Blog Post #8

Just to clarify, I am a white girl. If it seems that I am trying to speak on behalf of any persons of color I sincerely apologize. My intention is to spread awareness to people with privileges similar to my own and foster discussion. Recently I read an article on Thought Catalog about Katy Perry’s performance at the AMA’s. The article was written by YH Park, a Korean American woman. She was writing about how offensive and culturally appropriating the performance was. Perry was “in full-fledged yellowface: Pale skin, eye make-up that made her eyes look sharper, lips stylized like those in old Asian paintings of Geishas and her background dancers’ make-up was even more exaggerated” (Park, 2013). Park states that the performance is “another reminder as to why [she has] been made to feel excluded in a country that [she] was born in” (Park, 2013). Performances like these have been a popular trend among celebrities recently (see Miley, Selena, Gwen etc.). I believe these performances are indicative of the racism/cultural appropriation/white privilege that persists today in white America. The act of using people of color as accessories to propel a white celebrities own fame/fortune is not uncommon. “The people performing and in the media hold a lot of power to change societal perceptions, so when they choose to degrade and objectify a culture, they are perpetuating future stigmatization of upcoming generations of that culture” (Park, 2013). The problem is that these celebrities have extreme influence over the interactions between everyday individuals. The celebrity’s white fan base/other white people who happen to tap into pop culture every now and then will see this objectification of other cultures as okay, further perpetuating racism/white privilege. They will try to justify this behavior with “appreciating a culture” but Park states that “there is a difference between cultural appreciation and simplifying to spread awareness and accurate facts about a culture”. As Park so aptly puts it “white people, stop trying to be anything other than white”.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/yheepark/2013/12/dear-white-performers-stop-trying-to-be-anything-other-than-white/

Observation: The people making counter-arguments in the comments section of the article are white. *rolls eyes*