“No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive”
-Mahatma Gandhi
Culture is defined as “the ideas, customs and social behaviours of a particular people or society”. In some cases, in order to understand a person, one has to understand that person’s culture. Thanks to globalisations it’s a lot easier nowadays to know how crazy and fun Carnival in Brazil can be. Cultures around the world carry so much beauty and intrigue; it’s no wonder we desire to immerse ourselves in the grace and art form of being a Geishas or take dance classes so we too can move to the rhythm of Rio.
Unfortunately, we live in a world of yin and yang. Where there is good there is bad. Along with the beauty of learning about and embracing the cultures of others, there are individuals who harness the beauty and intrigue and exploit it to their own benefit. At times one finds that the exploitation of someone else’s culture is not done with intention but merely from lack of knowledge. When you dress as a naughty Native American, a sexy Geisha or a saucy African princess for Halloween, you are mocking the customs of said culture. Disrespecting a person’s culture is not only limited to Halloween costumes, but also to adopting aspects of a cultures that is not of your culture (this is a simple watered down explanation of cultural appropriation).
Cultural appropriation in a deeper sense is when a dominant culture takes significant elements from a systematically oppressed culture and embraces it as their own. However, there is still the argument that one may be showing cultural appreciation instead of partaking in appropriation. Cultural appreciation is when someone is willing to learn about a person’s culture. When embracing customs within the culture, one familiarises oneself with knowledge behind the reason for certain behaviours e.g. black girls having braided hair, the reason for Native Americans wearing headpieces or why a Geisha paints her face white.
Sadly, the distinction been cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation has not made its impact on a social scale. We still have Selena Gomez and Iggy Azalea parading with bindis on their forehead, Katy Perry sexualising Geishas in her performances and the classic – Miley Cyrus proclaiming her blackness by twerking her ass off. Although these examples may seem minor, the concept of cultural appropriation gives rise to an even greater taboo known as “black facing”. Even in this day and age, Hollywood still assorts to inappropriate racial conduct. Johnny Depp, a white man, was cast to play Tonto, a Native American. After the backlash, one would have though that “black facing” would stop. But no, Zoe Saldana, who is half black and half Latina, was recently cast to play Nina Simone, a black woman, and is wearing makeup to darken her skin to match Simone’s complexion as well as a prosthetic nose. Why not cast an actress who resembles Simone already?
Admittedly, there can thin line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, so to make sure you stay away from the appropriation side, just ask yourself “If I was part of a systematically oppressed group, would I be offended by this?”