Americans have fought for the premise of cultural appropriation. They solemnly believe that white Americans have stolen elements of black culture. Living in a country infamous for consisting of many diverse cultures, this concept is not foreign to us. You've probably felt but haven't understood why.
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Like Feminism and all other ism's I think this concept is quite misunderstood. In many cases it's not, and many people use cultural appropriation to mask racism. Telling one culture they can't use elements of another strikes me a having ulterior motives.
Cultural Appropriation: Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of the elements of one culture by members of another culture.
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But understand that cultural appropriation is a very real thing, when elements are stolen and used in a way that defies it's initial purpose. The problem comes in when a majority culture uses elements for a minority culture. Whatever elements the majority culture has taken and how ever they use it, it is what the elements becomes know for.
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If black people start wearing red dots on their forehead for decoration they've taken from Indian culture. In Hindi culture the red dot is worn on the forehead just above the middle of the eyes. It signifies the commitment and prosperity of their husbands. Without this understanding, wearing a bindi (the red dot) for decor to groove, belittles it. In South Africa Black people are the majority and Indians are the minority. When Black people adopt the bindi the original intention of it becomes lost as people confer to it as body embellishments.
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UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING BEHIND ANOTHER CULTURE'S ELEMENT AND CONSIDERING WEATHER IT IS APPROPRIATE FOR WHAT YOU WANT TO USE IT FOR, AND KNOWING THAT IT IS NOT. IS CULTURAL APPROPRIATION. |
Although the resilience of the model conceives that's she's Indian, she's not. She is white.
This is a celebration of Indian wear. It's colour, it's vibrancy, detail and delicacy. It's also wholesomely approved by the members of the original culture, A.K.A my mother and I. |
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