What is Cultural Appropriation?
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2024
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What is culture? Can it even be appropriated? Is there a difference between appreciation and appropriation? Join Danielle in the theoretical minefield!
Written and Hosted by: Danielle Bainbridge
Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios
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Origin of Everything is a show about the undertold histories and cultural dialogues that make up our collective story. From the food we eat, to the trivia and fun facts we can’t seem to get out of our heads, to the social issues we can’t stop debating, everything around us has a history. Origin of Everything is here to explore it all. We like to think that no topic is too small or too challenging to get started
Works Cited:
The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation James O Young and Conrad G Brunk
Raymond Williams “Culture is Ordinary” 1958
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Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society Raymond Williams
Yúdice, G. (2014). Culture. In B. Burgett, & G. Hendler (Eds.), Keywords for American cultural studies (2nd ed.). New York, NY: New York University Press.
Keywords for American Cultural Studies Edited by Bruce Burgett and Glenn Hendler
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"cultural, adj. and n.". OED Online. December 2018. Oxford University Press. www.oed.com.tur... (accessed December 05, 2018).
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www.nytimes.co...
www.thoughtco....
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Hey people! Just touching base to say I'm following along with your comments and I'm pretty impressed (as always) with the thoughtful tone everyone on this channel takes when thinking about challenging topics. You've raised a lot of good points. Keeping in mind that the episodes are only around 10 minutes long, there's still so much more we can cover! Keep the comments coming and hats off to you wonderful nerds for your assistance in giving me ideas of what a second part of this episode might look like!
-Danielle
Origin Of Everything thank you for your video! I really appreciate your very informative yet easy to digest exposition of this very important matter. I had paid little attention to this before even though I knew the term existed. You’ve helped me pause a bit and analyze the world I live in.
That said I must state I am not from the US, I’m Costa Rican. The video was perhaps geared toward an American audience though I have been able to think of Costa Rican and even more broadly Latin American scenarios in which cultural appropriation has certainly impacted society.
Thanks again, I will certainly share this video and look more into the matter from my own place in the society and culture I form part of.
Thanks for the video! Talking about taking stuff from other cultures... Could you please make a video about the history of coffee and/or caffeine? How did one drink from some small regions in Afrika become the most favourite morning wake up call on several continents? Especially considering plenty other drinks and food around the world that can "wake" you up (tea, guarana,...)? And why do we keep drinking it despite the fact that it becomes "useless" when you regularly drink a lot of it?
I am glad to hear that you are following the reasonable - even if they may be to the contrary - comments on this topic. It is very layered topic - as I, and many others it seems, believe all things are. Ten minutes is a very short time period as you mention and even while trying to be unbiased, but educational, 10min can cut one short enough to make it seem as if a topic is so easily explained off as a binary issue of good or bad as a whole. I look forward to further videos on this topic, that allow for more nuance and fluidity on the topic itself, while still pointing out some of the more obvious and egregious acts that are a problem.
This really didn't explain much or go into depth. A lot of time was spent on Brando story in how a group was portrayed but that is separate to Cultural Appropriation. There are so many grey areas to cover and discuss.
@@Melty-pup While you give simplified examples of what you observe to appropriation, your examples are areas where people share their culture, or at least one where someone else appropriated the culture and gave it to you to use. Using chopsticks would not be cultural appropriation because you likely ate Asian food you purchased from an Asian restaurant or an Asian friend shared the food with you. When you begin dressing as said Asian and tie your hair up when you invite friends over to enjoy a meal then bow to welcome them, then you are moving into the area of appropriating Asian culture. Do you think your Asian friend would feel appreciated or insulted?
When tourists come to our country (Myanmar or Burma) and wear our traditional outfits, we literally praise them cause they are embracing it
Me too, I've never thought that as "stealing". To me its a very honorable thing that people from different countries are interested in our culture.
That's because they went to Your country and wear those outfits with the respect.
If they went there and wore them while mocking Your people You wouldn't like that, right?
And what if hey wore those outfits like in Norway or Spain with respect, what would you and your people think of them?
@@sadpowie what if they stat to wear those clothes just randomly in Europe or somewhere else?
I think its as long as if someone is respectful and acknowledges the group of people /cultures they are engaging with allows for it to not be appropriation. So that is really great the people who come to visit are engaging and embracing your culture respectfully not pretending it’s a “costume” or something they created
I realized after meeting international friends that cultural appropriation is a North American concept, their perspectives were so different, seeing culture as beauty rather than property. (Perhaps in North America we feel torn between our cultures and just being American) I think it’s hypocritical to be outraged for a culture and people, and yet not bother to learn their perspectives or how they feel about an issue. Putting words in their mouths or speaking for them as if they all share American ways of thinking, I find it so small minded.
In my opinion, people of color but mostly African Americans, feel a sense of frustration from being demonized for displaying their culture (e.g. wearing braids or dreadlocks in the work place and being told it's unprofessional and inappropriate), only to see Europeans Americans do the same and labeled stylish and trend-setters. This has led to a sensitivity that makes people quick to call "cultural appropriation" when whites participate in other cultural norms. I feel we should all be able to participate in, and experience different cultures without fear of being accused of appropriation. At the same time, we need to be aware of the biases that occur in everyday life and actively correct them.
Exactly. And it is only when people realize to respect and value the people just as much as their culture that we can all harmoniously enjoy every culture without offense.
Stylish and appropriate aren't the same thing. A hairstyle can be considered cool by the public but inappropriate by a school or company.
Oh come on guys, african american, white american... as somebody who is not from the USA youre all US americans, there is no difference, there should not be one. I met a group of americans once, 3 black as the night 2 pale as a wall and 2 brown. Damn they sure where the same culture they acted the same they were US American from Philadephia, gotta wonder why stuff like this is still talked about. A hair style like braids is not someting you can own, like literly have of the youth here has undercuts wich is such a german hair cut. Germans complaining about this? No.
As a bavarian millions of people from all over the world come here to our octoberfest wich is a long held important wedding, they drink till passing out misbehave and call it "the biggest beer fest" in the world they buy the cheepest look alike traditional clothing they can find wich i would call a personal insult. Many here are so pissed about this, heared a couple of friend beat some guys from germany up because they were shit talking bout bavarian but i see it like that.
Dont complain, educate. I tell people why we celebrate Oktoberfest, i tell people bout the history of my country i show people around. Thats propably were all this anger from african american comes from. What can they show what can they tell? They are part of the USA and its culture and they know it. Thats probably frustrating but just chill and let the white people take part in wich is your shared cutlure.
Sry for long text, quite angry hearing bout this cultural Appropriation BS from US Americans.
PS good video tho
@@sebastianlang8050 I disagree. We share the same nationality and are familiar with the "American/Western" culture to which we all contribute to, but Americans of their respective backgrounds still have their own unique cultures and practices. Yes, we all celebrate stuff like Thanksgiving, eat burgers and BBQ, and wear shorts and T-shirts and what have you. Our military is probably the most American institution, with enlistees of all backgrounds coming for a common cause, serving the US. But with this unity comes even more diversity. Many of my Korean-American friends still celebrate Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), and all my Asian-American friends still observe Lunar New Year. My African-American friends celebrate Kwanzaa and Juneteenth, while my white-American friends celebrate X-mas and Easter (and cultural appropriation is not the reason why other Americans also celebrate these religious holidays). These things aren't shared with anyone because it's their own unique cultural practice and idiosyncrasy as a non-indigenous American. Can a black person celebrate Chuseok? Sure, if they're respectful and aren't romanticizing/bastardizing Korean culture and traditions in doing so. Can a white person wear box braids or cornrows? Yes. Black people have utilized these hairstyles for themselves to protect and promote the health/growth of their unique, afro-textured hair, but if nonblack people find genuine fascination and understanding of our traditional hairstyles, then it's not a problem.
I'll go beyond just hairstyles and explain the current state of African-American culture (and I'll try to keep it brief). We aren't offended because we think we "own" it. It's because of our history and the contrasting events today that has created 1) a culturally/historically insensitive nonblack population who ignorantly picks at African-American culture for hairstyles (and music, dance, dialect, etc.) at no cost, while *black people themselves* are denied jobs, kicked out of schools, bullied, looked down upon for doing what they (and their African predecessors) have been doing for millennia, and 2) an uneducated population of nonblack people who don't know where Kylie Jenner's "boxer braids" idea, "mini buns", "swipe it", rock n' roll, and endless amounts of English colloquialisms come from. Kylie Jenner was wearing "cornrows" not boxer braids. Mini buns are called bantu knots. Fortnite should respect Terrence Ferguson, original creator of the milly rock and call it such instead of "swipe it". People assume Elvis Presley is the king of rock n' roll, but as talented as he was, nobody believes there's generations of African-Americans before him who created the genre. And African-American Vernacular English is too hefty a topic for me to delve into in one comment, but it has endured quite a bit of injustice over the past few centuries.
I'll stop with this: Black people try to educate, but people don't want to listen. They only want our culture, and that is why we're rightfully upset. Our culture is more than just something of influence or something to make fun of. It, too, has a people with a deep, dark past who want to proudly practice and host their culture without any misunderstanding or ignorance. And dissolving it all as "American for everyone" is not going to fix the problem.
@@anawkwardsweetpotato4728 Ok i respect that u have another opinion and i do have to say bringing up Juneteenth, yes i can get totally behind it and i do have to agree this is a big turning point that should be celebrated but iam glad u brought in kwanzaa as i can and never will understand how a made up holiday can be celebrated.
I can understand the struggle of searching for an ID, like mexicans, they can say they are from mexico they can say from what village, their local food their they can tell about their relatives live there and how they are still so connected with their roots but as an afro american u dont really have that as you are US american. I can understand the search for an ID but i think that is not the answer.
I think we have two different views on the matter and its sure easy for me to write a commend and judge i know. I just was in heat because i feel cultural appropriation every day and when i see people arguing about stuff like hair style i kinda feel frustrated.
I feel like she should've explained the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation a bit more since most of the comments are like "I eat Mexican food, does that make me a culture appropriator" when that's not really the case.
I live in Japan and one big thing that people think about and worry about when they move here from abroad is whether or not they are allowed to wear Yukata's or Kimono's without offending anyone. In general Japanese people LOVE it when they see foreigners wear traditional clothes.
But when someone doesn't wear it properly, doesn't care about anything or even just throws it together and makes that weird eye stretching thing while taking a picture saying "sushi" instead of cheese... its not met with that same kind of enthusiasm.
Now here's an example that'll I hope will make it easier to understand.
You wear glasses. Of course, you didn't invent glasses and you're not the only person on the planet wearing glasses either. You like your glasses, its like a part of you although you're not consciously thinking of it 24/7. But they are the lens through which you see the world. Consider this culture.
But you have a friend, the kind of popular kid on campus who just so happens to not wear any glasses. He has his own way of seeing things. He has his own culture. But he's always wanted to try on some glasses. He thinks they look kinda cool and asks if he can try yours on. You lend them to him, appreciating the compliment. "Hey! He likes my glasses. He appreciates them." He reaches out his hands saying "my glasses my glasses. I can't see without my glasses" in an annoyingly overly pitched voice, quoting that one chick from Scoobie doo he vaguely remembers.
He then takes them, but instead of wearing them normally. He puts them on top of his head. Not even around his ears. Just right atop his cranium like a hat. "Hey! I look just like you now! Isn't this cool!" he says enthusiastically.
You see him and say "hey you're not even wearing them right." He simply doesn't care and posts a photo on Instagram. The photo gets thousands of likes and the person who bullied you in the High-school for wearing those exact glasses comments "This is the best thing I've ever seen. Maybe I should put some glasses on my head.."
He walks around all day with your glasses on top of his head, proud. Then when he's bored he tosses them back to you.
You get a little upset. Of course you're not the only one in the world who wears glasses. And you can't really do anything about it. Sure, you were glad that they thought your glasses were cool and all but...to not wear them properly, and to see him be celebrated for the same thing you were mocked for.. it kind of hurts.
You have another friend. She saw these cool circle glasses on Instagram (John Lenon style if I may). She doesn't need glasses or anything but she bought them. She wears them properly on her face and appreciates them. She bought a nice little glasses case too and she takes proper care of them. Sure she gets a billion likes on Instagram but instead, people are commenting "oh wow your glasses are so cute! I want a pair but I have good eyesight." It makes you happy because they appreciate it for what it is. You reply to the comment "you can get glasses without a prescription!" and even attach a link.
Sure they don't belong to the specific group of people who need glasses. Sure it's not as a part of them as it is to you. But if they are willing to appreciate it for what it is and not some joke or fad, you are more than willing to share.
And that's the difference b/t cultural appropriation. And appreciation.
This is a perfect explanation tbh
Omg! Thank you very much for this. I am so confused before and this is perfectly explained and laid out to me. Cheers!
Wow. This is actually perfect. Thanks a bunch!
Cultural Appropriation is short hand for Cultural Misappropriation. This is where a lot of miscommunication happens, appropriation is neutral, while misappropriation has a negative connotation. Now the negative connotation has corrupted the neutral term.
In your scenario, if someone went to try a few frames, and just minded their own business, I’d call that person a chill human being. Now the Mr. Brad you talked about, where he made fun of people with glasses, we have phrases to call people like them, the most popular one is “he’s an asshole.”
Here’s an interesting hypothetical:
I go to Mexico and buy a poncho, sombrero, and maracas, everything is fine. Now let’s say I go to a US college, I’ll be told that I’m appropriating Mexican culture by a bunch of Americans. In this hypothetical, I’m also white, but maybe I grew up in Mexico and know it’s culture, maybe I’m a really white Mexican, or maybe I lived in San Diego and learned about Mexico through my friends.
In that college I wouldn’t be confronted if I looked Mexican, instead I was prejudged based on my skin color, to assume that I know nothing of Mexican culture and can’t appreciate it.
Look up, “Rick Bayless” he’s a white chef that went to Mexico to learn Mexican cuisines. However, when he opened his restaurant that sold Mexican cuisine, he was told that he’s appropriating culture.
Now I understand what you’re trying to do, clear information about what’s acceptable and what isn’t, a respectable thing to do. However, when people started over using the term to describe stuff that isn’t really hurting anyone, they’re distrustful of anyone using it. From wearing dreads, to eating/making food, and even dancing(there was an African American that was pretty good at Irish dancing was accused of cultural appropriation).
Then there’s the conspiracy theorists that believe POC are targeting white people. Not PC to wear something that resembles a Native American, but it’s okay to wear something Euro centered? People might say “this is about power differences, not race” and well that’s wrong. The Irish(once considered the white negro) and Catholics(the institution that systematically raped nuns) went through some crap in the US. Yet we have saint patty’s day, and have sexy nun outfits(cause nuns have tons of systematic power), and yet no one cares. This is what I call “an internet dumpster fire,” and it won’t stop burning, so sit down and relax my friend, for the world is burning before our eyes about something that probably doesn’t matter.
Omg, you read all of this, well anyways, have a nice day, and sorry for the crappy grammar.(oh and this is more of a poorly structured rant, so I’m sorry about that too)
Random Person i don’t think you understood the point-
it’s someone making a joke out of it that’s the problem. that’s why in the example the person was fine lending the glasses to the friend, and was fine when their other friend bought glasses and wore them even if they didn’t need it.
but thus is honestly just an example- don’t focus on the glasses that’s not the point orz
I'm now really really really confused. I'm from Asia and from my experience, it's not just me but Asian people (born by native Asians parents and raised in Asia, no hates to immigrants) actually enjoy it when people wear their clothes and listen to their traditional clothings, though some clothings weren't positively viewed in history. Most of the anger are by Americans, I think.
Also, is it wrong that I like to see when these traditional clothes are modernised (in a right way)? Like, I think a good way to Keep these clothings alive Is by modernising it, yet not losing its beauty and essential styles and points. Correct me if I'm wrong
I’m also an asian who born and raise by asian parents in south east Asia and I have literally no problem with people dressing in Chinese outfits and I actually have an anime that I like that wears chinese outfit and tons of American cosplay it and I have no problem at all.
Exactly my thought, I definitely want more people to experience my culture incase it gone in history
It's not just Asia, it's everyone except Americans.
yeah It's crazy how people outside of a certain cultures get overly offended for the culture. I remember Katy Perry got criticized for having performed in her kimono inspired clothes. Japanese people loved it but she was criticized for appropriating japanese culture in the US.
@@ooogligliooo @ooogligliooo really?for me the costume looks amazing! I feel like it also applied other accessories like the mandarin collar of the cheongsam, the fitted sleeve of the ao dai and the fabric was silk, which wasn't very common in Kimono-making.
i still feel like i dont understand what is and isnt appropriation.
Well, she didn't explain it. That's why.
It’s because there are more grey areas now. Like some people want to say eating sushi is cultural appropriation (I kid you not) or having two Dutch braids in your hair is (when many cultures have overlapping braiding styles).
@@adorablegodzilla5628 well there must be some standard to generally follow
sometimes it is clear, sometimes not so much. For example, Disney tried to patent Dia de los Muertos as intellectual property of their own. I think you can pretty confidently say that this is a mexican tradition and not a creation of some american animation studio.
Other times it is kinda blur, for example there is some discussion about Miley Cyrus and her twerking as cultural appropriation and misrepresentation of african traditional dances. However, that is debatable since how misrepresented can be a dance that was very well known as a strip club dance? Is it really traditional? There are real traditional dances but twerking is certainly not one of them. And why Miley Cyrus wouldn't be allowed to dance however she pleases?
And then, there are things that are clearly not cultural appropriation and it is just people in a contest for who is the most offended like let's say a white director that wants to make a movie about another cultural reality, and he or she does it well, he is responsible and treats that culture with respect and without misrepresentation. There will still be people calling him/her out because of "cultural appropriation" And i am like "F.O"
However, the most important thing about appropriation is that it comes from a position of power. That is me, as a latino, cannot appropriate american culture by listening to rock to say an example, that is part of your cultural output to the world. No, it needs to be an element of dominance and it usually involves mistreatment of the "lesser" culture; if there is no mistreatment then cultural appreciation can be argued.
It's all bullshit. Partake in whatever culture you want and just don't be an ass on purpose and you'll be just fine.
I guess as an Italian I should feel offended by...almost anything, then.
Nah just when everyone jumps on the band wagon when Italy does well in soccer
@Cath I could understand if we’re sharing culture. But the ones without culture have nothing so they steal it and disrespect the origin.
cultural appropriation are an american thing black or white
no Akuma, you can't. you are a privileged white cis man who exercises a LOT of systematic power, remember?
you have no right to feel offended about anything. only minorities around the world have the right to whine about their problems.
@@nikhilchauhan7511 they said they were Italian. They never said anything about being a cis white man. So close your mouth.
I understand that mocking a culture is wrong. However when it comes to any form of art: clothing, music, etc, there should be no limit. It's art. It's honestly kinda sad to see creativity being demonized because the person who displayed such creativity wasn't the right skin color.
you can appreciate a culture without trying to make that culture apart of your aesthetic or trying to claim a culture as your own
boston well yeah no shit but it's not like you hate or are trying to mock said culture just by including it in your aesthetic.
@@rayonnaboston2045 Art mediums and themes are not copyrighted. How do you propose we segregate the arts and how to determine who gets to do what?
@@themusicman1556 maybe not but when most people try to insert themselves into someone else culture most people don’t take the time and educate themselves on why certain cultures do what they do and it does come off as a stereotypical/ mocking in the eyes of that culture.
@@rayonnaboston2045 fair point, there are too many people in the world for us to all be so discriminatory in deciding who is harmless and who is stereotyping.
A problem I've noticed is most people instantly relate culture to skin color. That is NOT always the case.
I've been accused of cultural appropriation and/or racism for wearing hoop earring, braiding my hair, eating watermelon & fried chicken together, using blaccent/ebonics, dancing "black", just to name some.
Yes, my skin is white, so I suppose, just call me white. Though, I am German, Creole, Maltese mix.
Here's what needs to be considered: it's impossible to tell what culture a person has been raised with, invited into, or spent several years living in, no matter what skin tone they have (only mentioning that bc that's generally where the "you're appropriating a culture" statement begins).
Myself being a valid example, being a white girl. I grew up, since birth, in a Southern Louisiana Black community. My hair was being cornrowed by Miss Perry, an old Black woman who was my neighbor & wonderful family friend, for as long as I can remember. She taught me how to braid, she encouraged me to adopt this art. My dirty blonde hair was braided more often than not. A piece of Black culture, African culture (whatever is appropriate terminology for whomever reading) that was shared with me, that I grew up with & nobody gave me grief for it. UNTIL I grew up, moved to a different state & wore braids outside of where I was raised. OH, the harrassment I have gotten. Similar story with hoop earrings & enjoying a plate of fried chicken with watermelon.
During my late teens & early 20s, I traveled, having met people of many races & cultures & having them openly share pieces of their culture. Which I happily accepted & since living it, consider it my own. These pieces of culture were instilled in me, thus making it a piece OF me.
I spent many years with a Hawaiian family & now live in a community heavily influenced by Mexicans.
Now, here I am, knocking on the backdoor of my 40s & cannot even tell you how much crap I've been given for the things I mentioned above. Even though all these pieces of culture were gifted to me & I represent them with respect & love.
But nobody cares about a person's backstory. And the times I've tried to share my backstory, it was deemed Void bc my skin is white.
There are MANY people with stories similar to mine.
Love your comment, your insight! Your words are very well spoken and register easily with me. Growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia (decades ago), my sister and I were often ridiculed for 'dressing black', 'dancing black', 'acting black'. How the hell is this even possible? What is 'acting, dancing, dressing' black? What do either entail?
Really good comment. I always try to dismiss people that try that argument about braids and dreads by saying that the first civilization that wear them was the egyptians and although they are africans they don’t are black so…
Just mix up with everybody and stop with this nonsense
Big up to yall
Exactly its all about upbringing
My skin is white even though my father's side of the family's are not. I grew up with all of the same culture and influence as my cousins but have never been able to openly celebrate my heritage because I was accused of appropriating someone else's culture.
So instead they tried to rob me of mine.
Somehow, when some minorities adopt my culture in an offensive way that misrepresents my heritage, I'm told to stay out of it because I'm white.
I think the very idea of appropriation has been colored by a form of racism.
Indian here, I'm fine with people interacting with my culture as long as they respect it, actually I'd feel pretty happy if they showed an interest in it. I wouldn't feel like they stole anything.
and that's the point with cultural appropriation... it is about respect and genuine interest in a culture and avoiding its use as a product to be consumed for heir mindless enjoyment
@@lauratrejos1528 ok then why do people hate on others using an Afro hairstyle . How is having a hairstyle “mindless enjoyment”.
@@dhritikapoor2897 I don´t undertstand your question??
@@lauratrejos1528 I meant to say that some people get offended when non blacks adopt Afro hairstyle. U argued that people don’t like mindless appropriation of culture. My question is how is having a hairstyle mindless appropriation of black culture.
@@dhritikapoor2897 well 1. I didn't argue that "people don't like" mindless appropriation of culture. I'm arguing it's wrong and unethical (especially in certain contexts) due to its neocolonialist connotation and insensitivity towards certain minority groups
2. It is unacceptable behaviour in the case of a white american person to adapt and/or adopt items, styles or features of black american connotation or origin due to the extensive history of racial segregation and discrimination in the us from white european immigrants towards former african slaves and their descendants...anyone interested enough in the topic will know and recognize how and why these choices would seem insensitive towards (in this case) black american people and it is mostly because to this day (using the hairstyle as an example) this particular minority group and its cultural expression and heritage is affected by racist ideas, prejudices and systems to the point of physically shaping the livelihoods of everyone born as a part of it
The only real 'appropriation' of culture I've seen in recent years is with Kim K trying to copywrite the term 'Kimono' for her shapewear brand. I can see that would have certain negative effects. But as far as wearing, doing, saying, and enjoying things that are from other cultures, I can't see anything wrong with that. We all borrow from each other and it would be impossible and boring to live in a world so segregated.
Yeah and she loves japan i just feel she's stupid sometimes lmao
How is her using a word from another Language not ok, BUT ADOPTING WHOLE ASPECT OF CULTURES THAT HAVE YOU NO RELATION TO, PERSONALLY, OR THRU HERITAGE AND ETHNICITY PERFECTLY FINE????
@@xaiikuu7955 because she’s not claiming to own the culture? She just likes it what’s the big deal? The problem with her copyrighting it is that it’s such a common word.
@@lilyheym5570 the big deal is, it’s just as wrong to ignore and deny the roots, heritage, history, and stigma of a culture, as it is to claim it as your own.
@@xaiikuu7955 that’s like saying I can’t speak Chinese because I’m not Chinese. And it’s also like saying that every time I speak Chinese I have to inform people about how I’m not Chinese and I don’t claim to own the Chinese language or culture. Lily heym is right, the problem with copyrighting the word kimono is that it’s a common word just like how you wouldn’t be able to copyright mayonnaise. Kim k has always been a bit out of the loop, just let her mess up and learn from it, she probably doesn’t mean any harm to the Japanese people.
Whomever first wrote about "cultural appropriation" never learned Roman, Japanese or Thai history and culture.
or history in general, lmao.
Rome was the big daddy of “cultural appropriation” at the time lol.
Can ya’ll explain?
@@lalalaland4458 The bulk of Japanese culture was taken directly from Chinese and Korean culture. The Samurai Sword: A Korean design. Ninjas: modeled after Chinese spycraft. Japanese architecture and (original) written language: Taken from the Chinese. Just to name a few.
Thailand is pretty much a mash up between Chinese and Indian culture.
And Rome.
While Rome had it's own contributions, they literally took the Greek pantheon, renamed the gods, and declared they were really Roman after all, the Greeks got the names wrong (but then they did this with every religion they came across). Rome also integrated what worked in other cultures into their own way of life.
@@staycalm8317 Let me integrate what you said with some data. The Romans had their own gods. You don't find a temple to Zeus or Poseidon anywhere in the Roman world: you do find temples to Iuppiter and Neptune, two very ancient names of Indo-European origin. The Romans quite literally equated each one of their gods with those of other peoples -- not just the Greeks, but also the Celts, the Germanic tribes, the Phenicians etc (one expiation was the Egyptians, who were revered by all as the single most ancient culture in the Mediterranean). Thus the Celtic god Toutatis, 'Lord/Father of the Community', was equated to Iuppiter (
One of the biggest concerns of cultural appropriation is at the corporate level. Companies take images of significant symbols and make a profit. Meanwhile the original group of people who have been forced to sell trinkets to make a living are overshadowed by the corporate level. An example would be dream catcher earring and T-shirts being sold at stores such as Walmart while a Native American is trying to sell the real thing at a kiosk or next to a tourist spot.
According to you, what would be the solution? Should the company seek consent from the Native Americans? Pay them a proportion of the profits? Not do it all-together?
@@iLubembz In the case of the "Washington Red Skins" I think basically everyone sane can agree it would have been better if they chose a different name and mascot. Unless the team itself were mostly native americans and they decided as a team that was the name and logo they went by, its appropriation for comerical gains and is one of the most harmful examples out there since its using a groups's skin color to sell a football franchise.
iLubembz we’ll forbidding it all together would cause a rabbit hole of issues. Since if written into law then other groups could forbid the use of other objects from rainbows to crosses. Asking permission would be troublesome since no group of people is of a hive mind since responses would vary from ‘go for it’ to ‘I don’t care’ Therefore the most ideal solution would be to share a profit however then where would the money go. And since the example is Native Americans then I wouldn’t be surprised if they would turn down the profit due to the wasted resources and pollution that goes into making such items. In an ideal world someone would look at an item and think maybe I shouldn’t try to make money off of this, unfortunately due to radical free capitalism it is unlikely that a reasonable limit will be placed on cultural items any time soon.
@@Permafry42108 Is the team very old and was the name chosen a long time ago? I'm not American and not familiar with football culture.
I'm wondering if the intent at the time the name was picked was a bad one and if there is anything the current owners can do to remedy the situation.
@@bunnybecca5096 I was thinking the same things tbh in terms of fixes to the situation. Looks like there's nothing that can be done about it now, but maybe in future people will consider such issues before picking names or using logos.
However, even then I'm not sure this is something that will completely go away...
I used to live in the Caribbean & as a white woman I had plenty of black women asking to braid my hair. It is their job and they proud of their work & to see people taking part in their culture.
exactly, i'm from morocco and I found it very beautiful when people wore our clothes and listen to our songs and practiced our traditions, I remember we had black people in our neighborhood and they used to braid our hair and they used to wear our traditional clothes and we just had a great time sharing our cultures with each others... it was beautiful! We even had white people from America wearing our outfits and all of that and people used to always smile at them XD
@@nicenamehere5052 That is a great story! I hope to go to Morocco someday. :)
@@joylindadichamounix ur always welcome to visit ^^
@@nicenamehere5052
But why is braided hair seen as a black thing? Even Aztecs and Olmecs braided their hair in mesoamerica.
Came for the comments.
Not a bad idea, there are some thoughtful comments here.
To see all the racists acting like idiots and pretending the people that designed the modern world are the enemy.
I'm cringing from the comments. Honestly, people are so pessimistic thinking everyone is shitting on other cultures when it's not really the case.
@@somewhitman4040 maybe that's their culture and you're insensitively missrepresting and being intolerant to their culture by calling them racists, Preston.
@@cyrhow5096
Racists haven't had an issue with the term in the 20s of the law century but have been recognised to make not only the world but also their (how ever narrow) home regions worse so complaining about the term now is admitting defeat in the marketplace of ideas.
It seems to me that the issue stems mainly from a matter of misnaming things: the problem is not cultural _appropriation_ , but _defamation_ .
I feel like I'm painting with a broad brush here, but then again so is everyone who uses "cultural appropriation" as an umbrella term I think.
Thank you! I was looking for such a word.
the problem isn't appropriation its defamation and misrepresentation
"Cultural defamation" and "cultural misrepresentation" would definitely be better terms to describe what people are defining as "cultural appropriation." They make an enormous jump when they say that cultural appropriation is about power imbalances between "dominating groups" over "minority groups." And I use air-quotes specifically because I don't even want to validate the argument by using those words sincerely. When it comes to adoption of culture, it's obvious that people have adopted various practices and beliefs for as long as humans have existed. This is nothing new. And the idea that the problem stems from intentionally comedic or at times ignorant portrayals in media is so ridiculous that it should even be taken seriously.
Ironic. Maybe we should call them out on “cultural appropriation” because they’re misusing vocabulary words in the English language, adding new vocabulary definitions to the English dictionary With their PC phrases du juor (is that proper French? ) that they’re making up as they go along. My head hurts LOL
Exactly, cultural bastardization (wearing a sacred headdress as fashion) is a reasonable thing to be upset about. Cultural appropriation is not. The term "cultural appropriation" implies it would be totally okay if someone with a different skin color did the exact same thing, which is racism defined.
Ok, I feel like spitballing a some contradictory ideas.
1. Can cultural appropriation be a tool used to force members of the 'dominant' culture to act in conformation with the dominant culture? Example - A middle class white German woman chooses to wear a dress made in a Guatemalan style. If other Germans say I'm appropriating that culture, are they trying to protect Guatemalan culture or are they offended by me 'rejecting' German culture?
2. Is cultural appropriation objective or situational? Is the above scenario simply not cultural appropriation because there is no oppressed Guatemalan culture in Germany? Does the answer change if the woman wears a Roma/gypsy dress instead? Or if she is a Guatemalan citizen of German descent?
3. Who gets to declare that something is cultural appropriation? Members of the dominant culture who have appointed themselves the protectors of the 'weaker' culture? Are the protectors doing this because they think the 'weaker' culture can't protect itself? For the self-validation of being altruistic?
4. What if some members of the appropriated culture speak out against a practice and some defend it? Florida State University pays the Seminole tribe a licensing fee to call their athletic teams the Seminoles. Does that make FSU not appropriators? Or is this just appropriation that non-natives aren't allowed to complain about?
5. Can a dead culture be appropriated? Who is the victim? Who or what is harmed if a music video uses lots of ancient Egyptian elements?
Please discuss among yourselves . . .
3 is my biggest question. If I wear a shawl made for me by a friend who is Native American, and it is obviously so in style, who decides I "shouldn't" wear it? That's the most confusing bit.
3. The element of power aspect just ends up coming across as a way to make the whole issue intentionally biased. Which just ends up making it look like the people making the rules are designing them to suit themselves (since the people who say what is and isn't cultural appropriation are typically the same people who're calling it out - essentially the equivalent of appointing an oil company CEO as head of an environmental agency, that sounds fishy...). Having EXCLUSIVELY one social group determining what is and isn't wrong - is it any surprise they define things to skew their own way?
The usual explanations given are to either history or power dynamics, neither of which is individualist (can Oprah culturally appropriate from the Dutch? She's richer than most Dutch, but she's also part of the disadvantaged black community and comes from a history of slavery, so...),
NOR do they explain how such experiences affect that person without a shared human consciousness (I mean this in the most literal sense - akin to linked computers in a network, or some sci-fi brain-linking that allows you to feel exactly what someone you're linked to feels, pain in this case - AND perfect past life awareness - same thing but across time i.e. you feel the pain of your antecedents as real-ly as you do anything in your own life),
NOR do they acknowledge changes through time (can you culturally appropriate from Japan, when it's the world's second largest and most advanced economy, and even previously shown it can take on the world militarily if it wants to?).
I think the FSU thing could be argued. Who receives the money? Where does it go? Who does it benefit? One? Or all the Seminole people? How? I think these are appropriate questions to ask. If the Seminoles voted in their government for or against it according to their accepted method, then that carries weight. If the payment is made to a Seminole - people - wide fund with specific use and custodial care, then I think it's fine. I don't like to see deals made to railroad people and rob them of any benefit as so many treaties with indigenous people have been broken to benefit those who broke the treaties (i.e. the American government).
it all depends on the situation
Everything comes down to point 3. No one person or even a definable group should be able to call something cultural appropriation unless it is universally condemned by the entire culture it offends. And of course the only way for that to happen is for people to take the risk to create some art that may be seen as cultural appropriation.
I think most examples of cultural appropriation only offend a small group of people. Society needs to start calling out this troll culture of easily offended people that are trying to represent themselves as something greater or a protector of others. They are not the majority they are only a loud minority.
Example I known alot of Mexicans in my career, not a single one I have asked has ever been offended by the looney toons character "Speedy Gonzalas" they all love him.
I think culture appropriation is good when it is done in appreciation, understanding and love of the culture. Culture appropriation becomes bad when it is done in a degrading, mocking and humiliating way.
Humans will often imitate or adsorb what we like and feel a connection to. I think it can act as a way of connecting us to each other and learning from each other. The difficult thing about culture appropriation is that we can't just judge people by a glance now a days because of mixed marriages and adoptions. We need to work on dismantling the prejudices within our society when they arise against a culture/group of people.
Human life is a patchwork of colours shaped by many influences, experiences and the desire for human connection. The more we interact with each other the more we will appropriate from each other.
I am still learning more about this topic and these are my thoughts at the moment.
It’s never good
Explain
It’s not always a bad thing
The only time it's acceptable to make fun of others is when you ALSO make fun of YOURSELF. Don Rickles always did that.
Cultural appropriation is never good. You're talking about cultural APPRECIATION. Please educate yourself.
In most cases I find "cultural appropriation" ridiculous. Of course it is not okay to portray a degrading picture of a certain culture or be degrading towards a culture just because it is not your culture. With that said I don't see why Kim Kardashian can't wear braids or why a young skater boy, can't wear dread locks. I also do not understand why someone like Katy Perry can't dress up as an Egyptian goddess or wear traditionel Japanese clothing. She is not in any why trying to belittle their cultures in any way. I wouldn't get mad if someone were to wear a milkmaid braid, just because they are not scandinavian or dutch.
Also when is it appropriating? are black people appropriating Egyptian culture by wearing braids and dreadlocks, cause Egypt had it first? I mean where is the line?
Agreed. Taken to its logical extreme, no one who isn't descended from Abraham should be allowed to practice an Abrahamic religion, no one outside of Iran should play chess, and English should lose two thirds of its vocabulary. With the possible exception of uncontacted jungle tribes, no one's culture exists in a vacuum. Your ancestors were influenced by those who came into contact with them. Essentially, it's a lot like those who oppose immigration: If it happened before x date it's okay, but it can't happen now. But what counts as x date is anyone's guess.
"Where is the line?" Great question. I think that is the question I came to this video hoping to answer -- and I left with the same question.
And what about the use of science and engineering? Science and engineering are products of enlightenment thinking...are persons not from Northern Europe allowed to use any products of scientific discoveries since then or engineering products? Silly sounding perhaps, but...if you follow this logic to the absurd end...🤔 there wouldn’t be videos about appropriation...because no one outside of Northern Europe would be allowed to touch a camera of any type...🤔🙄😊😂
The female lead in the movie Ten had one thing against her in looks: her blonde plaits were just stringy, didn't need to be portrayed that way, and looked plain awful to me. I thought that African - Americans wore plaits better and their hair was more suited for them.
@@marksmadhousemetaphysicalm2938 I guess if you are not Indian, you should stop using zero. LOL.
As a Greek man, when people use math it offends me.
Yeah, espEciAlly wHen pEopel talk aBout philOsphy. Cultural approriatiOn smh🤦
I think it means when you generalise, disrespect or misrepresent a culture. Like when all indians are shown to be wearing a sari withe elephants all around...yes it's a part of our culture,yes we are proud of it, but that isn't ALL of India and you can't mock or generalise adiverse group of people with different and mixed identities. Same with native Americans- not everyone is the same and wearing something that is a part of their culture to depict a glorious heritage is good, bit using it to paint them as savage and strange is *NOT*
I guess they take up the popular or over exaggerated elements of our culture
Most people in India wear jean's and shirts , is it cultural appropriation?
Look . When people try to show representation for a particular country , they try out the most popular or stereotypical things about it . Because they are trying to show the world what that particular culture is mostly famous for .
Think about it this way , while most people in India wear tshirt and jeans , if you had to make a video specially about india's culture , would you rather wear a sundress or a saree ?
@@navyal7237 Hi! In my opinion, it depends on what your purpose is. If you want to promote the country, then do a well researched take- don't show everyone speaking hindi because we don't, don't show everyone wearing a sari, most people wear kurtis etc. And if you want to show a country as a setting, please be extra careful. If it's a setting then be accurate- in a city, you only would wear a sari as formals, it's like wearing a full business suit on the streets. Moreover, if you're in a city it makes no sense to show the typical dusty street backdrop, cities everywhere and in India are pretty urbanised save for slums. The point I'm trying to make is - don't generalise, do your research. But anyways this is just my opinion.
@@fishbonegaga Jeans isn't a culture if it is sold all over the world for every culture to use.
We want to promote a melting pot society where everyone is equal and then get angry when people who are different enjoy aspects of other cultures in that melting pot society. Talk about the most ridiculous concept ever.
Renlys Other Lover its funny if you think about it. Humans have been trying in the last centuries to get two things: equallity and individual freedom.
And they contradict each other
I kinda see our society as a salad not a melting pot. Different ingredients getting along together adding flavor to the dish but still being different and distinctly themselves without disharmony. Working together but still original to their purpose.....
freedom Morgan but there is no true way for each of them to be distinctly themselves unless they isolate themselves from everything and everyone else. Pop culture will always draw from different aspects of society and if that society consists of many different sects of people that popular culture will inevitably reflect that. There is no way around it and honestly it shouldn’t matter at all.
Renlys Other Lover hmm....have you ever had a salad? Each flavor is layered on to work together to make the dish....being unique does not mean that the ingredients don’t add to the overall “flavor” of the dish....their is no need for people to lose their culture or identity in order to become a part of a society....each group can contribute their part without losing ownership of it. Influence and appropriation are two different things. For example sushi is a Japanese dish...but is enjoyable to many people who aren’t Japanese. But what is sushi is being enjoyed in America but without acknowledging that Japanese people came up with the concept. Appreciation acknowledges the source of the thing that people enjoy...appropriation does not
@@TheDivineMsM245 On the melting pot vs. salad.... But what about everyone in the middle ground? As Americans we can be both lettuce and tomato. We don't just rest alongside them, we are many things at once. But we're also not totally melted together. I think It's more like a stew. Some can be distinctive chunks taking on flavor, some can be fully blended like broth. Everyone can just be what they want to be and together we're American.
As someone who's not from America and haven't heard of cultural appropriation until Americans invented it: No-one (at least in my country) will ever get offended by foreigners wearing our traditional costumes. I would be happy that foreigners see them as inspiration to create something new or just genuinely like the style or history of them costumes.
I am pro culture mixing and mingling...
No we have to keep our cultures pure. Otherwise it is cultural appropriation.
No, the reason we have art and cuisine is because of culture mixing... Can you imagine if tea never left China... or if the Arabs never adopted the Indian numerals... Art Nouveau and Impressionism would not have existed if Europeans were never influenced by Japanese woodblock art...
@@RichardHannay amen to that man
Ramsay Bolton Islam is a culture? Hmmm and here I thought it was just a religion.
@@RichardHannay your right. It was meant as parody. Irony doesn't transmit so easily through text.
I find it interesting that the video starts off with Marlon Brando who was of German, Dutch, English, and Irish ancestry portrayed an Italian as the head of a crime family, and there was no mention of cultural appropriation.
In the movie the Godfather, Italians were demonized as criminals and murderers, yet the same level of outrage does not exist in the Italian community, when compared to other cultures. Why?
What about Max Martin, who is Swedish and one of the biggest song writers. Should Usher and the Weekend stop singing the songs he wrote for them?
If a Japanese Guy marries a girl from Jamaica, can they eat Ackee and SaltFish with chopsticks?
If the girl then gets divorced and marries an Italian guy, do they still call it SaltFish or should they call baccala instead?
When Jamaicans began immigrating to Toronto in the 1970s, many of them shopped in Italian Grocery stores, which had food which was not sold in typical 'WASP' grocery stores, like tripe and 'baccala'.
Was this cultural appropriation? Should the Italian shop keepers have denied them?
Culture is not specific to any one group. It changes and should be shared. Culture overlaps in so many areas, adding additional rules makes the situation far worse, not better.
We need to share our cultures. Not a problem if a guy from Iran eats pizza and I love my Shawarma and sushi. I no longer have my Nehru Jacket, but I still have my Kimono from a trip to Japan.
Yep, International consciousness.
I think I have an answer to the first question why did italans not get mad at gangster movies, being part italian and part dakota I guess its because the pilgrim founders who wrote that indians are savages and also went off of king henrys right of conquest saying his land title extinguishes red land titles, also left it in the school system to blame Columbus for Discovering America, it wasnt, it was john cabots america charter funded by the crown, america is just return on investment for that plus control over the means of production. Reds didnt get technology patents all this time, only a few white elite made america great for themselves. The sooner we back them into an appropriation corner the better the country will be for the rest of us not from the mayflower! So those common values and permissions of social interactions get tricky on the reservation because of appropriation. Appropriating the land titles for a few rich fams thats just continued on through business culture up to today.
You say the same level of outrage over The Godfather’s portrayal of Italian-Americans did not exist? But it in fact did. Italian-Americans held protests outside theaters where the movie was shown, and many organizations called for boycotting the movie over its portrayal of Italians.
I think it becomes a problem when the mocking and insulting are involved. If imitation is done to mock the culture, that's appropriation. I do have a question though.
Why are white girls not allowed to do braids? I'm black and I'm genuinely curious as to what's the issue with it? Why are celebrities targeted when they use kimonos to perform? Was it an insult too?
@@brianarbenz7206 I was thinking the same. Now as for Rocky, I think this franchise was better accepted.
Cultural appropriation seems divisive to me. So people love a culture? So what? Is that not a good thing? Is that not breaking boundaries? We speak of groups, races, ethnicity like they are just one person. "How dare you hate on our culture and then try and copy it". Most people who love the culture have never hated on it and vice versa. They are completely different sets of people. As long as the ROOT of where the culture is from is preserved then why close doors?
I'm a white guy but when I was a teenager in the early 90s I loved hip-hop, I had dreadlocks, and I wore baggy trousers because i thought it was cool. I wasn't trying to steal anything from anyone, I just saw some styles that I liked.
The minute you say "You can't do that.." and cite ethnicity as a reason you are being racist.
I agree, but your example isn't very good because hip-hop, dreadlocks and baggy trousers are or were a trend and not a culture.
I went here bc one of the kpop idols I stanned bc they were called ignorant for being ca in their music. (it was bc of Ethnic Hip.)
100% agree. People who are saying that people “own” a culture... because of the color of their skin, and try to gatekeep is from other ethnicities are racist. It sounds like they want to keep us all separate, rather than bringing us together. Culture may have meaning to certain people, but objectively, at the end of the day, it’s just stuff. We should be able to appreciate it and learn from one another.
@@ΣέργιοςΣαββουλίδης dreadlocks is culture..
Well that was the trend in the 90’s literally many white boys wear wearing baggy too
I'm concerned with the equivocation between misrepresentation and cultural appropriation. The examples given were morally problematic because they misrepresented a culture, not because they appropriated it. I think the more interesting question is whether or not cultural appropriation is moral or in what conditions it would be considered moral. Is the real thing that we are worried about misrepresentation, or is there an actual concern even when a culture is correctly represented? If you are curious about that question, I have several videos on my channel on the ethics of cultural appropriation.
Yeah I can see how appropriating cultural stuff from a group to push an agenda that attacks that culture is bad. But the issue there lies in the propagandist nature of the message and not in the borrowing of culture. It's the denial of the existence of context that strikes me as the biggest problem in this debate. Many people are just labeling anything that involves taking inspiration from other cultures as appropriation and dismiss it outright. This is a grave mistake and only leads to polarization and it also stifles creative freedom in a big way. The left needs to rethink their stance on these matters ASAP. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
I believe that if you research and take your time to understand the culture, it is not appropriation but appreciation, as well as if it is a harmless thing as wearing a dress because it's pretty, as long as you're being respectful. I think you cross the line into appropriation when you totally disrespect the culture, do no research or not know anything about it at all, like for example when Ted Mosby in How I Met Your Mother went to Spain and mariachis where shown in there, when they're actually from Mexico, that's the type of disrespect and lack of interest in talking about.
This wasn't very good, imo. Or, at least it wasn't very good if you were hoping to make the case for cultural appropriation being a thing. All this vid does is make the case against cultural misrepresentation, which is different from most instances of cultural 'appropriation' that people get all excited about. Misrepresentation is basically lying (or, at best, cherry-picking something and presenting it as a norm when it wasn't). Most arguments about cultural appropriation concern when people from another culture borrow 'cultural products' (as you've defined the term here) from a culture they're not part of, usually simply cos they like it. This video doesn't make it clear how that's in any way a problem (assuming it is). As such, it doesn't really address the majority of such arguments.
@yulyu but how is it hurting them? It's supporting the idea that their culture makes "pretty" stuff (to put it in a dumb way), I think that as long as the person wearing it is being respectful and acknowledges where the dress is coming from is alright. (unless the dress has religious or heavy social ties)
@yulyu that's how I feel about people wearing Kente and calling it "African" when it's actually royal wear from the Ashanti Kingdom in Ghana, specifically.
@Martín Canales How I Met Your Mother did the same thing with Argentina when they made it look like some kind of Caribbean country. So wrong. Like how hard is it to make it actually accurate? Or just change the name of the place?
The issue is, at a glance people can’t tell how much research you did. So appropriators/appreciators should do so with caution. And appropriated groups and allies should, I think, refrain from immediate accusations and explain why they feel the person is appropriating.
As a Mexican I like when people want to learn about our culture, the only thing I don't like is when they mock our culture and make costumes of the Mexican stereotypes or when they see our culture like a "product", an example is when Disney tried to copyright the name " Dia de Muertos "
Yes, because copyrighting implies that it belongs to them and not to Mexico. It's like plagiarising.
Can you do an episode on why the alphabet has an order? I’ve always wondered
I... I never thought about that...
mind blown(0_0)
That is interesting🤔🤔
Culturally appropriated from the phoenicians, can't do it
My theory is that it's listed in order from most common letters, to least common used letter. Like since A is the most common, it's the first letter. And Z is the least common.
Happy Cinco De Mayo! Oh wait! I'm Asian! I can't say that.
Yeah, isn't that messed up? Everybody's walking on egg shells fearing they'll offend a hyper-sensitive self-important snowflake. Also, what no one seems to touch on is... the hypocrisy is astounding!
@Travis B Ironic, (albeit, typical), coming from a right-winger. Slander someone else with that which you are guilty of; Project; "No you're the puppet. No, you're the puppet. No, you're the puppet." --Donald J Trump, backed into a corner without a viable argument. Man-up, Travi-boy... Think for yourself.
@Travis B - LOL!! Then I stand corrected, sir! I'm too used to reading brain-dead Trumptards that say the same exact thing, practically verbatim. While what you wrote is absurd to you & I, Trumpards are dead serious believing it wholeheartedly.
@@jcb355 Jesus man can't you read.
Same for me! I'm white!
I'm still confused about this. Especially the meaning of the world appropriation.
I understand why black face is bad. It's degrading. It's an exaggerated caricature of a group of people, it makes fun of them and it does not represent them accurately. It spreads miss information, which can lead to negative consequences.
But I don't see the issue with a make up artist turning a white person into a black person in a tasteful, realistic manner, simply to display their skills. I don't see an issue with Katy Perry taking inspiration from Egyptian culture to make an artsy video. I don't see the issue with a white person having dread locks and braids. Or wearing a kimono (Japanese people are certainly not offended and they also love to borrow stuff from western culture).
I think the problem is when a group of people is misrepresented. Like Indians being portrayed as aggressive in movies, black people being portrayed as dumb, etc.
Uhhh.. autorka nastupa sa pozicija postmodernog [male priče i relativnost] marksizma [klasa, proizvodnja]. Aproprijacija je preuzimanje. Ali čega? Simbola, ako gledamo kulturu kao jezik [kultura = jezik]. Naravno moguća su i druga teorijska gledišta.
P.s. problem sa autorkom je sledeći: Koja su tvoja teorijska polazišta? Naravno: Koja su "moja" teorijska polazišta? 🤔
@@janari64
s kim se ti raspravljaš?
@@prvopoljebijelojerznamodav2777
"Naravno da nam smeta prvo bijelo polje. Asocira na - koncentracione logore u kojima su ljudska bića ubijana zato što su Srbi, Jevreji, Romi." Autentični neoustaša iz 2020. Kako neko ko je neoustaša opravdava industrijalizovano ubijanje ljudskih bića u konc.logorima? Tj, da li osećaš empatiju za ljude koji su nevini ubijani?
*misinformation (one word, not two, and only one "s")
@@janari64
pokoj svakoj nevinoj duši, ali kakve to ima veze s onim što sam te ja pitao?
I need your help! I’m a white female drummer and i recently had a struggle with a black friend who told me « there’s no point in you playing african misic since you’ll never do it as well as people from there » and she added that it was cultural appropriation. And i’m lost! I study music from everywhere and play with a band in wich we make a fusion of a lot of musics.
I don’t feel like i’m stealing: i put the hours in to study where it comes from and i have nothing but love and respect for all original artists.
HELP!
Have you told her how much you appreciate the culture? You might even know more about it than she does. (For example, I am Mexican-American but I know more about Chinese culture than Mexican culture).
I don't understand why people see harm in a person of one culture wanting to do something another culture does. As long as you aren't mocking it. I personally find it just as racist to not allow someone to do something that's not a part of their culture (like for me to wear a han-fu) as it is to mock another culture (such as the producers of Pinnochio did when showing the Native American scene).
That's just my opinion though.
Don't listen to her! Music is something that should be shared all around the world and with everyone, like other art forms,because it brings joy and people together. And if you respect and appreciate the culture, just as you stated, then there's nothing wrong. I know some friends who have their own little band, more as a hobby than a job, and they play Irish folk music. They're not Irish, but they appreciate the music and the culture, and I'm happy for them! Long story short: if you appreciate the culture and know what you're doing, don't let those kind of people stop you! 😊❤️
Culture is a collection of ideas that are spread through people regardless of color. So to be clear there is no such such thing as appropriating or stealing someone's culture as culture is for everyone.
Morgane Gautier this is a clear nonsense and that person is not your friend!
@@victoraxelalonso4434 that is objectively wrong japanese culture exists and belongs to japanese people
I cannot believe you just gave a comprehensive, graspable, usable definition of culture. CULTURE. Are you kidding me??!! That is amazing and helpful. I dated a professional German philosopher and he couldn't do it. Thank you. I appreciate you and your work on RUclips.
Cultural appropriation goes beyond simple naïveté- it is naïveté that likes to stay ignorant or doesn’t think about there being meaning/history behind the expression.
The meaning behind Jack's red circle bares no consequence on the meaning of Bob's red circle. There is no expression style that sprung out of a vacuum with a static meaning from the moment it was first conceived to now.
Ree
Cultural appropriation is an excuse to get offended
I'm ethnic Greek. I've never been offended by college fraternities (AKA Greek houses) even though they mispronounce our alphabet and spend their weekends getting drunk and peeing and barfing on the lawn. In the Greek language, we are Ελληνικός (Hellenic), but we are not bothered by the word Greek. We choose to own it.
Is it a greek thing to get drunk and pee on the lawn❔🤷🏻♀️if so then that means most greeks are good at doing it right❔
As an art student, I’m always curious about how the idea of beauty plays into this. As an artist, can one incorporate themes, styles, and symbols of another culture because you appreciate its beauty or want to pay homage to it? Or does the removal of the artist’s intent when the viewer sees it perpetuate cultural appropriation instead? When Picasso was inspired by African mask designs, is that cultural appropriation?
Just do research on the culture it is that you are interested in so that you can find out whether those symbols are sacred and are only used for traditional purposes or whether they can be used in an artistic manner so that it can be depicted respectfully. I don't know much about the cultures Picasso was inspired by but a part of cultural appropriation is not giving credit where credit is due. Because of racism against Black people, Western colonialist and imperialists repeatedly undermined our cultural contributions and stated that we were primitive, yet they still have many of the artworks and artifacts in their museums and downplay Picasso's influence, and it's things like this that make people want to be more protective over things associated with their culture.
Another thing is for you to ensure that the people whose culture it is are the ones that still control it, and have the choice to make money over it and not have it be taken over by someone that's not from the culture.
For example, the people of that culture being able to earn a living from their culture and control its distribution and how outsiders interact with it as opposed to corporations taking it over and monopolizing it, essentially chasing people from what was originally theirs and distorting it. A good example is what happened with yoga and how twerking became popular in the west.
Lastly, asking someone from the culture is also a good idea because they can tell you what is accessible to outsiders of that culture and what is only for people of that culture.
I think a lot of people missed the point.
Cultural appropriation would be, in simple terms, wearing a Native American war bonnet (something that has significance) as a fashion accessory.
_the heart of cultural appropriation isn't just an object but power. appropriation happens when you have a position of power/member of the dominant culture who's able to take the parts of a marginalized culture, divorce them from their original meaning, and use it for entertainment value without considering their original context or having to deal with the negative ramifications that someone from that culture would have to deal with as a result of that same action_
I think this paragraph is really the key to navigating cultural appropriation! Both for responses to the hard left and hard right.
Nah, cultural appropriation happens regardless of whether the group is more or less powerful. What this is describing is when cultural appropriation is considered wrong by most people because it's coupled with power.
@@FOLIPE i made my ori comment 3 months ago and since then I think i agree w u now.
I've also found out since then cultural appropriation previously was a neutral term, defining when one culture takes on the traits of another, particularly a dominant culture (eg: asian ppl wearing western clothes, food exchange, etc). and so there is neutral cultural aprop. which is an inevitable part of globalization, but as well negative appropriation, which is what this video discusses.
No one asked tho but lmao. the more you know
I'm an Indian and my boss who is an american his daughter came to visit him bc he lives here and works here, so our people gave her our traditional attire because she was so sweet with everyone , later she went back to l.A and I got to hear from her dad that some of her colleagues were accusing her of cultural appreciation when she wore the traditional attire , I felt so bad ,people nowadays just goes around and looks for an excuse to get offended weither for small things or behalf of others , "we love sharing our culture food language and even in some occasion problems pain we are going through and happiness"
The world has gone mad
I work at a nuclear plant, and we gave some people a tour. Those culturally appropriating bastards wore hazmat suits.
😂😂😂
I feel like only Americans care and get offended by this cultural appropriation thing. I love when I see other people using something of my culture. In fact I feel really proud if they appreciate it
I'm American and I'm only bothered because I'm white and they're telling me to worship their way of life. I couldn't care less about who has braids, who wears tuxedos (which are white western cultural wear) or who drives a vehicle (the automobile is originally white western culture) I just don't appreciate my little sisters being told they can't wear a certain type of Halloween costume because it might offend someone. They can shove their feelings in their dried out pee holes.
Preston Smith thta fact you think cars and a tuxedo is cultural is a problem. That’s like me saying people using a blood bank is cultural appropriation bc it was made by a black man. 🤦🏾♀️
Cultural Appropriation = America's problem of being too bored after a full meal.
What do you do when your receive cultural gifts when interacting with another culture? I was given a traditional-looking coat, a commercial cultural artifact/reproduction, by Chinese ethnic Koreans that represented their culture and wore it one day to work in another location with different ethnicity--at the height of this debate (cultural appropriation) in about 2015. Many cold stares and misunderstandings, a few comments/questions. I couldn't help but wonder, what if these folks had to remove all of their cultural, commercial artifacts appropriated from the west? They would have been naked and without the ability to communicate electronically. Why did I wear it? I was cold and had not brought along a warm enough coat for the climate. I think this debate lacks enough consideration for cultural exchange; I am seeing the resentments that people feel as valid, but truly representative of something else--the perceived power of the accused appropriator. Real or invented the perception of the appropriator's power in relationship to the the group where the style, item, practice originates, is what chaps people's asses. If it is not acquired with mockery or for the gross gain of an entity external to the culture of origin, then I think it should not immediately be regarded as patently offensive.
Just be happy and accept the gift with grace. It's obvious the people who gave you the present really like you. You have been accepted. Let the haters hate.
I think I finally understand. Cultural appropriation is when you take the product of a culture and misuse it or mock it. It’s not bad to wear cornrows if you aren’t black, but it is bad if you are wearing them only to gain favor from people who are black. It’s not bad to eat foreign food, but it is bad to rename it something insensitive like calling sauerkraut freedom lettuce. It all depends on how and why you are using a product of a different culture. I’m glad this wasn’t a “woke culture video” but rather a good explanation of representation vs mockery
I stopped playing jazz a few months ago because I felt I was culturally appropriating African American culture.
You can’t dress up in a Thor costume because I am registered in The association of Norse mythology in Iceland and I say you can’t😤😤😤😂
It is a good point, somehow it is okay for non-european people wear Thor costume and they are not accused in cultural appropriation
@@кошк I think it's a strictly Anglo American phenomenon. It's unbelievably parochial of them to be so loud about it judge the rest of the world according to their standards. If you see the comments, the most puzzled ones are people from outside English speaking countries: some Latin Americans and most Europeans that don't have the exact same history of slavery and racial segregation (if at all) inside their own societies.
You can't wear witchers costume because I'm Polish and i say you can't
Good of brando to give her a platform to address the issue. The fact that he let a native give the message shows he gets it
But she wasn't Native American, she was a fraud! Surprised PBS didn't know that
The crazy part is -- Sacheen Littlefeather wasnt even Cherokee/Native American -- She was actually Hispanic (allegedly)
I think a deeper history of how certain cultures have been oppressed and marginalized will lead greater credibility to understanding cultural appropriation. For instance, few people know about the Tignon laws that regulated how black women were allowed to wear their hair. Also, I don't know that many non black people know about rules and bylaws that regulate and effectively ban black hair that is traditionally worn.
Only to see prominent non black people being celebrated and accepted without question for wearing these same styles.
Yes, I think you're right. Context matters.
Literally every culture was opressed once in history. Even if one culture wasn't opressed, why shouldn't they be allowed to participate in another culture?
HAVE been ie. no longer were.
So get over it.
So what should happen now. Should non blacks not wear braids, are they supposed to ask for permission before doing so? I really don't get why cultural appropriation is even a thing.
Dang lady, You make me wanna go back to school for history. I’d pick your class and sit in the front row.
Idk. Sounds like segregation with extra steps.
lol yeah.
it's not appropriation to wear other culture's clothing, but if you're making a mockery or enforcing a stereotype (ex: blackface) then it's appropriation
Basically she's saying there really isn't such a thing as 'cultural appropriation' as there is 'cultural misrepresentation', which damages our perception of significance of cultural products, and reduces them to cheap expendable emblem. This is entirely reasonable. However, I disagree that cultural traits strictly cannot, for this reason, be used in the their diminished forms in comedic mediums, or for decorative purposes. History certainly matters, especially where marginalisation is concerned, but we don't have to employ every single tradition just the way it was meant to be used thousands of years ago, banning their representations for not being accurate to the letter.
That gets too close to saying, "Why can't I make a movie that has white people in blackface?"
In this case, context is important. I reject the use of the blackface caricature that demeans the African - American population. However, if it is part of a story, it is appropriate to me.
I see no reason any white person needs to use blackface for comedy.
However, in the movie in the 1970's The Jazz Singer with Neil Diamond, it was significant to the story. Neil Diamond's band that he wrote for in the movie was all African - American. He was white and Jewish. But at the last minute for a concert, the band's front singer was sick and the band needed Diamond to sing. It was an all - African - American audience, and the setting was a large skin - color segregation. Diamond appeared in blackface (not the caricature, just made up brown). The concert was a success. But someone noticed and called Diamond out. There was a riot, and Diamond ended up in jail and his father had to bail him out.
If Diamond had gone in without makeup, he would have been unceremoniously tossed out on his ear. In blackface, the story showed how successful his music was but that the barriers to his success included skin color prejudice. And when his father bailed him out, his father was disappointed in him making waves, being a bad Jewish husband, and going around with a music band; that would get him only trouble. Separated ethnicities were a large part of the story.
That is where it is appropriate.
@@ginnyjollykidd You're using one specific example to wipe out the whole concept. You're presenting an argument that goes "All talking is banned, because talking leads to swearing, and swearing is bad." Further, there isn't inherently anything wrong with painting your face a dark colour for some kind of artistic purposes; the problem only arises when it is used deliberately for insult objectives. The biggest issue is that we need to teach people to think and be moderate, instead of resorting to extremes, like we do now - 'Everything that offends me is banned!' on one end and 'Racism is freedom of speech!' on the other. Understand?
I’m a young white female. I have some dreads in my hair.
They were naturally occurring because I have a sleep disorder and spend a lot of time sleeping (friction against my pillow) and then I let a couple of them stay (whilst brushing the rest of my hair).
I spoke to a lady at my dance class the same age as me about it. She’s mixed race. I said I was thinking of just letting it all go to dreadlocks and just keeping it clean and maintained. She said “some black people might get angry with you”.
I asked why, I was so shocked. I had a black boyfriend at the time and he didn’t care either way.
She said “because it might seen as you trying to steal from another culture”.
Since when did only black people have dreadlocks? Isn’t saying only one race have a certain hair style, racist in itself?
Shouldn’t everyone be able to express themselves and decide their own appearance??
I honestly don’t care one bit how people dress. The same rules should apply to every human.
your friend said that because locs are associated with black culture in America, and white people have a long history of taking various elements of black culture, but hating black people. Some black folks think all white people are racist against black people, and that it's a multi-generational subconscious bias all white people are born with, but not all white people are aware of it. So, black people will look at you, and assume you're just like any other white person who takes our stuff and despises us. When people feel the need to say, "I don't hate black people, I have a black boyfriend." or "I don't hate gay people, I have a gay friend." or "I don't hate women, I have a wife. Who's a woman." it just shows a lack of awareness of their biases. If people are truly aware of their biases, they would know better than to say stuff like that, because those statements don't give them a free pass. They still have to deal with their racism, homophobia, and misogyny.
I live in Korea where I don't meet a lot of other people from different races, so I'm a little ignorant about this issue. That's why I looked this video up. I think what I got from it was that cultural appropriation is when there are power dynamics involved, which then leads to the weaker side facing the risk of being misunderstood and misrepresented. Which then causes hurtful stereotypes and such.
The reason I became interested in this problem was because there were some problems regarding K-pop artists wearing braids(in an African style, I think). Do you think K-pop artists wearing braids can cause some damage to African culture? If so, what sort of damage would that be?
What sort of stereotypes are these acts creating?
Is there a non-offensive way to appreciate African braids, like everyone around the world appreciates hip hop? Should K-pop artists just avoid braids overall?
I'm not on either side of the debate by the way. I see the seriousness of cultural appropriation, but I'm just a little confused over what is cultural appropriation and what isn't and especially how to appreciate culture without appropriating it.
I personally feel that it can be good or bad, things aren't usually one-sided :D
Can't think of anything good coming from culture appropriation except that it allows people to be educated on why what they are doing is wrong ( when they get a lot fo bashing for doing it though).
@@ifyouknowyouknow7292 it allows for the creation of new cultures.
That's the point she makes. In the end it comes down to power and appreciation and whether it causes harm to the people of the culture, directly or indirectly.
I think this ideology should stay in the USA where it comes from
This so-called "ideology" is so prevalent and such a big deal in American society, that of course we're gonna talk about it.
Me: Chinese
US: cultural appropriation is bad
Me: what the hell is cultural appropriation
watch the video and your question will be answered.
@@SkyeID oh so you have no idea what I'm talking about then
@@jp4431 well, what are you talking about?
@@SkyeID a sarcastic comment on the idea of "cultural appropriation" when we in fact appreciate other cultures adopting Chinese culture. Remember the non-Chinese girl who went to prom in a qipao and she got tons of hate by netizens claiming cultural appropriation? We simply don't care and thought it was cool that someone decided to wear one
@@jp4431 I was a jerk in my comment, and I'm sorry for doing that. I see now what you mean about people adopting your culture, and no one should get hate for appreciating another culture.
This phenomenon is hard to understand if you are from a country that you are the majority and you always see your culture represented well on media. But if you live in a place outside your own community, you are not the majority anymore, your culture is more vulnerable to be misrespresented by the majority which might not know anything of its context, meaning, and significance.
I just can not take cultural appropriation seriously. I mean if your culture is so serious that people adopting aspects of it for any reason offends you is it really something worth holding on to? And why do we only really hear this out of America? Are Americans the only people capable of this sin? If so why? I remember going to the day of the dead when I was a kid. I felt so welcome there. We left wearing jeans and a t-shirt. By the time we got back to the hotel my face was painted and I had on a top hat and a tuxedo jacket. I don't remember one person getting offended that I was not a part of that culture. I remember as kid random people coming up to me dancing and having fun. They made me feel like I belonged there. I might have to go back for that. I wonder if the experience will still be the same. Or will I be told to stay in my lane so as to not offend people?
I want to ask, where are the limits of cultural appropriation? I mean where is the line between the actual problem and being over sensitive?
"Cultural appropriation" has been happening for billions of years. One group of people meets a second group of people. They see positive things in the other group's way of doing things, so adopt those ways.
I was reading about early North Pole explorers. One explorer traveled with some North Pole people. The explorer found that his European clothes did a very poor job of keeping him warm. So, the North Pole people made him some of their clothes so that he could be as warm as they were.
that's cultural integration
At the heart of it cultural appropriation is a power dynamic. “I can appropriate and stereotype your culture because you are powerless.” Thus a black person wearing white face is NOT the same dynamic as a white person wearing black face. A Native American wearing western clothing is NOT the same dynamic as a white person wearing traditional Native American dress.
yes! thank you!
It's funny that so called 'Cultural Appropriation' only works certain ways though.
How many African Americans appropriated Chinese Kung Fu culture in the 1970's at the height of Bruce Lees popularity ?
And why is non-British people playing Tennis, (in it's current form), Football, Rugby, Cricket, etc, not Cultural Appropriation ?
What I'm really looking for is the difference between appropriation and appreciation.
You covered this so well! Love your style of educating without seeming preachy! Thank you for sharing 🧡🧡🙏🏻
Why do we call our significant others baby?????? Have u ever thought of it? Why baby ??
Cultural Appropriation at its core makes sense, do not make fun of someone culture. But that's it, embracing another person culture is fine anyone who says otherwise IS NOT HUMAN. If a white person goes and gets dread locks they should, but if they get dread locks and make fun of the way it looks they should get knocked out. Humanity is about embracing each others cultures. If we stop that, then we stop being human. If a black man wears a Kimono that is 100% fine, if he wears it and jokes about THAT's wrong. Cultural Appropriation has spiraled out of control and mixed with Cancel Culture has begun to ruin peoples lives. Stop creating new cultures and phrases. Cancel Culture used to be boycotting but became personal, Cultural Appropriation used to be called being prejudice but now it's "If you're doing anything that my culture relates too, you are a racist/xenophobe/bigot."
I like this video because it's not just like "you're wrong I'm right", but you actually gave background on the issue
So Aladdin 2019 is just Will Smith making cultural appropriation look good?
Idk about good. I listened very briefly to his rendition of "Prince Ali" and he sounded kind of flat to me lol
As an Argentinian. I'm against this cultural appropiation idea. For me, the problem is not white Americans representing other cultures, but: it's the bad writing on media constantly using stereotypes, the lack of interest of the real folklore and traditions, and the fact that companies allow Americans to represent other countries (in videogames, shows and movies) with a lot of advertisement, but when people of other countries want to represent their own, studios (including foreign ones) tell you "no, because most of the consumers are Americans".
Bro why you calling brazilians monkeys and mexicans indians, like chill.
What confuses me most is why we view culture as automatically sacred. "Cultural appropriation" sounds a bit like "blasphemy" to me, and I don't see any reason not to engage in the latter. Any clarifications?
The only people viewing it that way or those that have no culture. I’m from New York I’m a white chick, six shades of white actually… I had black, Puerto Rican, lots of Jewish and Asian friends also. None of us sat around and got all granular about what offended us we just lived in. Now I live in Seattle where there is pretty much not a huge diverse population and you see all the white folks wearing their cargo shorts I am Birkenstocks holding black black lives matter signs and it just makes me laugh LOL it is so funny I think most of these terms that are coming up come from Left leaning academia To keep themselves busy. None of my friends in minority groups Take issue wait what people are wearing in their hair etc.
I think one of the things that gets mixed up in this video (besides the unseemly amount of word soup) is the difference between Marlon Brando's frustrations and the frustrations about "cultural appropriation" today. Brando wanted to stop Native American kids from seeing their culture as inherently evil. I'm fairly certain that Katy Perry's Dark Horse music video or her Geisha live show did not attempt to or even remotely achieve that same goal. There's a difference between consistently illustrating a culture as "savage" for decades and donning dreads because you think it looks pretty on you. I'm sick of this shit. It feels like propaganda at this point.
Cultural appropriation used to mean that one culture outright steals something from another culture without acknowledging its origins... people however can partake in others culture as long as they are respectful and truthful (sterotypes are only ok if its for comedic purposes) otherwise you can dress, eat and practice any culture you like as long as youre respectful...
I mean for example egyptians cheer and are happy when they see foreigners engaging in their culture, contrast with that when they are offended when african american claim they are related to egyptians...
I mean its funny that african americans or american asians get offended at whites having dreads(btw dreads arent just an african thing) or wearing kimono while a jamaican and a japanese are happy about it
@@cossaizy6309 I feel like the whole thing people keep jumping on about "oh, but Black people aren't the only ones who wear dreads, so it can't be cultural appropriation for everybody to wear them uwu!" is a big problem, because it's diluting the point. It's not that people are trying to say that, from what I understand. It's that people are frustrated that particularly American society/culture has spent at least decades telling Black people that the dreadlocks their hair naturally becomes (whereas a white person has to put effort into *making* their hair loc), the braided protective styles they use, and anything that uses their hair as it naturally grows is wrong, ugly, "ghetto," or a variety of other negatives. Society has been putting them in a position where it was practically required for them to chemically relax their hair, or otherwise hide its natural state, because it was considered inappropriate, unprofessional, and so on. And yet, while dreadlocks might be viewed as dirty/lazy on white people, those same braided hairstyles that get called "ghetto" on a Black person get called fashionable or trendsetting on white people, and don't have any societal stigma attached. It's really this stigma and divide that they're lashing out against, and in fact seems to be a major reason behind most outcry of cultural appropriation: "White people can wear/do this and be viewed as trendsetting, while the culture it draws from is mocked/discriminated against for the same."
For people who insist they've never seen that or heard of this societal/professional stigma, I'll give you an example. I work at an animal park/theme park, and our dress code up until 2020 had rules prohibiting hair that was more than 2 inches off the top of the person's head, prohibited dreadlocks in any fashion, and forbid the sort of hair adornments (often worn to hold braids/twists closed) that would only be common on someone with cornrows or similar styles. I used to be my department's trainer, and was once asked by an HR team member to confirm that a recent hire who'd come in for training had in fact actually gotten rid of her dreadlocks when she put her hair up in twists, and that she had not just twisted the dreadlocks to disguise them, and was told I'd have to send her home if her hair was deemed still unacceptable. Those rules were very clearly focusing on people with a specific hair type, and prevented at least two natural ways of wearing that hair type, with only plain, flat braided/twisted styles (the 2 inch rule effectively prohibiting Bantu knots) or chemically relaxed styles. This was a thing, straight up until just this year, and I'm firmly convinced that the dress code only changed because they knew quarantine meant people doing all kinds of things that broke the rules, and they couldn't only change the rules about hair colors while pretending that this wasn't a racial profiling thing.
@@Mokiefraggle i agree with everything youve just said, would just like to add that on top of that systemic racism and ideas of white supremacy plays into it, and indeed especially in white America dreads much like a lot of fashion, slang and such are appropriated from black americans who i wouldnt want to get into rn, have only really representation in entertainment and it's still discriminatory, swap the black face for a real black man is what it is.
i wouldn't want to elaborate much but I do firmly stand with black people on this matter, i think i may have been lax in my stance, which i no longer hold
And appropriately enough i was just watching a series of interviews of african americans from the 50s and 60s expressing their rage and frustrations over racism and how we never gave them what we "promised" and i simply can not stand by and not stand with black people all over the world when anti blackness is engrained in every system worldwide
If someone came to my country and wore the traditional clothes i would be very happy
Italian here. I demand you all stop eating pizza. And pasta. And wearing Armani clothes. And playing mandolin. I especially demand you all stop playing mandolin 😃
Well said Paisano. I totally agree.
Thought experiment: Would this also apply to Drag Queens and Kings?
Are they culturally appropriating the gender they present while in drag?
Are drag performances an affront to the plight and struggles of the gender they are performing (but do not self identify) as?
(For those unaware, "Drag" is an exaggeration and portrayal of a gender that one is not, and most usually does not identify with when not performing.)
If it is not, why not?
It is this where I find the expression of "cultural appropriation" to be a bit too strict. As I am sure most would agree that drag is not an affront to any gender. That there are many grey areas of "context" and "intent" that color these kinds of perceived issues they we hear a lot about now a days.
I believe that restricting everything to definitions of right and wrong without taking context and intent into consideration is a huge issue in our sociopolitical climate of today. I've think we need to allow for - if not expect and assume - room for usage of things deemed as "wrong" (in a general sense). Especially in our world of not everything being as binary as we once perceived in our recent history.
I wish there was a love button!!! As a gay man I wonder this regularly! Also does this mean people who aren't white should be forced to stop wearing tuxedos, cowboy hats, wristwatches, sunglasses, etc.?
If someone's being sexist with their drag then you could just say they're being sexist. If they're not being sexist, then they're not. Because the culture of gender affects all of us and can often affect men negatively as well, the criticism or parody of that culture is not inherently bad. Sexism and racism have some important differences, especially in the sense that negative gender based discrimination happens to pretty much absolutely everyone- that must be acknowledged in the conversation. Also drag queens are typically aware of and respect the size of the plights of women whereas cultural appropriators typically don't care and are willfully ignorant about the systemic issues faced by the people from the culture they are appropriating from. If looking at it through the lens of cultural appropriation isn't helpful for anyone, put the lens down. This goes for all ways of looking at things.
The word(s) cultural appropriation, like every word, is a tool, and it can be very effective in address problems whereas other words ot ways of viewing things would not hold that efficacy, and actually helps distance the conversation from good/bad binary by being more specific about the problem. We need a way to address things like blackface and the unfair and uncontextualized earnest parody of Mexican/Latin American culture (eg Mexican Halloween Costumes). People will always find issues with whatever words are used for these sorts of issues (eg people saying that hate feminism because it has "fem" in it), so changing it for people who don't want to listen anyways will not help. If you want to decontextualize the word to make unfounded points, you can do it all day. But what you're not doing is adding to the conversation in a meaningful way that actually helps anyone.
I don't care to argue I just prefer people be informed about things.
Gender (expression) and culture are not at all the same thing tho
There are people who want to preserve cultures, and gatekeep so that the culture isn’t ruined by others. There are other people who are fine with others diving into their cultures, wearing their clothes, making their food, etc. I don’t know why culture ignites such polarization.
You should make a video on Jungle Fever and Yellow Fever(Fetisaztion of cultures)
Also Rice/Potato/Curry Queens in the gay community.
Are these comments for real?
YES. God, I remember back in High School there were SO many dudes who wanted Asian girlfriends for all the WRONG reasons. It was like a weird, creepy fetish.
@Cosmic Rift yeah, I know a Kenyan guy who like white girls, cause he wants go "lighten his genes". Blegh
@@itgaam yeah ive met a lot of africans who have fetish for white girls, they are always creepy about it
From what I've seen, the difference between "appropriation" and "appreciation" is, is this being done with respect to its origin?
A white person wearing uneven cornrows, making pozole without hominy, or wearing a kimono inside-out.
My brother spent 6 years of college learning Japanese, moved to Japan to be an English teacher there for 5 years, married a Japanese woman, etc. His head explodes when he sees tourists tottering around with Kimonos worn wrong (he has seen people wearing it in the funeral style while they were walking around) or just completely ignoring all cultural queues. Then he ends up getting lumped in with these shitty tourists and he has to try his hardest to prove he isn't just there to go to Akihabara Maid Cafes.
I didn't know me eating Mexican food would be offensive to others.
Who knew?
lol
Lmao exactly my thought
It’s not, eat whatever tf you want
I mean, most of what gets thought of as "Mexican food" in the US is probably glorified fusion food, so it hardly matters. There's a reason the term "Tex-Mex food" exists, and those big ol' Mission-style burritos most folks think of when you mention a burrito originated in the Mission district of San Francisco back in the 60s. In other words, you're probably not, nor have you ever, eaten anything that wasn't "Mexican food as channeled through an American fish-eye lens."
@@Mokiefraggle
If it's something I like, I'll it.
If that offends some people, not my problem.
as the comments are demonstrating, natives are almost always flattered rather than offended by cultural imitation. it's 2nd generation immigrants who get offended, because they're unsure of their identity
So if black people wear like cowboy outfit, it's ok. But if white wears african outfit, it's appropriation. People forget there is white people born and raise in Asia, Africa etc. What about them? How can they appropriate culture they born in, if the colour dictates they can't, that is very deffenition of racism.
Somehow only western world is held accountable for appropriation and they expect to have diversity, others can and will have their own culture without any diversity.
Do you see any other race in Bollywood movies? Korean? Chinese movies? Nigerian movies? Are they just racist all?
There's a huge difference between wearing a cultural outfit as a costume and wearing a cultural outfit respectfully. Most people I've met from various cultures love when people take interest in their culture and want to try on the cultural outfits, respectfully take part in cultural events, etc. Culture can be fun and entertaining but it's so much more than something to gawk at or play with. It's part of who people are.
Im from Venezuela and have NO problem with cultural approriation;. This is more a Marxist idea founded in the opressor opressed thing. Like a lot of the cultural teachings lately.
the oppressors/oppressed thing between whites vs. non-whites is so prevalent in society where I live (America), and I can see why. The continent of North America has an ugly history of European invasion, genocide, and enslavement. Racism runs rampant, and those wounds from our tragic past have not healed yet, so it's triggering to see white people do stuff like wear braids or Indigenous people's ceremonial headdresses; like they took our land and our freedom, and now they wanna take our culture while still hating us.
She never mentions how that "power" needs to manifest or what kind of "injuries" can result.
If a black person does a thing, they're treated like shit, but if a white person does the same thing, they're considered cool. Like a black person not being hired for a job because of their braids, but a white person with braids is seen as stylish.
Cultural appropriation is a good thing, change my mind
If you are against cultural appropriation
Then you are for cultural assimilation
Adapting your life to include other cultures and bettering yourself as a person is a good thing.
Conforming to societal norms, forcing people into restrictive boxes based on ethnicity and whitewashing peoples culture is not.
Great video! But I think that it needed to be longer. Don't feel pressured to cut down information to stay below 10 min please! :( I definitely think that this video needs a second part (it could respond to questions that have arised in the comments)
im from argentina and in recent yrs ppl in europe started to drink mate wich is a traditional drink in argentina paraguay uruguay and south brazil ...they sell it as lemonade in europe...and i think its great more mate bein sold brings more work to argentineans
Cultural Appropriation: Censorship
Cultural Appreciation: Worship
Here's where I stand. You should treat other people with respect. Not necessarily respect as an honorific, but as a level of decency.
However, I think that the term cultural appropriation is kind of shit. It isn't clear or direct, and it can be taken in a variety of ways by different people. It makes the dialogue about culture and respect and representation more difficult than it already is to begin with. It's essentially a buzz word, and does a very poor job of articulating ones thoughts and feelings. I don't like it.
Furthermore, I find the concept of cultural appropriation to be extremely divisive, and it very much hinges on what catagories society deems acceptable for an individual to be a part of. Which is paradoxical in nature since YOUR culture is based on your personal experiences, beliefs, etc. A single person is part of many cultures, and may be influenced by even more cultures that they are surrounded by.
For example, a person who is from a small town can share the culture of that town, their family's historical culture, as well as the culture of their nation as a whole, and the culture of their religion. And their next door neighbours might have a completely different mix. Even their own family members are likely to be part of different cultures and could be more or less influenced or actively involved with the shared cultures.
And then there are other forms of culture, ones that are less often thought about, like goth culture or even sports fan, where people share commonalities that aren't strictly based on geographical location, but rather shared interests and preferences.
So to say that culture is based on groups of people is true, but it is not absolute. There is a lot of gray area. It is impossible to draw distinctive lines between who is and isn't part of a culture, because it is constantly changing. Because who we are as individuals is constantly changing. Evolving based on exposure to different people and ideas and values and beliefs.
Likewise, art, fashion, technology, etc. Also change and evolve. Which has drawbacks, of course it does, but it also results in some of the most amazing and beautiful things that have been created.
The whole idea that cultures should never change, that no one can partake in different cultures, that no one can dress or act or worship differently than their ancestors is so toxic and gross. People are more than a sum of their parts. They aren't obligated to fit in the boxes you choose for them.
If this thing is right, than as an Italian I should say that you are not allowed to cook pasta with ketckup, wit meatballs, lasagna with that much sauce, the too much sweetened ice cream, and the list could go on. We italians obiously hate the fact that people misunderstand our culture, but freedom of actions is a big deal so I let go, since I also know that probably I am doing something like that too.
I'm still not clear on how abstract cultural ideas can be owned. Well, since property in itself is a social construct, it would be more accurate to say that I fail to see the utility in protecting cultural elements as property. An argument could be made about mocking people of an ethnic group, but your arguments for the existence of cultural appropriation pretty much fall flat. Like the idea that using elements of a culture is harmful because people native to it are being oppressed because of it while you aren't (I hope I'm not misrepresenting the argument). I don't get the logical sequence here. How does the act of using culture actually cause harm?
I'm perfectly open to being convinced, but all the arguments that I've heard on this so far, including those in this video, are just bad arguments, mostly non-sequetors.
as a kid (kinder-ish age) I remember growing up watching and wanting to be like the cowboys on tv
and at the same time told by my parent to take pride in my native blood.
one day when I first was playing with other boys
I was told to be the badguy I agreed, put on my hat and bandana
and was stopped told "no, we are playing cowboys and indians. not good cowboy vs bad cowboy."
I rebutled with "why is the indian bad?" the other boys actually stopped to think a minute
as they knew
we all had a bit of Indian blood and my family was mestizo.
so we knew well the Indian wasn't bad like in the films
but why would we think or say that the Indian was a badguy.
but why would TV say that the Indian was a badguy.
the yard was quiet. in thought.
but
being kids we just opted to play something else in a a blink
but that moment stuck with me.
I became aware of peoples prejudice by race/culture.
I'm very sorry you were forced to see prejudice so young. Kids should be allowed to be kids. The media does so much to influence our perceptions of other races/cultures but no one wants to talk about it, and when you do, you are called a communist libtard.
Cultural appropriation is good. No one owns culture. It is for sharing. Cultures meeting and melding will bring us together. Building forbidden cultural boundaries between us won't, it will only further cause division.
Hi! Could you make an episode on Eurgenics and Audism (prejudice against hearing status)? I've noticed a lot of youtube and other cultural media venues that are praising Alexander Grambel for his so called support of the Deaf community, but in reality he preached widely about eugenics, and in particular eugenics of the deaf (forced sterilization and not allowing deaf people to marry other Deaf people). He did a lecture series that Hitler attended and ultimately helped inspire Hitlers mass eugenics practices against the Jewish people. The Deaf community is one that is culturally appropriated against on a daily basis and it breaks my heart because it comes from ignorance, and the praise of Audists like Alexander Gram Bell. I can't find a single video in spoken english (as apposed to american sign languaged) about Alexander Gram Bells darker contributions to history. His actions ultimately lead to the current state of Deaf education around the world (not only america) and massive amounts of deaf chiildren becoming developmentally delayed due to a lack of language access.
The small town in Maine that I grew up in, had a celebration every summer for generations called Mollyocket Day. It was in appreciation of a native American who lived in that town in the 1800s. She was quite close with the community community and often bartered her herbal medicines and other things she'd made for products from the villagers that they bought at stores. She married two settlers over the course of her life and is considered a mother of the community. Every year on the day celebrating her, there would be a parade, people would dress in costumes of the native American people in the area, and as a child. I loved it! About 10 years ago. People mistaking cultural appreciation for cultural appropriation caused the festival to be canceled.
Thank you for the perspective. It would to be interesting to have the same conversation from a Native American (NA) perspective by NA scholars.
Anyone can speak on cultural appropriation… they’d say the same thing she did
Cultural appropriation isn't a real thing.
Thank you for teaching me what the 14 year old white girls are complaining about
@@Yourwifesbf458 especially those sir