If Mort Divine ruled the world

[Onder]

I need to forward all this shit to my gf, she does all those weird positions like dog looking up to the sky she needs to know about white supremacy. I will blast Hate Forest during her shavasana.

 

[Einherjar86]

But Onder's right that it still is Breibart, and Breitbart published that article with a very specific purpose in mind: to infuriate its readers that the liberal elite is once again claiming white hegemony and colonialism and trying to outlaw something as innocuous as yoga.

These kinds of academic arguments aren't calls for the removal or prohibition of certain activities (in this case yoga). They might provoke disagreement and eye rolls, but they're not calls to arms. Despite the lack of any specific language, Breitbart is being slightly disingenuous in that its publishers know full well what their readers' reactions will be, and those reactions will be mostly incommensurate with the purpose of the academic argument. The original authors aren't asking people to stop doing yoga, just the opposite in fact:

To the so many white people who practice yoga, please don’t stop

The point of academic arguments like this is to contribute to discourse and knowledge, and that means necessitates the publication of pieces that we don't agree with and that deserve critique. Breitbart is capitalizing on its readers' fury over these kinds of arguments, and stoking the belief that liberal elites are trying to thought-police the West. But nothing in the original piece encourages legislation or anything even remotely as vitriolic as some pieces we find on Salon. It's merely asking people to reflect on something they probably don't think about very much.

But let's be honest, the vast majority of white Americans who practice yoga probably won't ever hear about this piece; and I kinda doubt that many of Breitbart's readers practice yoga. But that's me being presumptuous.

 

[CiG]

But Onder's right that it still is Breibart, and Breitbart published that article with a very specific purpose in mind: to infuriate its readers that the liberal elite is once again claiming white hegemony and colonialism and trying to outlaw something as innocuous as yoga.

The media do almost nothing other than produce vapid outrage news and articles that give its audience a fake feeling of superiority.

For example, FOX just gave us this gem: Woman denied emotional support peacock on United flight, which plays into the idea that there is an over sensitive problem and it's on the left (which gives the right a feeling of being stoic and tough when actually they're just as PC and snowflakey as the left).

Then today Facebook was trending articles about how Donald Trump has done another typo: Donald Trump: Typo on tickets invites people to 'State of the Uniom'.

Pointless drivel, no better or worse than an academic or two spurting out articles about whites doing yoga.

But let's be honest, the vast majority of white Americans who practice yoga probably won't ever hear about this piece; and I kinda doubt that many of Breitbart's readers practice yoga. But that's me being presumptuous.

Agreed.

 

[Dak]

It's merely asking people to reflect on something they probably don't think about very much.

Because the Lululemon and smoothie crowd thinks the Swedes invented Yoga? I'm not sure who is "enlightened" by such pieces.

But let's be honest, the vast majority of white Americans who practice yoga probably won't ever hear about this piece; and I kinda doubt that many of Breitbart's readers practice yoga. But that's me being presumptuous.

This is the irony in the whole thing. But on the other hand, it just gets added to the ever growing list of racist/problematic/etc things.

 

[Einherjar86]

Because the Lululemon and smoothie crowd thinks the Swedes invented Yoga? I'm not sure who is "enlightened" by such pieces.

Well, I am for one, but it has nothing to do with who started yoga. I'm also interested in research on the cultural fascination and dissemination of rap music among white middle-class Americans, but that's not because I'm unaware that rap emerged within poor black urban neighborhoods.

Shreena Gandhi's dissertation is actually on the history of yoga's dissemination in America, to whom it was marketed and by whom it was embraced, which goes back to American Transcendentalism in the nineteenth century. I never knew that...

 

[Dak]

Well, I am for one, but it has nothing to do with who started yoga. I'm also interested in research on the cultural fascination and dissemination of rap music among white middle-class Americans, but that's not because I'm unaware that rap emerged within poor black urban neighborhoods.

Well I think Sowell would claim there's a bit of reciprocal nature to this exchange, mediated by many decades, via his arguments about the roots of African American culture origins in Black Rednecks and White Liberals.

Shreena Gandhi's dissertation is actually on the history of yoga's dissemination in America, to whom it was marketed and by whom it was embraced, which goes back to American Transcendentalism in the nineteenth century. I never knew that...

That is slightly surprising, and of course cultural contact of the times was colonial in nature. But the sincerest form of flattery is imitation.

 

[rms]

http://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/nys-inmates-to-get-free-tablets/513254291

jeeeez

 

[Einherjar86]

But the sincerest form of flattery is imitation.

Haha, oh right.

 

[CiG]

I think one of the deep ironies of the whole anti-"cultural appropriation" thing is how anti-universalist it is. They're actually doing the job for the monocultural right-wing types who want to expunge all foreign cultures from the west by forcing whites to only express themselves via the dominant culture of wherever they happen to live.

This is exactly why people call them regressives, they just revivify old ways of thinking that we've been trying to do away with for decades. Modern so-called "anti-racism" is another example in the way it opposes racism by thinking about anything and everything racially.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Related to the Hennessy tickets thing I mentioned earlier:

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/...on-Locked-Hair-Products-Racism-471317424.html

 

[Einherjar86]

I think one of the deep ironies of the whole anti-"cultural appropriation" thing is how anti-universalist it is. They're actually doing the job for the monocultural right-wing types who want to expunge all foreign cultures from the west by forcing whites to only express themselves via the dominant culture of wherever they happen to live.

Even admitting this point, the problem is that permitting whites to dress up as Native Americans or whatnot doesn't let them somehow circumvent the expression of dominant culture. Ethnic costumes are never (okay, rarely--extremely rarely) historically accurate renderings of ethnic garb or traditions. They're reductive impressions drawn from earlier Western representations. For example, Native American costumes are based on the costumes in old Western films and political cartoons, which are themselves championing the practice of westward expansion and colonial displacement. They're images that we don't associate with actual Native practices or appearances, but with the popular images we've been greeted with on the silver screen, very few of which are culturally redeemable.

So when white people wear such costumes, they're not circumventing any association they might have with cultural dominance; they're reinforcing said dominance by donning the paraphernalia that have also contributed to that dominance.

It's been well-researched that part of occupation, as it's happened historically, is the reduction of subaltern peoples to images: of fear, of mockery, of pity, even of lust (hence all the scantily clad women dressed as Native Americans). When this happens, such images circulate among the colonial civilization as representations of the people they've displaced. This circulation gradually gives way to automatic impressions of said subaltern peoples which, lo and behold, turn into costumes. It's all about how this:

turns into this:

 

[CiG]

Native American costumes are one of the worst examples though, not all claims of "cultural appropriation" are of things so cartoonish and so blatantly a misrepresentation of the people who belong to the culture apparently being appropriated.

 

[Dak]

So basically Disney is a terrible corporation. I can get behind that.

 

[Einherjar86]

Native American costumes are one of the worst examples though, not all claims of "cultural appropriation" are of things so cartoonish and so blatantly a misrepresentation of the people who belong to the culture apparently being appropriated.

So basically Disney is a terrible corporation. I can get behind that.

I actually agree with both of these comments.

 

[CiG]

I think most people can agree that pop culture (informed by actually a pretty negative history) has not been very kind to Native Americans, to say the least and you don't even have to agree that "cultural appropriation" is a big deal to realise that.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Nobody’s Victim: An Interview with Samantha Geimer

I was not taught that sex is damaging or that it would diminish me. I understood that far worse things happen to people all the time. I was taught to be strong and confident, to be a survivor and to realize that those who would victimize me were the ones who were weak. Bad things happen in life. We must deal with what comes our way and not just roll over and die.

...

[Rape] is the only crime in which victims are discouraged from being okay. If you are beaten up or your house gets robbed, that can also be traumatic, but at least no-one says you must never get over this or you will insult other victims. I think it is sexist and a way of reinforcing negative sexual stereotypes about women and sex.

 

[CiG]

Feminism (specifically 2nd wave) fought against paternalistic views about women, being too fragile to truly experience the world. Pretty sad how contemporary mainstream feminism has simply repackaged Mary Whitehouse and sold it as self-empowerment.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Gallery removes naked nymphs painting to 'prompt conversation'

If you're feeling extra activisty you can sign this to try and get it back on the wall.

 

[CiG]

Philistinism.

 

[Einherjar86]

Seriously, philistinism? If the decision was about censorship, then they wouldn't be asking for audience feedback; they'd be suppressing all reference to the work.

I see nothing wrong with this because I don't think museums are passive institutions. I know this may not be a popular opinion here, but part of aesthetic discourse has to do with issues of exhibition and presentation. The best works of visual art (in my opinion) challenge the parameters of the museum. This is inevitably modern art, since art prior to the nineteenth century was never intended for exhibition; it was paid for by private patrons.

Those genuinely interested in the work as a piece of art will be drawn to the discussion. Those interested in it purely for its craftsmanship and as a piece of visual stimulation can search for it on Google. If anything, this is an attempt by a museum to extend intellectual discussion beyond the boundaries of the university. Good for them.