• wewbull@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    arrow-down
    44
    ·
    19 hours ago

    A ritual dance is physical intimidation?

    Yes

    I suppose you’d say having aggressive body language (looking angry) is physical intimidation too.

    Yes (but just looking angry is not body language. It’s a facial expression. Screaming at someone with your arms flailing is aggressive body language)

    Do you even know the history of the Haka? It’s a warrior’s dance to intimidate their foes. Modern haka can have many meanings, but that’s it’s root.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      8 hours ago

      Its root is in physical intimidation before battle yes, but on the floor of parliament it’s clearly intended as an act of cultural display of resistance, not one of “do as we say or we will hurt you”.

      The modern suit comes from military uniforms. Hell, they have a guy with a mace when parliament is in session. This military imagery has come to the authority of the democratic process and appears at least throughout the anglosphere, but it’s using military imagery to do so.

      Just as the colonizer uses military imagery to represent the authority and tradition of institutions, the colonized may use their own military imagery to represent opposition to colonial acts.

      • wewbull@feddit.uk
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        7 hours ago

        Yes there’s lots of ceremonial aspects to parliament and if they wanted to include more maori tradition into it, I’d be all in favour.

        This is akin to randomly bellowing out the national anthem in the middle of a voting session but with more bite. I’d expect somebody doing that to be sanctioned too.

        • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          6 hours ago

          This is akin to randomly bellowing out the national anthem in the middle of a voting session but with more bite. I’d expect somebody doing that to be sanctioned too.

          With the harshest punishment ever given within their government?