#us centrism

[underclerysclock]

White USAmericans will never understand the impact USCentrism and cultural cringe has on artists outside of their empire. You will never understand writing a story drawing from your own personal understanding of the world and knowing the whole time it'll never be "relatable" enough. But I'm supposed to know what a fucking Trader Joe's is.

I am a white Australian, I'm not exactly that oppressed, I benefit from living in a colonial outpost. But even me, a beneficiary of English colonialism, am not "relatable" enough if I dare to write from an Australian perspective. Your country ousted our then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, in 1975 because he didn't hate communists enough, you plonk your military bases across the outback, further displacing already displaced indigenous people, less and less Australian content is being made because there isn't a viable market for it.

Marginalised Australian voices have absolutely no voice out of this country at all, let alone in our country. Have you consumed a single piece of media created by an Aboriginal Australian? Do you even care that the first transgender women on TV to be played by an out trans woman was on an Australian show (the performer Carlotta as Robyn Ross in the soap opera Number 96)? But I'm supposed to care about American Show #3839384 because there's one loveless, awkward "revolutionary" gay kiss.

If you're a white USAmerican, I want you to imagine that one day you write a story and you mention snow in winter or a yellow school bus, and suddenly someone goes "no one will read that, it's too specific".

[snovyda]

US centrism is incredible. You write something about the history of your country that faced some oppression from its neighbours and you get (sometimes seemingly well meaning) USamericans all yelling "me!me!me! What about the oppression WE did? The most important oppression ever, we are THE worst, that is what must be talked about!" And it's literally silencing the voices and experiences of those whose history was NOT related to those very specific US policies. It's still a form of imperialism, too, by the way, stealing voices and agency from others for the sake of your own main character syndrome.

[whentheynameyoujoy]

Sorta kinda can't wrap my head around how usamericans can simultaneously go, "this operation in a war our country doesn't fight was planned specifically around an event nobody but us gives a fuck about" and then be all I'm just a birthday boy the moment they're reminded to pretty please bother to get off their precious ass and fucking vote in their grand imperial elections that will affect the rest of us we're all living in Amerika, ist wunderbar.

[electrosquash]

Ngl the Reichsbürger Razzia today hitting international news (and therefore the dashboard) for once and Americans explaining it as 'Qanon going international' really grates on my nerves.

We've been dealing with these fuckers for decades now, they've recently tried attacking our power grid and rail infrastructure to induce a revolution, they've been planning to abduct ministers, they've been a major motor of fascism, antisemitism and antivax activities, they've tried storming the parliament, they're armed to the teeth, they placed their members in our parliament, in the police police and in the army. Not because of Qanon but because they believe the german empire to never have ceased existing and the current government to be illegitimate. (They ignore that the third reich was dissolved the moment germany capitulated because they want to instill the monarchy, fascism and/or and the borders from 1871 again, which extended to Kaliningrad) And now that it has reached public consciousness it's all being americasplained as just another extension of their politics instead of a deep structural problem in germany.

Don't get me wrong it SHOULD be major news because they are dangerous as fuck even if they come across as totally off the rails and yes they do use Qanon structures to empower themselves and yes some of them believe in Qanon too. But i'm so tired of everything being tied to US politics all the time without people even trying to understand the local context.

[greencheekconure27]

Every. Single.Time.

Without fail:

Summary:

[luigra]

US-centrism is such a large issue on the Internet, especially fandom, and people have joked about us all starting to speak in our language exclusively to force everyone else to translate.

But while that is obviously not going to work, what will work is if we make fandom accessible in other languages.

I am begging all fans to join communities and create in your native languages!

Translate canon and fanon content you enjoy!! Make comics, videos, fanfics, everything you are already good at in your language! If you are a lurker, seek out websites, forums, servers, other people who may post in English but have their language or nationality in their bio! Start talking to them!

I promise, a lot of bigger languages already have their sites and communities you can and should join! Find the forum for translating your favorite indie game in Chinese, join a server for Spanish fans of a show, and if you can't find it, make it.

And remember that most social media allow you to post in any language you want. You can post fanfics in any language on Ao3. They do not have to be mainly English-speaking sites.

If you already put in effort and love into your fandom, if you already create self-indulgent content, this is a great and helpful activity you can do.

[awordwasthebeginning]

that US American way of going "I can't read [post written in Not English] because I don't understand [Not English] but I'm sure it's funny 😔"

Dude.

G**gle Translate is far from perfect but it's right there. (There are other, better translators I'm sure, but GT is the quickest at hand.) Just c&p or make the effort to type something out if it's a screenshot of a short text. It'll give you the general gist if not a perfect translation, but that's how literally everyone who is not a native English speaker deals with Not Understanding Something On the Internet.

To guilt-trip someone ("😔") for writing something in their native language, thus not making it directly accessible to you, personally, speaks of a rather privileged and ignorant attitude.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I came across this article and thought you might like to read it - it's the first time I've "heard" so many Greek voices be amplified when it comes to our myths:

https://bookriot.com/greek-writers-of-greek-mythology-retellings/amp/

These are my fave paragraphs from the article, which is excellent btw! (thank you, anon, for showing this to me!)

At the bottom, there are more Greek writers and filmmakers that one should check out!

[alpaca-clouds]

Urban Fantasy Worldbuilding and the USA

You know what? I am talking a bit about Urban Fantasy. Because, you know, I originally mostly wrote Urban Fantasy stuff and did write in my old blog about it. And there is just something about the genre that tends to bug me a lot. Specifically about the world building.

Most of the time Urban Fantasy is very US-centric, or at least western-centric. Of course, there is Urban Fantasy fiction existing in other cultures and those are at times (though the US is still overrepresented) set in the country where they are written.

But... Let me talk about why the US-centric or western-centric worldbuilding irks me so much: It kinda ignores the rest of the world EXISTING. With maybe the one exception of putting some creatures from exotic mythologies in there, a lot of writers tend to ignore that other countries have different ways of organizing things.

This starts bugging me in different ways, depending of the kind of worldbuilding. In Urban Fantasy worlds, where magic is secret, the reason for magic being secret is often bound very much to western history. In Urban Fantasy worlds where magic is no longer secret, it just shows with assuming that both world organisation - and the way people interact with magic.

Let me talk about the "secret" magic first. Yes, in some Urban Fantasy worlds magic is secret by default. This is stuff like the Mist in the Rick Riordan stuff. Where humans can somehow not or not always perceive magic. That is... fine. But often enough it goes more like: "Oh, yes, we keep magic secret because of the witch hunts." In which case I will go and ask: "Okay, sure, fine for North America and Europe, but... what about the rest of the world?" Like, sure, there were some witch hunts in other colonial areas - but in general... witch hunts were very much a western thing. So I have to wonder: Why would people in the rest of the world align with the entire idea of "keeping magic secret"?

Even in worlds where the reason for the secrecy is bound to a fictional event... It often is something that has happened in the west that often ignores the relationship that other cultures might have with magic.

In worlds where the magic is out in the open the problems are still similar. For the most part, we only get to know what the magic creatures are doing in the USA (or whatever European country the story takes place). Any big organisations for the magical world - even international ones - are in western countries. And generally speaking any characters from a not western background tend to be token.

And... You know... That is just horrible worldbuilding? Like, if you do Urban Fantasy, I am sorry, but you gotta learn a bit about how the real world works and how people of different cultures interact with the idea of magic.

It is one of the big things that stops me from enjoying a lot of Urban Fantasy.

[snovyda]

Just watched a documentary mini-series on how Ukraine was regaining its independence in 1991.

The way the US tried so hard to preserve the USSR. That goddamned "Chicken Kiev" speech from George Bush.

And then that ultimatum that the US would only recognise Ukraine's independence if Ukraine gave up its nukes and a significant portion of other weapons, because for some reason they thought only russia had the right to have them.

Ukraine did agree to this ultimatum. It signed that goddamned Budapest memorandum. The US and UK said they, along with russia, would guarantee Ukraine's safety. And then in 2014 Ukraine, having gotten rid of most of its military potential, got invaded by russia. And the UK and US did NOTHING. Then in 2022 russia escalated its war to all out genocide. Entire cities are completely razed to the ground, tens of thousands of people are killed, millions lost their homes, thousands are subject to torture and forced deportations. Only then the US reluctantly started providing help, which is MUCH appreciated, I must stress on that, but Ukraine still has to keep begging. For its very existence. That was "guaranteed".

And in the midst of this, a lot of USAmericans are like, "why would we care about these millions of people (that we gave security guarantees to) that are being subject to genocide when the roads in my town are bad and the streets are filled with garbage? They must all die because there is garbage on my street!"

[mariathechosen1]

Half of all ‘activist’ posts on tumblr are just:

“‼️⚠️Stop whatever it is you’re doing and fucking listen! If you don’t read this and do exactly what I say the world will be irreparably ruined. Everything and everyone you love will be gone!⚠️‼️”

*Proceeds to describe a US-only problem*

“If you ignore this post you’re a terrible person who deserves to die! You have to do exactly what I tell you and you have to do it quick or we’re all doomed and it’ll be your fault!!”

*provides a change.org survey only available to US americans*

[bloggingboutburgers]

The US movie industry supplies most of the Western world in entertainment with US-centric stories, and it can be very confusing for Europeans like me sometimes whose countries don’t make their own movies that much and that well...

tldr I appreciate my partner @civiart ’s endless patience so much TwT

[rhouxl]

Something that painfully demonstrates just how UScentric this site is is that I haven't seen a soul on here talk about the fact that Italy is currently and ACTIVELY removing lesbian mothers from their children's birth certificate. Non-biological lesbian mothers are, right now, losing custody over their children, including the right to pick them up from school and their custody in case of the biological mother's death, in favor of some conservative fever dream that the biological mother will turn around, magically become straight and marry a cishet man to 'preserve traditional families'. And there is not a single word on this on the so-called queerest place on the internet, not on the trending page, the queer issues tag, or the queer news blogs I follow.

The US is going to shit at the moment, especially in terms of trans rights, of course; but Europe isn't doing much better. Britain is a living hell for trans people and has been for years, then there is the issue with Italy mentioned above, and besides all that, Germany's far right party is actively gaining voter percentages as well, which won't go well for long.

I don't have a solution to any of these problems, but I beg you, don't forget about your queer siblings in other parts of the world, about Asian queers, about African queers, about Australian queers, about South American queers, and not about European queers either.

We need your help and support too. Keep your ears and eyes open and listen to queer voices outside of the US as well.

[greencheekconure27]

This is roughly the 100th variation of this I've seen and I don't even know if I should be angry or laughing at this stupidity or both.

So how about a different meme:

(as well as y'know. dozens upon dozens of other non-American and non- Russian sources in English. It's not like you're trying to find this information in an endangered language only spoken by old people in three and a half villages)

[awordwasthebeginning]

@ people whose first language is English who add translations/translator links to posts in Not English on here - you do know that you sound like "Hark! I have deciphered their unintelligible barbarian babble; now may you feast your eyes upon this good English version of [something that's either not funny in English, or a rather serious issue in the country where this language is spoken]", yeah?

Just quietly use whatever translator and be happy with that knowledge. And no, this isn't me 'gatekeeping' or whatever the fuck you're probably itching to accuse me of. If the post wasn't in English, it most likely didn't need English input.