i often feel like im not really indigenous and im just trying to talk over 'real' indigenous people because of the way people have reacted to it in the past :( the few times i was open about it in the past i was told it didnt actually count and brushed off. thank you for posting about indigenous asians. im burmese mon 🌸
Hi anon, sorry for the late reply, but thank you so much for this message!
I absolutely understand what you mean, and I think it is crucial for Asians to be included in conversations about indigeneity, settler-colonial histories, imperialism against the global south, and its ongoing impacts.
The “real indigenous people” is anyone whose ancestral group and its relations to land, sky and/or sea has been massively disrupted and suffered material harms from colonial and imperialist empires.
If anyone claims that Asians who still suffer the impacts of settler-colonialism to this day aren’t “real indigenous” well, they are in the same breath denying all other indigenous peoples.
The indigenous identity is one that supposedly receives legal and social protections through membership, but it can also be one that is constantly redrawn and redefined to fit the agendas of those in power. People who exclude Asians from speaking on their own indigeneity, are those who already have the privilege to BE speaking about it and centering the conversation around themselves at the expense of others.
I’m maybe not the most qualified to speak on Indigeneity in Asia since my connection to this heritage is extremely distant and has been erased by time and those who came before me. Until I gain a more solid footing on my own heritage enough to know how to embrace it in alignment with lived experience, my history and nativity to my ancestral lands has to suffice as…a sense of familiarity, a tether to shared pain and spirit, and appreciation for the earth and waters my people come from.
I used to think that Asians had to stay “less present” in indigenous discussions, but I no longer believe that. If anything I think all indigenous peoples have been consistently less present, and Asians are only recently becoming more vocal in occupying our seats at this newly reforged table.
A lot of places in Asia are still occupied, used as extraction for imperialism and more, and are easily subject to destruction because the scene of the crime is distant from the those who commit it. We also do have tensions amongst our own which are exploited by those in power and their geopolitical theatres.
I had to do a quick search on Burmese Mon peoples and it’s amazing how Theravada Buddhism was spread due to your peoples’ influences and how much that has shaped Southeast Asia. SEAblings really are all connected by land and sea, through Austronesian ancestors, the Pacific and East Ocean and the Malay archipelago.
I know a little about the Mon peoples, and it is a story of pain, displacement, rebirths and resilience. It is important we hear the story of your peoples, and I invite you to speak on it with whom you’re comfortable. Indigenous Asian voices deserves platforms, most especially but not limited to AAPI heritage month.
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I don't think virago is a real or valid label becsuse it's simply silly to think straights can be queer
Good morning,
I must’ve missed the memo where we all require a license to practice queerness and straightness “the correct way”.
Last I checked we didn’t have a Queer Pope, can you sell me on what makes you the authoritative universal power ™️ in deciding how a bunch of others define themselves, their identities and how they navigate the world?
Why should a “queer normal” take precedence over resisting sectarianism, imposed norms and policing surrounding attraction and identity? What does “straight” mean? Why would queering one’s relationship with themselves and the world be gate-kept from some who happen to be “straight”?
I recall when this level of “this is normal to me, and whatever isn’t, is invalid and undoable” spiralled into harmful normativity upholding systems of oppression. But hey— maybe you have a justified reason for why you’re parroting the work of bigots?
If you’re here to play the “queer normal” police, I’m not bored enough to entertain that.
If you’re here to have a dialogue on what “queerness” and “straightness” are—there’s a better way to begin rather than “this is not real and not valid…because it’s silly”.
That is an opinion, which anybody can rebut with “well yours isn’t real nor valid either because yours is silly”. Neither are viable points of debate.
Lest you’re here to have your opinion be judged by me as neither real nor valid. Or worse—bigoted.
just here to say that i super appreciate your writings about masculinity, femininity, and femme-ness. i used to be very insecure about my femme identity as a trans and gnc femme who uses masculine pronouns and doesn’t dress very overtly/stereotypically feminine. i used to force myself to use she/her and the like because femme identity was always treated as only the counterpart to butch, which made me feel like i couldn’t have my own identity that wasn’t very strictly super feminine.
i don’t know if this makes a lot of sense, but i hope my point somewhat gets across anyway. appreciate you :]
ANON 🥹💙
THIS MEANS THE WORLD TO MEEEEE, I am really glad that my writings resonate with you. You are absolutely Femme. You are Femme-maxxing so hard in every gender at every moment, single or partnered.
Your worth, your femmeness and magnificent trans and gnc identity goes worlds beyond any dyad. I and all other Femmes like you will always be here, we have ALWAYS been here, we all see you when you show up as you are, and we hear you when you say what you are.
You are as feminine, masculine, gnc, trans as you. Are. Femme.
Wait- what is a Virago? That’s a new term for me (+ should the term be avoided?)
A Virago typically refers to a masculine GNC woman who is attracted to feminine GNC men, but it also involves folks of other gender identities (so not necessarily woman/man).
This term is inclusive to trans and multi-spec individuals, GNC, genderfluid, bigender peoples, bisexuals, and is even inclusive towards genderdiversity between and within different cultures. It is a lovely label. ( no it doesn't have to be avoided! but identity policing as the #anti-virago anon did, should certainly be avoided.)
It is a 'heterosexual' term, in the sense that it is the pairing of different genders. But this does not negate the queer and non-conforming complexities of the identity.
Feel free to follow @/viragoposting for more!
Thank you for supporting us !!! I don't know where to go from here but we need to bans together and try to get some resources going to help protect us.
I’m willing to take this on as a side project to amplify Virago & Mollis voices, I’d prefer to work with partners as a group project though!
As a starting idea, we can start with taking down some suggestions of painful questions or contentious topics that Virago and Mollis folks want to address.
Then gathering and surveying responses.
Then creating a summary for each question.
Also open to any other brainstorming for this.
Is there some kind of joint community space we can gather? (Also maybe not a good idea to post it here if it’s public but feel free to DM me if there is one!) Otherwise, we can create one?
