#Privileges and Responsibilities

[writingwithcolor]

Diversity Win: Is "Crazy Rich" POC Representation Necessarily Empowering?

sodapopsculptor asked:

I’m writing a story with two sets of protagonists: A trio with a Black girl, a Latino, and a Vietnamese-American boy who all come from middle-upper class to ridiculously rich families, and a pair of white working-middle class sisters. They’re all heroes of this story. I’ve seen way too many rich white people and poor poc people in fiction, and I’m kinda getting sick of it, but I’m worried that by having the poc kids be rich and the white girls not so much, I’ll be reinforcing the idea that poc somehow rule the world. The only time the rich kids use their status as leverage is when the Asian threatens to sic his cop dad on a bully (race unstated but I imagined him as white) picking on a freshman, and during the Black girl’s birthday party, when she pays the biggest jock there fifty bucks (And later says offhandedly that it was just what she had in her pocket) to chase off a creep hitting on her.

OP, have you ever seen the “diversity win!” meme before?

I understand that your motivation for these narrative choices is to give POC a chance, if you will, to be the rich characters. But it is evident from this ask that you have not asked yourself what this entails. I want to ask you to critically examine the race and class intersections you’re creating here, as well as these kids’ roles in oppressive systems.

You explain that these rich POC are heroes and only have righteous reasons for leveraging their power.

But is your Black girl character aware of the potential disciplinary and/or legal consequences her jock accomplice might face while she has the resources to keep her hands clean? Are you?

Is your Asian character aware of how much of an abuse of power it is to “sic” a cop on someone, and the sheer amount of harm a criminal record or incarceration does to a juvenile with behavior issues? Are you?

So you want to put POC in positions of power for #representation.

Does it resonate with the group you’re representing?

Do you research and portray the unique ways race, ethnicity, class, and majority vs. minority status come together?

Or are you putting these characters in oppressive hegemonic roles for the sake of a power fantasy, on behalf of a group you're not even in?

To your question, you're not reinforcing the idea that "POC rule the world" because such a generalized belief does not exist. Instead, you're reinforcing:

The idea that society has “winners” and “losers.”

The idea that the problem with disproportionately powerful people is the lack of “equal opportunity” as opposed to the power imbalance to begin with.

The idea that those in oppressive positions of power need only have the right intentions to justify their use of it.

To be clear: that is not to say that you can't have jerk aristocrat billionaire millionaire crazy rich POC. Evil or mean rich characters are fun! I have some myself! You can even have rich characters who are gentle-hearted and well-intentioned, but you have to know the ways in which they’re privileged and decide how aware of that your characters are. That’s no problem.

But if you think that wealthy and powerful POC would have the same values and priorities as their poorer counterparts, you’re deluding yourself. There’s a reason why the quote “power corrupts” exists. There’s a reason why no matter where you look on the globe, there are historical dictators and tyrants.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

~ Rina

I fully agree with Rina, and truly want to emphasize the last paragraph.

If you want bratty rich POC who lack regard for the consequences of their actions, because you want bratty rich characters, great! If you want them because it would be uplifting or empowering representation? You’re doing it for the wrong reason.

I don't think you need to aim to subvert or purposely make all the BIPOC rich and powerful and the white people poor and suffering. Add diversity and include upper class rich and class privileged BIPOC, sure thing! And you can avoid your fears of intentional subversion message by including rich and powerful white characters as well, even if they're not the focus of your story. Just their existence helps. You could also include middle-class characters of Color as well.

More reading: Black in upper-class society

~Mod Colette

#class #upper class #capitalism #POC #creator responsibility #asks #representation #wealth #privilege #subverting tropes #intersectionality #crazy rich asians #last edited 1/8/24

[bruciemilf]

One of my biggest pet peeves is the justice league being labelled as " The Avengers of DC" and its like. No? The avengers are law enforcement. The Justice League are volunteers

#its like -- captain america is the staple of US military and Superman is a public servant #the one avenger member who has no bounds or legal obligation is tony and its bc hes rich. you could argue that he actually lost #autonomy when shield recruited him because like. protection isn't necessary tied to 'good.' the avengers protect the planet bc sure #its what they believe in and feel like its their duty and yada yada but ultimately they're self serving and most of their #help is accidental. i say most of bc we've seen they abstain from getting involved unless they have a common interest #with dc its like. you have these people in a position of privilege (having superpowers -- which gives them a spot of advantage to ppl who #dont have it) who do the right thing because they WANT TO. and they can stop at any time because nothing stops them. #they COULD say 'yeah you're on your own. we don't really care anymore. duces!' but they Dont. #because through its many flaws dc realizes that goodness isn't only a choice -- its a responsibility #theres probably better ways to say this but. alas #batman #superman #wonder woman #green arrow #aquaman #the justice league #tjl #justice league #dc #dc comics #text #text post

[maesonc-artistic-adventures]

I’ve been scrolling through some of the Linked Universe tags the past few days and every so often I’ve come across your art, mostly of Warriors and Time and I just wanted to say I absolutely love it! Your art style is really cool and I love the way you colour the pieces you draw, it’s very nice! I hope you’re having an excellent day!

Thank you so much!! I’ve had so much fun drawing Warrior and Time shenanigans and it’s really helped push my art wrt character interactions

I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! 🥰🥰🥰

.

Time: So, what’s going on here?

Warriors: Not sure, but it definitely seems like something you should deal with.

#my money is on Legend and Four causing problems #they’re the real chaos duo of the Chain #my art #artist asks #artist of tumblr #tumblr artist #fanart #art #sketchbook #watercolor practice #colored pencils #linked universe fanart #lu fanart #lu time #lu warriors #the privilege of being the eldest brother but not group leader is getting to pass responsibility off to your baby brother #I am once again overwhelmed by yalls kind words and don’t know what else to do but draw #thank you so much seriously #alt title: POV: your trying to explain why you got arrested to your older brothers and both are trying not to laugh #tloz fanart #loz fanart

[lectorel]

Yet more vague blogging

"No one can be blamed for how Anakin turned out [except Anakin] - we all have parents who were imperfect and made mistakes but still loved us, Anakin had Shmi and then Obi-Wan, it's not their fault he got attached when he wasn't supposed to -"

Really. You don't think that it has anything to do with the trauma of knowing you can be killed or torn from everything you've ever known at the whim of your owner or even a total stranger, that even when you've been 'saved' you can't do anything to help the people left behind.

Nothing to do with being told that caring about a woman left behind in slavery is bad because it means he's attached to her, and then seeing her die because he tried to do what he was told and didn't go to her when she was in danger. That couldn't have possibly given Anakin reason to fear that if he loves someone, the Jedi will refuse to help them if they're in danger.

Completely separate from the manipulation and gaslighting of Palpatine, the trauma of being sent into a war at 19, the harm done by violently severing a child from his family and culture of origin and giving him no tools to deal with it.

No, Anakin's fall is 100% on him and the choices he made. No one else could possibly have contributed to it. How could I be so stupid as to miss that?

#star wars #my bottom line: #Anakin's fall was his responsibility and the result of his choices #but multiple parties were responsible for the psychological trauma that made him vulnerable to it #to say it's entirely on Anakin as if he just /decided/ to turn because he was selfish #no. #talking privileges revoked. #go to the shame corner.

[ohsalome]

I don't understand why they keep constantly undermining Ukraine's situation in favour of Palestine... This one especially feels terrible, considering what happened to Mariupol.

tumblr com /sayruq /742861158141313024

I don't know what to say. So tired of fucking stan-culturization of real human tragedies.

If anyone has time and inspiration, follow the link and напихайте хуїв їм за шиворот, especially this person

I see humans but no humanity

#response #we live in literal hell #and people from the safe affluent countries point fingers at us and complain how ''privileged'' we are

[batcavescolony]

So I'm watching Across The Spider-verse (finally) and could you imagine Gwen's Captain Stacey meeting other Captain Stacey's? Do you think they'd be pissed? He doesn't know it but he's from one of the handful of universes where Gwen doesn't die. How many Captain Stacey's across the multi-verse would take a Gwen that is a Spider-person because at least SHE'S ALIVE?

#captain stacy #gwen stacy #spider gwen #ghost spider #accross the spiderverse #into the spider verse #Cap Stacey Earth-65: yeah my daughter is a vigilante so i pointed a gun at her- #Cap Stacey 1: what? #cap Stacey 2: ... #Cap Stacey 3: i hate him already #Cap Stacey 65: SHES A VIGILANTE! im a cop. she is responsible for the death o- #Cap Stacey 2: yeah BUT SHES ALIVE!!!! #Cap Stacey 3: you don't know how good you have it #Cap Stacey 1: Gwen Stacy dies in 90% of the universes shes in! you're one of the few where she. is. ALIVE. and you... POINTED A GUN AT HER #Cap Stacey 65: ... what #Cap Stacey 2: you know what! child privileges REVOKED we'll take her. #Cap Stacey 3: your daughter is ours now. get out. #spider people #spiderman #across the spiderverse #miguel o'hara #spiderman atsv #atsv #earth 65 #spider woman #spiderwoman #imagine your daughter dies then you see across the multi-verse and you see she dies a lot. but then you meet a version of you where she #doesn't die. and he pushed her away. like yeah vigilante bad but also at least she's not DEAD. but no hes decided to waste his chance.

[anartisticalniche]

Headcanon that once they start dating they keep trolling and steal random stuff to just piss each other off.

#i can assure that Four is being a lil bitch and not flirty in the slightest XD #and Three is annoyed to no end lol #boyfriend privileges where i fucking kill you if you troll me /hj #smg4 #smg3 #smg34 #my art #not shown is Four sad emoji sent as a response as he keeps on being a pathetic ass of a partner

[catoscloves]

one of the many things to love about katniss is that she's not spiteful, or revenge minded, no matter how many reasons society and her circumstances give her to be, and always has empathy for others.

and this extends to people she doesn't have much emotional connection to. for as much as she regarded the careers as the capitol's well trained lapdogs, she killed cato out of mercy rather than revenge. she acknowledged that cato and clove could have survived if her and peeta hadn't, that someone like marvel who murdered her ally (a twelve year old, the most innocent and vulnerable person in the arena and who katniss saw as a sister) might have had a life to go back to, a home with family members waiting for his return. she felt guilty during her interactions with gloss and cashmere because she killed children from their district that they might have mentored. katniss explicitly said she did not like enobaria as a person, but didn't want to exclude her from the protection deal with coin.

katniss also has a kind view of people that, as cinna himself said, she should have despised. the capitol citizens are vapid and privileged and watch children like her die for their entertainment every year. yet katniss still forges a relationship with cinna and is able to be vulnerable and share her private stories and treasured memories with him acting as the capitol audience. and while she sees her prep team as ignorant and childish pets, she does have affection for them and objected to them being tortured in district thirteen. even though effie literally comes to her district representing the most evil aspect of the capitol and every year sends two children from her home to die, katniss still sees her redeeming characteristics, bonds with effie, and makes an effort to spare her from the rebels.

no matter who the person is or what they might have done to her/her loved ones, katniss recognizes humanity in everyone and attempts to limit the suffering of others when possible, regardless of her personal opinion about them.

#the hunger games #i think this is one of the most important aspects of katniss's character #she recognizes that almost everyone around her is in some way a pawn/victim of people like snow & coin #even if they have their flaws (the careers) and privilege (the capitol citizens) she knows they are not responsible #and holds the true guilty people (coin and snow) accountable #katniss everdeen #thg meta #thg analysis #and this is especially seen when coin suggests using the capitol kids in a final symbolic Games #coin is using this move as a power bid rather than for justice #johanna and enobaria want to exact revenge #but katniss knows that even if the capitol is responsible for her suffering using their children to settle their crimes would make her #and everything she stands for #just as despicable

[virtualcarrot]

[DE] musing abt the limits of superficial acab discourse and the way fandom deals with moral discomfort, I guess

“ACAB”, “the only happy ending should be leaving the RCM”, “you’re a terrible person if you draw/write these characters enjoying the sort of corrupt cop stuff that they canonically do in-game” discourse is killing meeee

God forbid you don’t performatively remind everyone that you do hate cops, actually; and god forbid that you don’t find that True Healing and Happiness for Disco Elysium’s characters can only be achieved by leaving the force.

Metas could be written about how Kim and Harry are actually deeply flawed people who enjoy wielding some form of authority in a way that they actually feel best working as cops

(is it healthy? no. is it Good™? no. Is it true to their character? this is where media interpretation comes in)

Metas could be written about how that doesn’t mean ACAB isn’t real, that just means they’re the kind of shitheads (that we, the players, still love) who enjoy being cops

Metas could be written questioning the amount they’d have to change to adapt to a life as civilians, how much and what kind of a push they’d need to go for it,  if it’s change they could even manage, if they could financially survive it, if they could find fulfillment in any other career, at their age

But no. Why waste time on that instead of easy slogans. I mean, we like them, these characters, and we don’t want to feel guilty for liking them, because what does it say about us, then, that we like flawed cops?

(nothing it says nothing it says we played a good nuanced extremely well-written game that skillfully made us like the sort of character whose past actions include sequestering some woman and beating a dude into disability. that’s what it says. i’d even argue that discomfort is part of the point)

#fandom #disco elysium #spoilers #meta : disco elysium #And hey! #I'm not saying that there aren't people out there writing corrupt cop content without realizing just how disturbing those behaviors are #either because of normalization #copaganda #privilege #or just deciding that they don't care enough to over analyze amateur works of fiction #(which while not ideal an argument can be made for to some extent) #what I'm saying is that the vast majority of ACAB discussion/content I've seen in this fandom is based on morality #and the search for an ideal more hopeful solution #more than character psychology #and while the hope for better is perfectly understandable and A-ok #and is where everyone should find a place to pitch their headcanons #the use of morality and politics as a blunt weapon to bludgeon people with and beat them into silence is exhausting #in general not even in this specific situation/fandom #especially since usually it amounts to: this UPSET ME (maybe even for good reason) so I'm going to make it YOUR PROBLEM #and RESPONSIBILITY

[greenishness]

You can’t force people to be honest with you. If you’re an up-front person who doesn’t have a problem asking for what you need, it can be easy to interpret wishy-washiness as cowardly and manipulative. It obviously sucks to be in emotional limbo, and I don’t blame you for interpreting their silence as a punishment. But have you considered it might also be a form of self-protection?

“Why won’t X tell me what’s wrong? I’m not a mind reader!” is a common complaint. But the question which often occurs to me is, who does that clarity benefit? Does the teller have reasonable grounds to believe expressing their anger is a safe or productive thing to do? Is it going to lead to deeper understanding, or just another argument? Is the person demanding an explanation going to listen, or use the teller’s complaint to retaliate, linguistically outmanoeuvre them, or adopt a position of victimhood? Often a request for clarity is disingenuous. We know what we’ve done and just don’t want to have to be the one to bring it up, because we feel guilty, and it’s easier to take a defensive posture than proactively apologise.

Not to mention that when we’re upset, the last thing we want is to give the person who offended us an opportunity to relitigate the situation. Especially if there’s wounded pride involved. It can be humiliating to confess the depth of your hurt feelings. That kind of honesty is an act of generosity, not emotional obligation. 

Help Me Hera: Our Couple BFF's Won't Forgive Us

#this has gotten me through the last month i am not even kidding not even a little bit . #it articulates something that i have been trying to put my finger on for a while now #that articulating the depth of your hurt and humiliation to the person responsible for it is an act of incredible vulnerability #and if you choose to do that i'm proud of you! but it is a privilege that you alone have to right to bestow #'i can't make it better if i don't know what' wrong' is such an insidious way of reversing power dynamics #and frankly an incredibly entitled way to view the world like who asked you to make it better? maybe you'll just have to stew #no one is obligated to share their innermost self with you no matter how badly you want them to #and if you cannot accept that very basic boundary then i have an idea why someone else might be so mad at you

[irhabiya]

im still thinking about this one guy in my medical anthropology elective idk why his comment pissed me off so much but i haven't been able to get it off my mind.

we were having a general discussion about the intersection between healthcare and politics, who gets to be sick, who gets to be treated and who will never be either and this guy said something like "disease affects people regardless of their socioeconomic status. covid didn't exclude the rich for example" ... how can u be this fucking obtuse as a young adult i don't get it

#i think what set me off is that a lot of people (immigrants) shared stories of their homelands that were absolutely decimated #and how much harder it is to access basic medical care there. syrians palestinians iraqis egyptians yemenis afghans libyans #and this khaleeji guy's response to detailed descriptive insight of inequity in healthcare is “disease is the great equalizer” #genuinely wonder how privileged do you have to be your whole life to even say a sentence like that after all you've heard #insufferable #🩺

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

Superman and Spiderman would at first think they had nothing in common and then they would become best friends this is because both of them as characters center around themes of responsibility

#speaking from a place of privilege (understands superman) #anyway watching superman and lois huge fan of how they're leaning so hard into op superman like he has FROST BREATH #but the REAL ISSUE is balancing of responsibility and the fact that a superpowered man is still a man. with a dying mother and a son who #won't talk to him #fuck man they get it!!! they get it!!! make a good man compelling!!!!

[quotidian-oblivion]

I think my brain's broken.

Anyone have a band-aid?

#guys i dont think the adult life is for me #so from now on i'm somehow legally declaring myself as a Permanent Child #i think i'd rather stay 15 forever #bye bye adult life #i'm disowning my future adult self #no your stupid number 18 is not allowed to touch me #i'll get a restraining order just you watch #quotidian convos #quotidian is so frickin done #how do adults even put up with this? #this is horrible #its a disease #a disease that needs to be cured ASAP #hashtag getridofadulthood #mainly the responsibilities that come with it #i'll take the privilege of making my own decisions unquestioned thanks

[matrixrry]

relying on advertisers = changing your content to meet sponsors' demands. THAT'S what "we want to rely less on advertisers" is about. it's literally part of detangling creativity and art from capitalism by saying no, we're going to make this according to our vision, not according to what's palatable to companies with massive advertising budgets.

#watcher #I'm honestly so disheartened by the lack of critical thinking happening here #''capitalism is when i have to pay for something'' #no ❤️ #a world governed by corporate advertising is a world where creativity dies #i completely understand that not everyone can pay for it but that is literally what community is for #those of us who can foot the bill have a *responsibility* to share that privilege imo #and save us all from the evils of adsense!!!!!!

[n0ne0ftheab0ve]

the thing about lestat is. he is just serving 24/7. he is everything he's doing every category tens tens tens across the board.

he's claudia's fucked up mommy dearest, he's antoinette's rich daddy, he's louis' drug of choice lover of all time. he's a coked up showpony, he's in love and can't be held responsible for his actions, he's a poor traumatized boy handed riches beyond comprehension, he IS the cycle of abuse-- abuser and abused and then abuser a few more times again. he's a lover of the arts and a pompous shallow prick who only reads the first 20 pages of books. he's an adamant athiest who speaks in the language of florid reliousity. he is fucking cuckoo bananas CRAZY and yes he's a natural blonde.

#lestat de lioncourt #iwtv #interview with the vampire #lestat #also shout out to that post that was like rebecca bunch 🤝 lestat de lioncourt both just girlies in luv #who cant be held responsible for their actions #because. yeah. exactly. #also yes yes i am going insane over the gothic horror romance vampire show #oh i didnt put this in the list of lestat epithets bc it didn't fit the vibe but. he is also ULTIMATE white privilege man #chooses to opt out of the system of race declaring it petty human nonsense An option only AVAILABLE to him thru his place in the hierarchy #i.e. at the very top!!! #love the show for being VERY clear abt that

[commsroom]

eiffel and hera both hate rules, have authority issues, will go out of their way to make things difficult just because they hate being told what to do, etc. but the crucial difference is that hera gets purposeful and angry and vindictive about it in a way eiffel doesn't have to. it's something she has to fight for and the greater the stakes the more it means for her, personally, to be able to resist orders. eiffel is pretty much the same to anyone giving him any type of orders, by which i mean he's like "yeah, yeah, don't worry about it, i've totally got this" ← already forgot what he was told.

#wolf 359 #w359 #doug eiffel #hera wolf 359 #you know what i mean. eiffel is a dedicated slacker and will do anything to avoid work even if it's actually making more work for him #and i think that's deeply admirable #but it's different for hera who has so much riding on. the way she presents herself and the responsibility she shoulders #it's an act of resistance and i think eiffel makes space for her but it's like. this isn't a particularly serious post so #i'll get into it later but i think there's something about eiffel's relative privilege and the way. he overlooks some things because of it #but also at his best is able to leverage that in defense of others. and particularly hera. anyway.