The response to being foreignized

You probably don’t know this, but every group is scared that the larger whole will destroy them. If you bring up why they act this way, they will give out a long list of reasons. Each one will be a very real threat, and good reason to act this way. In fact, many will be recent. To protect themselves, the group will ask for more insularity, work on their own stereotype for protection or acceptance, and fight back if they feel threatened enough.

As said in an earlier post, being foreignized means being killable. It also means treating the group poorly is considered ok, or even a good thing. This is a scary set up, and can lead to terrible consequences for the group.

For every group fighting for rights at this moment, there is a long list of atrocities.

Bring up Israel to a Jew, and they will talk about the Holocaust, and those in the middle east who deny it. In fact, it will be a long drawn out conversation about just trying to survive. Then, they will bring up that none of the NEWS stations talk about this very real fear, or how the enemy is trying to do this at any moment.

I have spoken with minority groups from around the world. Whether it be sex, hair color, culture, religious beliefs or so on. They all look for it. They also don’t realize how common it is. If someone had said the same thing to Mormons, they would bring up the mobs during the 19th century, the civil wars between Mormons and the US Government, and bombings on Mormon soil as recent as the 1980’s. You likely didn’t know about a single one of those things, or at least a small part of them. Depending on where you lived, they may bring up harsh treatment to Mormons in the area by political leaders, or celebrities.

There is good reason for this to be believed as well.

During the 2008 Elections, one of the major runners was Mitt Romney. Around the same time that Romney was running for president, Texas arrested a fragment group of Mormons. They were not part of the church, or its culture at all, but many NEWS stations said they were Mormon. Far worse, most topics were about how a 67 year old man had 3 wives. No one mentioned that one of them was 14, and pregnant.

In other words, the attack was trying to bring Mormons into a debate without fully doing this. Most small groups have learned to recognized this in their lives. Any mention of their group within the NEWS or public eye comes with scrutiny on how it will be used to complain about that group.

The two sides within the GamerGate debate view this in the same way. Their small group is being attacked by a larger group. The NEWS is not reporting it right. There are threats, and attacks happening all the time. The very real reason to believe something horrible will happen is constantly gnawing on them.

When this happens, the groups do four things. The first is to ask for more insularity within the group. The second is to use the stereotypes made to find protection. Another is to fight against the stereotypes. Finally, there will be a push to attack back.

The desire for more insularity within a group means that those who do not think the group is being threatened should be left. Obviously if you are in danger, and someone is not recognizing it, they are not observant enough.

To help this along, they will push for higher standards to be in the group. The term Shibboleth comes from an ancient Israeli war. The two peoples looked alike, and could fake being the other easily enough. The differences were more in accent, so guards would begin talking about the shibboleth. The other culture pronounced it sibbolet, and could be recognized easily.

In reservations, they don’t look for people who say they are of a tribe. They look for people that will talk about common things on reservations. Go see the movie Smoke Signals. Talk about professional wrestling, videogames, and Jackie Chan. Play some basketball. These things will get you in far faster than announcing you have some cherokee.

Within gaming there have been multiple attacks on the culture. The push has been to make sure that whoever was speaking actually played games. Ironically some of this came from pornographers who were trying to trick gamers. A girl would pose against something gamey in very little. Some fell for this, and others demanded that she tell them what the item was about.

As a way to protect themselves, the group will find a part of the stereotype to protect themselves. It’s a very real thing, and you likely don’t even realize its happening.

Mormons are nice. Black people are cool. Jews are good with numbers. So are Arabs. Many of these stereotypes are only true for a few people. The use of it can become a protection. You are less likely to hit someone you think is cool. You aren’t about to attack the guy who made you brownies, or did your taxes.

The view of using the stereotype is protective, and also allows the shibboleth to happen. If the people on the outside are going to stereotype, then it might as well be something that will keep you safe.

The Holy Grail of stereotypes is funny. If you can get someone to laugh, then they won’t hurt you. People work hard to make fun of their culture, and thus introduce it to others. Laughter is what every culture works toward.

Others will work to fight against the stereotypes made. There will be videos showing Mormons doing regular things. People will talk about famous and amazing actors who are gay. One of my favorite poets tries to show how intelligent her people are.

The Mormon video series I’m a Mormon is an attempt to prove that Mormon’s are normal. They can be kickboxing champions, bikers, surfers, and accountants. There are people from around the world. The attempt is to stop the stereotype, and normalize treatment.

Neil Patrick Harris does the exact same thing by posting pictures of his husband and kids. It is the exact same attempt as the I’m a Mormon push.

In an interview with one of my all time favorite poets, Bill Moyers asked:
ILL MOYERS: As an American of Arab descent do you feel after 9/11 that you have to explain yourself?

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE: Well, not explain myself so much because I'm more identifiable as an American. But I certainly understand my cousins when they said their friends grew more supportive but people they didn't know , during the past year, took two steps backward sometimes before they would agree to get to know them.

That life became more difficult in that way. And I think we all needed to work harder to maintain a feeling of openness to anyone we might identify as the "other." Now, that's what interests me. How can we keep bridging the gap that sets someone apart from us and finding a way to know them that will help us all.

The last part is the push to attack back. This will not always be a violent attack, but it will be strongly held. People will fight back against the hate against them, the feelings of fear, and how the stereotypes have made their lives difficult.

This method is to foreignize those who attack the culture. With this new weapon, it is ok to attack back. Terrible things have happened, and the people who have done it can not be human. Things or people even slightly like them are grouped together. All Japanese are out to get you. All Jews want to steal your money. Jack Thompson is a bully.

People being attacked do parts of all of these things. They will check the writer, and see if there is any reference attacking the group, or showing an insider. They will try to prove they are normal, and foreignize the person attacking. It all works smoothly and part of a method.

At this point, the outsiders enter in. They don’t know why the groups are fighting. In fact, the only thing known will be the stereotypes. In trying to understand, the outside observer will choose a side. This will either be from the reasoned opinion by someone they trust or the experience from a member of one of the groups. Since they are still an outsider, the chooser will watch it somewhat like a sports game. The good side is this, and the other is this. They will not be close to the conflict, or understand it.

In the next article, we finally get to talk about how the outsider turns a problem into a battle of Pokemon. You will love this.