I’m from Louisiana. The entirety of Cajun culture is appropriation, pretty much.
The US is supposed to be a melting pot, but often immigrants feel pressured to leave behind their culture in order to assimilate.
Oops-- weird typo/autocorrect in post # 78. The earrings (hoop but not big hoop) are a Yurman “appropriation”. Its probably pretty clear, but just in case it isn’t…
If it is clear… apologies for the duplication.
I agree with @jonri, what these students call “cultural appropriation” is part of the genius behind the American success story. Taking the best from all those who come here, and making it into something better. And passing it on, for someone else to culturally appropriate.
That’s the whole point of the melting pot.
Everyone both assimilates to the existing culture, and contributes to it.
That’s how people of diverse origins develop an common identity as Americans. That’s why this country has so successfully absorbed people from so many other cultures without becoming balkanized.
How are you supposed to contribute to the existing culture if people will not accept your contributions?
That must be a topic for a different thread. This thread is about people accepting contributions from other cultures, and someone from that culture getting upset about it.
Actually, it’s about an immature college student that thought hoop earrings were invented in the this century, I think.
Surprise, surprise. CC Parent Cafe’s understanding of cultural appropriation is about as informed and nuanced as its understanding of intersectionality.
@marvin100 Oh, give me a break. Not agreeing is not the same thing as not understanding.
@warbrain, if you look back at the history of the nation, you will find that every ethnic group that arrived contributed to the common culture. It is an ongoing process.
Oh give me a break. I’m not mixing them up.
Then you need to be more specific about which posts display a lack of understanding and reply in a constructive fashion explaining the point(s) of misunderstanding.
I don’t need to do anything, and certainly not just because you think I do.
It’s not my job to educate you. But if you genuinely want to learn, here are some places to start:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/09/cultural-exchange-and-cultural-appropriation/
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/28767/1/how-to-culturally-appreciate-and-not-culturally-appropriate
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/10/the-dos-and-donts-of-cultural-appropriation/411292/
http://www.statepress.com/article/2015/10/culture-appropriation-vs-culture-appreciation
And all those cultures were not assimilated right away. Food usually gets more quickly accepted than religion. Part of the objection to the huge Irish influx was that they were Catholics. And take the bagel, I never saw a bagel before going to college in 1974. And I had Jewish friends in junior high and high school.
No culture can claim the hoop earring. That is an ignorant and stupid premise.
@marvin100 , I’ve read some of those articles before. Everything they say about appreciation and respect vs appropriation is pretty much common sense.
Things I have never done and would never consider doing: wear a bindi, wear a sari unless asked to do so by someone from that culture, getting henna decorations unless participating in an event such as a wedding where I was expected to, wear dreads or cornrows (I actually love both but my hair isn’t suited for it), wear an eagle feather bonnet (that’s sacreligious), wear a nun outfit unless in a play, wear a large cross as jewelry (think Madonna), knowingly wear religious regalia from any religion other than my own, wear one of those ginormous sets of hoops and heavy eye make-up. I have friends who have done the henna and sari thing because they were participating in a wedding and expected to do so. Those are all pretty obvious. I own a silk kimono bathrobe, like a huge percentage of other women in the world. It has virtually nothing to do with ceremonial kimonos.
I do, on the other hand, have Guatemalan masks, textiles, and a painting, all of which I bought directly from native artisans and cooperatives I love black women’s hair in styles like a natural, dreads, cornrows, or knots. I would not think of discriminating against them because of their hair. (On the other hand, I do kind of resent the idea that if I compliment a black woman on her fabulous head of dreads or braids that it is a “microagression.”.) I am actually kind of uncomfortable with black women straightening and dying their hair blonde or red, because I came of age in the era when black women were claiming their natural hair as beautiful, which it is.
I do explore the great cuisines of the world, including Indian, Chinese, Hungarian, French, Italian, Thai and many others, including Southern food like sausage biscuits and gravy and chicken fried steak. I’m not from any of those cultures, ancestrally. I both cook with ingredients and recipes as authentic as I can find, AND spin off the techniques and flavors in various ways.
My conscience is fully clear on the “cultural appropriation” thing.
One of the very best things about leaving middle school was the maturity to no longer care or discuss what clothes others wore, the food they ate, their hair styles, glasses, braces or makeup, or lack thereof.
That’s great, @Consolation , but your defensiveness is interesting. Why make this about you? Has someone accused you of cultural appropriation? If this stuff is common sense, then that’s great! That’s the goal! For many people, though, it isn’t. All those things you “would never consider doing” are done every day by clueless people who don’t see the difference between appreciation and appropriation. It’s a real problem and people in this very thread are claiming it isn’t.