colourism & cultural appropriation Flashcards
colorblindness
“tennis can’t be racist” look at Serena Williams
* take people who are good at sports (Serena) and they say tennis can’t be racist if she’s playing
“I don’t see race”
* ignoring racial differences
* use to deflect conversations
colour-blindness: total avoidance of race consciousness
to not see colour is to also not see the consequence of color
are we Color-blind or Color-mute?
Amna Al-Haddad
- represented at UAE at the Rio Olympics
- Nike athlete who helped them create the sports hijab
Nike treated her like everyone else until she asked for one
* they missed an opportunity by being colorblind
colourism
Alice Walker - 1st term 1983: “In Search of Our Mothers Gardens”
Global phenomenon distinct from racism
proven correlations of skin color and life outcomes for
* levels of income
* education
* occupational status
* wealth
* marital prospects
* mental and physical health
interpretations of colour often intersect with class assumptions
skin lightening creams are an example of institutionalized racism
process of discrimination within your race not between races
Dark people historically worked outside
people lighten their skin bc paleness is seen as the pinnacle of beauty
Paper Bag Test
Under Jim Crow
* if people were darker than the bag at the door, they weren’t allowed in
- some would paint the door a paper bag colour
paper bag test becomes a caste system
* you can’t change skin tone
* different from racism because you can still get a job and make money
* this is different because it completely limits access
criticisms of Hollywood for colorism
social media: intersectionality asks us to ask which black women get more successful in that space
Why do people hire white actors and make them look Black instead of just hiring a Black actor
how are Black actors represented in movies?
colorism in Sports
Latino players could play in either the MLB or Negro Leagues
Darker-skinned NCAA basketball players received more comments about their athleticism and fewer comments about their intelligence
Darker skinned ballet dancers face extra difficulties finding a place at ballet companies
technology and colourism
color film was designed in 1935 for white skin
* not adjusted to see dark skin
digital photography still has a bias towards light skin tones
post-production tends to lighten or dull darkened skin
tanning
historically: being pale was the beauty standard
- tanned skin has typically been stigmatized
1880-1920s: Americans start working in factories
* paleness became a symbol of sickness because these people were always inside
* wealthy people could go away to sun to relax
sun-kissed face and bronzed body:
* symbolized a lifestyle of affluence, recreation, and vacations to the seashore
* recreational swimming gained popularity
tan = represents leisure
cultural appropriation
taking, marketing, and exotification of cultural practices from hisotrically oppressed populations
- taking of something from one culture by a more powerful group for their advantage
the taking of something valuable that belongs to others, usually who are/have been the victim or social marginalization
inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, of people by members of society who are more dominant
erasing origin of where a custom came from
examples of cultural appropriation
Wearing traditionally black hairstyles
* Dreadlocks were
used in enslavement to show maps on how to escape
* symbol of Black rebellion
* content appropriation
use of “spirit animals”
* Indigenous culture was illegal, now we are using their culture to be funny
* erased indigeneity from it
* subject appropriation
war paint
* red paint has connection with Indigenous culture
* “savagery”
* can wear the costume and not having to deal with the effects of that culture
* content appropriation
Katy Perry
* wearing kimono
* she could have hired Japanese people
* no representation of real Asia, so this becomes the dominant representation in America
Black Face
cultural offense, not cultural appropriation
- appropriation is taking something relevant to a culture
Minstrel shows
* white people would behave like Black people as comedy
* this is where Black face comes from
* white people created this so its not appropriation, it is just humiliating
cultural offence vs Misrecognition
cultural offence
* insulting or humiliating acts/statements
* most cultural appropriation will cause cultural offence
* not all cultrual offence is cultrual appropriation
ex: blackface is culturally offensive but not necessarily an appropriation of culture
cultural misrepresentation: the simplification of cultures into stereotypical snapshots
using the word Finna
comes from African American english
important for Black communities because it was used for them to have something of their own
media uses it to be cool
* internet culture: white washing
Whites growing up in around Black culture
Lilly Singh took their culture to make money off it
* using their culture for capital gain
* makes it harder for Black people to get into the industry if you’re taking a spot within their culture
content appropriation: language
3 types of cultural appropriation
subject appropriation:
* taking of characters or stories from another culture (commonly done by Disney - Aladdin)
Object appropriation:
* taking of physical cultural objects
Content appropriation:
* taking of reusable or non-exhaustible content
* style, dress, music
