Still I Rise tattoo - inappropriate for a white woman?

[teawamutu]

Probably stupid middle class navel gazing, but...

Maya Angelou's poem is the most inspiring piece of writing in the world to me. Beautiful and uplifting and universal.

I've been toying for ages with getting a line from the poem as a tattoo, but concerned it would be cultural appropriation. I know MA was a self-declared feminist but that's not the primary focus of the poem.

Would you? And MNers who are POC, would you find it disrespectful?

I think that if you have any doubts you shouldn't get the tattoo.

To me it is also about the struggle of being female and the problematic male gaze so I can't see a problem with it.

Every single thing you do will fail at least purity test. Get whatever tattoo you want but make sure you love it and are proud of it and have the stamina and energy to stand up for it, because in today’s deranged climate, someone somewhere will object to it.

@merrymouse

I think that if you have any doubts you shouldn't get the tattoo.

Well, there's that

I'm considering a first tattoo for my next significant birthday, so not definitely committed. If it was going to be anything it'd be Still I Rise but not if it's going to be offensive, is all.

I’m not a fan of ‘stay in your lane’ stuff (beyond not speaking FOR others) - how do we heal divisions when we keep entrenching then?

Is there are foundation or charity connected to Angelou’s memory? If so I would donate the exact amount of the cost of the tattoo to the foundation.

That way you honour both her inspirational words but also make a contribution to a better, brighter future for black women.

(I’m not black tho!)
(But I am extensively tattooed)

I wouldn’t, just because if you have niggling doubts now you will probably feel uncomfortable about it. Maya Angelou was a feminist, but I do think she detailed a specifically black female struggle. However if you feel this verse speaks to you personally and you have overcome something particular challenging then why not? I don’t think it’s cultural appropriation.

I'm liking the charity donation idea. Think I'm feeling the need to nail my colours to the mast in some way, you know?

The roots of the phrase ‘still I rise up’ are biblical.

It just makes me think of baking. Sorry.

In the context of the poem, I like it, but not sure about the short phrase on its own. Generally, though, I'm not a fan of tattoos, so possibly my whole opinion on the subject is moot.

Baking

I like it, but not enough to immortalise that love on my body.

MN is so great for RL advice.

It’s an amazing poem. One of my favourites too.

Yes, it is a feminist poem, but primarily it’s about the resilience of a black woman against current and historic oppression. I don’t know if it infringes any copyright rules to copy and paste it, so I’ll just include a bit from the end for anyone unfamiliar with it:

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

It would be cultural appropriation to take her struggle as outlined in her poem and present it as somehow equivalent your own. I don’t necessarily think a tattoo is doing this - although as a PP said, be prepared to defend it.

@teawamutu

Baking

I like it, but not enough to immortalise that love on my body.

MN is so great for RL advice.

I have a shopping list tattoo.

No flour or baking powder on it though!

I love that poem. I love that woman. I would have it because to me it speaks about both and all struggles.

As a white woman, I wouldn't personally. I think the poem is specifically about the struggle of a black woman, and that the clue is in the word 'I'.

I agree with others: be aware of the fact that someone might "call you out" on appropriating someone else's cause. Some things done with the best intentions have a habit of backfiring. I can imagine that it might fall into the same category as cornrow hairdos in the future and the trouble with a tattoo is that it's permanent.

Up to you but I think this one is tricky. This poem is rooted in the idea of being oppressed as a black woman due transatlantic slavery. In your shoes I would probably select another poem about the resilience of women against oppression due to sex for a tattoo.

I do think that a quote from that particular poem as a white woman might not quite hit the spot, although it's an amazing poem

My first reply didn't load strangely. Simply put yes this is cultural appropriation. This poem is very much written about the black women's struggle. But whilst you relate to some of it and can recognise your own struggle in it. The language used in the poem is specific to the black womens experience. You would in choosing lines from it, I assume be leaving out the specific black/ slavery references. So for this alone I would say don't get it unless you want POC of colour to judge you and be prepared to defend it as she is very much still loved and adored in our community.

It’s an incredible poem. But no, not appropriate for your tattoo, for the reasons everyone has given.

@NoAdventureNoTime

My first reply didn't load strangely. Simply put yes this is cultural appropriation. This poem is very much written about the black women's struggle. But whilst you relate to some of it and can recognise your own struggle in it. The language used in the poem is specific to the black womens experience. You would in choosing lines from it, I assume be leaving out the specific black/ slavery references. So for this alone I would say don't get it unless you want POC of colour to judge you and be prepared to defend it as she is very much still loved and adored in our community.

This was exactly my fear - thank you for the perspective. Definitely going to stick to just reading it

I have a line from it, but it's on a thigh tattoo that isn't visible day to day

What about "Courage calls to courage everywhere." instead? You need fear failing no purity test with that. Millicent Fawcett said it after the death of Emily Davison.

I also think the idea of donating money to ease your white guilt in appropriating a culture not your own is quite telling.

@NoAdventureNoTime

I also think the idea of donating money to ease your white guilt in appropriating a culture not your own is quite telling.

That is not fair.

I took that suggestion as donating INSTEAD OF getting the tattoo as an expression of solidarity.

... As in, solidarity as women, with women.