Re: Concern about racism and sexism in Supertuxkart 0.9
2015-05-01 4:45 GMT+02:00 Gunnar Wolf <gwolf@gwolf.org>:
> Vincent Lejeune dijo [Thu, Apr 30, 2015 at 09:26:23PM +0200]:
>> The poster by itself is not really about sexism, but rather about
>> cultural appropriation:
>> First Sara is white in what appears to be a native american like outfit.
>> Then she is in front of a religious building (the pyramid) and wear a
>> feather halo.
>> It seems that feather is a sacred symbol for native american culture.
>> I might be wrong though since I dind't find anything saying that no
>> native nation used elements in religious ceremony that could be seen
>> as sexualizing in my european eyes,
>> yet Wikipedia's entry on Aztec and Maya women tells that it wasn't the
>> case ; and IMHO mixing religious symbol and potentially sexualising
>> clothes is not respectfull.
>> I think it is as equally offending to have a nun wearing a bikini top
>> in front of a christian church for instance.
>> On the other hand, the poster isn't bundled with the game, or at
>> least, it doesnt really need to be packaged. It's more marketing
>> material.
>
> Umh, let me address this particular point. I am Mexican, and I believe
> I am conscious about the importance of our original cultures, and the
> respect they deserve.
>
> While the poster does not strike as the most cautious possible, I do
> not see it as culturally offensive. It does not attempt to set a scene
> portraiting what were the cultures really like; the portrait it paints
> is similar to so many fantasy recreations (think i.e. Disney's "book
> of the jungle" depiction of the monkey king — And that's way more
> detailed and involved).
>
> I would take far greater offense at, say, a movie like Mel Gibson's
> "Apocalypto", which attempts to give an air of authenticity to
> something that's 100% fictional. None of SuperTuxKart's settings
> attempts to be faithful to reality (10m tall bananas?), and I don't
> believe anyone would think it is a game about any of the over 60
> cultures indigenous to my country.
>
Thanks for your answer, it's interesting.
I initially asked a native american feminist about these issues on twitter,
she told me that the poster was mixing random cultural element together,
I interpreted that as offensive. But now I may have been wrong in how
important it is. If I understand correctly your point, it's not offending.
I apologize for the inconvenience on this point then.
Actually she was much more concerned with the sexism of the game and the
bikini top in the poster. In USA Native American women are more likely to be
raped or sexually assaulted[1] and native blogs often points the
fetishization of native american women
in ads and media as a possible explanation.
But maybe I am too cautious there, it remains to be determined if the
poster is somehow fetishizing.
As I'm not native and not woman I appreciate havinv several opinions
on this matter.
Regards,
Vincent
[1] http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women/maze-of-injustice
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