Quote Originally Posted by Maciamo
The problem is that probably don't realise that this is taboo in Western societies.
Which makes foreigners seem all the more odd and unstable when they get upset and make a fuss about it.

as for the katakana thing on TV, while this is rampant in the daytime and variety TV shows, it is not just for short-term foreigners. There are several high-profile talents who have lived in Japan a very long time, are married to Japanese, and are essentially what most would discribe as socially Japanese. However, they still get the katakana treatment while their spouses, sometimes appearing in the very same segment, do not.

Compare this to the treatment of high-profile stars who are of mixed Japanese blood (esp. if they were born and raised in Japan) - they usually don't get the katakana graphics. However, I once saw a show about a foreign woman who had made her life in Japan and her struggles to continue after the premature death of her husband. She had been married to a very powerful business man. Guess what? No katakana. It is open to debate wheather this was due to her social status as widow of a powerful Japanese, or out of respect for her husband. Granted, this program was more subdued that normal TV, but there were still plenty of quotes displayed as the interview went along.

On an even wider level, when two Japanese people get married, one of them [b]must[/b[ change their last name. But if a Japanese person marries a foreigner, the household can have two different names. Why should there be a double standard...? But this is more an example of institutionalized discrimination (don't get me started about koseki and the like) than Maciamo's adept presentation of "cute racism."