Turtle Life
ModelMayhem.com – A Confession About Race: Please Don’t Hate Me.
So for those of you who don’t know me from there I belong to a networking site called Model Mayhem. Part of that networking is involved with posting in forum board discussions. Well today I created a thread outing my personal feelings with regards to my preference of race when it comes to my modeling collaborators. Apparently the subject matter was taboo because my thread got locked and removed with the reason being, “Seriously, this is not needed.”
Now in the world of the internet conversations regarding racial differences can easily escalate from a simple hot topic into a raging, uncontrolled brush fire so I can understand why the moderators of the site would be highly sensitive about such matters and acted the way they did. Unfortunately, I was a bit put off by the reasoning provided.
“Seriously, this is not needed?” I was letting people know who I associate and network with my personal feelings about working with them in a place I’m most likely to encounter them and it’s not needed? Nah, man. I don’t see it that way and I think it’s messed up that was the reason provided. Seriously messed up.
If they had said the topic was just a little too hot or regarding matters they felt too sensitive, I’d have been cool with that, but telling me my openness was seriously not needed is a bunch of crap. WTF, Jack? You trying to tell me that my choice to clear the air about issues that might create a problem for me and people I network with is not needed? I don’t think so.
The topic is a major sensitivity for me and it does matter in terms of my relationship with the people whom I might be collaborating with on artistic projects. Not being able to state that openly in the place where I do the majority of my networking hurts the integrity of the bonding that can be built between interested parties. It was most certainly needed, but because it touched on the borders of racial lines it wasn’t allowed to be discussed.
A number of good, quality artists have grown frustrated with the new rules of MM as the new owners try to make it more palpable to corporate sponsor interests and have backed away from it as a strong networking source. This was a good example of why.
This type of thing hurts the quality of the artists who get involve and dilutes the opportunity for artists of great talent to come together and find new ways to grow their art.? In the long run that’s something that’s going to hurt MM.? Then what will their corporate sponsors think?
You might want to check out this blog post regarding my reasons for creating that thread.
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I missed the whole thing I guess, Can we get a summation of what it is you posted at MM?
Check the link at the top, Michael. It should take you to the thread in question.
Hey Dave,
Thanks for the feedback.
I’m going to write another blog post which will be more definitive of why I have those feelings, but yeah, I kind of felt MM didn’t even give it a chance to be considered. Well it’s their site and their rules and it’s up to them how they do it, but this is my site and my rules and we can say what we want here.
Yayness!
I guess I’m race neutral. That has to do with my life circumstances. I have so much ethnic diversity in my heritage and even within my immediate family. There has always been a lot of love present, and as a result, race is blurry for me at best.
Because of my complexion, a number of people have confided what you said in your post.
Although I can’t ever co-sign the sentiment, because it isn’t how I feel inside, it’s an interesting fact of life that you feel that way.
I don’t think it should be discounted. I do think there are some people who won’t ever be able to understand where you are coming from, because they’ve never been remotely from that place or frame of thought…
I’m open to everyone equally and I don’t have a racial component to anything I express as an overall, and definitely not towards a career agenda or artistic statement.
I rarely respond. I only listen. Up until now.
Being me, it’s strange. Random white women are comfortable coming up to me and expressing a negative view towards people of various races, including black people. A guy did it as recently as this past Saturday. Hello?!?!?!
Didn’t you happen to notice the skin I’m wearing?
I don’t equate your view as racist, I coun’t your point of view as perspective.
But it’s interesting that I’ve had that view shared with me on a personal level, as it relates in a comfort to the skin I’m wearing. Interestingly, the view is really very foreign to me. But as I said, I can understand somewhat where others are coming from.
It’s a little odd being me. It’s even more odd your views were locked on Model Mayhem.