The community event attended for this paper was called Cultural Appropriation, Creativity and Innovation: A Round Table, it was hosted by Indigenous Initiatives Office, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. The event included three guest speakers; Professor George Elliot Clarke, Professor Margaret Jane Radin and Meera Estrada. Ultimately, each speaker aided in enhancing the participants comprehension on this problem. Firstly, Meera Estrada is a freelance journalist that has a fashion background. Estrada’s work has been featured in multiple media segments where she often appears as a Fashion and Culture Expert. Subsequently, Professor George Elliot Clarke teaches at the University of Toronto in the English Faculty and is well known poet. His …show more content…
Estrada explored the magnitude cultural appropriation on Indigenous elements. Estrada referred to instances I was familiar with such as when American lingerie/women’s wear designer Victoria’s Secret utilized knock off native headdresses in its famous fashion show in 2012. However, I was not aware that they repeated this again very recently in their 2017 show. Additionally, Aboriginal culture is frequently appropriated at music festivals such as Cochella. Estrada not only highlights these events she explained the significance, these events are essentially utilizing a sacred aspect of Aboriginal culture without any awareness of its value, culture is not a costume. Personally, I have struggled to explain the severity of cultural appropriation to some of my friends as they merely thought these events were celebrating culture. Ultimately, Estrada explains its significance in a comprehensive way that I feel as though I am able to share with others. Furthermore, Estrada provided a three-key point to prevent cultural appropriation. Firstly, respect is very important, treat every culture with respect and you will become more mindful of the presentation and usage of cultural elements. Secondly, context is critical, the circumstance in which individuals are adopting the culture is vital. Therefore, people need to be able to evaluate whether the situation is appropriate and whether it is fostering appropriate cultural exchanges. Lastly the third point is representation, if individuals draw inspiration from a culture such as Indigenous customs or clothing ensure that if this is to be presented ensure people of that origin are also present as this promotes respect and acknowledgement to people of that culture. In general, Estrada’s solution aided to reinforce the consequences of cultural appropriation and the necessary action to take to ensure this is
Cultural appropriation, as described in Sabeen Sandhu’s article “Instant Karma: The Commercialization of Asian Indian Culture,” is not new. Rather, it is the latest iteration in a long history of Western imperialism and exploitation of other cultures and societies. Using a primarily a symbolic interactionist lens, in her article Sandhu highlights two fundamental aspects of appropriation that differentiate the phenomenon from appreciation: the focus solely on one facet of a symbol and commercialization.
“Art can use the power of visual image to challenge and even change popular opinions about important and universal issues. Art can be a very influential way to give a strong, direct comments and criticisms on things that have happened in society and culture.” (Rehab-Mol J, 1998, p6) Indigenous art is mostly about connecting to their land and their religious belief; however, art has different forms, especially the Indigenous contemporary art as it uses ‘modern materials in a mixed cultural context’. (Aboriginal Art Online, 2000)
UK, The Week. “Cultural Appropriation: What Is It and Why Is It Wrong?” The Week UK,
For example, Rock’n’roll stems from the miscegenation of rhythm’n’blues and hillbilly music, which all are black music genres. However, Rock’n’Roll is known as a “white” music genre because it was appropriated and repackaged to suit white artist as the American industry refused to associate with black artists. In addition, Elvis is credited as the “King of Rock and Roll” in today’s music industry. I would also be sure to cite and provide examples (real incidents or hypothetical situations) of cultural borrowing in different contexts. After all of those segments, I plan to examine how culturally appropriative Halloween costumes contribute to racism and the exotification of Indigenous people. I will also make sure to address and acknowledge some counterarguments, particularly the counterargument regarding freedom of
Indigenous art is well respected and popular in the global art market and is commonly preconceived as art that is purely primitive, reflective of the primordial nature society associates with the Indigenous culture. However, it is important to be conscious of the impact White Australians have on the identity of Indigenous Australians and their art. In Michaels’ case study “A telling Secret” (Michaels, 1988, p.203) he explores Indigenous identity and the common preconception that society has that Aboriginal art is authentic and primitive, by exposing the external White Australian influences in the industry. He thus challenges his readers to question their prejudgments on what they would classify as legitimate and pure Aboriginal art. Michaels sets out to question whether we determine it on the process of production and circulation or purely by the product (Michaels 1988, p.
As people, like myself, who aren’t oppressed for their skin color, culture, or religion, it’s hard to sometimes understand what it feels like to have someone appropriate their livelihood, more specifically, someone who is appropriating someone else’s culture. I imagine it, on a much smaller scale, to be like doing a group project, but one is doing all the work and the others take all the credit. The result would be one not receiving any of the rewards. People would call them “creative” and “hard-working”, when in reality, they just showed up and didn’t contribute anything at all. Amy Stretten’s “Appropriating Native American Imagery Honors No One” provides a multitude of resources that go along with her main point of why appropriating the Native
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.
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
In this paper I’m going to show how African Americans have used hip hop and black hair are two ways in which African Americans embrace their culture and fight oppression. However, as we have reviewed in many classes, oppression is not easily escaped. So in this paper, I’m going to show how cultural appropriation is used as a way of oppressing black culture. So this paper is an expansion of what we have learned in the class.
Have you ever taken offense when you saw someone dressed in traditional garments from your culture? In America, this happens quite often. Some people may not recognize it and some refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. Cultural appropriation is a situation in which a dominant culture steals aspects of a minority culture’s, such as hair, clothing styles, and music.
This also brings up the questions of: Can cultural appropriation be defined and can it be avoided? With the new fads of Chinese character tattoo's, Hindu god t-shirts, and the selling of such things as Native sweat lodge kits and ceremonies, does this not show that North Americans can appreciate other cultures and that western culture has become a product of a multicultural society.1 Through examples of film and art, sports, and religion, I will answer the following questions and specifically how cultural appropriation has affected North American First Nation peoples. There is much confusion when it comes to the meaning of cultural appropriation. The literal meaning begins with Culture-Anthropological: the sum total of the attainments and learned behaviour patterns of any specific period, race or people; Appropriation's meaning is to take for one's own use.[2] Most people today then know cultural appropriation then as "to take someone else's culture to use for your own purpose".2 I believe that the argument is not that appropriation is "stealing", as some people claim, but that it does matter how a person goes about putting to use the knowledge
...e to preserve traditional culture as well as be a part of modern culture is discussed within the exhibit. We can see this struggle in a scene depicted in the exhibit of women weaving in a modern home with a traditional room, while the men sit on the couch and read comic books. We see the melding together of tradition and modernization. Traditions like weaving and pastoral life in the Diné home serve as a teaching tool to remind young people where they come from and who they are as Diné people. It shows them how to be Diné in a colonized world. While maintaining tradition had become difficult at points in their journey, Diné persevered and adapted to change while maintaining tradition. They remain one of the largest groups of indigenous peoples in the Southwest today.
According to Schneider, defining “authenticity” is a battle between indigenous peoples and the tourists who purchase their arts and crafts. As “tourist” art grows with the realization of international tourism as means of development and economic growth in marginalized communities, foreign assumptions affect the perception of indigenous arts and crafts as “legitimately” indigenous. Indigenous peoples readily “transform” functional items into feasible commodities; “goods such as “indigenous blouses and shawls” easily become “alien place mates and pillow cases,” enabling indigenous peoples to survive (Schneider 80).
Cultural appropriation is a recent norm that has now become common place in society. Due to the globalisation of media and the free access to information via television, public broadcasting, and the internet, different aspects from worldly cultures have now been used in fashion trends, music and film. By ‘adopting’ these aspects, it is
In todays society there are many different cultures that individuals identify with. Culture is very important to many people and is something that helps define who we are. When different cultures are respected and appreciated it is a beautiful thing, it can bring individuals in society closer to one another. Ideally this understanding of one another’s cultures can lead to multiculturalism. 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