For those of you who don't know what Cultural Appropriation is. It is when someone adopts aspects of a another culture that is not their own and uses those aspects for aesthetic purposes. It's when members of a "dominant" group steals certain things from a minority groups culture. Let me tell you kids why Cultural Appropriation is very harmful and problematic.
1. It makes certain things look "edgy" for the dominant group but too "ethnic" and "weird" for the who are actually apart of that culture.
Unfortunately, in our society, people of color are often made fun of for their culture, whereas if members of the dominant group was to do something like that, they get praised. Now tell me is that fair to the people who are actually apart of that culture. So please please PLEASE do not wear that bindi for Coachella as a part of your dumb "boho chic" look.
2. It allows people to ignore the struggles that these groups have faced.
You like their culture, but you don't want to acknowledge the issue that they have faced before. So no, it's not ok for you to wear a Native American headdress and not acknowledge that they have been raped, beaten, mutilated, etc. It is highly disrespectful to just wear their culture as accessories and frankly, you just look stupid.
3. It shows that you love the culture but are still prejudice against the people.
Don't you dare wear a hijab and say that all Muslims are terrorist. Don't you dare wear cornrows and continue to put down African Americans.
4. It perpetuates harmful stereotypes of that group.
Whether you mean to or not, by appropriating someone else's culture, you are making the people around you think that that is what all of the members of that group look like and act like. This can be extremely harmful! Because now, the people form that group have to face the consequences of getting made fun of, harassed, or worse.
5. To quote the lovely Gloria Mandoza, "It ain't your history, it ain't your culture. It stops now."
You were not apart of our history or our struggles so therefore, you CANNOT take certain aspects of another culture and basically degrade its meaning just because it looks good on you.
