Actress Loan Tran speaks up for the first time after leaving social media because of the online hate she recieved in this piece she wrote for New York Times.
hello i just want to say that i understand the thought process behind “wlw cant fetishize women” and i understand where this comes from but also its still relevant to the conversation to talk about how white wlw sexualize woc. i saw a post claiming that bringing this up is derailing and that “ppl know what we mean” but i really dont think it is!
white wlw need to be aware of how they view woc. they need to be conscious of this sexualization. conscious of how they speak about our bodies. conscious of how they touch us. conscious of their expectations on our sexuality and wants and desires. white women have a long history of violence! yall contribute to our fetishization and abuse!! its relevant to the conversation and it may be uncomfortable to acknowledge but it needs to be said and heard.
a woman viewing another woman sexually is not inherently dehumanizing, but you still need to take into consideration the way race plays into it.
Be a shame for something this epic not to become a real event in history.
PS Hey, go big or go home right? I just used Fox News to help me know which celebrities to message. And of course, it’s not a party until you invite the Jedi Master and HRH the Dutchess of Cambridge. ❤
There is a current history of knitting and activism – check out Knitting Nannas, who protest against fracking and coal seam gas in Australia. They are a peaceful protest organisation, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get arrested for doing things like chaining themselves to fences. I don’t see why knitters in the US couldn’t use the same approach to protest ICE. Basically it’s using what’s perceived as a genteel, unthreatening hobby to be subversive and get attention. It never looks great for authority when they’re dragging grandmas in cardigans into police cars, and they know this.
Holy shit. I have ALWAYS thought the people around me were being unconscionably intrusive and power-playing in their starter conversations and they told me I was antisocial and oblivious to culture norms. Turns out, maybe I’m just from a different culture.
Huh. This is really interesting.
I’m disabled, and it’s really uncomfortable to field that question about work in a social setting. (”Why no, random person at the yarn store, I don’t want to tell you about that, or about the nature of my disability”.)
I like his
“So how do you spend your time?”
question better.
A formative experience in my early twenties was when I was in a mixed group of people and we were instructed to pair off and get to know each other. My partner and I looked at each other glumly. I was a young white girl who had arrived from another country and was painfully lost and alone. He was a magisterial black British man in his forties with a greying beard and interesting clothing. He looked at me with the expression of a socially awkward introvert being asked to do a group exercise, so I tried to Hlep.
“So um what do you do,” I started, and then I saw this most complicated and weary and sad expression on his face and just yelped “WAIT no I’m sorry I’m SO sorry I didn’t actually want to ask that! I meant! AH! What do you love!!!”
“Ugh,” he said. “Well, I really love pottery.”
“I ALSO LOVE POTTERY,” I yelped like a Hleping chat-robot.
“I am assisting my disabled elderly father in his dying process, and I am not currently employed,” he said.
“I have just immigrated and I am not currently employed,” I said, gratefully. “What kind of pottery do you like.”
“The kind that is rough on one side and shiny on the other,” he said.
“ME TOO,” i said.
The leader came over, “how are you getting on?”
And we both barked, in the identical tones of introverts being asked how they are getting on, “WE LIKE POTTERY.
We took two pottery classes together, made some rough/shiny objects and never spoke again.because he did not believe in the internet, and at the time I did not believe in phones.
But I think about him, and that exchange, all the time. I didn’t even want to know what he “did.” I just felt like it was what adults say. And if I hadn’t recovered the question I wouldn’t have known Hermes and made a bunch of really fucked up pots with him
See, I know I ask the wrong questions at times, and I know some of that is due to WhitenessTM, but some of it is because I’m an Autistic person trying hard to Do Conversation by trying to remember what neurotypical people talk about and HOW they talk about it, which is heavily informed by media, because how else do you learn anything? Basically I’m nearly 37 and I know I fuck up about 60% of the time but I’m trying to be a person and not be racist and ableist. And I’ll never stop trying, because social interactions do not come with a script, so every new conversation with a friend or an acquaintance or a person at a store is like stepping into deep water and trying to remember how my limbs work so I don’t drown. I apologise in advance if my flailing injures you; it’s a constant battle, but I’m never going to NOT try to do better.
Actually, according to the 1923 Supreme Court interpretation of the Naturalization Act, you could also become a naturalized citizen if you were of African descent. 1924 was when Native Americans were included. Gotta exclude those Asiatics, though. But this is too complicated to put in that one line so… yeah.
I wanted Steve and Bucky to be in more worker strikes, but apparently the biggest ones in NYC were either immediately post-WWII, or in 1911 following the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and most of the protestors were Jewish women who worked in the garment industry. (And lbr, they totally missed the Civil Rights movement.)
Here’s the quick Wikipedia link to the child labor thing. 🙂 I learned so much making this comic!
Happy Birthday, Steve. The world is not that great right now, both here and in Marvel-verse, but let’s keep on trucking.
Rape is the only crime on the books for which arguing that the temptation to commit it was too clear and obvious to resist is treated as a defence. For every other crime, we call that a confession.
I’ve gotten more angry asks about this post than I have actual reblogs.
imagine hearing “well if he didn’t want to be shot, he should have worn a bulletproof vest” on a trial
The thing is, though, it is said, in the case of racial minorities and vulnerable people. How often has a black person been shot just for driving/walking/ringing the cops for help/wearing a hoodie/playing in a park? How often do people say they should have behaved differently, as though their actions were a logical precursor to their murder?
How often do Jewish people, Sikhs and Muslims get blamed for being ‘too’ who they are in public? Especially women wearing a headscarf or men wearing a turban? How many are told, ‘well, what did you expect?’ when they try to report a hate crime?
How many queer people are blamed for their own murders and assaults simply for existing in public spaces? How many are told that if they just made an effort to be normal, they’d have been safe? How many were assaulted when they were actually passing, but were outed as queer and found themselves trapped and abused by people who felt angry at being ‘tricked’?
How many disabled people have been murdered just for not being normal? How many autistic children and adults are killed by their caregivers annually, or subjected to torturous therapies to try to cure them? How many interviews, articles, memoirs and documentaries justify this cruelty in the name of normalisation and blame the disabled person for the impact of their disability on their families?
People have always blamed victims. Yes, it happens to victims of rape and sexual assault, and always has done, and is disgustingly regularly reported as justification for what happened. But it happens to others too. Also, please remember that the rates of rape and sexual assault of people of colour, queer people and disabled people are far higher than the general population, and that it is far harder for these victims to access the justice system, compensation and health/support services.
I still think Moana deserved an Oscar for this part
To me, the moral of Moana is that only women can help other women heal from male violence.
The movie starts with the idea that the male god who wronged Te Fiti must be the one to heal her. This seems to make a certain sort of intuitive sense in that I think we all believe that if you do something wrong you should try to make it right. But how does he try to right it? Through more violence. Of course that failed.
It was only when another woman, Moana, saw past the “demon of earth and fire” that the traumatized Te Fiti had become (what a good metaphor for trauma, right?) and met her with love instead of violence that she was able to heal. Note that they do the forehead press before Moana restores the heart, while Te Fiti is still Te Kā. Moana doesn’t wait for her beautiful island goddess to appear in all her green splendor before greeting and treating her as someone deserving of love.
Moana is only able to restore the heart because Te Kā reveals her vulnerability and allows Moana to touch her there. Maui and his male violence could only ever have resulted in more ruin.
This is a touching anaylisis but it’s extremely racist as
not only have you completely ignored the whole point of Maui’s character, but
have managed to incriminate a man of color on a tumblr wide scale.
First of all, Maui’s character does not represent male
violence—it represent human greed. Maui did not take the heart because he is a
man, and Te-Fiti is a woman. He took it because the humans asked him to. The humans asked Maui to do everything for them,
not caring how greedy or selfish their requests were and in the end it was Maui
who suffered for it. Maui is supposed to show the flaw of humanity.
This has nothing to do with sexism, it has everything to do
with the fact that Maui gave and gave to the humans who could never stop being
greedy. Moana giving the heart back wasn’t supposed to be her “making up” for
the male violence that Maui represents. It was her making up for the greed she
and her people represent. It was touching however because yes it was an
important moment between two women, but you missed the point and you’ve come off
racist and very disrespectful to a culture at that.
Yes, Moana is an empowering movie for women, especially
women of color. But the last thing this is about is Maui being an abuser/rapist
or whatever. That is not the point of Maui’s character.
And to assume so is racist. You are a white woman completely
dehumanizing a man of color and ruining his image because of how you see him. And other white girls here
on tumblr have happily picked up that image and interpretation and rolled with
it. Maui’s character is now seen as an abuser or as someone who is violently
because of white girls here on tumblr—which it doesn’t surprise me. (an in a
historical context this is even MORE racist because white women would always
make Maui’s people out to be savages and abusers etc., simply because of the
color of their skin and their culture so yea, this is bad).
You can see the morality of the movie however you want, but
do not be disrespectful toward a character and in this case a culture.
@i-want-cheese Please don’t write this off as another “butthurt comment” or
“male guilt”, because this is really messed up. I see how you’re brushing off
some other people’s comments and I honestly hope that you don’t see mine the
same way because this is an issue I think you need to face/realize. You are
being racist and brushing it off isn’t going to change that.
the
@visibilityofcolor THANK YOU FOR THIS. As a Polynesian woman, reading that post and other replies painting Maui and even Tui as aggressive and violent men had me feeling some type of way, especially since White people have always regarded Polynesian men in such a manner.
I’ve thought about replying because I’m tired of seeing these kind of “Moana is a feminist movie” posts collect hundreds of notes despite the fact that these posts always conveniently fail to mention Pasifika people, but it always stressed me out, so thank you.
As an aside, Maui taking Te Fiti’s heart and Moana restoring it was symbolic of environmental preservation. Because the people who inspired Moana–Pasifika people, not just Polynesian–are always affected first when the environment is threatened. Our way of life is greatly influenced by the ocean and we believe that if you take care of the ocean, she will take care of you.
You’re very welcome.
This is insight for me as well (as I wasn’t aware that the movie also came fro the culture of the Pasifika people), and does give a very important perspective. I do agree with you, this movie is about environmental restoration, not some white fem bullshit.
I tried over and over again to explain to I-want-cheese about how she was being racist, but she responded by blocking me and other poc who called her out (even other polynesian people). People to this day are still trying to explain that she is being racist and culturally insensitive but she ignores us.
I’ve made a few posts about this, hoping that people realize how problematic it is to agree with i-want-cheese. Explaining to her racist white ass that this was problematic was like explaining to a bird. She wouldn’t listen and neither would have of her racist friends.
Sorry you’ve had to see this on your dash every so often, but I’m glad my portion of the post is starting to get around. (reblogged to the wrong blog at first lols)
Also i-want-cheese is a transphobe and means trans women when she says male violence. All around bad post i-want-cheese and bless you ppl for giving us more cultural context for this.
Honestly, I was touched by
i-want-cheese’s post the first time I read it, but I admit, I had a hard time imagining Maui as essentially… a rapist… I never once imagined him as anything but someone who endlessly tried to please everyone, striving constantly to create a perfect impression of himself (much like many men of color I’ve met in my life). As a white person I also admit I have no context for Polynesian culture outside of what very, very little I researched after seeing this movie, but I recognize solid character writing, and Maui was just as much of a victim in this movie as
Te Fiti
was. I’ll always reblog this when it hits my dash.
What’s more the point falls apart when you identify the fact that the films frames no one as an antagonist. Tamatoa would meet this point traditionally since he’s a ‘bad guy’ but doesn’t play a big enough role in the film for it to really count. The three characters who fit the role of a typical antagonist (those who oppose the goals of the protagonist (the person who’s actions push the narrative forward)) would be Chief Tui on the Island, Maui in the opening scene, and Te Kā for the majority of the film. Even Maui after he steals Moana’s boat. However, each of them is misrepresented in some way. Tui just wants to ensure the safety of his people long into the future. Maui wants to be loved. Te Kā wants what was stolen. And ultimately each becomes resolved. There are no bad people in Moana, just conflicting motivations. And even in the case of
Te Kā, I don’t think her actions were voluntary.
Which I ultimately believe is the basis for the story outside of Moana’s know yourself. Moana is about the inter connectivity and complexity of growing up. Its about learning that the people who you think fit into simple archetypes don’t. Be it your parents, you heroes, or a literal God. There is complexity to everything.
The use of Antagonist as a trope in film is used as a representation of a child’s perception of evil. But the film allows for nuance to be discovered as the film continues. And through Moana and the kindness and freedom she represents, each ‘antagonist’ is able to move on from their struggle and find their own piece.
So its absolutely unfair to label anything that happens in the film as a metaphor or symbol of male violence, because nothing that takes place in purely violence. Or something that isn’t resolved through complex characterisation. Maui didn’t take the heart knowing what it would do. He wanted to help the people who revered him and gave him the only validation he could get. But when we did realise it the error of his ways and found that validation within himself, he did everything in his power to make up for that mistake.
knitting in the dark 