You've probably heard your friendly neighborhood feminist throw around the phrase "cultural appropriation" here and there but you might not know what that means. I realize that very few people understand the phrase, and it has been on my mind a lot since seeing some unpleasant photos on Facebook from Cinco de Mayo and that awful tweet by Donald Trump:
So what is cultural appropriation?
Cultural appropriation happens when a member of the dominant culture takes pieces of another culture and uses them as their own.
Isn't that the same as cultural exchange?
No, and that's the really crucial part. Exchange happens when a member of the dominant culture truly studies the nuances of another culture's practices and traditions, participates in open dialogue with members of that culture and then adopts practices and traditions they identify with from that culture. It is a process that takes a lot of time and energy.
So... A lot of stuff is cultural appropriation, huh?
Unfortunately, yes, and some of it can be really harmful and insulting to the people of the culture which is being appropriated. Oftentimes, the practices and traditions which are appropriated stem from harsh oppression, violence and/or religious significance. These are histories which are not to be taken lightly.
What does that have to do with Trump's photo? Is eating tacos cultural appropriation?
Thankfully, no. Eat all the tacos you can. The reason Trump's tweet is so unsettling is that he, like many others, preach hatefulness regarding Mexican immigrants and then turns around and claims to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a minor Mexican holiday. Cinco de Mayo could easily give Americans an opportunity to learn more about Mexican culture and the significance of the day and the bloody war that it was a part of...but instead, people put on sombreros and get drunk. We can do so much better than that.
Tacos: not cultural appropriation. Everything else: I'm not sure. Could you give some examples?
Absolutely. There are instances of celebrities appropriating cultures which have been all over the media such as Selena Gomez wearing a Bindi, Katie Perry's AMA performance in a mash-up of Japanese and Chinese dressings and almost everything Iggy Azalea does. Other everyday examples include wearing blackface, Native American headdresses, dreadlocks and any Halloween costumes with a nationality in the name.
OK. Now I think I understand what cultural appropriation is, but I'm still a little foggy on why it is so harmful and insulting.
That's the tough part because it requires getting into someone else's shoes. I think of it this way: if I have a one-of-a-kind tattoo created especially to commemorate a deceased loved one of mine and hundreds of people saw it and then tattooed it on themselves simply because they thought it was pretty, I would be extremely hurt. It is that gap that is so harmful. The gap between the source and the usage by someone else, where the person appropriating lacks the understanding of the significance behind what they are taking and therefore cheapen it and undermine the suffering of the original person/people.
