Author Topic: Cultural Appropriation Culture  (Read 922 times)

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Offline kimmy

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #75 on: May 12, 2018, 10:27:59 am »
There's a difference between imitation and mockery.

I think we can all agree on this much at least. 


But I don't think that really captures the extent of the ideology at work here.

This case made the news a few years ago, as the University of Ottawa students society cancelled a free yoga class for disabled students because of concerns over cultural appropriation.  The instructor was a white woman, giving free sessions to disabled students.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/university-ottawa-yoga-cultural-sensitivity-1.3330441

One of the interesting things about the article is that the students union guy acknowledged that they hadn't received any complaints, and when the reporter sought the opinion of the elderly Hindu couple that lead the Ottawa Hindu Temple, they thought it was great: "If you look at what the Western world has adapted it is just phenomenal. Imagine how much good they're doing for themselves. They'll live a long and very happy life."

The students union guy said that the class could return later if it was made "more accessible".  It did return the next semester... and apparently by "more accessible" what they meant was "with an Indian instructor".  And by "Indian" they meant a Calgary-born Canadian woman of Indian background:

Quote
"Nothing was brought to my attention to teach in a different way or do something differently than the other instructor because none of that was really mentioned to me," said Priya Shah, who became certified as an instructor in May.

"When I read [about it], I was kind of thinking 'Did they hire me because I'm Indian?… I was born in Calgary, I grew up in Canada but my background is Indian and I've been there once before. I was there for about five months.

"There are many people in my family who practise but I've never had the thought that since I'm Indian that I'm a better yoga teacher."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/free-yoga-class-returns-to-uottawa-student-centre-1.3417817



 -k
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Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #76 on: May 12, 2018, 10:38:14 am »
Again, there only has to be *so* much logic to these things. 

I think the University was on to something when they consulted with Indian people.  Orgs love to do this: defer to another body to provide advice.  They could easily do that, and come up with a process for dealing with these things so it doesn't have to be played out ... stupidly.

Also, does it matter if <50% of the racial group is insulted if >20% of white people with power ARE insulted by it ?
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Offline kimmy

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #77 on: May 12, 2018, 11:46:21 am »
Again, there only has to be *so* much logic to these things. 

I think the University was on to something when they consulted with Indian people.  Orgs love to do this: defer to another body to provide advice.  They could easily do that, and come up with a process for dealing with these things so it doesn't have to be played out ... stupidly.

While the reporter consulted with Indian people, it's not clear from the article that the students union people did.

Also, does it matter if <50% of the racial group is insulted if >20% of white people with power ARE insulted by it ?

So first off, in this instance I wouldn't necessarily assume that the U of Ottawa students council people are white.  Student politics seems to be more diverse than the population at large.

And the second thing is that I don't think that the people who made this decision because they were offended by it, I think they were most likely acting because of concerns that people might be.   The article does mention a Hindu group's campaign to "take back yoga" and references concerns that yoga is becoming "commercialized" by businesses that just want to sell apparel and accessories without any concern about yoga's cultural roots.  (That might be reasonable, but there's nothing commercial about a lady providing free sessions to help disabled people improve their physical wellness... and while Lulu Lemon might sell a lot of clothes to women who have jumped on the yoga bandwagon, I don't think that anything Lulu Lemon sells is remotely Indian in style.)

It seems like maybe the students union people were trying to be proactive and "do the right thing" before somebody came to them with complaints.  And that might be reasonable as well... but I think that maybe they overestimate how fragile people actually are.


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Offline ?Impact

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #78 on: May 12, 2018, 12:06:01 pm »
So first off, in this instance I wouldn't necessarily assume that the U of Ottawa students council people are white.  Student politics seems to be more diverse than the population at large.

The elected representatives of the Student Federation of University of Ottawa are:

Tristan Lamonica
Samantha Gauthier
Cori Trandafir
Gabi Ghannoum
Mathew Boulden
Philippe Garcia-Duchesne
Sheryhann Djellab
Tala Kreidieh
Caroline Lu
Michel Antoun
Yawen Chen
Emily Prieur
Sarah Mhidi
Soukaina Tamtaoui
Milly Pang
Ocean Ho
Arsalan Ahmed Khan
Ahmed Lamrani
Laura Bassett
Brandon Jones
Marissa Mills

 

Offline cybercoma

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #79 on: May 12, 2018, 06:53:46 pm »
Maybe you're right, but I would like to see every post where he blubbers about "liars" and "fake news" to have one right beside it pointing out what a fake and liar he is.
Remember when the old advice was to ignore the trolls. This is what that idea doesn't work en masse because there's always going to be someone to give them the attention that they want.

Offline Michael Hardner

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #80 on: May 12, 2018, 07:09:58 pm »
Remember when the old advice was to ignore the trolls. This is what that idea doesn't work en masse because there's always going to be someone to give them the attention that they want.

I don't know about that as advice... but it was policy.  Personally I feel like liars and trolls should be driven away by any means necessary, and I feel like ignoring them without addressing their poison allows them to proliferate.

"Ignore the rats and cockroaches"

If that sign was up in a restaurant I would probably give it a pass.

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #81 on: May 12, 2018, 10:18:54 pm »
The people who are elected and run student unions are filled with the dumbest and most insane people.  Student unions are absolutely insane.  Not all members, but many.

Making matters worse, students don't give a crap about voting for these things so they don't, the most popular students win because their friends & dorm peeps vote them in.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley

Offline ?Impact

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #82 on: May 13, 2018, 07:30:18 am »
The people who are elected and run student unions are filled with the dumbest and most insane people.

I know who ran and lost.
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Offline SirJohn

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #83 on: May 13, 2018, 11:56:41 am »
The people who are elected and run student unions are filled with the dumbest and most insane people.  Student unions are absolutely insane.  Not all members, but many.

Making matters worse, students don't give a crap about voting for these things so they don't, the most popular students win because their friends & dorm peeps vote them in.

And the people who run usually seem to be 'activists' from the far left filled with an earnest zeal to make the world a better place.

Just like Mao's Red Guards.
"When liberals insist that only fascists will defend borders then voters will hire fascists to do the job liberals won't do." David Frum

Offline kimmy

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #84 on: May 13, 2018, 12:36:56 pm »
I think that the large majority of students on campus just don't actually care about this kind of stuff. Most are there for their programs of study, not to be activists. I spent 1 year at the U of A and barely noticed when the students union elections happened... there was student activism, but none of it was of the outraged mob variety... and for the most part it was only a tiny minority of students involved in it at all. None of the students in my classes seemed to care in the slightest.

I strongly believe that the present notion of a campus full of student activists and triggered snowflakes and social justice warriors is a media creation, that this aspect of universities has been magnified vastly out of proportion to its real size.

 -k
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Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #85 on: May 13, 2018, 01:36:47 pm »
I know who ran and lost.

hahaha. i never ran.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #86 on: May 13, 2018, 01:43:36 pm »
I think that the large majority of students on campus just don't actually care about this kind of stuff. Most are there for their programs of study, not to be activists. I spent 1 year at the U of A and barely noticed when the students union elections happened... there was student activism, but none of it was of the outraged mob variety... and for the most part it was only a tiny minority of students involved in it at all. None of the students in my classes seemed to care in the slightest.

I strongly believe that the present notion of a campus full of student activists and triggered snowflakes and social justice warriors is a media creation, that this aspect of universities has been magnified vastly out of proportion to its real size.

 -k

I don't quite agree.  I was very politically engaged while studying, a lefty activist etc., but i didn't care much about my student union and never bothered to vote.  Not because i didn't like them but because i didn't care about student issues enough to vote, and didn't even know any difference between the candidates.

It's a lot easier to get PO'd at the POTUS and tweet about it.  People are familiar with those issues and the whole political process there.  I didn't have any idea how my university politics worked, by the time i even realized 20% of what was happening i'd graduated.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley

Offline Queefer Sutherland

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #87 on: May 13, 2018, 02:07:47 pm »
This case made the news a few years ago, as the University of Ottawa students society cancelled a free yoga class for disabled students because of concerns over cultural appropriation.  The instructor was a white woman, giving free sessions to disabled students.

Does this mean a white guy can't teach a brazillian jiu jitsu class, or karate?  Can a white person open up a taco joint?

Maybe we should bring back the cold war fully and hope for a nuclear holocaust so we all die because society has truly gone apesh!t nuts.  I just want a nice stretch and then go for some yummy tacos dammit.

Personally, i think the west is so highly economically developed that we don't have many problems to focus on any more, so we have to find such minor problems like these to "fix".  100 years ago we were still dying from diseases and wars and were busy farming everyday just to eat.  We were worried about surviving the winter, now we don't, we eat so much we're fat asses sitting around watching movies/TV shows about survival because that struggle is ingrained in our DNA.

Every new generation is coddled more than the previous, leading to the ever-increasing pussification of society.  The last generation that actually had to survive are the parents of boomers who grew up during the depression then went off to WWII.  I lived in my parents basement in adulthood playing videogames because i could, until i realized i had to grow up.  It's no wonder the p*ssy generations, especially young men babied by mommy & daddy, are eating up people like Jordan Peterson.  Their parents and society have failed them & turned them into mush.
"Nipples is one of the great minds of our time!" - Bubbermiley
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Offline kimmy

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #88 on: May 20, 2018, 10:04:15 pm »
I am going all-in on cultural appropriation this summer, as I'm going to be wearing Cuban linens to beat the heat.

 Fight me.

 -k
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Offline Omni

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Re: Cultural Appropriation Culture
« Reply #89 on: May 20, 2018, 10:06:59 pm »
I am going all-in on cultural appropriation this summer, as I'm going to be wearing Cuban linens to beat the heat.

 Fight me.

 -k

I had a Black man from Trinidad teach me karate for 3 years. I can fight too.