(no subject)

[novapsyche]

I haven't had a chance to check this out yet, but sophiaserpentia pointed her readership to Stuff White People Like. I plan on reading it closely right soon.

Comments

talk about stereotyping and generalizations

[tomorrowlander.livejournal.com]

I understand that it is meant to be a humorous site, but even so I don't see how this is any less racist and divisive than say, some white-power website.
What the world needs now is re-affirmation that we are in fact the same people, of the same earth; the last thing we need right now is for people to be spreading more racist stereotypes about people of another racial group. You mentioned racism in the media and the mainstream with regards to Obama a couple of weeks ago, which i agreed with. Now i must ask at what point do we draw the line here, are we going to make at least one website which attacks every racial demographic on the planet? What would be our purpose in making such websites? At what point do we collectively decide that enough is enough? Am I missing something here? Is it because I'm white? lol(j/k)

Re: talk about stereotyping and generalizations

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

The whole idea of this page is to demonstrate to white people, who ordinarily wouldn't get the chance to see it firsthand, why it is icky and evil to stereotype people racially. As my wife put it, "If you've ever talked about 'black culture' or 'Asian culture' then you deserve this."

Re: talk about stereotyping and generalizations

[guppiecat]

I've talked about Asian culture many a time. Largely because the various cultures in Asia do have certain similarities (religions, philosophies, food) and it is useful to refer to them in aggregate.

To my knowledge, "black" does not refer to a region of the world, so the term "black culture" means little to me.

I suppose that the term "African culture" might have value, but from what little I know of the cultures in Africa, the disruption of a freaking huge desert combined with the cultural abuses conducted by the European powers during colonialism have altered the cultures so significantly that there are very few commonalities.

Re: talk about stereotyping and generalizations

[tomorrowlander.livejournal.com]

Ahh this makes more sense, so i was missing something! :)
Thanks

Re: talk about stereotyping and generalizations

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Really, I think the blog could easily have been titled, "Things Middle-Class People Like." Of course, in America, the majority of the middle class happens to be Caucasian.

Also, as sophiaserpentia says, it's meant to poke uncomfortable fun. Kind of like that other website, "Black People Love Us!"

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I thought what I read was pretty funny. The stuff about being the only white person in the ethnic restaurant is very true, especially if it's an Asian restaurant. If it's an American southern or soul food restaurant, not so much.

And I laughed at the note at the bottom: "Note: This does not apply to night clubs."

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

See, that's something I would never have thought to parody.

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

I like #63, though the crowd I see at my local Panera is generally of mixed ethnicity. Doh, #62 is so true!

Funny stuff.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I thought you would get a kick out of #64, but I guess I was mistaken. (It's the one that sophiaserpentia posted as an example on her LJ and got me to visit the site in the first place.)

[dionysus1999.livejournal.com]

They were mostly amusing. Definitely a liberal granola white people list.

[thegreenyear.livejournal.com]

thanks for this; i've wondered for a while how white people are stereotyped. now i know! at least, how they are stereotyped by this one person.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, although again you should really thank sophiaserpentia.

I do have to admit, though, that I'm slightly surprised that you've wondered about white stereotypes "for a while". I don't want to make any assumptions as to your racial and/or ethnic background. Have you just not given it much thought?

(My first exposure to stereotypes about white people came from Richard Pryor. I was young and my parents played his albums; I didn't know any better. Still, I knew the caricatures took place in the realm of humor. SNL and the biting humor of Eddie Murphy continued this for several more years.)