Cultural appropriation

Wearing a Native American war bonnet as a "fashion accessory" is commonly cited as an example of cultural appropriation.^[1]

Cultural appropriation, at times also phrased cultural misappropriation,^[2][3][4] is the adoption of elements of a minority culture by members of the dominant culture.^[5][2][3] Because of the presence of power imbalances that are a byproduct of colonialism and oppression, cultural appropriation is distinct from equal cultural exchange.^[6][3][7] Particularly in the 21st century, cultural appropriation is often considered harmful, and to be a violation of the collective intellectual property rights of the originating, minority cultures, notably indigenous cultures and those living under colonial rule.^[2][8][9] Often unavoidable when multiple cultures come together, cultural appropriation can include using other cultures' cultural and religious traditions, fashion, symbols, language, and songs.^[10][11][12]

According to critics of the practice, cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or cultural exchange in that this appropriation is a form of colonialism: cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context—sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture.^{[3][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

Often, the original meaning of these cultural elements is lost or distorted, and such displays are often viewed as disrespectful, or even as a form of desecration, by members of the originating culture.^{[13][19][20][1]} Cultural elements which may have deep meaning to the original culture may be reduced to "exotic" fashion or toys by those from the dominant culture.^[13][14][21] Kjerstin Johnson has written that, when this is done, the imitator, "who does not experience that oppression is able to 'play', temporarily, an 'exotic' other, without experiencing any of the daily discriminations faced by other cultures."^[21] The African-American academic, musician and journalist Greg Tate argues that appropriation and the "fetishizing" of cultures, in fact, alienates those whose culture is being appropriated.^[22]

Some writers on the topic note that the concept is often misunderstood or misapplied by the general public, and that charges of "cultural appropriation" are at times misapplied to situations such as eating food from a variety of cultures, or learning about different cultures.^[23] Commentators who criticize the concept believe that the act of cultural appropriation does not meaningfully constitute a social harm, or that the term lacks conceptual coherence.^[24][25] Some argue that the term sets arbitrary limits on intellectual freedom and artists' self-expression, reinforces group divisions, or itself promotes a feeling of enmity or grievance, rather than liberation.^{[25][26][27][28]}

Overview[edit]

Cultural appropriation can involve the use of ideas, symbols, artifacts, or other aspects of human-made visual or non-visual culture.^[29]

As a concept that is controversial in its applications, the propriety of cultural appropriation has been the subject of much debate. Opponents of cultural appropriation view many instances as wrongful appropriation when the subject culture is a minority culture or is subordinated in social, political, economic, or military status to the dominant culture^[1][21] or when there are other issues involved, such as a history of ethnic or racial conflict.^[14] This is often seen in cultural outsiders' use of an oppressed culture's symbols or other cultural elements, such as music, dance, spiritual ceremonies, modes of dress, speech, and social behaviour,^[6] notably when these elements are trivialized and used for fashion, rather than respected within their original cultural context. Opponents view the issues of colonialism, context, and the difference between appropriation and mutual exchange as central to analyzing cultural appropriation. They argue that mutual exchange happens on an "even playing field", whereas appropriation involves pieces of an oppressed culture being taken out of context by a people who have historically oppressed those they are taking from, and who lack the cultural context to properly understand, respect, or utilize these elements.^[14][15][30]

A different view of cultural appropriation characterizes critics of the practice as "engaged in a deeply conservative project: one which first seeks to preserve in formaldehyde the content of an established culture and second tries to prevent others from interacting with that culture."^[31] Proponents of cultural appropriation view it as often benign or mutually beneficial, citing mutation, product diversity, technological diffusion, and cultural empathy as among its benefits.^[32] For example, the film Star Wars appropriated elements from Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, which itself appropriated elements from Shakespeare; culture in the aggregate is arguably better off for each instance of appropriation. Fusion between cultures has produced such foods as American Chinese cuisine, modern Japanese sushi, and bánh mì, each of which is sometimes argued to reflect part of its respective culture's identity.^[31]

Academic study[edit]

Cultural appropriation is a relatively recent subject of academic study. The term emerged in the 1980s, in discussions of post-colonial critiques of Western expansionism,^[33] though the concept had been explored earlier, such as in "Some General Observations on the Problems of Cultural Colonialism" by Kenneth Coutts‐Smith in 1976.^[33][34]

Cultural and racial theorist George Lipsitz has used the term "strategic anti-essentialism" to refer to the calculated use of a cultural form, outside of one's own, to define oneself or one's group. Strategic anti-essentialism can be seen in both minority cultures and majority cultures, and is not confined only to the use of the other. However, Lipsitz argues, when the majority culture attempts to strategically anti-essentialize itself by appropriating a minority culture, it must take great care to recognize the specific socio-historical circumstances and significance of these cultural forms so as not to perpetuate the already existing majority vs. minority unequal power relations.^[35]

Examples[edit]

Art, literature, iconography, and adornment[edit]

A common example of cultural appropriation is the adoption of the iconography of another culture, and using it for purposes that are unintended by the original culture or even offensive to that culture's mores. Examples include sports teams using Native American tribal names or images as mascots; wearing jewelry or fashion with religious symbols such as the war bonnet,^[1] medicine wheel, or cross without any belief in those religions; and copying iconography from another culture's history such as Polynesian tribal tattoos, Chinese characters, or Celtic art worn without regard to their original cultural significance. Critics of the practice of cultural appropriation contend that divorcing this iconography from its cultural context or treating it as kitsch risks offending people who venerate and wish to preserve their cultural traditions.^{[1][15][36][37][38]}

In Australia, Aboriginal artists have discussed an "authenticity brand" to ensure consumers are aware of artworks claiming false Aboriginal significance.^[39][40] The movement for such a measure gained momentum after the 1999 conviction of John O'Loughlin for the fraudulent sale of works described as Aboriginal but painted by non-indigenous artists.^[41]

In Europe and North America a common example of cultural appropriation is the misrepresentation of East Indian symbols, mythology and religious ideas as typified in Rudyard Kipling's stories and Talbot Mundy's Jimgrim book series including the highly discussed Nine Unknown and King of the Khyber Rifles. Movements to undo the biases, misrepresentations, and cultural inaccuracies made popular by authors like Kipling and Mundy have gained significant momentum since Kipling's poem "If—" was scrubbed off Manchester University walls by student leaders.^[42] AAJA, a watchdog organization for fair and respectful cultural representation, works to point out and prevent these cultural inaccuracies in the media.^[43]

Historically, some of the most hotly debated cases of cultural appropriation have occurred in places where cultural exchange is the highest, such as along the trade routes in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. Some scholars of the Ottoman Empire and ancient Egypt argue that Ottoman and Egyptian architectural traditions have long been falsely claimed and praised as Persian or Arab.^[44]

Religion and spirituality[edit]

Among critics, the misuse and misrepresentation of indigenous intellectual property is seen as an exploitative form of colonialism, and one step in the destruction of indigenous cultures.^[45]

The results of this use of indigenous knowledge have led some tribes, and the United Nations General Assembly, to issue several declarations on the subject. The Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality includes the passage:

We assert a posture of zero-tolerance for any "white man's shaman" who rises from within our own communities to "authorize" the expropriation of our ceremonial ways by non-Indians; all such "plastic medicine men" are enemies of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people.^[19][20]

Article 31 1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states:

Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.^[8]

Many Native Americans have criticized what they deem to be cultural appropriation of their sweat lodge and vision quest ceremonies by non-Natives, and even by tribes who have not traditionally had these ceremonies. They also contend that there are higher safety risks when the ceremonies are conducted by non-Natives, pointing to deaths or injuries in 1996, 2002, 2004, and several high-profile deaths in 2009.^{[46][47][48][49][50]}

In 2015, a group of Native American academics and writers issued a statement against the Rainbow Family members whose acts of "cultural exploitation... dehumanize us as an indigenous Nation because they imply our culture and humanity, like our land, is anyone's for the taking."^[51]

Fashion[edit]

George IV of the United Kingdom wearing highland dress, 1822.

Cultural appropriation is controversial in the fashion industry due to the belief that some trends commercialise and cheapen the ancient heritage of indigenous cultures.^[52] There is debate about whether designers and fashion houses understand the history behind the clothing they are taking from different cultures, besides the ethical issues of using these cultures' shared intellectual property without consent, acknowledgement, or compensation.^[53] In response to this criticism, many fashion experts claim that this occurrence is in fact "culture appreciation",^[54] rather than cultural appropriation. Companies and designers claim the use of unique cultural symbols is an effort to recognize and pay homage to that specific culture.^[54]

17th century to Victorian era[edit]

During the 17th century, the forerunner to the three piece suit was appropriated from the traditional dress of diverse Eastern European and Islamic countries. The Justacorps frock coat was copied from the long zupans worn in Poland and the Ukraine,^[55] the necktie or cravat was derived from a scarf worn by Croatian mercenaries fighting for Louis XIII,^[56] and the brightly colored silk waistcoats popularised by Charles II of England were inspired by exotic Turkish, Indian and Persian attire acquired by wealthy English travellers.^[57]

During the Highland Clearances, the British aristocracy appropriated traditional Scottish clothing. Tartan was given spurious association with specific Highland clans after publications such as James Logan's romanticised work The Scottish Gael (1831) led the Scottish tartan industry to invent clan tartans ^[58] and tartan became a desirable material for dresses, waistcoats and cravats. In America, plaid flannel had become workwear by the time of Westward expansion, and was widely worn by Old West pioneers and cowboys who were not of Scottish descent.^[59] In the 21st century, tartan remains ubiquitous in mainstream fashion.^[60]

By the 19th century the fascination had shifted to Asian culture. English Regency era dandies adapted the Indian churidars into slim fitting pantaloons, and frequently wore turbans within their own houses. Later, Victorian gentlemen wore smoking caps based on the Islamic fez, and fashionable turn of the century ladies wore Orientalist^[61] Japanese inspired kimono dresses.^[62][63] During the tiki culture fad of the 1950s, white women frequently donned the qipao to give the impression that they had visited Hong Kong, although the dresses were frequently made by seamstresses in America using rayon rather than genuine silk. At the same time, teenage British Teddy Girls wore Chinese coolie hats due to their exotic connotations.^[64]

In Mexico, the sombrero associated with the mestizo peasant class was appropriated from an earlier hat introduced by the Spanish colonials during the 18th century.^[65] This, in turn, was adapted into the cowboy hat worn by American cowboys after the US Civil War.^[66] In 2016, the University of East Anglia prohibited the wearing of sombreros to parties on campus, in the belief that these could offend Mexican students.^[25]

American Western wear was copied from the work attire of 19th century Mexican Vaqueros, especially the pointed cowboy boots and the guayabera which was adapted into the embroidered Western shirt.^[67] The China poblana dress associated with Mexican women was appropriated from the choli and lehenga worn by Indian maidservants like Catarina de San Juan who arrived from Asia from the 17th century onwards.^[68]

Modern era[edit]

In Britain, the rough tweed cloth clothing of the Irish, English and Scottish peasantry, including the flat cap and Irish hat^[69] were appropriated by the upper classes as the British country clothing worn for sports such as hunting or fishing, in imitation of the then Prince of Wales.^[70] The country clothing, in turn, was appropriated by the wealthy American soc and later preppy subcultures during the 1950s and 1980s due to both its practicality and its association with the English elite.^[71] During the same period the British commedian Tommy Cooper was known for wearing a Fez throughout his performances.

When keffiyehs became popular in the late 2000s, experts made a clear distinction between the wearing of a genuine scarf, and a fake made in China.^[72] Palestinian independence activists and socialists denounced the wearing of scarves not made in Palestine as a form of cultural appropriation, but encouraged young white people and fellow Muslims^[73] to buy shemaghs made in the Herbawi^[74] factory to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian people and improve the economy of the West Bank.^[75][76] In 2017, Topshop caused controversy by selling Chinese-made playsuits that imitated the pattern of the keffiyeh.^[77]

In 2012 during the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show, model Karlie Kloss was scrutinized for wearing a Native American headdress during her walk on the runway. There was a mixed public response. People of mixed heritage were the most sensitive to headdress. USA Today ran a feature where they interviewed a woman of mixed heritage who said that the headdress is a symbol of leadership and honour, and also has a religious meaning behind it. This cultural meaning was not considered in Victoria’s Secret’s use of the headdress as an accessory. Victoria's Secret issued an apology stating that they had no intentions of offending anyone.^[78][79]

Archbishop Justin Welby of the Anglican Church has claimed that the crucifix is "now just a fashion statement and has lost its religious meaning.".^[80] Crucifixes have been incorporated into Japanese lolita fashion by non-Christians in a cultural context that is distinct from its original meaning as a Christian religious symbol.^[81]

Hairstyles, makeup and body modifications[edit]

• The leaders of ancient Israel strongly condemned the adoption of Egyptian and Canaanite practises, especially cutting the hair short or shaving the beard. At the same time, the Old Testament distinguishes the religious circumcision of the Hebrews, from cultures such as the Egyptians where the practise had aesthetic or practical purposes.
• During the early 16th century, European men imitated the short regular haircuts and beards on rediscovered Ancient Greek and Roman statues. The curled hair favoured by the Regency era dandy Beau Brummel was also inspired by the classical era.
• During the 17th century, Louis XIV began wearing wigs to conceal his baldness. Like many other French fashions, these were quickly appropriated by baroque era courtiers in England and the rest of Europe to the extent that men often shaved their heads to ensure their wig fitted properly.
• American soldiers during World War II appropriated the Mohawk hairstyle of the Native American tribe of the same name to intimidate their enemies. These were later worn by 1950s jazz musicians like Sonny Rollins, and the 1980s punk subculture.^[82]
• During the early 2000s, it was popular in the west to get tribal tattoos appropriated from African and Polynesian culture, as well as earlobe piercings known as flesh tunnels, famously associated with the Buddha.^[83]

Sports[edit]

The Washington Redskins logo in Maryland

While the history of colonization and marginalization is not unique to the Americas, the practice of non-Native sports teams deriving team names, imagery, and mascots from indigenous peoples is still common in the United States and Canada, and has persisted to some extent despite protests from Indigenous groups. Cornel Pewewardy, Professor and Director of Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University, cites indigenous mascots as an example of dysconscious racism which, by placing images of Native American or First Nations people into an invented media context, continues to maintain the superiority of the dominant culture.^[84] It is argued that such practices maintain the power relationship between the dominant culture and the indigenous culture, and can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism.^[85][86]

Such practices may be seen as particularly harmful in schools and universities which have a stated purpose of promoting ethnic diversity and inclusion.^[87] In recognition of the responsibility of higher education to eliminate behaviors that create a hostile environment for education, in 2005 the NCAA initiated a policy against "hostile and abusive" names and mascots that led to the change of many derived from Native American culture, with the exception of those that established an agreement with particular tribes for the use of their specific names. Other schools retain their names because they were founded for the education of Native Americans, and continue to have a significant number of indigenous students. The trend towards the elimination of indigenous names and mascots in local schools has been steady, with two thirds having been eliminated over the past 50 years according to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).^[88]

While the leadership of nearly all Native American tribes object to their depictions as sports mascots^[89], only one tribe explicitly approves of such representations. The Florida State Seminoles use the iconography of the Seminole tribe. Their mascots are Osceola and Renegade, depictions of the Seminole chief Osceola and his Appaloosa horse.^[90][91] After the NCAA attempted to ban the use of Native American names and iconography in college sports in 2005, the Seminole Tribe of Florida passed a resolution offering explicit support for FSU's use of Seminole culture and Osceola as a mascot; the university was granted a waiver, citing the close relationship with and consultation between the team and the tribe.^[91] In 2013, the tribe's chairman objected to outsiders meddling in tribal approval, stating that the FSU mascot and use of Seminole iconography "represents the courage of the people who were here and are still here, known as the Unconquered Seminoles."^[92] Conversely, in 2013, the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma expressed disapproval of "the use of all American Indian sports-team mascots in the public school system, by college and university level and by professional sports teams", and not all members of the tribe's Florida branch are supportive of its stance.^[90][91]

In other former colonies in Asia, Africa, and South America, the adoption of indigenous names for majority indigenous teams is also found. There are also ethnicity-related team names derived from prominent immigrant populations in the area, such as the Boston Celtics, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Minnesota Vikings.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games to be held on the Gold Coast in Australia from 4 April 2018 has named its mascot Borobi, the local Yugambeh word for "koala," and has sought to trademark the word through IP Australia. The application is being opposed by a Yugambeh cultural heritage organisation, which argues that the Games organising committee used the word without proper consultation with the Yugambeh people.

African-American culture[edit]

Example of hip hop fashion

The term wigger (common spelling "wigga") is a slang term for a white person who adopts the mannerisms, language, and fashions associated with African-American culture, particularly hip hop, and, in Britain, the grime scene, often implying the imitation is being done badly, although usually with sincerity rather than mocking intent.^[93][94][95] Wigger is a portmanteau of white and nigger or nigga, and the related term wangsta is a mashup of wannabe or white, and gangsta. Among black hip-hop fans, the word "nigga" can sometimes be considered a friendly greeting, but when used by whites, it is usually viewed as offensive.^[96] "Wigger" may be derogatory, reflecting stereotypes of African-American, black British, and white culture (when used as synonym of white trash). The term is sometimes used in a racist manner, by other white people to belittle the person perceived as "acting black", but it is also widely used by African Americans like 50 Cent offended by the wigga or wanksta's demeaning of black people and culture.^[97]

The phenomenon of white people adopting elements of black culture has been prevalent at least since slavery was abolished in the Western world. The concept has been documented in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other white-majority countries. An early form of this was the white negro in the jazz and swing music scenes of the 1920s and 1930s, as examined in the 1957 Norman Mailer essay "The White Negro". It was later seen in the zoot suiter of the 1930s and 1940s, the hipster of the 1940s, the beatnik of the 1950s–1960s, the blue-eyed soul of the 1970s, and the hip hop of the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, an article in the UK newspaper The Independent described the phenomenon of white, middle-class kids who were "wannabe Blacks".^[98] 2005 saw the publication of Why White Kids Love Hip Hop: Wangstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America by Bakari Kitwana, "a culture critic who's been tracking American hip hop for years".^[99]

Robert A. Clift's documentary Blacking Up: Hip-Hop's Remix of Race and Identity questions white enthusiasts of black hip-hop culture. Clift's documentary examines "racial and cultural ownership and authenticity -- a path that begins with the stolen blackness seen in the success of Stephen Foster, Al Jolson, Benny Goodman, Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones -- all the way up to Vanilla Ice (popular music's ur-wigger...) and Eminem."^[100] A review of the documentary refers to the wiggers as "white poseurs", and states that the term wigger "is used both proudly and derisively to describe white enthusiasts of black hip-hop culture".^[100]

Language[edit]

Use of minority languages is also cited as cultural appropriated, such as when non-speakers of Scottish Gaelic or Irish get tattoos in that language.^{[101][better source needed]} Likewise, the use of incorrect Scottish Gaelic in a tokenistic fashion aimed at non-Gaelic speakers on signage and announcements has been criticized^{[weasel words]} as disrespectful to fluent speakers of the language.^[102]

Since the early 2000s, it has become increasingly popular for people not of Asian descent, to get tattoos of Indian devanagari, Korean letters or Han characters (traditional, simplified or Japanese), often without knowing the actual meaning of the symbols being used.^[103][104]

Film and television[edit]

According to last US Census (2010), Asian-Americans make up 4.8 percent of the population.^[105] However, according to a study by the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in 2016, only one out of 20 (which corresponds to 5 percent) speaking roles go to Asian-Americans, and they are given only one percent of lead roles in film. White actors account for 76.2 percent of lead roles, while representing 72.4 percent of the population according to the last US census.^[106][105]

In 2017, Ghost in the Shell, which is based on the seinen manga Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow, provoked disputes over whitewashing. Scarlett Johansson, a white actress, took the role of Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese character.^[107] This was seen as cultural appropriation by some fans of the original manga who expected the role to be taken by an Asian or Asian-American actor.^[107]

Costumes[edit]

During Halloween, some people buy, wear, and sell Halloween costumes based on cultural or racial stereotypes.^[108][109] Costumes that depict cultural stereotypes, like "Indian Warrior" or "Pocahottie" are sometimes worn by people who do not belong to the cultural group being stereotyped.^[110] These costumes have been criticized as being in poor taste at best and, at worst, blatantly racist and dehumanizing.^{[1][21][109][111]} There have been public protests calling for the end to the manufacture and sales of these costumes and connecting their "degrading" portrayals of Indigenous women to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis.^[111] In some cases, theme parties have been held where attendees are encouraged to dress up as stereotypes of a certain racial group.^[108][109] A number of these parties have been held at colleges, and at times other than Halloween, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month.^[108][109]

BSA related dance teams[edit]

In chapter four of his book Playing Indian, Native American historian Philip J. Deloria refers to the Koshare Indian Museum and Dancers as an example of "object hobbyists" who adopt the material culture of indigenous peoples of the past ("the vanishing Indian") while failing to engage with contemporary native peoples or acknowledge the history of conquest and dispossession.^[112][113] Some Native Americans have stated that all such impersonations and performances are a form of cultural appropriation which place dance and costumes in an inappropriate context devoid of their true meaning, sometimes mixing elements from different tribes.^[114]

For 2015, the Koshare's Winter Night dances were canceled after a request was received from Cultural Preservation Office (CPO) of the Hopi Nation asking that the troop discontinue their interpretation of the dances of the Hopi and Pueblo Native Americans.^[115] Director of the CPO Leigh Kuwanwisiwma saw video of the performances online, and said the performers were "mimicking our dances, but they were insensitive, as far as I'm concerned."^[116] In the 1950s, the head councilman of the Zuni Pueblo saw a performance and said: "We know your hearts are good, but even with good hearts you have done a bad thing." In Zuni culture, religious object and practices are only for those that have earned the right to participate, following techniques and prayers that have been handed down for generations.^[117]

There are many other examples of groups associated with scout troops attempting to duplicate Native American dance with varying degrees of authenticity.

• Aabikta Indian Dancers, Slidell, Louisiana.^[118]
• Coyote Night Dancers, Northern California ^[119]
• Kaniengehaga Dance Team^[118]
• Kootaga Indian Dancers, Parkersburg, West Virginia^[120]
• Kossa Indian Dancers, Sulphur, Louisiana^[121][122]
• Kwahadi Dancers, Amarillo, Texas ^[123]
• Lakota Dancers, Belvidere, Illinois^[118]
• Mic-O-Say Dancers, St. Joseph, Missouri includes nine teams:^[124]
  • Crossed Arrows, Stewartsville, Missouri
  • Five Rivers, Jefferson City, Missouri
  • Kanza, Atchison, Kansas
  • Lone Star, Dallas, Texas
  • Ma-Has-Kah, Trenton, Missouri
  • Maha, Omaha, Nebraska
  • Otoe, Maryville, Missouri
  • Robidoux, St. Joseph, Missouri
  • White Shield, Kansas City, Missouri^[125]
• Paumanauke Dance Team, Amityville, New York^[118]
• Sahawe Indian Dancers, Uvalde, Texas^[126]
• Tsoyaha Indian Dancers & Mossy Creek Singers, Morristown, Tennessee^[118]

Gender and sexuality[edit]

Some people in the transgender community have protested against the casting of straight, cis-gender actors in trans acting roles, such as when Eddie Redmayne played the role of artist Lili Elbe in the film The Danish Girl and when Jared Leto played the role of a trans woman named Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club.^[127] The gay community has expressed concerns about the use of straight actors to play gay characters, a practice nicknamed "gay for pay"; this occurs in films such as Call Me by Your Name (straight actors Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet), Brokeback Mountain (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal), Philadelphia (starring Tom Hanks), Capote (starring Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Milk (with Sean Penn playing the role of the real-life gay rights activist, Harvey Milk).^[128] Jay Caruso calls these controversies "wholly manufactured", on the grounds that the actors "are playing a role" using the "art of acting".^[127]

Other uses[edit]

Costume of Saint Patrick (left)

In some cases, a culture usually viewed as the target of cultural appropriation can be accused of appropriation, particularly after colonization and an extensive period re-organization of that culture under the nation-state system. For example, the government of Ghana has been accused of cultural appropriation in adopting the Caribbean Emancipation Day and marketing it to African American tourists as an "African festival".^[129]

For some members of the South-Asian community, the wearing of a bindi dot as a decorative item, by a non-Hindu,^[130] or by a woman who is not South Asian, is considered cultural appropriation.^[15]

A common term among Irish people for someone who imitates or misrepresents Irish culture is Plastic Paddy.^[131]

Celebrity controversies[edit]

In 2003, Prince Harry of the British royal family used Indigenous Australian art motifs in a painting for a school project. One Aboriginal group labelled it "misappropriation of our culture", saying that to Aboriginal people, the motifs have symbolic meanings "indicative of our spiritualism", whereas when non-Aborigines use the motifs they are simply "painting a pretty picture".^[4]

In the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012, former Victoria's Secret model Karlie Kloss donned a Native American-style feathered headdress with leather bra and panties and high-heeled moccasins.^[132] This was said to be an example of cultural appropriation because the fashion show is showcasing the company's lingerie and image as a global fashion giant. The outfit was supposed to represent November, and thus "Thanksgiving", in the "Calendar Girls" segment. The outfit met with backlash and criticism as an appropriation of Native American culture and tradition. Victoria's Secret pulled it from the broadcast and apologized for its use. Kloss also commented on the decision by tweeting "I am deeply sorry if what I wore during the VS Show offended anyone. I support VS's decision to remove the outfit from the broadcast."^[133][134]

Avril Lavigne with Hello Kitty outfit

Avril Lavigne has been cited as appropriating Japanese culture in her song "Hello Kitty". The song and music video depict Asian women dressed up in matching outfits and Lavigne eating Asian food while dressed in a pink tutu.^[135] Its depiction of Japanese culture was met with widespread criticism, which has included suggestions of racism. Lavigne responded by stating "I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video ... specifically for my Japanese fans, with my Japanese label, Japanese choreographers and a Japanese director in Japan."^[136] A lot of the feedback Lavigne received on Twitter was favorable, and those who blamed her for racism were non-Japanese.^[137]

When Selena Gomez wore the bindi during a performance, there was debate on her reasoning behind wearing the culture specific piece. Some viewed this as "casting her vote for Team India" but it was also viewed as misuse of the symbol as Selena was seen as not supporting or relating the Bindi to its origin of Hinduism, but furthering her own self-expression.^[138] In 2014, Pharrell Williams posed in a Native American war bonnet on the cover of Elle UK magazine, after much controversy and media surrounding the photo Williams apologized.^[139]

Actress Amandla Stenberg made a school-related video called "Don't Cash Crop on My Cornrows" about the use of black hairstyles and black culture by non-black people, acussing like Katy Perry and Iggy Azalea of using "black culture as a way of being edgy and gaining attention".^[140] Stenberg later criticized Kylie Jenner for allegedly embracing African-American aesthetic values without addressing the issues that affect the community.^[141] The African-American hip hop artist Azealia Banks has also criticized Iggy Azalea "for failing to comment on 'black issues' despite capitalising on the appropriation of African American culture in her music."^[142] Banks has called Azalea a "wigger" and there have been "accusations of racism against Azalea" focused on her alleged "insensitivity to the complexities of race relations and cultural appropriation."^[142]

Rachel Dolezal made headlines in 2015 when it was discovered that she was not African-American, as she had claimed. She is an American former civil rights activist known for being exposed as Caucasian while falsely claiming to be a black woman. Doležal was president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter in Spokane, Washington, from February 7, 2014 until June 15, 2015 when she resigned amid suspicion she had lied about nine alleged hate crimes against her. She received further public scrutiny when her white parents publicly stated that Doležal was a white woman passing as black.^{[143][144][145][146][147]}

In 2017, Miley Cyrus talked to Billboard magazine regarding her new image. She criticized the same African-American stereotypes and cultural elements that she had previously incorporated into her work. This was met with backlash, with people saying Cyrus has a history of appropriating hip hop culture.^[148]

Responses[edit]

Bindi

In 2011, a group of students at Ohio University started a poster campaign denouncing the use of cultural stereotypes as costumes. The campaign features people of color alongside their respective stereotypes with slogans such as "This is not who I am and this is not okay."^[149] The goal of the movement was to raise awareness around racism during Halloween in the university and the surrounding community, but the images also circulated online.^[150]

"Reclaim the Bindi" has become a hashtag used by some people of South Asian descent who wear traditional garb, and object to its use by people not of their culture. At the 2014 Coachella festival one of the most noted fashion trends was the bindi, a traditional Hindu head mark.^[151] As pictures of the festival surfaced online there was public controversy over the casual wearing of the bindi by non-Indian individuals who did not understand the meaning behind it.^[152] #CoachellaShutdown has been used in conjunction with #ReclaimtheBindi in order to protest against the use of the bindi at music festivals, most notably the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.^[153] Reclaim the Bindi Week is an event which seeks to promote the traditional cultural significance of the bindi and combat its use as a fashion statement.^[154]

Criticism of the concept[edit]

John McWhorter, a professor at Columbia University, has criticized the concept, arguing that cultural borrowing and cross-fertilization is a generally positive thing, and is something which is usually done out of admiration, and with no intent to harm, the cultures being imitated; he also argued that the specific term "appropriation," which can mean theft, is misleading when applied to something like culture that is not seen by all as a limited resource: unlike appropriating a physical object, others imitating an idea taken from one group's culture don't inherently deprive that originating group of its use.^[24]

In 2016, author Lionel Shriver gave a speech^[25] at the Brisbane Writers Festival, asserting the right of authors to write from any point of view, including that of characters from cultural backgrounds other than their own – as writers "should be seeking to push beyond the constraining categories into which we have been arbitrarily dropped by birth. If we embrace narrow group-based identities too fiercely, we cling to the very cages in which others would seek to trap us." She also asserted the right of authors from a cultural majority to write in the voice of someone from a cultural minority, attacking the idea that this constitutes unethical "cultural appropriation". Referring to a case in which U.S. college students were facing disciplinary action for wearing sombreros to a 'tequila party', she said "The moral of the sombrero scandals is clear: you're not supposed to try on other people's hats. Yet that's what we’re paid to do, isn't it? Step into other people's shoes, and try on their hats." Sudanese-Australian social activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied walked out on Shriver's speech.^[155] Abdel-Magied later wrote a dissenting opinion piece, published in The Guardian; which has run a series of articles covering the debate over cultural appropriation matters. In it, she called the speech "a poisoned package wrapped up in arrogance and delivered with condescension". She reiterated the basic premises and arguments which form the ideological basis of cultural appropriation, as stated in the above sections, regarding majority/minority, group identity, oppression, colonialism, etc.; but did not address Shriver's arguments about the merits of imagination and intellectual freedom.^[156]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Cultural appropriation

• A Much-Needed Primer on Cultural Appropriation by Katie J.M. Baker
• Intellectual Property Law and Indigenous Peoples: Adapting Copyright Law to the Needs of a Global Community by Megan M. Carpenter for the Yale Human Rights and Development Journal
• The dictionary definition of cultural appropriation at Wiktionary