This is why, as I've said before in this journal, there is no such thing as a feminist text, and the flipside of the argument is that there is no such thing as a racist text: because texts don't speak with a moral voice.
Weeelllll.....
To play devil's advocate: I think there are such things as racist (and anti-feminist, and anti-racist, and feminist) texts.
For example, Patricia Gaffney's Crooked Hearts has a plot point in which there is a Chinaman (I use her term, not my own) kidnaps the white heroine, drugs her with opium and plans on deflowering her. The white hero rescues her, and there is much talk of the evil yellow Chinamen and how they like to kidnap white women for deflowerment.
I would say that yes, this is a racist text, as it perpetuates stereotypes of the Chinese that have been around for quite some time, and that as such, it is harmful.
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Date: 2006-07-29 12:06 am (UTC)Weeelllll.....
To play devil's advocate: I think there are such things as racist (and anti-feminist, and anti-racist, and feminist) texts.
For example, Patricia Gaffney's Crooked Hearts has a plot point in which there is a Chinaman (I use her term, not my own) kidnaps the white heroine, drugs her with opium and plans on deflowering her. The white hero rescues her, and there is much talk of the evil yellow Chinamen and how they like to kidnap white women for deflowerment.
I would say that yes, this is a racist text, as it perpetuates stereotypes of the Chinese that have been around for quite some time, and that as such, it is harmful.