When we think about Halloween, the first thing that comes to mind are horror movies, scary costumes and gruesome decorations around the world, but in recent years the ”standard” of Halloween has changed from scary to trendy or hype.
Nowadays, the most important thing when October 31st arrives is the outfit that will be worn on that day, especially by famous people, who are seen as an inspiration by many. There are some celebrities who have a lack of awareness about what a particular costume can cause and forget or simply ignore the fact that they are making a cultural appropriation.
Many people don’t know what cultural appropriation is, it’s the act of taking parts of a culture that you don’t belong to and using them as if it were okay to ‘appropriate’ a certain culture. There were several famous people who caused cultural appropriation during Halloween, such as Prince Harry, who wore a Nazi soldier costume during a party, and former model Chrissy Teigen, who wore an American Indian costume on Halloween 2008.
How can cultural appropriation be avoided during Halloween?
To avoid cultural appropriation, you need to understand that you need to know about cultures and historical contexts. Leave all misinformation aside and acquire knowledge about cultures other than your own. You also need to evaluate the impact that a certain attitude can have and the intention behind it.
The best way to avoid offending or appropriating something that doesn’t belong to you is to search for knowledge, information, study, and listen to those who understand the subject. If many people had done this, they would have avoided criticism, cancellation and unnecessary ignorance, understanding that appropriation goes far beyond wearing certain clothes, but that it generates various effects such as: perpetuation of stereotypes, loss of identity, generation of social tensions, among other things.
The main cause
There are several factors that cause cultural appropriation. In an article in UOL, art historian Marcos Horácio Gomes Dias explains that the absorption of culture between peoples has been going on since ancient times, and is a process that is unique to societies. “Human beings have always learned things from other peoples, exchanged with other cultures. So how do we define what belongs to whom?”
According to this statement by the art historian in the UOL article, we can understand that one of the main factors in cultural appropriation comes from antiquity and is related to colonization, the capitalist system, repression of the other’s culture, among other things, leading people to commit cultural appropriation.
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The article above was edited by Victória Abreu.
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