Hibachi Yourself
06/07/2011
Dark Girls: Preview.
I think I may have watched this trailer over 5 times at the very least. Who knows what will happen once the actual documentary is released toward the end of this year.
Those who know me, also know how passionate I am toward this issue of ‘colorism’ and its prevalence in South Asian and South Asian American communities. The preview above is an incredibly powerful look into this same issue among African Americans. There are so many parallels that illustrate the universality of this complex and how they socially manipulate individuals, mostly women, to believe a certain way about beauty.
The most powerful theme of these stories is how this prejudice is perpetuated internally by the very own communities we call our own. One young woman in reference to her skin says “I thought it was dirt and I tried to clean it off”. In Urdu/Hindi, sometimes the phrase “rung saaf hai” is used to describe someone’s light skin which literally translates to “clean skin”. The most discomforting part is that no one will question the language we use to describe appearances.
Cleary, I can’t wait for this documentary to be released. Everyone around me is going Lady Gaga over Hangover 2 and I’m sitting in my room repeatedly watching this preview over and over at odd hours of the day and night, memorizing the pain on the faces of these women and the subtle relief they feel expelling their thoughts that were probably hidden for way too long.
Going back to how language is used to substantiate this prejudice, one woman in the clip gives examples of some of the words used to describe darker women such as “exotic” and “fascinating”. How come Bipasha Basu, one of Bollywood’s darkest actresses, is always described as India’s sex kitten or the object of men’s fantasies? How often do fantasies reflect the real world? The quote that really hit me hard was when a woman said “the darker you are, it’s more of a sexual approach. It’s more of a relationship without much meaning sort of approach than it is ‘I can get married to that woman and have a few kids’”. Obviously, there are exceptions but why are they exceptions?
It’s so funny, no matter how many tumblr posts, fb posts, tweets or articles I send out concerning color, I never get the responses I’m hoping for. Let me break it down for you. There are three types of audiences I’ve had the pleasure and displeasure of experiencing in efforts to raise awareness of colorism. Ready for the breakdown?
1. The not-so-subtle subject changers: these individuals, some of whom include those closest to me, for some reason feel really uncomfortable when I point something out or try to start a conversation about dark versus light skin. It’s like they would rather be getting a root canal over listening me talk about the plight of dark girls. Their discomfort is quite obvious when they use awkward humor or transitions to change the subject to something more in tune with their interests and of course safely within their circle of safe space.
2. The slightly ignorant talkers: I actually prefer interacting with this group over #1 because at least they say something. For example, people have compared this issue to the American obsession with tanning and others believe colorism “isn’t that big of a deal”. The most difficult part for me is to professionally manage my frustration in these conversations. I have to constantly keep in mind that several years from now, these experiences are going to help me be an unbiased, respectable researcher. But of course, now and again I still let some of that anger come out over heated tweets or wall posts. No one’s perfect.
3. The future change makers: Only a handful of people I’ve come into contact with fit this category. These are the individuals who have taken a genuine interest in learning more and have taken some time to dissect this mentality with me. Like I’ve said before in my older posts, it’s all about raising awareness, sparking conversations that I truly do believe will lead to gradual positive change.
Pop quiz: what would you do in a family setting if someone were to use derogatory language to categorize men or women based on their skin tone? Do you ignore it and pretend it was never said? Do you agree with what is being said or even more frightening, do you simply not hear it? If not, then fucking start listening because it’s real, even if you don’t identify with it. Believe me, your ignorance is painfully blatant.
Thanks, Sarah, for sending this preview my way. And I appreciate those of you who read my post :) I apologize for the lack of structure but it’s 2 am right now.
Video posted at 01:03
02/18/2011
Photo posted at 16:10
» CNNMoney Tech Tumblr: "Cheers -- can't wait to tweet/tumble/Facebook this later!"
photo via White House Flickr stream
As we posted yesterday, Mr. President had a little party last night in San Francisco to chat with leaders in the tech space. And the White House Flickr’d party pix today!
Out of all the (mostly) old white dudes (oh yeah, and Carol Bartz plus a…
Link posted at 16:06
02/16/2011
» Next Big Sound: Arcade Fire and Esperanza Spalding win big at the Grammys, spike on Next Big Sound
We captured some incredible data after Grammy winners were announced Sunday night:
Album of the Year winner Arcade Fire recorded a 661% increase in new fans through Monday evening after the Grammy awards. This data is compared to the amount of fans that Arcade Fire had on January 24th, the…
Link posted at 12:58
02/11/2011
» http://ismubarakstillpresident.com/
(Source: motherjones, via cheatsheet)
Link posted at 12:18
02/07/2011
BREAKING: AIM convo b/w Huffington and ex-Time Warner CEO Gerald Levin uncovered!
- AriannaHuff: Hey, Jerry, can you keep a secret?
- JLevs613: Um, who am I going to tell? Every1 h8s me. LOL.
- AriannaHuff: Good point. AOL wants to buy HuffPost! $$$!
- JLevs613: ROTFL
- AriannaHuff: No, srsly, what do u think?
- JLevs613: Good 4 u. Did you get a free 5,000 mins of AOL on CD as part of the deal? :-)
- AriannaHuff: LMAO. But srsly, AOL wants 2 buy a media company. What could go wrong?
- JLevs613: Can't think of n-e-thing off top of my head.
- AriannaHuff: Me neither. Going to call Tim to OK it. ttyl! kthxbye!
- JLevs613: n-e job 4 me there?
- This user has signed off. IMs will be delivered when the buddy signs in.
Conversation posted at 14:33
01/30/2011
Mark Zuckerberg meets his doppelganger
The rumors were true! Mark Zuckerberg made a cameo on SNL last night to kick off Jesse Eisenberg’s hosting stint — supposedly the first time Facebook’s founder has met the actor who just scored an Oscar nomination for playing him. And yes, it’s every bit as awkward as you’d expect. But on the up side: Zuck remembered to blink!
Skip to the 2:30 mark to get to the relevant bit. -Stacy
Text posted at 15:13
01/29/2011
An 8-year-old breaks it down for Mubarak.
Video posted at 20:27
More incredible photos of Egyptian women supporting the uprising: Women of Egypt.
Egyptian protester kissing riot police
(Source: noleadersplease, via aminamania)
Photo posted at 20:21
01/28/2011
Created by Arbor Networks’ chief scientist Craig Labovitz, spotted by eagle-eyed CNNMoney reporter Hibah Yousuf.
Here’s an excellent visual of what happened after Egypt cut off Twitter access to its citizens.
Also see: Social networks seen going dark in Egypt.
Photo posted at 21:11
01/27/2011
» Muslim population in the U.S. will double by 2030, topping 6 million
In the United States, the population projections show the number of Muslims more than doubling over the next two decades, rising from 2.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030, in large part because of immigration and higher-than-average fertility among Muslims.
The Muslim share of the U.S. population (adults and children) is projected to grow from 0.8% in 2010 to 1.7% in 2030, making Muslims roughly as numerous as Jews or Episcopalians are in the United States today.
Although several European countries will have substantially higher percentages of Muslims, the United States is projected to have a larger number of Muslims by 2030 than any European country other than Russia and France.
via Pew Research
Link posted at 11:45
This may be your life starting next fall, but it’ll be so worth it. Congratulations, Hareem!
Photo posted at 11:29
01/26/2011
Obama talked about the economy/jobs, energy, the deficit, China, and various other topics during last night’s SOTU, but America loved that smoked salmon joke, according the the word cloud generated by 4,000 NPR listeners’ description of the speech.
Photo posted at 15:30
01/25/2011
A quick history lesson and an inside look at the making of President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union Address.
Video posted at 16:56
01/21/2011
» Get yr mob nicknames here!
The Gimp…uh, what?
In honor (?) of the 127 mafioso swept up in a huge FBI sting this week, find out what you’d be called if you were a made man. I’m Twenty Eyes (wtf?), which is at least better than Boyfriend getting “Frankenberry.” Get your own at the link above! - Julianne
Link posted at 22:23
