How Maps Subconciously Reinforce Orientalism

youarenotyou:

rubyvroom:

queernonymoose:

So I am going to be spitting some knowledge that has kept me from falling back asleep last night.

Now, to discuss maps I gotta refresh some of y’alls memory because geography is probably the farthest thing in the world for you right now. In fact I doubt they are teaching any of it in schools anymore since I’ve left elementary and middle school.

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I never even thought of that. Wow.

It’s bizarre just how weird that second map looks to me. Even though it’s objectively correct. My brain actually skips over it, like whoa that’s wrong. Stupid indoctrination.

Here’s the map thing that bugs me : the standard maps that USians see are based on a design that exaggerates the size of the Northern Hemisphere, like so:

which has the weird effect of making Africa and Greenland approximately the same size. That’s not even close to true. 

A more reality-based version of this map, using the actual measured land size of all the continents, looks like this:

Hey look! Suddenly Africa’s a whole lot bigger! So is Brazil, and India, and much of the Middle East. Meanwhile, Europe and North America got smaller. Did anybody get this second map in their schools? I sure didn’t.

also this blew my mind

I’m so used to seeing the spatially correct map that seeing it the other way totally blows my mind. I think all the maps I encountered in Japan were set up that way. Also, upside down map…mind blowing!