Showing posts with label breaching stereotypes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breaching stereotypes. Show all posts

Wednesday, 6 February 2019

The State of the Book Launch

I did not watch Trump's speech because well, it's not like he's my president. But Van Jones posted a few clips of his reaction on my timeline, so I at least know that it was poop and cookies. He said Trump was happy about freeing Alice Walker with one hand and yet blase about taking immigrant children from their parents and human trafficking them, as well as the fact that federal workers have not been paid for months because THE WALL - with the other.
You know I knew people like Trump when I was in kindergarten. I told you I was the only black kid in my class right? And I had my own personal group of bullies? These two, three or five Indian girls. I don't know, I never counted. They'd surround me at break time and lunchtime, taunting me, teasing me. I dealt with them by ignoring them. They did not like that.
But then I had a birthday party and I think my mother invited the whole class. I think two people came. One white girl who basically dropped off a present and jetted and one of the Indian girls. I was sooo...flabbergasted because I didn't even know she was invited.
She further proceeded to discombobulate me by being so nice to me, my brain almost exploded. My mother was being her usual effervescent self, so happy that I 'had a friend' in school; and my little Indian torturer was so mesmerized she told me 'your mother is so beautiful."
Well she was, really.
So I had this cognitive dissonance where the girl who bullied me every day for a week was glued to my side at my own birthday party, stopping from socializing with anyone else, and acting like we were best friends.
Trump is like that Indian girl. He's a racist when he's around his racist friends but when he's talking to Van Jones and Kim Kardashian he cares about the incarcerated. But mostly he's a sociopath with no actual emotions of his own. He's just reacting to outside stimuli like a chameleon.
The thing with these racists is that they get confused about who they are because on an individual basis, they may get along with a member of the minority they discriminate against. So they use that as proof to themselves that they cannot absolutely be racist.
"I have a black friend."
"My wife is Mexican."
"My stylist is gay."
It's a curious dichotomy of living to realize that life is not black and white.
That's why Liam Neeson could walk around for a week looking for a black man to kill and not feel even a little bit like a racist. It's the environment. Did you know that the Klan was a distorted, corrupted rendition of the Scottish clans? They used to burn crosses to summon the clansmen to war. and now the Klan burns crosses to foster fear among black folk.
That's how they made America great.
Yes I know the Irish and the Scots are two different er...countries? Isles? But the Irish were just as racist especially when they were fighting each other and poor as fuck. When you have low self-esteem, you're always looking to find somebody whose neck can be constantly under your foot. It's why black men support Trump. Because him being a racist does not trump him being a misogynist. Even if they're on a 'lower tier' than your standard 'white misogynist racist' they at least feel that they are higher than women.
Joke's on them though because they are second from the bottom. At the top of this tier, at peak humanity and awesomeness, is African women.
Yes!
Deal with it.
We carry the entire world on our shoulders, uncomplaining and that is why Nadia doesn't even fight when she's told, marry this guy, or we end up on the street. She carries the responsibility of her family on her shoulders, just like all other women on this damned continent. Next tier from us is of course, black women from elsewhere and then the rest of you can arrange yourself according to the level of trash you're at.
Not saying African women do not have a level of trash. We absolutely do. Most of it is buried under mountains of family crap. And just like Nadia, we all probably need help.
Book launches Valentine's Day.

Tuesday, 24 October 2017

Stereotypically Unique

I never used to appreciate the significance of stereotyping in art until I began to watch Shadowhunters. Every character on there is the antithesis of what they're supposed to be. The gay head of institute, Alec Lightwood is as far from the stereotypical gay man as it is possible to get:
I think that subconsciously, Alec's differentness influenced my rendering of Ben in In Search of Paradise. Ben is the most like non-stereotypical gay guy too. He plays rugby, drinks beer, attends campus, has a typical rugby build. He's the guy all other guys want to be. He's the guy all the girls want. And he's gay. In fact, that whole book tries to throw out what your expectations of certain people are. You'll let me know if I succeeded yeah?
Back to Shadowhunters: Then we have Magnus, a bisexual warlock who knows how to be faithful. Apparently, bisexuality is associated with infidelity.

I have been aware of the debates and the importance of representation, mainly because of twitter. But I never applied it to me. After all, there are a finite number of ways in which female Africans are portrayed on screen; 
The helpless victim of oppression.

Or the exotic princess.
and that one's not even an African...
Or else they're background noise, especially Southern Sudanese people who do add a lot of color to the sea of white, don't they? Otherwise, they're Africans as African-Americans like Edi Gathegi in StartUp and Twilight and the myriad of other shows he's been in. Not that I'm complaining. He knocks it out of the park and I am here for it. I'm glad for his success but his characters are not me.
I sincerely do believe that someone on screen does not have to look like you or come from where you come from for you to relate to them. Still...some of the reason I'm soooo excited about Black Panther is it's almost all-black cast. Not just all black; but black people from everywhere. There's Kenya of course, Zimbabwe, Nigeria via the UK, African Americans, the islands...it's a veritable diaspora. That is exciting to me even though Wakanda is not my life. I also think its the first time an African location (albeit mythical) is portrayed as anything other than suffering and poor. It's the lack of stereotyping that is super exciting. Also Marvel. Also, black people being badass.


I was watching Rough Night the other day and with my new awareness of stereotypes, I realized that EVERYONE in that movie was a stereotype.
There was the pretty, popular blonde one who everyone wants to be friends with, the struggle fat girl who feels so grateful for the pretty one's friendship and is clingy, the black and bourgie one (p.s. has Zoe Isabella Kravitz kind of been typecast as 'your exotic negro'?), the struggle lesbian in flannel who doesn't comb her hair. They weren't even real people; they were just somebody's notion of how a certain cohort (I'm avoiding using stereotype so many times) of people behave and look.
I mean it was a good story, I enjoyed it. But...for once can the fat girl be the confident one? How about the black girl have other black friends? Oh, and I forgot the hippy, also doesn't comb her hair, doesn't stand up for herself when she's being insulted, gets to be the one who gets hurt, dirty blonde unwashed hair...
I mean, do you recognize yourself? Is this you? Or is this what people think you are?
Maybe we need to do away with stereotypes and focus more on characters huh? After all, we're all unique and special, right?
Book Launch for Charity is winding down. Have you got your pre-order yet? The price triples when the book goes live. So whether you're doing it for charity or to get a bargain, get that pre-order in now.