Isn't it tokenistic

[wendykh]

when ANY non-aboriginal plays a didgeridoo, not just a female?

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=e5656b25-97a7-4cec-afd1-29e0d95488fb

At what point do we draw the line between respecting culture, and propagating absolute sexist nonsense? I absolutely refuse to tell my kid it causes infertility. Though I might tell her it was disrespectful. I need more info first.

I'm just trying to imagine Australian parents telling their daughters "no Fiona, that's disrespectful, here Ned, you go play it while chasing the 'roos" and that being culturally sensitive! (Yes I know I was just totally obnoxious there, I was trying to be silly).

Then again, is it viewed as a toy by non-aboriginals? I'm thinking it might be similar to "how to make an indian headdress" type of thing in a north american book. I can't decide if I'd object to that or not. There's something about lecturing about tokenism to little kids playing cowboys and indians that bothers me. (And yes I know they're native americans or first nations or aboriginal but you know no book saying "how to make an indian headdress" is going to use those terms!).

Comments

[dzuunmod.livejournal.com]

Oh man, that is totally stupid.

[primaflora.livejournal.com]

It's not totally stupid. It is completely offensive that they did not do the appropriate research before including that idea in a book aimed at girls in the Aussie market.

Didges are made and sold widely here as a musical instrument. My kids have made them at school (they are so easy to make as a toy). I wouldn't have told my daughter not to make one or not to play it if she did make one but I probably would have talked to her about the significance of the didgeridoo and why. If I had a daughter and I had bought that book, I would have talked to her about the controversy. I think the fuss is more about lack of respect for indigenous culture than about whether or not girls will be made infertile.

[dzuunmod.livejournal.com]

The section on the didgeridoo was "part of a general ignorance that mainstream Australia has about Aboriginal culture," the association's general manager Mark Rose told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"We know very clearly that there's a range of consequences for a female touching a didgeridoo - infertility would be the start of it, ranging to other consequences," he said, adding: "I won't even let my daughter touch one."

To me, that's just utter ignorance, and no one should be able to say that on TV or radio or in a newspaper without someone following *immediately* afterwards pointing out that it's complete BS. Science and logic trump culture to me. Every, single time - whether it's aboriginal culture in Australia or Christian fundie culture in the US or whatever.

[primaflora.livejournal.com]

::shrug::. I don't have a problem with it. I doubt that any female actually believes it but I don't see the issue with respecting secret men's business and respecting secret women's business. Being culturally sensitive is not all that difficult, esp with something as trivial as not playing a didgeridoo.

[wendykh.livejournal.com]

wait.
you mean they didn't get australians to edit it?
that was stupid.

Your position makes sense to me.

[primaflora.livejournal.com]

Welp, if there was any Australian editing, nobody is owning up to doing it and missing this glaring piece of cultural insensitivity ;)

[primaflora.livejournal.com]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24292766-5003402,00.html

HarperCollins are to remove the offending material in the next printrun.