Facebook Finds
This is not a substantial blog like my previous one, but rather I am posting it because I just stumbled upon this facebook group:
She Just Called You Pakeha, Ohh Hell No! Hold My Stolen Land
It follows a similar trend to several other 'humourous' groups circulating Facebook recently. They are aimed at representing stereotypes - yet this is the first one I have seen in relation to a New Zealand context.
Usually these groups follow the same sentence structure:
"Dude, she just called you scottish" "Oh hell no!, hold my kilt!"
"dude she just called you a perve". Thats IT, HOLD MY Binoculars
"Dude she just called you Australian!!" "OH HELL NO HOLD MY Stubbie!!
What is interesting here is that these groups culturally flatten an entire way of life by using an object to signify their identity. But such stereotyping is designed to be funny - these Facebook Finds use ironic language.
The discourses they employ suggest that in order to be identified as 'Scottish', one obviously wears a 'kilt'. Same rule applies to 'Australian' and 'stubbies'.
So, it absolutely amazed me to see this being done in reverse with the facebook group She Just Called You Pakeha, Ohh Hell No! Hold My Stolen Land because instead of culturally flattening Maori people, it criticises the coloniser... and it's even more interesting that 4,523 people like this group.
This inspired me to go see what other facebook groups have the word 'Maori' in them.
The results of this research were not at all what I expected. Most of the Facebook groups were themed around certain Maori groups or institutions, for example 'Maori teachers in Aotearoa'. Rugby and Maori Art also featured a lot on the list. But in terms of stereotypes, or comments about Maori peoples - there werent any groups addressing issues such as unemployment or domestic violence. Rather, most of them are themed around sexuality...
"Dude she just called you Australian!!" "OH HELL NO HOLD MY Stubbie!!
What is interesting here is that these groups culturally flatten an entire way of life by using an object to signify their identity. But such stereotyping is designed to be funny - these Facebook Finds use ironic language.
The discourses they employ suggest that in order to be identified as 'Scottish', one obviously wears a 'kilt'. Same rule applies to 'Australian' and 'stubbies'.
So, it absolutely amazed me to see this being done in reverse with the facebook group She Just Called You Pakeha, Ohh Hell No! Hold My Stolen Land because instead of culturally flattening Maori people, it criticises the coloniser... and it's even more interesting that 4,523 people like this group.
This inspired me to go see what other facebook groups have the word 'Maori' in them.
The results of this research were not at all what I expected. Most of the Facebook groups were themed around certain Maori groups or institutions, for example 'Maori teachers in Aotearoa'. Rugby and Maori Art also featured a lot on the list. But in terms of stereotypes, or comments about Maori peoples - there werent any groups addressing issues such as unemployment or domestic violence. Rather, most of them are themed around sexuality...
Page
1,377 people like this.
Page
298 people like this.
Page
276 people like this.
Page
11 people like this.
This made me think of how the 'Other' is often eroticised and 'exotic' - could there be a link here in a New Zealand context on this Facebook Find?
The reason I am blogging about this is that I was not expecting these results...
Do you have any thoughts about these Facebook Finds? From a social phsycology point of view, Facebook is a great arena for social research. These 'Facebook Finds' provide interesting raw material and data to sift through and analyse the public opinion.
It is amazing that enough people acknowledge that Pakeha stole land from the Maori, to the extent of having a Facebook group about it. It is also amazing to me that many Facebook groups with the word 'Maori' in them are aimed at physical attraction and sexuality.
These Facebook Finds certainly surprised and intrigued me.
Link to Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/She-Just-Called-You-Pakeha-Ohh-Hell-No-Hold-My-Stolen-Land/218752431491010
This made me think of how the 'Other' is often eroticised and 'exotic' - could there be a link here in a New Zealand context on this Facebook Find?
The reason I am blogging about this is that I was not expecting these results...
Do you have any thoughts about these Facebook Finds? From a social phsycology point of view, Facebook is a great arena for social research. These 'Facebook Finds' provide interesting raw material and data to sift through and analyse the public opinion.
It is amazing that enough people acknowledge that Pakeha stole land from the Maori, to the extent of having a Facebook group about it. It is also amazing to me that many Facebook groups with the word 'Maori' in them are aimed at physical attraction and sexuality.
These Facebook Finds certainly surprised and intrigued me.
Link to Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/She-Just-Called-You-Pakeha-Ohh-Hell-No-Hold-My-Stolen-Land/218752431491010
posted by Renisa Maki @ 9:53 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Too true! I think that some of these pages can be positive due to the way they highlight these ridiculous stereotypes. Either that, or they reinforce them.
But I was just wondering how that facebook group works in reverse? Although it doesn't culturally flattern Maori people, it nonetheless culturally flattens Pakeha, therefore doing exactly the same thing as the other groups you mentioned.
That is such a good point - I never thought about it like that. That group is flattening all Pakeha as 'land stealing' peoples who destroy other cultures... Obviously, not all Pakeha are like that. But it also makes me think - who does the burden of representation here fall on? Will many Pakeha get upset or hurt by this facebook group? Or do Maori people get more hurt and upset by the constant negative representations? I'm just excited about how much there is on Facebook to analyse :)
My thoughts exactly as reading this.. how is it in reverse? is there an expectation to ridicule Maoris over Pakehas, or are you saying that its dissimilar to the other groups in some way along ethnic lines? (so aside from the reverse of object)
but yes the other Maori related groups are interesting an unexpected. They could be attempts to counter ethnocentric opinions OR as you say, examples of eroticising and exoticising Maori people.. depends who made the groups and why, I guess. Good post :)
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi, sorry about the late response! Yes I thought the reverse that the trend was used to criticise the dominant group. Liam - you make a great point about context - who made this page and for whom? I guess it is still awesome that so many people clicked 'like' on it - surely some of them would be Pakeha and so it is interesting that they clicked like on a page that is supposedly criticising them.
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