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Feminist: Be a Foodie w/o Being Culturally Appropriative

kenny

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http://www.nationalreview.com/article/427436/cultural-appropriation-authentic-food-racist

by KATHERINE TIMPF November 20, 2015 4:45 PM

Are you even thinking about oppression while you eat that taco?
According to Social Justice Internet, it’s totally fine to enjoy foods from other cultures — as long as you don’t call the food “authentic,” act like it’s out of the ordinary, or forget to get upset about Islamophobia every time you eat hummus.

Yep.
According to “The Feminist Guide to Being a Foodie Without Being Culturally Appropriative,” it’s pretty damned hard for you to eat anything but a cheeseburger without its author, Rachel Kuo, thinking you’re being offensive.
Have you ever gone to another country and tried an “authentic” version of that country’s cuisine?
If you said yes, you’re already a racist.
According to Kuo, the word “authentic” should never be used when discussing another culture’s food because “seeking ‘authenticity’ fetishizes the sustenance of another culture.”
“The idea of the “authentic” food experience is separated from reality,” Kuo writes.
“It also freezes a culture in a particular place in time.”

Unfortunately, Kuo had no recommendations for how someone should describe the kind of food he ate on a trip to China versus what he ate on a trip to Panda Express.
She simply declared that using the word “authentic” to describe the former to be totally unacceptable.
But don’t worry — she did have a ton of other great tips!
For example: If you eat something new like a pig intestine, do not under any circumstances act like it is a strange or interesting experience to you.
“When people think they’re being adventurous for trying food from another culture, it’s the same thing as treating that food as bizarre or weird,” Kuo said.

“By making a big deal out of someone’s culture and food, it reminds them that they’re culture is abnormal and doesn’t quite belong in this world,” Kuo states.

So basically, eat all of the pig intestines you want . . . but you had better not act like eating pig intestines isn’t what you do every day.
Simply say “Oh, this is very good, very normal food!” or don’t say anything at all — or else Kuo is going to feel as though she literally does not belong on planet Earth.
Seems fair.
Why should people have the freedom how they’re feeling about new experiences when they experiencing them?
Oh, and there’s another thing: You cannot eat a culture’s food without thinking about the oppression that the people of that culture have gone through.

“When food gets disconnected from the communities and places its [sic] from, people can easily start forgetting and ignoring historical and ongoing oppression faced by those communities,” she writes.

“America has corporatized “Middle Eastern food” like hummus and falafel, and some people might live by halal food carts, but not understand or address the ongoing Islamophobia in the US,” she continues.
“Folks might love Mexican food, but not care about different issues such as labor equity and immigration policy that impact members from that community.”
See, it’s easy!
You can totally go ahead and eat that burrito in Mexico!
Just don’t call it authentic or think of it as an interesting experience — which you shouldn’t have time to think about anyway, seeing as you’re supposed to be thinking about immigration the whole time.
 

Jambalaya

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The authors seem to make no allowance for the fact that if you eat a foodstuff from a different country or culture that you have never had before and can't easily get at home, of course it is going to seem different and exciting and unusual. That's natural and doesn't mean you're xenophobic or racist or whatever.
 

packrat

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Ahhh but Jam, not anymore! We're all racist now, all the time. We are no longer allowed to just enjoy our food, or any activity that we may be doing, lest we not do it in a manner that appeases those who have appointed themselves as the Right in All Things and All Ways.
 

Jambalaya

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Packrat, the next thing is that tourists will be culturally appropriative. If you go on vacation to somewhere because it's different and unusual to you, that's racist, according to the reasoning in the article. And surely this line of thought flows east to west, as well as west to east. If we go to India and visit the Taj Mahal and eat goodies from a street vendor and buy saris, and think what an unusual experience this is for us, surely the same goes for the Indian tourist marveling at the Eiffel tower and the fois gras? Tourists - racists, the lot of them! :lol:
 

VRBeauty

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From the intro to her article:

"What is “Asian inspired” or “Asian-fusion?” I have a sinking suspicion it’s not like when my mom made me sushi with cucumbers, lunch meat, and eggs growing up. Or toast with mayonnaise and pork sung. People used to make fun of the food I eat, and now suddenly, stuff like spam fried rice is selling at a hip new restaurant for $16.

It’s frustrating when my culture gets consumed and appropriated as both trend and tourism."

She has a huge chip on her Asian shoulders.

Still, point taken - next time I travel abroad, I'll only eat at McDonalds. Heck, I suppose I should do the same when I travel to the American South, or the Northeast - I do love lobster roll and steamers - but I wouldn't want to risk being culturally insensitive!

That'll show those local yokels!

;))
 

monarch64

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If you use words like "authentic" or "foodie" I'm more likely to think you're a pretentious a$$ than an appropriating monster.

In either case, it's good to become a bit more self-aware.

A guy mansplained to me several weeks ago that I was just TOO feministic. I did not know "feministic" was a word, for one, and for two it was funny to watch him struggle to mansplain to me why I came across as far too heavily skewed towards feminism. It's hilarious how people react when they think they might have to make the slightest changes in their behavior because people aren't putting up with their shit any longer.
 

december-fire

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From her article:

"However, it’s critical for us to reflect on how we perceive the cultures that we’re consuming and think about the relationships between food, people, and power.

Colonization and gentrification are directly related to the appropriation of food. We also need to begin educating ourselves on issues and event (sic) that impact the communities that we’re drawing our meals from."

I'm starving! ;(

I thought it might be safe to have some bread and water. Wrong! :nono:

When I was 11 yrs old, I realized that one friend (parents born in Italy) used the term 'Italian bread'.
Another friend (one parent born in France, the other parent born in Belgium) used the term 'French bread'.
I've been studying the Italian, French, and Belgium (don't want to offend by omission!) cultures and history all morning!
Still have massive amounts to read before I can eat! :read:

Think I'll go wash my hair before someone tells me I need to understand the people and culture that first used shampoo. :((

Wonder how the author would feel if she were Irish. :think:
What other nationality has millions around the world all wearing 'Kiss Me, I'm (fill in nationality)'?

Hit the books before March 17, folks!
If you don't pass the quiz, I'll rip off your 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish' pin and swipe the green beer out of your hands!

I'll then put on a bunch of the pins and head to the Fire Station to let them know I appreciate them.
I'm a multi-tasker. :angel:
 

kenny

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Jambalaya|1448122322|3952468 said:
The authors seem to make no allowance for the fact that if you eat a foodstuff from a different country or culture that you have never had before and can't easily get at home, of course it is going to seem different and exciting and unusual. That's natural and doesn't mean you're xenophobic or racist or whatever.

No.
You're wrong.



If this big juicy succulent grub doesn't make you salivate with desire you are a hateful racist bigot.

Now that we're all equal we're also identical in every way and all grew up eating roaches, sheep eyeballs and the brains of live monkeys.

Didn't you get the memo?

grub.png
 
Q

Queenie60

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Ok - so here I go...... My Irish grandmother referred to all of her food as Irish. Irish potatoes, Irish stew, etc. If she made it, it was "Irish." My husband is Armenian and since I cook as a hobby, have learned to make his cultural food "authentic" and his Armenian mother will refer to it as such. I am 1/2 Mexican and 1/2 Irish and I certainly consider myself and "authentic" Mexican food cook! Doesn't mean that I'm racist. Just a person who enjoys authentic food! :roll:
 

Matata

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:lol: :doh: :wall: :rolleyes: :knockout: I love emojis. The author hoists herself on her own petard. Since feminism became formally organized in 1848 in America, she has culturally appropriated all American feminists as well as feminists worldwide. According to the all-knowing and authentically factual Wikipedia -- the term "foodie" originated simultaneously in America and Britain. Pot calling the kettle black (which will likely be construed as a racial slur). To appropriate the words of Alanis Morissette, Isn't it ironic?
 

Jambalaya

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Yes, that is un-PC. I believe the correct phrase is: "Don't you think that's the pot calling the kettle transparent?" :lol:

Kenny: I am not eating that slug and I don't care what a bigot that makes me. :shock:

I am very ironic. I always iron my scallop-edged pillowcases, which I'm about to do. My cool friend says that scallop-edged pillowcases are bourgios, anti-feminist, elitist, items of privilege. They make domestic fools of women with their frills which chain us to the iron, their flounces reminiscent of country houses and servants, and their color. Alway, always, always white!

I never realized what my scallop-edge pillowcases say about me. I just thought they were pretty. I'm going to go and find a hemp sack to sleep on. :wacko:

ETA: There was a truly funny thread in the Pearls section where one PSer, CMD14, had worn her many glorious pearls to her husband's work do, I think a three-strand and some drop earrings. The crowd was hip and cool and someone asked her if she was wearing her pearls ironically. She was very bemused and then other stories came out from posters about negative reactions to pearls, which are apparently very un-PC with with connotations of conservatism and elite privilege.

The pearls should run away for a year and a day with my scalloped pillowcases!
 

kenny

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Jam, please tell me you DO know I was joking. :wavey:
 

Matata

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What should we rename the bird some people eat on Thanksgiving? Surely continuing to call it a turkey must be country appropriation. :???:
 

Jambalaya

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kenny|1448157932|3952632 said:
Jam, please tell me you DO know I was joking. :wavey:

Yes, yes, yes I knew! That's why I did the emoty-thing! :wavey:
 

Jambalaya

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Oh look, we're waving in unison above. Cute!
 

Niel

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I get what she's saying, to a degree.

We eat french food with rabbit or Mexican food with tongue because its exciting. These foods were often the goods of lower income hunters or farmers. We go to specialty stores to find rabbit. Make sure we pronounce the dish the way a native french speaker would pronounce it, and post pictures on Facebook when we make it.
 
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