Cultural appropriation

[Londonerlove]

AIBU to be totally annoyed by cultural appropriation.
I read this today and though wtf!

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-44572555

I’m not a fan of kim but if she wants her hair in braids she can have her hair in braids?

Shouldn’t this be praised rather than attacked?
Is eating pasta cultural appropriation?

People shouldn't have to change their dress, habits etc to appease another culture or other people's expectations.

Good luck wearing that strappy top in Saudi Arabia.

Or kissing your same sex girlfriend in a restaurant in Iran.

Why does the minority culture have to be assimilated in order to achieve integration?

@bert misinterpretation 😂😂😂😂

P.s didn’t someone report this post?

@downthestrada people should just wear what they like, nothing wrong with wearing something of another culture as long as respectable. People shouldn't wait for acceptance. Uniform had to be skirt or trousers, but students have been able to wear salwar kameez as uniform since 1990's.

Traditional African clothing and prints are beautiful, should be worn by anyone who appreciate and respects their beauty. Please persevere. I remember being teased for my salwar kameez, told by office colleagues that it isn't smart or office wear, I still wore them as management didn't have a problem and shouldn't have a problem. Same with dreadlocks, hair is identity and nobody should be told what is or isn't smart or acceptable.

Such uniformity is removing individuality, schools/workplaces dictating how people dress is wrong and unacceptable.

I don’t think the minority culture has to be assimilated but wherever you are in the world the host country has its own norms that it’s right to accept and embrace and in some countries it’s bloody that or face arrest.

I do see some of the points here about CM I didn’t before the thread so taking about it is great though.

However I still feel it’s more a negative to integration than a positive even seeing how annoying it can be to the culture that feels used or patronised.

It's interesting that a lot of the cultures that white people are allegedly "appropriating" from are themselves pretty fucking intolerant of the beliefs, and indeed rights, of others, whether outsiders or their own citizens.

The issue of "appropriation" is invariably raised by people living in Western countries who can trace a path back to one of these countries, no matter how tenuous.

Look at some of the students that raise it - they've never lived in Nigeria (for example) & would doubtless be a tad surprised to be set on fire for being Gay if they did live there.

Again animsgantive

Totally agree with you there

Anyway, as I'm unlikely to get dreads or prance around in full West Indian regalia I shall ignore the issue, I'm sure there'll be something else along soon enough for people to get righteously indignant about...

I probably owe someone reparations for something a relative of mine did during the Conquest of the Americas.

I can't see much difference in wearing something because it is trendy or wearing something because you like it. Usually people wearing trendy clothes like what they are wearing. In addition how are others going to know their reasons for wearing stuff. There has got to be more meaningful work people could undertake than checking people have the right attitude to the clothes they are wearing, like checking garment factory workers are being protected.
Even if others wear your cultural clothing their cultural origins will still be there even if those wearing them are oblivious to them. If you know that has to be the key.

Londonerlove

Yes think it was the rude poster. Think they ignored her.

Who on earth told you this? That is not the theory of CA at all...

Er, yes it is. That’s the whole point it’s “your culture and our culture”, “us and them”, separate and distinct cultures rather than blended cultures.

That’s the whole point of CA.

@animaginativeusername I have said all through this that people should wear what they want, again and again. I don't think anybody is asking for acceptance, they are asking for a bit of respect and to not be demeaned themselves for wearing the same thing.

I'm not suggesting uniformity at all, so I'm not sure if my point was clear or if there's been a misunderstanding.

I agree that traditional African prints are beautiful and should be worn by everyone and I think it's great that loads of people think they are beautiful. But, whilst people with African backgrounds are demeaned for wearing the same thing, wouldn't it be nice if there was a solution for this? Or should they just expect to wait and see if things get better? I'm not trying to be difficult, just posing some questions.

Maybe this is a personal thing for me, but I would have a hard time going about wearing, for example, traditional Romanian clothing whilst I knew local Romanians being demeaned for wearing the same thing. At the very least, since I'm getting enjoyment out of wearing it and I like it, I would have to be totally positive about it and let other people know what I had learned about it. But, I think many are not up for doing that.

Do people feel that if they are not the person doing the racism or bad stuff, then they don't feel the need to learn more and can just wear whatever without thinking about it? I'm just interested if that's the case and if it is, then how do things get better for the people on the crap end of the stick here.

A community coming together sharing food, ideas, dress, language etc isn’t appropriation!!!

Yes, but if you subscribe to CA, your viewpoint would be that once someone leaves that event, they regard it as something that they cannot practice outside that event. So they still remain communities with less in common. It would be a bit of a pointless exercise as it would just be a display of exoticism.

If you don’t subscribe to CA, you would believe that it would create a natural exchange which would lead to more unity.

A good example where this has somewhat happened is young people turning away from drinking culture because they have diverse social circles. Food is another one. Listening to the same sort of music another, dance styles have always been exchanged. There are all sorts of ideas and practices which are compatible for different communities.

If you turn that into a minefield though, it’s not going to happen. It will just polarise. Who is going to risk trying something new if they’re going to get abuse for it?

@leahjack has put everything so perfectly in her last post.

"People shouldn't wait for acceptance."

So there is no need to show any thought or sensitivity about your adoption of another culture,religion or race's symbols and signs of identity? You just grab it and use/wear it?

@Leah I agree CA exists and I absolutely do not agree that it means you can’t continue to share ideas, eat different food once you’ve left an organised event!!!!! I really don’t think you understand WHY people get upset about appropriation. It’s about a dominant community taking something of cultural importance from an oppressed community, profiting from that something without care and without permission from members of that community. It’s not about a community integrating and happily sharing their cultures together.

Isn't it interesting that the thread 'champions' of this divisive ideology like to paint themselves as intellectually superior?!

Well, newsflash to the self-appointed keyboard scholars and their sneering righteous indignation; plenty of highly intelligent and qualified people disagree!

You just grab it and use/wear it?

Or in reality, you see it in a shop, think "that looks nice" & buy it.

You're trying very hard to paint people in a bad light when in reality they're doing exactly what people were doing long before "appropriation" became the buzzword for a bored generation desperate to create a stir...

I think the issue here is a community feeling oppressed and not do much CA. If communities didn’t feel oppressed they wouldn’t care as much maybe?

profiting from that something without care and without permission from members of that community.

Ah, so you're saying it's appropriate, but under Licence?

So a portion of the price of Dreadlocks applied to white people is funneled back to Jamaica for example?

How would this be policed? Would there be a vetting process to make sure the recipient is suitable? How would the money get to Jamaica?

Should there be a register and price list of "Appropriations"??

I'm seeing a market here....

Yes, but if you subscribe to CA, your viewpoint would be that once someone leaves that event, they regard it as something that they cannot practice outside that event. So they still remain communities with less in common. It would be a bit of a pointless exercise as it would just be a display of exoticism.

That's not the case though, it's also not what happens in practice. I don't think anybody here is suggesting this. When people go to cultural dance events/classes - the very purpose is to go and use what they have learned. They then, usually, will make sure that everyone knows where they learned this from, delve into the history etc. etc.

From this thread, the majority of the people that say that CA is a problem think:

• sharing both ways is good
• respect and learning would be nice

The people that don't think that CA is a problem seem to think:

• sharing both ways is good
• there's no need to learn or use any sensitivity when using something from another culture.

@downthestrada yes respect and appreciation.

"Yes, but if you subscribe to CA, your viewpoint would be that once someone leaves that event, they regard it as something that they cannot practice outside that event"
I'm not sure why you think that. I would leave laden with recipes, for a start because I'm a cook. And if someone was wearing something I liked the look of, I would ask whether it was something that had any particular significance to the faith or culture concerned, or whether it would be OK for me to wear. Ds would do the same about any music and if it was OK record and sample it.

A bit of respect, learning, sharing and appreciation is not much. It's certainly less extreme than any talk of funds and registers (which by the way is not anything like what people are suggesting).