I just saw a couple of videos on YouTube by a YouTuber called 'Smokahontas" in which she imitates or mocks foreign languages. The YouTuber is white and very attractive so that most of her responses were positive and any negative responses she was getting was from people confused thinking she was supposed to be speaking the foreign languages and couldn't understand her.
No, she was mocking them. To give her credit, she not only mocked Asian and Semitic languages but European ones as well. Her faux-German got an ominous tune in the background, I guess she was wanting to invoke a Hitler speech.
Her YouTube handle itself, a mockery of Pocahontas, which in itself was a corruption of the actual name, made me think ill of her. I'm not Native American, although as a Latino, I probably have lots of Native American in my background, in particular Navaho and Apache since my ancestors hail from what is now Arizona.
There was also the added function going on that since she is very attractive, most responses seemed from males who wanted to have sex with her. Even as she was mocking and making fun of their languages. And why do I keep saying she's mocking people when she claims to just be having fun with babbling jibberish? In her sequel, she has a subtitle in her language referring to "butt-hurt Brazillians." I guess some Brazilians did take offense at her gibberish mocking of their language and said so.
I dunno. Maybe I'm being thin-skinned right now. Maybe I need a good lunch and chill out. Its probably just me, although I found a couple of articles around the net about using mock language to insult people. It just makes me think of co-workers I have had that have used mock Spanish and say things like "Kay Bway-No" in mocking terrible accents and if you say anything against them, I'm the one with the problem.
In my early life in McMinnville, Oregon in the 1970s, I had to deal with a hell of a lot of racism. Even these days, with that certain place that started with a K not hiring me and hiring the three white people who came in with me, makes me suspect them.
You see, on its own, Smokahontas' silly video may just in fact be a silly video. Anyone who takes offense is just being thin skinned. But with me, it sort of sets off a PTSD from racism seeing this sort of thing, bringing back years of abuse and insult based on being one of the first Hispanics in Oregon back in the early 70s when Oregon was predominately white.
Yeah, I'm probably overreacting. I gotta settle down. But still, seeing a pretty white woman mocking Spanish as well as other languages of non-white people, some of whom I have been close to in stressful situations, just kinda.. irks, you know?
I'll go get a good lunch and some coffee. Sure I'll think I overreact with this post later. Let's be careful out there!
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