The Importance Of 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

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.

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.

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.

At a birthday party there is an African American boy wearing a sombrero while hitting a piñata. Down the street, there is a Russian girl who dances with a Japanese fan that her neighbor gifted. These two children, according to the current media, are displaying cultural appropriation. In America, citizens have the rarity of experiencing what many call the “Melting Pot” of different cultures and ethnicities. To many other countries, the different cultural exposures are not of such a common privilege. Cultural appropriation is what sets us back from connecting to other cultures around the world. I understand that it may bring misunderstanding of what certain clothing items and practices really mean respect and value wise. However, demonstrating

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

Avoiding cultural appropriation does not mean you can't ever participate in a culture that isn't directly associated with you. I believe that sharing culture and creating a more equal environment helps us better understand each other. So with that being said, I’m asking everyone to do their research and study other cultures. My mom always tells me that you don't have to wait until you're in a classroom setting to learn, educate yourself. Research, find the purpose and ultimately decide whether your act is appreciation. Keep in mind that you don't have to own something to enjoy it . Appreciate, don’t

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 Re-appropriation and political correctness in today’s music industry have been a big problem which has degraded its culture and origins. For this matter, I have chosen to cover the topic of Taylor’s swifts use of re-appropriation, abuse of the term feminism, and how political correctness determines the perception of the music video by comparing her and Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda for my written task 2 choice. The reason as to why this topic is chosen is due to the fact that a lot of caucasian female pop stars like Taylor swift herself nowadays such as Iggy Azalea is constantly able to get away with the use of stolen identity by culturally re-appropriating dance moves. She westernises dances including twerking as well as abuses feminism’s

Not to mention whites were raised to believe that they have the upper hand; in other words, they feel obligated to power. “White colonialism was romanticized and portrayed as an acceptable, even normalized part of history”(Q3.1). White colonialism was indoctrinated that what they were doing to minorities is acceptable. This is because cultural appropriation is apart of history. In Taylor Swift music video for “Wildest Dreams”, she showed appropriation and colonialism. In her video, which is shot in Africa, is only consisted of whites. In this video, there are no African or people of color, which is not normal. Africa is predominantly black, so how there were no Africans in the video with their cultural landscape.

Since I am still encountering new things and people my interests are ever changing and expanding, varying from sports to equal rights to natural hair care. Aside from that, there are a few things that have found a permanent residence in my heart and mind. I have found myself extremely interested in cultural appropriation. I feel that cultural appropriation is something that is very relevant and directly affects me. There are things like the Kylie Jenner lip challenge and Teen Vogue choosing to use a white actress to speak on a traditional African American hair style. I believe that there is a difference between appreciating and appropriating a culture. There might be a fine line separating the two, but that line still exists. A culture can

In our society today, appropriation has become a norm for many people. We are used to people taking the culture of minorities and then sweeping the voice of said underdog rug until it is forgotten. Cultural appropriation is when a group adopts aspects or traditions from another culture and makes it their own. It’s very different from cultural exchange or assimilation because normally the features are taken from a minority group and used in a way that may be offensive to them and their original intentions.

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,