Welcome to the new McDonald’s Happy Meal Toy. Yes seriously. Full story here.
Y’all need to read it to believe it. And I’ll leave it at that.
"
My team doesn’t ask to try to wear a hijab. They are smarter and more respectful than that.
But, wearing a scarf while playing may give them COMPLETE INSIGHT into the lives of half a billion Muslim women. Right? RIGHT?!? *hijabdesk*.
My mates are also acutely aware that if they want to wear a head covering, they can get a scarf – yes, any random scarf – and put it on their head. No pixie dust, no blessing from an Ayatollah, no chanting or incense.
This is the part where I get to be thankful that my teammates don’t want to liberate me. They don’t insult and patronize me inquiring as to how my hijab “makes them feel”. It’s not exotic and interesting. It just is.
They don’t care about my hijab and what it represents to them. They are not that shallow.
Because NEWSFLASH: I am more, way more than my hijab.
They have realized that I am a person whose identity lies, not in a piece of cloth, but in the way I believe, speak, act and play.
This exercise reduces a Muslim woman to one yard of material. It is not an action that one can adequately educate and put another woman in their position. It’s completely disingenuous to think so.
Will having my teammates wear a hijab for a one hour match allow them to understand a lifetime of stares, barriers, “No, sorry you can’t play with that on” decisions, struggles and then my own strength and confidence to embrace it and keep going?
No. No, it won’t.
Just like wearing a hijab for one day will not provide a woman will contextual understanding of challenges and the realities that a woman in hijab may face: misogyny, cultural stresses, financial problems, prejudice, racism and even effects of war.
Does it realistically give people a glimpse of struggles faced by millions? Of a religion that is marred and scarred by stereotypes and assumptions, that is rife with misogynist practices? That has incredibly intrepid people working for the benefit of the world? That has kindness and millions of women who are Muslim who do not wear hijab?
Do we celebrate International Paghra Day with Sikhs? Or International Habit Day with Peruvian Nuns? International “Wear a Wig to Shul” Day with Orthodox Jews? Nope. Because that would be minimizing and politicizing their choice.
This dress-up activity is no more effective than having me wearing a firefighter outfit. I respect First Responders and love red. Does it give me full insight into their plight, intensity, committment, courage and years of training?
No. No, it doesn’t.
"— Shireen Ahmed, “World Hijab Day: Everyone’s Favorite Dress-Up Day,” Muslimah Media Watch 2/5/13
So apparently cultural appropriation only matters if it’s an American culture! Good to know!
Seriously, I see people getting up in arms over white girls in war bonnets - and that’s fine, that’s as it should be. I see people getting up in arms over people portraying Ratonhnhaké:ton with a warbonnet when he’s Mohawk, not Plains, and that’s fine and as it should be too.
But nobody cares that they put Aboriginal Australian trappings onto a European animal? Specifically a European animal that was introduced here, became feral, and destroyed a huge portion of the ecosystem Aboriginal Australians depended on to survive?
No one?
"A comment left for the previous post rightly wondered who Taco Bell is really addressing with its campaign starring Chef Lorena Garcia. To be clear, MultiCultClassics did not think the fast feeder was wooing Latinos. Sorry for the clumsy writing. Probably should have typed something like: Latinos know better than to believe Taco Bell creates authentic Mexican food, but maybe White folks will be conned after seeing a Latina chef allegedly cook up new menu items. Then again, that line doesn’t really capture the essence of Taco Bell’s questionable marketing move. On the universal scale of authenticity for Mexican food, Taco Bell occupies the end alongside Fritos® and Doritos®—and fittingly, its most popular recent launches incorporated the snack chips. Perhaps Taco Bell is responding to competitors such as Chipotle and Qdoba, where the food is closer to being legitimate. Or maybe someone at Yum! Brands figured if Popeyes can be successful with Annie the Chicken Queen, Taco Bell will thrive with Chef Lorena Garcia. Regardless, the comments at YouTube show others are not buying the bullshit…"
— …check out what the YouTube comments said about this foolishness on the R today!
Saw this on the side of a delivery truck while walking Atticus this morning. I just can’t. Indigenous people are being displaced and killed in the Amazon rainforests and some company is just appropriating and fetishizing them for a quick buck? White people, stop this shit.
The fuck? It’s not even vaguely striking or effective in a positive way, either. Advertising and humanity failure.
I can’t even…
ugh this is fucking disgusting
(via secretarysbreakroom)
As if you need another reason to stop shopping at UO…
End of Gender: Urban Outfitters Epic Fail
This week Urban Outfitters added yet another epic fail to the clothing company’s laundry list of misdeeds.
UO has been selling a greeting card that reads: “Jack and Jill, Went up the Hill, So Jack could see Jill’s fanny, But Jack got a shock, And an eyeful of cock, Because Jill was a closet tranny.”
Angry Redditors called UO’s nursery rhyme “blatantly transphobic” with its use of the much-debated “t-word”and its objectification of trans bodies. But that’s not the only reason why UO’s “charming” card is such a slap in the face.
For years UO has been gobbling up gender-bending style and regurgitating queer fashion for the masses.
In 2009 the New York Times identified androgyny as the “it” fashion trend of the coming decade. Psychologist Dr. Diane Ehrensaft told the Times a new peer culture made gender-bending “not only acceptable, but cool.”
The cool-factor of androgyny has been amplified in recent years by icons like Lady Gaga, who performed in drag at last year’s VMA’s and played up media rumors that she is intersex in her “Telephone” music video (the pop star has since revealed that she’s not). Androgynous models like Andrej Pejic have been walking the runway for Marc Jacobs, and the andro-hot heroine of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo has inspired a clothing line at H&M.
UO stores are cropping up in suburban malls everywhere, selling hip, gender-neutral accessories like beanies, tees, hoodies, plastic-framed glasses, and skinny jeans. Last year the comapny, which includes Anthropologie and Free People, opened 57 new stores, competing with preppy retailers like American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch, and the Gap.
UO stands out with is self-proclaimed “funky” (queer?) threads. I’m not suggesting that all “funky” and “androgynous” fashion is queer fashion, nor am I suggesting that all queer folks wear the same things. But come on now, where do you think UO got the idea for this photo in their winter catalogue?
In a culture that punishes princess boys and fears Chaz Bono, why is androgyny considered fashionable, even sexy? And how did gender-neutral/gender-bending clothing go mainstream? It’s no secret that what scares, sells. So when the queers go bump in the night, the scaredy cats behind UO swipe our clothes and duck under the covers.
UO has no problem taking without giving back. The company has been outed a number of times in the past few months, first for ripping of independent jewelry designers, then for selling culturally-appropriative “Navajo” clothing and accessories. But sometimes, UO co-founder and CEO Richard Hayne is in the spirit of giving, so hedonates to anti-gay politicians like Rick “gay sex equals man-on-dog humping’” Santorum.
Hayne might think the gays are scary, but his customers are probably less likely to be spooked. Now more Americans support gay marriage than ever before, and among the young, “funky” folks who buy their leggings and Bill Cosby sweaters at UO, I’d guess that the percentage is probably higher.
Since the gays aren’t so scary anymore, UO has resorted to a “tranny” jokes to get that extra “edge.” And it’s just not funny.
While the the young and hip prowl the streets in their androgynous attire, it might look like the “end of gender” is near. But as Coco Chanel reminds us, fashion fades. UO’s darling greeting card brings us back to harsh reality: When it comes to understanding and respecting the spectrum of identities beneath the clothes, we have a long, long way to go.
- Bitch Magazine
This is a really smart post.
I hate UO’s politics/actions and as much as it pains me to not shop there or at anthro - fuck them.
(via ro-s-aspa-rks)
This vid can be conversed about for days just around the ideas of Blackness, beauty, trendiness, and US media. Racialicious Owner/Editor Latoya Peterson wrapped her head around global hip-hop with this post back in 2009.
soo many thoughts in my head @_@
wow i almost cant tell shes japanese. i think its interesting.. people always get so wrapped up in the love for european looks such as pale skin.. that they forget that there actually is quite a very large love for dark skin and specifically black culture.
::record scratch::
::silence::
::blink::
@petitedeath—You “almost can’t tell she’s Japanese?!?” As if Japanese people all have a “look” or, more insidiously, all Japanese people look alike?
You seriously want to make such a stereotyping statement on the Racialicious tumblr? Okay, since you did…here’s our moderation policy, which applies to this part of the R, too. I bring your attention to policy point #7:
Try not to speak in generalizations. Don’t attribute characteristics to entire ethnic or racial groups. Adding modifiers like “some” or talking specifically about your personal experiences help reduce the likelihood that you’re stereotyping entire communities.
::walks away::
This vid can be conversed about for days just around the ideas of Blackness, beauty, trendiness, and US media. Racialicious Owner/Editor Latoya Peterson wrapped her head around global hip-hop with this post back in 2009.
