As I have made abundantly clear here I am a Scandinavian through and through. And what does that mean? It means I am of Nordic descent, am lucky enough to live in this beautiful and eccentric place, am a proud and conflicted European, live and breathe Nordic culture on a daily basis and am an ardent Nordic girl; and I am white. I have a very fair skin-tone, blue eyes and light brown hair. I am pretty much the epitome of a Scandinavian woman - except for the sexy factor (I fail miserably in that degree). As far as I know, my family hails from some of the most isolated places in Scandinavia so the possibility of me having any other race than white in my family is pretty much non-existent. I am about as white as they come. Ethnically and culturally speaking.
This places me in a very privileged group of people in terms of many things. While my own experience, as well as the experience of other people in my country, the history of my country and my ancestors does not necessarily always reflect that advantage, white privilege is a fact and it exists. As someone that has grown up in a predominantly white society and comes from a country which was steeped in poverty until into the 20th century - it took me some time to discover white privilege and recognize it within my own scope of experience. I could see it within the scope of experience of other people - particularly in America and Britain but it did not apply to my own experience. I have spent much time studying and reading about racial relations, racial stereotypes, racism, racial history - you name it, I have looked into it. I consider myself to be fairly enlightened on the subject but that does not mean I know it all or that I am perfect - my views and opinions are challenged every day and I am continually discovering how limited my own view of the subject still is. I study racism from outside. I study as someone that comes from a privileged race but because of historical background and culture, white privilege and racism are concepts I approach differently. In my country, there is racism but its roots do not lie so deep or are of such historical significance as they are in America. When studying my own history, I study the history of white people that lived and made their lives in dire poverty.
So as I approach the subject of racism in TV and view it through my lens - I find it challenges me. I need to be on my toes and learn more and more in order to approach the subject with respect and sensitivity. I will be looking into racism in TV over the course of September. This explanation here is to show the approach I naturally bring to the subject and how it influences me.
This places me in a very privileged group of people in terms of many things. While my own experience, as well as the experience of other people in my country, the history of my country and my ancestors does not necessarily always reflect that advantage, white privilege is a fact and it exists. As someone that has grown up in a predominantly white society and comes from a country which was steeped in poverty until into the 20th century - it took me some time to discover white privilege and recognize it within my own scope of experience. I could see it within the scope of experience of other people - particularly in America and Britain but it did not apply to my own experience. I have spent much time studying and reading about racial relations, racial stereotypes, racism, racial history - you name it, I have looked into it. I consider myself to be fairly enlightened on the subject but that does not mean I know it all or that I am perfect - my views and opinions are challenged every day and I am continually discovering how limited my own view of the subject still is. I study racism from outside. I study as someone that comes from a privileged race but because of historical background and culture, white privilege and racism are concepts I approach differently. In my country, there is racism but its roots do not lie so deep or are of such historical significance as they are in America. When studying my own history, I study the history of white people that lived and made their lives in dire poverty.
So as I approach the subject of racism in TV and view it through my lens - I find it challenges me. I need to be on my toes and learn more and more in order to approach the subject with respect and sensitivity. I will be looking into racism in TV over the course of September. This explanation here is to show the approach I naturally bring to the subject and how it influences me.
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