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whumpinggrounds · 1 year

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hii! I wanna write an albino character (boy, if that's important) but I don't wanna be offensive/ignorant about it and I figured you'd be the best person to come to! How do I go about describing his skin, hair, eyes (ect) accurately? Also he's a little insecure about it btw

And, of course the actual medical aspect of it all

(please feel free to ignore, I know it's a lot! 🫶🏽🫶🏽)

Hi! Was off Tumblr for a bit but happy to answer this now if it's still relevant!

Obligatory disclaimer: I have worked with individuals with albinism before, so my advice is rooted in real people's real experience! That being said, I do not have albinism myself, nor is anyone's experience monolithic, so feel free to ignore, disagree, or seek alternate sources of info!

First things first, the word "albino." Some people consider it empowering, others actually find it incredibly offensive. I know you used it in your ask but please don't feel bad, because there isn't a consensus, and also, you didn't know! That being said, your character will maybe have strong feelings about the word, possibly rooted in life experience relating to discrimination or stereotyping - that is the case for a lot of people with albinism. When in doubt, "people with albinism" is a very safe way to phrase it, but if you want to use albino respectfully, you should also feel free to do that. I would personally advise you to steer clear of referring to this character as "an albino" or having others do so. Similar to a queer person describing themselves as "a queer" (vs. "a queer man/woman/person") for comedic effect or because of personal pride, "an albino" (vs "an albino man/woman/person") does not land the same way when someone who is not part of that identity says it.

As for physical descriptors - honestly, the hair and skin of a person with albinism is not that different from a person without the condition. In general, I would follow the same guidelines as when writing anyone's skin color, where people have been discouraged from over-relying on food metaphors or spending an unnecessary amount of time on the specifics of someone's skin, particularly when that person is nonwhite. (In this case, your character presents with pale skin, but that may not accord with their nationality or ethnicity.) Albinism does not always mean pure white skin/hair; sometimes it's pale yellow or paler than it would've otherwise been.

Eyes: Human beings with albinism do not have red or pink eyes. You probably already know this, but I still needed to say it. Please. Please do not write a character with albinism that has red eyes. Because of different structures, eyes may appear reddish in some lights, but people do not have straight up red eyes. Ever. Most common is blue, sometimes eyes are hazel.

Quick medical aside -

Your character with albinism will have light sensitive eyes and photosensitive skin. This is kinda nonnegotiable, and will affect the way they move through the world. Many people with albinism have other eye problems - low to no vision is common. I highly encourage exploring the possibility of writing a low to no vision character, because that is the lived experience of so many people with albinism! If it doesn't work for your story, or you just don't want to, that's totally okay! Give 'em some cool sunglasses and know that if they're outside all day, even with those sunglasses, they're going to have a helluva headache.

Last thing I'll say is about skin and sun, and outdoors more generally: unless the sky is black from a storm or nighttime, your character is likely not going out without all their skin covered, and sunscreen everywhere that's exposed. A character with albinism is not going to be wearing a crop top and cutoffs on a fine summer day. This sounds buzzkill-y, but truly, a responsible person with albinism is going out wearing long pants, a long-sleeve shirt, a hat, and sunglasses almost always. This does not mean responsible in a Mom Friend overachiever way - this means responsible in that they care if they get a potentially deadly illness way, because the rates of skin cancer for people with albinism are astronomical. Someone I know had an alarm on her phone and reapplied sunscreen every four hours in summer - and that was with her pants, shirt, hat, and sunglasses. She loved swimming, but had to be careful with it, because the sun reflecting off the water was way harder on her skin and eyes than a bright summer day on its own - and that was plenty hard already. I imagine snow would have the same effect.

Okay! That is my unnecessarily long and ridiculously late response - hope it is useful! If it's not, please ignore it! Best of luck, and happy writing :)

#disability writing guide #disability asks #writing disabled characters #albinism #albino characters #writing characters with albinism #writing albino characters

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dalishious · 1 year

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Frequently Asked Questions

“How might I be able to find a post or previous response on the question I have, before asking?”

If it is a lore question, try checking out my meta masterlist first!

My second recommendation would be to try searching for a tagged character, quest, or topic; for example, “Merrill”, “Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts”, “Qunari”, etc. I try my best to keep this blog as organized as possible.

You can then try searching outside of just the tags; for example, “divine”, “masks”, “dream”, etc.

If you are still unable to find anything, then please feel free to send a message!

“Who are your canon protagonists?”

Da'Renan Mahariel

Dalia Hawke

Amaris Lavellan

“What order should I read the Dragon Age novels and comics?”

Here is my guide.

“Can you recommend some fanfiction to me?”

I do not read a lot of Dragon Age fanfiction, so no, I’m not a very good person to ask.

“Can you recommend some more blogs to me?”

Sorry, I do not do blog recommendations. I get anxious about it.

“Do you know if there is a mod for…”

Here are some tips for finding mods on the Nexus:

Try vague and different search terms or character names

Use the website’s “Refine Results” features to browse by category

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The Dragon Age nexus mod sites:

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“Why do you hate cishet people?” / “Why do you hate white people?”

I do not, unless someone is being a jerk about it.

“Why do you dislike Cullen?”

This question is so common I now have a master list, which you can read here.

“Why do you care so much about people preferring to whitewash Alistair and Fiona? He’s a knightly prince so of course Alistair can’t have a brown mother!!1!”

I’m a biracial person who can’t help but be a little personally insulted by the lengths people will go to trying to claim Alistair is white, and their reasons behind it. Here are a few key posts on this subject. If you ask a question about this and it’s not something I’ve already said, I am just going to send you to these posts rather than repeat it all over again for the billionth time.

Yes, Fiona is Alistair’s mother

And yes, there is reason to believe she isn’t white beyond just Alistair’s skin in DA:O

Because he sure didn’t get his skin from Maric’s side of the family

“But he’s not even that tan” (ignoring that skin colour is not even the only measure of who is white or not)

Alistair was whitewashed to hell and back from DA:O to DA:I

And no, there is no exaggeration because it isn’t necessary

And no it is not just the taint

Or because he spends more time inside

Because he wasn’t just a white guy with a tan to begin with

Or whatever reason you can think of other than holding BioWare responsible for their actions

It is BioWare choosing to change this fictional character’s skin colour from light brown to pale as fuck, because that is what BioWare does

Reasons People Don’t Like Biracial Alistair and Brown Fiona

And the kind of people I have experience with saying he’s white…

…are 99% of the time assholes

“How do you feel about white people having nonwhite OCs?”

I personally feel fine with people having OCs not of their race/ethnicity, as long as they are respectful and put work into it. But I also understand why so many people would prefer it to just not be a thing at all, with good reason, and do not want my own opinion to be used to invalidate someone else’s. You can read more in the links included in this ask.

“Why do you care so much about drama/discourse? Why can’t you just let people enjoy the series? Why does it matter?”

Because when the “discourse” is a group of bigots defending their bigotry, when people “just enjoying the series” comes at the expense of other people, “ignore it and it will go away” has a 0% success rate at changing anything.

“If you hate the games so much, why do you play them?”

I do not hate the games. I am just aware that you can enjoy something while also critiquing the parts you wish were better. It is really not that difficult a concept, you know?

#faq

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mariacallous · 9 months

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In recent years, household finances have fluctuated amid large swings in federal income support and the stock market, a surge in inflation, and strong consumer spending. As documented by The Hamilton Project, household balance sheets at the end of 2021 were stronger than would have been expected before the pandemic. However, this Economic Analysis explains how household balance sheets have deteriorated in some respects since then. Moreover, an examination of household finances for different demographics (age, race and ethnicity, and income) shows that the deterioration in finances has been faster for nonwhite and lower income households. The current state of household finances does not support continued strong consumer spending, and leaves households at a crossroads if recent trends in finances continue: they can either moderate their spending or become more indebted.

Much has been made of the developments in household finances since 2020 relative to pre-pandemic trends, and indeed we explore some of that comparison here. In earlier work we found that real income through summer 2021 was well above its pre-pandemic trend; here we show that real income as of 2023 is well below its pre-pandemic trend.

Household wealth grew substantially in 2020 and 2021 as a result of reduced spending during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2023), substantial income support from government transfers, and increases in asset values. But the extraordinary wealth that households accumulated in 2020 and 2021 had dissipated by the first quarter of 2023, largely as a result of stock market losses and low saving rates coupled with weak income growth. In addition, liquid wealth, meaning wealth held in checking and savings accounts, has fallen substantially since 2021. Nonetheless, relative to 2019, households have more wealth, and the burden of household debt is within recent historical experience in the aggregate.

Even so, the trends of strong spending that we see bear watching. If trends in real income and wealth remain roughly unchanged, households would have to moderate the pace of consumer spending to maintain healthy balance sheets. But if households were to sustain their current spending trends and increasingly finance spending with borrowing, financial health could deteriorate in a worrying way.

In addition to providing an update of the current state of household finances, this piece also compares these recent developments to what happened in the business cycles that started in 1960, 1969, 1973, 1981, 1990, 2001, and 2007. Comparison to prior business cycles highlights the differences between typical dynamics and the possibly one-time effects of COVID and the attendant fiscal policy. Indeed, separating these out has been core to the work of The Hamilton Project for the past several years. We show that, at this point in the cycle, the increases in household wealth and, in particular, liquid wealth are within the range of historical experience and thus should not be providing an unusually large boost to consumer spending. That fact, coupled with unusually weak growth in real income, suggests that spending will have to moderate going forward.

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celestialautifutch · 1 year

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Being biracial comes with a whole host of unique issues in community, culture, and identity, and biracial people often get made fun of for talking about it (which I get that some biracial people talk over other experiences, but when it's in our own spaces it's fucked up to pull it out of those spaces and mock it). But like. This is not a deep statement post despite the opening. But sometimes I think about the fact that I come from two different "cultures" (I'm hesitant to call what my mom's side had going on a "culture") and my white mom did a great job making me feel like I'd never belong to my Dominican culture. I didn't grow up with that side so that part was easy for her, but she did everything she could to stop any attempt I made at connecting with it internally and externally.

She changed my name at the last minute to something Anglo as opposed to the very Latine name my father had picked out. She brushed my hair out dry and encouraged me to straighten or hide it in buns instead of helping me learn how to care for nonwhite curls, she didn't support me learning Spanish, she told me my nose was "probably Greek or something - I have no idea where it came from" when it was the same nose she'd stared at on my father's face for four years, as well as all his siblings. When I talked about being Dominican she'd scoff and say "you're so light they wouldn't even consider you one of them" which. Fucking yikes. Yikes and not true! Latines come in all fucking shades, Latines know this, but she was the one who looked at me and didn't see it. That's how she wanted it. She wanted me to be like her in every way and I just wanted to be a part of my culture and community. I wanted to stop feeling like I didn't belong anywhere. She made me feel like I didn't belong.

I can just assume that, at "best", she didn't want me to remind her of my father. Too much pain there. But in doing so she fed me so much racist bullshit, self loathing, and loneliness. That's what it comes down to - when white people try to make sure their kids don't remind them of their ex- partner of color, it almost always means they go about it by trying to sever any connection the child has to that ethnic group, not the individual person. It's "let's make you as white as possible while also instilling in you that you will never be the same as me". It's poison.

Being biracial is something that should be so beautiful, but so many white people don't actually unlearn their racism and biases when they have kids with a partner of color. And there's the issue of this fucked up idealized version of "the perfect mixed child". Yall know what I mean. Did you know my mother wanted me to have brown skin and dark, curly hair, until she left my dad and then suddenly she was so happy when I was born light and with blonde, straight hair? (Jokes on her, my hair darkened and curled and my skin is significantly more on the olive end, so get fucked mom). It was never "he likes music so I don't want you liking music because it reminds me of him", it was "he's brown so I don't want you to be brown too". And this is what a lot of mixed kids who grow up with white family end up going through! It's not a unique experience ffs.

Idk why I'm posting this. I guess to remind myself why I cut her off. It's only been three, almost four weeks, and some days I feel like I went too far. Unfortunately I'm in a place right now where I need to remind myself of all the different types of violence she put me through. Someday I'll move on and let bits and pieces go, but for now I need to remember that this didn't come from nowhere and that I really am doing what's best for me and my family by finally saying "enough".

(Block my mom trauma tag if you don't want to see these posts)

#mom trauma

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heygutlcss · 1 year

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I know comparing the original movie to the new movie is like comparing apples and oranges, but I really wish that the a.ss.ault scene was a little more in line with the original.

Yes, it's fine that Graziella is there. There's pros and cons to that too, especially considering that she kind of instigates it and then backpedals when it becomes not a them or us situation, but a women's situation. It's the one plane per the movie that they can relate one ( though graziella is such a missed opportunity as a character, especially since during this time period a good chunk of Italian girls were doing pretty much anything to not be considered Italian. Legit there's an internment camp that mainly housed Italian Americans during the war and continued to house Italians and other immigrants during the Red Scare up until it's closure in 1954 only like a few miles away. Ellis island was not the best of places.) That's a whole other discussion though .

I think what's hard about this scene boils down to two major issues for me. The first being that they took music from the mambo sequence instead of replaying america. The original Broadway show( it's even on the vinyl record. I'll have to double check if it's on Spotify too. The soundtrack has been messed with over the years for what tracks stayed on and in what order) had a reprise of America playing during this particular scene.

This is important because most of the action within WSS takes place within the music and the dialogue. In the new movie that isn't really there. most of the action is just that. Action. Whole most of the original is there, the new movie cuts out some pretty significant lines throughout the feature.

Anita was the driving positive force about pro-Americanism and assimilating. This whole scene not only shows violence around woc but how that American Dream was never intended for a person like her and the show puts that in the hands of the whitest jets possible. Characters that were more ethnic nonwhite ( like diesel, a-rab, and tiger, sometime it was mouthpiece in tigers stead) were not present for the assault. They were doing what they what they were supposed to be doing: looking for Tony. The remaining Jets don't bother to send someone out to let everyone else know that they found him.

And remember that in both the 1961 movie and the 1957 show Anybodys is an active participant in what happened to Anita, only backing off at the very end just as Doc comes in to stop it coming to fruition. Right as they do the symbolic backflip of Anita Anybodys breaks away. This is also another discussion for a different post.

What bothers me most about the new movie is that they not only played the mambo music instead of America's reprise ( noted this was changed in the special editions of the 61 film as well) but they cut some very important dialogue that happens right after.

Noted, most reviews and scholarly articles cut this dialogue out of their arguments too. Because if that dialogue is brought to light then they can't blame 100% of the violent behavior of the jets on the jets.

Which, in Anita's case, you totally can and still include the dialogue. This dialogue is important because it showcases what drives people to do these unthinkable things and while environmental circumstances play a factor, it more so focuses on the adults around them. On their own abuse and reaction to being abused. On how grief is handled. On acting out and being alone. It also has a lot to say on the age old argument " it's your generation's fault that everything is bad as it is. In my day we didnt act like that. In my day the world was better because my generation was better ."

No one likes to admit fault in themselves especially when unspeakable acts are involved. But no one wants to admit that they handed the capability for the unspeakable down to the generation after them. They will just be disappointed when the next generation fails to do better. Does this justify what happened to Anita? Absolutely not and it never should have happened. She was a victim.

So when she utters I'm am a Puerto Rican, you should feel this deep sorrow for her and her dreams, her hopes, and her life. I certainly didn't feel that in any viewings of the movie. I just didn't hit the way it was meant to. You can tell kuschner tried very hard though . I deeply appreciate that.

The dialogue that's missing which was replaced by Valentina's speech also, while hitting home, didn't have an effect like it was supposed to.

I didn't and still don't have a strong attachment to the 61 film, so I can't say it's my rose tinted nostalgia glasses that make me think this way. I just think the original dialogue hits harder and has a lot more to say.

DOC: When do you kids stop? You make this world lousy!

ACTION: We didn't make it, Doc

Two lines. That's all that needs put back.

#ugly mobile post #ooc

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olderthannetfic · 2 years

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Viet anon here, that makes sense! I just think the way some (mostly American) fans seem to approach shows with this sort of grim determination to make sure there’s enough different kinds of people in it is strange and a little disturbing. It’s like you said, it’s like there’s no enjoyment for some people, just an obligation like your job. If you don’t like things don’t force yourself into it, even if it’s “good for you/diverse.” Sorry if this isn’t very clear, I’m very tired. But I completely understand what you’re saying.

Yeah. I don't like that energy either. It unintentionally implies that nonwhite characters aren't interesting enough for anyone to like them better than white characters without it being about guilt and duty, which is nonsense.

The real issue underlying a lot of US-flavor discourse is that media treats minorities poorly. Not nonwhite people. Minorities. China is garbage at portraying their ethnic minorities. So is Japan. I presume most countries are. Thai media is about pale, rich ethnic Thais in the capital much of the time, not some highland Akha person or whatever. IDEK who the ethnic minorities in Vietnam are, but I'm sure similar things happen.

In the US, "minority" and "nonwhite" line up more, so that distinction gets elided, and then people are annoyingly shocked at Americans liking Asian media and/or think it's only about colorism and the love of light skin or that white Americans somehow read Asian characters as white.

The reason it's important to understand that this is about minority status is that if US people want to fix our own media, we need to be aware of precisely what it's doing, which goes a lot deeper than just not casting enough people of category X or Y. For example, we often cast quite light-skinned, and even when we have a dark skinned actor, we don't always light them appropriately. It's important to get enough light on the face because those big, pretty 'single perfect tear' woobie shots are how we connect with characters and especially how we see them as vulnerable, delicate, sensitive, etc. We need to see subtle emotions on a character's face.

Most training on how to light presupposes a very light-skinned subject. The racism goes all the way down to basic tutorials and education. It's also quite possible to write and cast a character who sounds fine on paper, but then we stick the actor behind other actors in the scene, we fail to shoot a closeup for them, and we fail to cut to any closeup that does exist at key emotional moments. It's like they almost don't exist in the final product. These filmmaking elements can ruin the audience's interest even when the script is fine.

There are certainly cases where the character was portrayed fine, even in the subtler parts of the filmmaking, and fandom just failed to care, but far more often, the real problems are starting from canon, and fandom is just responding to the unspoken cues. I see way too many hot takes that base an analysis of a character from a writing perspective: They were cool on paper, so why don't you find them cool? But that's not where 99% of impressions come from in film.

We over-emphasize words because they're easier for most of us to analyze because 1. they're inherently verbal and 2. way more of us have been educated about them. The lack of cheap/free and accessible educational resources about the other parts of film is shameful. (And one of my pet rant topics, obviously.)

This is why white US fans who won't look twice at an Asian-American character fall in love with cdramas. It's not about them not finding Asians interesting or hot: it's about how the actual artistic craft that went into the media differed.

It can also be about which types of roles are given to whom. I like the supportive best friend character much more than the hot mess they're supporting. In US media, this means I often like nonwhite characters. But if I preferred the hot mess, as a lot of fandom and humanity in general does, I'd be going for white characters every time, even in casts that are quite diverse. Not so in cdramas where everyone is Asian including all of the character types from pillar of moral rectitude to badtouch villain to doomed little brother to beautiful disaster. (It's no accident I like Wen Ning and also Rico from Miami Vice. It's no accident most people prefer WWX and Sonny.)

Understanding what's going on on a craft level is so important if one wants to analyze how audiences are reacting and why.

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echioceras · 2 years

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Why do you emphasize needing to think Very Hard about the specific ethnicity and culture and how hard “losing the culture” is for “poc” when… shouldn’t you be doing that for all characters. Like what ethnicity are the “white” characters (why do you list martin as mixed filipino (specific) and white (very unspecific… polish? english? what?)). You’d need to research a Russian character, tho they’re “white.” My dad is a European immigrant to the US and I don’t know how to speak his native language, which hurts, so why are you making it seem like that sort of thing is only an experience “poc” have?? it’s just a bit silly.

hi! thanks for the ask.

1. to address hc-specific concerns: i list martin as mixed filipino and white because that is how i headcanon him. that is how i self-identify, being mixed european to the point where it's tedious to list out every single country of origin. my headcanon for him is similar. many many people today identify as white without getting into specifics.

2. i'm literally not saying that's an experience only poc have. i'm talking about poc with that experience because it's what i feel comfortable calling attention to, and because i see way more of white authors trying to overstep boundaries by writing about poc. i completely understand that that is an experience for white immigrants as well, as someone who has jewish family that assimilated and is trying to regain that culture, but nowhere did i say that it was exclusive to poc. you are choosing to feel victimised by that post because i didn't specifically mention white immigrants. please think on why that is and whether you need to be at the center of a conversation that was initially about poc.

furthermore, while i get that assimilation can be incredibly painful for white immigrants and their families, most european cultures are celebrated in the united states. it's considered perfectly normal for many european foods to exist in public spaces, but when i brought filipino food to school as a kid, i experienced a boatload of racism. there is a privilege that comes with white immigration that does not for nonwhite immigration—when people speak negatively about immigrants, they almost never mean white immigrants. and besides that, poc who are immigrants or closely related to immigrants have to deal with both immigration issues and issues related to how we look, the language types we speak, etc.

which is not to diminish your experience, but for many european kids, it is always going to be different than it is for those of us with nonwhite features and cultures. there is a difference!! and it feels really disingenuous to me to lump those groups in without discerning the two.

3. it seems like you've gone through a lot of my posts and fanfic to make this ask, and i just want to say in the most genuine way possible, none of me saying "hey what if we put thought into writing and drawing poc" was meant to diminish your experience, but to bring attention to what i and many other poc in the fandom have been trying to bring up for months. i would also encourage you to take a breather before sending any more asks, because i know this is a really sensitive topic for a lot of people.

sometimes when i write, it's not going to be about a certain group of people, and i think that's okay. sometimes when i write, it's going to be centered around my own experiences as a marginalised person, and i also think that's okay. will i try and branch out to write the experiences of others? absolutely! that's why i've put as much research as i have into jon, sasha, and tim's ethnicities as i've written them, and into sasha's identity as a transfeminine person. but anon, i don't owe anyone thoughts on white immigration and loss of european cultures if i don't feel like i have anything to say on the topic. and i'm allowed to talk about poc on a post and just our experiences if that's what i feel is important to bring up.

i hope this is something to think about for you, and i hope you're able to see past your initial thoughts on the matter and try to understand where i'm coming from. my intent was never to ignore or negate anyone's experiences, and i'm sorry if you felt that it was. however, i still agree with my post's original wording, and i don't feel the need to include white people in a post that is explicitly about poc's experiences. i would again also suggest that you take a moment to consider why you feel the need to try and stake your claim to this conversation and this debate when your family's immigration experience is likely very different from many of ours. it is okay to talk about your own experiences, but there are conversations and avenues for that, and it feels really harmful to try and edge your way into ours when we already are ignored so much of the time. thanks

#cricket chirps #tma #tma discourse #long post #ask to tag #letterbox

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renaroo · 3 years

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Other History? More Like Other MYSTERY

as in it’s a MYSTERY how the hell this got past an editor the week before Pride Month are you fucking kidding me?

I was kind of hoping for more than like... a week of being back on tumblr before I breathed fire and ripped a comic book to shreds. But we all know why I’m here.

There are so many preemptive things to get out of the way before I rip into this thing...

John Ridley as a writer in other forms of media has been incredibly accomplished and an important additional voice to entertainment industries. I do not wish to take away from that or to minimize the impact of voices like his.

But, you know, he’s a voice in media. Not the end-all, be-all to all marginalized people worldwide who can substitute his perspective for any nonwhite straight male voice. And I don’t think that has ever been more apparent than the continued spiral down the drain that has been every issue of The Other History of the DC Universe since the first.

DC’s “new” approach to everything being canon and everything mattering is dumb and filled to the brim with ways it’s going to backfire and reveal itself to be the eye sore of publications that it’s aiming for, but I was curious to see how they would try to incorporate these characters’ long and contentious histories in the comics with the real world issues they often were billed to tackle, and try to fit it into the current pop culture landscape. That was the whole reason I had my eye on this comic to begin with.

By the second issue we were getting some stark warning signs because as much as I appreciated hearing an authentic perspective on how the Teen Titans brand carried on while neglecting its landmark Black teen heroes (Mal Duncan and Karen Beecher), there was a note of cruelty added to the issue that felt otherwise misplaced and uncharacteristic of the tone being set.

There was no reason to have a significant portion of that issue dedicated to Mal and Karen’s monologues taking some aggressive words out on Roy Harper specifically for being an addict.

Perhaps it was a quirk of writing from a flawed perspective or a show of how righteous upset and anger could be turned outward to other people suffering in a vy for your own empowerment.

I’m now pretty sure that wasn’t it at all. I’m pretty sure because it kept getting worse every issue and it’s culminated in today’s issue where the retelling of Renee Montoya’s story managed to be petty, cruel, shockingly pro-police brutality int its adulation of Jim Gordon and especially Harvey Bullock, and managed to make a well-rounded and very beloved Latina lesbian and just retrofit every stereotype she never had before to her without regard for what it did to her story or to the stories of people around her.

Honestly, lapsed faith and a poke at the damage that Catholic guilt can have on especially queer believers is kind of my jam, so it’s not that I wouldn’t be down for a story with that perspective. I could even understand exploring that with Renee. But not at the expense of her established history.

Which is a question all of its own. Here we have the skeletal structure of Renee’s life events that we have read before (in much better stories), but they are surprisingly out of order and also shockingly twisted in a way to make EVERYONE as unpleasant as possible.

And in a way that has convinced me that either John Ridley has never read comics featuring Renee, or that he was mandated to change things that had no business being changed.

According to this issue Renee hated Batman and other superheroes? Which, ah, I don’t even know where that could come from. Ever since the animated series where she got started, Renee’s whole bag has been “the acolyte of Jim Gordon, only other cop who supports Batman”. Like I don’t even know how you get around that.

But according to Ridley she’s hated them all along as an extension of her internalized homophobia and self-loathing. Great.

What follows out of that is that apparently? Renee and Batman specifically butted heads over wanting to rehabilitate Harvey Dent? As in Renee wanted to help him and BATMAN was the one flipping out and saying Harvey was a sociopath and couldn’t be helped.

Like. I’m starting to question if Ridley has read Batman comics before. I don’t know where that interpretation could possibly come from? Bruce and Harvey were friends? Bruce has always held out hope for saving Harvey from his psychosis? It’s like. THE storyline for Two-Face.

The cop stuff... I don’t really know how to talk about the cop stuff to be completely honest. If you mention the LA Riots on one page and a few pages later try to frame it so that over policing and methods of brutality weren’t a thing until 9/11... I don’t know what to say to you.

I’d say maybe I was being ungenerous here except there were two characters who got entire full page spreads about what good cops they were. And one of them was goddamn Harvey Bullock with the explicit commentary that Renee USED to be uncomfortable with his torture methods and general brutality but figured it was “okay” because he knew how “innocent people screamed different” and that he “never collared someone and it didn’t stick” because. Y’know. Police violence and falsifying evidence never go hand in hand. what the actual fuck ever right?

The timeline for Renee and Kate’s relationship is also completely changed which means that we get to add a trope I just LOVE as a lesbian personally, which is that lesbians can’t keep relationships and can’t keep from cheating on their loving partners. Especially when they are butch.

And I’m not talking about Renee cheating on Kate. Oh, no. Ridley decided Kate was the Other Woman during Renee’s relationship with Daria.

And just.. the cruel commentary that Renee had about both Kate and Daria throughout. It made my skin crawl. The way she talked about other women in general made my skin crawl. “Uncomplicated women” “Broken souls” “Can’t be with someone better than yourself”

So I actually planned to go into a full rage post about just the queer content because 1. my lane and 2. it honestly affected me so bad I was shaking and tearing up in anger a bit. Every single friend I know who loves Kate and Renee, see themselves in Kate and Renee, have been the same kind of mess I am after this.

The NASTINESS of the internal monologue. I don’t know how to explain it more than this is how poorly men think of flf and to have one use a character so meaningful to the community to spout this hatefulness has revolted me in a way I... haven’t had happen to me for a while.

I was going to talk about the weirdness of just... randomly deciding to retcon Renee’s parents into being undocumented when that’s never been a thing before and just doing NOTHING with it the whole while after. Or how it’s pretty questionable how Renee suddenly became so adherently Catholic when it’s never been portrayed like that before (that’s Hel B’s bag, JPV if you squint) but it’s entwined with any of her commentary on her ethnicity p sus too but I don’t have the nuance for that discussion right now.

Rena Rants are back and what a fucking JOKE this comic was.

I didn’t pay for it and neither should you.

P.S. bringing back Tim Fox and calling him “Jace” is dumb as fuck too

#VICTOR #CHARLIE #Rants of Unusual Size #Rena Rambles #Wednesday Spoilers #The Other History of the DC Universe (2019)#Renee Montoya #the Question #Kate Kane #Batwoman #character assassination #for who?#take a pick #I didn't even touch on her calling Vic instead of #In the name of the moon fuck you my dude

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angelsaxis · 3 years

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I remember when (yt) people on this site were losing their minds at the idea of ear piercing for baby girls, making arguments of consent, comparing it to fgm (???????) and acting like this was the most extreme violation of consent possible that could be done against a woman or child. And so much of it was clearly just a massive cultural difference between yt ppl on here and basically everyone else, because a) yes it's culturally significant in many nonwhite places for baby girls to get their ears pierced, but also b) it's..... incredibly common in many Black communities to see young boys with earrings. Like I'd argue at this point it's becoming less and less surprising. Idk about other folks but I know in Latino areas girls' ears are pierced pretty soon too. Same thing for Africans lmao I was a baby when I got mine done.

Lots of white people probably picked up on the ethnic patterns of ear piercing for kids and just let all their vitriol spill out. Nobody argues like that now I don't think but whenever I remember it I'm baffled and annoyed.

#angel posts #like what was going on

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dennyvong · 3 years

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Blog Post #5 Due 9/30

Q1: How do video games play a role in promoting racism whether intentional or not?

Video games are sought out by many people to enjoy a different part of reality or as an escape. Some play video for the story, thrill, or just to have fun such as a person would watch TV/Movies. However there are subtle hints of racisms in the games we play that many fail to notice. Some of these include a white male/female protagonist in any game you can find. While some may argue that games are allowing you to create a character of your choice, there are also minor racisms in there as well, like that the voices for the custom character is only voice by a white male/female or that only the white male/female characters have a wider selection of cosmetics and style while creating a POC (People of Color) character will only have one to five choices of hairstyles and etc. Another example would be as Fickle states “That it was not a black man but an Asian American one who ultimately fulfilled Akil's prophetic warning of Pokémon GO's lethal con-sequences for nonwhite players is itself illustrative of this dynamic.” What happened here was that a Asian American grandfather was shot and killed for alleged trespassing of near a country club while playing the game and Akil predicted when the game “Pokemon Go” came out that this game would not be safe to the to the non-privileged or POCs. Many games may not do it unintentional and that goes to show you racism is pretty much unescapable.

Q2: What are Cyberspaces and are they are cause for racisms?

Cyberspace is a place online as Kolko explains “ comprised entirely of O's and l's: simple binary switches that are either off or on. No in-between. No halfway. No shades of gray. All too often, when it comes to virtual culture, the subject of race seems to be one of those binary switches: either it's completely "off" (i.e., race is an invisible concept because it's simultaneously unmarked and undiscussed), or it's completely "on" (i.e., it's a controversial flashpoint for angry debate and overheated rhetoric).“ Since cyberspaces are made this way in can lead to many issues online regarding race and gender. People can judge whom you are by your avatar, way you speak or whatever you may have on your profile. A person can also see the actions you done and make a assumption off of it. This creates major issues because a male may be assumed to be a female online by how he chooses to address his profile or the way he would come off.

Q3: Are there any similarities and differences between “the Terminator” and the Yellow-Face Terminator”?

There are many differences to the two rather than similarities. One the Terminator is a futuristic cyborg being whom is on the search to protect Sarah Conner and her offspring John Conner whom are the only ones who can save and prevent the world from Skynet (Evil enemies). As for the Yellow-faced Terminator, he is the complete opposite, his purpose is pure destruction and turmoil. As Ow explains whom the Yellow-faced Cyborg seems to entail, “... male monster rampages through a city, raping, colonizing, terminating all within his path.” As you can see they are completely different the only similarity is they are both male and somewhat “terminate” their enemies. Another difference would be that Yellow-Faced one is clearly Asian while the Terminator is white. In the Terminator there was mainly only white male/female Terminators, until recently when they brought in a Asian one in the films. A final difference would be one kills for good while the other kills for fun, no matter how you look at it both are not at all similar.

Q4: How has the game “Shadow Warrior” racialized Asian people?

The game Shadow Warrior created by Broussard Miller, is a game where the player plays as a Cyborg whom job is to colonize and dominate the opposition leaving none in its path. While creating this game it seem their intension was not to be racist the game and interview would say otherwise as stated by Ow whom quotes Miller ” We designed the game this way on purpose. In fact, we thought that our mixing of Asian cultures was so outright obvious that no one could possibly mistakenly think it was done from ignorance.... We are having fun with the whole Asian culture, and we blatantly mixed up all the elements and cultures to make a fun game. (Miller and Broussard) “ This blatantly shows that they clearly knew they were messing around with a culture and put its own twist to it to however they like. They clearly do not care how offensive it was because it was intentional for the game but unintentional to hurt the Asian audience. Two and two do not mix together you can’t have ill intentions and say it was what they intended. It would be like committing a crime and they would say “oh but no one was hurt or I just wanted to break into the bank but I did not do it for the money.” Having an Asian cyborg, go on a rampage, raping and pillaging it’s enemies sets a bad example on Asian people and it does not help they added what they call “Asian culture” such as ninja, kung fu ideas from movies and etc. It almost seems as though the game was created as a mockery of the Asian culture behind the image of being a game for the public.

Kolko, B. E., Nakamura, L., & Rodman, G. B. (2000). Race in cyberspace. Routledge.

Fickle, T. (2019). The race card: From gaming technologies to model minorities. New York University Press.

Ow, Jeffrey A. “The Revenge of the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator: The Rape of Digital Geishas and the Colonization of Cyber-Coolies in 3D Realms’ Shadow Warrior.” Asian America.Net: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Cyberspace. Eds. Rachel C. Lee and Sau-Ling Cynthia Wong. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print.

#csufwgst320baddies

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timac-extraversal · 3 years

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Four Racial Futures

(TIMAC #003, ~3,800 words, 16 minutes)

Summary: Four alternative paths to the current dominant left/liberal racial vision for future America are discussed, including an underestimate of the size of the white population, Castizo Futurism, Landian Hyper-Racism, and changes in society's understanding of developmental psychology.

Epistemic Status: Political speculation.

-☆☆☆-

‘Majority Minority’ America? Don’t Bet on It John J. Miller, Wall Street Journal (2021/02) [paywall]

“The surge in mixing across ethno-racial lines is one of the most important and unheralded developments of our time,” says Mr. Alba, a professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He rattles off facts and figures: Today, more than 10% of U.S.-born babies have one parent who is nonwhite or Hispanic and one who is white and not Hispanic. That proportion is larger than the number of babies born to two Asian parents and not far behind the number of babies born to two black parents. “We’re entering a new era of mixed backgrounds,” Mr. Alba says.

The census apparently counts those who identify as both white and non-white as 'non-white,' which may be undercounting the number of people who are likely to identify as 'white' in the United States. Sociologist Richard Alba argues that assimilation is bidirectional, but proceeding apace.

The infamous Razib Khan chimes in on Twitter:

The Great Demographic Illusion: Majority, Minority, and the Expanding American Mainstream [link] haven't read this book but summary supports my exp./priors in 21st century.

"When they marry, 72% of Asian-white women and 64% of Asian-white men take white spouses. The government nevertheless counts them and their progeny as nonwhite." i have a blue-eyed blonde-haired 1/4th japanese friend. she probably doesn't realize she's counted as nonwhite

fwiw, my half brown kids 'identify' as tan. but if they were forced to pick a race and others were forced would choose white more than anything else

On the one hand, we have the largely implicit left-wing theory that if there is no majority race, there can be no organized oppression by a majority race. On the other, the implicitly-left-wing theory that if there are many mixed-race people, it will become too difficult to organize by race - identifying people on the basis of race will be harder and people will have split loyalties.

Either might fail on its own. If people are naturally prone to politics by race and ethnicity, then a lack of a clear supermajority in a majority-minority country may lead to shifting ethnic coalitions, with no group feeling that it's in a comfortable position of power. Even within a mixed group, there might be selection in some specific direction, such as colorism, which is currently its own category of discourse.

On the other hand, it's apparently possible that some form of unironic 'Multiracial Whiteness' could "win," either from widespread adoption of 'white' as a norm even if whites were a minority, or by a supermajority ending up 7/8ths 'white' and the definition of 'white' expanding to match...

[Quora] What is Castizo Futurism? Renatto Belerofonte (2020)

Among the right-wingers, there is also a joke that "the Alt Right is a hispanic movement." And just as there is Afro-Pessimism, there is a 'White Optimism' in the form of "Castizo Futurism," as Quora user Renatto Belerofonte describes better than I could:

Castizo Futurism comes from the idea that the future of whites in the United States and Latin America is not as dire as white supremacists that believe in white genocide think it is. White Identitarians traditionally organize their societies through Hypodescent (the idea that the offspring of an union between two conflicting classes adopts the social standing of the lower class involved) [...] An example of hypodescent would be the One Drop Rule.

[...]

Castizo Futurism is basically the adoption of Hyperdescent by American White Supremacists, the idea that whiteness is a malleable condition that can morph according to the material and historical conjuncture of society. If Hispanics in the US suddenly stop being “non-whites” and start to be perceived as “mostly mestizos and castizos that are already predominantly European with various degrees of native blood” then you can conceive the prospect of “whitening” them overtime. If Mestizos can become Castizos (which according to White Supremacists is the cut-off at which you start to manifest European behavior and appearance) then there is the possibility that White Genocide can be reversed.

As Renatto writes, "if you look at non-anglo societies this paradigm is not the case [...] Spanish, Portuguese and French societies in America believed that you could 'become' white through generations of intermarriage..."

Human beings grow old and wish to create a legacy in their environments. For some people, this is children. For others, it is activism. Suppose you tie your self-identity to a great confrontation to overcome "whiteness," and then just as you saw the traditions of your ancestors as something outdated to be overturned, most of an entire generation simply ignore you and decide that they are now white.

Who, exactly, is going to stop them?

Of course, there is no guarantee that this will happen, but at the same time, there is no requirement that it won't.

One of the great advantages to adopting relatively liberal methods and tactics is that you aren't obligated to pin your hopes on demographic triumphalism - if the future goes a bit off-script, that isn't necessarily a problem. And it may well go off-script; one of the characteristics of the future that I have tried to express in my blogging is that, for most of us, it will be unexpected.

Why does the old conventional racism use hypodescent? Old conventional racism might claim to be based on thinking in terms of evolution, but it isn't necessarily. Often it proceeds as if race is primordial, trailing back into the mists of time. Why embrace hyperdescent now? In part, because 'white' was something that emerged once through evolution and selection, and it's implemented as a statistical distribution of heritable traits (even if those heritable traits are solely appearance). As long as those traits exist, it can simply be recreated if the appropriate conditions arise.

[Landian] Hyper-Racism Nick Land, Xenosystems.net (2014/09, arch. 2015)

Speaking of statistical distributions of traits, there are some pessimists that argue that intra-European political preferences are heritable and conserved.

But even those 'within-white' preferences, should they exist, may end up scrambled...

Assortative mating tends to genetic diversification. This is neither the preserved diversity of ordinary racism, still less the idealized genetic pooling of the anti-racists, but a class-structured mechanism for population diremption, on a vector towards neo-speciation. It implies the disintegration of the human species, along largely unprecedented lines, with intrinsic hierarchical consequence. The genetically self-filtering elite is not merely different — and becoming ever more different — it is explicitly superior according to the established criteria that allocate social status. Analogical fusion with Cochran’s space colonists is scarcely avoidable. If SES-based assortative mating is taking place, humanity (and not only society) is coming apart, on an axis whose inferior pole is refuse. This is not anything that ordinary racism is remotely able to process. That it is a consummate nightmare for anti-racism goes without question, but it is also trans-racial, infra-racial, and hyper-racial in ways that leave ‘race politics’ as a gibbering ruin in its wake.

"The problem with ordinary racism," Nick Land writes, "is its utter incomprehension of the near future."

If the conventional racists view race as primordial, as something that can only be either preserved or lost, and the would-be Castizo Futurists view race as something that can change over generations, then the Transhumanists are the most radical. Transhumanists tend to view the body mechanically, as a system of parts, each of which could potentially be replaced. This is the view on the macro level - they would support growing new organs in vats and transplanting them - but it's also true on the micro level. To a Transhumanist, a gene is not the same thing as a person who has it, and a gene is not in itself sacred any more than the radiator on your car is sacred. (Alter someone's genetics unwillingly, however, and you might find far more stern disagreement - not unlike the violent disagreement you might get if you broke into someone's car and stole their radiator.)

Someone once described Americans as 'temporarily-embarassed millionaires.' For temporarily-embarassed cyborgs, much of contemporary race discourse is just not very impressive. For Liberal Transhumanists, a man who has inherited frail leg bone genes is not an inherently unworthy being, but is merely someone who has not yet received robot legs - just as they are human beings who have not yet received anti-aging pills. And if some men have sturdy leg bone genes instead? Rather than a threat of enduring hierarchy, those genes represent potential untapped capital that could be used to raise the standard of living (from the typical subjective perspective).

In the famous animated franchise Ghost in the Shell, the lead character has an entirely synthetic body, except for her brain. If this were possible (and at this point, we don't know that it is, though we're continuing to experiment in fields like tissue engineering), one might describe a society capable of it as "also trans-racial, infra-racial, and hyper-racial in ways that leave ‘race politics’ as a gibbering ruin in its wake."

Are there risks involved with this mindset? Certainly. But many of the basic criticisms will ring as hollow to transhumanists as basic conservative criticisms ring hollow to many left-wing and liberal readers.

This future is not yet etched in stone, but on the other hand, an article in Nature published in 2020 argued that...

Together, these findings suggest that there are, at present, no known insurmountable hurdles to the eventual development of safe and effective clinical applications of genome editing in humans. […] Therapeutic genome editing will be realized, at least for some diseases, over the next 5-10 years.

Part of what makes contemporary race discourse so unimpressive to transhumanists is that it fails to integrate Crispr or PGD-IVF into its moral imagination. Right-wingers are said to look backwards, and left-wingers and progressives to look forwards. But while the right-wing WrathOfGnon would encourage readers think on ancestral time scales by physically building villages out of traditional materials (a view which, right or wrong, is consistent), a number of Progressives fail to imagine beyond the next fifteen years.

...or perhaps they do. Can children consent to what's considered a genetic disease (such as Tay-Sachs, which is quite lethal)? Would having kids the old-fashioned way come to be seen as a low-class activity for rednecks and religious fundamentalists? There are ways in which genetic equity is at odds with genetic freedom.

It's also possible that they are simply technology pessimists, maintaining multiple rings of protection in case technology should fail to pan out this century. Though if this is their perspective, perhaps they should consider the potential dangers of their current rhetoric as well.

Contrary to the Liberal Transhumanists, for someone like Land, everything is highly competitive evolution.

genomic manipulation capabilities, which will also be unevenly distributed by SES, will certainly intensify the trend to speciation, rather than ameliorating it.

I take issue with Land, here. Not just morally (though he writes "this blog generally seeks to spread dismay whenever the opportunity arises"), but in practical terms.

Every time we edit a gene, we risk an off-target result, which may cause disease. The tradeoffs for early genetic engineering favor focusing on monogenic disease, the sort of situation where your choices are to risk genetic engineering or experience near-certain death by age 30. Many traits like intelligence or general health, should they be genetic, are likely highly polygenic. Hypothetically, a rich man could pay for a thousand edits, but this would only work with a relatively mature technology where the rate of error is very, very low.

Something closer to the opposite of Nick Land's idea might come to pass, in which sharp negative points are eroded away except for a few populations such as religious conservatives, including the literal Amish, and medical skeptics, paid for by big institutions like insurance companies and public health authorities. In twenty years, the likes of L0m3z, a right-wing Twitter contrarian, may write about the coming "Planet of Midwits."

As for Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis In-Vitro Fertilization, although it is currently being used for preventing the transmission of Huntington's Disease (if you have $35,000 to spare), the gains from embryo selection for other traits can be more limited than people might expect.

[Video] The Glenn Show: The Dark Matter of Developmental Psychology Glenn Loury & James Heckman, BloggingHeads.tv (2020/12)

GLENN: I'm talking to one of the great economists working on human development. What are you up to at the Center for the Economics of Human Development at the University of Chicago?

HECKMAN: Well, one of the great issues of course, always, is exactly how do you improve the lot of human beings. Namely, how do you measure what improvement is, what are the relevant life skills, and then how do you develop those skills? What's the proper role for social policy, and I don't mean just governmental policy, I mean social policy? There are some very strong interventions, evidence for interventions, showing how if you tell parents a certain amount of information that they lack, it can have huge effects on their children. And the same is true of interventions that occur in adolescent years. Human potential is not being fully utilized. [...] I've been working on this not only in the US, but in several countries around the world - a lot of time spent in China, recently.

[...]

HECKMAN: And then gradually society has become more and more cognitively focused. Well that sounds good. When Governor Clinton was governor of Arkansas, well all of these well-meaning officials were talking about how to improve schools, what do they talk about? Nate scores - reading, writing, and arithmetic. They don't talk about character formation. They don't talk about self-control, executive functioning, the way you can help govern your life. [...]

HECKMAN: One of the main lessons of this body of work, and I'm proud to have contributed to this, is in showing the power of social and emotional and personality skills in shaping lives. Skills that can be actually cultivated, and skills that can be cultivated not just at the beginning of life, but through adolescence especially.

What evidence is there? Aside from more contemporary study in his own field, Heckman mentions discusses the Perry Preschool Project, a topic which comes up sometimes when one is looking into this field. While increases in IQ scores failed to stick, the experimental group had improvements in other life outcomes such as earnings, home ownership, and lower risk of incarceration.

HECKMAN: ...but the way you take the kid to the next step matters a lot. You've got to do it with some patience, and with some empathy - some attachment. And so there's a whole subject matter in child development psychology which we're looking at now - we actively are exploring.

HECKMAN: By the way, I don't want to pretend this is all completely known. This is what makes the work that I'm doing now so exciting. Because now we're measuring these interactions, week by week. This is now not in the US, it's in western China, one of the poorest areas. We can see how the interactions between the parent and the child are leading to the growth of skills on the part of the child. [...]

HECKMAN: This was something that was tried in Jamaica some 40 years ago. I'm working with a group of people with a study that's still ongoing outside of Kingston, Jamaica. It's called the "Reach Up and Learn" study in Jamaica. The China study is patterned after that study. [...]

So the research the Heckman is focused on is not limited to a particular race, country, or culture.

HECKMAN: It turns out that a lot of parents don't really know how to parent. And what do I mean by that? They don't have a clear idea what a normal growth trajectory is for a child, what a child can do. And they often don't understand how powerful they are in shaping the life of the child. So you give them that kind of information. Nobody's being forced to do anything. Just empower people. Almost every caretaker of a young child really wants that child to succeed. [...] When they are told this information, they act on it.

Asian Americans live longer than non-hispanic white Americans, and have a higher median household income. [1☆][2☆] While there is some racial tension between white and asian Americans (see, for instance, ongoing 'cultural appropriation' arguments and other discourse), it's generally considered less of an issue than disparities between the country's white majority and black Americans.

Could parental information and mentoring programs reduce disparities in the United States, even if they aren't resolved? And could this turn down the heat on race discourse?

For instance, at $76k median household income, white households make about 77% of what asian households do. Black American households make about $45k, or about 60% of white American household income. At 77%, they would make about $59k, not far off from the $56k of hispanic households.

What are the potential downsides? The most likely way for the program to fail is for it to have no effect or, at worst, a modest negative effect. [3] It isn't incompatible with an ecological view of human society. It would cost money, but probably not much more than another couple years of additional schooling.

Given the modest downside risk, what are the potential upsides? If the reports on the Perry Preschool Program are accurate and the effects can be replicated, there are a large savings to be had, mostly from the reduction in crime. [4☆]

But can the effects be replicated? The sample size for the Perry Preschool Project was relatively small. As far as Early Childhood Education programs go, the effectiveness of Head Start, which provides more than just preschool and is "based on a 'whole child' model," is disputed. [5☆][6☆] However...

Two older "high-quality" preschool programs mentioned frequently in the research literature are the HighScope Perry Preschool program from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) program. These programs include parent education and support and thus differ in significant ways from the type of preschool programs offered by Head Start, as well as the more recent "high-quality" programs. They are also much more expensive on a per-capita basis. Both the CPC and the HighScope Perry Preschool programs were started in the 1960s, and researchers have carried out long-term cost-benefit analyses for both programs. These analyses conclude that better long-term outcomes more than pay for their higher program costs, mainly in the form of higher career income and lower rates of criminal behavior.

- Armor & Sousa [6☆]

By 2018, the "Reach Up and Learn" program Heckman was speaking of had been expanded to 9 other countries, with varying degrees of effectiveness depending on its implementation. [7☆] (Though its associated US domain has expired.) Heckman's own study is, as one would expect, positive about the effects - and was published in Science.

Early childhood education increased earnings by 25%, enough for growth-stunted children to completely catch up to the earnings of the non-stunted comparison group. The control group remained far behind. In fact, average earnings from full-time jobs were 25% higher for the treatment group than for the control group. Ninety-eight percent of treated children had been employed at age 22, with 94% in full-time jobs.

Jamaica is not America, and interventions that worked under conditions in Jamaica might be less effective in America. However, if it could be achieved, a 25% increase in median income would put black American households at roughly $57k annual income, just above hispanic households, and within striking distance of the $59k target.

A nutritional intervention was also attempted, however, although "Other studies have shown cognitive benefits from nutritional supplementation in the first 24 months," Heckman wrote, "The nutrition supplement for the child was often shared with the family, so it may not have been sufficient to produce better outcomes."

And the nutrition angle might be worth looking into - the study cited (preceded by an analysis, by one of the same authors, of 13 studies on the subject) by Scott Alexander in Society is Fixed, Biology is Mutable showed that vitamins didn't do much for well-nourished kids, but that a minority of undernourished kids may have benefitted greatly.

-☆☆☆-

[1☆] As of 2014, asian Americans lived about 86 years, hispanics about 83 years, and non-hispanic whites about 79 years.

[2☆] In 2019, asian households had a median household income of $98,174 US to white non-hispanic median household income of $76,057. (It should be noted however, as shown in this Wikipedia article that is easier to read than the government data it cites, that household median incomes for groups within "white" or "asian" are not all the same.)

[3] Heckman's program and attitude suggest that an ideological explanation of how we got here isn't included, just an assumption of lack of access to resources by impoverished parents, whether that's in Jamaica, Peru, or China. This suggests the program lacks a loop where program failure just means that the program wasn't tried hard enough.

[4☆] Updating the Economic Impacts of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program (2005)

At a 3% discount rate the program repays $12.90 for every $1 invested from the perspective of the general public; with a 7% discount rate, the repayment per dollar is $5.67. Returns are even higher if the total benefits--both public and private--are counted. However, there are strong differences by gender: a large proportion of the gains from the program come from lower criminal activity rates by the treatment group, almost all of which is undertaken by the males in the sample. The implications of these findings for public policy on early childhood education are considered.

[5☆] Wikipedia collects a number of studies both for and against.

[6☆] The Dubious Promise of Universal Preschool David J. Armor & Sonia Sousa, National Affairs (2014/01, arch. 2014/01)

[7☆] Reach Up: how a Jamaican early childhood intervention swept the world APolitical.co (2018/04)

#timac #politics #racepol

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supercantaloupe · 3 years

Note

hey i love ur tuc critiques about the show’s issue w antisemitism and think you really explain the issue so well. of course feel free to not answer this, but i noticed in one of ur latest posts you mentioned how in nyc the “large jewish population that is also perceived as largely or entirely lightskinned/white-passing.” are jewish people poc or is it possible to be both white and jewish? i’ve googled it and read through some responses, but there are so many different responses and i was just curious on your thoughts. again please feel free to not answer for any reason, hope you have a good day!!

hi anon! i’m happy to expand on this for you, and i want to start by thanking you for both your curiousity and respect in asking. secondly, i want to preface my response by stressing that i am just one person who is neither an anthropologist nor a spokesperson representing a homogenous opinion of all jewish people in america; every person is going to have their own perspective and answer to this issue, and i can only give you my own.

that being said, this is a somewhat complicated issue. i won’t be able to give you a simple yes or no answer as to whether jews can or can’t be white. some jews can certainly be light-skinned/white-passing and even benefit from white privilege in western society. but it’s also just as true that jews can be light-skinned/white-passing and still face oppression by nature of being jewish. and none of this is ever to say that dark-skinned jews do not exist -- on the contrary, there are thousands of dark-skinned jews both worldwide and across america -- whose unique perspectives as dark-skinned jews enriches the whole jewish community as well as facing more and unique social oppression by nature of their being dark-skinnned.

the jewish people, as an ethnic group, are originally native to the levantine region of the middle east. however, the jewish people also have a long history of being expelled from our native land and living in diasporic communities (this history goes back thousands of years, even hundreds of years before the advent of christianity). so there exist today communities of jews all over the world who indeed look very, very different from each other: there were/are vibrant jewish communities throughout the middle east, subsaharan africa, in india, in china, etc. the point here being that there are jews of all skin colors and languages and cultures, but we’re all still equally and validly jewish.

i think what confuses the issue are the natures of both judaism as an ethnoreligion (not just a religion) and the general mode of discourse on race in western culture. especially in america, we tend to discuss issues of race as being quite literally black and white, with a subtle yet pervading perception of people being nonwhite if they have any drop of blood in their lineage from ancestors of color. i think this attitude is pretty directly inherited from the overtly racist beliefs of white european and euroamerican colonialists from the 17th-19th centuries, and still pervades in insidious forms to this day.

so the answer to “are jews poc/can jews be white?” especially in america is a muddy one. if not the majority of jews actually in america, then certainly the perceived majority of jews/jewish culture in america is that of light-skinned jews of european ancestry (especially ashkenazim, who are jews from or descended from the diasporic communities in northern and eastern europe). within progressive jewish circles there is indeed a recognition of and concern about this “ashkenormativity,” as i’ve seen it termed -- the dominance of ashkenazim and their version of jewish culture in american culture has the tendency to obscure the voices and experiences of jews of other backgrounds in media and in conversation. but what is important to recognize about european jews is that not all european jews have the same ethnic features (including light skin). beyond that, it’s important to recognize as well the fact that, historically and especially in europe, jews have been targeted for severe persecution for being explicitly non-white -- even when their skin is as light as european goyim (non-jews).

thus the reduction of racism/anti-ethnic prejudice to a black-and-white issue as it is often done in america does not neatly fit conversation about jewish identity. in europe, from which america originally inherited a lot of its racism and thought about racial discourse, racism/anti-ethnic prejudice is not wholly determined by factors as simply and visible as skin color. and there is a frustration among many progressive american jews over this tendency to boil down racial discrimination into black-and-white terms, because whichever side of the binary we fall into on a case-by-case basis usually ends up being to our detriment. for example, white supremacists in america certainly would not consider us (even the most light-skinned/white-passing among us) to be white, and antisemitic violence is dishearteningly frequent. on the other hand, the perception of american jewry is so predominantly “white” that, especially from liberals, the reality of our oppression is not “real enough” to warrant attention and addressing in activism, despite the fact that instances of antisemitic violence are constistently very high on yearly lists of hate crimes committed both locally and nationwide. and all of this is attempting to analyze judaism in the terms of ideas and attitudes about race from the relatively recent past (let’s say the last few centuries) -- when judaism is an ethnoreligion that by far predates the modern concept of “race.”

so my answer to the question of “can jews be white/are jews people of color” is...i don’t know. certainly the experience of a dark-skinned jew is different from that of a light-skinned jew, and it would be silly to pretend otherwise or to claim that a dark-skinned jew is not a person of color simply because they’re also jewish, and “jews are white.” but what of light-skinned jews? are we effectively white because of the inherent privilege in western society of having light skin, or are we always something else by nature of our judaism? if we are white, how profound an impact does that have on our lives and the prejudice we face in society? what of converts, who may indeed be considered “fully” white until the moment of their conversion, are they still white or no longer once they join the tribe? what of ethnic jews, who are born of jewish descent but disconnected from/raised outside the culture?

tl;dr: none of these questions have concise answers, yet they’re all raised by the simple, even innocuous question you pose, anon. my own personal answer to you would be...i don’t know for sure. it’s a question i’m certainly willing to elaborate on (as i have tried to do in this post), but, truthfully, a discussion with intent to settle on an answer is not one i am comfortable having with goyim; to try to settle on a solid answer to the question of “are jews white or poc” is, i believe, an intracommunity issue to be answered by jews and for jews, because ultimately, the very concept of “white vs. poc” in regards to ethnic identity simply does not fit an ethnoreligion so old and diverse as ours. and to some extent, debating the question can in fact misdirect even well-intentioned activists away from the reality that jews, no matter our skin color, face oppression in western society, and are in need of solidarity and support from both within and outside our community in order to survive and thrive.

#sasha reviews #sasha answers #anon #judaism #antisemitism #i hope this helps! i know it doesnt really answer the question but sometimes a discussion is more useful anyway than a yes or a no #i feel weird tagging this as unsleeping city even if that's what started this whole conversation since this post is not really about that #but i guess i will anyway for the sake of people in the tag who might also be interested in this follow up to my previous posts #the unsleeping city #for the record i'm ashkenazi. for the jews of the audience i feel like that's worth mentioning

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juniaships · 3 years

Text

Jora Holiday Bio **Update 2021**

The following paragraphs contains information exclusively for the original series.

Full Name: Jora Ladybird Holiday

Age: 9, 29 (Ben10000); 39 (Ken 10)

Birthday: March 31/April 1 (she was born 11:59pm on March 31)

Species: Human

Race: African American

Fandom: Ben 10 (classic&reboot), The Secret Saturdays (crossover), Generator Rex (crossover), Cartoon Network/CN City (crossover)

Voice Claim: Kimberly Brooks; Brandy Norwood is another alternate choice

Character Role: Friend and love interest to Ben Tennyson

Powers/Abilities: Rot Inducement, Mycokinesis, Poison/Toxin Immunity, Self Healing/Regeneration, Moderate Chronokinesis (Time-Acceleration)

Items: Vials, Mini Lab, Gloves

Relationships

Family: Jeremy (father), Mavis (mother), Tasha (sister), Pattibelle (first cousin) Ginger (family friend); Kenny, Kendrix & Belle (future children), Devlin (adopted son/cousin in law(?))

Friends: Ben & Gwen Tennyson, Max Tennyson, Cooper Daniels, Richard Mortis, Mama G (future mentor)

Acquaintances: Ginger T. Glass, Tamika

Love Interest: Ben is her primary love interest, as seen with their eventual future together as well as hints and blatant displays of "puppy love."

Enemies: Pretty much every villain in this show; her personal arch-nemesis is Kudzu, a lifestyle expert & entrepreneur who initially tried to gentrify Jora's neighborhood & ruin her family's business. Other villains include Master Mortis (Richard's creator), and Kudzu's bounty hunters.

Appearance

- Dark Skinned African American girl

- Chubby, shorter than Ben and Gwen

- Has dark brown hair styled in twisted pigtails, pink hair scrunchies

- Black Bead Eyes//dark brown

- Wears lilac lacy gloves

- Wears three different outfits through the show:

- Season 1: Yellow t-shirt, pink shorts, beige sandals

- Seasons 2&3: Pink and Yellow striped tank top, orange skirt, and same sandals

- Season 4: Pink and white t-shirt, yellow capris with orange belt, and purple shoes

Personality

A sweet and quiet girl, Jora Holiday did not consider herself to be special. She lacked friends in school and kept to herself out of fear of getting bullied. This was because she had to deal with her mutant powers since they came into fruition as a very small child. Jora normally tries to avoid or deflate conflict, though deep down she does get a little fed up with playing peacemaker if the squabbling persists. Jora is compassionate and humble, never boastful but also bashful when it comes to compliments and praise. Of the four kids she is regarded as the nicest.

Because of her powers Jora has clean freak tendencies in her desire to look as normal as possible. She tried to avoid gross situations, although later down the line she learns it's okay to dirty her gloves - literally.

But with sweetness comes sourness, as she does have a passive-aggressive side towards slights, whether real or perceived. She didn't get along with Tasha, feeling as though the latter didn't care for her (which isn't true). Jora tends to be oversensitive and takes things too personally, ans even can be prone to tears if provoked hard enough. She also bears lingering resentment and shame over the partial ailments her element brings; these feelings fade away over time as she grows to accept her powers and adapt to her condition. One of her biggest flaws is her timidness and inability to stand up for herself and others. She also didn't get along with Ben for a while, though they get better quickly.

Jora has a love of nature, as shown with her hobby of collecting flowers and mushrooms. She despises animal abuse of any kind, and strives to be a bit more conscious of the environment. She also seems to have no phobia towards bugs, and thus is the designated "spider catcher" on the Rust Bucket.

Jora has a passion for fashion and a girly sense of style, preferring to dress in bright or pastel colors. Her love of nature and love of fashion could lead to a career based on environmentally friendly beauty products.

Ben 10000: Lavender shortsleeved dress and white apron

Adult Appearance

When she grows up Jora is considerably more capable of handling herself. She gets upset when people see and treat her as a fragile thing, seeing as though they don't trust her. She also is very in tune with nature, spending her days off on long walks in the forests, or at her homemade lab making potions.

In this timeline she was a waitress who worked after shifts as a vigilante. At the time the Hero of Heroes didn't know who this mysterious woman was, although he was struck by familiar feelings.

Ken 10: Mint Green blouse and pink maxiskirt with pink wristwatch (which is actually her transformation device)

Costume: White bodysuit with light purple accents, helmet and visor.

Powers:

Jora has the element of Decay (&Rebirth), which enables her to induce decomposition in organic material.

Techniques

- While not proficient at hand to hand she can run fast in short bursts and have stamina

- Generate spore clouds to obscure vision and block a person's airways

- Increase or decrease the rate the decay

- Increase or decrease the size of mushrooms, from giant prehistoric constructs to miniature samples to be used for medicine

- Create a slippery puddle of rot to make opponents fall

- Throw globs of inky, rotting matter to create fungus or for long range

- Autumn Leaf Tornado

- Create Penicillin (first "upgrade")

- Able to "purify" corrupted Mycellium in the episode "Camp Fear"

- Scavenger-animal Empathy

- Forensics (adult level)

- Fossil Fuel Manipulation (adult level)

- Floral Manipulation (adult level, possibly teen)

- Acid Spit (adult level)

- Hallucinations (teen level)

Weaknesses

- Her power has little to no effect on material such as metal, glass, synthetic fabrics, stones

- Has to wear her gloves at all times which can be tedious and uncomfortable

- Lacks strength and hand-to-hand proficiency

- Weak to extreme heat & cold

- Shroom Constructs can be easily destroyed if not continually reinforced

- Unable to control her powers if under extreme duress

- Requires weapons to compensate for elemental weaknesses

- Requires a source for better potency

Strengths

- Immune to Time related attacks since her powers are considered a form of chronokinesis

- Create healing potions

- Immune to mycotoxins and can decrease and even render dangerous mushrooms safe for consumption (handy for outdoor missions)

- Powers seem to increase in wet environments, the Moon

- Her kind gentle personality makes it easier for her to restrain the dangerous potential of her abilities

- Memorized enough species of fungi and has her own mini lab to safely store and carry samples

- Natural empathy towards others

- Quick learner, continually studies her powers and traits to adapt

Background

Born the second child to floral shop owners Jeremy and Mavis Holiday, Jora had a normal childhood in the comfy small town of Annville, SC. A quiet child, she spent after-school helping around the shop. They were small yet popular with the townsfolk, reputed for their knowledge of plants and colorful arrangements. However that normalcy took a detour when Jora's powers camemto fruition.

When people started to notice more and more plants dying, that in turn led to decrease in customers and soon the shop began to undergo financial trouble. One day, a beautiful woman named Kudzu came into the store offering to buy the place from Jeremy. See, Kudzu was one of the wealthiest and powerful people in town. He refused. The next day Kudzu came again with another proposition. Again Jeremy refused. This occurred all through the week, until finally a very irritated Mavis demanded Kudzu to leave their family alone. That time, Kudzu left and didn't ame back after that. The couple was relieved. Jora was nervous.

One day, just as Tasha and Jora were at the last day of school anf thr parents were off to cash in their winning lottery ticket, the floral shop caught fire! The firefighters were called and put out the blaze, but it left their shop and home in charred ruins.

Jora felt very guilty: if she never had her powers, there wouldn't have been such an awful domino effect. The fire was ruled as a freak accident, however Jeremy and Mavis believed that other forces were at work. They couldn't prove their theories as their suspect had too much power and leverage to be fought one on one. So they came up with a plan: they would spend the summer working to add money to the saved money while their kids go out of town. Mavis called upon an old friend from trade school to take the girls on vacation (somewhere safe from Kudzu).

The next couple of days after staying at a shelter, the girls were able to buy a few new outfits and essentials and told to wait for a brown and white RV. When the RV arrived, out came a older gentlemen in a bright scarlet Hawaiian shirt, with two children trailing behind him. He introduced himself as Max Tennyson, and the two kids were his grandchildren Ben and Gwen.

Trivia

Jora has a nature motif to contrast Ben's aliens and Gwen's magic.

Overall Jora is the most normal member of the team; her family has no connection to the Plumbers or magic.

Jora doesn't have signature color, the closest would be pink and yellow since those are colors she tends to wear the most of.

I made Jora so that there'd be another main girl in the cast and because the show didn't have a black female character (despite having nonwhite female characters of other ethnicities, and black male characters)

She does not have a major role in UAF; instead her storyline is seen as a spinoff (think Static Shock to the Justice League) focusing on smaller-scale plots with occasional cameos from main cast

Jora does come back in Omniverse to replace Gwen as the female lead; she is joined by Dr. Azura (Secret Saturdays OC), Myra Hopewell (GenRex), Ginger T. Glass, and her cousin Patti.

It is unknown whether her power is genetics or a random mutation.

In the Ben 10000 timeline she and Ben broke up because Ben tried to forbid her from going on active missions as a way to keep her safe. Obviously she didn't like that and left. They do reconcile at the end of the episode.

Out of my OCs for this fandom Jora is the lead character, followed by Kendrix

Jora's powers can vary based on the type of fungi she's using at the time. So her colors could range from inky-black to a gorgeous green

She is a candidate to take on the mantle of Mother Nature (currently held by Mama G)

Her hobbies are: reading comics and books primarily fantasy genre, costume design, hiking, floral pressing, DIY crafts, and insects

Due to her timid nature she has a fear of public speaking.

I don't have a claim for her in the live action films sorry!!

Jora is a foil for Kevin in that she was born with destructive powers. Unlike Kevin, she learned to rely on friends to help her stabilize her powers.

- A recurring subplot is the girls encountering and escaping from Kudzu's hired goons sent to track them down.

Jora was going to have standard plants and flowers as her power but I wanted to go for nontraditional elements instead.

The irony is that she's a softie dressed in bright colors and respects life, yet has a power related to death.

- At the end of the show she reunites with her parents and they're able to rebuild their business. She also stands up to Kudzu and exposes the woman for the rotten POS she is

Quotes:

"Pot, meet kettle. Kettle, meet face!"

"I like comic books. My favorite is the Fantasia Legends."

"If you're supposed to be Lucky Girl then why dress up like a black cat?"

"There's a lot of stories hidden beneath these trees. You just gotta know where to look."

"I'm not that scared little girl you used to pick on, Ben. I think you know I can take care of myself."

"Look I didn't get to choose my powers okay! But Kudzu chose to set our family's house on fire and I'm not gonna sit back and watch her hurt anyone else!"

"It's okay. I'll help you."

"It's called having good manners. You should try it sometimes."

"Leave. Them. Alone!"

"Please let this be a normal day this time!"

"You're like a mushroom. Unassuming at first, but something unique and vibrant!"

"Ben I don't know how to say this but... you're not alone. Don't ever think you're alone."

"I hope you'll be able to see that there's more to life than just money and business but until that day comes, we'll all do very well without you!"

"I may make things rot but the both of you are rotten to the core!"

Recent Pictures

Reference sheets for Omniverse

Sketches:

#oc bio #fyeahocsofcolor #ben 10 #ben 10 original series #ben 10 oc #oc: jora holiday #canon x oc #love interest #oc x canon

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