Life With the Dead

I think I’m the only one on this planet who hasn’t seen the Avengers yet.

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This is the least stressful finals week I’ve ever experienced.

Actually managed to get a sunburn today.

Thank you, Texas, for denying the existence of Spring.

I am so hungry.

…but I really want to eat healthy again. I want to focus on raw, dry and vegetarian foods more.

Yep, I need to go to the store.

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Dear followers,

I am making this into a personal blog. To some of you, that means that this blog will become irrelevant. If that is the case, I encourage you to unfollow.

-Thanks

Field School

Pretty sure I’m going to be accepted into this cultural/archaeological field school I applied to! I’ve already heard back from the professor who’s read through and enjoyed my application. So excited.

Money to pay for it? Another question entirely.

I’ve made a personal blog of sorts

…for things that don’t seem relevant to this blog’s tags. My life-with-the-dead posts are always tidy and organized into their proper places, but I want to avoid posting music, personal stuff/camwhoring, and irrelevant things on here (and I want a blog where I can be lazy & stop worrying about tags).

So here it is…

life-with-the-living

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Nightmare

Last night, I had this terrible dream that the Tumblr community accused me of plagiarizing a Valentine.

It seems like an absurd thing to have a nightmare about, but it did bring up a couple of questions about intellectual property…

We’re constantly re-posting, sampling, citing, and re-spinning ideas. Do any of us truly have original thoughts? Who are we to accuse others of copying when we are copying our predecessors?

I have exams this week & my queue is empty. Don’t hold your breath, Tumblr.

(but I still love you!)

Part 2 of the “Unpopular Opinion?” Cultural Appropriation discussion

Firstly, I’d like to thank all for the overwhelming and wonderful response to the beginning of the discussion on cultural appropriation here. I personally found the responses by saaraeliisavaris and gardant well worth reading.

Still, I feel like we, the Tumblr community, focus much more on the negative colonial mentality of entitlement than we do on the education of those who are committing cultural (mis)appropriation (to borrow from gardant’s much more appropriate terminology).

I think, after some reflection, my qualms in hearing the terms ‘cultural appropriation’ and ‘cultural appreciation,’ shouted high and low on the internet, do not lie in defense of those who commit material misappropriation. Perhaps it would be better to take a moment, whenever we see something wrong or out-of-context, to explain why we (or anyone else, for that matter) might be offended by what we see.

An example of dissecting cultural misappropriation:

Our stereotypical “fashionable-girl-in-a-headdress,” the British “model” Felice Fawn.

(via delacroix):

“ In general, this kind of cultural appropriation is really disrespectful and offensive because it trivializes something sacred. But adding sexualization to the mix takes it from disrespectful to downright dangerous because Native American women are sexually victimized at rates far higher than women of every other ethnic group in the United States:

• Over 1 in 3 Native American women will be raped at least once. They are 2.5 times more likely to be raped than women of any other ethic group.
• During those rapes, Native American women are 20% more likely to be battered, injured, or assaulted with a weapon than any other ethnic group. (At least 90% are battered, 50% sustain serious injuries, and 35% are assaulted with a weapon.)
• 17% of Native women are victims of stalking, compared to the 4.5-8% among other ethnic groups. Native stalking victims are at least 1.5 times more likely to be raped or killed than women of other ethnic groups.
• Native American women are the only group more likely to be raped by a stranger than by someone they know. (Typically, women are 73% more likely to be raped by someone they know. Native women are raped by strangers 70% of the time. )
• Native American women are the only ethnic group more likely to be raped by someone of a different race. 86% of rapes perpetrated against Native women are committed by non-Natives (70% being perpetrated by whites). 
• Until a new law was passed a year and a half ago, that meant 86% of rapists were untouchable because tribal authorities had no jurisdiction over non-Native defendants and federal authorities almost always decline to prosecute rapes. 
• Under the new law, though, tribal courts can only impose a maximum sentence of 3 years. The average rape sentence for assaults against women of other ethnic groups is 11.8 years.

There’s an obvious pattern of intense victimization and injustice there, and I think objectification plays a large, steady part in that especially due to our society’s ingrained colonial attitudes. I think anything that furthers those attitudes—even with non-malicious intentions—puts Native American people, especially women, at risk. ”

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Unpopular Opinion? A rant on “cultural appr__.”

I am an Anthropology/Archaeology student, and I get really mad when others get angry about “cultural appropriation.” In fact, I get annoyed when people use the term “cultural appreciation” too.

Yes, there are some ignorant people out there who take aspects of other cultures out of context. Yes, there are people who “pick and choose” things they like in another culture and adopt them.

If these adopted aspects of another culture offend you, whomever you may be, then I feel for you. I am human, just like you, and am quite capable of empathy.

Still, I have to ask: Where would we be if no one ever borrowed from another culture? Where would we be if human beings refused to adapt, or to adopt behaviors/art styles/tools/(insert human creations here)?

Even as a write, the sense of “otherness” (contained in the condemnation or defense of borrowing from separate cultures) created horrifies me.  I understand that humans like to divide into groups, that humans like to distinguish themselves as individuals, but everyone truly needs to pause for a moment and think.

The internet does not distinguish color, culture, ethnicity, familial ties, political beliefs, or subcultures (not until we bring them up, anyways).  Our language may reflect our culture, but we are all human.  Our DNA is extremely similar. Race isn’t even real in a scientific sense. If we look back in time far enough, we are all related to the same people, who lived on the African continent.

So why is everybody so angry?

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Gotta be honest with you, Tumblr…

I use the queue on a daily basis so that my blog stays active. Sometimes, it makes me feel like I’m cheating at the internet.