The fetishization of representation

[A Former User]

@Ⴑohnny.ƧƧ its actually crazy bc i didnt REALLY comprehend how fetishization in representation actually effects these groups irl alot TvT

like its kinda common sense but i never really thought and talked abt irl examples, this literally proves how fiction can effect reality

[Johnny.SS]

I’m going to say this clearly because the way some of you have responded to my post is honestly frustrating in a way that goes beyond simple disagreement.

For some reason beyond me my point got watered down into this weird accusation that I “don’t like attractive people of color” or that I’m mad because people find them attractive. That is not what I said, and it was never the point of the post. At all. Yes, there are situations where people immediately sexualize and obsess over certain identities — that absolutely happens online and anyone being honest can acknowledge that. But that wasn’t even the main argument I was making in the first place bffr.

Instead of actually engaging with the point I wrote, people decided to turn this into an annoying game of twisting the argument into something easier to attack. I’m being treated like I said “characters shouldn’t be attractive,” or that I’m trying to police what people find appealing, when my post was clearly about the difference between appreciation and fetishization and how people respond to certain identities (race and sexuality) in fandom spaces

And what makes it even more irritating is the follow-up responses that basically boil down to “well that’s just how the internet is so you shouldn’t care.” That logic is honestly so lazy. The internet being messy or weird does not suddenly make a discussion about media or behavior invalid. People talk about patterns in fandom and media culture all the time — that’s literally part of being in online spaces,discussion keeps fandoms alive and tbh idgaf if people don’t care for my point bc I’m going to express it either way bc it’s an issue but don’t go in my damn comments talking bout some “the internet is like that so worrying about it is unproductive” bullshit.

What really bothers me isn’t people disagreeing with me — Disagreement is normal and I expected that when I posted it bc the entire point was Not only to express an opinion but to get other opinions but what bothers me is watching people repeatedly misrepresent what I said, argue against that made-up version, and then act like my original point was stupid or nonexistent.

At that point it stops feeling like a discussion and starts feeling like people deliberately refusing to read what was actually written. And when that keeps happening over and over, it genuinely makes you feel like you’re being talked down to or treated like you’re unintelligent just for caring about the topic in the first place.

I don’t mind criticism, but if you’re going to respond to something I wrote, at least respond to the argument that actually exists, not a completely different one you invented so it’s easier to dismiss bc it rly shows unintelligence and ignorance and just ruins conversation amd makes it hard to educate other bc it makes the conversation have to loop back to other vaguely points that distract people from the general topic :(

TY the people who tried to understand my point ( @_Izzy_ 😚)

[st4tic]

i honestly understand and agree with you, seeing people who comment but don't get it is mildly infuriating. and i won't even mention the comments which talk about completely unrelated things (like just random sexualized characters which is clearly not the original point)

[A Former User]

@Ⴑohnny.ƧƧ omg you ate that up TvT

Anyway, the fact that the issue is so hard for people to comprehend (despite our MULTIPLE examples that even connect to how this issue impacts real people and cultures, like the kimono and school girl example) says alot about society and frankly the forums main demographic...

[Johnny.SS]

@_Izzy_ it’s so exhausting tryna talk abt any issue on this site so I’ll just smbau 🫩

[A Former User]

i feel like Romani women are kinda fetishized, like i feel like there's this trope of the like alluring mysterious romani and it makes me wonder what the culture is ACTUALLY like bc its always like a hot women specifically or a guy whos a thief

[A Former User]

@Ⴑohnny.ƧƧ i feel like it only makes these convos more important

[Johnny.SS]

@_Izzy_ “gypsy” is a slur and Romani and Romanian is different 😭 but an example i could immediately think of is chel from a road to el dorado

[Johnny.SS]

@_Izzy_ Ig so 😭

[A Former User]

@Ⴑohnny.ƧƧ i know its technically a slur but i like didnt rlly know how else to describe the trope TvT

shes a great example, i was thinking the girl from the humpback of Notradame (i ABSOLUTELY butchered the spelling but im on nintendo and dont feel like looking it up)

i feel like the fact that i dont even know what te race is called kinda shows how terrible the representation is

[Johnny.SS]

@_Izzy_ the origin of the slur is dumb as well bc colonizers thought they looked Egyptian so they called them “Gypsy”,the Romani are a bit of a smaller ethnic group in northern India though

[A Former User]

this actually makes romani women such a great example of this, they have all this 'representation' but the average person knows absolutely nothing about their culture despite this and when a romani character plays a major role its usually just a hot women whos kinda sneaky or smth
on top of that theyre still commonly referred to and known as a literal slur
idk any romani characters who arent just love interest now that i think abt it-

[Johnny.SS]

@_Izzy_ ur right,it would be nice to see some proper Romani rep

[A Former User]

@Ⴑohnny.ƧƧ i dont even know like who tf these people actually are, i didnt even realize they were from india, now im kinda curious bc theyre probably so different then they are in movies

[Johnny.SS]

@_Izzy_ a lot of them we’re killed in the holocaust so theres def some history

[A Former User]

i recently realized that sailor moon unironically features the '[censored] lesbians trope' with sailor saturn and Neptune, and that whole trope is just the result of lesbians being fetishized alot in media
and lebians being fetishized is the result of women being fetishized
which is probably rooted in the patriarchy :P

[KiwiFarmsArkavel]

@_Izzy_ said in The fetishization of representation:

i recently realized that sailor moon unironically features the '[censored] lesbians trope' with sailor saturn and Neptune, and that whole trope is jut the redult of lesbians being fetishized

very very very very very very very dead post :sob: /ref

[A Former User]

@KiwiFarmsArkavel ok??? i noticed something that was relevant to it so i said it
i feel like the post gives an opportunity to talk abt a important topic so why not bring it up again?

edit: my bad i didnt realize it was a ref twin :wilted_flower: