Skip to main content

All about white stuff

I am in the mood, dear Reader, to test your knowledge about white (read "North American left-leaning, city-dwelling white folk") popular culture.

Question 1: Why do some white people stay in for breakfast on a Sunday morning?

Question 2: Why do some white people like not having a TV?

Question 3: Why do white people love Japan?

Three questions will suffice to illustrate my point. If you don't know the answers, I will offer you a preview.

Answer 1: White people love their brunch places but some have breakfast at home on a Sunday morning for the simple reason that they want to read the Sunday edition of The New York Times.

Apparently reading the newspaper will make them look good on Monday morning when they need to impress their co-workers by telling them about the latest books in the Book Review section or a discussion of a thought-provoking issue in the Magazine section.

Answer 2: Some white people like making other white people feel bad and not having a TV is one way of making themselves feel good about their life and life choices.

When other white people talk about Casey James, Crystal Bowersox and Andrew Garcia, among other American Idol (Season 9) hopefuls, those who do not own a TV will smugly say: "I didn't see it, I don't have a TV. That stuff rots your brain."

Answer 3: White people love Japan for many reasons. Sushi is one but it goes beyond food. All white people either have taught/will teach/wished they had taught English in Japan. It is a dream for them to go overseas and actually live in Japan.

Besides filling their need to travel, it also helps them to gain important leverage over other white people at sushi restaurants when they can say: "This place is pretty good, but living in Japan really spoiled me. I've had such a hard time finding a really authentic place."

My three questions were based on the observations of Christian Lander, author of the book Stuff White People Like: The Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions (2008) (see photo of book cover above).

The answers (which have been slightly adapted) were excerpts of passages from the book. I recently got my copy from Amazon.com after unsuccessfully searching for it in book stores in Kuala Lumpur.

Reading it was a hilarious way of spending my Sunday morning and afternoon.

Lander's comments on the "supposed habits and preferences of the pale-skinned"  first appeared in his blog, also called Stuff White People Like. It was and still is immensely popular. A white person had forwarded me the link and it got my attention.

Some love it: "Oh, lord, it only hurts because it's true! Love the blog". Others find it "offensive and racist" while The New Republic describes it as "weak satire".

Yet Lander, a PhD  dropout, is "gently making fun of the many progressive, educated, upper-middle-class whites who think they are beyond ethnicity or collectively shared tastes, styles or outlook," writes Gregory Rodriguez of the Los Angeles Times. "He's essentially reminding them that they too are part of a group."

Lander admits that "the things I post are all the things I like too!" and that he is calling whites out and "poking fun" at himself.

As a non-white person, I find Lander's take on white popular culture refreshing.

I also see non-white people doing some of the things that he illustrates.

There is no escaping globalisation.

Comments

Popular Posts

Earning your second chance

People rarely get second chances. When we make a serious mistake we seldom get an opportunity for a do-over. Those we have hurt will remember our transgressions for a long time. Maybe forever. Published accounts remind us of the agony of former prisoners and rehabilitated drug addicts who are denied jobs, housing and other services on account of past convictions. They want desperately to clear their records of past crimes however minor these might seem. They want to take a path towards a new start that will help them improve their circumstances. Quite simply, they need a second chance. They want to have a shot at a normal life. But there are conditions attached to the privilege of being bestowed a second chance. Offenders must take full responsibility for their actions and honestly regret what they have done. Islam's concept of taubat  (repentance)   states that wrongdoers must demonstrate sincere remorse, sorrow and guilt, promise not to repeat their mistakes and do g...

In the waiting room

People are always waiting for something. They could be waiting for the train, an opportunity, promises to be fulfilled or the return of a loved one. But "what does waiting mean in our lives and what is life without waiting?" That question was posed by Danny Castillones Sillada in his article "What is Life without Waiting?" (The Metaphysics of Waiting). The passing of the old year demands another round of gloomy introspection and Sillada's article came at the right time, given the value of waiting in our lives. "Waiting," he explains, is "an emotional and mental state, which is preconditioned to anticipate someone or something to arrive at a particular time and place". Sillada tells us that there are two types of waiting: empirical and metaphysical. The empirical form of waiting is "where the certainty of the waited and the occurrence of event are tangibly expected to happen within a particular time and place of the waite...

Walking away the blues

  Walking on the treadmill There is another reason why walking is good for us. It can help women living with depression if it is done in conjunction with emotional and social support. Nottingham University researchers recently unveiled a new exercise programme which involves group motivational support and a low effort walking plan. The key to the new programme -- thanks to two years of study at the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Physiotherapy -- is ‘mentored’ exercise, say the researchers. It hopes to help women who are living with depression, characterised by low levels of physical activity, increasing health and weight problems, low self-esteem and a lack of motivation. Some 40 women with depression in the Nottingham area took part in the research, which entails a pragmatic randomised trial of a standard "exercise-as-usual" programme compared with the new, individually tailored and supported plan. The women volunteers attended sessions at their local authorit...