Cultural appropriation
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American culture is a blend of many cultures. Just because you have British ancestors, you don’t have to act British and eat only their awful traditional food. This is the melting pot in action. Newcomers aren’t forced to adopt the existing culture — they adopt some new things from us, we adopt some new things from them. This whole cultural appropriation thing is a sure-fired way to divide the nation up into many little antagonistic tribes.
Jazz (and rock and roll) began in the African American community. Just like classical music, Jazz and rock now have global audiences with performers and producers of many, many nationalities. This is not cultural appropriation, this the natural diffusion, change, and growth of global culture. Pittsburgh PA had a vibrant jazz community, with black and white nationally-famous artists, in the 1940s and 1950s, with a series of very successful jazz clubs in the African-American downtown area. The city urban renewed that area in the 60s, to build a stadium and to provide a buffer between the black and white communities. That was cultural appropriation/destruction. Britain carting the mummies and sarcophagi of ancient Egyptian rulers and the Elgin Marbles back to England — that is cultural appropriation. The Spanish Conquistadors and the Catholic priests who accompanied them into Mexico and Latin America destroying records and artefacts of local religions to subdue the natives and spread Christianity, that is cultural appropriation/destruction. The McDonalds restaurant chain suing a business running under the McDonald’s name in the U.K. under ownership of clan McDonald, is a failed example of attempted cultural appropriation.
People in the U.S. wearing a hairstyle created in another country, or a French designer gown is not cultural appropriation. When I was in college, the Indian nation would happily sell as many Nehru jackets as young European and some American young males were willing to buy and wear. Global commerce, not cultural appropriation.
I can’t imagine giving to craps about anyone of any ages hair style. People will find anything to be offended by these days. I guess since I’m Italian I should be offended by anyone who makes pasta tonight. ???
Someone screaming at you in front of your three year old over her hair isn’t someone worth minding. If you and your three year old were simply being alive and keeping to yourself, fuck that person, without exception to what they were trying to express.
Are braids cultural appropriation? Even if they are, imitation is also the sincerest form of flattery and your daughter wasn’t harming anyone, else.
I don’t think small children should be yelled at over their hair. I haven’t heard of anyone having issues with dutch braids.
But I will say that the issue with white people wearing things like cornrows or dreadlocks is that there are black people who get discriminated against for them, so when a white person runs around with them to look “cute” it’s annoying. For example, some black children who have those hairstyles have been sent home from school and some black adults have been told they aren’t professional for those hairstyles, etc.
The point of any of the commentary on cultural appropriation is that white people will use things from other cultures that people in those cultures have been discriminated against for.
“The point of any of the commentary on cultural appropriation is that white people will use things from other cultures that people in those cultures have been discriminated against for.”
Ya don’t braid your hair because one time this one chick was discriminated against. Also, don’t breathe or eat or walk or…. ridiculous.
That’s one issue. Another is that black women were wearing these styles literally forever, and then they became cute and “new” and trendy because white women like the Kardashians and Jenners started wearing them on Instagram. And people feel that those women could be using their power to bring attention to issues that are hurting black people, but they don’t, they just steal the hairstyles. I can see it. I wondered about it in 2016 when the double Dutch braid / “boxer braid” style was everywhere and I was like, wow, I can wear that style and it’ll solve a lot of my summer hair problems, but is it ok? For me as a middle-aged white woman to wear my hair like that? And I guess it was because Kim K made it ok ?
And, like, even calling it “boxer braids,” as if it originated with the UFC, or Kim K Signature Braids, as if KKW came up with the style, is offensive to some people, because it IS a clsssic African style.
Feel free to yell back at the moron yelling at a baby over a hairstyle. Appropriation has an element of taking, for gain. I’m not getting the sense the baby was claiming anything for personal gain. The hell. Were there always so many idiots? It feels like more lately….so many, many more…
Meh, the woman who yelled was ridiculous. A little baby wearing a braid is not cultural appropriation. Had you dressed the child in a little smocked dress and given her some wooden clogs and a starched triangular white hat – maybe, just maybe you’d have crossed a line.
Wearing Dutch braids now. I sleep in them so my hair doesn’t look like Flock is Seagals when i wake up. I actually just mastered them. For some reason it was a braid I just couldn’t get down until recently.
And let’s just not allow the Kardashians to have any influence over anything. Horrible people.
Cultural appropriation is so bull. We are supposed to be a melting pot where we all enjoy and celebrate each other’s culture.
With this PC bulloney, we would never be able to appreciate Chinese or Mexican food. Not corn. We wouldn’t be able to wear a kimono or take a Turkish bath. How about a falafel? Swedish sauna.
Every day people are getting fed up with people telling them how to live, what to wear and how to eat.
It may be blunt, but my response to these virtue signalling and forcing their beliefs on me is a phrase ending with the word off.
I can’t speak for where you are, but where I live, is seems to be never a person from whose culture is being “appropriated”. It is usually some random white social justice warrior who seems determined in thrusting themselves into other peoples’ business.
They are the ones being rude.
I think the point is, like you said, enjoying and celebrating each other’s culture. So if I’m a YouTuber or Instagrammer with a lot of influence, it might be good for me to say, “so today I’m showing you a tutorial for [actual name of hairstyle], which originated in Africa thousands of years ago, and has been worn around the world ever since…” as opposed to “today I’m going to show you Kim K Signature Braids.”
But yeah, yelling at a little girl is insane.
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