Cultural appropriation is bad, m'kay?

[wendyzski]

Someone linked me to this post this morning  

First of all, most of the images are significantly heavier on the tropes of Cyberpunk (in their use of things like keyboards, CDs and computer circuitry) than Steampunk.  But that is not my issue with them.

I

find them offensive because they have chosen to focus on the cartoonish western stereotypes of "Indians" - the wise old man with feathers on his head, the half-naked savage, and the sexually-suggestive half-dressed 'squaw'.  I don't think you have to be of Native descent to find this offensive - I look at these images and I'm embarrassed to be white! 

To make a more personal reference (for those who feel I'm not allowed to have an opinion on this because I'm not of native descent) it's just as offensive as the people who think they are being "Irish" by eating Corned Beef and Cabbage (which is NOT Irish at all) and drinking until they throw up every St. Patrick's Day.  

I was also called out on my reference to "art" being in quotations, as being dismissive.  I believe that the object of art is to provoke a reaction and to create conversation.  Now, these images do provoke a reaction in me, but it has nothing to do with the art or the technique, but because of the cultural biases implied by the choice of subject.  The pairing of apparently scavenged found objects, even of a technical origin, with the stereotypical images of the "outsider Indian" just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. While I am not familiar with the artist or their body of work, I also refuse to believe that labeling something as Art makes it automatically beyond any question or reproach.  That's why I used the quotation marks.

 There aren't even any specific references to garb of any particular nation or tribe - just a mishmosh of what westerners think of as "Indian Dress".  I'd feel the same if they were depictions of "Towel-Head Arabs", or Sing-Song slanty-eyed Chinese, or cartoonish black-faced Mammy - all of these kinds of images reduce a culture to a few shorthand images and belittle the people in the process.

 On another post, someone said that these images weren't any more offensive than a sports team having an "Indian" as a mascot.  Well, in most of the cases that I've seen, I find those distasteful as well.  I recognize that it may be possible to do such a portrayal in a respectful manner, but I've personally not seen one. 

I am a regular reader of The Steamers Trunk  - a blog dedicated to embracing multiculturalism in steampunk.  Jeni Hellum has done outstanding work (and yes I know I still owe her that article on Geiko...).  She traces some of her heritage from native american groups, and she did an amazing piece of work on her 'Native-Punk outfit shown here:   

To me that is a perfect example of how to properly and respectfully incorporate multicultural elements in a steampunk ensemble.  There was research into traditional clothing and techniques, and then the fantastical "what if"" elements common to Steampunk were added -  but still extrapolated from a firm foundation. 

Many folks find that playing about with steampunk and neo-victorian tropes and images is a lot of fun, but it's also important to remember that the Age of Victoria left a lot to be desired when it came to things like human rights and cultural respect.  But if we can imaging a world of Tesla-powered Airships and analog computers, surely we can also imagine a world where people of differing  backgrounds and experiences are respected for their achievments and cultural diversity is prized?  

That sounds more like the kind of world I want to believe in.

 

Comments

[replyhazy.livejournal.com]

"Many folks find that playing about with steampunk and neo-victorian tropes and images is a lot of fun, but it's also important to remember that the Age of Victoria left a lot to be desired when it came to things like human rights and cultural respect. But if we can imaging a world of Tesla-powered Airships and analog computers, surely we can also imagine a world where people of differing backgrounds and experiences are respected for their achievments and cultural diversity is prized? "

NOW THIS is a panel I would love to see at TeslaCon.

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

There have been a fair number of essays from people who believe that because we enjoy playing with the tropes of Victorian British culture, language, clothing, and technology - we must therefore also buy into everything that accompanied it. This would include colonialism, classism, etc. I personally subscribe to the idea that if we are imagining the 'what-if' aspects of steampunk, we can also imagine that as technology progressed that many people got over their inherent snobbism and allowed some sort of meritocracy to flourish - especially in the specialized fields like temporal physics and theoretical what-have-you. It's all fantasy, folks!

Charles Stross wrote a rather vehement and I thought ill-informed piece on how steampunkers only emulate the highest classes of society and if we were "real steampunks" we would want to dwell more on the dirt, filth, poverty, alienation, etc, that were present in the era we draw our inspriation from. Well, first off - there are a lot of people who do enjoy exploring those tropes within the context of steampunk.

But there is also an aspect of steampunk that focuses on the "maker" aesthetic - the idea that objects should be beautiful as well as functional. In many ways this is seen as a reaction to our current "black plastic box" technology - no one really understands exactly how it works, and when it stops working you just buy another one.

But personally, for me, I enjoy steampunk as fantasy and escapism. People don't go to the renaissance faires to see human waste running along the street, beggars with suppurating sores or missing limbs, get food poisoning, or smell people who didn't bathe or wash most of their clothing very often. I don't read/watch/play steampunk to focus on how messed-up Victorian society really was - I want to focus on what it could have become.

[moiracoon.livejournal.com]

"People don't go to the renaissance faires to...smell people who didn't bathe or wash most of their clothing very often."

For that experience, GenCon in August is far superior. *smirk*

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

You're not the only one thinking this way. I've been enjoying Beyond Victoriana for it's eye-opening series of blog post/essays on non-Eurocentric 19th century history and respectful steampunk characters of color.