@msmoneypenny: I am flabbergasted by this trend. As my mother says whenever she sees someone wearing hammer (erm, harem) pants, "Someone needs to change HER diaper"
Sometimes diaper is replaced with maxi pad for the full effect. #michelleobama
@kbang: Harem pants also double as tote bag. You can carry a newspaper, thermos, umbrella - yet keep your hands free to wave down a taxi! #michelleobama
I wonder if she jumped in for the double-dutch or if they let her start in. Jumping in was always the hardest part for me as a kid. I'd just stand there bobbing back and forth, trying to work up the nerve. #michelleobama
World:
Form: -8 (Existence of pizza: 8; existence of cancer: -16)
Avatar: 3 (Haven't seen movie yet - not holding out hope)
Flowers (All): 10
Awesome: 5 (see re: cancer above. Also, Rush Limbaugh)
Ed Westwick Love: 10 (Ed in/of world itself)
Total: 20
Well, Bob - we have Dodai defeating life by a landslide! Not only does she LOLVogue like a champion, but she is cuter than is possible and wants Ed Westwick in her pants, which proves her judgment is sound. #michelleobama
I am continually confused by this reality--it seems so counterintuitive to the supposed "artistry" and "aesthetic work" of fashion that certain shades and shapes are summarily excluded. When the haute designers (like those listed above) speak of artistry and creation, I laugh. Don't get me wrong. . .i love their dresses. But they are producing commercial items- inspired and contained by the unequal power structures present in mundane political and economic life. They cannot even innovate to the point of recognizing the aesthetic potential of anything but the conventional small-framed-big-eyed-white-lady.... Blindly accepting aesthetic conventions does not an artist make.
HeatherNumber1 promoted this comment
Edited by morninggloria at 10/05/09 2:24 PM morninggloria approved this comment
BeRy51 was starred
BeRy51 was unstarred
@BeRy51: Was just about to say the same thing (in a much more mundane way). Miles of taffeta, neon yellow face paint, diamond-encrusted bodysuits, 12-inch heels... anything is possible. But you want a size-six Haitian model in the spread? Never.
I make no excuses for my love of Teen Vogue and I am in my 30's. The editorials are amazing, it costs only $2.99, and it's so small it fits into my handbag. Plus, I've never seen an article that was about how to get a boy to notice you.
Selina, res ipsa loquitor gurl. Res ipsa. Most blacks of the diapora (85%) have lineage other than African ancestry, hence the vast array of our look across the black spectrum.
@AlmostDream: So that old one-drop rule is coming into play again?
I would guess by the name Khan and the fact that she looks South Asian, that she is predominately South Asian (she even says Indian!) Of course, I'm sure the blogger who called her black wasn't trying to slant the facts to cover up her mistake at all...
@PogoStick09: I have to say that the reaction people are having to Selina Khan's self-identification is really annoying me. First of all, people are reacting badly mostly because of how they perceive her looks, and from a very black-white binary perspective, might I add (to me, she clearly reads as Asian). Secondly, she gave a clear description of her ancestry, the only component of which may reflect black ancestry is "creole," which often means different things to different people. In other words, at most, this young woman (17! and probably still figuring out how to identify herself) has a small amount of African ancestry along with other ethnicities, with which she clearly identifies more strongly. And people are upset that she doesn't identify as black! Why? Because she looks black to you?
@thesciencegirl: Excellent comment. I found the "swears she isn't black" text of the link very strange, especially if you click through and see she's not defensive, she's just correcting someone who made an (incorrect) assumption about her. Because black people are the only ones with brown skin, you know...!
I also raised an eyebrow at "Honey, someone lied to you" because that's pretty fucking offensive.
@thesciencegirl: Yep. SO co-signed. It's kind of the way I feel like biracial people are often pushed into identifying s black because that's how people want to see them. Obama? Forget that he was raised by his white family, and that is a whole half of his genetic code. We know what we see! The invisibility of biracial people is quite disconcerting to me.
@Moloko: I was also rubbed the wrong way by the "swears she isn't black" comment and the blog post it linked to. She isn't black. So, why is this an issue?
@Moloko: I don't know this girl's full background, so I can't comment. But I had the same reaction as pogostick09 because I've encountered way too many people who would be looked at as black who go out of their way to deny that.
My problem is with that attitude, not people claiming their ethnicity. I just get angry when people are offended at being called black.
(I'm not saying that's Khan's attitude, and it honestly doesn't seem to be.)
@thesciencegirl: Brown skin = black and obvs Selina Khan is a FILTHY LIAR for saying she is like Indian and stuff because nobody from India is brown, ever.
@AlmostDream: But she's not defensive or in denial at all. Actually, she reacted pretty graciously to a woman who practically called her a liar because of her assumptions about Khan's looks. It's kind of wrong that she felt she was entitled to know her ancestry and question her like that too.
@thesciencegirl: Also, if we're using physical traits, there are substantial Bangladeshi, Indian, and Aboriginal populations that for looks purposes are black.
Race is a social construct. Spending a lot of time in Brasil taught me that.
@GirlyQ is a manta ray: But doesn't Obama self- identify as a black man? I think it is pretty widely acknowledged that he is bi-racial, but if he considers himself black, I don't see a problem with other people doing the same.
@thesciencegirl: And conversely, since I look white but I'm half-Cape Verdean*, if I said "I'm black" would the blogger laugh at me and say "someone lied to you?" Or "not black enough?" She probably wouldn't have thought to approach me, most likely assuming that I'm not black at all.
Eugh.
*I know we're mixed race, so I'm half mixed-race. If you want to get technical. But I call myself "half black" if I don't feel like explaining Cape Verdeaness.
@thesciencegirl: No, first of all I'm not upset I'm more...bemused. As a "person of mixed-race heritage" I am well aware that there are very few short-hand ways to accurately describe your ethnicity to people. Also, it's annoying that you even have to.
Maybe you're right and she just hasn't figured it out yet, but most people do at least try to boil it down to the quickest thing they can say to shut someone up (even if it's largely inaccurate). The only time I hear people go out of their way to recite a page-long pedigree going back to their indigenous ancestors is when they want to make sure people know they're NOT BLACK!
@Trulymadlyme: Yes, and I think part of the problem here is people don't realize that (or like, you know, what South Asians look like outside of Bollywood). But if we're using "black" to mean of African ancestry (and I think we are), then this girl isn't black, and there's nothing wrong with her saying that.
And as someone else said above, she seemed to say it very graciously, and not as though she were horrified by the mistake or anything.
@Trulymadlyme: This is where my issue lies. Race IS a social construct and has no real meaning. So really the only thing to go by is what you are perceived as, because there is no reason to self-identify as any "race" when you can actually say your ethnic background, which is accurate and has a real meaning.
@MizJenkins: Or if someone's accusing them of lying, of course.
Me: Hiimtiaiwriteforablackbeautyblog.........
Beautiful Girl: Oh, I'm not black.
Me: Honey, someone lied to you.
Beautiful Girl: No, really (giggling the most refreshingly unaffected giggle). My mom's Indian, mixed with Arabic and Creole, and my dad is Vietnamese. Yep, Indian and Chinese.
And describing your parentage isn't "a page-long pedigree going back to their indigenous ancestors", so stop with the weasel words.
It's bemusing how people are so quick to defend a blogger who fucked up and tried to accuse a 17 year old girl of lying.
@MizJenkins: Yeah, ok, I get that. But in this case, we're not talking about a person of mixed descent who has African ancestry and wants to downplay it; she simply isn't black. So, when someone makes assumptions about her race based on their own ignorance, she responds by rattling off the list (which, btw, is how I approached those questions when I was 17 too). I can see your point more if she were part black, but she just isn't (ok, maybe her mom has some black ancestry -- based on that creole comment). I think people are projecting other issues onto this girl, which don't really apply to her. If she's mostly Indian and Vietnamese, why should black people take offense at that? She's only being honest and accurate about her heritage.
@MichelinG: I feel like if you're dark-skinned you can be mixed and identify as black and people won't get upset about it.
But if you're light and you identify as white, people worry about you denouncing your heritage. When my (black) grandmother first met me as an infant she referred to me as "Imitation of Life." The woman who baby-sat me, who was black, thought of me as "that white girl" (until, apparently, she started caring for "real" white children and then she decided that I wasn't so "white" after all).
So.. I don't know what my point is. Just try not to be mixed and look white. You get identity issues and no "team" wants you. /end sad rant
@thesciencegirl: I hadn't read the interview...it turns out that I know the blogger and the funny thing is she and Selina Khan could be sisters. Ironically, people are always asking Tia to explain her ethnicity: she's just Black.
So I imagine it was kind of a "ZOMG you look like me! No way, we MUST be related...no? Oh ok" kind of moment. I think everyone can probably chill out about the blogger accusing her of lying and such.
I wasn't outraged by Khan or anything either. It was just a mouthful and I found it peculiar that she went into such detail. Makes more sense in context.
@Skellatrix: I've never personally had to deal with something like this, but I've heard a lot of people from all sides of the issue comment on it and I think it's very interesting and yeah, sometimes kind of depressing.
It's easy to speculate about why Obama (or any other bi-racial person) identifies with whatever group he identifies with, but ultimately I don't know how it feels to have to make that choice. I assume there's pressure to identify as something different depending on who you're around.
Ultimately, I think the most respectful thing I can do (or anyone can do, really), is to identify people the way they choose to be identified. Same goes for Jourdan.
I have to say though, as a multi-racial person, when I started seeing people who looked more "like me" on the runway, it was more of an afterthought, as opposed to some awesome revolutionary moment. Even when I was "model" thin (albeit never "model" tall), I never really felt like those were the people who made me feel "normal", since they were supposed ot look other-worldly, anyway. Frankly, I was always more happy when I saw some mixed girl getting print work or an acting job. I guess the more mundane exposure, the better. The more diversity I see in boring-town, everyday media, the more I feel like people are actually acknowledging we live in a multi-racial, multi-cultural world. Ikea commercials actually make me so happy I could squee.
I agree, it resonates much more if I see people who look like me on my television screen and in the movies. I actually think that that is a fair way to measure our progress as a society in regards to issues of race.
@bellzar08: There are hordes of people who might attempt to disagree with you on your point in future, using some warped Aristotelian logic variant usually accompanied by a misapplied data barrage.
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Sometimes diaper is replaced with maxi pad for the full effect. #michelleobama
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@LBB: Even better than this? #michelleobama
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Dodai:
Form: 9
Avatar: 10
Hair Flower: 8
Awesome: 10
Ed Westwick Love: 9
Total: 46
World:
Form: -8 (Existence of pizza: 8; existence of cancer: -16)
Avatar: 3 (Haven't seen movie yet - not holding out hope)
Flowers (All): 10
Awesome: 5 (see re: cancer above. Also, Rush Limbaugh)
Ed Westwick Love: 10 (Ed in/of world itself)
Total: 20
Well, Bob - we have Dodai defeating life by a landslide! Not only does she LOLVogue like a champion, but she is cuter than is possible and wants Ed Westwick in her pants, which proves her judgment is sound. #michelleobama
10/22/09
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Kidding. Kind of.
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[www.oknation.net]
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I don't think I'm being funny either though.
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Who would have thought it figured?
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I would guess by the name Khan and the fact that she looks South Asian, that she is predominately South Asian (she even says Indian!) Of course, I'm sure the blogger who called her black wasn't trying to slant the facts to cover up her mistake at all...
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I also raised an eyebrow at "Honey, someone lied to you" because that's pretty fucking offensive.
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My problem is with that attitude, not people claiming their ethnicity. I just get angry when people are offended at being called black.
(I'm not saying that's Khan's attitude, and it honestly doesn't seem to be.)
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Race is a social construct. Spending a lot of time in Brasil taught me that.
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Eugh.
*I know we're mixed race, so I'm half mixed-race. If you want to get technical. But I call myself "half black" if I don't feel like explaining Cape Verdeaness.
10/05/09
Maybe you're right and she just hasn't figured it out yet, but most people do at least try to boil it down to the quickest thing they can say to shut someone up (even if it's largely inaccurate). The only time I hear people go out of their way to recite a page-long pedigree going back to their indigenous ancestors is when they want to make sure people know they're NOT BLACK!
10/05/09
And as someone else said above, she seemed to say it very graciously, and not as though she were horrified by the mistake or anything.
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Me: Hiimtiaiwriteforablackbeautyblog.........
Beautiful Girl: Oh, I'm not black.
Me: Honey, someone lied to you.
Beautiful Girl: No, really (giggling the most refreshingly unaffected giggle). My mom's Indian, mixed with Arabic and Creole, and my dad is Vietnamese. Yep, Indian and Chinese.
And describing your parentage isn't "a page-long pedigree going back to their indigenous ancestors", so stop with the weasel words.
It's bemusing how people are so quick to defend a blogger who fucked up and tried to accuse a 17 year old girl of lying.
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But if you're light and you identify as white, people worry about you denouncing your heritage. When my (black) grandmother first met me as an infant she referred to me as "Imitation of Life." The woman who baby-sat me, who was black, thought of me as "that white girl" (until, apparently, she started caring for "real" white children and then she decided that I wasn't so "white" after all).
So.. I don't know what my point is. Just try not to be mixed and look white. You get identity issues and no "team" wants you. /end sad rant
10/05/09
So I imagine it was kind of a "ZOMG you look like me! No way, we MUST be related...no? Oh ok" kind of moment. I think everyone can probably chill out about the blogger accusing her of lying and such.
I wasn't outraged by Khan or anything either. It was just a mouthful and I found it peculiar that she went into such detail. Makes more sense in context.
10/05/09
It's easy to speculate about why Obama (or any other bi-racial person) identifies with whatever group he identifies with, but ultimately I don't know how it feels to have to make that choice. I assume there's pressure to identify as something different depending on who you're around.
Ultimately, I think the most respectful thing I can do (or anyone can do, really), is to identify people the way they choose to be identified. Same goes for Jourdan.
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I agree, it resonates much more if I see people who look like me on my television screen and in the movies. I actually think that that is a fair way to measure our progress as a society in regards to issues of race.
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I am not one of them.