Except it's not just used by rightists, though they're the most common users. I think the phrase's appearance is worth at least a second or two's consideration that the target may be one of those over-the-top activists that always get put on the news to make the whole notion look bad. Just because they're a cliché does not mean they're not real and something to take into account. The audience is not just the people who think like you, it's the undecided folks in "middle America" who don't have the same resources for education.

Except that's more like the way some folks use "liberal" like it's an insult when really it's just a designation. I feel like feminist and liberal are both completely valid terms and we just need to own them as actually being the correct terms and refuse to let the right define them away as useless insults that no good-thinking people would want to be associated with.

"Social justice warrior" sounds so cool, though. Like a Valkyrie. But I get what you're saying.

It turned out the bride in question was Indian, just with very light skin and eyes, and the person calling her out was a white American.

You know, I read things like this and think, well, I might have said something. And then I wonder where the line is when you're not a member of the group being -- I don't want to say "oppressed," but it's the only thing coming to mind. Because, shit, if I saw someone doing blackface, I would say something to them. That's not okay. I guess it's a matter of degree, not kind?

At least nine times out of 10 someone being called a SJW means I'll probably enjoy or at least learn from their feed.

Same here. A bunch of people I read on Tumblr are SJWs of one type or another, and they're honestly the ones I get a lot of news from.

The other type of SJWs? Eh, they're very invested, very enthusiastic, and (generally) very young. They haven't learned that sometimes getting outraged over everything isn't the answer.

They haven't learned that sometimes getting outraged over everything isn't the answer.

You want to hug them and pet them and have them sit somewhere comfy for a couple of years until their brains settle. But older, more cynical activists know these kids are their best tools.

And then I wonder where the line is when you're not a member of the group being -- I don't want to say "oppressed," but it's the only thing coming to mind. Because, shit, if I saw someone doing blackface, I would say something to them. That's not okay. I guess it's a matter of degree, not kind?

That may be it. I think you need to be really clear you know what's going on before jumping in, and (generally speaking) things like blackface have pretty clear lines drawn. But sometimes appropriation can be a bit fuzzy. There's a wide variety of people on the Indian subcontinent. Heck, there's a wide variety of people in a lot of ethnic and cultural groups. So assuming someone is just a clueless white person wearing an ethnically associated outfit because they think it's cool, well, that's a lot of assumption going on. And where do you draw the line? If I were to marry someone of another culture, and my spouse-to-be's mom asked me to wear a piece of her wedding garb I'd see wearing it as respectful, not appropriative (assuming it wasn't part of some MiL power play, which is a whole other issue).

I have an honest question: when is it "I think this is a gorgeous outfit, so I'm going to wear it, I can't wait to tell everyone how talented the people who made this are" and when it is cultural appropriation?

I see Social Justice Warrior used as insult by those who feel threatned by any kind of change in the status quo.

The people who freak out that Thor is a woman or who want to deny that innocent people who are actually killed by the cops.

I have an honest question: when is it "I think this is a gorgeous outfit, so I'm going to wear it, I can't wait to tell everyone how talented the people who made this are" and when it is cultural appropriation?

This is me too. I own a beautiful sari - because one year I couldn't find a dress I liked for the office holiday party, so I thought I'd look into saris. My community has a pretty strong Indian presence, so I was able to have one made pretty easily. I wore it to the party and two of the three Indian ladies present were very complimentary (the third was not in any way negative, we just never spoke). I had a minor moment of wondering whether I was crossing any lines I wasn't aware of - the people in the store assured me I wasn't, but they were hardly unbiased - but the reaction didn't seem like they were bothered. Or, for example, I have a friend who's half Chinese, half Filipina who's into Irish dance. Where's the line at between multi-cultural interests and cultural appropriation?

Yeah, with the wedding thing I might've assumed that the groom was Indian even if the bride wasn't. Because who totes randomly decides to wear a sari to their wedding, if there's no connection??

Appropriation is a lot more possible/common if the culture in question is a minority or oppressed somehow. or if it's white people saying "omg I discovered this thing" (aka columbusing) when people from that culture have been doing it all along? Jezebel is not the best link, but was an easy Google...

[link]

But people say they've "discovered" something all the time. "I've discovered this wonderful restaurant, everyone should go eat there!" I understand the colonialism issue is bad--turning the natives into slaves for the mission is a prime example--but a lot of the declarations of appropriation strike me as paternalistic. "You say you don't mind that white people use your designs, but really, they're stealing them from you."