Guys, the term "whitewashing" is very offensive...

[lizbee]

...but making Asian characters white is just personal expression.

Which is to say, last time this came up, I had a bit of a rant.  Turns out the artist noticed, and decided to play bingo.

Comments

[rhivolution]

But it's ~so~ realistic!

[lizbee]

Asian people are like unicorns, aren't they?

[yiduiqie]

i know i am

[delphi]

Well, it is personal expression. Personal expression of being a privileged tool in a racist context that favours that representation (or erasure) of minorities by the majority over that minority's self-representation.

[lizbee]

Oh, good. That makes it okay then. I shall withdraw my criticisms entirely and then watch The Last Airbender.

[delphi]

I'm glad you see reason.

[lizbee]

There are no Inuits in Australia, you see*, which is why I always pictured Sokka and Katara as white kids.

* Or at least, very few. YES, NOW I'M GOING TO THE AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS TO FIND OUT.

[copracat]

The Australian Statistician and I LOVE YOU LIKE FIRE.

Okay, I don't really speak for the Statistician.

[lizbee]

Okay, so I couldn't actually find any data about Inuits living in Australia, or even immigration from Greenland. IN FACT, Australia doesn't even have a diplomatic mission in Greenland.

However, I am pretty certain that somewhere along the line, an Alaskan or Canadian or Greenlander of Inuit descent has moved to Australia. At least one. Surely.

[recessional]

And since they are also based on Pacific North West nations (the Northern Watertribe decorations are right out of this area), I can GUARANTEE there's some who've moved to Australia, because I know them.

[nineveh_uk]

Maybe Mary's Tasmania - Copenhagen move will inspire the Greenlanders? Or not.

[delphi]

The only friend I've had who was blind was of Ukrainian descent, so it stands to reason that Toph must be Ukrainian.

[lizbee]

Your logic is flawless!

[wolfy_writing]

Ah yes, the horribly offensive thing about racism is being called racist. Oh, that poor victim, suffering the tragedy of people acting as if she's making Asian characters white, just because she's taking characters who were established Asian-looking Asian-named members of a fictional country heavily influenced by real Asian cultures as white! She always imagined them as white, so that somehow makes drawing them that way not at all racist (and definitely not a disturbing example of how cultural bias can warp perception of a character to the point where she won't let herself see all visual and narrative indicators that the characters might be anything other than white). I think the best thing for the poor dear is for everyone to gather around reassuring her that the critics are all big meanie poopieheads and she has no reason to think about what they're saying or question her own attitudes at all! /sarcasm

[lizbee]

She always imagined them as white, so that somehow makes drawing them that way not at all racist (and definitely not a disturbing example of how cultural bias can warp perception of a character to the point where she won't let herself see all visual and narrative indicators that the characters might be anything other than white).

In fairness, we don't know for sure that she didn't grow up in a box. All we know is that she only ever knew white people growing up. And, I have to say, I too grew up in areas where people of colour were unwelcome weren't around, which is why I'm pretty sure Joseph Paterson, Barack Obama and Andy Lau are all white.

[tree_and_leaf]

Good to get that cleared up, then...

[jamethiel]

OH NO! Won't someone think of the white people!

[silverhare]

Odd, since I'm just reading 'Discourse and the Denial of Racism' by van Dijk (1992). People have not come up with new ways to try to say they aren't racist.

"Actually, you guys, calling me a racist is something I find offensive, so... y'know. Think about that."

[lizbee]

That doesn't shock me one little bit, I have to say.

[recessional]

*looks at the rest of the internet*

*goes back to hiding on white_lotus*

[lizbee]

white_lotus is amazing. Superior to the rest of fandom in every way.

[terajk]

So..did the definition of "realism" change when I was at the library?

FFS.

[lizbee]

Apparently so! Because, taking a very quick look around the internet, it's not like there's any shortage of Asians to use as models.

[deird1]

I love the "Oh, but I haven't changed the characters from being Asian - I've always seen them as white. So that makes it okay!"

*rolls eyes, as an alternative to punching someone*

[lizbee]

She seems quite young, and will probably look back one day and cringe.

[fyrdrakken]

We can but hope that she'll develop that much self-awareness one day.

[umadoshi]

Sometimes I just have no words for people besides "AAARGH". -_-

[juliekarasik]

This? is only one of the eleventy dozen or so reasons why I won't deal with DA anymore. It's like someone mashed up the "tracer!" argument from Chasing Amy and the worst parts of jr. high cliquishness and groupthink. On a good day.

[dbskyler]

I can't even understand the artist's argument. They "don't value whites over other races," but automatically imagine clearly Asian characters as white? So . . . they're not racist, because everyone is always white in their head? Yeah, that makes sense.

[yukinoomoni]

So wait, she's saying how white-washing is offensive, and yet she's the one that drew the white portrait?

I have this artist on my watch, too. What the fuck is wrong with her?

[holyschist]

No, I think she means the word whitewashing, to describe changing non-white characters into white characters, is offensive. The term she prefers for that is "personal expression."

I think.

[shewhostaples]

Oh, come come, it's not as if the source provides visuals to suggest what these people might look like. OH WAIT I FORGOT.

[phosfate]

I'm not completely familiar with Avatar, but I've never seen Zuko with an eyebeard before.

[holyschist]

I just seriously do. not. understand. how people look at ATLA and see white people. HOW. THEY ARE CLEARLY ALL DRAWN OTHERWISE. Yes, the kids don't have as many obvious ethnic markers in any direction as the adults because that's how anime styles generally are, but I somehow doubt Mai's obviously Asian parents magically birthed a white daughter, you know?

How.

[lizbee]

I would have said that, given the anime style used, Mai is the most overtly-Asian of all the teens. BUT MAYBE I'M WRONG, AND SHE WAS ACTUALLY MODELLED ON SHANNON DOHERTY.

[holyschist]

Oh, me too. BUT IDK THEY ALL LOOK ASIAN OR INUIT TO ME, EXCEPT A COUPLE OF THE FIRE NATION GUARDS WHO MIGHT BE BLACK, SO.

I just find it so confusing.