Thanks for your kind words. Were you talking about Ahmed's Feminist Killjoys (And Other Such Willful Subjects)? (Link here for the whole essay http://barnard.edu/sfonline/polyphonic/ahmed_01.h....

To be honest, somewhere I did keep on returning to this Ahmed essay while writing this -- it's really something I identify with on many, many levels.

I LOVED Dan's post, but the comments were making me headdesk too much too. Sigh. Pretty much the reason why I'm off the blogophere lately -- too much fail to handle without making brain hurt. Loved your response to the fauxgressives as well :)

Take care Renee <3

My problem is with 'understanding' a culture too -- why do you need to 'understand' who I am, what my culture is to support and accept me? I often find that whenever any Western person wants to 'understand' any non-Western culture, there is *always* a power imbalance, even this 'understanding' is done in the most anthropological-clinical stance. Last week, I presented a paper at an international conference and this Dutch lady asked me to explain to her the intricacies of the caste system -- and her reason being 'I need an authentic Indian point of view -- where I literally became a point of access and a cable wire rather than a person. So I see wanting to understand in this similar clinical text. Some things just *are* -- I don't remember asking anyone what Blake was talking about in his Tyger and Lamb poems, I had to figure things out on my own. So why does the culture I come from need footnotes, need to be diluted so that Nice Imperial Person can 'understand' me and *THEN* deem me worthy of dignity?

Using words like puja should be okay if you're talking about specific Indian practices i.e. the context demands it. I'd just RAEGQUIT if I see one *more* white person appropriating our words, names of deities for their pets and cars, without knowing the magnitude behind such words and names, and if we even dare to hint that we're anything but non-Western in Western spaces, we get told to 'go back to your land' -- and if a white western person does it, it's 'edgy and cool'.

Thank you Sparky. And it was very gratifying to hear that. Also this happens to me often where I read a post that fascinates me and the most interesting thing I can utter afterwards is "Oh". Compared to that, I'd say not awkward at all :)

Oh my god my eye won't stop twitching for the next hour because of his fails! UGH! White cis-dudes need a *safe space*? HOW ABOUT EVERY OTHER PLACE ON THE PLANET.

Do they not get the irony when they are talking about wanting a 'safe space'?

...

don't answer that.

Absolutely agreed! When people are being sexist and/or misogynist to White women they have to be called out, but when people in general are sexist to any racial minority, it's overlooked as "This is the way men of that community behaves" (a la Ashley Judd) -- the narrative is *always* framed as white peeps saving brown women from brown men.

Big le sigh.

What I just *LOVE* about white people pantslessly appropriating other religions is how they seem to read every other religion like Christianity/ western ideals and then they say WHY IS THIS SO *WEIRD* AND *HARD TO GET*? And as you point out, they still think *our* religions are for taking and possessing. I often think how are some people so shameless + willfully ignorant and then I remember the neato colonisation thing and it all makes sense.

And by LOVE I mean my eye starts twitching.

Great post though.

Thank you Tassja! I am not into cricket as a sport per se, but your phrase that this was karmic revenge made me smile so much!

I want to select all too. Selecting just one douchefuck when all of them are perfect for the top troll selection is just UNFAIR -- now why do you want us to oppress them FURTHER Renee?

Anyway, I got over this injustice and voted for YOUMISOGYNISTRACIST -- such a delightful person! *Brb trying to kill the comment with fire*