Everything you said was so spot on. It's really sad to see how people of influence are continuing to uphold Eurocentrism.
It's really sad to see that we need white validation to accept our culture. Internalized racism is really the biggest propagator of eurocentrism. It's our own people who are more anti-culture than anyone.
About the bikini discomfort thing you mentioned, I've noticed how there is a lot of westernization in Bollywood to normalize revealing clothing even though it's never been part of the culture, regardless of being Muslim or not.
I think the increasing detachment from faith makes people more inclined to materialism and superficiality. 'Keeping up with the joneses' mindset comes from the fact that in our own families money is prioritized over everything. A lot of times dads spend all their time making money and don’t give their children any light of day. The children learn that money is more valuable then them and their self-worth only comes from money.
I also dislike how western designers are always the bar for luxury when there are so many desi designer brands that they could be glamourizing if they want to be 'logomanias'.
It's really sad to see how much inferiority complex there is. It makes the average desis who look up to them also feel unconfident in their desi identity. Thank you for shedding light on this. Hopefully the more we talk about this, we can spark a change in the industry.
I totally agree that our own internalized racism is holding us back! The Indian subcontinent has such a rich history and we have so many different ethnic groups, languages, and cultures that it's a shame we're ready to accept any identity except for our own. It would be different if you were part of the diaspora (i.e. you grew up in both desi culture and culture of an outside country) but the fact that these celebrities were born and raised in India think only speaking English and heavily favoring Western over Indian culture is shocking to me.
I sadly know religious people who are materialistic as well. A lack of a greater purpose or faith may be one aspect of living a hedonistic lifestyle, but I also think that our parents come from a "scarcity culture" where it's extremely difficult to go from one social class to another and where your education levels and access to opportunities literally makes or breaks your lifestyle whereas in the West there are government and social welfare programs that help you stay on your feet even if you are subject to poverty.
Absolutely, even within religious people they value money more, I think globally through colonialism the capitalist mindset is so ingrained we don't even realize how much of our society is rooted in it. I agree I think the "scarcity culture" exists even within the affluent class in South Asia. They feel the need to suppress the general populations access to building wealth because they too fear that with equality they will lose money. I think a lot of corruption in goverment stems from that mindset.
As someone who grew up wanting to be white in the UK and now loves her culture and heritage, reading about this show really made me sad bc is this what we’ve come to? :( Like our culture is so beautifully vast and eccentric, it’s hard not to fall in love with being different from the majority white society. This has however made me intrigued about the show and I’ll definitely be watching it (but I’ll probably have the same viewpoints as you tbh lol 😭)
You're so right about our cultural differences making us stand out! I also grew up in a period of time where it was super uncool to be desi and now seeing younger desi kids be proud of their identity is so heartwarming. I still think you should watch it because it was entertaining and is a good escapist show!!
So well written!! Thank you!! I didn’t watched yet Tribe but every time i watch some shows from India or Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal) i often have similar thoughts. So much to say about Call me Bae and Dil Dosti Dilemma (loved them both and at the same time some scenes was soo questionable)
Omg I watched both of those shows as well and enjoyed them! If you take all of these shows as lighthearted watches, they're fun to get through, but once you see it from a social angle, there are unfortunately some things you can't ignore. 🥲
Everything you said was so spot on. It's really sad to see how people of influence are continuing to uphold Eurocentrism.
It's really sad to see that we need white validation to accept our culture. Internalized racism is really the biggest propagator of eurocentrism. It's our own people who are more anti-culture than anyone.
About the bikini discomfort thing you mentioned, I've noticed how there is a lot of westernization in Bollywood to normalize revealing clothing even though it's never been part of the culture, regardless of being Muslim or not.
I think the increasing detachment from faith makes people more inclined to materialism and superficiality. 'Keeping up with the joneses' mindset comes from the fact that in our own families money is prioritized over everything. A lot of times dads spend all their time making money and don’t give their children any light of day. The children learn that money is more valuable then them and their self-worth only comes from money.
I also dislike how western designers are always the bar for luxury when there are so many desi designer brands that they could be glamourizing if they want to be 'logomanias'.
It's really sad to see how much inferiority complex there is. It makes the average desis who look up to them also feel unconfident in their desi identity. Thank you for shedding light on this. Hopefully the more we talk about this, we can spark a change in the industry.
I totally agree that our own internalized racism is holding us back! The Indian subcontinent has such a rich history and we have so many different ethnic groups, languages, and cultures that it's a shame we're ready to accept any identity except for our own. It would be different if you were part of the diaspora (i.e. you grew up in both desi culture and culture of an outside country) but the fact that these celebrities were born and raised in India think only speaking English and heavily favoring Western over Indian culture is shocking to me.
I sadly know religious people who are materialistic as well. A lack of a greater purpose or faith may be one aspect of living a hedonistic lifestyle, but I also think that our parents come from a "scarcity culture" where it's extremely difficult to go from one social class to another and where your education levels and access to opportunities literally makes or breaks your lifestyle whereas in the West there are government and social welfare programs that help you stay on your feet even if you are subject to poverty.
Absolutely, even within religious people they value money more, I think globally through colonialism the capitalist mindset is so ingrained we don't even realize how much of our society is rooted in it. I agree I think the "scarcity culture" exists even within the affluent class in South Asia. They feel the need to suppress the general populations access to building wealth because they too fear that with equality they will lose money. I think a lot of corruption in goverment stems from that mindset.
As someone who grew up wanting to be white in the UK and now loves her culture and heritage, reading about this show really made me sad bc is this what we’ve come to? :( Like our culture is so beautifully vast and eccentric, it’s hard not to fall in love with being different from the majority white society. This has however made me intrigued about the show and I’ll definitely be watching it (but I’ll probably have the same viewpoints as you tbh lol 😭)
You're so right about our cultural differences making us stand out! I also grew up in a period of time where it was super uncool to be desi and now seeing younger desi kids be proud of their identity is so heartwarming. I still think you should watch it because it was entertaining and is a good escapist show!!
So well written!! Thank you!! I didn’t watched yet Tribe but every time i watch some shows from India or Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal) i often have similar thoughts. So much to say about Call me Bae and Dil Dosti Dilemma (loved them both and at the same time some scenes was soo questionable)
Omg I watched both of those shows as well and enjoyed them! If you take all of these shows as lighthearted watches, they're fun to get through, but once you see it from a social angle, there are unfortunately some things you can't ignore. 🥲
Exactly!! I you take them as lighthearted shows to watch at end of the day or week yess sign
me up!! I love lighthearted shows and if you start thinking about it and from a societal pov geez!! So many things to say…