A slightly disturbing poster for a gardening exhibition in 1897 by Alfred Roller.
Um, no.
I don’t think that’s anxiety.
It’s xenophobia, racism, ethnocentrism and a whole mess of other shit. Some of the obnoxious comments on this submission further emphasize this point. Most of this fucking planet speaks more than one language, get used to it.
Just because a person assumes that people are talking about them in another language doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s racism, xenophobia, or ethnocentrism.
I come from a Vietnamese family. I have an uncle who is white (he came into the family via marrying my youngest aunt). From experience, I have heard my family talk about him (and sometimes complaining) in front of his face in Vietnamese, but because he doesn’t understand Vietnamese, he’s clueless about what we’re saying (although one time he did sort of catch on that my aunt was complaining about him to my family, even though he didn’t understand a word she said). And frankly, I think it’s rather rude when my family talk about him in front of his face in our language.
So it is possible for a person to feel anxiety from hearing people speak another language and assuming it’s about them, especially if they hear their name being brought up.
I appreciate you sharing your experience, but I think you’re missing my point. I was not attempting to suggest that it is impossible for a group of people to talk about and individual in a language unknown to that individual. That would be silly - of course this happens from time to time.
I was stating that the assumption that any individuals speaking in a tongue you do not know must be speaking about you is suggestive of xenophobia, racism, ethnocentrism, and egotism. Furthermore, passing that assumption off as a symptom of an anxiety disorder (which is what the anxiety cat meme supposedly addresses) is negligent and gross. If your uncle were to develop concern about what your family might be saying, that concern would stem from a long-term personal experience. That would be entirely different than a person assuming that all languages outside of the one(s) they speak are merely used to be secretly derisive. Below I’ve linked and quoted two responses to this very submission that reinforce my feelings:
This comment left by smashleh: “because they are! damn chinese people at nail salons..”
This comment left by sambasinburn: “they are half the time tho you know with their foreign laugh”
life:
Contrary to what some consumers, amateur photographers and even die-hard techies might assume, instant photography has been around a lot longer than the digital camera and the iPhone. In fact, it’s been around for more than six decades, ever since the scientist, visionary and Polaroid co-founder Edwin H. Land introduced his first “Land Camera” way back in 1947.
Here, on Edwin Land’s birthday (he was born May 7, 1909, in Bridgeport Conn.), and a full 40 years after the SX-70 was introduced, LIFE.com pays tribute to Land’s vision and his determination to, as he once put it, “provide an opportunity for creativity that other photography doesn’t allow.”
Also in the gallery are pictures made with the SX-70 by LIFE photographer Co Rentmeester, who experimented with the camera while shooting the cover story on Land for the October 27, 1972, issue of the magazine.
Um, no.
I don’t think that’s anxiety.
It’s xenophobia, racism, ethnocentrism and a whole mess of other shit. Some of the obnoxious comments on this submission further emphasize this point. Most of this fucking planet speaks more than one language, get used to it.
Polly Morgan
Carnevale, 2011
Taxidermy blackbirds, ribbon
