“I wanted to be a native”

feministdisney:

waltdisneyconfessions:

“When I was younger, I always wanted to be Native American because I thought Pocahontas was the strongest of the Disney Princesses. (not to mention she was beautiful and had awesome hair)”

Evidence that Native Americans are perceived by (not ill intentioned, but misinformed) people in America to be someone “you can want to be,” like a marine biologist or an author.   Like would anyone say, “I saw this strong white fairy character so I wanted to be white”?   Or, “I thought the black king was awesome, it made me want to be black”?  

Because of the way Native Amerians are stereotyped and portrayed in American culture (in movies like Pocahontas), people end up buying into the belief that “Native American” is something you can just become if you try hard enough/if you like their portrayal in white society enough.   And that’s an interrelating issue: to think you want to be native just because of Pocahontas is really misinformed about the reality of what modern native (and even past native) life is like.   Pocahontas is not historically or culturally accurate for the past or the present.

Monday, October 24, 2011 — 390 notes   ()
  1. ereyes312 reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend
  2. lunadonna reblogged this from marikah and added:
    never happened though.
  3. slytherinmyswagkorra reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend
  4. lemonadestandz reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend
  5. marikah reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend and added:
    Sorry, but I have a hard time taking this analyzation seriously. I don’t think the confessor was expecting that she...
  6. faith-fire-florins reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend
  7. partofdisneysworld reblogged this from maddihiggs
  8. maddihiggs reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions
  9. error-try-error-try reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend
  10. bigtimebieberswaggingwith1d reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions
  11. daydreamingaimlessly reblogged this from veganmudblood
  12. dianamcqueen reblogged this from veganmudblood and added:
    I went through a huge fangirl type phase with Native American design, history, culture, and art. I had my bed room all...
  13. veganmudblood reblogged this from licoriceplease
  14. licoriceplease reblogged this from highwaysunset
  15. genwaabiigigwed reblogged this from highwaysunset and added:
    ^ALL OF THIS everyone calls me pocahontas EVERYONE i just give up at this point
  16. highwaysunset reblogged this from littleojibwe and added:
    I wish the kids around me had wanted to be Pocahontas, maybe they would have been nicer. Instead, I got tormented...
  17. leidis reblogged this from jalwhite
  18. jalwhite reblogged this from littleojibwe and added:
    I was obsessed with Pocahontas. My parents indulged me with the movie but they tried to make a distinction between...
  19. littleojibwe reblogged this from tigressunlimited and added:
    What is even worse is that me and my friend used to want to grow up to be Pocahontas. She was native, and at the time I...
  20. tigressunlimited reblogged this from moosedeevita
  21. freesaponi reblogged this from moosedeevita
  22. nockknock reblogged this from moosedeevita and added:
    I am both flattered and offended. On one hand I am like “fuck yeah you wanna be native CUZ IT’S AWESOME!” but growing up...
  23. moosedeevita reblogged this from redcometsshinkiro and added:
    … This is my issue with pocahontas. Many little girls grew up thinking that they could dream of being Native,
  24. bbybri reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions
  25. dancingonthehilltop reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions
  26. muffinavashti19 reblogged this from thechocolatebrigade
  27. thechocolatebrigade reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend
  28. missfiloviridae reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions
  29. peachesandpearlearrings reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions
  30. reem-ster reblogged this from mycultureisnotatrend and added:
    It’s racist. It’s completely racist. You cannot subject countless generations of culture to a ninety minute movie....
  31. forgetyourtroublesanddance reblogged this from waltdisneyconfessions