Friend set her phone assistant's voice to my accent.

[u/suzyyyybae]

I met up with a friend today and the first thing I noticed was her phone assistant was talking with the same accent I have except more pronounced. I could tell she didnt realize/maybe forgot to change it from her facial expressions. I asked her why her phone assistant has that accent and she told me she liked it because it was funny. I told her I didnt understand what was funny and she said she'd change it but we were in a rush and she couldnt.

Its been bothering me the entire day and I cant tell if its offensive or Im just being bothered over nothing.

Edit: Im Korean and the accent was a Korean accent. Ive worked hard to get an American accent and its pretty good imo but sometimes my Korean accent slips through. The friend is white. She has never said/done anything racist before and as far as I know, she is not a kpop/kdrama fan.

[u/fullmoonlune]

My mom for some reason has her Siri set to an Indian accent (we are white) just because she loves the way it sounds. Idk if it’s wrong or not but it sounds really strange giving her directions in the car

[u/Big_Code_7838 → u/fullmoonlune]

There's a difference between thinking an accent is cool and wanting to hear it all the time and thinking it's funny and are making a joke of it. Is your mom making fun of it?

[u/fullmoonlune → u/Big_Code_7838]

No but other people make fun of her for it because it’s kind of strange. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone watch her ask Siri a question and hear the Indian accent without making a comment or joke

[u/crescentmoonrol → u/fullmoonlune]

I think people's first thought would be racism because it often times is, but I totally get her. I once listened to an author read there own book and they had a really soft voice with a thick Manderin accent I thought it sounded so comforting and pretty and I could understand them fine. I would definitely set my phone to that if it didn't appear racist to others

[u/inky_fox → u/fullmoonlune]

I also have mine set to an Indian accent because I just think it sounds so good. I don’t think anyone else has heard my Siri though so I haven’t considered it could be poor taste. It’s just my favorite accent to hear.

[u/Beautyful_amm → u/fullmoonlune]

So liking someone accent is racism? I sure hope that’s not how people are thinking in real life

[u/sososonia → u/Beautyful_amm]

liking an accent and calling it "funny" are two different things and in op's example, it was racist and we (of the view that is racist) understand the nuance of it

[u/Big_Code_7838 → u/Beautyful_amm]

The way no one is saying that. The problem isn't that she has a different accent as her siri the problem is that she thinks it's funny. What exactly is FUNNY about Ops accent? Reread my comment please. I said there's a difference not that it's outright racism to have another accent as your Siri.

[u/fullmoonlune → u/Beautyful_amm]

I think some of the comments are insinuating that white women making their “assistant” have the accent of another race is a micro aggression since they’re making it subservient to them and choosing to give it the accent of another race? Like I said idk if it’s wrong or not just sharing that my mom did it and it does raise some eyebrows

[u/Big_Code_7838 → u/fullmoonlune]

I mean obviously if she likes it then it's not racism. It's not coming from a place of malice/contempt. Also nobody's insinuating anything. Your use of that word makes it feel like you're downplaying the actual microaggressions that pocs go through. You might not understand where we're coming from because it doesn't affect you. But when you have lived in an area where it's predominantly white people, you pick up on the subtle things and subtle messages that they're trying to send off to other like-minded white people. Also this is not an attack on your or your mothers character just to clear that up.

[u/Lala5789880 → u/fullmoonlune]

It’s fetishism when white people do this

[u/fullmoonlune → u/Lala5789880]

Is there no scenario in which having an accent other than your own on Siri or whatever is ok or is it always problematic?