Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Bad All Around
I had some reflexive snark reaction to this story about how the business of producing the oh-so-chic keffiyehs has been completely outsourced to China, but really, it's just demoralizing up and down. American hipsters engaging in uncritical faux-solidarity with Palestinians. American hipsters not actually paying attention to the political or economic consequences of their purchasing decisions (there's a huge surprise). Money redirected from a Palestinian economy that desperately needs it to China. And another local industry integral to Palestinian culture shuts down.
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4 comments:
Waitaminute, if wearing keffiyehs is uncriticaul faux-solidarity than aren't you saying that the "local industry integral to Palestinian culture" is the Uncritical Faux-Solidarity Industry. But maybe you are saying that's integral.
Palestinians don't wear keffiyahs out of faux solidarity with themselves. They wear keffiyahs because they wear keffiyahs. The problem is the keffiyahs actual Palestinians wear now are made in China and not Palestine. Which might not have happened if they hadn't become a fashion item.
So the hipsters are still wearing the same kiffeyahs as the Palestinians. To the extent that "showing solidarity" is a matter of symbolism, I'm not sure this is "faux" at all. Unless said hipsters aren't sympathetic to the Palestinians, which I doubt given my experience with the demographic. I mean, it's not like these are McCain-Palin buttons we're talking about.
Does this mean Rachel Ray is a hipster?
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