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millenniumfae · 7 years

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hi fae! i was wonderng if u could give me some advice as an ace poc on this other ace poc character im writing. its for an urban fantasy series w/ 4 main characters, 3 of whom are non white. the character im concerned abt is korean/american and demisexual. ive read a lot of discourse about asian characters being desexualized in media and as a white woman i want to avoid reinforcing those stereotypes, but also keep ace rep. other characters def perceive him as attractive and hes also not my (1/2)

ace character (the other is a white sex indifferent girl). truthfully the story is more about interpersonal relationships and found family with dashes of action than about any of the characters identities. im ace myself and this character is someone i feel i can really get ppl to identify with. do you have any tips about staying in my lane/what to avoid?

Well, let’s be very specific; it’s some Asian men that suffer desexualization in the given term. Largely, when we discuss the Asian experience, we are talking about objectification - the removal of a voice and autonomy in their sexuality.

Desexualizing Asian men often occurs when they’re in comparison to ‘real men’ and ‘real male sexuality’. It’s a quick way to ‘emasculate’ the partners of Asian women, and tell these women that they deserve better than men who can’t fulfill their little womanly desires.

But in my experience, Asian men are much more likely to be objectified alongside Asian non-men, than they are to be desexualized. Because we’re not just talking about your given straight cisgender frat boys in State, we’re taking about any and all sexual individuals who have their own misconceptions of Asian people, and how Asian people relate to their sexual desires.

In my own experience of being aspec and Asian, the primary reaction (upon someone knowing that I am both) is an immediate reduction of my worth as a person. I was invited to this party to stand there and be sexy, not because I’m an actual guest. Insert-fellow-college-student-here will never ask for my peer opinion again, because why bother talking to me at all? Date #1 asks me if I know what ‘asexuality actually means’ and orders me to imagine an erect penis, date #2 turns into a therapist with an obvious intent to ‘cure my trauma’ so they can continue the night as planned, date #3 gets dangerously angry and is seconds from having a meltdown because they ‘don’t appreciate being lied to’.

So as you can probably guess, I’m very much not impressed with the sudden interest in telling Asian people that we could NOT be asexual, and having that movement couched as progressiveness.

It’s more than ‘enforcing stereotypes’. It’s about the lack of real-life Asian voices regardless the material. AKA, a lack of paychecks paid towards us, a lack of media attention, a lack of autonomy over our creative endeavors.

Writing characters of color is a discussion in itself. We (and by ‘we’, I mean both white and not) will most likely encounter characters of color that engage the audience like the audience is white. Or, at the very least, not of their own race and culture.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, and it can be carefully justified. A good example includes Raul from Fallout New Vegas - one of the companions the player can recruit. Raul is voiced by a famous American latin-american-speaking actor, Raul’s spanish words are not translated in the subtitles, Raul makes several allusions to his life in Mexico as a Mexican man.

Raul is no token Mexican stereotype, he is a character with strong Mexican backgrounds and stands on his two feet as a character of color. He talks to the player in a way that implies that the player is shoehorned into being not Mexican themselves, but it’s only a slight suspicion and you can also say his outsider’s opinion on the player’s background can instead be attributed to his age - he’s nearly 200 years old, and talks about the world pre-nuclear apocalypse.

Is Raul ‘obviously’ written by a non-Mexican writer? You’d have to talk to someone who’d be more familiar with that, but there’s enough on Raul’s benefit for me to claim that he’s a passible example of a fictional man of color.

So what’s a character obviously written by white people, for white people? Continuing the Latin route, Mass Effect: Andromeda’s Reyes Vidal is… hhhhhh. His face is a white model spraypainted tan, instead of having different hairlines or a differently shaped nose and mouth and forehead and etc. He’s voiced by a white british actor who does an atrocious job at faking some sort of spicy latin accent. He exists primarily as some sort of captivating, mysterious Sexual Being - every interaction with Reyes involves dates, or otherwise hints at sexual histories. Any moment that doesn’t, it’s about his failure as an honest man.

He’s obviously meant to be a sexual interest. That itself wouldn’t be a problem, but add in the fake ‘latin’ accent and spraypainted white model and lack of any indicator of him as someone from an actual culture and society? Very not good.

Reyes is what happens when you take your default white character, and decide to spruce him up for spiciness points. Raul, on the other hand, is someone who was built from the ground up as having that very specific of color experience.

The mistakes that gave way to Mass Effect’s Reyes is what I see most primarily, and it’s what I encourage all to avoid.

So lets consider your goal of writing a Korean man, and compare the worst case scenario versus what you’d want to aim for. So you, under pen name Cassandra Blair, introduce Yoosung Baekhyun (named after your favorite dating sim character and kpop member combined into one), and he’s a lily-delicate elven boytoy when he enters the room. By chapter five, it’s clear that our exotic ricefairy has neither interest nor knowledge of sexuality, leaving him completely out of any sexual discussion - and therefore by extension, he has little voice in any written development in bodily autonomy.

Everything about Yoosung Baekhyun is to be pliant under the hands of an outside force. If he doesn’t have neither an interest nor a voice in sexual discussions, that leaves a big empty hole where anyone could fill it with whatever, should they wish. His lack of voice and autonomy makes him into an object for the purposes of your other characters.

Instead, let’s say that Yoosung has a voice. A large one. He’s got that Jughead sarcasm when it comes to dealing with sexuality, and gets to both start and end these discussions. Suddenly, this Korean man gets to control the flow of the story, and he’s not just a prop to be used.

That’d probably be more accurate, anyways. Aspec people love to talk about their asexuality. I know I do.

There’s very little I can tell you without actually reading the story. Criticism of literature should (and sometimes do) have a huge emphasis on justice-driven portrayals of the marginalized. Thing is, criticism is a paid profession that is useless in small doses. From one artist to another, I say unto you - write your story, but get more voices of color to give you their honest opinion. And then change, and change often. Your efforts will never be perfect, but you can do much to avoid the worst.

#rinkakuleo #asian blogging #asexuality #acephobia #diverse asexuality

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copiosis · 4 years

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How To Create An Economy That Works. Even if People Don't.

COVID-19 this year shook the world out of complacency. We see with clarity that our economy doesn't work if people don't.

That makes human beings slaves to the economy. So much so, some willingly will die for it.

That's crazy. It also literally means humans are cogs in the economic wheel. We here at Copiosis hear this sentiment often. People say "how can you create a society where people won't work when so many things we need, need people working to provide them?"

That, dear reader, is a kinder way of saying, "people must work for me whether they like it or not."

That is slavery.

But we can have a vibrant economy, even if people don't work. Just because you might not know how that can happen doesn't mean it's impossible. What we're creating with Copiosis is opportunity for all. Not just opportunity, truly unprecedented, first-of-its kind opportunity: Freedom and Wealth For Everyone in an economy that works even if people don't.

When we use the word "freedom" we mean something specific:

^^We mean something specific when we use the word "freedom".

Opportunity, wealth, freedom

When we combine opportunity, wealth and freedom together, we mean something specific too. What do we mean by this?

We're creating societies that thrive on moneyless economies. Talk about an economy - let alone a society - that thrives without money. You'll be met with blank faces or rolled eyes. Humanity and money have been together for so long, we can't conceive what society would look like without it, even though there was a time when human societies used no money.

Common belief suggests no civilization can survive without a thriving economy and economies can not function without a viable exchange medium.

Our almost religious belief in money as the sin qua non of functional economies, brings with it a panoply of problems.

"Those problems will intensify until we kick existing structural systems to the curb, replacing them with something better, including a better way to reward those who produce value."

That quote was the original paragraph of this post that went here. As you can see, way back in 2014, years after we published the original, societal problems HAVE intensified. With that intensity come calls for running society differently.

Eliminating money from civilization is a grave issue. Money is not the root of all evil, but for many reasons, money causes nearly all problems we see today. Eliminate money and virtually all these problems disappear. No endeavor holds more promise.

More of us are discovering the theory of how moneyless economies might benefit humanity. What it would look like and how it would function are different matters.

Let alone how we might pay for such a transition. Copiosis answers both the what and the how, including the part about paying for it. Without these answers, such societies will remain merely theoretical.

How does this equal opportunity, freedom and wealth, for everyone?

Look at the one percent. Opinions to the contrary, the majority of these people, especially the newer ones, have far more in common with the 99 percent than not. A common thread running through these multimillionaires' experience is...well, here's what they say:

...you will never have to worry about things like retirement, being able to send your kids to college, paying for catastrophic medical problems, working if you don't want to.

...well, I can basically do anything I want. So what do I want?

I knew it meant I'd never, ever have to work again unless something went terribly wrong.

The only thing I really desire nowadays, is for "self actualization". How do I leave a legacy in a short life?

What is real wealth?

Being wealthy is less about money and more about what money allows. Wealth = freedom. Remember Abraham Maslow?

He wrote a paper a long time ago called “A Theory of Human Motivation.” The paper later became a book “Motivation and Personality”. You may not remember the writings. I’m sure you remember his famous Hierarchy of Needs.

To review briefly, Maslow asserted five motivations behind human action.

Psychological - Satisfying survival needs (breathing, food, water, sex, homeostasis, etc)

Safety - Gaining security: physical, resources, health, property

Love/Belonging - Satisfying needs in sexual intimacy, friendship, family

Esteem - Gaining respect of others, respect by others, achievement leading to confidence

Self-Actualization - creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, acceptance of facts, etc.

The five motivations above are written in backwards order. They really look like the pyramid below, with step five representing the pinnacle. The others come underneath it.

^^By User:Factoryjoe - Mazlow's Hierarchy of Needs.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7964065

People generally strive to climb the pyramid, the goal being Self-actualization. Some people, most people, get to level three or four. Few reach level five.

The main thing about being wealthy is your priorities. With wealth, priorities shift up the pyramid. Radically different life experiences result. No, not flying in private jets and screwing the 99 percent. But taking time to completely understand oneself, then achieving those things that add to one's self-worth, -esteem, and the higher states of being human.

This is what Copiosis offers everyone. How?

By replacing money

Copiosis replaces money with Net Benefit Reward. Net Benefit Reward is not money. Some of its functions are similar to money in appearance. Yet, Net Benefit Reward is limited in ways money is not.

Net Benefit Reward, like all rewards, represents an expression of a society’s gratitude to an individual whose acts benefit society and the planet. This is a critical difference between Net Benefit Reward and money. Any reward is a gift. It is not something the recipient expects in return for something. Nor do they earn it.

Typically, rewards are awarded after the fact. Sometimes, the person or organization offering the reward is a third party to the act itself. Recipients of said rewards are usually not expecting such recognition. They are instead performing acts of their own volition for purposes other than receiving the gift of recognition.

For example, a Marine receives the Medal of Honor, the greatest wartime distinction in the US Armed Services. Did the Marine commit his act of bravery in order to receive the award? Of course not.

He didn't say to himself: "If I do this, I may win the Medal of Honor! Semper Fi!!!!" then charge the hill. When he returns to the rear after single-handedly saving his platoon, he doesn't walk into the Platoon leader's tent and say: "Where the hell is my Medal of Honor? I earned it!"

^^Coast Guard/Navy/Marine Corps Medal of Honor[/caption]

Instead, such men are thinking (in the moment): "We're pinned down. If someone doesn't do something, we're all gonna die." Or, more likely, he just takes action because that's what he does.

In the rear, he'll explain it this way:

"Hell man, I was just doing my job, protecting my fellow Marines."

If you read such accounts, this invariably is the "hero's" response. It is the Staff Sergeant, the Platoon commander and their chain of command - the Marine's "society" - that responds to this Marine's "just doing my job" - his act - by rewarding him with the Nation's highest honor...after the fact. After all the details are in, often after several months go by, maybe, even years.

This is how Net Benefit Reward in Copiosis works too. Producers act. They act because they are passionate about what they are doing. They are doing that thing as an expression of their passion. They do that thing because they can't think of anything else they'd rather be doing. If they could be doing something else, they'd be doing that.

They could be doing it because their passion is to make society better in a way they know how, in the way that fulfills them. They could be doing it because they just love doing that thing and they'd do that thing if society was around or not.

A Copiosis society responds to Producers' "passion expression" by rewarding them. Producers can then use that reward to access certain other rewards. Things that are only accessible....not through reward....but through acts.

There is no exchange going on. There are only acts. Society rewards desirable acts by making accessible certain tangible rewards. Incidentally, Medal of Honor recipients, once rewarded can use that reward to access other rewards not accessible to others. Net Benefit Reward functions similarly. In a Copiosis economy, "certain rewards" are luxury goods and services.

Necessities (food, clothing, shelter, education, healthcare) are provided to all at no cost. Producers who make necessity goods are acting. Action which produces Necessities are rewarded by the Copiosis society with Net Benefit Reward. That is how Consumers receive Necessities at no cost.

Is Copiosis akin to that fabled "gift economy" people theoretically talk about? Or is it an exchange economy?

It doesn't really matter. This is how Copiosis works.

Shortly after the transition, producers may feel they are owed this reward like an exchange. Such feelings don't describe how Copiosis works. Copiosis doesn't "make" people feel this way.

That feeling is an artifact of a system where people needed money to buy things they needed to survive. The way they got that money was to earn it (through work). Debt fostered expectation—if money didn't come, one risked loss. The longer the delay between work performed and money paid, the stronger the expectation. Foiled expectations lead to anger, workers' rights and labor unions. After all, work in the old days was often dangerous, life-threatening and extremely physically demanding. Creditors were unforgiving as well. Fail to pay your debts and you could lose all your possessions, even your children and your wife.

This doesn't happen in Copiosis. Everything you need is provided at no cost to you. Society covers the "cost" as an expression of gratitude (Net Benefit Reward) towards producers. With all Necessities provided, everyone instantly experiences wealth unparalleled. The first two levels of Maslow's hierarchy - where most people invest their time achieving - are instantly covered.

But it doesn't stop there. People now are free to do whatever they want in pursuit of climbing the pyramid.

Freed from earning a living, it's natural that people will perform acts best-suited to their talents. Now they have time to discover who they are, what lights their fire. Contributing to others and to society then becomes natural.

Copiosis creates a functioning economy with no medium of exchange. That same economy overflows with acts at all levels and in all sectors. Acts creating tremendous prosperity. No money required.

COVID-19 showed us how crazy we've become about money, economics and systems we use to run those economics. Let's enjoy a vibrant economy, but let's not give our lives to it. Economies should support us living. We don't know about you but living isn't worth living without freedom, wealth and opportunity.

Copiosis offers all three. To find out more about Copiosis, visit Copiosis.com.

#copiosis #wage slavery #wage slave #moneyless economy #society without money #anti capitalism #capitalism #capitalism is violence #capitalism is evil #capitalism is hell #capitalism is killing me #capitalism is a disease #capitalism is cancer #capitalism is a scam #capitalism is a nightmare

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