On Orientalism and Weeaboos

Post Reply New Topic

One common complaint I see of weeaboos is that they have unrealistic perceptions of Japan from watching anime and that's bad, and harmful to people of Asian descent; therefore, they deserve to be socially punished. Now, it may very well be harmful to people of Asian descent, but one commonality I notice among these weeaboos is that most of them are teenagers. My first thought in response to that is: Teenagers are stupid. That's why they still have curfew, that's why there are laws against statutory rape, and that's why we have juvenile court proceedings. Teenagers may fancy themselves mature or grown-up, but in reality they still have major problems with impulse control and other areas because their brains are still not mature.

Not only that, but having unrealistic perceptions of other another culture from consuming media or otherwise hearing about it isn't exactly unprecedented. Many old-time immigrants to America thought our streets were paved in gold, and indeed some took that rather literally:

I think part of the reason Asian culture is felt to be something to emulate is because of its perceived tranquility, combined with its perceived order.

Buddhism has appeal for similar reasons.

I'm very Western in my philosophical outlook. I don't look to Japanese culture for any answers.

"Weeaboo"? I had to look it up.

I like sushi, some anime, and cute Japanese women in silk kimonos; but the "Weeaboo" culture seems just plain weird.

Had to look up that term too.

The name sounds like an animal from Australia.

Japanation fans are like another fan group. I dont see how they are a threat to anything ( the well being of Asian Americans, or anyone else). They are just another dorky group like Trekkies.

The world, and the people within it, will never not be damn weird.

It seems like the usual fetishisation of The Other, which carries a certain objectification, and objectification is rarely good news.

Japanese animation is made for American audiences the just as our Hollywood films and music are for the world, anime was inspired by Disney so it is something both distinctly American and Japanese. If you find it troubling then too bad since they make a lot of money here, much more here in the US than Japan. Please stop being offended on other people's behalves, stop trying to appropriate minority "outrage". People all around the world have misconceptions about people on the other side of it, what can you expect? That has been true since the beginning of time. This cultural segregationist thought is what needs to be stamped out.

Being offended by other people's behavior is normal and right, especially when those people are behaving physically aggressive toward you.

naturalplastic,

I think you misunderstand me. I didn't have any problem with my Russian friend bringing up Route 66. I thought it was cool. I was talking about how from media people can get an idealized vision of other countries.

In the OP, I was saying that the people going after weeabs should cut teenagers some slack because teenagers are stupid. At the same time, I did not want my post to be construed as dismissing their complaints regarding Orientalism and microaggressions against Asian-Americans.

It seems the people they're complaining about being inappropriate are the same garden variety of creep you get in many groups - computers, any fandom on earth, rampantly on the Internet, people who abuse daring sites, etc.
That they show up in anime groups is unsurprising. But they're just creeps - I don't think the anime genre is to blame for specifically breeding them.
I suppose Asian-Americans are unhappy with exaggerated stereotyping. Which is fair enough. People need to realise that this is a specific genre, a larger than life representation, not an accurate cultural portrait of Japan in real life. So long as people are aware of that, it doesn't have to be damaging.
I don't agree with the appropriation thread wedged in there, though. That because a person is white they can't be into Japanese language, culture, aesthetic, design and so on. Why does it matter where a person was born, or what colour their skin is? The world is a mishmash of different influences. I don't see it as valid maligning people for appreciating another culture and incorporating that into themselves.
One of my special interests has been Japanese food, and from there, Japanese language so I didn't horribly mispronounce the foods. I don't see any problem with that for a white person.

Hi C2V,

It is very common for depictions of Asian women to show them as submissive, docile, willing to do anything to please their man. This comes from many areas of literature, such as Memoirs of a Geisha and Madame Butterfly (both of which by the way were written by white men). Basically, this stereotyping of Asian women sends a message to the creeps: These are the women you want to go after.

This was pretty funny by Kristina Wong, who works to get reparations for the yellow fever of the men going after her:

http://kristinawong.com/blog/2014/05/04 ... low-fever/

I tend to think that the people who obsess over Asian cultures can be creepy, depending on their motivations. Unrealistic, idealized, impressions of other cultures aren't healthy, in my opinion, but they also don't seem to be uncommon. Japanese have their own unrealistic ideas and obsessions with western culture.

I like Chinese culture, and am learning Mandarin. But not because I want to be Asian, or think Asians are hot, or are superior, or anything like that. I prefer East and Southeast Asian foods over most others, I really like ancient Chinese culture and art, and I really like the languages.

But these things have more to do with my interests in anthropology and linguistics than anything else.

I'm a straight woman, so I'm definitely not interested in Chinese culture for the supposedly "submissive Chinese women".