Cultural Appropriation?

[Burgoo]

I've just stumbled across a few articles that make reference to mindfulness/medication and yoga.

Both articles argue that the Westernisation of both activities is "cultural appropriation" and that white folk in the West should think about how they are using these activities in every-day life. The key themes seem to be:

1. We need to acknowledge the concepts and where they originated
2. We must bring attention to the oppression that has been meted out onto minorities and other cultures if we are to use "their" concepts/activities
3. We should never benefit financially from activities that are stolen from other cultures (e.g. white-middle-class women shouldn't teach yoga if they are getting money from it because it is stolen from another culture)
4. We shouldn't just take the bits that are "relevant" to our culture - for example, using yoga for physical exercise and ignore the spiritual aspects of yoga.

So... what are people's thoughts on this?

TABU (they are being unreasonable, people who argue this)
TANBU (they aren't being unreasonable, we need to stop taking aspects of other people's cultures and respect all aspects of them)

I say they because I am undecided and wonder if I am missing something!

It’s just more ridiculous nonsense like having to go around calling people ‘they’.

I don’t know who pushes this sort of BS but I tend to just ignore it all.

I read the specific post you refer too and scoffed at the ridiculousness.

Namaste is a greeting used by Indians and bengalis, it is in Hindi and used in other south Asian languages too.
It’s literally saying hello and goodbye in a different language FFS!
In fact, you might even say greeting in an Indian language might be referencing the ORIGIN of the practice!!!

Who wrote the articles please @Burgoo? Were they Indian?

Interesting that it's just 'white folk in the west' that need to examine their motives for doing yoga. As we all know, any other person of non-Indian descent that isn't white would never be so insensitive

In terms of cultural appropriation - I won't be dressing or using items are that religious or spiritual in nature, or where nations have said please don't, like Native headdresses. But in general, where this has come up before, Eastern and Western countries have said that it's cultural appreciation to see others wearing their clothing or emulating their look.

As an aside, my entire dad's side of the family are all Greek Cypriot with very tight, afro-like 4c curls. No idea what my uncles use in terms of products tbh, but I use products designed for afro hair on my curls because it works better. If those companies don't want my money then they need to be more assertive in telling me.

@Jensandwich many Ashkenazi Jews have type 3 and 4 curls.

Black people and white people have different hair textures. No, your Celtic coarse hair is not the same as Afro hair. Hope that helps…

Black people and white people have different hair textures. No, your Celtic coarse hair is not the same as Afro hair. Hope that helps…

No it doesn't help. Nobody said it was the same. It doesn't have to be. Again, what is your bloody point? Are you drunk?

Yoga that was practiced thousands of years ago was just literally taking a comfortable seat and meditating.
The physical practice is much more recent ,
The asana we do today like down dog , tree , triangle etc etc are about 100 years old .
It's a misconception that what you are practicing is ancient .
Yoga was dying out in India - it was reinvigorated by various key teachers who then actively spread their knowledge to westerners and encouraged them to take yoga back to the west .
I agree that when yoga is taught there should be an acknowledgment of where it comes from, breath awareness , meditation , Sanskrit names etc etc .
But no one is appropriating anything by enjoying yoga at whatever level they like .

My friend went to India years ago and trained with a yogi, got a certificate to deliver classes I believe. She runs a ballet school now, but I suspect she'd be quite upset to read that because she's a white middle class woman she's basically 'not allowed' by some people to practice something she loves. Or pass on that love via classes in her local area.

Do we have to be mindful every time we have a Chinese takeaway or an Indian one?

Initial post to which I wrote my first reply, said : it’s nothing to do with skin colour. It’s about hair type??? Well no, it IS about skin colour because of difference in textures. You now turned around and said oh no look what about my coarse hair??the point is your whataboutery I suppose 😀

I wouldn't have thought the concept of 'cultural appropriation' was really compatible with Buddhism?

They are religious practices.
Would you be fine with people adopting christian practices and making them non religious?

I can’t think of a single cultural practice, item of clothing or foodstuff that isn’t appropriated from a culture. It’s all utterly ridiculous. The good thing is that businesses in the US and so subsequently here, are losing money and customers because of woke ideas, Disney for example. As soon as an idea affects profits, it gets dropped, so I don’t believe cultural appropriation will even be discussed in a decade.

I enjoyed a yoga class. As exercise and relaxing. But ended with a 'namaste' . That changed from an exercise class to a religious thing that made it weird.

I can’t see that it’s considered religious by most. I like it. What makes you see it as religious, out of interest?

@EmmaEmerald I hadn't thought about it being religious at all. Until it ended with a religious phrase. I don't really think cultural appropriation is a thing , but then a post like this makes me consider the crossover of exercise to a group of people then using namaste as a random exercise phrase. I think exercise is for all cultures but is there a better way to appreciate the culture it comes from if we are using namaste but without the understanding. I don't know.

Sometimes I’m fully on board with anti culutural-appropriation positions. I live in Canada and I don’t think it’s (in most circumstances) morally correct for people, who aren’t from a First Nations background, to make and sell wares based on culturally/religiously significant First Nations objects.

In other instances, I find it hard to see the harm.

I’m pretty ignorant about all versions of Yoga but it seems to me that you could neatly bypass any concerns of cultural appropriation just by calling it something else…

Hair is made from a string of protiens called keratin. All hair, black hair, white hair, cat hair, dog hair. It is all fundamentally the same. They all have a medulla, a cortex, and a cuticle. The shape of the cuticle and medulla can vary, hence the different types but it is still the same material.

Someone with very dry, coarse hair will benefit from the moisturizing properties in afro hair products whether they have dry hair because they have 4C hair or because they've bleached the ever-loving fuck out of their hair, or because they're a wire-haired fucking terrier.

Hair products are made for hair type and needs not for skin colour.

I have issues with piss taking, with obfuscating origins and claiming something as ones own whilst at the same time being vile to those whose roots are in that particular culture...

But so much is labelled 'cultural appropriation' now it is bonkers.

I use products designed for type 4C hair, they work far far better for me (as does using a silk wrap or cap to sleep) than other products. I was advised to use them when a friend took me to her hair lady in Cheetham Hill. I had spent YEARS going to white owned salons with people trained in dealing with the types of hair white people usually have, and was sick of coming out looking like a fucking poodle every time.

How far do we go? Lets all stay in our little boxes and not share anything at all, stay in our lanes, probably to do this we'd better not talk to one another or interact in anyway, lets all isolate ourselves from everyone who is from a different culture to our own.

For a lot of us that leaves us with fuck all to eat, wear, do our hair with, build with, drive around in, or on... Britain has been a multi-cultural island for a fair while now!

Lot of bollocks
Do whatever you wish to

It's like saying only Iraqi's can use the wheel as it was a Sumerian invention.

What is 'European' culture and how would one appropriate it?

I would suggest wine making and drinking is European in origin. Also probably cheese production ( this is evidenced by the enzymes those of European descent have for dealing with alcohol and lactose). So a Japanese family for example having a wine and cheese evening would be appropriating European culture. A country house shoot is very British, baking with butter, eggs and flour is really a northern European thing.

Football and Cricket were invented by the Brits in the 1800's now played all over the world.

Is a person who teaches a language that is not their mother tongue for a living, e.g French, appropriating French culture?

They are religious practices.
Would you be fine with people adopting christian practices and making them non religious?

Do you mean in the same way atheists still celebrate Christmas, Easter and even scoff pancakes on shrove Tuesday? Of course Easter and Christmas are really a mash up pagan traditions with a Christian overlay.

At the risk of being 'that person' I believe the oldest artefacts relating to wine-making were found in Georgia, so not European.

But it is interesting! And the wine is good across countries