4 ms·

I always get confused when people say they need to have people who look like them in prominent roles in order to feel welcome in a hobby/career/whatever. I'm a

I always get confused when people say they need to have people who look like them in prominent roles in order to feel welcome in a hobby/career/whatever. I'm a fan of boxing, and my favorite boxer is a black Muslim. I do some hobby-level game dev on the side, and most of my favorite devs that I look up to are Japanese. Young black men seem to disproportionately love Dragon Ball Z, with an Asian-appearing main character based on the Chinese epic Journey to the West whose hair turns blond when he gets angry and powers up.

BeFlatXIII 4y ago
Not sure why your comment was greyed-out when I saw it. Voting patterns are truly bizarre and disconnected from truth.
- alocasia-1 4y ago
  Probably because there is no shortage of white boxers, and an observation about black people liking a cartoon isn't all that relevant?
balls187 4y ago
Are you truly confused or is it that you choosen not to listen to the reasons “people” have for finding value in representation? Does your comment mean that because your human experience is different than other people that you find it difficult to understand how others may think and feel differently than you?
strawpeople 4y ago
If you are someone who has experienced personally harmful racism (e.g. a black boy getting in trouble at school for things that white boys routinely get away with), then it is helpful to see a counterexample of what is possible in society for someone who has the same potential to be targeted by discrimination.
0_____0 4y ago
Assuming you’re white and male: there are loads of white boxers and game devs! And you probably know some of them! Think about how men feel about traditionally femme activities which may be stigmatized for hetero men. If you see even one other straight man get their nails done at a salon it sort of implicitly opens that door to you.
- balls187 4y ago
  Not sure about getting a manicure, but speaking as a hetero man, getting a pedicure is amazing and I recommend every person with the means to, try it once.
  - 0_____0 4y ago
    I was hoping someone would chime in with this!
excerionsforte 4y ago
Dragon Ball Z was introduced into lower income neighborhoods via Cartoon Network among many other anime, so it was hard to miss. It was pretty hard to miss Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z and etc. in elementary school especially with the merch kids brought to school. Marketing, re-runs and perceived coolness/epicness, I'd say drove the continued popularity of it. Once you hit high school and college though, Dragon Ball Z/Pokemon are niche and less visible (it stopped being cool and a relic of age) at least that was my experience in low income neighborhood. DBZ is still awesome because of its familarity, but not something I will watch intentionally. Goku being Japanese and loved by people of lower income is like how Final Fantasy 7 is beloved in predominately white (western) countries. There's still discussions of people thinking Cloud Strife is white even though he is Japanese. Race, in general, isn't a big deal when you are younger since it is not taught in schools (shockingly to some people :O). It becomes an issue when people actively start generalizing and using tropes for the purposes to make you feel like shit (in)directly.
- YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
  There's no country called 'Japan' in Final Fantasy VII, so I don't know why you're so confidently stating that. The closest analogue is Wutai, and Cloud's not from there.
- balls187 4y ago
  Cloud isn't Japanese. He is a fictional character from a fictional planet. And Goku isn't Japanese either; he is Saiyan, an Alien race. > Race, in general, isn't a big deal when you are younger It isn't a big deal, if you're not impacted by it (colloquially known today as 'privilege'). However, what you might not believe is a big deal, is arguably a big deal to other people. A few examples: You may not be aware that black women in the US are 3-times more likely to pregnancy related issues than white women. There is a downstream impact on the children of those women. [1] Separately, there still exists a serious gap in achievement for Alaska Native / American Indian children. 1: https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality... 2: https://www.nsba.org/ASBJ/2020/December/condition-native-american-students https://www.nsba.org/ASBJ/2020/December/condition-native-ame...

BeFlatXIII 4y ago

Not sure why your comment was greyed-out when I saw it. Voting patterns are truly bizarre and disconnected from truth.

alocasia-1 4y ago
Probably because there is no shortage of white boxers, and an observation about black people liking a cartoon isn't all that relevant?

balls187 4y ago

Are you truly confused or is it that you choosen not to listen to the reasons “people” have for finding value in representation? Does your comment mean that because your human experience is different than other people that you find it difficult to understand how others may think and feel differently than you?

strawpeople 4y ago

If you are someone who has experienced personally harmful racism (e.g. a black boy getting in trouble at school for things that white boys routinely get away with), then it is helpful to see a counterexample of what is possible in society for someone who has the same potential to be targeted by discrimination.

0_____0 4y ago

Assuming you’re white and male: there are loads of white boxers and game devs! And you probably know some of them! Think about how men feel about traditionally femme activities which may be stigmatized for hetero men. If you see even one other straight man get their nails done at a salon it sort of implicitly opens that door to you.

balls187 4y ago
Not sure about getting a manicure, but speaking as a hetero man, getting a pedicure is amazing and I recommend every person with the means to, try it once.
- 0_____0 4y ago
  I was hoping someone would chime in with this!

excerionsforte 4y ago

Dragon Ball Z was introduced into lower income neighborhoods via Cartoon Network among many other anime, so it was hard to miss. It was pretty hard to miss Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z and etc. in elementary school especially with the merch kids brought to school. Marketing, re-runs and perceived coolness/epicness, I'd say drove the continued popularity of it. Once you hit high school and college though, Dragon Ball Z/Pokemon are niche and less visible (it stopped being cool and a relic of age) at least that was my experience in low income neighborhood. DBZ is still awesome because of its familarity, but not something I will watch intentionally. Goku being Japanese and loved by people of lower income is like how Final Fantasy 7 is beloved in predominately white (western) countries. There's still discussions of people thinking Cloud Strife is white even though he is Japanese. Race, in general, isn't a big deal when you are younger since it is not taught in schools (shockingly to some people :O). It becomes an issue when people actively start generalizing and using tropes for the purposes to make you feel like shit (in)directly.

YurgenJurgensen 4y ago
There's no country called 'Japan' in Final Fantasy VII, so I don't know why you're so confidently stating that. The closest analogue is Wutai, and Cloud's not from there.
balls187 4y ago
Cloud isn't Japanese. He is a fictional character from a fictional planet. And Goku isn't Japanese either; he is Saiyan, an Alien race. > Race, in general, isn't a big deal when you are younger It isn't a big deal, if you're not impacted by it (colloquially known today as 'privilege'). However, what you might not believe is a big deal, is arguably a big deal to other people. A few examples: You may not be aware that black women in the US are 3-times more likely to pregnancy related issues than white women. There is a downstream impact on the children of those women. [1] Separately, there still exists a serious gap in achievement for Alaska Native / American Indian children. 1: https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/healthequity/features/maternal-mortality... 2: https://www.nsba.org/ASBJ/2020/December/condition-native-american-students https://www.nsba.org/ASBJ/2020/December/condition-native-ame...