Yeah, I think it's just stupid to say "olive skin" = "not white." And it's not like there aren't ACTUAL problems with whitewashing.
So there is something I can do, besides scream like a woman?
Wesley ,'Chosen'
Natter 69: Practically names itself.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Jesse - Feb 29, 2012 2:33:07 pm PST #24415 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Amy - Feb 29, 2012 2:37:42 pm PST #24416 of 30001
Because books.
"Olive skin" is used to describe all kinds of people -- sometimes Greeks, for instance. It didn't ping me at all that she meant Katniss was a person of color, but I also knew Prim was fair and blonde and blue-eyed, and so is their mother, I believe.
Jesse - Feb 29, 2012 2:39:17 pm PST #24417 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
Anyone Mediterranean could have olive skin, I figure. And we generally call those people white now.
Amy - Feb 29, 2012 2:39:49 pm PST #24418 of 30001
Because books.
Exactly. I was just going for one example.
Jesse - Feb 29, 2012 2:41:25 pm PST #24419 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
But really, and I know this isn't the current topic, those folks weren't always considered white in our culture. Due to race being an artificial construct generally used by the group in power against others.
le nubian - Feb 29, 2012 2:41:36 pm PST #24420 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."
And that Katniss looked quite different from her mother and sister and seemingly most of the people in her district.
Jesse - Feb 29, 2012 2:42:59 pm PST #24421 of 30001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.
I thought it was the mother and sister who were unusual-looking -- fancy, compared to the regular folk. Edit: Or, at least, there were generally two "looks" -- the more northern-European upper class people and the more Mediterranean-looking poor people.
Burrell - Feb 29, 2012 2:54:06 pm PST #24422 of 30001
Why did Darth Vader cross the road? To get to the Dark Side!
But Peeta's also blond, isn't he? I was under the impression that they were all white, but that the poorer sections of the district tended toward more swarthy coloring, and Kat took after her father, whereas Prim took after her mother.
I'm wondering if one of the causes isn't consistently stressed immune systems, and we're reaching the tipping point of being able to tolerate other stressors.
There's probably multiple causes. I know there's some research into the possibility that people in developed nations have more autoimmune disorders because we aren't exposed to as many parasites and such, and our immune systems disregulate.
§ ita § - Feb 29, 2012 2:55:47 pm PST #24423 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
But Peeta's also blond, isn't he? I was under the impression that they were all white, but that the poorer sections of the district tended toward more swarthy coloring, and Kat took after her father, whereas Prim took after her mother.
That's pretty much my takeaway. And I'd always thought Prim was pretty unambiguously white enough that her full sister was unlikely to be biracial, but what do I know?
Amy - Feb 29, 2012 2:55:52 pm PST #24424 of 30001
Because books.
But Peeta's also blond, isn't he? I was under the impression that they were all white, but that the poorer sections of the district tended toward more swarthy coloring, and Kat took after her father, whereas Prim took after her mother.
This is me. I also honestly wasn't thinking much about race as I was reading.