#Conditional whiteness

[redditantisemitism]

Sigh. I’ve had conflict with this person in the past, and I’ve been avoiding talking about them again, but this is especially egregious and I do want to address it.

How do you think the language and religion spread? People didn’t just decide to switch over en masse, they were conquered. It’s ahistorical to deny that.

The idea that Jews are “white” is complicated, but the idea that Jews possess whiteness is a relatively new concept. Conversations about this have been going on inside the Jewish community for a while. The key there is that it’s inside the community. The idea that this individual feels they, as a non-Jew, are the arbiter of Jewish identity is disgusting.

The idea that Jews aren’t the “real Jews” is not only blatantly antisemitic, it plays into conspiracy theories.

The use of Jewish tags (jumblr, am yisrael chai) are yet another instance of this individual trying to make sure Jews see this post, even when those tags are incorrect. This is clearly harassing, and this user does it frequently.

[krembruleed]

beach episode?

[ghostboyravenight]

“trans men have access to male privilege” no. some trans men have access to some male privilege if they are somehow indistinguishable from their cis male counterparts. If they outwardly pass as a man, if they have had surgery to change their internal anatomy (and it matches perisex cis male anatomy) and if no one around them knows they’re trans, then they might have a superficial access to male privilege dependent solely on where they are and the people around them.

That is a tiny minority of trans men, and you are excluding a huge number of trans men who do not fit into the necessary criteria to access some kind of male privilege.

“But people mistake them for men, so they get the benefits of male privilege” oh okay. so you’re not talking about systemic privilege. you’re not talking about the patriarchy. you’re not talking about medical discrimination that most trans men will still face regardless of how well they pass. you’re saying that your guy friends treated you better because they thought you were one of the bros. got it.

[unsolicited-opinions]

It depends:

Some notes for curious gentiles and an argument for this poll to have another option added

(This poll is ridiculous and actively unhelpful to all Jews, not just the vast number of Jews it erases.)

First, let's note that "whiteness" is a huge and complex topic which we can't begin to cover throughly here and will therefore not attempt. Race is a social construct and it is pernicious in how it impacts opportunity or lack thereof.

"Whiteness," for our purposes here, is privilege in North America based on the individual being perceived as authentically European based on physical appearance.

Second, let's note that Jews are diverse in their politics, their religious beliefs, and their physical/visual appearance, and they're all Jews. They're all descended from the same people and the same place.

To an American gentile, some Jews might be visually catalogued in their minds as African, as Arab, or as Asian. They're all Jews. They're all descended from the same people and the same place. Their physical appearance reflects where their families lived for centuries.

Beta Israel Jews, who came to Israel from Ethiopia:

Jews from Keifeng Province in China:

A wedding photo taken in a Mumbai synogogue of Indian Jews:

So when people ask if Jews are white as though that is a sane and reasonable question, they're usually really asking if ashkenazic Jews are white.

(Please note: it is so casually, routinely assumed that all North American Jews are ashkenazic that the heritage of North American sephardi Jews gets erased, and that's tragic. Two Sephardi Jews many North Americans may be familiar with from their work are actors Hank Azaria and Eugene Levy.)

Why do Americans seem to think all Jews look vaguely European-ish?

If you live in the US or Canada, most of the Jews you've likely encountered have been ashkenazim, whose ancestors lived in central or eastern Europe for generations.

Some ashkenazim (and some Sephardim) may have skin tones and features which can be *functionally* white as long as they do nothing to identify themselves as Jews. Some might be mistaken for Italian, Greek, Spanish, Russian, Ukranian, or Polish...which may or may not be regarded as "white"...depending on the specific racial biases of the observer.

In the United States and Canada, Jew-hatred in the politics of the far right and far left impact how this question is answered:

If the Jew-hating observer is far left, Jews are white regardless of their physical features because the far left believes that Jews are powerful oppressors...and powerful oppressor = white.

If the Jew hating person is far right, Jews are not white regardless of physical features because they believe Jews are racially inferior to white people, and must therefore be of a non-white racial identity.

I'm 100% ashkenazi and grew up in the US midwest. My gentile friends of varying national and ethnic heritage tell me I'm immediately, visually identifiable as a non-white person, even if I do nothing to identify myself as a Jew.

I once went to a friend's wedding at a Greek Orthodox church where it was assumed by many guests that I was a Greek relative from out of town. The mother of the bride and my 100% ashkenazi mother could have been siblings, visually.

My mother's olive skin tone and jet black hair, when she lived near Native American Indian communities, frequently prompted people to ask her which tribe she was from. (She never, to my disappointment, answered "Judah")

My 14yo has more of her mother's complexion than my mother's. Although she resembles my side of her family in many ways, nothing about her physical visual appearance announces unambiguously that she's Jewish, and if she doesn't disclose that she's Jewish, share her surname, or wear her Star of David pendant visibly, it seems nobody in this city would guess that she's Jewish.

But when she volunteers this information? Or wears her pendant outside her clothes? Her status seems to change.

This brings up the ashkenazi Jewish experience in the Western world of conditional whiteness.

Meanwhile, if most North Americans encountered a family picnic of Sephardi or Mizrahi Jews (who make up the majority of Israel's Jewish population), they'd likely regard them as non-white. Many of them who emigrated to Israel when they were ethnically cleansed from every Arab country would be, to a North American gentile observer, visually indistinguishable from their Arab neighbors.

So I hope OP will explain the purpose of this poll and what they hope to learn from it, because this topic, IMHO, is way too complex for a poll of self-selecting participants to tell us anything meaningful- and too many conversations about Jewish racial and ethnic identity these days eschew the necessary nuance and quickly veer into racism.

I can't vote for any of the options given.

I suggest that the poll have another option:

"It Depends"

Nuance is our friend

----

Update: In the comments, OP says they were bored and this is for "funsies"

I hope OP will reconsider the wisdom of treating this complex topic so casually. This is unhelpful to Jews of any sort, anywhere in the world.

Seems unlikely, though. OP blocked me.

Repeatedly defending the promotion of overly simplistic, racist ideas which are hurtful to Jews with "I'm bored" is a bad look.

For the purposes of this poll, consider yourself jewish if you are undertaking the conversion process.

Also for the purposes of this poll: if you would like to apply nuance to your answer, feel free to do so in reblogs, tags, replies, or even in my inbox, and vote according to the answer that most closely aligns with your nuanced take.

PLEASE REBLOG FOR MORE VOTES

[marketawww]

Lets go fry my brain

[dykesynthezoid]

I think a piece of context ppl might not have about Robby’s dynamics w both Mohan and Collins is how much doctors and other healthcare workers w marginalized identities end up picking up the slack for their more privileged colleagues. I mean they’ve done studies on this, specifically on how much extra labor doctors and nurses of color (esp Black, indigenous, & immigrant doctors and nurses) end up doing just trying to work against the structural inequities hurting their patients. Overwhelmingly those people end up having to go above and beyond because nobody else will do it, not consistently, not in a way that’s actually culturally-informed.

And let’s be very clear: the hospital system profits from that. They profit from squeezing this extra labor out of employees who are already carrying an inherent vulnerability their other coworkers are not. The more healthcare workers of color (esp women of color) overload themselves trying to make up for the whole system being fucked, the more the hospital profits bc they don’t have to actually change anything materially or policy-wise. They can just let those incredibly hard working and skilled people burn themselves out into nothing and then go “wow how did that happen.”

So I’m not saying that Robby is doing that specifically, bc he’s certainly not ideologically aligned w the hospital system enough for that; but he is clearly not aware or informed on what the workplace labor dynamic is like for Mohan and Collins. He’s riding Mohan to see more patients because that’s what’s profitable, but doesn’t understand that her dedicated patience and compassion are, in fact, already making the hospital money (see the fact that her patient satisfaction scores are highest!); and potentially to her own detriment, bc she feels a sense of responsibility to provide that level of care even without outside support.

And likewise he has to have it explained to him that Collins is vulnerable in a way he isn’t. He doesn’t get, immediately, why she might feel uncomfortable about adding to her own vulnerability and her own labor by potentially sacrificing everything for a single patient. Bc guess what, that’s the sort of sacrifice that would be expected of her and yet never expected of him. As if she were predestined for that burden. Of course she doesn’t want it.

[bixels]

I think 90% of my gripes with how modern anime looks comes down to flat color design/palettes.

Non-cohesive, washed-out color palettes can destroy lineart quality. I see this all the time when comparing an anime's lineart/layout to its colored/post-processed final product and it's heartbreaking. Compare this pre-color vs. final frame from Dungeon Meshi's OP.

So much sharpness and detail and weight gets washed out and flattened by 'meh' color design. I LOVE the flow and thickness and shadows in the fabrics on the left. The white against pastel really brings it out. Check out all the detail in their hair, the highlights in Rin's, the different hues to denote hair color, the blue tint in the clothes' shadows, and how all of that just gets... lost. It works, but it's not particularly good and does a disservice to the line-artist.

I'm using Dungeon Meshi as an example not because it's bad, I'm just especially disappointed because this is Studio Trigger we're talking about. The character animation is fantastic, but the color design is usually much more exciting. We're not seeing Trigger at their full potential, so I'm focusing on them.

Here's a very quick and messy color correct. Not meant to be taken seriously, just to provide comparison to see why colors can feel "washed out." Top is edit, bottom is original.

You can really see how desaturated and "white fluorescent lighting" the original color palettes are.

[Remember: the easiest way to make your colors more lively is to choose a warm or cool tint. From there, you can play around with bringing out complementary colors for a cohesive palette (I warmed Marcille's skintone and hair but made sure to bring out her deep blue clothes). Avoid using too many blend mode layers; hand-picking colors will really help you build your innate color sense and find a color style. Try using saturated colors in unexpected places! If you're coloring a night scene, try using deep blues or greens or magentas. You see these deep colors used all the time in older anime because they couldn't rely on a lightness scale to make colors darker, they had to use darker paints with specific hues. Don't overthink it, simpler is better!]

[canisalbus]

Hypothetically if. If they had a kiddo. A puppy. Does that hypothetical child have a design in your genius artist head anywhere

.

[parasolladyansy]

BW Survival AU - lesson 3

“…It has been over 20 years since this winter has taken over our region after the dissenter had stolen the White Dragon & their fire, depriving us of our idyllic spring.”

King Natural Harmonia Gropius has always added this to the end of his weekly broadcast since the snow started to fall - even now, she didn’t think they sounded like his words so much as the one ruling in his shadow.

When she was younger, it was much harder not to believe those words. She’d agonize for months, years even. Even now, she’d have moments of chilling doubt. What if his words, - the very same ones the people bitterly repeat to themselves when she’d sneak into town - is the truth? For those words to be spoken from a place of authority, agreed by so many angry voices, it must be true…right?

That’s when Reshiram would gently remind her: “No. That is not who you are. That is not the Truth. That is who they need you to be for their lie to be reality.”

Lesson 3: Hold onto the truth & who you are. Always. No matter whose voice speaks over you.

—

Well, we had another snowstorm, so I got the day off (unlike poor Ikrit - his job is wild for being open). Perfect setting for drawing stuff for this AU. On another note, I’m happy to have found some connection to DxP REWRITE, even if it’s an alternate timeline for it. 🌨️

[shoujo-dump]

A Condition Called Love

[opencommunion]

please read & share on all platforms. Palestinian resistance groups have asked us to pay close attention to the plight of imprisoned Palestinians, as the occupation believes that since all eyes are on Gaza they can abuse and assassinate prisoners out of sight

Statement issued by the Office of Martyrs, Prisoners, and the Wounded of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, via RNN Prisoners:

“Horrific testimonies about the crimes committed by the occupation and prison administration against prisoners and detainees in its jails.

The information and data we receive from inside zionist prisons about the systematic crimes committed by the occupation's prison administration against prisoners, since October 7th, are terrifying. There is a systematic decision to assassinate the prisoners through punitive measures carried out by the prison service, and evidence of this is the martyrdom of several prisoners.

The magnitude of crimes, both collective and individual assaults on prisoners—which occur during the raids on sections and cells and which are continuously escalating—is alarming, in addition to the adoption of a starvation policy against them, as the prisoners only have tuna, corn, and sometimes inedible eggs as food.

The aggression against the prisoners began on October 7th. The prisoners face ongoing aggression, with continuous punitive operations and retaliatory measures affecting them and their families.

The Office of Martyrs, Prisoners, and the Wounded for the PFLP is closely following the issues of prisoners and detainees, which is challenging. We consider the silence of human rights, humanitarian, and international institutions unjustifiable. They must fulfill their humanitarian duty and what their conscience dictates, obliging the occupation to respect international laws and conventions established for this purpose. We hold them fully responsible for their lives.

The Office highlights the measures that the prison administration continues to impose on prisoners. The prison administration cuts off electricity to the prisoners' cells and rooms, deliberately cuts off their water supply, enforces a starvation policy, has withdrawn food supplies from prisoner sections, reduced meals to two times a day, closed the canteen, and deprived prisoners of other basic necessities.

Furthermore, heavily armed suppression forces raid all prisoners' sections and rooms, maltreat them, physically assault them, and use police dogs. They have escalated policies of depriving prisoners of medical treatment, forbidding visits from families and lawyers, and denying them treatment in hospitals, especially for sick prisoners. The prison administration also reduced the space available to a prisoner inside a cell, where the number of prisoners in one cell reached more than ten, and many prisoners were transferred to solitary cells. Solitary confinement was imposed on prisoners and some sections were isolated from others.

We note that the prison administration has removed available television sets and electrical appliances, destroyed all of the prisoners' belongings, confiscated their clothes, leaving only one change of clothing for each prisoner. They have also confiscated radios, blankets, and shoes from them, prevented them from bathing and going to the courtyard, closed the sinks used for washing, and carried out collective transfer operations, including moving prisoners from one section to another and from one prison to another.

We, in the Office of Martyrs, Prisoners, and the Wounded of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, want to reassure our people that the General Secretary of the Popular Front, the comrade, leader, and prisoner Ahmed Saadat, and his comrades are well. They are at the heart of the battle with the prison administration, and they will achieve a great victory over the jailer and will soon gain their freedom. We are closely following all the developments inside the prisons, as well as the ongoing communications and negotiations for a prisoner exchange process being carried out by the Palestinian resistance to empty the prisons and release all the prisoners.

Freedom to our heroic prisoners.

Glory and eternity to the martyrs.

Speedy recovery to the wounded.

Victory is the ally of our people, and the occupation will inevitably come to an end.”

[strive-to-be-human]

No notes. This is my experience as a white-adjacent Jewish person in the United States. I exist in the Identification section. I have always been poorly assimilated in Christian Culture but have leaned into it as I age.

I’m gonna repost this because I want more people to check my work. This is my racial development model for Ashkenazim, which I made for my child development class after learning about racial identity models that psychologists have made to show stages that people tend to pass through as they learn about their racial and ethnic background.

So, Jumblr, tell me what you think!

[ID: Infographic titled, “Ashkenazi Jewish Identity Model”. A bubble says, “White Identification”, with a paragraph saying, “Starting in childhood, the individual begins to notice racial features and identify themselves as white. Even when not necessarily passing as white, the individual sees that other community members who they identify with do pass as white and that they themselves don’t easily fall into other categories”. An arrow points down to the next bubble that says, “Exclusion Realization” with the paragraph, “The individual starts to see that white groups reject either their culture or ethnicity as not white. This can occur a number of ways, including exposure to hate crimes or through noticing how intertwined whiteness and Christianity are.” An arrow points down to the next bubble that says, “Racial Framework Conflict” with the paragraph, “Usually beginning in adolescence, the individual realizes they do not benefit from the full privileges of whiteness but are instructed by society to identify as white. They have similar experiences to other marginalized groups but are rejected by them as a privileged class. They want to learn about social justice and white privilege, but struggle to reconcile how their experience does not align with whiteness. The individual seeks to move into one of the next phases to resolve feelings of isolation, mis-fitting, and cognitive dissonance.” An arrow points to a triangle where the corners are labeled “Identification”, “Assimilation”, and “Insulation”. Next to Identification is a paragraph that says, “The individual embraces and takes pride in Jewish culture and resilience, possibly becoming more observant. They see themselves as being in a unique position to add nuance to discussions of identity. They feel assured in their values, even if those values are shared by people who reject them. They are conscious of the present dangers of antisemitism but remain confident in the continuation of their people”. Next to Assimilation, it says, “The individual rejects aspects of their Jewish identity to find belonging in a part of mainstream society, such as a political group. Their acceptance by the group is precarious and may be contingent on denouncing Judaism or maintaining the label so they can be tokenized”. Next to Insulation, it says, “The individual concludes that the Racial Framework Conflict is a consequence of there being no place in mainstream society for them. They take comfort in their Jewish community and may become more observant. They may catastrophize as a way to mentally prepare for rising antisemitism. They disengage from any political or activist spaces that discuss racial or ethnic identity”.

Extra visual details, feel free to skip: The “White Identification”, “Exclusion Realization”, and “Racial Framework Conflict” are light gray. The triangle has a horizontal color gradation from purple to blue to green. The corner labels are in bubbles that are the same color as the corner. “Assimilation” is purple, “Insulation” is green, and “Identification” is blue. There is a light blue-gray diagonal watermark saying, “fish-in-need-of-a-bicycle”.]

[slutty-transformation-stories]

The Innocent Lie

Alex stared at his reflection in the mirror, his heart racing with excitement. He had met Sara at the start of the school year, and their bond had blossomed into something beautiful, something pure. She was the kind of girl who lit up every room she entered with her innocent smile and gentle nature. Her eyes sparkled like dew on freshly picked daisies, and her laughter was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. They had talked about this moment for weeks, the moment she would finally allow him to have sex with her.

As Alex approached Sara's house, the warm glow of the setting sun painted the sky with hues of pink and orange, casting a soft light over the quiet neighborhood. He could feel the anticipation building in his chest, his heart thumping against his ribs like a drummer in a marching band. His hand hovered over the doorbell, but he paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and decided to knock instead. The sound echoed through the house, but there was no response. He waited, his stomach doing somersaults.

Alex, eagerly looking forward to taking Sara's virginity, arrived at her house. He found it odd that she didn't answer but brushed it off and went in. He was met with the sound of moaning and slapping, which grew louder as he approached her room.

He knocked again, a little louder this time, and heard muffled noises, yet not quite discernible. His mind raced with thoughts, none of them pleasant. He told himself he was being paranoid, that it was just Sara's parents watching a movie or her little brother playing games in his room. But the more he listened, the more the sounds grew eerily familiar, yet foreign to the sanctuary he had always known Sara's home to be. It was like the house itself was hiding a dark secret from him.

When he pushed the door open, the scene before him was like a punch to the gut. There, in the room that once held all his hopes and dreams, was Sara. But she was different. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes glazed over with a lust that seemed alien to the girl he knew. Deon, the school's resident alpha, towered over her, his muscular body glistening with sweat, his massive black cock driving in and out of her with a rhythm that was almost mesmerizing. Sara's body looked so tiny and delicate in comparison, her breasts bouncing with every thrust, her blonde hair a tangled mess around her face. Deon's grin was like a wolf claiming its prize, his teeth gleaming as he watched Alex enter, a smugness that spoke volumes about his victory.

The air was thick with the scent of sex, a musky scent that made Alex's stomach churn. He felt like a trespasser, like he was seeing something that was never meant for his eyes. Sara looked over, and for a split second, he saw the love she had for him, but it was quickly replaced with something else, something darker, something that made his heart shatter into a million pieces. It was a look of pure, unbridled passion that was not meant for him.

Deon, noticing his shock, grabbed Sara's hips and repositioned her on the bed, spreading her legs wider, giving Alex a full view of his cock sliding in and out of her pink, tight pussy. Alex couldn't tear his gaze away, his mind reeling with the sight of his girlfriend being used by someone else. Each thrust was a declaration of ownership, a claim staked in the most primal of ways. Deon's hips slammed into hers, the slap of skin on skin echoing through the room. Sara's moans grew louder, her body writhing in pleasure, as if trying to get even more of Deon's thickness inside her.

Alex's mind was a tornado of emotions—disbelief, anger, pain, and a strange sense of arousal he didn't understand. He had never seen Sara like this before, never heard her talk like this. The way she begged for more, the way she eagerly took Deon's abuse, it was as if she had been transformed into someone else entirely. And yet, he couldn't deny the effect it was having on him. His cock was rock hard in his pants, and he felt a mix of humiliation and excitement that was as confusing as it was distressing.

He watched, his eyes never leaving Sara's face, as Deon reached down and grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her head back to expose her neck. He kissed and bit at the tender flesh, leaving marks that Alex knew would be there tomorrow. Sara's eyes rolled back in her head, her mouth open in a silent scream as she climaxed around Deon's cock. It was a sight that would be etched into Alex's memory forever.

"You like watching don't you, cuck?" Deon taunted, not breaking his rhythm. "You like watching me fuck your girl like a whore?"

Alex couldn't respond, his voice lodged in his throat like a boulder. He felt like he was in a nightmare he couldn't wake up from, watching the girl he loved more than anything betray him so willingly. Yet, his body's reaction was a traitorous one. His cock throbbed in his pants, and he felt a strange warmth spreading through his cheeks, a blend of arousal and shame that made his head spin.

Deon noticed his state and chuckled, "Looks like you're enjoying the show, cucky. I knew you had it in you. You always had a thing for watching, didn't you?"

Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing. His Sara, his sweet, innocent Sara, calling Deon 'daddy' and begging for more, her voice hoarse from screaming. It was a sound that should have filled him with rage, but instead, it sent a shiver down his spine. He watched as Deon's hand wrapped around Sara's throat, his grip tightening as he pumped into her, her eyes bulging slightly as she gasped for air.

"You like that, don't you, slut?" Deon's voice was thick with pleasure, his grin wicked as he watched the power he had over her. Sara's eyes flicked to Alex, and for a brief moment, he saw a spark of something, a flicker of the girl he had once known. But it was quickly extinguished, replaced by the same vacant stare of a woman lost in ecstasy.

Alex's knees felt like they would give out as he stared in horror. He wanted to scream, to yell for Sara to stop, but his voice was trapped in his chest. Instead, he watched as Deon's hand reached back, slapping Sara's ass with a resounding crack that made her yelp with pleasure. The sight of it sent a shockwave through his body, his own hand reaching down to clench his cock through his pants, trying to control the involuntary twitches.

Deon's smirk grew wider as he caught Alex's gaze. "You're a good little cuck," he said, his voice deep and gruff with exertion. "Keep watching. Maybe you'll learn something."

"Oh yeah cucky, when I'm tired of this bitch, you can have her back." Deon smirks and slaps her ass. Alex doesn't even move. He just watches them fuck for hours. He watches as his innocent Sara moans and screams from Deon's big black cock.

Deon looks over at the cuck and slaps Sara's ass again and again. "Who owns this ass bitch?"

Alex is desperately looking at Sara. Surely, she wouldn't.. right?

"You do daddy! Please keep fucking me! Please make me your whore!"

"Louder"

"YOU! YOUR BIG BLACK COCK OWNS ME! ALEX IS NOOOTHING TO ME NOW!"

Alex felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him. The words that left Sara's mouth were like a knife to his soul. He had never heard her say such things, never seen her act this way. His mind raced, trying to understand how this could be happening. The room spun around him as he watched Sara's body convulse with pleasure, her eyes locked onto Deon's as she shouted her newfound allegiance.

Deon pulled out of Sara, his cock glistening with her juices, and turned to face Alex fully. "Looks like you're not the only one who gets to enjoy the view tonight," he said, a wicked glint in his eye. "I think it's only right that I move in. You can keep her around for your entertainment, but make no mistake, she belongs to me now."

Sara, still sprawled on the bed, looked up at Alex with a mix of lust and pity. "Don't worry, baby," she purred, her voice thick with satisfaction. "You'll get used to it. Besides, you're so much better at the other stuff. Cooking, cleaning... I don't need you for this anyway."

Alex felt a tear roll down his cheek as he took in her words. The girl he had promised to protect, to cherish, had become someone he didn't recognize. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks—his world had shattered into a million pieces, and there was no putting it back together.

With a cruel laugh, Deon tossed his keys at Alex. "You heard the lady," he said, his voice filled with amusement. "Go grab my stuff. I'm moving in, and when you come back, you can clean us both up."

Alex stumbled backwards, his mind reeling. The keys felt like a hot coal in his hand, a symbol of the new reality he never asked for. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, what he was seeing. Sara, his sweet Sara, now calling Deon 'daddy' and speaking of him as if he was nothing but a servant. Yet, as much as he wanted to resist, his legs obeyed the command, moving on autopilot towards the door.

End of part 1

[gorillawithautism]

the mr beast pyramids thing is fucked up for several reasons but here are some of the ones that i personally have been thinking about

1. historical significance and capitalism (aka "why does this white man get special privileges? why is he allowed to rent out a world wonder and why do we live in a world where that's possible") - it's not that renting out the pyramids is unheard of because it's definitely happened before. @jehadism even mentioned that the location was rented out for a rave recently. but why do we live in a world where it's possible to reserve access to historical monuments for the rich white foreigners? and how is it that one (1) man has enough money to do this?

2. contemporary cultural significance and the egyptian government (aka "my egyptian mutuals hate this and i've been friends with them long enough to at least have an introductory understanding as to why") - how much access does the average egyptian have to their own history? what with white foreigners looting graves and the egyptian dictatorship destroying monuments, how much easier is it for a white american like myself to go to a museum in person and see the results of white colonialism in "ancient egypt" exhibits as if egyptians aren't a real, still-living community of people? and how much harder is it for an egyptian under dictatorship to visit historical monuments in their own city? what hoops does the average egyptian need to go through just to view artifacts that should be preserved by egyptians, for egyptians, in egypt? why is it that mr beast doesn't have to go through these hoops and can make a public youtube video about it and yet egyptians get disappeared by their own government if they try to speak up against that very government desecrating historical sites?

3. information dissemination and the indoctrination of white supremacist youth (aka "what does this mean for future attitudes towards egyptians and egyptian culture") - mr beast's fanbase is predominantly children which is something mr beast himself has full knowledge of and has stated as such. especially with the more recent allegations against him and his various business pursuits, any adults who happen to watch him already don't care about the moral truth of his actions. the children that watch his channel are the target audience here. he has an ethical responsibility to carefully consider what he shows to the public. he has a moral obligation to show these children how to be a good person and to educate them. or at the very least he has a duty to not model 'how to be human scum' for the kids on the other side of the screen. and yet, here he is, promoting an orientalist view of egypt. planting little seeds in their minds that (white) egyptology is cool and mysterious and fantastical. not to mention he has no historical or archaeological certification. he's showing these kids that it's okay for the most average of white americans (albeit very very rich but other than that still extremely average) to waltz into an egyptian burial ground and play make believe about solving mysteries and getting trapped in mazes and chased by the living dead despite having zero certification. even when the white people invading egyptian historical sites are literally trained historians and archeologists, they still exemplify white supremacist, orientalist notions about egypt. the problem isn't that mr beast's opinions about egypt will inevitably suck (well. it's a problem but given that he's a rich white man and literally mr beast, i'm treating that as a given and it's not what i'm gonna focus my thoughts on) no the problem here is that he's teaching children that it's okay to have said opinions. he's teaching white children to mistreat the nonwhite children around them and to grow up and continue to oppress egyptians in the exact way they saw their childhood idol do. he's teaching any egyptian children who watch him that white people will always devalue their history and their culture

[pikhachu]

girls when their issues get dismissed as anxiety for the millionth time

[darklortt]