Member Since: 11/25/2011
Posts: 2,122
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"Cultural appropriation as a concept is bulls***"
Quote:
Cultural appropriation as a concept is ********
Cultural appropriation as a concept is ********. Complete and utter ********. I’m a person of colour, and I come from a culture that has been so homogenized into American culture that you can sometimes barely tell where one ends and the other begins.
And you know what? That’s ****ing awesome. I love knowing people enjoy the food from my culture. I love people enjoying the romance and history my people have contributed. The artists, the writers. The grand scheme of my culture. It’s beautiful. I love seeing people enjoying fashions made popular from my culture. I love seeing them enjoying our contributions to religion, even if I’m not religious myself.
I think people that whine about cultural appropriation are sheltered shut-ins that often don’t consult the actual people they claim to be “protecting”. There’s a post on tumblr going around where people are ready to rip Lady Gaga a new a**hole, and an Indian girl steps in and says “Wait a minute, did anybody stop to consult the actual Indians here?” Of course she goes on to explain that Indians find it overwhelmingly positive when people care enough about the culture to wear their clothing. It’s a sign that these people find their fashions beautiful enough to be of merit. It’s basically the best compliment you can pay someone, by saying with actions “Yes, you’ve created something beautiful here, I want to share this with others”.
It’s the same thing with Japanese culture as well. If anyone actually bothered to consult Japanese people that y'know, live in Japan, you would realize they have the same attitude that the Indians do. Wearing traditional clothing when appropriate and making an effort to learn the language is about the highest form of flattery there is. They’ll offer to help you with your Japanese if only you’ll allow them the chance to brush up on their English skills.
This is basically the same with nearly every culture. If you go to the homeland and ask the people what they think? They’ll reply that making an effort and showing reverence, no matter how casual it may seem, is seen as overwhelmingly positive. Not to mention tumblr likes to gloss over the fact that other countries borrow heavily from American culture (yes, you have a culture, and if you don’t understand that I urge you to go do a bit more studying on anthropology) as well. The world is slowly becoming a melting pot of ideas and lifestyles being merged and shared.
The only people I’ve seen against it are quite frankly, racists and segregationists, and a bunch of people on tumblr who want to be 2edgy4u. Here’s a hint: Just because you have African heritage, it doesn’t mean **** if you’re talking about cultural appropriation from Africa if you grew up in Alabama. If you have Japanese heritage, it doesn’t matter if you grew up in New York. You are American by culture. You do not know how these people live, nor how they view ‘cultural appropriation’. Your family may hold on to cultural customs that differ from those around you: I know mine do, I’m the child of first-generation immigrants who don’t even speak English very well, and often rely on me to translate as their only truly bilingual child (my older brother was born before they immigrated, and he’s still having a hard time grasping English). But I’m still an American before I am my ethnic background. So. Are. You.
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