Ethnicity and culture: Difference between revisions
made the article less racist overall, and replaced "latinx" with "latino" due to the term being more accepted among latinos
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===Cultural appropriation=== | ===Cultural appropriation=== | ||
Cultural appropriation is the act of taking things from another culture that belong only to that culture. Cultural appropriation is a mistake that nonbinary people themselves can make. There are many words for [[gender identity|gender identities]] and [[gender expression]]s that belong only to people of color, or only to a certain ethnicity or culture. People from other ethnicities and cultures aren't entitled to call themselves by those words, because they would be taking something that doesn't belong to them. For example, the gender/sexual identities of [[ag]] (aggressive) and [[Glossary_of_English_gender_and_sex_terminology#S|stud]] originated in Black and | Cultural appropriation is the act of taking things from another culture that belong only to that culture. Cultural appropriation is a mistake that nonbinary people themselves can make. There are many words for [[gender identity|gender identities]] and [[gender expression]]s that belong only to people of color, or only to a certain ethnicity or culture. People from other ethnicities and cultures aren't entitled to call themselves by those words, because they would be taking something that doesn't belong to them. For example, the gender/sexual identities of [[ag]] (aggressive) and [[Glossary_of_English_gender_and_sex_terminology#S|stud]] originated in Black and Latino/Hispanic culture<ref>{{cite news|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022063719/http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-04-03/nyc-life/girls-to-men/|archive-date=22 October 2008|date=3 April 2007|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-04-03/nyc-life/girls-to-men/|title=Girls to Men|last=Hilliard|first=Chloe A.|newspaper=The Village Voice}}</ref>, thus only those groups of people can call themselves by these words. | ||
Cultural appropriation generally refers to a white person taking something that should only belong to people of color | Cultural appropriation generally refers to a white person taking something that should only belong to people of color. However, it is still a problem for people of color to appropriate from the cultures of different groups of people. For example, a Black nonbinary person is not entitled to call themself Two-Spirit, as this identity can only be adopted by Native Americans. That case is still cultural appropriation. | ||
Sometimes there is dispute about whether a word belongs only to a certain culture, and if so, to which. The word "boi" has many meanings in different groups, and there are currently people of all ethnic backgrounds who call themselves by that word. A person who studies language and tells people how they should talk (a prescriptivist linguist) may say the word should still only be used by Black people. A different kind of linguist, who documents how language is used, without telling people what to do (a descriptivist linguist), would have a different view. Another dispute is about the name and description of the nonbinary gender identity [[pangender]] ("pan" meaning all). Critics express the concern that this means that person also has all ethnic genders. Otherwise, such a person should only say they have "many genders," and call themself [[multigender]]. Supporters of the word "pangender" say that by "all genders," they only mean all the genders that they're entitled to, within their own ethnicity and culture. | Sometimes there is dispute about whether a word belongs only to a certain culture, and if so, to which. The word "boi" has many meanings in different groups, and there are currently people of all ethnic backgrounds who call themselves by that word. A person who studies language and tells people how they should talk (a prescriptivist linguist) may say the word should still only be used by Black people. A different kind of linguist, who documents how language is used, without telling people what to do (a descriptivist linguist), would have a different view. Another dispute is about the name and description of the nonbinary gender identity [[pangender]] ("pan" meaning all). Critics express the concern that this means that person also has all ethnic genders. Otherwise, such a person should only say they have "many genders," and call themself [[multigender]]. Supporters of the word "pangender" say that by "all genders," they only mean all the genders that they're entitled to, within their own ethnicity and culture. | ||
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* If you make a collection of pictures or personal profiles of many nonbinary people, they should not all be white. This often happens in such collections. It gives an incomplete view of what nonbinary people are like. | * If you make a collection of pictures or personal profiles of many nonbinary people, they should not all be white. This often happens in such collections. It gives an incomplete view of what nonbinary people are like. | ||
* If you make spaces for nonbinary people, work hard to make those spaces safe for people of color. Some ways to do that: | * If you make spaces for nonbinary people, work hard to make those spaces safe for people of color. Some ways to do that: | ||
** Have a zero-tolerance policy about not allowing any | ** Have a zero-tolerance policy about not allowing any white supremacists into those spaces. Accepting bigots is the wrong way to do acceptance. | ||
** Educate yourself about warning signs that someone might be a white supremacist, so you can expel them from the space before they do damage. Do research online to find out about some signs to watch for, especially some kinds of things they tend to say, and some symbols they wear to recognize one another. | ** Educate yourself about warning signs that someone might be a white supremacist, so you can expel them from the space before they do damage. Do research online to find out about some signs to watch for, especially some kinds of things they tend to say, and some symbols they wear to recognize one another. | ||
** Educate yourself about how to recognize casual racism. Make sure your safe space for nonbinary people reprimands casual racism whenever it might happen, instead of staying silent about it. | ** Educate yourself about how to recognize casual racism. Make sure your safe space for nonbinary people reprimands casual racism whenever it might happen, instead of staying silent about it. | ||
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** Educate yourself about how to be aware and respectful of different cultural backgrounds of the people in that space. That means not lazily expecting those people to educate you, but doing your own research on your own time. Only ask them questions when research is no substitute for it. Don't expect them to speak for all of their people. | ** Educate yourself about how to be aware and respectful of different cultural backgrounds of the people in that space. That means not lazily expecting those people to educate you, but doing your own research on your own time. Only ask them questions when research is no substitute for it. Don't expect them to speak for all of their people. | ||
* Don't perpetuate binarism by talking about the gender binary as if it was always universal to all cultures. Don't take for granted that all cultures view gender in the same or similar way. | * Don't perpetuate binarism by talking about the gender binary as if it was always universal to all cultures. Don't take for granted that all cultures view gender in the same or similar way. | ||
* In 2014, as part of the protest of police violence against African-Americans, Twitter users created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, to protest how the law system was treating them like their lives had no value. Soon, people created other hashtags in the same format to tweet about other kinds of injustice, such as #TransLivesMatter. That hashtag could be acceptable if tweeting about how | * In 2014, as part of the protest of police violence against African-Americans, Twitter users created the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, to protest how the law system was treating them like their lives had no value. Soon, people created other hashtags in the same format to tweet about other kinds of injustice, such as #TransLivesMatter. That hashtag could be acceptable if tweeting about how [[cissexism#transphobia|transphobic]] violence also affects black trans women. Then it's still related to the original message. However, if the context is about white trans people only, using that hashtag would be a questionable decision, due to its roots. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||