I’ve been thinking about identity politics a lot these days, and perhaps in denial about how much it actually affects me. In a common struggle for representation for example, I am very aware of how necessary it is to highlight particular identities, because each groups has different needs. This is why multiculturalism didn’t exactly work in the early 2000s, because cultures couldn’t just “play nice” with one another, united in a shared struggle for representation.
But that’s not the layer of identity politics I’m referring to, that’s really only the surface. I’m thinking about what is at play when it comes to gatekeeping, safeguarding one’s culture.
Recently, in consulting job postings for academic positions, I’ve been observing an interesting pattern in which many schools call for francophone specialists of Africa or the Caribbean, without explicitly including Asia, as if France didn’t colonize Vietnam for almost a hundred years. At first put off because this precisely what I work on, I started to wonder about the ulterior motives of search committees, my suspicious nature fueled by years and years of being on the lookout for myself in this line of work. Then someone I know tells me others find his work unviable because he is not studying the culture of his own kind, but that of another oppressed people. I found this to be unfair and discriminatory, especially coming from a white professor who is basically saying you need to study your own culture. Here in this example, people are calling out identity politics as if it’s a bad thing. A later, unrelated moment, I think about how defensive I get when I see “Vietnamese” on food networks and magazines, simply because they add peanuts or fish sauce to their dish. I think if they’re going to do it, they should do it right.
And then I pause to wonder: have we taken it too far, this politics of identity? How contradictory it is for me to be upset about job postings who disguise their need to hire Black candidates through the language of “diversity” which they mean to exclude an Asian like me, or to find the professor’s observations discriminatory when I hold on so dearly to what I know of my culture, and feel so protective of it that I don’t want others, especially those from an historically oppressive community to label or title my food in a certain way? Is that hypocritical?
But maybe there isn’t a wholesale version of identity politics that we can just pocket and use to our advantage. Maybe my protection of my culture and my memory of it is different from a White man’s perspective of how he sees identity politics evolving, because it is likely threatening for him. Or maybe they are related - why do I feel possessive and protective, if not an inheritance of colonial trauma? Perhaps gatekeeping isn’t fair if it’s a way for me to justify and claim the Truth of my very flawed, subjective memories of a certain culture, and perhaps we don’t go anywhere by holding on to the past. And yet it’s hard to let go when that is the only thing you can claim as your own in this world.
ppl are so interested in aliens but how would they expect to learn about cultures from different planets/solar systems if they can’t even accept different cultures on ya own damn planet from your own damn species
Michael Kiwanuka makes for such great brainstorming music.
In 2021-22, I’d like to write about a social climbing, sociopathic Chinese gatsby at the turn of mid 2000s Shanghai. Glittering, glamorous, and insidiously dark and satiric.
I’d also like to write a short novella about an Indian father and son who lives deep in the Appalachian mountains who struggles with alcoholism. A self-contained Desi world/existence cut against the isolation and wild nature of the region. It’ll also be about a brand, a mixture of self-imposed “all-American” and Sikh stoic masculinity, almost like a Clint Eastwood movie.
I’d like to return to the very first novel I basically finished when I was 16, about a Chinese girl and her tenuous friendship with a Japanese-American high school all star who fell between the cracks of appearing whitewashed and the self-identification with rap and hip hop in the 90s. Set in Tucson, Arizona, there is also a strong Hispanic/voodoo/Catholic influence (I was obsessed with Brandon Flowers and Calexico that year).
I’d like to start and finish a psychological horror/thriller novella about a sugar baby who works night shifts as a nurse, in a self-deceiving relationship with an abusive, emotionally unavailable man (”Red”). She receives a patient, a teenage boy who has been muted in a knife fight one day, and begins to confuse the two people together in a blur, as her past begins to catch up to her … Set in modern day Vancouver.
I’d like to finish the project I have right now. I’d really like to finish it – expand it out as far as it can go – then trim the fat. I’d like to see it to its closing credits, a cinematic sweep of an old Jeep cutting a needle thin line through arid land, the old growth forests on Vancouver Island, the silent statues on a rainy day in the MoA, the shade of a symmetrical garden in paradise, a blue heritage Georgian house with twin cherry trees …
My mom Victoria Taft and Beach Love !! I miss her everyday! She did Modeling and some small roles as an actress before me!!
“Victoria Taft’s acting scenes, modeling photos, resume, casting sheet, and film industry tribute video. One resume shows she was involved in over 20 movies, television shows, and plays. However, she mostly socialized in the LA scene with Michelle Diamond, Lori Mattix, and Pamela Bryant, for example.”
Although we’re different and it’s a different era, I don’t think the apple falls far from the tree in interests. I’m so happy to be close to La Jolla Shores. It’s so wonderful to be in the cultures she grew up in!! Mostly I only heard of 2nd hand anecdotes or context.
I actually grew up mostly with just her around for a good amount of my life! </3 Almost if like an isolated island like ‘paradise island’ lol.
Muixeranga is a Valencian tradition where a group dances to build a human tower, to the sound of traditional music specific to this dance. It’s done in religious processions and popular festivities.
It has a common origin with other human tower traditions from the rest of the Catalan Countries, such as castellers,moixigangaandball de valencians from Catalonia.
So in the story I am writing, hair is worn in different styles to indicate life paths chosen by the wearer, (for instance Magi have dreads, Elders have long braids, Monks cover there hair in a colored pomade). It is inspired from different regions in Africa, with different hairstyles pulled from different traditions. The royal families in this world are gifted with a magic that was gifted to them from the Gods of the world, and who in the family is the next to inherit the throne is decided through who inherits that particular kingdoms royal hair color instead of birth order. My question is, since all of my characters are black, and the hair colors associated with the royal family line are mostly common European hair colors, does making that the signifier for being a ruler come off as sort of eugenics -y or like black people with “white” features are better then other black people?
My reasoning behind making it this way
The hair colors reflect the biomes and/or elements of the kingdom’s they rule- for instance the main character has bright copper hair, because the land she rules is a bogland with an extremely high iron content that causes all the water to be a bright copper.
I want it to be a celebration of hair diversity and show that “exotic” hairstyles worn by black people aren’t dirty and are a real thing to be proud of and to bond over, and I would hate to undermine that by still putting “white” hair colors over others.
I’m mixed race, and I’ve always worn my hair natural, and I was raised in a white family in America so I don’t trust my own perceptions here and would really appreciate WWC input! Thank you all for all the hard work you do!!
Since you have magic in your world, I assume it’s some kind of fantasy story. Given that fact : you can do anything. Literally, you make the rules of your world. If one should have green hair since they’re from a region with a lot of rainforests or something like that, you can do it ! I don’t see a problem with the hair colors as long as the hairstyles for afro hair stay true to what that type of hair can do. Actually, it would be pretty cool to read different types of hair braiding in various colors. You have the opportunity to write a pretty cool story using African traditions and putting a little bit of magic into it. It makes me think of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi : one of the characters is a Black dark skin girl with white hair. Your story, your rules !
Just make sure to praise everyone’s features, may they have fancy hair colors or normal ones. Uplift how they showcase their culture through clothes, make-up, hairstyles etc.
Last thing : “white” hair colors are not a thing, Black people can have any type of hair color, including bright copper. We’ve seen it a few times in the Caribbean. It’s rare, but it exists !
Good luck for your story, I’m sure you can achieve a really good world building by letting your creativity free.
- Mod Lydie
I want it to be a celebration of hair diversity and show that “exotic” hairstyles worn by black people aren’t dirty and are a real thing to be proud of and to bond over, and I would hate to undermine that by still putting “white” hair colors over others.
I would recommend making sure some of those royal hair colors are dark. So, shades of black and brown. Otherwise, you would not be doing anyone favors in terms of normalizing African hairstyles. Not really. There’s something to be said if only light and unique hair colors are associated with the royal family.
Presenting “unique African hairstyles” but adding the twist of their hair by making it a more colorful or exotic color reads as you making them more palatable for the consumer. In the same way creators will put a light or mixed race Black person in a role over a dark-skinned person, or give them light colored features (eyes, hair, etc) to make them special. This happens with other BIPOC as well. Read into the “green-eyed Asian” trope.
Black people can just be Black without unique eye and hair colors. Black people are still deserving of representation without a “cool” feature to make them more appealing or beautiful. If you’re using a gateway to ease people into accepting them, then you’re not exactly normalizing it.
Consider the unique shades in black and brown
There’s all sorts of tints and undertones to consider.
From blacks with red or blue undertones, gray blacks, and all the shades even within those categories. Perhaps there’s a certain tint the “Chosen one” should match the most, like the wings of a special bird, the eye color of an honored creature, a natural formation, body of water, etc.
Cultural blending
Mixing and blending different cultures without respect is also not helpful in terms of attempting to represent and show culture through a fantasy lens. For example, having a region that’s Fantasy Nigeria (West Africa) but their hair has traditions from Eritrea (East Africa) “just because” reads to me as homogenizing, as if they’re interchangeable and there’s no history, cultural or regional considerations to these styles, which there would be.
There may be overlap and similar styles worn across the continent, but blending them at random is questionable to me. If there’s cultural sharing, you may want to show that’s what is happening.
The more you take from these countries and give them a recognizable fantasy representative, the more you’ll have to be mindful with the liberties you take. Sometimes, the line between creative liberties and misrepresentation is thin. Yes, it’s a fantasy and you can technically do as you please. But there’s still a real audience reading your book. You’ll want to be respectful to the actual people who live in those places.
Narrow your focus
Your goal is to normalize African hairstyles. That’s a whole lot of ground to cover, as the continent is vast with so many cultures within. I’d recommend narrowing your focus onto a few regions, while only touching lightly in other areas. At least until you feel like you can handle such a large undertaking of representation
Check your motives and get feedback
You mention being mixed race but I’m not sure if that includes being in the African Diaspora.
Please determine if this is an undertaking you’re equipped and willing to take on. Making it your job to normalize African cultures, as a non-Black person, is not something all will welcome, so do expect some pushback depending on your reader, especially if they find depictions disrespectful. There’s the risk of Savior and exotification attitudes easing in, if you’re not careful. Criticism can be useful feedback, so keep an open mind.
Listen to beta readers from the groups is going to be a good idea. Showing them your intended ideas will give you the best feedback vs. any assumptions I can make about your story.
why are british people always so mad when people make jokes about their accents. sorry you say yewchube. it’s funny though innit
This is something I’ve been dying to talk about.
There’s something called culture. People (especially USAmericans) think of culture as cultural dress, cultural food, cultural music. These are culture, but they are only the very superficial aspects of it. Like the icing on your cake. Far more deep rooted is the more meaty bits of culture: the attitudes, the ideas, the taboos.
There’s a guy on tiktok who has done a series that shows this very well, of Germans Vs Irish. In one video the German offers the Irish person two kinds of tea, green or black. The Irish person keeps putting off the choice with things like “Oh sure whatever is easiest”, “Which have you more of?” and, “Ah sure I don’t want to cause a fuss” whereas the German just wants a straight answer. This is a cultural difference of politeness.
Here in the UK, accents mark your class very openly. They let everyone know where you’re from (though this has become less pronounced in the last 50 years,) and what your background is. A lot of people (especially northerners, but also a fair contingent of working class southerners) face discrimination on the basis of their accents.
Some of us (myself included) even change register (though I believe USAmericans call it code switching) in and out of our regional accent and a close approximation of RP. We learn to do it because it makes us seem more intelligent (even though it shouldn’t) and helps us be taken more seriously.
Thus, our country carries a lot of baggage when it comes to accents. Especially those of the working class who have had their accents made fun of, or have faced discrimination based on it.
So when someone outside the country (usually USAmericans) makes fun of our accents they’re stepping on a lot of cultural taboos and boundaries. Especially because the “It’s Chewsday, gonnae wot-ch sum yewchube innit” is a working class accent.
Now, that’s not to say we can’t take a joke, but this is the kind of joke you share with someone who you have been friends with for a while. My boyfriend often will pick up on the way I say certain words, in much the same fashion I pick up on his idiosyncrasies of speech (English isn’t his first language so he says stuff like close the lights, which is adorable.) If we aren’t predisposed to liking you, then the joke you’re trying to make is more like an insult.
The way I like to think of it is if you were in a pub, and made those sorts of jokes to someone. If they knew you, and they liked you, they’d probably laugh along. If they didn’t like you or know you, they would punch you in the jaw.
HOWEVER: I recognise this post as a joke. I don’t personally find these jokes offensive, but then no one really makes fun of me or considers me stupid because of my accent.
Oh that actually makes a lot of sense! It’s like how it’s assumed in media that the southeastern Appalachian (‘hick’ or ‘redneck’) accent is audible shorthand for ‘this American character is stupid.’ That sentiment reinforces negative stereotypes about that region which has historically been home to a large working class population that has suffered from an underfunded education system and other systematic abuses. It is ultimately an underhanded joke, but not everyone from America (or even the region necessarily) considers it to be offensive despite its classist nature.
yes, that’s basically it! it grinds my gears when certain Very Online Americans will quite rightly say that europeans have no right to mock the us’ lack of healthcare/gun control and working-class accents…but then turn around and act like working-class british accents and foods are hilarious and should be mocked ‘bc of colonialism and the bp oil spill’ as though all british people are directly responsible for the oil spill. and then some of them conveniently forget that there are in fact british people of colour - in the wake of brexit, a smug american blog defended saying that british people upset by the referendum were getting ‘karma’ for the british empire, even when british poc pointed out that they were the ones most likely to be negatively affected by brexit, by saying ‘obviously i don’t mean you’, to which said british poc responded ‘THEN WHY DID YOU SAY BRITISH PEOPLE’
The hatred, by the privileged of England, towards Scotland and any Scottish accent was so pervasive that my mother wouldn’t let my brother and I develop a Scottish accent. She was born in Jamaica but her family moved to London when she was 11. She moved to Scotland when she was pregnant with me. Both my brother and I were born in Scotland and spent out entire childhood there. Mum was adamant that neither of us would have the local accent. It was “common” and “low class” and “would hinder us in the future”. She used to fine us half our pocket money if we used any Scottish slang or said anything in a Scottish accent. I got bullied at school for having a “posh English accent” but she thought my job prospects were more important than a modicum of happiness at school. My outsider status was doubled by that. I was brown and “English”.
Even now, after decades in Scotland, I still don’t sound Scottish. The English hear a slight lilt but that disappears as soon as I spend any time with them.
I feel alienated on two fronts now, skin colour and accent. And one of those was avoidable if it hadn’t been for the prejudice against against perceived lower class accents. Even in Jamaica Mum learnt to speak in an English accent like the white girls at her school. She could switch between the two. Jamaican with her parents, posh English everywhere else. Why couldn’t I have had that?
The fact that a lot of regional actors are expected to code-switch their accent patterns the a kind of neutral English accent in Britain shows how pervasive the classism is.
When Christopher Eccleston was cast as the Doctor in Doctor Who, people were surprised that he used his own northern accent, instead of performing with an accent like every Doctor before him. That was only 15-ish years ago.
Regional and working class accents were used as joke accents for decades in British media. Look up old broadcasts and notice how many people only speak RP English (ie. the formal pronunciation that smacks of elocution lessons and enunciation). As media accessibility and productions expanded, there have been more regional accents showing up, but it’s still a big problem.
Putsimply when you mock “innit” you’re mocking poor people and often people of colour. Boris Johnson doesn’t say “innit bruv”.
