation but it's just about respecting sacred symbols from other cultures? Sounds about right, please feel free to dress as a Frenchman with beret and baguette as long as you respect our no-tipping policy.

Next item to discover on my list: why are Americans so upset about "black face". And that's what I witnessed in Sevilla (Spain) recently which did not seem racist to me at all: https://cnnespanol.cnn.com/2023/01/05/polemica-espana-blackface-reyes-magos-trax/

VindictiveJudge

Probably because he always outwits his opponents and always wins. He's not any more crazy than the other Looney Tunes, he's as smart as Bugs, and unlike Bugs, he's never cruel and remains firmly heroic.

ElectricMachman

That's the crux. He's a Mexican stereotype, but at the time, it was rare to have a good guy who looked like that.

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Next item to discover on my list: why are Americans so upset about "black face".

That's because of minstrel shows. They were American comedy acts where actors would paint their faces black and act out racist stereotypes. The premise was "look at me! I'm a black person!" and then they'd do something stupid and everyone would laugh. Note that black people were slaves at the time. When slavery was (mostly) abolished after the civil war, the shows and makeup became symbols of racism.

It's kind of like how a swastika in a Buddhist temple is fine but a swastika tattoo on a white American isn't. The swastika doesn't have to be racist symbol, but there are few places you could display one without it being interpreted as a racist symbol.

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Whats your ICQ?