It was good of you to come over here and point this out to me in a courteous way. I genuinely saw no offence in the word use (possibly out of naivete; in retrospect I suppose I am familiar with the offensive "Asian doll" symbolism), and I truly intended none, and as such I appreciate you giving me this feedback.
Let me explain a little, okay? I am Asian and live in SE Asia as well, and I guess I figured the boys would think my country was "strange and exotic" also! (But I suppose you may be right; Cook seems pretty urbane, and Archie has actually been over here and was entirely delightful about it, so that throwaway line may have been doing *them* a disservice).
I did, in some way, *intend* to "other" Manila, *for them*, in the context of the story - not because of the specific venue or culture (it could have been Brazil, or Iceland), but because I felt the unusual locale, far from the US-centric one in which the boys had previously conducted their friendship, lent itself to a sense of the surreal, and represented an out-of-the-ordinary setting in which they could finally view their relationship from a new, romantic, perspective. I hope you believe me when I say that I did not intend to inflict an inexplicable and unnecessary slur on anyone reading.
So: as I said, I intended no offence, and am kind of horrified (at my own naive-ness) that the "exotic" terminology could be read as culturally offensive, and as such I have reconsidered the term. I have not been writing for long, and I kind of write for myself and a smaller community of readers, so your comment about potential readers doesn't weigh that much with me, but the fact that I had (unwittingly) given offence *does*, which has informed my decision.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2009-06-09 12:18 am (UTC)Let me explain a little, okay? I am Asian and live in SE Asia as well, and I guess I figured the boys would think my country was "strange and exotic" also! (But I suppose you may be right; Cook seems pretty urbane, and Archie has actually been over here and was entirely delightful about it, so that throwaway line may have been doing *them* a disservice).
I did, in some way, *intend* to "other" Manila, *for them*, in the context of the story - not because of the specific venue or culture (it could have been Brazil, or Iceland), but because I felt the unusual locale, far from the US-centric one in which the boys had previously conducted their friendship, lent itself to a sense of the surreal, and represented an out-of-the-ordinary setting in which they could finally view their relationship from a new, romantic, perspective. I hope you believe me when I say that I did not intend to inflict an inexplicable and unnecessary slur on anyone reading.
So: as I said, I intended no offence, and am kind of horrified (at my own naive-ness) that the "exotic" terminology could be read as culturally offensive, and as such I have reconsidered the term. I have not been writing for long, and I kind of write for myself and a smaller community of readers, so your comment about potential readers doesn't weigh that much with me, but the fact that I had (unwittingly) given offence *does*, which has informed my decision.
Pax?