*squeeeeeeeeeee*
*dance*
Go SeaGlass!
*squeeeeeeeeeee*
*dance*
Go SeaGlass!
Another search of my family name (because i'm going crazy) now somehow says Duong is actually yang...
… so if I am teochow and I follow the people it means I’m a tang because they refer to themselves as Tang, but for some reason my last name is duong which is also yang.. which brings me to the yang clan who was ruling and part of the zhou dynasty.. which somehow brings me back to Wu..? which somehow means INBREEDING HAPPENED SOMEWHERE and that i am fucked but now means i know for a fact that i'm related to Wu Zetian..
:flips desk over: i give up.
The SeaGlass Siren
I'd like to think that too but I do see people do things that have been highlighted as big nono's by even the most liberal. And with mermaids becoming ever prevalent in the press I am start to see some pushback. Really, it's not about being PC, but trying to be an inclusive community and not alienate members by taking who they are and turning it into a costume. Or taking symbols and using them without understanding the struggles that went behind them.
I think we have to think less with a "I'm not bothered by _____" and redirect more to seeing how even if it doesnt bother us, it could bother someone else.
I'm not here to tell people what's right or wrong, I think there's a lot to be learned and a lot to be gained by looking at our own culture So much wealth of information and creative ideas.
Literally so thankful you brought it up too. i'm finding a plethora of info.
The SeaGlass Siren
Now I'm researching and so far I've found on my moms side Willie Nelson on my grandmas side and John Proctor on my grandfathers side
user formerly known as mermaidofthelabyrinth
I can't think of another John Proctor. Congrats. Your many greats grand father was hanged as a witch!
yes, THE John Proctor. We just did the crucible in class last semester and I'm laughing about that. I've been meaning to take a trip to Salem for fun so now I have more reasons.
user formerly known as mermaidofthelabyrinth
Lol! Good for you!
My mother did my familys ancestry on both her and my father's side. I have a LOT of English/Irish roots, though both sides of the family have been in the states since the revolutionary war.
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I heard that the whole romancy Abigail affair was just made up, but I wasn't there so I have no way of knowing for sure.
user formerly known as mermaidofthelabyrinth
the fact that there is a tiny possibility makes it all the more interesting :P
The SeaGlass Siren
I'm so glad this thread exists. I find myself fretting pretty much constantly about who I might be offending if I add elements to certain costumes. Even most recently, I'm building a selkie tail that I'm actually trying to base around the California Sea Lion and so I thought it'd be cool to use nods to the indigenous people of coastal california. I haven't run into many problems so far but I'm also trying so hard not to pull anything that might have been religious or sacred in any way. Additionally, I look "ethnically ambiguous" so people tend to think I pass as a lot of different things. (I'm very simply 50% Laotian, 25% German and 25% Romanian- and that white half is jewish all the way back.)
I guess my biggest concern with appropriation is where does appropriation end and where does butthurt person start? I don't think there's any way to figure out the difference half the time. On top of that, ethnically, I have a right to wear germanic garb and cite it as part of my history but BOY does it look like weird cosplay. I don't identify as German, even though apparently my great grandmother, the woman I'm named for had family living there back from the first diaspora (around 3 BCE?) Maybe it's because I don't read as "white" but I feel like, if you're being respectful and not treading on something religious or OBVIOUSLY a no-no, can you do/wear the thing? And then if people tell you to stop, you apologize for offending and just stop?
Sorry, that got away from me.
To me, cultural appropriation can happen even if you have some of that ethnic blood in your own. For example, I'm half native American (my mom is native) but I would never put any parts of Sioux culture into my mer costume or wear any Sioux garb. why? Because I wasn't raised in that culture and as such me putting it on without knowing the cultural significance and not identifying as that culture would be me appropriating it.
A lot of times the big deal with appropriation is that people take parts of a culture, whether religious or not, and when they take it they're praised for it while the original culture is stigmatized for doing something they own. It's like working real hard on a project for class, the teacher telling you it's crap, then another student copying it and the teacher hanging it up to show other students how it's supposed to be done. And a lot of appropriation does nothing but embrace stereotypes usually (looking at you people who like to wear "geisha" makeup and costumes )
When I think of this I just think there are parts of cultures that should be shared and celebrated and parts that shouldn't. BUT with the intermingling of cultures there needs to be a certain level of respect and knowledge. For example, in California we celebrate a lot of Mexican holidays, but it's absolutely inappopropriate to wear a fake mustache and sombrero and "act Mexican". Another example would be Native American culture. Not everyone in that culture can wear a war bonnet, and when some random person wears a war bonnet it's very disrespectful.
user formerly known as mermaidofthelabyrinth
THIS.
If you're talking mermaids specifically (a non-human legendary entity), ideas of appropriation are...human.
@SeaGlass:
唐人 is a term that is widely used for anyone of chinese descent, especially abroad/overseas.
It does not mean you are related to anyone from the Tang Dynasty.
It's just that the Tang are regarded as the most glorious, most exemplifying time in Chinese history, thus Tang People is sort of a poetic way to say you're chinese.
"Chinatown" in Chinese is called "Tang Street" for the very same reason.
But by all means research the olden dynasties a bit.
It's super interesting.
Personally I think China was way better then than today
Is it appropriation when you are playing a character?
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^ i think so. example is black face or yellow face in cosplays. the reason why i havent gone as pocahontas (even though i've had native people tell me its ok and that it's just a character) is because i'd feel like i'd be disrespecting the nation as a whole because i'm not native :|
and at the same time...... people dont seem to have a problem cosplaying japanese characters. i wonder why :S
The SeaGlass Siren
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