What’s wrong with cultural appropriation?

May 6, 2011

Anon asked:

What’s wrong with cultural appropriation? I mean, I know it’s bad, but I need this one kind of spelled out for me. Is it always bad? Are some cases worse than others? I want to be a good anti-racist, but I fear I’m not educated enough.

whatfreshhellisthis responded:

Cultural appropriation exists because of centuries of:

Imperialism: more specifically, cultural imperialism which is essentially one cultural dominating another. (IE: white folks and everyone we’ve ever invaded ever. Including each other.)

Racism: justifies the appropriation by making various cultural/racial/ethic groups marginalised, oppressed and seen as inferior by the privileged group.

Exoticism: justifies commodification and objectification.

Orientalism

Colonisation

Entitlement: thinking that oppressed people’s culture, society, and spirituality are up for grabs.

Oppression

Power

Capitalism

Unawareness of privilege: based on misunderstanding of power dynamics, entitlement, exoticism and racism

Why is cultural appropriation harmful?:

Cultural appropriation reinforces oppression because it invalidates and commodifies marginalised groups.

Invalidates: the culture/society/the people

Homogenizes: lets look at the white girls wearing warbonnets and mukluks. War bonnets are worn traditionally only by various Native plains tribes and mukluks are boots made of usually seal skin warn/made traditionally by Alaskan/Arctic natives. This haphazard and disrespectful throwing together different pieces of two completely different Native cultures which is portraying an image of homogeneity and reinforces the stereotype that there is just one Native American culture and they are all the same, which reinforces oppression and racism.

Commodifies: putting a monetary value on something that should not be sold or purchased or marketed in any way, eg. spiritual practices.

Reinforces stereotypes: which reinforce oppression and racism-a tool of colonisation.

Distorts traditions into inaccurate and offensive caricatures

Romanticises cultures: often this is something that results in entire groups of people being seen as ‘something that used to exist’ as opposed to people with lives and cultures that exist and flourish today. You get this a lot with Native American and Canadian culture.

Eroticises/exoticizes people: this is incredibly dehumanising.

Here is an awesome post about the line between appropriation and appreciation. (Reboggable version).

Here are some awesome people who talk about appropriation and how it is shitty- linked is all their posts tagged appropriation. Please look through their archives, and do not just message them asking the same question, they are people not encyclopaedias.

Jaded

Karma

Thursday

Dr. Syrup

These are just the first four who lept to mind- there are doubtless many, many more.

Original post: http://whatfreshhellisthis.tumblr.com/post/5261084308/whats-wrong-with-cultural-appropriation-i-mean-i