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There has been so much talk going around lately about the general racism in danmei fandom and while I don't normally voice my thoughts at large, there are thing that I have seen over and over that really need to be addressed.
I study people and culture to put it generally and one important aspect of that is to not view one culture as superior to another. Now, I don't subscribe to the particular branch of thought that is Cultural Relativism but I do think that we need to understand something.
This is that different cultures have developed over time independent of one another and therefore will have different perspectives on the social structures that form the foundations of their societies. Cultural relativity is important in this broad sense.
But this means that it is not the job of teenagers in the west who have no idea what they're talking about to be analyzing the finer points of Chinese media.
Period.
Period.
In other circumstances I would add "without first consulting people of that culture and doing their research" but this is not my degree specialization. This is the internet where people feel the need to spew whatever insignificant thought flies into their head at any given time.
I have not grown up in a context that makes me an authority on Chinese culture and history so all I can do in consuming Chinese media is listen to what actual Chinese people have to say about the deeper implications of what is being presented.
Now, humans are not perfect and will create flawed work, but there is a huge difference between making informed critiques and morality policing, the latter of which most white fans seem to prefer to engage in. I have 3 responses in light of recent takes going around.
First, if you are a minor then you should not be consuming this content at all. It was not written for you and if you insist on engaging with danmei then recognize that you are not welcome here and you should keep your hot takes to yourself.
Second, if you started reading danmei just for the humour and the "cute boys in love" then you need to understand that you have fundamentally misunderstood the genre and you should just go back to reading kpop fanfic.
Different authors have different styles just like you would find in any genre in western literature. You don't have to like all of them but to say that one is better than another just for a style preference is lazy and laughable.
Finally, I know the white kids are all feeling threatened because the media we're consuming suddenly isn't all about us but here is my most important point:
No one is making you read danmei.
No one is making you read danmei.
There are hundreds upon hundreds of of options in western media to choose from that might suit your worldview better. Please note that they all come with their own host of problems to dissect but oh you only want to criticize Asian media right?
Please think about that for one moment and stop pretending that you are morally superior to anyone else simply for being born in a eurocentric society by force of a cosmic accident. You could have easily grown up in very different circumstances and then where would you be?
Probably wishing these idiot white people would listen to you once in a while.
And if you got this far, consider checking out my friend's very good thread on racism in danmei fandom! https://twitter.com/luobinghee/status/1327731094423212034?s=20
