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Post by penne on Mar 28, 2015 9:38:55 GMT -5
This is a subject I've never completely understood. I get why it's troubling to appropriate rituals or specific cultural aspects that are dear to a group of people, but the term seems to apply to things like speech as well... Would not having any "cultural appropriation" mean not having any cultural interaction or exchange? What's the difference between the two? In a way, that seems even more problematic to me. Like a segregation of sorts? I don't know. It's something I'm fairly ignorant in, and I've just been wondering about it for a while. These are all totally honest questions. There are people that seem to share the same ideals as me that are pretty vocal about it and I'm just interested/confused. Thoughts?
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Post by B. on Mar 28, 2015 13:35:45 GMT -5
I'm not sure about words or phrases as such, but the kind that you most often come across is cultural appropriation in terms of national dress. For example, non-Hindus wearing bindis as a fashion statement or to look ~alternative~ when in reality that is a part of south asian culture and religion is a little disrespectful because it trivialises an entire group of people as something that can simply be worn for show or vanity of sorts. Similarly, non-native americans wearing native american headdresses as a fashion statement is offensive because the war bonnet is a sacred part of their culture.
So in summary; person eating sushi/curry/whatever = chill person using cultural rituals and traditions as something 'edgy' or 'hipster' = not chill.
Sources: am half south asian myself
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Post by soufflé on Mar 28, 2015 14:14:44 GMT -5
i actually wrote an opinion about this not too long ago appropriation is abusing another culture's symbols, usually ignorant of their significance or purpose healthy cultural "cross-fertilization" is more of an exchange process with both cultures educating each other about customs/what have you in terms of the speech thing, it's a bit harder to claim "appropriation" for something so fluid. though i can sort of see how some people were initially offended when rich white kids adopted "bro" and "yo" and things like that. but still it's difficult to prove that words or phrases are part of your culture, and that it would be hurtful for others to say them.
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Post by bandit on Mar 28, 2015 14:38:17 GMT -5
I highly doubt the majority of people who appropriate cultural dress are trying to be edgy. I've seen it most commonly in outfits deemed "exotic" by celebrities-- e.g. Selena Gomez including the bindi in her stage makeup-- or stereotypes of specific races-- e.g. the Cleveland Indians mascot. In both cases the usage is largely fueled by ignorance, and although it's reasonable for someone with a certain background to be offended by the casual implementation of their traditions, I'm not sure where you're supposed to draw the line. A lot of the borrowing stems from the fact that cultures in a ritualistic setting are often the only representation Westerners receive; Vikings are typically depicted with that huge, spiked war helmet, for instance, despite the fact that it was only used in religious ceremonies. Similarly, many practices are only sometimes or never connected to religion/ritual/sacredness, but could still cause offense when used by someone who didn't share its heritage. When can one ever feel "safe" adopting another culture's customs, even if out of simple appreciation?
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Post by penne on Mar 28, 2015 19:57:09 GMT -5
Yeah, that's pretty much what I thought and I agree with that. I was just sort of confused on the limits of "cultural appropriation", especially when it starts to look a lot like plain cultural exchange, but I found this article really enlightening.
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Post by Charlie on Mar 29, 2015 1:46:18 GMT -5
I got halfway through that before realising I'd already read it when trying to figure this out myself. Idk anything really. Also, maybe irrelevant, but this is a tumblr kinda about that with a semi-helpful faq and about a billion links to educate oneself with. thisisnotjapan.tumblr.com/post/39701055486/faqI still have no idea tho.
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Post by Poe's Coats Host Toast on Mar 29, 2015 10:20:01 GMT -5
I like this assessment from the link above: "Where is the line between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation? When you start dehumanizing people and place your emotions/expiriences/pov higher than theirs so that you’re okay with using their culture as a tool for yourself."
I think above all, appropriation finds place when you take something from another culture out of its context and thereby usually reinforce stereotypes. Often people do it because they're ignorant of the significance of and surrounding the thing they appropriate. I remember, f.ex., when there was the 2011 earthquake&tsunami in Japan, many designers used Japan's Rising Sun flag in clothing sold to support victims of the disaster, which was considered insensitive due to the flag's associations with WWII. Another example that reinforces stereotypes can be seen whenever somebody decides to wear a traditional garment of a different culture without having a clue of what it's used for, or wears it completely wrong (I dunno, kimonos, or mass-produced dreamcatcher necklaces).
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Post by BSam on Mar 30, 2015 0:41:15 GMT -5
i love other cultures, and enjoy making their foods etc. but i try to learn enough about what i'm doing before i do it to find out if i'm going too far in appreciation of their culture
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2015 3:23:33 GMT -5
i totally had a native american headdress in my toybox when i was a kid, it was definitely the funnest costumey thing in there. was that kind of stuff okay back then or was it never allowed?
i kind of have stuff to say on this topic but when i started writing it it wasn't coming out very tactful so i just gave up
great thread idea though pen
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Post by B. on Mar 30, 2015 10:57:07 GMT -5
Yeah,I think that few, if any, people set out to be offensive in terms of cultural appropriation, most of the time because they just don't realise its a thing. I think there should be more awareness though.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2015 19:33:46 GMT -5
or people could just stop allowing themselves to get offended when there's no offense meant tbh
nope, still no tact
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