When Does Cultural Appropriation Become Offensive?

How about African-Americans appropriating American Country culture for example?
Or Turks appropriating tradition Dutch clothing?

Also you did not adress the other points I made.

---------- Post added 23rd Apr 2015 at 09:39 PM ----------

 

I just spent thirty minutes writing out an elaborate response to this thread, but I've decided that I just don't give enough shits to post it. For my opinion, view Dain's post.

 

I can understand not getting how cultural appropriation is offensive, particularly if you're not a racial minority. However, there is lots of anecdotal evidence about it. To be honest, in my opinion using an asian country's culture for cultural appropriation might not be the best example because most asian countries lack the huge history of oppression and colonialism from western countries, barring some choice few examples. I'm going to try to tackle this issue from the base and move upwards to cultural appropriation in the hopes that some of you can begin to see where we're coming from when we claim it exists.

A minority can be a minority even if they are a majority elsewhere. Women, for example, are a minority, even though they're basically 50% of the population. When we use the term minority in societal contexts, it's about "a group that's subordinate to a group that's more dominant". See here, and here. It's distinct from a mathematical minority. Many groups qualify as minorities because many groups have been historically and currently oppressed.

Racial minorities culturally appropriating white culture is not possible, going off of the definition of appropriate. Appropriate insinuates a history of oppression from colonialist ideals of exploitation and superiority. White people have not been repeatedly oppressed by other races on the basis of their race, while so many other races have been historically oppressed by white people.

Native people had their land stolen, their children stuck in residential schools, and today are still oppressed and judged unfairly. It's unreasonable to expect a culture to reform and integrate into a society that's been against them from the start without proper aid, which is not forthcoming. The simple effects of parenting have been multigenerational just from the residential schools. Land treaties and deals are against them despite it being their land in the first place. There are lots of stereotypes about native people being lazy or leeches, but it's important to recognize how much they've been oppressed and how much has been taken from them and is still withheld from them even today.

Black people have been slaves, and even though slavery is over, stereotypes still linger. To be honest, I personally am not that familiar with the history of slavery as it's not touched upon in Canadian curriculum or at least in the courses that I took, but I'm sure it's pretty self-explanatory and that others could speak more on that subject.

There's a whole industry towards skin lightening products for people. This is because there is a hierarchy about skin lightness that you can see in many cultures. Logically, it'd seem to indicate some sort of unhappiness with oneself currently, that one could be better or prettier or more appealing if they had lighter skin. It's the same with discontent of eye shape among asians. There is widely available and popular surgery to remove the double eyelid and to widen the eyes so they're not squinty, and there are contacts which can have the same effect, too.

This ties into the media and perceptions of beauty, where the ideal is to be white. Just look at almost all modelling and advertising examples to see it's a white-dominated industry.

Even today, stereotypes are abound in media and people's mindsets. The majority of producers, writers, etc. are white straight cisgender men. That's going to affect who they portray and how they portray them. See here, and here.

The white standard incurs a lot of inherent privilege with being white, and it's a privilege that racial minorities cannot claim and do not have/possess. There's nothing anyone can do about it realistically to stop it, but to deny that privilege is to deny the issues of oppression concurrently happening.

Now that we've established that this oppression has existed and still does, we can tackle cultural appropriation, which is by definition when the dominant group and "standard" takes things from minority groups often while disregarding its cultural significance or meaning, and not facing any lasting negativity.

There's a difference between appreciating and appropriating. One can appropriate without any malicious intent, but it can still be harmful as it highlights an aspect of a culture that one is often shamed for, and turns it into the dominant group's temporary plaything. Examples include people wearing native headdresses and war paint, or bindi or henna to be fashionable, using blackface to be "funny", the Kylie Jenner challenge, and many other things.

People from minority groups "appropriating" white culture is different. It's assimilating, often because of colonialism and its effects which are both still seen today. For example, native people wearing business suits is not cultural appropriation. Remember how they've been placed in residential schools where the explicit intent was to essentially destroy their culture and have them assimilate into a society forced upon them, one that tore apart and stole from them, while often being abused.

Asian people wearing t shirts, for example, is not appropriation either because white people are not mocked or looked down upon for wearing them. Asian people wearing kimonos in western countries can be seen as austere or wrong, and they could be told to wear something less traditional or to stop wearing it because it's ugly, and so on. There's a distinct power difference.

Giving words to something can give it power and can make the issue more accessible. It can give the people who are experiencing something problematic a voice and an avenue to communicate that to others so that it can be considered and start to be solved. One of my teachers told my class that around 50 years ago there was no language to describe sexual harassment and molestation, not the way that there is today. It's the same thing with cultural appropriation. It's something that hasn't had language made for it until recently, but it is a valid concept nonetheless.

Hopefully this has tackled the issue sufficiently and hopefully this helps explain what it is and why it's problematic. There's nothing wrong with appreciating other cultures and sharing things, but appropriation is about the imbalance, when the majority is praised for doing or wearing something while the minorities are shamed for the exact same thing even though it originated from the minorities. Of course, any one individual can't control whether society condemns a minority for something or not beyond their own actions and whether they do so themselves.

Minorities have been and are often silenced or dismissed when they speak out about injustices against them. You can see this with the civil rights movement and feminist movements among many other examples. Listening to these voices instead of ignoring them will allow for a richer and more equal culture and society that's less oppressive and toxic for everyone. My reality as a racial minority is likely very different from someone else's reality if they were white. It doesn't mean they can refute or call my reality false any more than I could do the same to them.

 

This post should be required reading. There is seriously nothing left to say.

For the people who are claiming that "they don't understand the big deal" and cultural appropriation should be accepted because it is simply a case of people showing love or appreciation for another culture. Here's the thing:

Paying respect to another culture is not wearing their clothes. It is not enjoying their music. It is not dining on their cuisines. Those are all very superficial things. You can be abhorrently racist and still love foreign foods. Those things are not signs of respect. Signs of respect are highlighting the beauty of their practices and traditions and abiding by them. If a certain aspect of another culture has religious or spiritual meaning, is meant to be exclusive for the members of a certain status, or is a symbol of their ethnic heritage, then flaunting that article of clothing, tribal tattoo, or religious symbol as someone who does not meet those qualifications is simply not acceptable. Anyone who actually respected the members of another culture would respect that fact without question. Claiming that they are simply material things or random traditions shows your ignorance.

 

How about respecting other people's cultures, whilst also wearing clothes you like and food you like?
Why does this have to be an either/or issue?

 

It is not possible to respect the culture of another while actively taking aspects of their culture and using them in ways that violate their own customs and traditions.

So many people in this thread seem to be under the impression that cultural appropriation a matter of race. As a Native American descendant, I would never wear a native American headdress. As African descendant, I would never paint native symbols on myself for a custom party or receive a tribal tattoo. My respect for those cultures would never allow me to take those symbols and articles of clothing that have great religious, traditional, or ethnic significance and use them for the sake of a quirky outfit. My respect for those cultures stems from my awareness of meaning behind those things and the qualifications that are meant to be met in order for those items to be worn. My race, background, or ability to blend in physically into those cultures are all irrelevant. I am not an actual member of that culture or belief system, nor do I have met the qualifications to present myself in such ways within those cultures.

The most commonly appropriated symbols and items aren't even meant to be adorned by all members of the original culture. It is not disrespectful for you to wear traditional Chinese religious wears because you aren't Chinese. It is disrespect because you are not a member of that belief system. You have no ties to that culture. All Catholics do not run around dressed as the Pope and high priests. It the same way that it is disrespect for an civilian to wear pins and outfits that soldiers have earned in times of war for the sake of style; it is disrespect to wear symbols from foreign cultures that represent achievements, ancestry, heritage, status, etc. There is no way to label such actions as signs of respect.

 

Yawn.

 

You are absolutely within your right to disagree with what other people have to say on the matter and continue viewing this subject as a non-issue. There are many people who do not have close ties to any belief system or traditional culture who aren't able to identify with how these things might affect others and that is fine. Quite frankly, I don't identify with any traditional religious or cultural identity either, so even I can only view these things from a certain perspective.

However, there is no reason to be disrespectful to people who do have strong opinions on the subject. If you disagree then explain why and allow people to understand your perspective. Otherwise, it would be best not to post at all.

 

Then it really just depends on how closely something is tied to culture. You say "T-shirts" aren't a good enough example. It's true. I don't know any Westerners who regard T-shirts as having cultural or spiritual significance. They're about neutral as they come, even if they are not part of other cultures. I guess an example would be seeing someone wearing a nun's habit as a fashion statement. I wouldn't be "offended" by it, as a Catholic, but I'd consider it a little odd and question their motives for doing it. I'd say: do they know what it is they're wearing? Do they know what it signifies?

 

I agree with you so much! :lol:

 

Well, if it's a sacred article of clothing, then I can see why. Otherwise, if it's just a cultural piece, I don't see why anyone should regard it as "offensive". I think we're past the point where people should feel offended because of others' clothing options. If someone is seriously offended by someone wearing an article of clothing from another culture, then we have completely lost the real meaning of racism and discrimination.

 

You mean as insulting as referring to someone as a "White American girl", like it's something dirty, nasty, and offensive?




I am half Native American Indian, and people have been wearing Indian style clothes for centuries. Do you see any Native American Indians getting their panties in a wad because someone outside of the tribe thought the style was significant to their personal taste in fashion???? No.

I have read a few of your threads/posts and I have to say, although you have some good points on SOME issues, your overall concept of peoples habits/perceptions/attributes are overly exaggerated to the extent of psychotic tendencies.

Your ego is overly inflated to the extent of you, yourself, becoming what it is you claim to hate in everybody else. You know what that is called? A hypocrite.

I think it in your own best interest to re-examine your own personal traits, habits, and ways before you start hacking at others.

I would think a fashion accessory is a non-existent problem, compared to some of the other issues you have stated in other threads and posts.


We have a saying here in the Southern USA.......

You need to clean up your own back yard before you go digging in someone elses.

 

Seeing as you used it in a negative and racist connotation is what told me you have negative feelings about that. If you didn't mean it that way, then you need to think before you speak, and especially before you put it in print.

Your words, your phrasing, your general verbal demeanor in all of your posts and threads give way to the feeling you give off, that you are yourself, racist and bigoted. Take that however you want, it is only my observation of everything you have said in your posts and threads so far.

And I AM in a position to analyze you, because you have placed me there, along with everybody else.....other wise you would not be posting the things you do.


If you do not mean what you say, then do not speak.

What you say and how you have said it gives off the "vibes" of someone who is self-serving and a racist. If this is not your intent, then you really need to examine what you say and how it is worded before you put it in print.

I'm not angry and I'm not pointing fingers at you.......I'm just stating what I have read from what you have written, and they way you have written it, comes across as hypocrisy.