My favourite translator said that when she was an ambassador for Hungary she took all these Japanese politicians on a tour and she was trying to circumtranslate ‘merry go round’ cause she didn’t know the Japanese word for it by calling it a ‘horse tornado for children’ and they had no blessed idea what she was saying and she finally started running in circles going up and down and they go ‘ohhhhh, in Japan we call those ‘merry-go-rounds’”
Tausig’s crossword is a so-called Schrödinger puzzle, named for the physicist’s hypothetical cat that is at once both alive and dead. In a Schrödinger puzzle, select squares have more than one correct letter answer: They exist in two states at once. “Black Halloween animal,” for example, could be both BAT or CAT, yielding two different but perfectly correct puzzles. Only 10 such puzzles have now been published in Times history.
It’s the theme of Tausig’s puzzle, though, that makes it special. Four entries in Thursday’s crossword can include either an “F” or an “M.” Both are correct; neither is wrong. For example, “Part of a house” can be either ROOF or ROOM. The long “revealer” answer, tying those select entries together and spanning 11 squares smack-dab in the middle of the puzzle, is GENDER FLUID.
This puzzle, with “M”s and “F”s that aren’t fixed, is a masterful blend of subject and structure. “It potentially really evokes what gender fluidity is, which is not moving back and forth between two poles, but actually not being committed to either pole, and potentially existing in many states at different times,” Tausig said.
What’s worse is that they take their concept of “races” and try to apply it everywhere else, which … doesn’t really work all that well (but when has that every stopped US Americans?).
Race doesn’t really apply to other nations based on the stronger ethnic ties in communities versus skin tone. Scottish individuals can easily look British based on skin color. But the concept of racism being discrimination based on skin color and physical features is not limited to America at all.
Europeans always claim they not racist but still do racist shit
Europe the birth place of racism which make their denial of their racism hilarious
America is racist because of racist Europeans who brought that mindset over here; I swear Europeans wanna act so superior like minorities in their countries face zero issues based on their race. All the EU rejecting the categorization thing means is that they find other ways to discriminate against minorities,its like how when dudes say females they mean in it a derogatory way. Europe not slick, ya’ll just as racist and the denial of it actually makes y’all worse
Where do y’all think we Americans got it from? Hmmmmmm?
You’re misunderstanding, I think. None of this is about saying Europeans don’t have racism. Of course we do.
It’s just a cultural and linguistics difference in how racism is expressed. I’m French and it is absolutely true that if someone says the word “race” in France- unless they are an academic and specifically referring to Anglo-American race theory -, that person is a racist and they are definitely about to tell you how “Blacks and Arabs are not as evolved, really”.
The word “race” in (mainland) Europe is an inherently racist one. Because our understanding of the word is rooted in the pseudo-science of race promoted by the Third Reich. The word “race” brings up “studies” showing black people’s brains are smaller and Jewish features aren’t as perfect as “aryan” ones.
When I moved to Ireland and went to university here as a Languages and Cultural Studies student and “Race Studies” appeared in my curriculum, I was totally shocked. The concept of race, not as a fake pseudo-scientific, biologically-justified hierarchy, but as a cultural identity formed by a shared history and shared lived experience was not a concept I had heard expressed by that word before. It took me a while to be able to say it without feeling like my mouth was dirty. it didn’t help that it’s the same word in French, just pronounced differently.
It’s not about Europeans not having racism, but about Europeans talking about racism differently because of the way our History shaped the words we use. The word “race” is a taboo one. In fact, it is used as an insult in France (”Ta race”, meaning “your race” and used the exact same way and with the same intent you’d say “your mother”). The word “race” is for nazis and zoologists. It’s only ever used in a neutral way for animals and pet breeds.The word “race” is essentially considered a slur.
Basically, if you want to discuss race in mainland Europe in a non-racist way, you’ll be using different words and phrases. You will talk about “skin colour” or “ethnicity” or even “religion” when relevant. If you try and use the word “race” to someone, many of them will think you’re calling non-white people animals or implying they’re inferior to white people.
HOWEVER, race cultural theory has been slowly carving its way in Academia in mainland Europe and it is slowly entering the mainstream as a concept of cultural identity, so you might start encountering people who will be more comfortable with the word as well as people who will advocate for the end of the taboo because when you reframe it as a social and cultural identity, it is a useful concept to discuss how to deal with racism. So yeah, things are changing slowly, but we’re not quite there yet.
Pass Through Fire 