Cultural appropriation mythicist angry that people have different tastes to her

[Metaphor]

You couldn't make it up

In recent weeks, the internet has imploded with the arrival of the sushi donut. Created by vegan food blogger Sam Murphy, the #raw #vegan #cleaneating foodstuff is sushi shaped to look like a donut. And people are losing their s--t over it.

Fusion isn't new, but in 2016, it's reaching insufferable new heights.

We've got the phorrito (pho without broth is like a sushi donut without a hole). We've got a rainbow of bastardised hummus variations (honestly, do you just mean dip? I think you just mean dip). A place near my old house served 'Viet-Mex' cuisine, including rice paper rolls with refried beans and burritos with vermicelli. A friend once saw Caesar salad sushi on offer, complete with croutons and dressing. Cheeseburger gyoza, ramen burgers, Indian nachos, Greek yum cha…

Why is ethnic food so much "cooler" when presented in this Western context? Have you colonialists no shame?

Because we're all insufferably racist and don't care who knows it.

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).

Why hasn't somebody called the police?!

Similarly, I've heard people talk with disgust about how filthy street food in Malaysia is, but not bat an eyelid at paying $17 for a bland imitation from a dude with a top knot working a food truck at the Night Noodle Markets.

Can you imagine the unmitigated fucking gall of people paying for food that they want?

People seem happy to pay for hipster rip-offs, but if the authentic stuff is more than a tenner? Oh no, too expensive!

Can you imagine the unmitigated fucking gall of people paying for food that they want?

Then again, if the price is 'right': "OMG, that little Asian place with the old couple is sooooo cute and cheap! LUV IT!" Way to patronise, brah.

Can you imagine the unmitigated fucking gall of people paying for food that they want?

Western society is obsessed with fetishising ethnic food and culture, but only when it falls within the parameters of acceptability. My favourite Vietnamese dish growing up was trứng vịt lộn – a developing duck embryo that's boiled and eaten from the shell. This seems to truly horrify white people (and look, as a vegan adult I, too, am horrified), but if the same thing popped up on the menu at Roll'd with sriracha mayo and coriander pâté, it would inevitably become a bestseller. (Side note: really, how is trứng vịt lộn any grosser than foie gras? White people, you trippin').

Can you imagine the unmitigated fucking gall of people paying for food that they want?

"It's APPRECIATION, not APPROPRIATION!" I hear you scream, sugarcane and avocado puree with chia seeds dribbling down your chin.

Look, I'm no killjoy,

This woman is not being ironic. She is actually this fucking delusional.

and I do think that sharing cultures is wonderful, but when traditional foods are watered down for Western tastes in order to profit, or wildly popularised only when they're reduced to a fraction of what they're meant to be, you can lock that in, Eddie, as cultural appropriation.

Let's call it that. So it's 'cultural appropriation'. And?

Westernising ethnic food dilutes its rich, individual cultural identity; while barely replicating a recipe enough to be able to use the same name, and jacking up the price to make sweet, sweet bank. Crudely mashing together two completely disparate cuisines (Indian-Mexican, why?) implies that they're props to be used and discarded as trends come and go, rather than entire cultures with complex histories and traditions.

Because they are props to be used, they are trends that come and go, nobody is 'erasing' your 'entire culture', nor could they.

"But some people who are at the helm of fusion restaurants ARE ethnic!" I hear you cry indignantly through mouthfuls of chipotle kimchi banh mi with elderberry and spirulina compote (seriously, MasterChef, call me). "How can you be mad if they're choosing to evolve themselves?"

While nothing stays static forever, for many of these people, turning food into a gimmick is only way to stay relevant in a rapidly changing capitalist market. Even in a multicultural country like Australia, people of colour often have to compromise parts of their identities to survive and thrive, whether that's by adopting a Western name because ethnic names are "too hard to pronounce", or changing traditional recipes and mores to better suit white society. Are you beginning to see a pattern?

I'm seeing a pattern all right. Cultural appropriation mythicists are insane crybullies who are the new Puritans.

Yes, there are more severely damaging forms of racism and appropriation than a #fitspo blogger making sushi donuts, but it's frustrating, as a person of colour, to see elements of non-white cultures objectified, gentrified, commodified and profited from, while actual people from that background continue to be marginalised and perceived as inferior. We are not a novelty, and nor is our cuisine.

The food actually is a novelty in the literal meaning of the term, just as the dishes from my parent's ethnic background would be a novelty food to most Australians.

It may seem extreme to get so riled up by dishes with embarrassing portmanteau names, but if our foods and traditions are only widely accepted when they've been changed to fit in, what does that say about us?

It says that people have different tastes. The horror!

If I wasn't born here, if I couldn't speak English fluently, if I didn't wear the same clothes and have the same interests as you, if I wasn't a "banana" – would I be palatable?

Your expressed values are morally abhorrent no matter where you came from.

 

[J842P]

Yeah, it's this cultural appropriation absurdity, especially when it comes to food, that made me start to see how crazy the left had become.

The funny thing is that Western society, which they love to decry, is probably the most tolerant of multiculturalism.

 

[untermensche]

Yeah, it's this cultural appropriation absurdity, especially when it comes to food, that made me start to see how crazy the left had become.

The funny thing is that Western society, which they love to decry, is probably the most tolerant of multiculturalism.

This is not some movement from the left.

This is something arbitrary and it will be temporary.

Without cultural appropriation the world becomes more sterile and less worth living.

Cultural appropriation is a positive thing.

We should be doing more of it.

 

[Jaecp]

So, where can I get this mailing list of articles to get excessively outraged over? Seems like a blast

 

[whichphilosophy]

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

- - - Updated - - -

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

 

[Jaecp]

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

- - - Updated - - -

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

I'm not sure that's completely accurate. They didn't copy French style. France colonized their country and brought with it their culinary tradition. To lovely effect, I might add. Banh Mi is among the earliest "fusion" cuisine thats still around

 

[Metaphor]

So, where can I get this mailing list of articles to get excessively outraged over? Seems like a blast

These are all mainstream articles from the news site canberratimes.com.au

Unfortunately, I do not need a mailing list to draw my attention to the whingeing output of insane crybullies who would force their delusional fantasies down the world's throat if they could.

 

[whichphilosophy]

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

- - - Updated - - -

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

I'm not sure that's completely accurate. They didn't copy French style. France colonized their country and brought with it their culinary tradition. To lovely effect, I might add. Banh Mi is among the earliest "fusion" cuisine thats still around

In a lot of instances it's stuffing Vietnamese food into a baguette and serving with coffee. Voila French influence.

Here's one article.
http://epicureandculture.com/vietnamese-cuisine-french-influence/

Cooked cream desserts like bánh flan, whose name and appearance belies its origins as crème caramel, are present in Vietnamese cooking. Often made with coconut milk instead of the milk and cream mixture used in France, the Vietnamese version of the dessert is flavored not with caramel but with coffee, an innovation that makes it extremely popular.

The same goes for bread. Bread is not common in East Asia, but when the French colonists arrived in Vietnam, you can bet they came armed with baguettes. The Vietnamese adapted this bread and began using it in their local cuisine; you can find Vietnamese baguettes even today on pretty much every corner.

- - - Updated - - -

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

- - - Updated - - -

Growing up in a Vietnamese family, the smells that emanated from my lunchbox did not always delight my white classmates. From the heady stank of durian to the pungent aroma of nước mắm, my lunches often inspired scrunched-up noses from peers, to the point where I'd covet their dry, crusty peanut butter sandwiches just so I wouldn't be perceived as weird.

Fast forward to today, and those same people are paying $25 for cashew cream and kale infused pho with zucchini noodles, organic chilli peppers and activated bean sprouts (I made that up, but remember me when it inevitably pops up on MasterChef).


Like many parts of Asia, in particular Singapore the Durian is banned in most Vietnamese hotels and public places, because of its stench that smells like a 3 month old dead dog soaked in excrement. Not many Vietnamese eat it either, but the taste is totally different to the taste. So really he was doing something that would also be offensive to Vietnamese if he brought the Durian to school.

The Vietnamese are not alien to Western foods. They've copied some French styles, especially with French bread menus and of course coffee is popular.

I'm not sure that's completely accurate. They didn't copy French style. France colonized their country and brought with it their culinary tradition. To lovely effect, I might add. Banh Mi is among the earliest "fusion" cuisine thats still around

In a lot of instances it's stuffing Vietnamese food into a baguette and serving with coffee. Voila French influence.

Here's one article.
http://epicureandculture.com/vietnamese-cuisine-french-influence/

Cooked cream desserts like bánh flan, whose name and appearance belies its origins as crème caramel, are present in Vietnamese cooking. Often made with coconut milk instead of the milk and cream mixture used in France, the Vietnamese version of the dessert is flavored not with caramel but with coffee, an innovation that makes it extremely popular.

The same goes for bread. Bread is not common in East Asia, but when the French colonists arrived in Vietnam, you can bet they came armed with baguettes. The Vietnamese adapted this bread and began using it in their local cuisine; you can find Vietnamese baguettes even today on pretty much every corner.

 

[KeepTalking]

Yeah, it's this cultural appropriation absurdity, especially when it comes to food, that made me start to see how crazy the left had become.

This has little to do with the left, so don't think you can paint us all as crazy, just because some college aged jackasses with otherwise left leaning political stances haven't figured out how the world works yet. I am a proud progressive and liberal, firmly leftist, and I love me some cultural appropriation. Bulgogi tacos from the Seoul Taco food truck are amazing, but I have tried a few dishes at a nearby Korean restaurant, and couldn't stand most of it. The last time I tried the place, considered the best in town by some of my Korean co-workers, there was a fucking cockroach crawling on my table. I lost my appetite pretty quickly.

The funny thing is that Western society, which they love to decry, is probably the most tolerant of multiculturalism.

It is multiculturalism that these cultural appropriation mythicists are decrying, at least when it comes to what they perceive as their ancestral culture, and that makes them more to akin to rightists, than those on the left.

 

[dismal]

This has little to do with the left, so don't think you can paint us all as crazy

#notallleftists

 

[KeepTalking]

This has little to do with the left, so don't think you can paint us all as crazy

#notallleftists

#notevenasignificantminority

 

[braces_for_impact]

How else do people that view cultural appropriation as a valid concept think that culture spreads? Do they really think that culture exists in a vacuum, and when two cultures are nearby each other, one of them entirely supplants another without any integration or influence? Seriously?

 

[Trausti]

How else do people that view cultural appropriation as a valid concept think that culture spreads? Do they really think that culture exists in a vacuum, and when two cultures are nearby each other, one of them entirely supplants another without any integration or influence? Seriously?

I'd add that the notion of "cultural appropriation" assumes purity and originality of a culture. If you're offended that someone with a different skin hue than you is "appropriating" what you consider your culture, bear in mind that your ancestors probably took that "culture" from someone else. By claiming exclusivity over the culture you're just propagating past injustice.

 

[J842P]

Yeah, it's this cultural appropriation absurdity, especially when it comes to food, that made me start to see how crazy the left had become.

The funny thing is that Western society, which they love to decry, is probably the most tolerant of multiculturalism.

This is not some movement from the left.

This is something arbitrary and it will be temporary.

Without cultural appropriation the world becomes more sterile and less worth living.

Cultural appropriation is a positive thing.

We should be doing more of it.

I mean the cultural left. It has nothing really to do with socialism, etc.

 

[J842P]

This has little to do with the left, so don't think you can paint us all as crazy

#notallleftists

Oh wow. That's hilarious.

 

[J842P]

How else do people that view cultural appropriation as a valid concept think that culture spreads? Do they really think that culture exists in a vacuum, and when two cultures are nearby each other, one of them entirely supplants another without any integration or influence? Seriously?

The issue is that cultural studies departments in academia have gone totally off the deep end. Young, well-meaning kids go to school and listen to their crap, and see everything through that lens. Ideas about cultural appropriation likely have a lot of merit when it comes to particular instance in history, like black-face minstrel shows in the US.

Here is a great example where the divide between young-and-old is apparant:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/20...no-fray-mfa/ZgVWiT3yIZSlQgxCghAOFM/story.html

The picture speaks volumes.

 

[untermensche]

This is not some movement from the left.

This is something arbitrary and it will be temporary.

Without cultural appropriation the world becomes more sterile and less worth living.

Cultural appropriation is a positive thing.

We should be doing more of it.

I mean the cultural left. It has nothing really to do with socialism, etc.

It isn't on the left or the right.

It is from outer space.

 

[J842P]

I mean the cultural left. It has nothing really to do with socialism, etc.

It isn't on the left or the right.

It is from outer space.

No, does not come from outer space. It comes from leftist humanities departments.

 

[laughing dog]

Ideas about cultural appropriation likely have a lot of merit when it comes to particular instance in history, like black-face minstrel shows in the US.

And yet, we have posts from you and others decrying the concept.

 

[TSwizzle]

Here is a great example where the divide between young-and-old is apparant:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/20...no-fray-mfa/ZgVWiT3yIZSlQgxCghAOFM/story.html

The picture speaks volumes.

I don't see it as divide between young and old, it's just a minority of fuckwits on twitter and facebook and forums that are trying to look clever or are trolling. It's bullshit and most sensible people know that.

drew the ire of protesters, who argued that “Kimono Wednesdays,” scheduled to run throughout July, constituted a form of cultural appropriation and racist “exotification” of Asian culture.

Indeed, what claptrap they spew. Why even indulge them ? I would tell them to fuck off and stay out of my face. Idiots.