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talkpolitics2014-03-03 08:53 am
anfalicious.livejournal.com) wrote in talkpolitics2014-03-03 08:53 am
Political Correctness, race and humour.
When I was in England close to ten years ago, I was walking through the streets with my friend; a local and very progressive type (she now has a PhD in ancient female sexuality, which says it all). I was telling her a story about something I can't even recall but it involved being around some of my ethnic friends. I said the line "well, then my Paki mate said...", she cut in with "you can't say that!". Dumbfounded I said "say what?" "Paki", she whispered "that's racist". This blew me away. In England the term "Paki" is apparently very offensive. In Australia, it's what Pakistanis call themselves (and obviously what everyone else calls them). English people are "Poms", Greeks and Italians are "Wogs", Indians are "Curries", red necked yobs are "Skips", upper middle class white people are "wankers" (iconic Australian band TISM have a song about the last two called "Whatareya".
I think this song gets it; "wankers once used mobile phones, but now that's sorta changing, and yobbos lived in cottage homes, ain't social change amazing"
Whilst these terms are generally given by outsiders the most successful integrators to the Australian way of life aren't the ones who assimilated into an existing culture and pretended their ethnic heritage didn't exist, but the ones who owned their labels. This begins with the 30 year single joke career of Nick Gianopolous, who, although hasn't had an original idea since the early 80s, does allow us to best chart this development.
He's the one who decided to own the term "wog" and toured his stage show Wogs Out Of Work for three years in the late 80s. Since then he has pushed the wog joke to the point where it's not even funny anymore, it's just the way you identify that particular subculture. Not all Greeks and Italians are wogs, just like not all wogs are Greek and Italian. In my half skip, half wog high school, there were many racial cross overs between the apparently ethnic groups.
Gianopolous collaborator, Hung Le, brought his experiences of growing up Viet Namese in Australia to the stage in "The Truth About Gooks and Wogs"; a title that would probably have been protested and probably court ordered to be removed in many parts of the enlightened West, but barely raised an eyebrow here.
More recently, there has been a hit TV show "Legally Brown" which is a comedy show that draws on the experiences of Muslims in Australia, which is essentially a 30 minute racist joke every week; sometimes with Muslims at the butt, sometimes thrown back at the dominant culture.
Even the gays get in on it; Priscilla could have been taken as an outrageous mockery of an oppressed sub-culture, instead, it was seminal in the mainstreaming of gay culture.
The racial mix of Australia has changed dramatically in a short period of time. In 1948, 98% of Australia's population identified as *British*. In just a few decades we've had to forge our own identity, whilst at the same time integrating millions of new arrivals from culture that often had long, historical hatreds against each other (I'm looking at you Serbs and Croats). Since the start of "multiculturalism" in the 80s at least has been this idea that when you come here you leave your shit at home, embrace the good things you bring with you and most importantly, you learn to take the piss out of yourself, because you can guarantee that everyone else will be, and they'll be expecting it in return.
Self deprecating humour is fundamental to the Australian identity; it keeps the tall poppies down and keeps everyone aware that we all need each other and no one is better than anyone else. We live in a punishing, isolated environment, there isn't much space here for rugged individualism, or ethnic balkanisation. Through laughing at each other, and at ourselves, we make sure no one takes themselves too seriously; that no one thinks they are better than anyone else. It's also through laughing at ourselves and each other that we break down barriers and realise that even though our differences are often strange and hilarious, our similarities are much greater.
We often have outsiders come here and tell us how racist we are; and no doubt we have our share of racism. But look to things like our border control policies; those are racist. Our culture and our humour is only racist to the outsider, and wogs, gooks, pakis and muzzies aren't outsiders.
I think this song gets it; "wankers once used mobile phones, but now that's sorta changing, and yobbos lived in cottage homes, ain't social change amazing"
Whilst these terms are generally given by outsiders the most successful integrators to the Australian way of life aren't the ones who assimilated into an existing culture and pretended their ethnic heritage didn't exist, but the ones who owned their labels. This begins with the 30 year single joke career of Nick Gianopolous, who, although hasn't had an original idea since the early 80s, does allow us to best chart this development.
He's the one who decided to own the term "wog" and toured his stage show Wogs Out Of Work for three years in the late 80s. Since then he has pushed the wog joke to the point where it's not even funny anymore, it's just the way you identify that particular subculture. Not all Greeks and Italians are wogs, just like not all wogs are Greek and Italian. In my half skip, half wog high school, there were many racial cross overs between the apparently ethnic groups.
Gianopolous collaborator, Hung Le, brought his experiences of growing up Viet Namese in Australia to the stage in "The Truth About Gooks and Wogs"; a title that would probably have been protested and probably court ordered to be removed in many parts of the enlightened West, but barely raised an eyebrow here.
More recently, there has been a hit TV show "Legally Brown" which is a comedy show that draws on the experiences of Muslims in Australia, which is essentially a 30 minute racist joke every week; sometimes with Muslims at the butt, sometimes thrown back at the dominant culture.
Even the gays get in on it; Priscilla could have been taken as an outrageous mockery of an oppressed sub-culture, instead, it was seminal in the mainstreaming of gay culture.
The racial mix of Australia has changed dramatically in a short period of time. In 1948, 98% of Australia's population identified as *British*. In just a few decades we've had to forge our own identity, whilst at the same time integrating millions of new arrivals from culture that often had long, historical hatreds against each other (I'm looking at you Serbs and Croats). Since the start of "multiculturalism" in the 80s at least has been this idea that when you come here you leave your shit at home, embrace the good things you bring with you and most importantly, you learn to take the piss out of yourself, because you can guarantee that everyone else will be, and they'll be expecting it in return.
Self deprecating humour is fundamental to the Australian identity; it keeps the tall poppies down and keeps everyone aware that we all need each other and no one is better than anyone else. We live in a punishing, isolated environment, there isn't much space here for rugged individualism, or ethnic balkanisation. Through laughing at each other, and at ourselves, we make sure no one takes themselves too seriously; that no one thinks they are better than anyone else. It's also through laughing at ourselves and each other that we break down barriers and realise that even though our differences are often strange and hilarious, our similarities are much greater.
We often have outsiders come here and tell us how racist we are; and no doubt we have our share of racism. But look to things like our border control policies; those are racist. Our culture and our humour is only racist to the outsider, and wogs, gooks, pakis and muzzies aren't outsiders.