Cultural Appropriation

It is a term that has dominated the media; from Halloween costumes to NFL mascots, headlines across the nation blare the words: “cultural appropriation.” Yet, many still are not quite sure what the term means. To put it simply, cultural appropriation is the exploitation of a culture that is not one’s own.

The Hispanic Culture is beautiful because it varies from clothes, food, and music in the different types of Hispanics from North America, Central America, and South America. The Hispanic culture is being appropriated by people who don't care for it, they are being appropriated from people who want to make money off it. From Puerto-Ricans to Mexicans, Latinos are tired of their culture, who they are proud of and embrace without shame to be taken by companies, designers, and musicians. As a Hispanic I am one of those people, I'm tired of our culture and heritage being stolen from my ancestors. The Hispanic Culture should not be a tool for people to make money off of by appropriating it.

or the other is not looked upon as politically incorrect or wrong-minded. However, it allows

The diversity of culture is an incredible notion. It is unfathomable how the anatomy of the human race is so similar, yet so different in the behaviors and ideas that take place. The two primary cultures I am focusing on throughout this essay are the differentiation between popular culture, and indigenous culture. I will also make the point of folk culture, and how it has slowly transformed itself from its self sufficiency, to relying more on the ways of popular culture.

Racial and cultural appropriation has become increasingly significant in society within the past 30 years. “The idea of “cultural appropriation” has recently entered mainstream

Cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Two very different terms that many individuals have yet to comprehend. It’s understandable, it can be daunting trying to figure out how to please everyone or at a minimum not offend anyone. The difference between the two is not always clear. There is a very thin line to walk on.

Appropriation is very disrespectful and harmful to the culture being appropriated. In everyday society, African-American culture is being used to be “cool” and “different”. The fact that society values a white person for doing the same things black people having being doing for decades, “everyone wants to be black until it’s time to be black”, and allowing people to remain prejudice and/or ignore the racism the black community deals with, has led me to believe that the appropriation of African-American culture is significant and its effects cannot be ignored or washed away.

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of the elements of one culture by members of another culture. Cultural appropriation is portrayed as rude, called cultural misappropriation, and claims to be a violation of the history of a culture. Often unavoidable when cultures come together, cultural appropriation can include using another culture's traditions, such as fashion, symbols, language, and cultural songs without permission. Even though society consistently uses Native American and African American styles at festivals, in magazines and on celebrities, this form of cultural appropriation is not right because we are not using it for the right reasons.

In the modern day of technology, it is nearly impossible to be secluded to a small corner of the globe. Social media allows us to hold the history of the world in our hands and that leads to a constant question. Where is the line between cultural exchange and appropriation? Exchange is something we gather from travel, worldly acknowledgement and a simple thirst for cognition. Social media is the stepping stone of appropriation, it doesn't provide the protein of understanding. Instead, it just allows the mass majority of people to access the flood gates of the world

In Western culture, people seldom realize the amount of cultural appropriation that occurs around them. Westerners are blinded by cultural mockery and cultural appropriation without realizing its offensive effects to minority groups. During the Halloween holiday, in Western culture, people of all ages dress up in a variety of costumes such as horror themed, fairy tale themed, job themed, cultural themed and much more. Harvard University members have argued that a cultural themed costume is a form of cultural appropriation. Also in Western culture, in the music industry, white artists have utilized and exploited aspects from minority cultures to boost their fame. Costumes, props, ideas, music, and others considered as cultural appropriation is often overlooked but it is apparent when closely examined.

The idea of culture means different things to different people. Groups and communities are often separated by having clearly defined cultural traditions, clothing, and attitudes. However, these cultural distinctions are sometimes adopted by others who do not belong to the community that the appropriated ideas are from. This cultural appropriation is often present in popular culture in the United States. Several examples exist in the American pop music industry. While most instances of cultural appropriation in American pop music may seem to consist of white performers appropriating “black” culture, another important example is the appropriation of Native American culture.

A man stands proud and tall, an elegant headdress of feathers adorning his head. He is not at a ceremony, nor is he going to war to preserve his way of life. He is not Native American, either, and he is not alone. At the Coachella Valley Music and Arts festival, people like this man gather in throngs to listen to alternative rock and electronic dance music. They often claim to be honoring Native American tradition, but others consider his choices offensive. Cultural borrowing and assimilation have been, and continue to be an integral part of American society, but some think that this diffusion has gone as far as theft. In order to determine that, however, on must cast a discerning eye on both arguments.

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or theft of icons, customs, beliefs, or styles from one culture or subculture by another. McWhorter argues,“But what began as a legitimate complaint has morphed into a handy way of being offended by something that should be taken as a compliment.”(McWhorter 1)A multitude of people may believe when there is adoption of one culture it should be seen as a compliment as well because they are appreciating the culture by imitating it into their own. “It used to be that we said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But now there is new way to see the matter: Imitation is a kind of dismissal.” But if not fully understandingthe significance of what is being adopted then to the owning culture it is seen as appropriating and not appreciating. If it was indeed appreciating, time would be taken out to fully understand what and why the culture indulges in the custom or belief and so on. Just noticing a particular act of item in a culture and putting it into your own without the proper

Cultural appropriation is a huge topic, within today’s society, many question what is cultural appropriation and what is not. The definition of cultural appropriation is, “....the use of ideas, symbols, artifacts, images, objects, etc., derived from contact between different cultures. It often implies a negative view towards the minority culture by the dominant one and is often culturally insensitive”(Biron). Examples of cultural appropriation would be portraying a culture through stereotypical depictions of them or wearing a culture as a ‘trend’. Another example would be wearing a headdress to portray a Native American or wearing a sombrero and a poncho to depict a Mexican. Just those words sound degrading and racist each of these ethnicities. Many think it is socially acceptable to be insensitive to a culture, because they classify the appropriation as them appreciating the culture. Cultural appropriation shows only the stereotypical view of culture and has no regards to the actual culture. Many look at the cultures as inspiration for ideas, but that does not mean to steal the ideas completely. Cultural appropriation is not only insensitive, but also racist. Blackface, for example, was used to portray an African American by painting the face of an non-black actor black. The NFL team Redskins uses an offensive and racist word to label their team; their mascot is a “Native American” wearing headdress. First and foremost, not all Native American cultures wear headdresses, these depictions of Native culture show natives as all the same. Minorities have faced appropriation for decades, but why did this problem only recently come about?

Cultural appropriation is when someone adopts aspects of a culture that’s not their own. That's only the icing on the cake. It’s particularly a power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group. Cultural appropriation is not the same as cultural appreciation, (when people share mutually with each other, because cultural exchange lacks that systemic power dynamic). When it comes to wearing fashion based on other cultures, it’s hard to know if you’re being tacky, cool, or offensive. Practicing appropriating culture let’s people show love for the culture,