It seems like a weekly occurrence where some celebrity or fashion designer breaks an unwritten rule of cultural appropriation. Then there’s a huge wave of animosity towards them, the apology comes and everyone gets on with their lives again. Except it happens over and over again. It’s important to strike a balance between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Here are five ways to ensure that you are appreciating, rather than appropriating, another culture.
1. Learn About The Culture You’re Borrowing From
It doesn’t even take much time. Show some respect. If you’re going to wear a traditional outfit, learn why it was made. Learn what its traditional use is. Don’t say you don’t have a quick 10 minutes to spare to find out the origins of the culture you want to borrow from. I just used 10 minutes to find out about the cultural significance of Kimonos. You can too.
2. Don’t Be Disrespectful
If a traditional outfit is only reserved for important events, don’t disrespect it by wearing it as your costume for Halloween. Every year there’s always someone at a fancy dress party tarnishing someone else’s culture, and it makes me sick every time. This page gives a perfect analogy of how wearing a fancy dress costume takes away from its meaning.
For example, many indigenous tribes in America give feathers as a sign of merit. It’s a great honor. You wearing a Native American headdress with a hat full of feathers cheapens others’ achievement of earning feathers.
3. Buy Authentic
To show your appreciation for a culture, buy authentic. Don’t buy from big-time retailers who do nothing for the communities of these cultures. They are committing cultural appropriation by ripping off someone else’s culture in order to make money.
For an idea of what not to buy, here’s an online retailer using Native American culture for their own profit. If you want to show your appreciation, have a look at people like these guys. When buying from these guys you know a) it’s real, b) its potential to offend is mitigated.
4. Support The Wider Issues Faced By The Community
One of the biggest cultural appropriation issues is the fact that many people who borrow from the culture, give nothing back.
Take Kylie Jenner, for example. In this edition of “Teen Vogue” magazine, she can be seen wearing dreadlocks. Borrowing from a culture is fine, but you should give back in return.
Dreadlocks are a hallmark of the black community, and have been for centuries. What has Kylie Jenner ever done for the black community? We’ve never seen her voice her opinion on police brutality towards African-Americans. She’s never given her support towards the “Black Lives Matter” movement. She’s just taken from the culture because she thinks it’s cool, and does nothing in return.
5. If You Get Called Out For Cultural Appropriation, Be Mature
The fact is, even if you’ve followed all of these pointers, there may still be some who will say you’re guilty of cultural appropriation. In response, there’s no reason to be defensive about it. Just give your reasons as to why you feel that you’re not displaying cultural appropriation.
There’s a fine line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. Following these pointers, you’re headed in the right direction. It’s vital to realize that cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation are not black and white. There is a grey area, and like most things in life, you can’t please everybody.
Featured image via Aaron Muszalski via Flickr under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License.
