I will first say that I dont take any offense to anyone who is interested in Japanese tv, art, culture, history, language, fashion, etc. In fact, more power to those people! Japan is an interesting place, and its completely different from anywhere else in the world. Broaden your horizons, learn new things, have fun with it! Embracing and adopting these things, as well as Japanese values and traditions, is a right that everyone is entitled to. Im also not upset or offended about this girls passion for makeup, for fashion, or for her interest in Japan (while I do think its a little bit eccentric, I dont see a problem with it). However, for people who are actually half Japanese, this is extremely offensive. Being half is not a trend. Its like a tutorial showing how to look Arab, Latino/a, or Black (she actually has tutorials on how to look like an Arab doll and how to look Korean). Its a look that youre born with, its in your blood, and its not something that can be adopted for other peoples pleasure. Yes, being half can be a privilege in Japan, but its not always a good thing. I am not the only half Japanese person in America, or in Japan, that has been discriminated or picked on because of my appearance, and for someone to take what is essentially my identity and make it into a costume is degrading. Blame it on ignorance, but people like this girl have done enough research on Japanese heritage--theres no excuse. And Ive run into quite a few of them in my life--one or two who have even criticized me for not being very Japanese. Also, DO NOT fake a Japanese accent like this girl does. Part of her accent is because shes Swedish, but she misspeaks incorrectly on purpose--this is not a normal Swedish accent. This is also offensive. Many Japanese people work hard in order to try to learn English, and some of them really dont like their accents. Again, its something out of their control, and there are people who are copying them. Its completely disrespectful. I dont care how badly you want to be Japanese. Theres no checklist. Its not about how much you care about Japan, its not about how much you think your ideas/values fall in line with Japanese culture, its not even how many times youve been there, and its for damn sure not about how much anime youve seen. If you werent born and raised there (socialization is important), or if you do not have a drop of it in your blood, you have no claim. Soak in as much of the culture as you want, but recognize your own heritage/ethnicity/identity first. #LessonOfTheDay
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 02:20:23 +0000
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