Cultural Appropriation Is Ok With U.S.
The Twilight Zone aired an episode in 1960 called The Four of Us Are Dying. The episode follows a con man capable of changing his appearance by merely looking at the person he wants to become. His whole life he has slipped by, without a conscience, using his ‘talent’ to mold into other established people’s lives. He takes advantage of his ability and finds ways to rob his victims of their identities, fame, and personal acquaintances. In today’s pop culture, especially pop music, this flagrant disrespect for culture and counterfeiting of style are diminishing the credibility of many popular artists. Similar to the man in The Twilight Zone episode, there are artists in the spotlight today that need to be reconsidered for their ‘unique’ styles. Cultural appropriation is becoming a mainstream ‘white crime’ in today’s pop music society. Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea, and Robin Thicke are just a few
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Forbes had Katy listed as making $2 million per city she toured and had a total of 126 shows in 2015. The site that tracks the wealthy and famous has Katy as 3 out of 100 on the highest paid celebrities of last year (Forbes). Katy, along with other white artists abuse of foreign cultures accentuates a major flaw in today’s pop culture society and society in general, racism. A large part of American culture marginalizes anyone who isn’t a non-Hispanic white person. If this isn’t a thoroughly convincing statement consider this: as of 2013 there were 939 active Hate Groups in the US, up from 888 after President Obama’s election to office (Rozsa). Blatantly, white people still do not want to see people of different nationalities as contemporaries. Because of this a certain oxymoron is developed in hip-hop when white artists try to mimic their black counterparts and it fuels the cultural appropriation argument. We’re trying to copy something we
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
Miley Cyrus ' 2013 VMA performance at the VMA’s created immediate controversy. The once wholesome star of Disney 's Hannah Montana came onto the stage scantily dressed, singing a song that celebrated drug use, as she twerked all over her full figured, black female backup dancers. A multitude of articles were written about her performance; some were outraged, and some defended her right as a liberated young woman to express her sexuality. Two writers who expressed their outrage were Tressie Cottom and Hadley Freeman. Their complaint was that the sexualization of the heavier black dancers by a slim white woman was cultural appropriation, Although the two writers were on the same side of the argument, they looked at the situation from different places.
Over the past couple of years, you have probably heard this word more than ever. Cultural Appropriation
In this day and age, pop music dominates the airwaves at every turn. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, and many are commonplace names among teenagers and younger demographics not only in the United States, but all around the world. The United States has accepted the position of international, cultural role model long ago, dating back to the 1950’s when rock and roll caught fire as a hybrid of blues, country, and jazz and spread to the rest of the world almost infectiously. Since then, every major artist that comes out of the United States has easily become a global icon, regardless of the language or nationality of their adoring fans. However, one could conceive that this glamorized version of music comes less from the soul of the artist and is merely born of fiscal ambitions and visions of grandeur. The point made previously is not to critique any pop icon’s talent, which clearly they have proved to possess an abundance of it to keep the public swooning at their every whim, but instead, to show that there are musicians out there producing beautiful music without the threat of corruption and adherence to mainstream culture.
Although we have taken monumental strides in the past fifty years towards racial equality and diversity, it is still commonly argued that popular culture lacks some sort of racial representation. In the United States, the people who live here are vastly diverse when it comes to race and culture, yet in the media people of color get marginalized and stereotyped everyday in film, music, and etc.
However, that is not the case. White artists are taking the styles and genres of African Americans and turning them into a mockery, and on top of all that, they are being rewarded for it. When said they turn these styles into mockery, it means that they change up the style into something completely different than what it originally was. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis are prime examples of artists appropriating hip-hop. “During the 2013 MTV’s Video Music Award, artists Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won an award for best hip-hop video, beating popular African American hip hop artists. Two white men won an award for appropriating hip-hop. Hip hop originated from African Americans, and having a two white artists win an award for misusing our culture’s music is not acceptable” (Cadet). In hip hop, African American artists talked about their plight as African American men and about the struggles growing up. However, these white artists won an award for just taking the style and talking about anything important. They do not talk about their plight because they do not have one comparable to African Americans. They do like musicians did in the past: take the music from African Americans, and then take away the color. “But we cannot blame individual white artists for the inequitable way they are received by the American public—the way their performance of black cultures is
Cultural Appropriation and Its Effects On Other Cultures This past Halloween I dressed up as a China Doll; in my black traditional Asian dress, white painted face, rosy pink cheeks, black eyeliner, and my hair held up in a bun with chopsticks. I originally thought that this costume would be rather attractive and fun. However, I began to question myself after a young lady approached me and asked, "Are you suppose to be an Asian person? " I immediately replied, "No, I am a beautiful China Doll".
Will sexism ever come to an end in today’s society? Are women going to let men step all over them? Jennifer Mclune discusses in her article, Hip-Hops Betrayal on Black Women, how black male singers objectify and degrade black females in the music industry. The purpose of this article is to show how black women are being deceived in the hip hop industry and being used as sex symbols instead of showing them for their true colors. Mclune (2015) voices her strong argument in attracting her audience by using ethos, tones, and the use of word choices.
The music industry’s history is a convoluted mess. There is no real consensus on what the music industry IS and what paths it has taken. Were the Beatles the greatest band to ever exist? Maybe. Is there a hyper objectification of women throughout the “men’s club” that is the music industry? Probably. It’s this hard to define, frankly confusing business that is worth roughly $130 billion dollars today. With it’s flimsy and opaque edges, can the music industry ever be called into question on its wrongdoings? The racist undertone throughout its history may force it to. With the music industry as an ever growing business that seems to change almost every decade, the one thing that has not changed throughout time is an undercurrent of racism that
Disrespecting women through music Imagine you're somewhere with your friends and you are relaxing listening to music. The beat comes on with the artist, you start nodding your head, but then you realize what the artist is saying in his words. The artist describes a woman, in the most cruel and degrading manner. Only thinking of her physical features and how they come to benefit the artist in a sexual and detached situation.
A lot of these problems are not only because of other culture’s influences, but also their stigmas, perceptions and unpopular opinions. A great example of this is about how many Europeans have set a stigma that there is a certain type of person that is Hispanic and from there closing our minds to the fact that Hispanics, especially those from the Caribbean come in all shades, complexions and hair textures thanks to not only the very notable colonization from Europeans, but also about the less discussed publicized slave trade that involved those from the Hispanic Caribbean as well as many Africans which also was courtesy of the European “colonization”. These events have caused issues that all stem from what a “real” Puerto Rican, Cuban, ect., when really there is not answer to
American Music is influenced by American culture and American society. It is common to hear lyrics that refer to people’s dreams because we are a nation built on immigrants who had dreams. I would assume music abroad would be influenced by culture also.
Pop culture is evident in all aspects of American society but one of the greatest influences is seen in music. Music has evolved so much since the time of the great singers like Elvis and the Beatles. This change can be attributed to advancements in technology but, in some cases, what appears to be growth has become nothing but a lack of talent and dependence on machines and a naïve American people. Many of these artists achieve their fame because of their outward appearance-usually after cosmetic surgery-and the machines that generate their voices. In his essay titled “The Soundtracking of America,” J. Bottum agrees that “western pop songs make us ‘forcibly retarded,’ because they’re so shallow and because we’re compelled to hear the same ones over and over again.” Radio stations only play the so-called “pop” songs and, therefore, we, as a culture, are subjected and even forced to like these often obnoxious tunes. The songs rarely have any merit but are supported ...
Before we engage in a discussion on cultural appropriation, we must first explain what “cultural appropriation” is in terms of both its denotation (i.e. a dictionary definition) and its connotation (i.e. the feeling the term invokes). Second, if “cultural appropriation” connotes something worth avoiding, we should ask whether that connotation is justified in each and every use of the term. To find a workable, informed, and sober definition of “cultural appropriation,” I turned to Oxford Reference, which defines “cultural appropriation” as “the taking over of creative or artistic forms, themes, or practices by one cultural group from another.” Though not central, nor intrinsically tied, to this definition, connotations of “exploitation and
With the music being the highly profitable, capitalist enterprise that it is today, it is no wonder that it is controlled and regulated by a few large conglomerates that exist is today’s world. It is important to make clear that although evidence is being presented of the positive aspects of globalization through music that there is overwhelming evidence that cultural imperialism is more than it seems on the outside. One must keep in mind that cultural imperialism, globalization and the creation of a global village is a business. People are profiting at other people’s loss of cultural identity, they are sold a culture and heritage. With the every growing N’Sync fan clubs and Britney clones, the world is turning into a stage for pop culture and its glamorous unattainable standards.