Can someone please explain cultural appropriation to me?

[Gwenhwyfar]

I’m trying but I totally don’t get it

Updates:

[BigPunny]

The reality of 'cultural appropriation' is when someone uses something from another culture in their life. That something could be a custom, practice, idea, item, fashion, pendant, etc. Really, it can be anything.

The theory of cultural appropriation is the inappropriate adoption (appropriation) of one of those things by members of another culture, society, or people when those people appropriating it are the more dominant person or society.

Quite frankly, it comes across as nothing more than people wanting to complain about something. Typically, the ones that complain about it the most, are younger, white social justice warriors.

Here's an example of the ridiculousness that I'm talking about. My wife goes to Wicca groups a lot and those groups are filled with mostly white women aged 20-40, who share various spells, chants, etc.

But if a white woman posts a picture of a dreamcatcher that she either made, or uses, to protect from bad dreams, the group of these, mostly-white, women will excoriate the poster because she is guilty of 'cultural appropriation'.

They claim it's not a white person's thing and they can't share it as their own, etc. etc.

The truth is that most cultures that are borrowed from won't care. I'm Native American and I can tell you that pretty much no one in my family or extended family would care. Cultures should be embraced and there's nothing wrong with believing in things one culture or people believe (d) in and use it for your own uses.

If those women wear garb that you comes from places like Africa, or even the Middle-East, they would probably hear about being guilty of cultural appropriation.

Social Justice Warriors (who are incorrectly called 'liberals') are a very strange breed of human. They go out of their way to find something that triggers them, then they either make signs and scream about it or they'll go on social media and demand that someone be canceled.

In the US, there is almost NOTHING that wasn't derived from another culture. Seriously, think about it. Our food, our language, our dress, our colors, etc. Most of these things were borrowed/taken from other countries, either through migration or the need to change up fashion, etc.

So, that's cultural appropriation in a nutshell. I don't see very many minority groups complaining about this "issue." The ones I see are typically white women complaining about other white women using something that came from a "minority" or otherwise "disenfranchised" group.

It's so strange. Hope this helps!

[DaveToo]

Cultural appropriation[1][2] is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures,[3][1] though not the opposite.[4]

According to critics of the practice, cultural appropriation differs from acculturation, assimilation, or equal cultural exchange in that this appropriation is a form of colonialism. When cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context ─ sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture – the practice is often received negatively.[5][6][7][8][9]

Cultural appropriation is considered harmful by various groups and individuals,[10][11] including Indigenous people working for cultural preservation,[12][13] those who advocate for collective intellectual property rights of the originating, minority cultures,[14][15][16][17] and those who have lived or are living under colonial rule.[1][18][19][17] Cultural appropriation can include the exploitation of another culture's religious and cultural traditions, dance steps, fashion, symbols, language, and music.[20][21][22][23]

Those who see this appropriation as an exploitative state that cultural elements are lost or distorted when they are removed from their originating cultural contexts, and that such displays are disrespectful or even a form of desecration.[5][12][24][25] Cultural elements that may have deep meaning to the original culture may be reduced to "exotic" fashion or toys by those from the dominant culture.[5][6][26] Kjerstin Johnson has written that, when this is done, the imitator, "who does not experience that oppression is able to 'play', temporarily, an 'exotic' other, without experiencing any of the daily discriminations faced by other cultures".[26] The academic, musician, and journalist Greg Tate argues that appropriation and the "fetishizing" of cultures, in fact, alienates those whose culture is being appropriated.[27]

The concept of cultural appropriation has also been heavily criticized.[28][29][30] Critics note that the concept is often misunderstood or misapplied by the general public and that charges of "cultural appropriation" are at times misapplied to situations such as trying food from a different culture or learning about different cultures.[31][32] Others state that the act of cultural appropriation as it is usually defined does not meaningfully constitute social harm, or the term lacks conceptual coherence.[33][34] Additionally, the term can set arbitrary limits on intellectual freedom, artists' self-expression, reinforce group divisions, or promote a feeling of enmity or grievance rather than of liberation.[

[Anonymous]

Ok, I'll try to explain this a term with a story

A pop-star from a wealthy country goes to an impoverished foreign country to get some “inspiration”. One night he sees a frail old man, in ragged clothing, clearly desperately poor sitting on a street corner with an instrument the pop-star has never seen before. The old man begins to play a tune. The pop-star doesn’t understand a word of the lyrics but the tune is beautiful. The pop-star is of the more talented variety, able to read and write sheet music. So he copies down the song in his mind and heads back to his hotel. He doesn’t even offer a tip the the musician.

He goes home and uses the traditional tune in a song. He plays it on a guitar rather than the traditional instrument he never bothered to learn the name of. It’s close enough for his taste. That song becomes the single for that album and therefore is released with a music video featuring lots of sexy dancers bumping and grinding to it, because sex sells after all. The album goes platinum.

The poor street musician one day hears a crude bastardization of the song he played coming from a TV in a local cafe. He stops to watch and sees a horrid music video with half naked women writhing all over each other. This offends him deeply because the song he was playing is actually a sacred funeral dirge. Then the video ends and it cuts to the performer at a press conference.

A reporter asks him, “where do you get your inspiration”

he replies, “it just comes.”

[Ninjazzed]

More extreme left-agenda horseshit. Cultural appropriation is what liberals call a white person wearing dreads..

But, cultures have never solely belonged to anyone.

Some believe culture is exploited like land or natural resources were exploited by colonialists, but desecrating a landscape is not the same as desecrating an idea.

The landscape can be ruined, but the idea remains. Culture is more resilient than stone because it changes.

Unlike the gold plundered from a sacred place, culture is not pure.

[ODC2112]

Cultural appropriation is a completely Anglo-American concept and typical of the fringes of the academic far left. In the rest of the world, people aren't stupid enough to make up such bullshit. Any anthropologist would say that each culture is the result of infinite contamination and therefore there are no cultural appropriations.

Everything is based on the critical theory of race, namely black Nazism. So the white man is a parasite and steals black culture and profits from it.

It can be defined as: "The unrecognized or inappropriate adoption of customs, practices, ideas, etc. of a people or society by members of another typically more dominant people or society".

In the past there would have been talk of co-assimilation the dominant group adopts the minor group.

The appeal to cultural appropriation is nothing more than a form of aggression towards other cultures by members of a group with a strong collective narcissism. Collective narcissism in this case arises with the politics of identity and ethnic pride.

[watrewks]

When you like something you incorporate it into your tastes somehow right? Doesn’t taking things from other cultures mean you appreciate them?


People say it’s racist but it’s literally the opposite. Just because someone doesn’t think of giving credit to another culture for something doesn’t mean they’re trying to destroy that certain culture. I say keep appropriating.


The usual situations you find that happening you can find out the origin culture in a matter of seconds. And think about it, take some sort of food item you enjoy, you probably would get it just because you enjoyed it and just accepted it as it was part of life and not have a second thought about its origins. Upon learning the origins of said food item then you probably appreciated the culture all the more and still continued to get it because you just enjoy it.


There is zero malice behind cultural appropriation and it’s not about making thing “more white.” Honestly often times it’s about what sells. To call it a white thing is to deny that all people do it. Take for example Poland. I’m Polish and I’ve been to Poland several times. They LOVE Americans and American pop culture. They try to act more American and I got soooo many compliments on my American accent when speaking Polish. Now are they trying to destroy America with their love of American pop culture? No way, they appreciate it! To appropriate is to appreciate. 🙂

[IndieScent]

The best comparison I can think of is The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's when someone takes something from another culture and acts like it's their own. It's not appropriation if it's something like enjoying another culture's food or attending a public cultural festival. But it is appropriation if a white person tries to have dreadlocks because it ignores the cultural roots and significance of dreadlocks, as well as overlooking how most black people with dreadlocks will be denied a job because their hair is "unprofessional". Similarly, it's cultural appropriation when people at Coachella wear feather headdresses as a fun little costume, but for Native Americans that wear feather headdresses, it's an extremely important and significant part of their culture; and it adds insult to injury when that's happening after everything Americans have done to Native Americans.

Easiest way to avoid cultural appropriation is, don't wear other people's cultures like it's a costume. Also, don't use or take something of another's culture without stone of that culture willingly giving it to you.

[normalice]

A thing or custom a culture comes up with that another culture happens upon, figures out how to make profitable, and then does so without sharing the profits with the culture it originated from.

In so many words, cultural appropriation is "intellectual property theft," except it is the property of a whole community instead of just one person, thus no one thought to put a patent on it or whatever.

Now, is it wrong to seek a profit somewhere no one was looking? Maybe. It's kind of grey area. The thing being sold wasn't the seller's idea. But it's also true that selling it wasn't the culture's idea. in my opinion, it is yet another instance of the ongoing fight between engineering and marketing..

[Ditto626]

Well cultural appropriation is when you take something like a outfit, tradition, food dish, or anything pertaining to a culture you are not a part of and using it to gain something like money, attention, praise, etc. In the end you are dishonoring the culture. Kind of saying that Taco Bell is authentic Mexican food.

However, the SJWs bitch and complain about every little thing as being racist or cultural appropriation over minor things. A few years ago a high school senior wore a Chinese style dress to her Prom and people in America were saying that's cultural appropriation and it was wrong. Someone was asking Chinese people in China about it and they were saying that it was cool she was representing their culture. They also said she looked nice.

[Xoirwinkan]

Some whiny-pants complaining when a white person 'uses' an aspect of another ethnicity's culture, usually clothing or hairstyle, and claim that it is racist and insensitive. And yes, I have only seen it used as a weapon against whites. I haven't seen people shouting 'cultural appropriation' when other cultures use suits or cars, things which are European based. Before the current age of politicised idiocy, such cultural 'sharing' was a quaint form of tourism. It's funny because in America minorities often cry about "white supremacy" but when people try to emulate other (minority) cultures that's a crime.

[FilmGuy93]

Imagine if somebody who wasn't a member of your culture took something really important and iconic about your culture and by using that thing; they cheapened the meaning. So you know those really pretty Indian bridal outfits, imagine a non-Indian woman wearing one of those outfits for Halloween. Or Coachella girls dressing up like Native Americans for the festival. Stuff like that.

I think the cultural appropriation line is based on whether or not the person using the cultural element is doing so in a way to loses meaning.

[hellionthesagereborn]

Its when a minority group who has appropriated other cultures says that other groups cannot appropriate "their" culture, even if its something that isn't really their culture to begin with. i. e. its racism and discrimination that is designed to target other ethnic groups, traditionally "white" ethnic groups (or percieved to be white ethnic groups) by saying they are some how bad people for doing anything that even remotely looks like it belongs to another ethnic group that isn't "white". Generally as a means to guilt and bully said group. Its also never applicable in reverse i. e. the consumption of "white culture" is perfectly acceptable, the reverse is never acceptable.

[Xoxocutekitty]

It's like thinking that people who do theater in high-school are losers, weirdos, over emotional, etc but then buying tickets to Broadway saying how much you 'enjoy the theatre.'

There's this huge disconnect between valuing the culture, and valuing the people that make up the culture. there's a lot of work that goes on between a kid in high-school with a dream and someone on a Broadway show.. there's also hundreds of other people, stage crew, musicians, coordinators etc that make Broadway well Broadway. So to just like parts of one culture, without acknowledging the other factors which make the culture possible is where people get irritated.

Now there's no 'correct' way to appreciate someone or something. But it IS rude when women and and men wear sexy costumes, talking about how much they 'appreciate' the culture, while also talking about how dirty and shady 'workers' of the same ethnicity are, providing the food service for the same event.

[ChrisMaster69]

I don’t get it tbh.

I can understand offensive stuff but not the stuff that has been fashion for years.

Also some stuff is multi race and things like tattoos global.

look at Celtic Tattoos

Are we going to have Tattoos police making sure anyone not of Celtic descent does not use anything resembling Celtic artwork.

Kilts and tartan are cultural to a number of areas but definitely not others, do we now ban any form of tartan design from those not allowed it in their culture.

these type of things simply piss people off and result in a popular backlash from areas of the population that normally don’t give a shit.

[Jammaa]

I think you've gotten plenty of answers explaining it and hopefully get it by now but if you haven't there's a video that I watched that explained it well for me. Here's a link:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/TGH12QmW02A

In simple terms, it's stealing culture. That being said, I think racism is a big problem still but I don't think cultural appropriation is that big of an issue compared to other racial issues like segregation and being beaten or killed. In fact I know that there are minorities who appreciate when white people acknowledge the culture. And I've heard minorities say, "no one really owns culture. "

[DarkCarousel]

Cultural appropriation is adopting an element of someone else’s culture. It would be considered disrespectful to do it in mockery. However, offense taken by cultural appropriation is just a perception from the offended party.

How can you appropriate actions, gestures, intellect, etc? Act black. Act white. How can anyone determine ownership of these things?


I once read an article saying that white people shouldn’t be allowed to roller skate or roller blading because it’s appropriating black culture. Unless I’m directly claiming to have originated roller skating— and therefore falsely claiming the origin for personal gain, I’m simply just enjoying that particular activity.


We can’t tiptoe through life expecting not to offend one another. We have to do our best. Some people will get offended anyway.

[The_Maphio]

It doesn't exist. It's a made up thing by the oversensitive dumbasses crowd that would see anything that did originate from a certain culture be insensitive and offending if it doesn't manifest itself in the very same cultural environment. Curiously enough, that is only applied to those whose the oversensitive dumbasses crowd don't like. Dumb girl with neon coloured cornrows, for instance, are not culturally appropriating, but a normal girl with a leveled head wearing a cheongsam is.
Usual dumb double standards. Don't give the light of the day to them.
If you appreciate some style from another culture, make sure to show it.

[The_Other]

Cultural appropriation is the history of humanity. Religion, Dressing, Food, Art etc, every culture has taken one or more ideas from other cultures, it's just that some people decide to pick and choose which ones to get outraged about and in the age of internet it seems louder than ever because these specific, mini group of people that make too much noise about it now have easy access to a keyboards and... twitter.

Most normal people don't really care, in fact i think most normal people would probably be happy that you're doing something from their culture and enjoying doing it.

[FunkyMonkee]

Apparently, it's an American thing that only SJW's and the like are concerned with. Basically, it means that, if you're of one culture, mostly if your white, you can't wear something, look like, speak like or act like someone from ANY other cultures because it's supposedly racist!! It doesn't seem to bother them at all, though, when black chicks have their afros straightened to look like white chicks! Or when white people take up and use black slang, music and attire. THAT'S okay!! But, if you're white and you wear stuff that might normally come from Japan or India, or Poland, etc., you're a racist!!
You're, SUPPOSEDLY appropriating something from someone else's culture as if it was your own.

[Oceation]

My understanding of cultural appropriation is that it is when someone takes something from another culture and markets it in a mocking, almost exploitative way. Celebrities tend to do this a lot, where they steal something from another culture and market it as if they invented it, without giving credit to the culture it's originally from. This is different from cultural appreciation, where someone can enjoy borrowing things from other cultures for their own personal enjoyment.

[Anonymous]

I’m an American Latina. Born in Cali and raised mostly around “Whites” in Washington. I would be called a “White wash Latina” pretty much my entire existence. I enjoy what’s considered “White” music, dress “White” and act “White” hell the majority of my friends are Caucasian

So the majority of the Latino culture has always made me feel inferior or not “Latina” enough because of this. And some Whites/African Americans I’ve met said I do “Culture Appropriation”

I didn’t just decide to act or be white one morning. Which to me, THAT is cultural appropriation. I grew up around it, it’s always been my environment lol

[Still-alive]

well ill give it my honest try without looking it up but the way i understand it, its when a person of a different usually more hegemonic culture takes a certain cultural norm or practice and just uses it as their own. usually as a shallow fashion statement or reasoning as to why that practice developed in its original culture in the first place. hope that made sense

[RingOfFire]

I can explain it.

"Cultural appropriation" is part of a fantasy narrative created by those who hate America to make innocent white people hate themselves so Marxist communists can take over the country and enslave Americans. It holds that white people who dare to adopt or emulate cultures and customs of non-whites are evil racists who are committing a form of soft genocide against those whose culture they invoke.

The aim of this Marxist assault on freedom is to make white people hate themselves and their country so that they will surrender it to the communists and to create the false impression that white people are inherently racist and that America is evil. The false concept of "cultural appropriation" is one weapon they employ to try to make that happen so they can install their evil dictatorship.

[SashaAMB]

It’s like plagiarism. It’s taking a cultural expression or experience and making it “whiter”, usually without showing respect or acknowledgement for the other culture. You can enjoy and even adapt things from other cultures (think fusion cooking), but learn about the thing you are enjoying and pay it respect. Google “white girl Mah Jong” for an example of cultural appropriation. Lots of white people play Mah Jong, most of them don’t make a brand new board stripping the game if Chinese culture.