Sweden Twitter Experiment Goes Painfully Awry
mashable.com
mashable.com
But I can see how an american/international audience wouldn't get the joke.
> Hipster racism involves making derogatory comments with a racial basis in an attempt to seem witty and above it all. Specifically, the idea is to sound ironic, as in “I’m allowed to say this because of course I’m not racist, so it’s funny.” It’s an aspect of a larger part of the hipster culture, which wants to seem jaded and urbane and oh-so-witty. Using language which is viewed as inflammatory or not appropriate is supposed to push the boundaries and make someone look edgy, but it only really comes across that way to people who buy into that system. To everyone else, it’s just racist.
So no, this isn't some unheard of Swedish phenomenon, it's "hipster racism," as described above. And god help us if you are going to tell me that Swedes just aren't racist like Americans.
On the main point, the Swedish troll isn't really saying anything overtly racist. She is just mentioning a number of things that make people feel uncomfortable and making some questionable remarks that are obviously designed to be incendiary. I'm not sure this fits into the "hipster racism" model, as described in the linked blog.
The author suggests that the use of the hashtag #thuglife is racist. What kind of moron thinks pointing out the lack of behavior attributed to a "thug" (which, by the way, is not even racial in nature) in an ironic way is exhibiting a form of racism?
Then the author attributes the word "ghetto" with racism. News flash: ghettos are never fun to live in, much less visit. Certainly there's racial undertones because traditionally ghettos were populated by a single ethnic group, but even the explanation of the example by the author disregards race and focuses solely on the poor conditions of the area.
I won't comment on number 3 because there's no arguing with emotional instability.
On number 4, I have to say that it is definitely racist to say any ethnic or other group in general is bad or sucks, etc. That being said, I have lived with white anglo-saxon protestants for most of my life, and they can definitely be super lame. Perhaps it's an excessive amount of lameness that forces people who deal with it on a regular basis to lash out at the whole populous. Not good, but at the same time, I totally understand what the hipster is saying. And is it hurting anybody? I don't think so. The least-oppressed group can stand to take a few knocks for their flaws every so often.
Check the domain name for confirmation.
The denotation of "thug" may not be racial, but it has racial connotations in many contexts.
The phrase in question, "thug life", is an attitude and a way of life. It originated from 2Pac who defined it as an acronym meaning "The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone" as well as a code to live by (which gangs such as the Crips and Bloods signed a peace treaty based on). It never had anything to do with one's race. Of course the majority of the gangs that were attracted to this phrase were african-american, but included white, latino and asian members.
In short, just another stupid moral panic in Sweden. Nothing to see here, move along.
Of course, anything starting with "by 4chan standards" has got to be pretty depraved already.
It's probably the former though.
Take a cross section of any society and you're going to get people of all kinds, including people like Sonja.
If anyone reading this is on the fence about watching the linked film, I would be honored to nudge you to the "yes, watch it!" side.
Btw, her profile [1] on the project's page is up and straight about her agenda (and her character, as well): "I’m gonna tweet about my thoughts and being me, about having children and living my life and what not."
There may be a day when we become so politically-correct about everything that we can't speak out minds anymore.
"Whats the fuzz with jews. You can't even see if a person is a jew, unless you see their penises, and even if you do, you can't be sure!?"
is "painfully awry" for a twitter account intended to promote tourism to Sweden? What about the tweet about the "hungry gay with aids"?
I doubt those encourage anyone who's jewish or homosexual to visit Sweden.
Isn't it just some personal twitter account?
First she says that jews are just like other people. Woah! That's some weird thinking!
She photoshops Freddy Mercury (who was gay and had aids) into a picture with food calling it "hungry gay with aids" which you might call vulgar maybe (just as the urine picture caption) but how is it wrong?
She keeps doing a few more bad jokes.
I think if she wanted to troll she did a really great job! People are up in arms about a few harmless comments and pictures, I definitely do applaud her:)
Either way, anything like this was a time bomb waiting to go off if there wasn't any vetting process at all.
[1] https://twitter.com/StephenAtHome/status/212753977018810368 [2] http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/41519...
I really, really applaud Sweden and would love to see something similar in the States. I have no doubt that the USA version would put the spotlight on some really horrible sentiments - but again, that is what is real. It's just like Borat, highlighting whitewashed racism that is ever-present in the US. In the end, it's a very good thing to just be honest.
Pity the kids. What a mom.