To think wearing clothes from a different culture is NOT cultural appropriation

[MrsMystery]

When I'm at home, I'm regularly in a salwar kameez, they are pretty, comfortable and lightweight. I'm not Asian btw.

SIL has pointed out to me that what I am doing is cultural appropriation

AIBU to think she's nuts?

I don't know. I wouldn't know a what did you call it again if fell off a hangar in Hobbs. I would have had to scroll back up to see what it's called. But if you want to wear one you can I guess. I wear pyjamas and they're indian too I believe.

Hanger sorry.

Because you've decided it isn't?

I don't understand, it sounds like she is being unreasonable, though I can't judge until you explain in a different way, I am tired.

Is it cultural appropriation if an Asian woman wears a pair of jeans and a cashmere sweater? No? So your SIL is bonkers.

Why would it be any different to somebody from a culture with different dress styles wearing a pair of jeans and a hoodie?
Your sil is very strange, does she believe that people should only dress and mix with people from their own culture and heritage? Is she no in effect advocating segregation?

If their is some kind of dress code or social correctness that bars a person from the dress of a different culture it has passed me by my whole life!

YANBU

So what if you are appropriating something from another culture? Why does that automatically have to be a bad thing?

YANBU OP. What you choose to wear is your business and your SiL is bonkers for trying to turn your loungewear into some sort of political statement.

Hi,

Sorry - just to clarify more: I like to wear a particular item of clothing when I'm at home, my SIL thinks that it is inappropriate to wear because it is a culture-specific piece of clothing and I don't belong to that culture.

I think that is a very strange way of looking at things

Personally, I think that wearing an American Indian headdress for example would be disrespectful because of it's ceremonial significance but wearing everyday clothing from another culture is not necessarily cultural appropriation. I'm no expert though. I've always thought saris look nice and I'd like to try one on.

Great counter-argument WilsonFrickett Will have to mention that to her next time she comments.

Do you wear Hareem pants/hammer time trousers? They look comfy for hanging around at home.

More to the point where can I purchase a nice green one

I work a lot in India and generally wear kurtas and shalwar kameez when I'm there. In the UK I wear a lot of my dupattas as shawls, and occasionally wear kurtas with jeans or trousers, but I'm afraid I would feel odd wearing shalwar kameez unless I were going to an Indian or Pakistani wedding.

But if you're just wearing them in private, who cares? Right now I'm wearing an old torn dress as a nightgown.

Perhaps it depends if it is things with a particular significance.

For example, like a person who came to UK and wore a clerical collar, or a wedding dress.

i used to wear one i was 16 and im white british born no one in my town complained

YANBU. I'd love a salwar kameez, I was quite of my friend who had lots of beautiful ones and lots of lovely 'western' clothes too.

My dds have a couple each (we're not Asian either).

Their nanny has dds of a similar age & the girls swap clothes around quite routinely - there are clothes that her eldest dd has outgrown that have ended up being passed on to my dds rather than her own younger girls. Equally, if dd1 grows out of something that dd2 doesn't want, I offer it to nanny's dds as a matter of course.

It's honestly never occurred to me that it's cultural appropriation if dd2 comes back from a sleepover at nanny's house wearing a salwar kameez that she's borrowed, & nanny says don't worry about returning it, she can keep it. Any more than it is if dd1 passes a bag of jeans & t-shirts on to nanny's dds.

I think Topaz25's distinction between everyday clothing & something like a ceremonial headdress is a good one - wearing something like that might be dubious, but salwar kameez is just ordinary, everyday, comfortable & practical wear; it's just a top & trousers.

Just googled the images of shalwar kameezes, wow, there are some really pretty ones, and they look comfy.

Tell your SIL she's barking.

Love mine, am white Irish, but have Anglo Indian partner, does that make it ok? Or does that mean he's forcing his culture on me?

And which culture exactly is it attached to, what do you mean by culture????

You might get a few funny looks wearing it out and about in the UK, but wearing it around the house is no stranger than wearing a Japanese cotton kimono (yukata) as a dressing gown, which I do and I'm sure lots of other non-Japanese people do too.

Who cares if you get funny looks, wear them where ever you want

I wear dresses over trousers. Is this cultural misappropriation?

But, actually, what Wilson says. YY, SIL's bonkers!

She's barking.

More broadly, we need to get past identity politics. It just causes division. Focus on the individual.