Been done to me by people of both genders. 

Also I have been guilty of doing this, so I apologize. Because I was overly excited and just couldn’t wait to talk…. yeah. 

These are warrior shields from the Wahgi people of Papua New Guinea. The warriors paint them with imagery meant to symbolize animals who have traits they wish to embody in battle. These depictions are intended to give the person using it the powers of what they’re depicting.

Now. Look at this Wahgi shield:

Hmm. That looks a bit different from the others.

That looks VERY different. Why, it looks like

The Phantom… American comic book character by Lee Falk. And that’s because it is.

The Wahgi people were isolated from the rest of the “modern” world until 1933. They came into contact with WWII service men who shared some aspects of western culture with the tribesmen. In particular, they showed them the comic books they read while shipped out. The Wahgi loved them. In particular, the Wahgi adored the stories of the Phantom, who wasn’t even particularly popular in its home of America.

He is so popular that the few Wahgi who can read english will read the comics out loud in the village center and hold out the pages for everyone to see, so the whole tripe can enjoy them and marvel at the Phantom’s might in battle.

They identify with the Phantom because he came from a jungle territory, like them, wore a mask to fight, like them, and came from a long line of warriors, which the Wahgi, who worshiped their ancestors, deeply respected. Further, despite not really having superpowers, the Phantom is strong, clever, and incredibly fast. He was so fast that his enemies began to believe that he was impervious to bullets and could not be killed.

Therefore, the Wahgi began painting HIM on their shields to invoke HIS abilities in battle. There are TONS of Phantom-Wahgi shields out there.

This reminds me so much of Americans who like, bring Captain America shields to protests and stuff! Or even like, when councilman Lan Diep was sworn in holding Captain America’s shield:

There’s really no difference here, especially if you don’t use condescending, colonialist language like “tribesmen” and “These depictions are intended to give the person using it the powers of what they’re depicting.” Apparently the difference between “striving for ideals” and acquiring “powers” is whether or not you adhere to the dominant culture in the United States?

The problem here is this is how stuff like this is taught in art history classes, as if it’s somehow mind-blowingly quaint that indigenous people anywhere like a freaking comic book character, or use his likeness as a “talisman.” *eyeroll*

There’s an obnoxiously pervasive narrative I see all the time around indigenous peoples from all over the world, that instead of making conscious aesthetic choices, they have somehow been “tricked” into liking something inherently inappropriate or anachronistic.

I’ve seen this narrative pressed onto the Quechua and Aymara Cholitas of Bolivia, implying that they were “tricked” into choosing to wear bowler hats because some mythical western trader of long ago had a surplus of too-small hats:

Or in North America, a lot of traditional regalia like Jingle Dress, Fancy Shawl, Grass Dance or Ribbon Skirt is called “garish”, and I’ve heard non-Native people complain that it doesn’t look “Traditional enough” (!!!) because it uses bright or neon fabric, beads, and trim materials.

[sold out pre-made Jingle Dresses from Powwowfabrics.com]

Kiowa artist Teri Greeves designed this piece called Great Lakes Girls, a synthesis of traditional bead and quill-work that utterly transforms high-heeled tennis shoes designed by Steve Madden. The women depicted in Jingle Dress represent the artist’s husband’s Anishinabe people, and some of the materials used, like spiny-oyster shell, come from the southwest and are often used in jewelry made by Diné people.

The artificial conflict that a work like this creates in a non-Native viewer is based on the assumption that the “tradition” of indigenous peoples, and overall, our cultures, MUST remain static in order to be seen as “authentic” to the dominant culture. Even more frustrating, I often see the concept of Pan-Native culture and identities discussed as if this can ONLY mean a false sense of sameness imposed by colonialism and colonial structures, rather than an actual show of solidarity between Native peoples in philosophies, practices, and activism.

The lack of nuance around understanding these synthesized cultures leads to the delegitimization and erasure of traditions like the Mardi Gras Indians, Baby Dolls, Skull and Bones gangs, and their connection to both sacred clown traditions like Heyókȟa and West African dance and costume traditions.

I personally believe that decolonization and resistance can only be possible once the concept that appeal to (and categorization by) the dominant culture is a necessary step, is disposed of. I reject the notion that we must accept a binary existence of one or the Other, as if we can only be Historical or Modern but never both. As if a living culture is out of the question, or some kind of oxymoron.

But the biggest wall between the Self and the Other that I’m trying to break down here is the notion in the original post: that the academic teacher/learner and the “topic” are somehow eternally separated by both time and geographical distance. I’m sick and tired of being traumatized by being taught Who I Am and What I Believe by someone who doesn’t actually know, and doesn’t really believe I can exist in the same room they inhabit.

What this comes back to is a quote I posted a few days ago on how art/education/community intersect:

Marsha P. Johnson

A leader of the Stonewall Riots. According to several eyewitnesses, Marsha was the one who “really started it”. She was “in the middle of the whole thing, screaming and yelling and throwing rocks and almost like Molly Pitcher in the Revolution or something”

Dedicated her life to activism:

Co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (later renamed Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries)

Ensured that the young drag queens, trans women and other street kids on Christopher Street were fed and clothed. Marsha also housed them whenever she could. 

In the 1980s, she was an activist and organizer in ACT UP. 

Stormé DeLarverie

Also a leader in the Stonewall Riots - has been identified as the “butch lesbian that threw the first punch” against the police officers.

Several eye-witnesses recollections also recognize her as the cross-dressing lesbian that yelled “why don’t you guys do something” at the bystanders that evoked the reaction from them that helped make Stonewall a defining moment in history.

Unofficially worked at gay bars who otherwise couldn’t afford security.

Bayard Rustin

Was a leading strategist of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement between 1955-1968:

The formidable behind the scenes figure of the civil rights movement who organized the March on Washington

Through his influence, the civil rights leadership adopted a non-violent stance.

Is and was often overlooked in African-American history because of the public’s discomfort with his sexual orientation.

Supported LGBTQ rights and movements.

Was posthumously awarded Rustin the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Another leader in the Stonewall Riots.

Has been involved in community efforts since 1978. She has worked at local food banks, provide services for trans women suffering from addiction or homelessness. During the AIDS epidemic she also provided healthcare and funeral services.

Is currently serving as the Executive Director for the Transgender GenderVariant Intersex Justice Project, working to assist transgender persons who are disproportionately incarcerated under a prison-industrial complex.

Alvin Ailey

At the young age of 22, Alvin AIley became Artistic Directer for the Horton Dance Company where he choreographed as well as directed scenes and costume designs.

Formed the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in 1958 but continued to choreograph for other companies.

Ailey’s signature works prominently reflects his Black pride.

Is credited for popularizing modern dance. 

Was also posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

Example: while working on STAR Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera (who were both in their twenties) did sex work to support not only themselves but also a group of younger trans women. Doing sex work was (and is) incredibly dangerous for trans women so Marsha and Sylvia used their experience and took that risk upon themselves to keep the youngest trans women under their wing.  

Other example: Stormé DeLarverie was known as ‘guardian of the lesbians’ because she patrolled the area around the bars with a baseball bat. 

There was a “Bowling Green massacre” — in 1643, white settlers slaughtered 110 Native Americans

Last week on MSNBC, Kellyanne Conway invented a massacre that never happened in Bowling Green, Kentucky. 

But here’s one that’s real: In 1643, white settlers massacred 30 indigenous people in what is now Bowling Green Park, one of the oldest sections of New York City, Indian Country Media Network reported.

Back then, New York City was known as New Amsterdam and was a struggling colonial outpost under Dutch rule. 

The then-governor of New Netherlands, Willem Kieft, sent groups of European soldiers to an area at the tip of Manhattan island, which was then home to Lenape tribe. 

The soldiers killed 80 members of the tribe in what is now Pavonia, New Jersey, and massacred another 30 in Manhattan. Read more

you are soft. you believe the world should be kind. you expect people to treat you fairly. you think your needs are important, that you deserve to be listened to, that you shouldn’t be hungry and frightened and in pain. 

and people are seriously SO OFFENDED by this. like, how dare you. how dare you believe the world might be a good place, how dare you believe you should be treated well just for existing. life is pain, princess, anyone who tells you different is selling something, now wipe that smile off your face, shut your mouth and go suffer like i did.

It’s okay to enjoy “problematic” fiction.

It’s okay to draw fanart and write fanfiction that appeals to you, and you alone.

You’re allowed to ship whatever you want. Let me repeat this for emphasis: YOU ARE ALLOWED TO SHIP WHATEVER YOU WANT PERIOD.

Your own enjoyment and entertainment are valid  reasons to write, draw, or consume something. 

If this enjoyment takes the form of sexual gratification, that’s also a valid reason to writer, draw, or consume something.

Fiction does not have to be morally pure. Fiction allows us to explore things that we wouldn’t want to experience in real life, things like violence, sexual violence, drug abuse, sexual taboos, or kinks: all kinds of weird or disturbingt things, and that’s okay.

No, the narrative does not have to condemn these things explicitly.

You don’t owe other fans an explanation or apology for the things you enjoy in fiction 

If someone asks you to reveal personal information, it’s okay to tell them to fuck off. 

There’s no such thing as a fandom police. Whoever claims to have the authority to tell you what is or isn’t acceptable for you to enjoy, is just arrogating that right. Their strategy only works if you let them have this power, so don’t. 

It’s up to each person individually to create a “safe space” for themselves.

Other people’s mental health is not your responsibilty.

Racism (under this white washing), homophobia and transphobia are never okay. I don’t care if you enjoy it, you’re actively hurting others. Fuck off.

Please acknowledge that some ships are mired in white supremacy, abuse and/or rape apologism, racism and/or homophobia. Again you’re likely actively be hurting other fans. If you can live with that, okay then.

One’s personal enjoyment is valid yes, but sometimes it is harmful to others. Should your joy come at another person’s expense? How is that even remotely okay to you?

Speaking of, fetishing same gender couples are not okay. It’s dehumanizing and homophobic. As is perpetuating racist stereotypes. Again, fuck off.

Here I concur. Though there are things you might want to stay away from. Such as white people writing about slavery without having the first clue about it, or gentiles trying to write about the Holocaust, or straight people writing about conversion therapy, just to name a few. (Also none of this should be used as back drop for a romance. If you want to write about serious issues I won’t necessarily discourage it, but fucking treat them with the respect they deserve!)

Explicitly, no. The mark of an even half decent creator is that we can put in subtle messages into our works, while dealing with problematic stuff. Also other people’s sexuality and gender is not a fucking kink.

If you enjoy things that are racist, homophobic, anti Semitic, or transphobic you bloody well do owe other fans (fans of color, lgbt fans, Jewish fans) an apology. And that’s for a start. Maybe then… consider bloody stopping.

On this we agree.

There is no fandom police. There is on the other hand fans of color, lgbt fans, Jewish fans, disabled fan. If one of them tells you that something is harmful, maybe stop and listen to them rather than get defensive. Or should your fun and enjoyment trump theirs?

No. People should have a fucking right to be free of racism, homophobia, transphobia, ect. Asking to be respected as a person is not ever about creating “a safe space”. (Here it should be noted that when we do block people who are harmful to us, we are the ones who are told we create a schism and are “dividing the fandom”. Not the ones who made it intolerable to us in the first place.)

If you deliberately go for triggering people and shove something in every tag under the sun no matter how irrelevant that tag is, then yeah you are responsible. Especially when you don’t tag your “problematic” parts so people can you know, actually avoid it. (And yes this has happened with at least one of the ships you tagged this with, if you’ve been around for more than a couple of months you know this.)

True.

Listen, fandom is supposed to be a fun place on this we agree. But it’s getting really fucking noticeable that it’s only supposed to be certain groups having fun and the rest of us even trying to enjoy ourselves is a constant fight against racism, homophobic, transphobic, anti Semitic and/or ableist bs, then get told to stop ruining other people’s fun when we talk about it. Even when they are more than happy to destroy ours.

If fandom isn’t a safe space and we’re all supposed to create our own, why the flying fuck is it that fandom is supposed to be immune to criticism? You don’t have to listen to us - in fact most of you will shout very loudly to drown out any critique - but somehow the mere existence of our critique needs to be attacked. And please stop erasing the legitimate critique done by fans of color, Jewish fans, lgbt fans, disable fans ect and pretend that it’s all some “anti bs” or “wank”. Because that’s what strangely enough always happens, the erasure and silencing of minority fans’ voices. Just like who fandoms dominated by Black fans are always the ones that are considered “toxic”, no matter how anyone else behaves.

Take your own advice and create your own safe space. Block every person on this platform that dares to address the rampant racism, homophobia, transphobia, anti Semitism, ect in fandom.

Of course, that would mean blocking a great number of fans, because here’s the thing. There’s a huge number of fans of color, lgbt fans and Jewish fans, ect in fandom. We’re here, we’ve always been here, and we’re tired beyond words of constantly being told to shut up and attacked when we voice our discomfort and disgust at being met with the same shit in fandom that we have to fight against irl. And then have the same people who try to shut us up turn around and go “fandom is supposed to be fun”, “ship and let ship (because I want to be a racist homophobe)”, “fandom isn’t your safe space (but it is mine)”.

“I want to be able to read dirty bad wrong stuff without feeling shamed about it” vs “I want to be treated like a human being.”

Casablanca takes place in, well, Casablanca, the largest city in (neutral) Morocco in 1941, at Rick’s American Cafe (Rick is Humphrey Bogart’s character you see there). In 1941, America was also still neutral, and Rick’s establishment is open to everyone: Nazi German officials, officials from Vichy (occupied) France, and refugees from all across Europe desperate to escape the German war engine. A neutral cafe in a netural country is probably the only place you’d have seen a cross-section like this in 1941, only six months after the fall of France.

So, the scene opens with Rick arguing with Laszlo, who is a Czech Resistance fighter fleeing from the Nazis (if you’re wondering what they’re arguing about: Rick has illegal transit papers which would allow Laszlo and his wife, Ilsa, to escape to America, so he could continue raising support against the Germans. Rick refuses to sell because he’s in love with Laszlo’s wife). They’re interrupted by that cadre of German officers singing Die Wacht am Rhein: a German patriotic hymn which was adopted with great verve by the Nazi regime, and which is particularly steeped in anti-French history. This depresses the hell out of everybody at the club, and infuriates Laszlo, who storms downstairs and orders the house band to play La Marseillaise: the national anthem of France.

Wait, but when I say “it’s the national anthem of France,” I don’t want you to think of your national anthem, okay? Wherever you’re from. Because France’s anthem isn’t talking about some glorious long-ago battle, or France’s beautiful hills and countrysides. La Marseillaise is FUCKING BRUTAL. Here’s a translation of what they’re singing:

Arise, children of the Fatherland! The day of glory has arrived! Against us, tyranny raises its bloody banner. Do you hear, in the countryside, the roar of those ferocious soldiers? They’re coming to your land to cut the throats of your women and children!

To arms, citizens! Form your battalions! Let’s march, let’s march! Let their impure blood water our fields!

BRUTAL, like I said. DEFIANT, in these circumstances. And the entire cafe stands up and sings it passionately, drowning out the Germans. The Germans who are, in 1941, still terrifyingly ascendant, and seemingly invincible.

“Vive la France! Vive la France!” the crowd cries when it’s over. France has already been defeated, the German war machine roars on, and the people still refuse to give up hope.

But here’s the real kicker, for me: Casablanca came out in 1942. None of this was ‘history’ to the people who first saw it. Real refugees from the Nazis, afraid for their lives, watched this movie and took heart. These were current events when this aired. Victory over Germany was still far from certain. The hope it gave to people then was as desperately needed as it has been at any time in history.