Sunday Sep 10, 2006

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Posting way too often, but this is something that came up in my other blog. I was bitching about the around the world in 80 weeks food thing (its been bland), and I used the word "middle class" gwai lo, to describe how I felt the food experience was going. My exact quote was

They eat asian food like an average middle class gwai lo .

It was meant to be a throw away comment. At least to me I wasn't suggesting (even if such a creature exist) that my friends are middle class gwai lo

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

(I see a roach demon, bitching about a white collar job, whilst eating a meat pie with a fork and knife ).

damn it, they promised me one priest, pure of heart, body, mind and soul a week, and I've been working there for six weeks without pay, don't know where they're going to get them if I demand payment now. They better hope a pilgrimage comes through here and soon, or I'm going to chew their arse

- with apologies to the author of Journey to the West.



Anyway one guy got quite offended. Two other people leapt to my defence which was nice (but I was in all honestly blissfully unaware that it would cause trouble at all), but in principle he was right. Gwai Lo was always meant to be an offensive term. The question to me is context, and intent.

I have two friends (brothers) who are half-indian half-australian (only mentioned to bring up context), and their background makes no difference to my judgement of them as people. They've call me a fucking gouk, chink, slanty-eyed bastard, yellow peril etc, I've call them half-blood, mongrel etc, etc. None of us have ever been offended by it because of context and awareness and also the way in the which the word is used, and it is just in those case a stereotype that we don't believe in, and a ridicilous one at that. All of us are aware of the ridicilous nature of the comments so they are fine.

Its a weird line. Is it PC-hyper sensitivty not to use those terms or deragatory to use those terms? Gwai lo is a reverse racist term, and I despise reverse racism even more because I think if you have been the victim of racist behaviour you know how it feels so you more than anyone else shouldn't be engaging in this behaviour. Is it neither? Is it geniunely a matter of context? Does a word have power in and of itself? Not an easy question really.
ooo aaa

VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
phantasy:
Interesting questions. I have no idea. I think it's great when people can take any derogatory term directed at them and have fun with it (therefore taking away it's power) but I certainly wouldn't be comfortable joking around with those terms. I had a part Chinese, part Aboriginal friend and she would constantly call her Aboriginal friends and family blackfellas and make references to their colour like "get your little black butt over here". I didn't really understand at the time but I guess I do now.



Oh, Blacklamb asked me to ask you if you received the kimono?
morgannahh:
hey thanks.....i'm still alive and kicking so that's a start.....how's melb treating you?

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