About that eskimo pie thing.

[labellementeuse]

So, in New Zealand we have a couple of long-standing sweets called Eskimos - a kind of lolly, and an icecream (they're not related to each other at all.) An Inuit woman visited NZ recently and pointed out that this was, you know, kind of OFFENSIVE. Naturally, everyone has responded to this with the usual PC GONE MAD!1! nonsense.

This is a pathetic response. For a start, if we had any other culture represented in a comestible, ffs - well, we wouldn't. Little chocolates called Maoris? Or - well, insert any ethnic group here. No. Not possible. Think about how ridiculous and offensive that sounds to you and then think about why your response is so different.

AND THEN, on top of that ridiculousness. Eskimo is a kind of complicated word. It refers to a range of indigenous peoples of the top of North America. Some of them don't have a problem with it (Alaskans, apparently.) Some of them feel that Eskimo is a pejorative (Canada, Greenland.) Some of them aren't sure. My point is that the associations with this word are kind of a linguistic nightmare. It's not like having a lolly called Maori. It's a bit more like having a lolly called Horis (an offensive word in New Zealand for Maori, somewhat akin to nigger, perhaps a little milder.)

My point? COME THE FUCK ON, CADBURY. Don't you already make the same stuff as Penguins, anyway? Ugh.

Comments

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

*here via friendsfriends*

This is all completely valid of course, but what nobody has yet mentioned in this piece of international embarrassment is that Eskimos (the lolly variety) *are repulsive horrible things that taste like ADD-infested sawdust*.

It may be that my willingness to go "oh! God, but of course! I never thought of that! They should totally get rid of Eskimo lollies for ever and ever" is supported somewhat by my lifelong hatred of the things.

Eskimo pies, OTOH, I feel a tiny pang of sorrow at the demise of them and their smiling fur-hooded Inuit caricatures.

[labellementeuse.livejournal.com]

Excuse me, the lollies are DELICIOUS. Well. Once every three months I eat a whole packet, anyway.

Eskimo pies, OTOH, I feel a tiny pang of sorrow at the demise of them and their smiling fur-hooded Inuit caricatures.

*snort*

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

I was the kid who spent their 20 cents on one chocolate bar while my friends bought 20c mixtures full of Eskimos and Milk Bottles. Blech.