Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think Julianne could have pulled off the "character' without the spraytan. I know of the show...orange is the new black...but I dont know all the characters, but I doubt many have hair knots. If she had just done her hair, most people would have figured who she was portraying.
Don't you have to guess or ask what 50% of the costumes are supposed to be anyway?
I dont think ive ever seen someone dressed as a indian princess paint their face red or a chinese doll paint their face yellow.
For the record, I am also NOT GAY, but anyone here who is familiar with my posts knows where I stand on marriage equality.
Are you really so shallow as to think you have to actually be part of a specific group to support them and to believe in fairness and equality and justice for them?
If so, by your reasoning, I would have to be a child to be against child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Or to be a dog or a cat or some other animal to support animal welfare causes.
Weird.
The issue is trivial. I see though you've made use of my post to display more of your supposed virtue. You're a kind of a modern Calvinist letting people know you're among the elect.
That girl Julianne Hough , what was she thinking ? when you are a celeb everything you do is scrutinized . I wish she would have made a better choice and im speaking as a mother here .
She was thinking it would be fun to dress up like one of her favorite TV characters. She wasn't trying to make a statement or be offensive. I actually find it "offensive" to accuse a person who is having fun on Halloween of being racist. Some of you need to get a clue about what it really means to be racist. And I don't see what being a mother has to do with anything. And what does being a mother have to do with anything?
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
4,409 posts, read 6,540,027 times
Reputation: 6253
The only way for racism to be cured is for people to stop being sensitive to it. Often times things are labeled as racist when they aren't. When something is, don't get angry, just ignore it. By ignoring it you rob it of it's power.
I agree. I have no idea if she is racist or not, but I do believe she should have at least known better - or someone close to her should have clued her in that some might find it very offensive. Blackface has a very real history of promoting negative stereotypes of African Americans and it is difficult for me to understand how people can either not know that.......or worse, know it and not care.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AV8n
Hough's costume wasn't exactly an Aunt Jemima Minstrel Show. She looked more like she had gotten hold of John Boehner's spray tan. It wasn't meant as a caricature, either. If she had wanted to be She-Hulk, she would have used green makeup instead of brown. It's sad that we have people in our society who are so concerned with what a white girl wears for Halloween that they make us all numb to real racism and bigotry.
For the record, I don't think Hough was being racist at all. Just sadly ignorant, which I think is the case with a good chunk of such instances.
Quote:
Originally Posted by waviking24
This thread is eerily similar to one on another forum I frequent. Only one way to know for sure...
OP are you aware?
???????
Quote:
Originally Posted by Slithytoves
I have seen people don Halloween costumes as a tribute to heroes of other races (Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela) and I think that's fine and have a nice giggle at their efforts to capture the person, physically. Other kinds of cross-racial costumes tend to offend me because the intention is always questionable and I don't think everybody knows (or cares) where the line is between innocent fun and racism/stereotype. I once saw what I thought was a fun costume tribute to Bob Marley turn into a drunken show of racial mockery, and it has made me really wary of cross-racial Halloween costumes ever since unless it's absolutely clear it's out of pure respect.
The Trayvon/Arab stuff is just disgusting. Political and current event-related Halloween costumes can be fun, but not when they are an excuse to be mean-spirited. This year I'm dressing as "The Can" that our government keeps kicking down the road. But I know someone else (a White guy) who is dressing as a ghetto Obama playing kick-the-can...a whole other level of commentary that I think is inappropriate.
I don't think people who do this stuff aren't aware of the history of blackface or other racial depictions. I just think they don't care. As a result, I admit I'm a bit less critical when someone of another race dresses up as a White person (I am White). I guess I feel we have it coming for many decades of doing it to everybody else...but really, anybody of any race who does it is perpetuating the problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MoonBeam33
Tell me OP - do you have a problem with Indian Princess and Chinese Girl costumes too, or just black face?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chimuelojones
I think Julianne could have pulled off the "character' without the spraytan. I know of the show...orange is the new black...but I dont know all the characters, but I doubt many have hair knots. If she had just done her hair, most people would have figured who she was portraying.
Don't you have to guess or ask what 50% of the costumes are supposed to be anyway?
I dont think ive ever seen someone dressed as a indian princess paint their face red or a chinese doll paint their face yellow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by War Beagle
Would it be racist if a black person dressed up in lederhosen or as a leprechaun?
I don't think anyone has any issue with people dressing up s people of different races. It's been done countless times before (see the link I posted in the original post). It's completely possible for anyone to dress up as Bob Marley, an Indian princess, a Chinese girl, or whatever without going into the delicate issue of blackface. It's not racist to do so obviously. Issues start when a certain amount of mockery comes into play. For example, do you think the idiots dressing up as Trayvon and Zimmerman did so out of respect for the former's death? Obviously, it's to cause a stir, but far from in a positive manner. I agree with an earlier comment that context is key, but how many people dressing up for Halloween costumes are explaining the context? Are they acting in a way that explains the context?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinawina
I absolutely adore Luvvie. She is an excellent blogger.
My favorite quote in that blog is this:
THIS! Why is this so hard for people to grasp? Most of the time what is being asked isn't even a big deal. What's so hard about avoiding painting yourself black (or dressing as a stereotypical Arab, or Asian, or whatever) for Halloween or whatever? Are there not an infinite amount of other costume ideas to choose from? Is it really THE END OF THE WORLD not to call your sports team the Redskins? If I named my team the Jew Boys or the Darkies or the Yellow Slanty Eyes could you see how some people might not like that too much, right? Is it really a huge imposition on your life to request that you simply not be a dick? Is it really an UNSPEAKABLE VIOLATION OF YOUR RIGHTS to not throw a "ghetto party" or some such nonsense? You would think so from some folks reaction to just being asked to knock it off. SMH.
Anyway, I don't think Julianne Hough meant a lick of harm, she just did a dumb thing. That's fine. Now she knows better. Those Trayvon Martin people though... just ugh.
I agree w/ this and just don't get it. If you know that blackface is an uncomfortable topic in this country, if you know it has the real possibility to insult and incite emotions, WHY would you do it? I don't understand the mentality people have where they want to purposely upset others for as dumb a reason as a Halloween costume. For the idiots dressing up as Trayvon and who have been called out on the internet, is it worth it to upset countless people, to offend people you know and don't know, to get so much negative publicity that your personal lives are put in an unfavorable spotlight, all this just for a dumb Halloween costume and the chance to offend? If you know the history of blackface and yet choose to go out in it, choose to mock a race of people, I have to wonder why. What prompts a person to say "IDGAF about your feelings, I'm having fun" to such a degree?
ETA: I can understand not wanting to live life constantly wondering if you are going to offend someone. For example, I know that if I decide to be a witch for Halloween, I may potentially offend a very small segment of Christians who are against witchcraft and all depictions of it. I would take that risk. But that is different from me dressing up s a Catholic priest dragging around a choir boy on a leash and somehow imply I've been raping him and offending a huge number of people. I would never do the latter and would have to wonder about people who would (I have ZERO doubt in my mind that this has been done). There's a wild gulf between the potential to offend a small number of people vs. doing something that is universally offensive. Again, if you know something is universally offensive, why do it?
For the record, I am also NOT GAY, but anyone here who is familiar with my posts knows where I stand on marriage equality.
Are you really so shallow as to think you have to actually be part of a specific group to support them and to believe in fairness and equality and justice for them?
If so, by your reasoning, I would have to be a child to be against child abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Or to be a dog or a cat or some other animal to support animal welfare causes.
Weird.
That idea that you must personally be affected in order to care is strange indeed. For the record, I don't like it when people dress up as Hitler on Halloween either. I'm not Jewish, wasn't alive during WW2, and have no personal connection to it, but I can see why it offends. Along the lines of the Redskins debate, I'm against the team's name too, despite not being Native American or in any way connected to the team; I'm just able to empathize with Native Americans who wish for the team to change the name.
It's not racist to do so obviously. Issues start when a certain amount of mockery comes into play. For example, do you think the idiots dressing up as Trayvon and Zimmerman did so out of respect for the former's death? Obviously, it's to cause a stir, but far from in a positive manner. I agree with an earlier comment that context is key, but how many people dressing up for Halloween costumes are explaining the context? Are they acting in a way that explains the context?
I understand what you are saying, but this is the foundation of why people dislike political correctness. Humor almost always involves someone or some group being offended or hurt (physically or otherwise). Watch one of the late-night comedians and the vast majority of jokes are making fun of someone or something. I'd personally rather live in a world with humor where people get offended versus a humorless one where no one is offended.
The other problem I have with trying to regulate humor and taste is that some groups are safe and some are fair game. It's just my opinion, but I think the categorizing of some groups "off-limits" indicates that society as a whole views them as weak or inferior and in need of protection.
I understand what you are saying, but this is the foundation of why people dislike political correctness. Humor almost always involves someone or some group being offended or hurt (physically or otherwise). Watch one of the late-night comedians and the vast majority of jokes are making fun of someone or something. I'd personally rather live in a world with humor where people get offended versus a humorless one where no one is offended.
I get where you are coming from, but think of it like this. Say you had a coworker who had tried for multiple years to have children with no success. Say she had a few miscarriages and endured a pregnancy that ended with a stillborn birth. This is understandably a very painful memory for her.
Say you don't know any of this and you tell a few "dead baby" jokes at lunch. To you, these jokes are outrageous, OTT and gruesomely funny. To her, it is incredibly painful and reminds her of her own losses. She bursts into tears and runs out of the room. Afterwards, your co-workers tell you about her history.
Do you continue telling the jokes the next day? After all, her pain has nothing to do with you and the jokes are funny as far as you are concerned. You enjoyed yourself and some of your co-workers laughed. You didn't mean any harm. There is a long tradition of this kind of edgy humor. Why should you have to stop?
Hopefully, you would stop because you're not a dick. It's just simple matter of respect for a another human being's painful memories.
Quote:
Originally Posted by War Beagle
The other problem I have with trying to regulate humor and taste is that some groups are safe and some are fair game. It's just my opinion, but I think the categorizing of some groups "off-limits" indicates that society as a whole views them as weak or inferior and in need of protection.
I think that's a fallacy. Is it considering the woman in the above story "weak" or is it just a matter of human decency and respect? All humor has lines that society generally does not want to see crossed... it's not like jokes about violent rape go over well. You publicly step on someone's toes, they will complain. A discussion will ensue. That's how it works.
You'll know we've finally moved past the racial issues when black people don't automatically assume some white kid is racist because he puts makeup on to look like Jay-Z or some NBA player.
Now Trayvvon Martin costumes are in very bad taste. I would never do that. I truly hope that wasn't a big trend this year because I'd hate to think what that would do to his parents. They deserve respect.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
