wookie wookie

wookie wookie

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13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Why Feminists Want You... · 0 replies · +1 points

Until I see an actual argument against it I'm going to assume you're a troll with no substance.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Why Feminists Want You... · 0 replies · +1 points

Wrong. Men don't need women to be sex-positive in order for themselves to be sex positive. Men are generally sex-positive because that's how our bodies are built. Blame God / Mother Nature/ whatever if you want but it doesn't change the fact that it's the 21st century and humanity hasn't physically changed within this time. Both genders could reach "equality" if there's a genetic breakthrough that allows viruses to rewrite our DNA but gender issues would be the least of our worries if such a virus were created.

Susan isn't saying that there's anything wrong with sex-positive women. She's saying that Moe and cohorts are portraying sex, and unprotected sex at that, as the only way to feminine liberation. Guys won't turn down any sex coming to them but why should women seek freedom by giving it out like candy?

You seem to have an extremist view where all sex is bad and where the only way to drink alcohol is in a trashy manner. That's the only reason I can think of for why you think Athlone and Moe are the same. Please correct me if I'm wrong because right now I can't take your perspective seriously.

-Wookie wookie

Edit - Rewrote some clunky sentences.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Will We Import Japan's... · 0 replies · +1 points

The American South seems to be well known for its blatant horndog but I think it's starting to become a universal youth thing. I don't think you'll get anything less crass if you're at a frat-heavy school.

The more that I think about it the more I agree with you that the Asian stereotypes are not very well defined beyond workaholics and classical music afficionados. I didn't catch any flak about China's Communist regime growing up. I knew a little about Japanese culture growing up because I liked anime but I was in the minority. Social Studies class touched upon the topic of comfort-women during the brief coverage of the Vietnam War but that was it. We knew about geishas and I think that's the primary touchstone for most Americans. An icon of beauty so distinct from that of the West. During my recent study-trip to Japan, a bunch of my white female classmates sought out places where they could dress up as geishas and shoot gazillions of photos.

I see your point on the Hollywood issue but I personally feel that Asian culture of the older generation is partially to blame. I'm pretty sure that my grandparents' generation actively discourage their kids from acting because it wasn't the way to a steady paycheck or the way out of the slums. The way to financial stability was to work in a non-glorious job for a large company. Likewise in music, it seems that the majority were encourage to participate in classical music, where each instrument is a part of a larger whole lead by a conductor. I don't have any hard evidence to back this up but I believe this communal/cog mindset had a role in influencing the development of past Asian-American generations.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Will We Import Japan's... · 1 reply · +1 points

It wouldn't be nearly as effective if the color issue wasn't partially perpetuated by Asian communities. FOB means fresh-off-the-boat and began as a derisive nickname for those who Asians who had difficulty adjusting to Western life. Naturally a term for the exact opposite was created. Banana refers to someone that's yellow on the outside and white on the inside. It's sometimes used by Asian parents to describe their kids when they're disappointed in their lack of heritage appreciation or academic excellence. There's still some derogatory connotations to it but it's largely mellowed out (kind of like how the word "suck" is used benignly). To be really derisive the term to use now is twinkie.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - What Women Really Love... · 6 replies · +1 points

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here and say that your argument is flawed. As organic creatures we do not have absolute free will. It all leads back to the argument of nature vs. nurture; neither has exclusive control over a person's action. Both factors inform a person's decision and his genetics can influence him/her significantly. Take testosterone for example. Do you remember what it was like in your early youth to have no sexual attraction? Can you see yourself returning to that state without severing the body's production of testosterone? Are we free from the need for dopamine? Is it possible that some people are naturally depressive because their bodies have more serotonin inhibitors? We're technically still programmed.

If we had absolute free will, we would be able to control our feelings like flipping a switch. We'd be able to love someone one moment and then loathe him/her the next without any prompting from that person and be able to switch back and forth continuously.

Your murder argument is also flawed in that it is an individual's "logic" that determines whether he'll shoot the other man. Logic is his ability to balance his understanding of social repercussion with potential emotional gratification. Logic produces the potential options that he has, from which he has the free will to choose which to enact. He'd actually have no free will if he were actively forced to obey the law. Free will is the availability of choice and nothing more. Logic is the ability to weigh different values (facts, emotions, chances ,etc) in the formation of the most appropriate choice.

I know that my post isn't exactly on topic but I just wanted to put a reminder out there that we're really not all that much higher then beasts on the evolutionary ladder, not until we can rewrite or counter our DNA at least.

-Wookie Wookie

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Duke Gets It Wrong Aga... · 1 reply · +1 points

This is like a written equivalent of the rape prevention tool that was actually a condom lined with spikes on the inside. The idea was that a penis would get trapped inside and the rapist would have to visit a hospital to get it removed and therefore turn himself in.

Good in theory but a horrible misplacement of power when evil bitches can easily use it to ruin lives.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Will We Import Japan's... · 0 replies · +1 points

I think part of the stereotype stems from the publicized social research that's been done on hikikomori. The withdrawal culture is far better documented in Japan then elsewhere. The US certainly has its share of basement types but here they're just perceived as losers, not the product of socioeconomic forces. Furthermore, a lot of male-oriented anime whose narratives are situated in modern times make reference to it and make fun of their own stereotype. It's openly acknowledged within the otaku community while in the US it's still largely secretive. I don't watch TV but I think the last time American nerdom was playfully parodied was in the South Park episode about World of Warcraft. While videogames have become relatively mainstream, being socially-withdrawn is still heavily frowned upon in the US. I'm sure Japan doesn't love it either but ostracization is a much more powerful force in the US I think, which leads to fringe groups being far more secretive. I didn't realize how big BDSM was in the US until I visited a friend's home city and saw a fetish catwalk.

Thus like you said, Japan's situation is just better publicized and thus more effectively stereotyped.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Will We Import Japan's... · 1 reply · +1 points

By "default system" I really meant without posting with logging into any of the ID systems (Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter, etc). By "old Wordpress" I mean a Wordpress account that I created a while back (can't change screen name). I could have logged in with Facebook or Twitter but then my friends would know and my manhood would be at stake... (No I don't need helping with hooking up, I'm reading because I enjoy hearing different people's takes on the social ramifications of America's relationship culture and what it may result in in the future! Stop laughing!)

If I'm not logged in on Wordpress and I write up a lengthy response, it all gets cut off after the first paragraph or so when I hit the submit button. It happened on the last post of yours that I responded to but I never got around to figuring out why it did that. My browser isn't blocking any of the scripts on your site so I'm not sure what is going on.

And I don't know about elephant-in-the-room situations. I would assume that what would be appropriate is contextual and that there is a breaking point somewhere, excluding denial of course, but that's hardly foreign to Americans. What I meant more so is that the Japanese have a sense of professionalism when dealing with strangers that seems to be lacking in the West. While not saying what one feels can lead to trouble, brutal honesty can lead to just as much trouble (just look at the immature antics of Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi).

Case in point - My study trip to Japan took place two weeks after Spring finals. That leaves very little time between recovery from a vegetative state and reunion with family to study Japanese or read the books we were told to read. Thus I arrived in Japan with no knowledge of the language save for some basics. I am Chinese but while in Japan everyone thought I was a local and assumed I was the tour guide for my white classmates. Many were surprised to find out that I was a foreigner who couldn't speak the local language but responded in a very respectful and positive manner. I feel like if this sort of exchange happened in the US, I'd get a disdainful "are you f-ing for real?" reaction from people.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Will We Import Japan's... · 8 replies · +1 points

I'm a first-born Chinese American guy who did poorly in math throughout public school so I can I can relate to having to put up with stereotypes, perpetuated by family members no less. As for the marriage issue, I keep thinking back to the My Mom / Dad is a FOB blogs and those lovely descriptions of Asian parent shenanigans. These two in particular come to mind:http://mymomisafob.com/2009/01/17/you-are-still-a... ,http://mydadisafob.com/2009/04/03/boys-youre-bein...

I think the Asian girl stereotype is mainly perpetuated by Japan and to a lesser extent South Korea. Look at all the media portrayals and the fashions in Japan and compare them with Western media portrayals and fashions. Western portrayal of women tends to be more edgy while Japanese fashion is about being as kawaii as possible. Of course not all Japanese women buy into it but there doesn't appear to be a counter-fashion that presents an alternative opinion of beauty (do correct me if I'm wrong though). South Korea borrows heavily from Japanese pop culture (slowly changing) and my personal experience with South Korean exchange students biases me towards the belief that there's a large portion of South Korean girls wish to marry rich husbands that will pamper them (I am ready to explain my view in detail if anyone is offended). Then there's the docile myth perpetuated from mail-order brides from various parts of Asia and the stories of Vietnamese women who attempted to woo GIs during the Vietnam War.

The point of the matter is that there's a lot of pop culture and history that leads to this perspective of Asian women.

As to the topic of ethnic fetishes, I think at this point all first (and maybe second) world backgrounds are appealing to someone or another. I'm fond of British accents but they're not exactly exotic. A British girl would probably roll her eyes (and walk away) if I told her her accent is hot.

13 years ago @ Hooking Up Smart - Will We Import Japan's... · 0 replies · +1 points

<This is wookie wookie. I can't seem to post anything longer then a paragraph using the default system so I'm posting via my old wordpress>

As other posters have said, Japan is another can of worms or maybe a six-pack of worms. Japan is actually a very insular country and that leads to the creation of cultures within cultures within cultures. It leads to a very bipolar and paradoxical overall identity. Japan tends to be very intense without being extreme. Tradition and disrespect thereof exist side by side. Japanese women sleep with pillows shaped like men (http://www.engadget.com/2004/09/01/boyfriend-arm-pillow/) and Japanese men marry pillows. Absolutely ridiculous products are accepted despite lack of scientific proof yet Japan is a pioneer in some sciences. Japan's culture of public-face and private-face is well documented in anthropological literature. I could write more but I hope you get the point that Japan is unique in that so much cultural variety is packed into a tiny series of islands.

So in regards to Japan's sexual kinks, private things like gaming and hentai have already transitioned over to the West within Japanophile circles. I don't know if Western versions have taken root but I'm not sure if I want to know. The larger cultural issues like train-groping, pantie vending machines, or marrying an inanimate object would never happen in the West because morality is important in Western cultures and all of this would be viewed as extremely immoral. Look at how much opposition there is to same-sex marriage.

While Japan does not care about morality as much as the West does, Japan does care about politeness. Being disruptive to the larger whole is frowned upon and while a person may feel a certain about a person/issue, the person will not voice it to anyone except the most trusted (not necessarily family. This is the heart of the public-face / private-face practice.

Case in point: I was on a study trip to Japan and I was heading back to the hotel with some classmates one night. The people I was with were all close friends and per American social custom, they were talking loudly and shouting when they wanted to be heard. The rest of the train was silent and was composed of weary salarymen going home. I looked at their faces and it was obvious that they considered us American students to be extremely obnoxious but they didn't say a word. It's possible that this culture of confrontation avoidance hinders social skill development.

Feminization of men is taking place in the US but it's different then what's happening in Japan. Japan's "bishōnen" appeal is a purely physical affair. It's about an androgynous / hermaphroditic sense of physical beauty. Although their are bishōnen characters that act feminine, there are just as many that act in a macho manner. Feminization in the US on the other hand is primarily a socio-emotional thing.

On a separate note, yellow fever is something that works both ways in that while white people may find Asians exotic, there are also a surprising number of Asians who find blond-hair blue-eyed people fascinating (redheads and brunettes in contrast are considered generic). Naturally this is most obvious with Japan and its use of assorted famous Western icons in commercials (www.japander.com). There also appears to be a common theme in animes for there to be a blonde supporting character of the sex opposite the main character. Often this character will be of Japanese-European descent and it's been commented that this is done so that the love interest is culturally acceptable (marrying a foreigner is frowned upon).

PS - Sorry if my paragraphs are a bit choppy/sloppy. I'd like to edit them but I spent more time writing then expected and the timebox is ending.