Cultural appropriation is a form of racism. A lot of people take things from another culture and give it their own twist. This has become a huge problem and a lot of people have taken a stand to stop this. In 2011, a campaign started showing off that peoples cultures are not costumes. The campaigns posters show people of different ethnicities with another image showing off what people assume about them. For example, in one of the posters there is a male boy holding the image of a terrorist costume with the caption “This is not who I am and this is not okay.” The message they are trying to spread is that we must stop assuming these things based on their background. It is wrong that majority of the people these days judge us on where we come from rather on …show more content…
For example Kylie Jenner has posted an image of herself with cornrows. Using black hairstyles, like braids and cornrows is a huge no to other cultures for the reason of “...getting your hair done in cornrows or an afro is disrespectful to black women who have been discriminated against for years (even fired from their jobs!) for wearing their hair in these ways. Black men and women originally invented these styles because it was the best way to take care of their hair…” (hellogiggles.com). Cornrows originally came from Africa. The hair indicated in which tribe you belonged to, obviously not a lot of people know that and simply just wear it for some type of fashion statement. Another example of cultural appropriation is wearing a bindi. In India, bindis are widely worn by women from many different religious and cultural communities, including Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists and Catholics. A red bindi means a woman is married, a black one is that they are widowed. “But while most would agree that wearing a headdress amounts to cultural appropriation, opinion on the bindi isn’t so straightforward. This may be because not everyone agrees on what the bindi symbolises.”
"For the most part, headdresses are restricted items. In particular, the headdress worn by most non-natives imitate those worn by various Plains nations. These headdresses are further restricted within the cultures to men who have done certain things to earn them. It is very rare for women in Plains cultures to wear these headdresses, and their ability to do so is again quite restricted."
In “The Meaning of Adornment,” a sub-chapter within “Distinction and Display in the Visiting Scene,” Meneley explains how important adornment (fashion) is for Zabidi women. The women made sure that they publicly dress too impressed because they know that their families and themselves will be judged (Meneley 1996: 109). Zabidi women become the active participators when they dress appropriately to their culture to ensure their families’
The Effects of African American Culture Appropriations on the Minority Black Culture The black culture is the minority culture in this instance and in most cases, it is dominated by the white culture which has imposed its ideas on them (Stuckey, 2013). When two different cultures come together, different types of cultural appropriations occur. These include transculturation, cultural dominance, and cultural exploitation. The appropriation between the white and black cultures, resulting in the African American culture, is defined by cultural dominance and exploitation.
Cultural appropriation has been a controversial subject of debate for decades; hence it is not something “new” as society likes to think. The issue of cultural appropriation seems to have recently emerged in the 21st century because technology has allowed information to be more widespread and easily accessed. The borrowing of cultural elements of minority cultures, particularly black culture and indigenous culture, (hairstyles, music, fashion, art, etc.) by fashion labels and designers, celebrities, and the dominant culture often elicits unforgiving backlash from liberals. For example, Kylie Jenner has frequently been called out by the black community for continuously
Some existing Literature on Natural Hair The existing literature on ethnic and racial studies among African-Americans has focused on issues pertaining to beauty and body politics especially on natural hair. Spellers and Moffitt assert that the body politics that one assumes, guides how one relates to a particular political ideology in a particular society. Black natural hair is considered as a way by which the true identity of African women can be understood (Jacobs-Huey). It is a symbol of power among black women; it influences how people are treated by others.
Although concerns about cultural appropriating cultural objects such as bindis, war bonnets, and kimonos have been receiving more attention, the effects of cultural tourism of modern Asian subcultures has been relatively ignored. This lack of attention may be due to the assumption of modernity as Western or a lack of an object that bears significant cultural meaning to the ethnic culture as a whole. However, if the potential effects are left ignored, cultural tourism of modern Asian subcultures may perpetuate harmful constructions of race. The visual analysis of Gwen Stefani and Avril Lavinge’s cultural appropriation of Harajuku culture reveals that it not only reaffirms Asian American female submissiveness and Asian American invisibility, but it also constructs meanings of race and whiteness that excludes American cultural citizenship from Asian Americans.
Hair Care is another popular africanism present in America for African americans. For african american woman going for a natural hairstyle is quite common. Dating back to pre-colonial africa a natural afro hair style defined status and identity. Different styles indicated certain qualitie...
In the article “What is Cultural Appropriation and Why is it Wrong? By Nadra Kareem Nittle and article “The Difference between Cultural Exchange and Cultural Appropriation” by Jarune Uwujaren. It talks about how cultural appropriation and about people wearing and using other cultural things such as the style of the clothes. It is usually known as borrowing but now it is not just borrowing since people who wear things/ objects with meaning and significance from other cultures do not even know the meaning. However, in cultural exchange it is much different when someone uses or does something that other cultures do for example, we celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the U.S, but it is the Latinos that live in the U.S who are celebrating and they are proud
Three works of 1. Senghor tries to create a bond between him and his people by trying to appeal to whites to recognize that back is beautiful. I’m going to use Senghor as the reason or example of the reason why cultural appropriation exists. Senghor is an example because he aims his black is beautiful message at whites instead of blacks, basically creating a plan for them to see what blacks didn’t necessarily see as beautiful and take and then capitalize on it. 2.
“Cultural appropriation refers to picking and choosing elements of a culture by a member of another culture without permission” (O’Reilly). For example, white people steal certain parts of African American culture. They exploit it, misuse it, and whitewash it. “Exploiting a culture deprives the culture of the credit they rightfully
Many African American women have now decided to stop chemically treating and processing their hair, and wear their natural hair that they were born with. African American hair is very different from other hair textures, as it comes in all different forms, textures and shapes. Our hair also grows differently from other races as well. There has been a natural hair movement that has taken place over the last five years where African American women have decided to embrace their natural hair, and no longer be ashamed of their hair texture by chemically relaxing it, straightening it, or wearing hair extensions. By wearing one’s natural hair has sparked a sense of self-confidence and pride in
Instead of being allowed to embrace their unique and personal beauty African-American women have been reared in a society that edifies all things non-black. Light skin and long flowing hair are exalted and as a result many African-American women have bought into this. Oftentimes African American women resort to the use of skin bleachers, wearing colored contacts, hair weaves and using chemicals that contain lye to alter the texture of their hair.
During an interview with Channel 4, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said that “hair is a political thing”. Indeed, the way people wear their hair tell something about them. As the author said, if a black woman wears braids, people will have a certain image of her, as a radical, an artist, a traditional African woman and so on. It opens the debate on what society consider as beautiful. Most of the time, straight hair would be considered as beautiful and professional. In Americanah, Ifemelu has an
This is what I am looking to argue against, the stigma that it's just something we wear and that they hold no meaningful value to us. However, as I would argue, these sub cultures encompass so much more about us that
If the appreciation for different cultures is not done correctly, it can seem to be cultural appropriation. Any piece of a culture can be stolen, mocked, and disrespected, from music, clothing, food, etc. As a society with such a vast amount of cultures, it is important to know the difference between multiculturalism and cultural appropriation. We can unknowingly steal or disrespect another culture all while thinking we are appreciating the culture.