What the hell is that anyway?
I've heard the term before. I never really paid attention to it though. It just seemed like another made up thing for millennials to be angry about. I was more interested in it this week though, when I saw the story about the Utah high school senior who wore a Chinese style dress to her senior prom.
You can find the story here;
https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Style/teen-defends-chinese-prom-dress-sparked-cultural-appropriation/story?id=54866211
I read a couple different versions of the story but I still don't get what some people were pissed off about.
The dictionary says, the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture:
OK, so I think I understand what the term probably originally meant, but now like everything else it's being used in a haphazard way just to create conflict. I'm pretty sure that originally, cultural appropriation was taking some important/meaningful facet of a particular culture and turning it into something unimportant/common. I can't think of what that would be for me personally though.
Anyway...back to the girl in the dress. I don't think THAT was cultural appropriation. And if that's how we should be made to think about it, then I would say it's cultural appropriation for an African American to dye their hair blonde. If you are not of Polynesian descent and you attend a luau, isn't that cultural appropriation? How about celebrating cinco de mayo if you're not Hispanic? Or wearing a cross if you're not Christian? Or buying a kimono robe if you're not Japanese? Diana Krall is an amazing Jazz singer, but she's white. Shouldn't she find another career? What about food!?!?!?!? If I fix my own Americanized version of tacos, isn't that cultural appropriation? Oy!
Honestly, we don't need to worry about the government taking away our freedoms...we're doing a fine job of it all by ourselves!
2 comments:
Totally agree with this. It's taken out of context and I am sure there is a time/place for this but it's over used!!!
I love Diana Krall. My favorite piece? An old Jimmie Rodgers song “Prairie Lullaby”. Sometimes her voice is like sex. Oh yeah, I dig Diana Krall. Regarding the subj of Cultural identification. When I lived in Peru seeing Gringo and Euro female trekkers wearing the typical fedoras of Andean women always looked as rediculous to me as it did to the indigenous Indians. But it’s something that needs to be decided on a case by case basis. The girl in Utah doesn’t deserve any criticism. Here at home she’s not offending any indigenous people; if anything I see it more as a tribute or act of respect.
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