OT: Culture Appropriation

esenin

More specifically, what do you do about it?
I find myself extremely conservative in my approach to other cultures. Despite my love of ankhs, I do not wear them. I avoid keffiyehs and anything described as "tribal".

Am I overtly zealous?
'Sometimes I will not wear a garment even if I love it, out of fear of appropriating someone else's culture. I believe that the mass-marketing cheapens the meaning to those who care, and I wish to avoid contributing to that devaluing.

Other YLFers, what do you do?

12 years ago

General

13 replies

Latest reply was from

rachylou

Veteran

Mm. That's very respectful - and I think, you know, I appreciate that. At the same time, growing up in hippie land, there's a lot of value in becoming friends and sharing our cultures with others, showing admiration.

I think, maybe, the best way is to bring a little something into your own context. But stick with using things the way they were meant to be used in general. Like having an everyday, western fashion skirt made out of the same material as someone else would use for their version of an everyday skirt. You know, don't use a prayer shawl for a beach coverup.

12 years ago

nancylee

Veteran

Hm. This is an interesting thread. I do have some dresses and tunics and even some jewelry that would be considered "tribal" or "ethnic," but they are modernized/modified pieces so they don't feel too costume-y. I use my own judgment when buying/wearing items like this. I don't like to feel that I'm appropriating someone's ethnic or religious heritage, but rather showing admiration for it.

I think as long as you aren't dressing head-to-toe in someone else's traditional cultural garb you're ok.

12 years ago

Lynne

Veteran

Interesting....I remember when Lady Di used to wear a loosely draped head scarf in countries where women traditionally covered their heads. She made it look chic, as if she was acknowledging, without imitating, someone else's traditional dress.

12 years ago

taylor

Veteran

Keffiyehs are typically worn by Arab men to keep the wind, sand and sun off their face and heads...do you think that is practical for here?

12 years ago

esenin

Active Member

You all bring up excellent points.
My biggest fear is that I'll make a mistake:
There are some photos of Ms. Palin wearing a Star of David. The commentary concludes that even if she merely wished to show support for Israel, She went about it incorrectly. The star represents Jews, not Israelis-there are non-Jewish Israelis, and non-Israeli Jews. therefor, her wearing the star was appropriating culture and was offensive.
I fear that I too will wear something incorrectly-but when I think about it, how can I wear turquoise and gold jewelry offensively?
Some of my problems are personal hang-ups that make no sense whatsoever.

12 years ago

Vildy

Veteran

The Star of David is on the Israeli flag.

What, anyway, would be the problem with making a mistake?
A mistake isn't intentional, it's a mistake.

Some years ago a famous couturier did a take off on Hasidic dress.
I rolled my eyes. It didn't offend me, though. The best thing my mother
ever taught me was not to be in the business of getting offended.

There was a funny riff I heard once where an Asian woman was grousing
that "we don't wear forks in *our* hair." Was she really offended or just
going for a good line? Who knows.

12 years ago

Active Member

Taylor, some people (men and women) wear keffiyehs like a scarf - around the neck.

12 years ago

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

My friend gave me a gift once. I thought it was a pretty shawl and wore it all around campus. Then I found out it was a prayer rug. Oops.

Since then; I've been careful to toe on the side of being conservative. So embaressing.

12 years ago

Kate

Veteran

Yeah, it's amazing how items of clothing can be re-appropriated too. In 2008 in Berlin I kept seeing neo-Nazis wearing keffiyehs when I was in the subways. Turns out they have decided to interpret them as pro-Palestine, and thus anti-Israel, and thus anti-Jews. Whereas around the same time, they were a huge fashion trend in other parts of Europe and the US, where many people had absolutely no idea there was any cultural significance to their cool new scarves.

I say do what makes you and the people around you comfortable. Every single piece of clothing can be interpreted in multiple ways, so I'm not sure we'll ever win at this game.

12 years ago

Elly

Veteran

Teens wearing Urban Outfitters "cultural wear"--- OFFENSIVE

A woman in a tasteful outfit incorporating a print or accessory from another culture that she knows something about and admires---- BEAUTIFUL

I personally struggle with this because I consider myself to be an insider/outsider in a cultural and ethnic community. I work in a ethnic enclave. I am a direct descendant of family that are from that enclave. I myself did not grow up in the culture (until I was an adult) and am not "full-blood." On one hand I would like to wear some of the cultural signifiers that other women wear because I appreciate the meaning, craftsmanship, and beauty of the pieces and because they signify membership. However, I usually just choose to fly under the radar as I often get a better reception as "that white woman" than when I share my heritage and knowledge. Often sharing my identity as an insider/outsider is inappropriate and I hate to be making a "wannabe" or "clueless" impression to people that must believe we have a relationship of mutual respect and trust.

12 years ago

Kari

Veteran

I've struggled with this too, a bit. When I was in college I ventured through Vancouver's Little India (a very small street in Vancouver BC with some gorgeous sari shops.) One of the shops was selling lightweight, colorful, embroidered tunics for a song. I bought them and wore them sometimes in the summer over a camisole with shorts, or with straight-leg jeans, but I also felt like I was on the borderline of wearing something that belonged to a culture that I didn't fully understand. (Also, the breezy, somewhat boho/eclectic style of the shirts didn't mesh with my then-evolving modern classic aesthetic.)

The now-defunct Academichic blog has some great articles about this topic, if you'd like more food for thought (see their links on this post):
http://www.academichic.com/201.....xcursions/

12 years ago

Aziraphale

Veteran

It never even enters my head. If I like something, I wear it. Mind you, I can't think of anything I own that fits into the category you're describing -- I don't go for tribal anything, I don't wear crosses or ankhs or any kind of symbol. I have some jewellery that's made from impressions of beautiful old Greek coins....that's about it. Oh wait, I have one ring in the West Coast BC aboriginal style, but it's made by an aboriginal artist, so I just think of it as "finger art".

12 years ago

Anonymous

I can identify with those who want to be respectful to other cultures because I am not a Native American but I live on a county road that runs through a reservation. I treasure & love to wear some beautiful Native American turquoise & silver pieces, & I've enjoyed wearing them ever since I was given them by my Mom in the 1970's when I was a teenager. I didn't think about it back then because where I lived in California, everybody wore Native American jewelry, but when I moved here I didn't want to be disrespectful, so I wondered if it would be appropriate for me to wear it. That was 25 years ago, & I did decide to go ahead & keep wearing these pieces because they''ve always had sentimental value for me, & even more so since my Mom passed away 13 years ago. My friends who are tribal members haven't taken offense & I hope nobody else has.

Style-wise, since I mainly wear jeans & I appreciate the handcrafted qualities of Native American jewelry, I guess I probably fall into the "earthy"/"boho" style categories others have mentioned. And I really like retro/vintage, so I love it that my pieces are older.

Megan

12 years ago

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