Am I right to be annoyed by this? (Cultural appropriation?)

[TheincredibleBookEatingManchot]

Or maybe I don't have the right to be annoyed?

A couple I know who are white British have named their dog a Sanskrit word, which is used in Hinduism and Buddhism. Also the woman wore a bindi at their wedding. Maybe it's just because I don't like this couple anyway so anything they do annoys me but I feel weirdly personally annoyed and kind of bitter about it.

I am ethnically half Indian but culturally completely white British and my Indian family were all Christians (and now atheists) so I have no claim on anything Indian/Hindu/Buddhist; it's not my culture they're appropriating.

But still I kind of feel like if I named my pet a word from an Indian language or started wearing bindis then my Britishness, my belonging in this country would be called into question, but this couple, with their pale skin and light hair are secure in their Britishness, no one's going to start questioning their identity or tell them to go "back" to India, so they get to use things from Indian culture to make themselves look interesting and exotic.

And I don't. But I don't want to. So am I unreasonable to be annoyed at them?

I don't think I've expressed myself very well but not really sure how to make myself clear.

Quite possibly I am unreasonable and this has nothing to do with me.

I don't think a dog's name is cultural appropriation, no.
The Bindi thing I might cringe at, unless it was in the 90s when they were free with magazines... But I think everyone there would have seen it for what it was, iyswim.

I’m white British so don’t know if my opinion counts but I’m also Scottish and don’t get upset about English people calling their dog Hamish or wearing kilts to their weddings.
The real issue here is anyone thinking they have a monopoly on what it is to be British and thinking they have the right to tell another Brit to “go home” based on the colour of their skin.

I know a similar couple btw, whose dc name I raised an eyebrow at... But dog's name is a bit different I think!

A couple I know who are white British have named their dog a Sanskrit word, which is used in Hinduism and Buddhism. Also the woman wore a bindi at their wedding.

Why would a white woman wear a bindi? I’d have laughed at her.

I'm Full Indian. My cousin is always boring on on Facebook about cultural appropriation because Prey have bought out a coconut curry or something apparently from where we're from. It doesn't bother me but the Bindi at the wedding I would find weird. I think for the same reason you do.

All I have to say on this is St Patrick's Day.....🍀☘️ how many "plastic paddy's" do we get....does anyone care?

Nope it's not an issue move along

YABU. Cultural appropriation is just a new thing for people to get offended by. You can’t own a style of dress, hairstyle or accessory. Where should we draw the line? Should black women not get weaves?

Ugh why did she wear a bindi!

You an be annoyed all you like, but I feel so tired of people shouting "cultural appropriation!" On behalf of a culture they are not even part of themselves

It is so fake-woke, fake-concern. You don't actually worry about Hindu culture being appropriated, do you

People are allowed to dislike other people for whatever reason.

YABU... You are crying "cultural appropriation" then saying that it's not your culture that's being appropriated. So you're acting like a SJW?

Do you know definitively that they have no links to the India / Asia etc? I don't think you do, and I think your bitterness is based on your assumptions of these "pale skinned, light haired, Britishness"

I think your understandable frustration stems from the fact that you would be treated differently if you did the same. This isn't solved by white British people not wearing a bindi though. That's what generally annoys me about people getting worked up about what is and isn't cultural appropriation. I want to live in a society where people can choose names, clothes, jewellery etc. freely, without repercussions like being told "to go home".

but this couple, with their pale skin and light hair are secure in their Britishness, no one's going to start questioning their identity or tell them to go "back" to India

I got told to go back to France several times when I lived in the U.K.
Not everyone with pale skin and light hair living in Britain is British.
Have you ever been told to go back to India for having Indian ancestry?

This couple, is it cultural appropriation or is the wife bhuddist? Many white people follow bhuddism as it is a religion not a race. It would explain why she wore a bindi at the wedding. Often a partner will go through the wedding ceremony of their partners religion even though it is not their religion. There are also nondenominational weddings as well.

Hopefully someone will come along who is more woke than I am and who can advice. I am almost 50 and cultural appropriation didn’t exist when I was young. I would probably err on the side that they just really appreciated the culture and meant no offence... no defence these days I know.

I am Danish and was recently asked if I felt that everyone using the word “hygge” and baking cinnamon rolls made me upset as it was cultural appropriation .

The only thing that kind of annoyed me back then was an ad campaign for lingerie “what the Swedish au pair will be wearing this winter” and people referring to Scandinavian girls as “always up for it” allegedly based some Norwegan Porn films. It made travelling in Europe more filled with pestering from boys/men. This was a long time ago and nobody has pestered an old bird like me for years .

Yabu.

Totally ott from you.

The only sensible sentence in your op was the last one.

YANBU but unfortunately MN seems to be going through a bit of a white privelege patch so you probably won't come out well on this thread. As for those comparing appropriating Indian culture to celebrating St Patrick's day or naming a dog Hamish... I despair. Not the same thing at all (in an majority white western society).

Based upon your op I would agree that what they've done can be regarded as cultural appropriation.

Are you planning to call them out on it?

Wow, so many posts whilst I was typing

You've said you don't like them anyway, maybe you're just getting irritated by everything they do. @Youseethethingis I'm Scottish too, should we be pissed off about non Scottish people singing auld lang syne at the bells?

Half of the pet dogs in India are called Brutus!
Just saying

@misspiggy19 @noodlenosefraggle @sparklesocks

"Why would a white woman wear a bindi?"

Because perhaps she is a practicing Hindu? Or is religion now race related?

Maybe they are Buddhist or Hindu?

It depends on what the word means. Naming the dog something that is very holy in Hinduism or Buddhism is very disrespectful.

It isn’t cultural appropriation to call your dog a sanskrit name.

@Retroflex well OP would know if she was a practicing Hindu and wouldn’t post about it surely?

For example, calling your dog Shiva would be offensive.