unlocked, to promote discussion

[glockgal]

BINDI?
DISCLAIMER: I'm using 'Wolverine and the X-Men' as an example. I'm not offended by the cartoon, I just laugh at the story/characterization of the X-Men. My personal opinion, which doesn't affect this discussion and doesn't judge your enjoyment of the cartoon. (in short: I like tons of stuff others laugh at; but I know you don't judge me for

Comments

[glockgal]

are these 'visual cues' we wish to teach children??

Precisely! It's interesting to note that shows like Magic School Bus and Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street promote cultural diversity and are generally popular among their target age group - but as the kids grows up and have more control choosing what shows to watch and enjoy, the racial diversity narrows severely. Not by their choice, but more in what the media has to offer them.

By the time they reach high school, shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 completely eradicate the need for racial diversity by setting the shows in rich (unattainable) settings where any sort of racial diversity is token - because, after all, PoC don't exist in America's rich societies.

The use of race to describe a person...I've had to fight with this as well and I think it comes down to a matter of personal perspective. If someone was describing me as 'the brown girl' or 'the Indian girl', would I be offended? In one way not really, because I take great joy in being brown. But in another way, how did the other person use that as a descriptor? In a tokenistic fashion? As in - well, I'm the ONLY brown person in the crowd. It does (unintentionally, but still harmfully) set white as the overlying default (since if they were trying to pick out a white person, they might focus on a descriptor of the clothes or even the hair).

But then again - there's a reason why we're designated as 'visible minority' in Canada. :/