Gollywogs are back!
May 21st 2012, 12:13 pm
#106
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,039
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Seriously? In NT and Queensland I have encountered racist comments almost daily mainly from locals trying to be friendly!! It's a very different attitude and I really doubt any of them are aware that I find it offensive.
In London when I go home now my coloured friends joke that I've probably joined the 'clan' I've been in Oz so long. I think one of the most defining aspects of life in Qld is the racism and the self-imposed segregation (FNQ at least) between whites and aboriginals. My first day in Sydney too - I asked for a cab number from a lady in the street and was told 'if you can find one who speaks English and doesn't stink'..... Sorry, I just have never heard anything like this in the UK ever. I might exaggerate about some of the odder and more backward aspects about life in FNQ sometimes but the attitudes on race are hard fact.
In London when I go home now my coloured friends joke that I've probably joined the 'clan' I've been in Oz so long. I think one of the most defining aspects of life in Qld is the racism and the self-imposed segregation (FNQ at least) between whites and aboriginals. My first day in Sydney too - I asked for a cab number from a lady in the street and was told 'if you can find one who speaks English and doesn't stink'..... Sorry, I just have never heard anything like this in the UK ever. I might exaggerate about some of the odder and more backward aspects about life in FNQ sometimes but the attitudes on race are hard fact.
In the places in the UK where two peoples with conflicting lifestyles/peoples come together the racism/nationalism is just as staggering + the comments shared with me about other non white british citizens just because I was a fellow whitey, even though I was a different nationality, were far worse than I have heard where I live in Australia in decades. This doesn't mean I will then judge the whole UK as more racist than here.The far north is not all of Australia, or even close to the majority. It is not even the majority in Qld...the south east including Brisbane has far more people. If I start with my friends, my work colleagues, my family and the people I meet in my local shops I could legitimately declare Qld'ers are the best travelled and least racist people in the world...couldn't I?...after all it is based on what "I" see every day...every single last one of them knows that N**** is offensive and would never dream of using it and have no need to be regularly reminded by British people as suggested in Penny45's post.
Last edited by fish.01; May 21st 2012 at 12:27 pm.
May 21st 2012, 12:23 pm
#107
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 6,039
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Yet a swastika is an old Hindu symbol which was hijacked by the Nazis. For most of history it had a very good image.
I had a home-made golly as a child and I collected Robertsons gollies from jam pots to save up for the free badges. I never associated them with real people. Soft toys were not so common soon after the war and a golly was an easy thing to make at home. Most kids had only one or two soft toys as they just weren't available or cheap. I wouldn't buy one now because times have changed, but you can't impose today's social standards retrospectively. Lots of things that were taboo or extremely bad taste then are acceptable today.
I had a home-made golly as a child and I collected Robertsons gollies from jam pots to save up for the free badges. I never associated them with real people. Soft toys were not so common soon after the war and a golly was an easy thing to make at home. Most kids had only one or two soft toys as they just weren't available or cheap. I wouldn't buy one now because times have changed, but you can't impose today's social standards retrospectively. Lots of things that were taboo or extremely bad taste then are acceptable today.
May 21st 2012, 2:53 pm
#108
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 23,400
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Well Im still going to get a golly, but only because I collect bears - I shall get a Paddington bear as well if I can and a Woody doll.
So there.
So there.
May 21st 2012, 6:19 pm
#109
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,038
Gollywogs are back!
The swastika is not just confined to one or two countries or religions..........
May 21st 2012, 9:23 pm
#110
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Joined: Feb 2012
Location: York
Posts: 323
Re: Gollywogs are back!
"The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix.
Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck." (About.com)
The swastika had a hugely positive and uplifting connotation for far longer than the negative. However, I'm not about to get one tattooed on my forehead to show people what a positive, zen person I am.
For me gollywogs fall under a totally different cultural issue - I personally think they are cute and I don't associate them with black people at all - they are just dolls (in the same way as I think the fluffy bunny I've had since I was 3 is cute and don't associate it with rabbits).
However, I wont be buying one because I certainly would not want to enter into a sociological debate every time someone saw it and I think to own one and be willing to take part in that debate wouldn't say the right thing about where I am in my life and what my views on racism (or, if it were some other social prop, my views on sexism or homophobia or any kind of Daily Mail judgmentalism) are.
Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck." (About.com)
The swastika had a hugely positive and uplifting connotation for far longer than the negative. However, I'm not about to get one tattooed on my forehead to show people what a positive, zen person I am.
For me gollywogs fall under a totally different cultural issue - I personally think they are cute and I don't associate them with black people at all - they are just dolls (in the same way as I think the fluffy bunny I've had since I was 3 is cute and don't associate it with rabbits).
However, I wont be buying one because I certainly would not want to enter into a sociological debate every time someone saw it and I think to own one and be willing to take part in that debate wouldn't say the right thing about where I am in my life and what my views on racism (or, if it were some other social prop, my views on sexism or homophobia or any kind of Daily Mail judgmentalism) are.
May 22nd 2012, 2:05 am
#111
Account Open
Joined: Jan 2005
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 4,298
Re: Gollywogs are back!
It's a harmless toy. If some adults want to see more in it they will, children who will be the ones playing with them won't. Children play with anything they can make a game out of. They couldn't care less what it's wearing or what colour it is. It's bullshit to make an issue of it.
If a large number of black people are offended by it, it is considered racist. If very few are offended, it isn't.
I'm actually curious to know whether or not black people today find the gollywog to be racist. Because, lets face it, it's not a subject that crops up in everyday conversation very often.
May 22nd 2012, 2:58 am
#112
snɐןɔ ʎʇıuɐs
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 6,558
Re: Gollywogs are back!
it is a harmless toy in my eyes too. But as with anything on this topic, it's not the "intent" that matters.... what matters, is whether or not people are offended by the word/object/etc....
If a large number of black people are offended by it, it is considered racist. If very few are offended, it isn't.
I'm actually curious to know whether or not black people today find the gollywog to be racist. Because, lets face it, it's not a subject that crops up in everyday conversation very often.
If a large number of black people are offended by it, it is considered racist. If very few are offended, it isn't.
I'm actually curious to know whether or not black people today find the gollywog to be racist. Because, lets face it, it's not a subject that crops up in everyday conversation very often.
It is ALL about the intent, and not what some people may or may not decide to find offensive. It's simply not possible for a society to work when you are continually tripping over what some numbnuts might decide to find offensive. Basically everything gets objected to, by someone, at some time.
Now, by my rule set; I have no ability to influence your ideas or actions on this matter, you can believe that an 'ism is subjective and defined by the recipient as you see fit.
But by your rule set; you have to immediately thinking or saying anything of the sort, since I DO find it offensive.
In chess its called a fork...
May 26th 2012, 6:05 am
#114
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2007
Location: Beacon Hill, NSW
Posts: 249
Re: Gollywogs are back!
I remember seeing in a toy shop in the QVB building years ago a gollywog. I didn't think they were allowed any more. My nan used to have one. I used to have a doll that looked like a white gollywog but yet that wouldn't be seen as racist.
May 26th 2012, 6:11 am
#115
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Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Somewhere South... Not Telling YOU
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Re: Gollywogs are back!
At the quilt show they had truely awful Golly quilts.... They went beyond a simple doll..... And were more along the lines of the Tom n Jerry black maid characterure... Now THEY made me feel unconfortable....
May 26th 2012, 6:42 am
#116
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 23,400
Re: Gollywogs are back!
Just got back from Cockburn Shopping Centre and they had loads of Gollys in the window - they called them 'Gollys' not 'Gollywogs', they were so cute and they had a poster on the window about their history and how they got their names, I didnt read it all but it did not seem to match what is said on here about racism.
I would have bought one but they were going for $50!!!!
I would have bought one but they were going for $50!!!!
May 26th 2012, 6:44 am
#117
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Joined: Sep 2005
Location: Somewhere South... Not Telling YOU
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Re: Gollywogs are back!
Just got back from Cockburn Shopping Centre and they had loads of Gollys in the window - they called them 'Gollys' not 'Gollywogs', they were so cute and they had a poster on the window about their history and how they got their names, I didnt read it all but it did not seem to match what is said on here about racism.
I would have bought one but they were going for $50!!!!
I would have bought one but they were going for $50!!!!
May 26th 2012, 7:07 am
#119
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