In our new age, social media-strained society, you will find different artists expressing their ideas on a controversial topic. One of the controversial topics is Cultural Appropriation. Cultural Appropriation is a “sociological concept which views the adoption of the use of elements of one culture by members of a different culture as a largely negative phenomenon (James Young).” Consequently, many see it as an appreciation of a culture, while others feel it is a degradation of one. However, cultural appropriation should not be used as fashion, or blatant ignorance without knowledge of the culture first hand. According to the Huffington Post, Lilly Workneh explains a controversial video made by Amandla Stenberg, analyzing the relevance of …show more content…
However, there is an argument on whether or not the significance of cultural appreciation or appropriation is true. DAZED magazine’s Dounia Tazi says, “Although it seems like a fairly easy concept to grasp, many people still argue that being able to ‘express’ themselves in imitation dreadlocks and e-Bay purchased bindis is more important than the consideration of the culture they’re jacking from.” More precisely, these people would rather not have any knowledge of what they wear; they want to look cool. Expressing yourself can be done effectively without disrespecting anyone in the process. As far as imitation dreadlocks go, there are White people who make the claim that since Black people wear their hair straightened or have a blonde wig or weave, they should be accountable for appropriation of White culture. At the same time, this is untrue. Black people were forced to assimilate into a society that did not accept them with kinky or curly hair. Assimilation of a culture is defined as “to cause (a person or group) to become part of a different society, country, etc. (Merriam-Webster).” The argument of this does not make sense nor does it have factual evidence to say Black people are appropriating White culture. By wearing blonde hair, there is no appropriation because White people are not the only race with naturally blonde hair. Furthering this claim, Black people cannot appropriate something they were forced
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.
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.
Rogers from defines cultural appropriation “as the use of a culture’s symbols, artifacts, genres, rituals, or technologies by members of another culture” then it divides cultural appropriation into four different categories which is cultural exchange, cultural dominance, cultural exploitation, and cultural transculturation. Then it includes how other people define cultural appropriation. I would like to use this article to help my reader understand not only what cultural appropriation is and how it is bad but other people’s point of views and how they see it.
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
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
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
“Cultural Genocide is the intentional destruction of the culture of another people, not necessarily including the destruction of actual lives” Canada’s first encounter with the Native Canadians was a dark and brutal period. The Native Canadians, also referred to as Indians, were stripped of their cultures and called to be ashamed for their traditional ways. Indian Residential Schools were a method used by the Canadian government to destruct the ethnicity of the Native Canadians. The crimes committed by Canada are clearly represented by the Residential Schools and the special rights that they have gained today; one can not say the aboriginals have not been a victim to Cultural Genocide, if the accusations of cultural genocide are false, why were they given special rights?
The natural hair movement has provided a shift in history for black women to free themselves from the oppression of the dominant white society and increase their self-acceptance. This shift in the perception of black hair has allowed black women to appreciate the complexities of their identities, and their pride in being black. Although black women are often ridiculed for their puffs and locs, many women seem to be invincible to society’s negative connotation to the natural woman’s hair. With this negative perception comes the concept of cultural appropriation because non-black individuals have begun to appropriate themselves with black culture through tanning methods to achieve darker skin and obtaining natural hairstyles such as bantu knots, afros, cornrows, baby hair, and more because society views it as “high fashion.” Hairstyles that have been deeply rooted within African culture are now being deemed as highly attractive because of the white skin color of those who wear them and attempt to mimic these hairstyles as if they are the original creators.
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.
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
Despite the fact that people in today’s society view diversity as a beneficial factor, many in the colonial period despised the immigrants. Because many Irish came to the state in penury, they faced discrimination, resentment and suspicion (New York City 26). Many non-Irish thought of the Irish as brutal and cruel cowards. Contrastingly, many German immigrants were not hated as much because they came to the state wealthier and had more Protestant backgrounds. One specific encounter of intolerance was when a non-Irish male stated, “This Celtic beast with many heads is driven back to his hole for the present” referring to the Irish as the Celtic beasts (Jackson and Dunbar 204). Another example of intolerance is the tragic event in 1643 when Puritan
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
To understand cultural imperialism is to understand the diaspora of man across the globe along with the socially darwinistic interactions that follow. Modern homo-sapiens left the plains of Africa a mere sixty-thousand years ago. Today mankind populates six continents hundreds of islands with a seemingly endless ethnic diversity. But what comes of a culture that is antiquated on a global scale that comes to interact with a more advanced civilization. The Americas prior to 1492 where home to millions of indigenous people with wide spread and diverse cultures speaking over two-thousand languages. With western colonization of the Americas came disease and enslavement of the indigenous peoples. The enslavement, genocide and oppression the natives faced under the Europeans lasted for over five hundred years. Even the birth of civilized nations did little to stop the oppression as the United States military famously marched millions of natives to reserves in Oklahoma in what became known as the trail of tears. The innate nature of mankind is rather troublesome and largely counter-productive. We are extremely social animals yet instead of
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