Ask me about D&D + cultural appropriation and you get a hot take I'm sorry

Also, how many different ways can I say:
" Focus on *end-goal* prioritises assuaging the consciences of folks with power;
Focus on *process* addresses material conditions of marginalised folks. "

Text:

"Cultural appropriation can be a useful tool to talk about material inequalities between the privileged and the marginalised, between metropoles and the colonised world. But how it is popularly discussed in the West feels like a red herring, to me.

1/?

"Take a question like: 'Would it feel weird for Dungeons & Dragons to make something SEAsian inspired?'

This question is ultimately concerned with the behaviours and actions of (American, corporate) WOTC / the Dungeons & Dragons brand.

2/?

"It centres what D&D should or shouldn't be doing. Whether D&D is or isn't ethical -and, by extension, whether the (generally Western) audience for D&D is or isn't making a mistake.

The question doesn't particularly care about Southeast Asians, really.

3/?

"A better question to ask would be: 'How can more Southeast Asian creators participate equitably in RPGs?'

Focusing on the means by which culture is produced, the ways we can make those processes less unequal, would make the most difference to marginalised creators' lives.

4/?

"And, as the power differential in the field of expression lessens, the ethical urgency of 'who gets to write what how?' unsnarls itself.

5/?

"Thinking about this *does* mean thinking about how creators / audiences in the West may need to give up their place as the default centre of the conversation, though -which is probably why it doesn't happen often."

6/6