Separating Culture from People..!

There are Black people who live in Asia
and use chopsticks.
There are Black people who don’t live in Asia
that use chopsticks.
Diaspora exist. Diasporic communities exist.
There is cultural exchange and trade all over
this planet.
So when writers use that, I think it’s really neat.

But when writers go “What would happen
if I randomly had this people group have
this other group’s culture?” it makes me feel like
they think other people’s cultures exist
to be their toys. For funsies!

Culture is not for shock factor.
A people group’s culture, history,
cultural artifacts and traditions - these aren’t toys
and doing this is not the way to insert originality
into a work.

Cultural elements don’t have to go
with certain skin colors because
there’s a huge range of skin colors
in almost every country.
Diaspora, immigration, intermarrying,
that’s all stuff that happens.
But cultural elements don’t exist as a sort
of external force that has nothing to do
with the people of that culture.
Culture is created, consumed and changed
by people.
So when you pick things here
and there willy-nilly, you’re divorcing people
from their culture for no reason.

And I’m not sure if you know this,
but chopsticks (what they’re made of,
how they look, proper usage) vary all over
Asia/East Asia.
Their usage has evolved differently
in different countries.
For example, Koreans like metal chopsticks
that are kind of skinny/flat,
and they’re intended to be used in sets
with spoons (so they’re intentionally designed
to be sold in sets).

Chopsticks in Japan, though, are often made
of wood, are more “chunky” shaped,
and often lacquered. You don’t really
buy Japanese chopsticks in sets with spoons
like you would in Korea.
[Mod Stella honestly prefers using Japanese-style
chopsticks because they’re just more comfortable
for her to hold.
But she definitely grew up with Korean chopsticks!]

Chinese chopsticks are longer because they eat
“family style” which is putting everything
on the table and reaching for it.
[Mod Jess says, “Family style is how I certainly
eat at home, reaching for things instead
of asking to pass them.
So it’s actually expected that some stuff might
drop onto the table itself, which is solved
by mopping it after each meal.”]

But my point is that randomly taking the idea
of chopsticks and arbitrarily assigning it
to a people group just seems like a really
problematic thing to do.
Chopsticks have a specific history.
We don’t put them in our hair.
Some things that are rude in one country
that uses chopsticks isn’t considered rude
in another.
How do you describe that (as well as
the reasons why chopsticks evolved differently)
while divorcing it from the actual country
that uses them?

The idea of randomly assigning cultures
to other peoples is a very uncomfortable
and frustrating one, so we’d advise you
to reconsider it.

-Mods Stella, Jess & Colette