I can't find the previous thread for some reason. If it's been deleted then surely I'd have received some sort of warning or message? I think I've forgotten a few points but I'll start with: Muslims I don't understand why Muslims should receive more attention and sympathy than people from other religious backgrounds; as far as I know, Hindus do not have any particular advantage over Muslims due to India's Christian-influenced homophobia from British colonial rule. Muslims need support networks, and don't other ethnic groups equally need support networks too? Gay Positive South Indian Celebrities I feel like South Indians are being overlooked in gay culture. Whether racism is involved is up to debate (I don't usually perceive gay culture as being too threatening), but I can't think of any gay South Indian celebrities on the same level as 1D or even Eurovision. Not even a single gay-positive celebrity, let alone an actual gay South Indian celebrity. I also don't think it's fair to ask Hindus or South Indians to accept Pakistanis as a representative of their ethnicity. I find it hard enough to relate to North Indian Hindus, let alone a Pakistani. People must remember that Pakistanis are biologically and culturally closer to Middle Easterners than they are to Indians. Racism/Colourism I don't think it's right to promote an artist like 1D or Pakistanis/North Indians while leaving South Indians behind because it turns into something similar to the colourism in India. A lot of Indians in the west aren't as colourist as Indians from India. I do not obsess over white skin or North Indians, let alone Pakistanis. Some South Indians even like black guys. It's ridiculous to think that we all want to worship white skin and North Indians. I don't think it's right to token a Pakistani in a white boyband and promote it worldwide when it also supports racism against South Indians because there are essentially no South Indians in western culture, especially with the same fame as 1D. There is also the need to point out that Middle Easterners/South Asians are far more racist than other races/ethnicities. A lot of shit exists between Muslims and Hindus, Pakistanis and Indians, North Indians and South Indians, colourism, etc... Pakistanis v Indians are worse than Arabs v Jews in many ways.
I think your position is fundamentally flawed. You claim that whoever is pushing 1D's fame is neglecting South Indians. But really, how is that the case? Can a person like anything without necessarily disliking something else? For your claim to be true, there would have to be some South Indian alternative to 1D, or at least someone to potentially fill the role and being crushed out of contention for racist reasons. If Zayn is(was) the "token" in 1D, then why isn't every group the same way? They just weren't built with this commercial idea of diversity in mind. They had who they had, and it worked. It's just grasping at straws as I see it. I understand how you might feel pushed under the rug because South Indians are underrepresented, but that's not a failure of any group who happens to be of other origin. I live in America; that doesn't make me a nationalist who believes every other country is unworthy to be lived in. After all, one can realistically only live in one place at a time. And likewise, people can only devote attention to so many celebrities. They have to choose which ones they like the best.
