odditycollector

And I really REALLY wish people would stop throwing around "albino" as a sarcastic shorthand for "You stood next to a pitcher of skim milk and I thought it was Coca Cola."

I am not going to write a very long thought-out post, because it is too far past my bedtime to do it justice. But I see this pop up in otherwise interesting conversations about racial representation, and then I just hate everyone involved for a bit**. So:

ALBINISM DOES NOT MAKE YOU WHITE LIKE VANILLA ICE - notes off the top of my head at 4am.

•Having albinism does not make someone Caucasian. (Even the type which leaves someone without pigment throughout their body, which I will be assuming for this post.) Albinism occurs in all races, and in fact is much more common for people from Africa than people from Europe. You mean well, right? So maybe don't erase PoC (just 'cause they're lacking the C) by propagating the Caucasian default.

•We will get back to Africa.

•People with albinism are hella marginalized in media, usually showing up in freaky looking villain roles, when they are represented at all. They haven't even been promoted to the comic relief best friend. I understand that it's a fairly uncommon condition, but personally I would LOVE to see characters randomly "recast as albinos", would love to see an actor with albinism take the lead role in ONE mainstream movie.

•Outside of media, people can act strange on encountering someone with albinism. Childhood taunts can be... about what you might imagine, and just about everyone will want to comment on their hair. (Anecdotal.) In a majority white country, this is not white privilege.

•As well, even in North America, individuals who are mentally unbalanced or superstitious may fixate on someone with albinism in an alarming manner. (Anecdotal.)

•Anyway, albinism doesn't give you chalk white skin. It's more pink, because of the blood underneath. You get the pink tones in any skin colour the same way.

•Even the most pale (pigmented) white person has enough melanin to afford them *some* protection from the sun. This is not true of entirely unpigmented people, who burn immediately if they don't wear sunscreen and appropriate clothes. Skin cancer is a huge, very real risk.

•Also, without pigment, human irises are blue, not pink. (Although they are very susceptible to red eyes in flash photographs.) However, the retina does not develop as it would with typical pigment, and people with albinism pretty much always have vision impairments. Nystagmus is virtually a given, and night vision is probably much better than day vision.

•Basically, albinism is a real medical condition, with real effects that must be compensated for. (As opposed to a "race", although I've been told it can feel that way.) In the developed (and often colder, cloudier) world, this is relatively easy to do, and people with albinism live "normal" lives with a "normal" life expectancy.

•Sadly, in Africa, where albinism is far more common, this is not the case. Eg, average life expectancy for persons with albinism in Tanzania is 30 years, with only 2% living beyond 40 years. (Source.)

•Since we have finally made our way to Africa, let me tell you how to accomplish some Extra Special Albinism!Fail.

•Vixen is a black DCU character who comes from a fictional country that I can't place more specifically than "Africa". She has a problem with comics creators sometimes deciding they'd rather draw and colour a white woman. I am against this, and I hope that you are too... UNLESS you were that person sarcastically referring to "Albino Vixen". In which case, you are an ignorant idiot and do not deserve to feel warm fuzzies about your internet stance.

•I'm not sure how much of this is common knowledge, and I hate bringing it up because I get really fucking upset, but it is the most important facts for this post.

In recent years there has been an increase outbreak people in East Africa have been going around killing people with albinism for their bodyparts, which rumour has can be made into extra powerful magic potions or some fucking thing. Sometimes they steal the bodies of the already dead; sometimes they don't even bother with the killing part - fresher is better, right? - and just lop off an arm or a leg or two, leaving the victim to live or die as they please.

Children, of course, make excellent targets.

•Skipping over the part where I swear a lot, changing an African character into a Caucasian character and giving an African character albinism are not the same fucking thing, and fuck you if you think it doesn't matter.

•(If you want examples, this charity collects news articles on the subject. Or if you want to help.)

•[ETA] (elf adds this one, which I'd felt bad for leaving off) - Other note: Albinism, like most medical conditions, isn't a monolithic condition with a single set of symptoms; there are varieties of albinism that have different effects. Some variants have more pigment than others; some have more effects on vision; some come with a swarm of other medical conditions that aren't obviously related.

 
If you still want to make bad albinism jokes.... well, I commit more albinism!Fail on a weekly basis than you probably have in your lifetime. Just, please, understand your context.

Albinism is not a stand in for "extra pale white person" nor "extra oblivious white person". It is a genetic condition which sets an individual as "different" due to the colour of their skin; if you are arguing for better media representation of minorities, be more thoughtful about it.

 
*Not recommended usage anyway.

**Yes, the Gail Simone comment set me off, and probably it is not that bad once I figure out how I feel about the fish analogy, but I've been primed since the Fan Arts lecture.