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[+1 angst] I am a racist
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Feb. 20th, 2008 @ 02:11 pm
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This morning, I had an idea for a LoLcat. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a LoLcat is a picture of a cat with amusing text. For example, a particularly stoic-looking cat with the caption, "Serious cat is serious," a cat leaping up in the air with caption, "Invisible dunk," or a cat sitting on a computer keyboard with paw outstretched onto the corresponding mouse with caption, "Also mine."
So the first thought that hit me this morning was for a picture of Chinese food with caption, "Delicious cat is delicious."
The second thought that hit me this morning was, "Oh, crap. I'm a racist."
I talked about it with my housemate S, like me a mid-20s white woman, who told me that it wasn't really racist to make fun of a stereotype, just to make fun of a racial group.
But that thought made me uneasy because of the one that followed it: to whom is it funny? What if I made the LoLcat and showed it to a Chinese person? Would that person think it was amusing that I was making fun of the old stereotype, or would that person be insulted because I was making fun of his or her nationality and history? I obviously can't speak in place of any Chinese person, but when I try to put myself opposite myself in that situation, I'm offended. And if I come up with an example that more directly relates to me, such as, because I have a mental health diagnosis, a cat sleeping on a sofa with caption, "Depression cat is sittin in front of teh tube, eatin ur tax moneys," I'm very offended. I don't think, "Wow, what a great archetypal presentation of a humorously incorrect model." No. I think, "Great, another person spreading the idea that everyone like me is lazy and wasteful."
S and I talked about these things, and stuff came out, and we've agreed to talk more after she returns from class. We both need it.
I think it's clear by now that I'm not about to make the offensive LoLcat. I am, however, going to keep it in mind as an example of how very much I, like many members of majority groups, need to think about racism more, need to talk about racism more, need to be aware and intent on changing racism more.
Thoughts? |
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[0 angst] Somnolescent snobbery FTW
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Feb. 20th, 2008 @ 10:25 am
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I totally corrected the grammar of a large group of people in my dreams last night. I can clearly remember saying "And also, it's vertices, not 'vertexes.'" |
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[0 angst] Carnivore Therapy: or, How I Spent My Dinner Vacation
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Feb. 18th, 2008 @ 05:25 pm
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[+1 angst] Handwriting meme
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Feb. 17th, 2008 @ 02:49 pm
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[+1 angst] Mice!
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Feb. 17th, 2008 @ 02:05 pm
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I've been wanting to post this for a long time.
A few months ago I went to the pet store with a friend, intent on not coming home with any small animals though I had an empty cage at home, brought down from my mother's place to accommodate a few wild mice that later ran straight up my arm and jumped off me when I tried to move them into it were no longer an issue.
The intention did not hold, however; Lucy and Mina were the result of that excursion. A pair of white female mice, one, as became apparent in the next few days, adventurous, the other a bit more shy.
Here I fulfill and indeed exceed previous requests for pictures with a short video:
Further attributes they've developed since I've known them:
Lucy will take food from my hand. Mina will not.
Mina likes to build elaborate, fluffy nests.
Lucy quite enjoys running in circles for hours on end.
They both love sleeping curled up together in the little basket/cave I've made from pipe cleaners and attached to the wire top of the cage. |
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[0 angst] The blog is dead. Long live the blog!
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Feb. 17th, 2008 @ 04:29 am
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Greetings once again!
Yes, again, for if you believe you do not know the author of this journal, you are mistaken. Though the name is new, the blogger is but Zara, familiarly eccentric. I've changed user names for several reasons (I've explained them on the profile page of the old blog); their reduction is that I myself have changed significantly in the past year and wish to start anew, distancing myself from an image that no longer represents me but that could inform a future friend incorrectly as to my personality.
This is a time of change. If you'd like to stay with me for a while longer on this path, please feel free to friend me again in this new location. If you'd rather let our internet association fall by the wayside come this upheaval and questioning, I'll not ask you to re-friend me merely to spare my ego.
But I'm fond of you all, and I hope we may share with each other in this method of community.
Best,
Zara |
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