CULTURAL APPROPRIATION
Cultural appropriation is a concept dealing with the adoption of the elements of a minority culture by members of the dominant culture. It is distinguished from equal cultural exchange due to the presence of a colonial element and imbalance of power.
Recently an interest incident where a white girl wore a Chinese traditional dress to prom. The internet was split. From people being confused on what was going on. To others praising the girl and others hating it stating “My culture is not your prom dress”. The theme of cultural appropriation isn’t a new theme but has only recently become a very widely talked about subject where a few years ago it wasn’t a common phrase or well-known phrase. It’s really interesting because personally I’ve always found it hard to understand when it is wrong and when it isn’t and how to tell if someone is using the culture, taking advantage, misusing or when they are appreciating it. I think in a perfect world the idea of cultural appropriation would be absurd but we don’t live in that kind of world. Especially In places such as America where there is still not fair treatment and all you hear is about police brutality and targeting minorities. The phrase “people love black culture but not black people” has become a very common theme in African American debates and arguments. And if you think about it’s very true. African American musicians and artists have largely impacted fashion, music industry, art and many other forms of the arts very heavily using their cultures to portray themselves, this is clearly evident when you see African American artists or African American songs dominating the music, film arts industry. However, although they are heavily liked in music and entertainment people often ignore or turn a blind eye to the issues they face in America.
Okay before I digress, cultural appropriation is a very controversial topic with an actually extremely negative representation I think largely because of misinformation, misunderstanding. People think that cultural appropriation is “You can’t wear this if you are white” or “You can’t do this if you are black” but that is far from what it is. The problem with cultural appropriation is not actually trying each other’s cultures out, it’s not wearing traditional dresses are a person who isn’t from that culture. It’s more about awareness about the culture, how you portray it and giving credit where it is due. If you wear a Chinese traditional dress rename it and then wear it as a costume that would be cultural appropriation. But, if you go to china or go to a Chinese festival, where the correct Chinese cultural dress and call it what it is, then it’s not appropriation its appreciation. It’s all about being aware that it isn’t you culture and not mocking it and doing it correctly. It’s the same when people wear African hairstyles such as Fulani braids. This cultural appropriation can be seen with people such as Kim K and her family who extremely notorious for appropriation. You can see this with the Fulani braids which she had the nerve to call “Bo-Derek braids” crediting it to a random white celebrity from the 80s when it is African culture and the Fulani ethnic group from west Africa have been wearing literally forever, or earlier with her “boxer braids” which were literally cornrows. This is cultural appropriation because she had the nerve to re-name African braids and not even give credit to the creators. African hairstyles may seem like just a hairstyle to many but for Africans its protection for our hair, it’s our ethnic group, it’s our form of beauty and in the past you could tell so much from a person’s hair in many African countries, such us their ethnic group, their mood and even what position they are in that society whether rich or poor. It’s a huge element for many African cultures.
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Cultural appreciation and appropriation it’s all about respect. If you just control something like that and take something that doesn’t belong to you and claim it as your own it shows that the respect isn’t there at all. We can all experience each other’s culture without mocking it, stealing it and doing it wrong. We have to learn in order to get things write and preserve cultures. The biggest form of cultural appropriation was seen with yoga. Yoga was used as a form of heritage for many Asian cultures but now it’s been so westernised that its original meaning has become almost lost with many people who believe it’s an American. This is the danger of cultural appropriation because now its original meaning is completely destroyed all because of people renaming it, claiming it and using it recklessly.
There is just one misconception and to be honest I feel like this started because of weak people who can’t handle criticism but “EVERYONE CAN CULTURAL APPROPRIATE”. It’s not just white people who can appropriate culture. If a black woman wears a sexualised Native American “costume” it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still cultural appropriation. If like Kim K an Asian person wears Fulani braids and calls it some random name. It is still appropriation. People of colour don’t suddenly get a pass to disrespect someone’s culture, that not how life works. Anyone can appropriate culture. It’s all about being aware that culture is something that means a lot to a lot of people. So respecting this isn’t hard, we can all share each other’s culture but let’s not forget and preserve the creator because in this world copyright isn’t okay so why would it be okay with culture. Let’s live respecting each other.
