The Long FAQ

AND NOW THE FAQ! BEWARE, IT’S LONG. 
BUT I WOULD ADVISE YOU READ IT :)


WHY DON’T YOU POST WHITE WOMEN? WHY DO YOU USE THE WORD DIVERSITY? THAT IS NOT DIVERSITY! YOU ARE SO RACIST!

Look around tumblr. What do you see? Pictures and pictures of “white” women everywhere. That is why I created this tumblr- to make tumblr more DIVERSE. Those women- as written in the about section, are not a representative of the many shades and shapes of women out there. Different colours. Backgrounds.

The English language is a tricky thing. Celebrating diversity in all forms- when I say this, I mean, I am trying to expand tumblr’s definitions of diversity. Which is not very, apparently.

”Celebrating diversity in all forms” can also mean celebrating diversity in otherforms.”

“Celebrating the expansion of diversity and our preconceived notions about what beauty is, meaning to include women that are not regularly prioritized in society by their status as minority and or non-white women.”

Those both sound a little bit ridiculous for me. This wasn’t meant to be a blog that is intense on the discourse. 

By “all forms” I mean those that are regularly negated. It’s quite simple really, and those that choose to nitpick on linguistics are missing the point. The pictures alone, should speak for themselves.

Also, I cannot be racist. I can be prejudiced- which I advise you I am not, but racism is systematic. There is also no such thing as “reverse racism.”



WHY DO YOU USE THE WORD ‘ETHNIC’? IT’S ARCHAIC. 

I find that my re-appropriation of the term “ethnic,” and my use of the term “diversity” is usually only contested by “offended” white commenters. Firstly, if you are one of these parties, I would advise you to read the racism 101 links.

In the past, “ethnic” was used to refer to those that are not “white” (there is “ethnic white,” which referred to “non-preferred whites” but they are still not “coloured”) and I have chosen to re-appropriate this term. 

“Ethnic” whites, or non-preferred whites are not included, as well, they are still white.

It is the same as when I use the term coloured- it is in fact a play on the term itself. It is a recognition of the fact that historically, any drop of non-caucasian “blood” mixed in with caucasian blood effectively ruined the purity of said blood (see one drop rule, see mixed race theory) and that overall, those that are not white were defined by this term. Being coloured, ethnic, whatever it may be- is being defined what one is not, specifically white, or other. 

Here, I re-appropriate the word and embrace it, to recognize that I will not be focusing on white women (sorry, ladies) but on those that are normally marginalized.

I would have actually put this as “fuckyeahnonwhitewomen” if one, that was not too long already and two, I am tired of being marginalized and defined by what I am not. 

I am not white. Nor am I represented remotely anywhere in the media. All around the world, being seen as white is a cultural preference. Even feminism is largely centered around the ideals and experiences of white women. My intention is to combat this; even mainstream Hollywood, which reaches many corners of the earth, cannot seem to create a blockbuster without taking characters of minority and making them white. 

There are really no words I find appropriate, that I feel represent Other women. This “pan-ethnicity from shared Otherness.”

So what then? How do I signify these issues- into words we honestly do not have in the English language? Construction of race is different in various cultures, but I would argue, once again, countries that have been affected by colonialism still prioritize ”whiteness.” (See more in shadism.)

So what words do we have to work with, whether in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi? Many of the words I can think of are still restricted. Even “overlooked” is very broad, and honestly, I imagine no matter what wording I choose, someone will have something to say about it. 

“Ethnic.” “Coloured.” “Minority.” “Non-white.” “Other.” I don’t really like any of these words in describing myself, but they are words I am confronted with on a daily basis. 

I’m not really a minority. There are billions of Asians in the world. Coloured, who isn’t? I wasn’t aware there are invisible people walking around. Non-white. Oh, to be defined by what we are not! In the absence of a truly fitting word, I chose ethnic. In the end, is this blog about the URLS, or the images?

Whatever it may be, the women I blog are marginalized. If I can spread the love a little, I will. Diversify! :)



WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ‘WHITE’? WHAT ARE ALL THESE TERMS? I AM DEEPLY OFFENDED.

I think all of the mentioned terms are fairly arbitrary. At least in definition. (Note, I do not mean identification is meaningless, but that is an entirely different issue) Honestly they were not even around until Johann Blumenbach decided to coin the term Caucasian based on the Caucasus mountains, which spread from North Africa to Europe. I mean, black formerly meant Irish. “White” is as arbitrary as any other. In terms of skin tone, ethnicities range in shades. So is phrenology and the use of phenotypal traits and stereotyping. 

BUT at the same time, mainstream society- western culture which has influenced so much of the world, heavily skews towards a common idea of “what is white,” whatever that may be. 

We all know what I’m talking about. I don’t have to explain it. It is called white privilege. You either have this privilege, or you do not. Perhaps over simplified, but that is what most refer to when they say “white.” Whatever is, many of us don’t fit in that category. No matter our skin colour, or features, well, millions of us don’t fit the bill. It’d be nice to see a little more representation. 



WAIT, SO ARE YOU SAYING WHITE PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE ETHNICITIES? 

Just because one blog uses the term “ethnic” in appropriation does not mean we are taking away your culture. This is not about YOU. You should per chance examine what it is you are feeling uncomfortable with- it may be your white privilege.

Of course, not all “white” people are the same. Nor do I deny anyone’s ethnicity, experiences with discrimination or otherwise. But this tumblr is about expanding our thresholds, adding variety to tumblr. Giving the women I mentioned above a sense of belonging. It is not a personal “attack on white people.” I repeat, this is “not about you.”



OKAY, I THINK I FINALLY GET IT. SO WHAT TYPE OF IMAGES ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?


I have noted the following several, several times. I only post HIGH QUALITY IMAGES. I will not post photos of you making pouty faces in front of your webcam. Sorry ladies.

I generally go for SLR quality photos as opposed to ones taken with a regular camera or a webcam. Unfortunately, I do not particularly intend to post just everyday random photos of of women, taken with [webcams or cell phone cameras] as I just mentioned. There are already many tumblrs that do so; what I haven’t seen are photography related tumblrs that feature women of colour. Tumblr was originally largely just photography and art, but again, white. This is my attempt to remedy that. Photography, and art is largely what I post. (Yes, photography is art, etcetera, but I am being vague here. Paintings, digital art, etc.)

Also, I tend to avoid “regular: photos because I feel like I am reblogging someone’s facebook photo, which weirds me out a little bit. I suppose if a photo has been taken in the nature of photography, it feels less bizarre to me, especially on tumblr where people continuously reblog anonymous faces as it is. Like I said, there are tumblrs that do this already.



DO YOU ONLY POST MODELS? THAT’S ONLY TYPE OF BEAUTY!


Actually, they’re not all models. Many are in fact actresses, singers, comediennes, or even reporters. Some of them are, yes, in the media. However if I find high quality photos taken by a young girl with a camera, or just anybody, that portrays non-white women- I post them.That being said, when I find them, I post them. Many “artsy” photos on the internet are by “white” people, of white people, and it’s not as though I can just google “Non-white photography subjects of all shapes and sizes!” However, as many of those type of women are usually not in photography, aside from red carpet images, which I try not to post, this is an issue.I post what I find on the internet. High quality photography. I’m not a photographer, nor do I even own an SLR. If I did, I would attempt to diversify my photos. As I’ve noted previously, not all of the pictures I post are models.



BUT STILL, YOU ONLY POST ‘THOSE SKINNY BITCHES! EVERYONE IS STILL SKINNY!”

Once again, I post what I find, and when I stumble upon something or it shows up on my dash. I have tried searching on flickr but people generally do not post tags like, “subject: Chinese weight: normal” or something. I have tried searching on occasion, but I do not have the time to sit and look through hundreds of photos on flickr. Whatever thoughts I have, this person is too skinny, this person is too…those stay out. I post photographs that I find beautiful, that are submitted, and generally just what I find.My second issue is how people complain that everyone posted “looks like a model.” Well considering I reblog a lot of people’s (once again, high quality!) self portraits, or photography, I don’t see where that comes in. They’re not professional models. I do post images of professional models, but I also post images with a non-white female being used as a model. There is a difference.

And let’s be frank, no matter how beautiful, uniquely so, conventionally, or otherwise, would never become professional models. That is how the industry works. I also hate how people seem to discount these women as “not” being normal, either. The average woman comes in every size. That is all I was trying to say. Just as there’s “too much” curve bashing, if you lack curves, you’re not a real woman. You’re a little boy. This needs to stop. Women are women. The end. I also post photos that are not from the western world, where many of those women are in poverty and as a result are smaller. There also is an absence of variety in shape size in photography. It’s hard enough to find photography of “coloured” women, let alone ask they be different sizes.

I also want to note that cultural views of weight do differ.

In some parts of the so-called non-developed world, bigger is more beautiful as being thin is a sign of emaciation. Context is everything. Your view of weight can be privileged, so please analyze the context of a photography before you make assumptions.



I DIDN’T READ THAT LAST PART CORRECTLY. THESE WOMEN ALL LOOK THE SAME. THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME, BUT HAVE DIFFERENT SKIN COLOURS. WHY DON’T YOU POST DIFFERENT LOOKING WOMEN?

I post what I find- and if one looks through the 2000+ posts, I’m sure it can be seen that these women all look very different. I post all types, including the ones with so-called European features. 

This sort of debate is questionable, regardless, as some people have a mix of traits and features, and as I’ve noted before, basing people off pheneotypcal characteristics is problematic.

In the mean time I would recommend going through all 2000+ posts. I post not only random people from all around the world that I see on flickr, but readers also submit photos of themselves. 

I post a wide range of photographs- colonial photographs, war memorabilia, fashion photographs- regular SLR, artsy type stuff. Honestly, that’s the best I’ve got. I’ve mentioned before that I am not google, and I am doing the best I can. I post several photographs each day, and some of them will have your idea of what is “feminine,” whatever that means- and some may not. If there are more photographs you would like to see, feel free to submit. 




WHY DON’T YOU [ALWAYS] ADD COMMENTARY? IT’S SO BORING ONLY LOOKING AT GORGEOUS WOMEN! WHO ARE THEY?

I also do not have time to add a little tidbit to every photo I post. That would be nice, but frankly I do not have the time or energy at this point in time. Also, considering I have hundreds of posts in my queue as it is, and do not always have time to tag them, let alone add informational pieces to them…well I am sure you can see where I am going with this. If you are curious to know more about them and there is no tag, feel free to ask me via the ask box.