This goes out to everyone who uses the word, not just people from the EXO fandom who insist that it is the “best fanname”.
Some definitions of exotic:
- of foreign origin or character; not native; introduced from abroad, but not fully naturalized or acclimatized: exotic foods; exotic plants.
- strikingly unusual or strange in effect or appearance: an exotic hairstyle.
What I would like to talk about the most is the ‘exotification’ of cultures. To call a culture, person, place, or whatever as something that is ‘exotic’ is basically alienating the subject, saying that it is different from a ‘norm’. Basically: different from the western ideals of norm. (Non-caucasian, different traditions and everything in culture compared to ‘western’ values and such, etc.) People and cultures have been glorified, misrepresented, stereotyped, and fetishized throughout history and the use of this word is negative in so many different ways, shapes, and forms.
It makes me so uncomfortable to associate the boys, kpop, and etc with this word. I’m not the only fucking person who feels this way and frankly it’s really gross that people are like “EXOTIC IS THE BEST FANNAME!!!!!! I’M PROUD TO BE AN EXOTIC!!!!!” and that “EXOtic Faces” project uh wow just the title itself. No.
Perfectly said. It would be an absolute shame for any fandom to adopt a word that demeans the culture it is trying to embrace (I know I’ve never used that term for this exact reason). There are still many other great options out there…