Cultural appropriation

Overview

Cultural appropriation can involve the use of ideas, symbols, artifacts, or other aspects of human-made visual or non-visual culture. Anthropologists study the various processes of cultural borrowing, "appropriation," and cultural exchange (which includes art and urbanism), as part of cultural evolution and contact between different cultures.

What makes cultural exchange different from cultural appropriation is power. Most notably is the power of the privileged to try on and normalize a cultural element of another group, while the group being appropriated from is often demonized and then excluded from participation in their cultural expressions as now practiced by members of the dominant culture. Cultural exchange implies a mutual and beneficial sharing of cultures and beliefs, while cultural appropriation can become hurtful if used to target certain demographics and confirm stereotypes.

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

A different view of cultural appropriation characterizes critics of the practice as "engaged in a deeply conservative project: one which first seeks to preserve in formaldehyde the content of an established culture and second tries to prevent others from interacting with that culture." On the contrary, cultures as they exist now are themselves the products of previous instances of cultural appropriation. Appropriation can be wrongful under this view, but the wrongfulness is determined by the intent of the appropriator and not the perceived power dynamics between the cultures. Proponents of cultural appropriation view it as often benign or mutually beneficial, citing mutation, product diversity, technological diffusion, and cultural empathy as among its benefits. For example, the film Star Wars appropriated elements from Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress, which itself appropriated elements from Shakespeare; culture in the aggregate is arguably better off for each instance of appropriation. Fusion between cultures has produced such foods as American Chinese cuisine, modern Japanese sushi, and bánh mì, each of which is sometimes argued to reflect part of its respective culture's identity.

Academic study

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

Art, iconography, and adornment

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

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

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

Boy scout dance teams

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

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

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

Costumes

Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used by performers to represent a black person. The practice gained popularity during the 19th century and contributed to the proliferation of negative stereotypes such as the "happy-go-lucky darky on the plantation" or the "dandified coon." In 1848, blackface minstrel shows were popular for general audiences. Early in the 20th century, blackface branched off from the minstrel show and became a form in its own right, until it ended in the United States with the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. White blackface performers in the past used burnt cork and later greasepaint or shoe polish to blacken their skin and exaggerate their lips, often wearing woolly wigs, gloves, tailcoats, or ragged clothes to complete the transformation. Stereotypes embodied in the stock characters of blackface minstrels played a significant role in cementing and proliferating racist images, attitudes, and perceptions worldwide. Blackface's groundbreaking cultural appropriation involved not only the appearance of African-Americans but also their mannerisms and dialect. Further cultural appropriation of African-American culture occurs today in the dissemination of African-American cultural expression and its myriad derivative forms in popular culture.

During Halloween, some people buy, wear, and sell Halloween costumes based on racial stereotypes. Costumes such as "Vato Loco", "Pocahottie", "Indian Warrior", or "Kung Fool" are sometimes worn by people who do not belong to the respective corresponding racial or ethnic group. These costumes have been criticized as being in poor taste at best and, at worst, blatantly racist. In some cases, theme parties have been held where attendees are encouraged to dress up as stereotypes of a certain racial group. A number of these parties have been held at colleges, and at times other than Halloween, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month.

Religion and spirituality

Fraudulent sweat lodge ceremonies performed by non-Natives have led to injuries and some deaths. Among critics, the misuse and misrepresentation of indigenous intellectual property is seen as an exploitative form of colonialism, and one step in the destruction of indigenous cultures.

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

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

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

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

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

Sports

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

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

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

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

The All Blacks have performed a traditional haka dance (an element of Māori culture) at the start of most of their matches since at least 1905, though a very significant part of those matches (certainly the earlier ones) did not have any, let alone a majority, of indigenous players.

Language

Minority languages can also be appropriated, such as when non-speakers of Scottish Gaelic or Irish get tattoos in that language. Likewise, the use of incorrect Scottish Gaelic in a tokenistic fashion aimed at non-Gaelic speakers on signage and announcements has been criticized as disrespectful to fluent speakers of the language.

African-American culture

The term wigger (common spelling "wigga") is a slang term for a white person who emulates mannerisms, language, and fashions associated with African-American culture, particularly hip hop, and, in Britain, the grime scene, often implying a failed attempt at cultural appropriation by a white subject. The term is a portmanteau of white and nigger. The term "nigger" is viewed as a racist insult. "Wigger" may be derogatory, reflecting stereotypes of African-American, black British, and white culture (when used as synonym of white trash). It is also sometimes used in a racist manner, not only belittling the person perceived as "acting black", but also demeaning black people and culture, by proxy.

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

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

Fashion

Some maintain that one of the issues in the fashion world is cultural appropriation. The fashion industry has been accused of becoming insensitive and unapologetic when it comes to cultural appropriation, its members encouraged to culturally appropriate all in the name of fashion.

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

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

At the 2014 Coachella festival one of the most noted fashion trends was the bindi. The bindi is a traditional Hindu head mark and is a part of the religious culture of Hinduism. As pictures of the festival surfaced online there was public controversy over the casual wearing of the bindi. People were offended because they felt the people wearing the bindi do not understand the meaning behind it.

Cultural appropriation is controversial in the fashion industry due to the fact that trends and styles seem to be increasingly inspired by different cultures. In response to this criticism, there has been industry pushback by some, claiming that this occurrence is in fact "culture appreciation.", rather than cultural appropriation. Companies and designers claim the use of unique cultural symbols is an effort to recognize and pay homage to that specific culture. There is debate about whether designers and fashion houses understand the history behind the clothing they are taking from different cultures. It is arguable that it is still offensive as consumers are not being educated on the cultural backgrounds of the styles borrowed from other cultures and unless the retailer or designer take the time to provide information regarding the history of the trends used, the items are being worn as a new fashion statement in the public.

Other uses

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

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

A common term among the Irish for someone who imitates or misrepresents Irish culture is Plastic Paddy.

Celebrity controversies

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

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

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

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

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

Rachel Dolezal made headlines in 2015 when it was discovered that she was not African-American, as she had claimed.

Responses

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

"Reclaim the Bindi" has become a hashtag used by people of South Asian descent who wear traditional garb. #CoachellaShutdown has been used in conjunction with #ReclaimtheBindi in order to combat the use of the bindi at music festivals, most notably the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Reclaim the Bindi Week seeks to promote the cultural significance of the bindi and combat its use as a fashion statement.

In 2016, author Lionel Shriver gave a speech at the Brisbane Writers Festival, asserting the right of authors to write from any point of view, including that of characters from cultural backgrounds other than their own – as writers "should be seeking to push beyond the constraining categories into which we have been arbitrarily dropped by birth. If we embrace narrow group-based identities too fiercely, we cling to the very cages in which others would seek to trap us." She also asserted the right of authors from a cultural majority to write in the voice of someone from a cultural minority, attacking the idea that this constitutes unethical "cultural appropriation". Referring to a case in which American college students were facing disciplinary action for wearing sombreros to a 'tequila party', she said "The moral of the sombrero scandals is clear: you're not supposed to try on other people's hats. Yet that's what we’re paid to do, isn't it? Step into other people's shoes, and try on their hats." During the speech, Australian social activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied walked out. In a subsequent opinion piece published in The Guardian, Abdel-Magied called the speech "a poisoned package wrapped up in arrogance and delivered with condescension". She argued that "marginalised groups, even today, do not get the luxury of defining their own place in a norm that is profoundly white, straight and, often, patriarchal. And in demanding that the right to identity should be given up, Shriver epitomised the kind of attitude that led to the normalisation of imperialist, colonial rule: 'I want this, and therefore I shall take it.' The attitude drips of racial supremacy ..."