Do I think white privelage has something to do with the "white people are diverse, too!" posts? Yes, including mine. But I think a larger part is that oyceter's definition of culture is extremely reductive, and people feel hurt when you say that important elements of their life don't matter. Thats all I was trying to say in my post, and I don't think you can brush that off by just saying, "oh, white privelage". I think people have a visceral response when they feel that their culture is being devalued--look at all the Republicans saying "the queers/liberals/feminists are trying to destroy our beliefs and way of life". Look at all the accusations of "a liberal media" and all the cries that Hollywood and New York are "out of touch" with the true culture of America. They're talking about elements of culture that they feel are being looked down on by other white people.

I'm viewing "cultural representation" and "privelage" for the purposes of this discussion as two different things--related, yes, but different. Are white people and people of color treated differently and afforded different privelages? Yes. Are all white people culturally represented because the face of American TV and politics is white? No.

Look at what oyceter said in her original post: It is even more problematic when you look at means of colonization in the past and how much of colonization involves language and schooling and learning the mythos and culture of the colonizers. Language, mythos, culture. Not just the European standard of beauty. Not just "look like white people", because that is not the only element of culture. Particularly when we're talking about cultural appropriation, that doesn't just include characters who look/are Asian/Mexican/black, etc., we're also talking about elements of culture such as historical context, language, customs, mythos, etc. oyceter (or possibly someone else in the discussion) used the example of Native American and Asian creation myths being used in sci-fi novels with predominatly white characters, written by white writers. In that case, it is not about "looking white" or "not looking white", its about appropriating elements of culture.

What I'm trying to say is that a definition of culture as "looking a certain way" is so broad and reductive as to be entirely useless as a basis of discussion. If we're using "looking white" as a definition in a discussion about white privelage and how people are treated, it works. If we're using "looking white" as a definition of culture in a discussion about cultural appropriation", it doesn't work.