"Exotic" in Atlanta (versus, health, business)

[arjay57]

If it's making people feel bad then whoever is using this word in an offensive context needs to stop.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by CaliDreaming01

To the people who are offended that people are offended, at some point, you have to accept that the only people's emotions you can control are your own. If other people are offended by a term, that is their business and they are not going to stop being offended just because you don't want them to feel that way. If you care about not offending people are about how people view you, then don't use certain terms that others have told you are offensive. If you don't care about this, then continue using whatever language you want. But you do *not* have the right to do is dictate how another person feels.





Yes such a good point. I usually restrict my comments on colorism to the Af-Am community only because I am not familiar enough with how it manifests in other communities. I'm not sure if it affects other groups in the same way or if it springs from the same source.

Some people get offended some of the time. Some people get offended all of the time. Now if a lot of people get offended you need to be careful, but there will always be some people unhappy.

I would describe Melania Trump as exotic with her eyes. That has nothing to do with race.

[Atlwarrior]

What's the purpose for this thread? Just stop it! You must look at how a word was use post, pre, and then in its actual context. You can't create meanings that does not define a word in its original context.

Damn, just look at the definition meaning:

ex·ot·ic
/iɡˈzädik/Submit
adjective
1.
originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country.
"exotic birds"
synonyms: foreign, nonnative, tropical

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

What's the purpose for this thread? Just stop it! You must look at how a word was use post, pre, and then in its actual context. You can't create meanings that does not define a word in its original context.

Damn, just look at the definition meaning:

ex·ot·ic
/iɡˈzädik/Submit
adjective
1.
originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country.
"exotic birds"
synonyms: foreign, nonnative, tropical

Dude, no one's forcing you to click on this thread. If you don't like what you see, then go on another thread. I don't know if you really comprehend what was discussed on the thread or else you wouldn't have written that other stuff. We know the definition of exotic...and we know about context...that's actually what we were discussing (the context in which the word is used). No one was talking about an exotic flower or an exotic bird, etc.



It sounds like this thread touched a nerve. Perhaps you are one of those people who like to call people exotic because though posters on here have their opinions, no one got upset like you.

[Space_League]

wow didn't know this was a loaded word . good thing i never used it on a person but thats just dumb luck

[cbreeze22]

The first time I heard exotic used to describe a person's appearance was in high school way back in... well, I'll just say the clothes and haircuts are back in style. The guys used it to explain their fascination with a Russian girl in our school. We girls found it odd then given that it was West LA and almost everyone around us was 1st or 2nd generation "exotic" and/or multiracial. Russian wasn't common, though. In Atlanta I've heard it only from PoC describing my son and his sister, who are constantly asked what they're mixed with or which country they're from. My son is especially annoyed by it because he's often accused of either lying or not knowing his father when he answers with "Nothing, and my family is from here." They're not mixed with anything, and they're both from Georgia, just like their father, his parents... I'm from LA and my parents are from OH/IN. No one is running around with any more of an ethnic blend than most who check the one box of African-American. The kids are at nearly opposite ends of the complexion spectrum, so it doesn't seem to be about that in their case. The term is definitely used as if it should have been taken as a compliment, and many have said it's because of their Bratz doll-like facial features, but like it's been said here, it's disheartening to me that it's considered more attractive and better to have the black cut with something - anything - else.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by cbreeze22

The first time I heard exotic used to describe a person's appearance was in high school way back in... well, I'll just say the clothes and haircuts are back in style. The guys used it to explain their fascination with a Russian girl in our school. We girls found it odd then given that it was West LA and almost everyone around us was 1st or 2nd generation "exotic" and/or multiracial. Russian wasn't common, though. In Atlanta I've heard it only from PoC describing my son and his sister, who are constantly asked what they're mixed with or which country they're from. My son is especially annoyed by it because he's often accused of either lying or not knowing his father when he answers with "Nothing, and my family is from here." They're not mixed with anything, and they're both from Georgia, just like their father, his parents... I'm from LA and my parents are from OH/IN. No one is running around with any more of an ethnic blend than most who check the one box of African-American. The kids are at nearly opposite ends of the complexion spectrum, so it doesn't seem to be about that in their case. The term is definitely used as if it should have been taken as a compliment, and many have said it's because of their Bratz doll-like facial features, but like it's been said here, it's disheartening to me that it's considered more attractive and better to have the black cut with something - anything - else.

I can understand. Wherever I go it's usually one of the first questions people ask me, "What you mixed with?," "You have an international look." WTF do you mean by an international look? LOL. The U.S. is so diverse with people who are perceived to be mixed and they are from here and so it's always confusing to me as to how someone can have an "international look."

[brooklyndodger]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

When someone is commenting on a feature you have that makes you "better" or more "attractive" because it's a feature black people are not known to have, it isn't something you feel proud of. They are complimenting what's not black while at the same insulting your blackness by saying you are special or look more attractive because of this non-black feature.


Most men are not sexually objectified like black and Hispanic men and so not sure why you included them...at least not in Atlanta from what I m seeing. I don't look for reasons to be offended. I hate the thought of being someone's racist fetish. It's like an animal in a zoo and you are entertaining all these douchebags. People overall not including race are so basic and so when you describe these heterosexual men who don't give a **** about the things being discussed in the thread, I remember why.

I wouldn't call it fetishization. Black women have complimented me on the same thing White or Asian have complimented me on. My dark skin Black girl friend told me yesterday that she loved my "cognac colored" complexion. Honestly speaking, I had no idea what "cognac colored" meant. She then sent me a picture of
a bottle of cognac liquor and said that was my color. I just smiled. I really don't care why my Black GF is attracted to me as long as she is and that she makes me happy. When I compliment her on her flawless complexion or certain physical attributes I won't mention here I am quite sure she does not mind or consider it fetishization. The same can be said for the white or Asian women I have dated. Human attraction is very complicated. I can't account for why certain races of women like or are attracted to me. Life is too short.

[DreamerD]

I was going to let this thread die but I went to hang out the other day in Atlanta. I'm not kidding you...for the entire night, the subject of the conversation was the guys there wanting to know "what you're mixed with," the size of my _, and whether or not my _ is cut or uncut. Even when I left the people and came back, which is a pretty rude thing to do, they still kept asking.



I am posting this because I know there are those who think I exaggerate about my experiences in Atlanta and so I thought maybe I should post when it happens because it's certainly Atlanta related and related to the topic. You can't make this stuff up lol.



What's really weird is how people get upset when I tell them I'm black. They feel as if they have the right...the authority to not only be able to get into my business but that I must, I ought to answer them. I don't know where people get this sense of ownership from as if my business belongs to them and they are entitled to it.


I've decided that maybe I need to do more to be a part of the solution. I plan on being more forceful so that people know that I do not want to talk about my race/ethnicity and will not stand for it. People don't take hints and continue asking away no matter how you try to steer the conversation towards another topic and so I shouldn't have to be forceful in how I speak to people but apparently it's necessary.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by DreamerD

I was going to let this thread die but I went to hang out the other day in Atlanta. I'm not kidding you...for the entire night, the subject of the conversation was the guys there wanting to know "what you're mixed with," the size of my _, and whether or not my _ is cut or uncut. Even when I left the people and came back, which is a pretty rude thing to do, they still kept asking.

Wowzers! Where were you hanging out???