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fucking appropriation
Jun. 13th, 2011 03:38 pmA while back I saw a link to a blog entry titled "Their Islam and Ours" about outsiders' perceptions of Islam versus those of people who follow the faith. It was well-written and interesting. The entry belonged to a blog titled Damascus Gay Girl, by a blogger who was a gay woman living in Syria. Sounds great, right? Recently there's an entry posted by the blogger's cousin, saying that the blogger has been taken into custody by the police.
And then the shit hits the fan. The blog is a hoax. The writer of it is a white man.
FUCKING CULTURAL APPROPRIATION. He has a lengthy apology up that basically comes to: he invented the character of "Amina" because he was having trouble writing interesting characters and dialogue in fiction, and wanted to try writing on message boards as somebody who wasn't white and male. I'm only amazed that he never used the exact phrase "social experiment." He claims he wanted to disprove stereotypes of Muslims. Guess what, buddy? You didn't do that. Also,
YOU PRETENDED TO BE SOMEBODY WHO HAD BEEN DETAINED AND POSSIBLY PHYSICALLY HARMED BY POLICE. In what universe is that acceptable? There were real people who were extremely worried about what could have happened to "Amina"! (Note: I had read only a few entries on "Damascus Gay Girl" a couple weeks back. I did not find out about the "abduction" until after the hoax had come out as well.) Well done. You've made it harder to believe real people who have been in that situation.
During his apology he also says that he tried to stop pretending to be Amina on multiple occasions but couldn't resist. Buddy, nobody was twisting your arm. All you had to do was stop to think before hitting "post" on the screen. But apparently this person has less self-control than a five-year-old with a box of cookies. I can't decide whether he feels bad because he did it or because he was caught.
You have got to be shitting me. I'm pissed-off about this, and I'm not even Muslim, gay, or Syrian. I think often about writing characters who come from different backgrounds than myself and I'm sure I'll make mistakes on occasion, but at least I DON'T PRETEND TO BE THAT PERSON.
ETA: There's already a post up at unfunnybusiness, which contains multiple links.
And then the shit hits the fan. The blog is a hoax. The writer of it is a white man.
FUCKING CULTURAL APPROPRIATION. He has a lengthy apology up that basically comes to: he invented the character of "Amina" because he was having trouble writing interesting characters and dialogue in fiction, and wanted to try writing on message boards as somebody who wasn't white and male. I'm only amazed that he never used the exact phrase "social experiment." He claims he wanted to disprove stereotypes of Muslims. Guess what, buddy? You didn't do that. Also,
YOU PRETENDED TO BE SOMEBODY WHO HAD BEEN DETAINED AND POSSIBLY PHYSICALLY HARMED BY POLICE. In what universe is that acceptable? There were real people who were extremely worried about what could have happened to "Amina"! (Note: I had read only a few entries on "Damascus Gay Girl" a couple weeks back. I did not find out about the "abduction" until after the hoax had come out as well.) Well done. You've made it harder to believe real people who have been in that situation.
During his apology he also says that he tried to stop pretending to be Amina on multiple occasions but couldn't resist. Buddy, nobody was twisting your arm. All you had to do was stop to think before hitting "post" on the screen. But apparently this person has less self-control than a five-year-old with a box of cookies. I can't decide whether he feels bad because he did it or because he was caught.
You have got to be shitting me. I'm pissed-off about this, and I'm not even Muslim, gay, or Syrian. I think often about writing characters who come from different backgrounds than myself and I'm sure I'll make mistakes on occasion, but at least I DON'T PRETEND TO BE THAT PERSON.
ETA: There's already a post up at unfunnybusiness, which contains multiple links.
