Dec 6, 2015 I read this article this morning: http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/08...&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SocialWarfare It's by a white girl who decided to cut off her dreadlocks because she decided it was a form of cultural appropriation. She goes through her thought process and evaluates some counter arguments she had as she was thinking through it. What is cultural appropriation and when is it a problem? Does intent matter? Is this an instance of cultural appropriation? Is the perception of appropriation what defines it? This is a form of the Euthyphro question: Is it appropriation because the oppressed culture in question deems it appropriation, or can that be determined/argued by anyone?
Dec 6, 2015 @ThyNeighbour may ignore the article and discuss the issue freely. All thy neighbours may.
Dec 6, 2015 I think that cultural appropriation has become a very blurry concept in recent years. In my opinion, appropriation is when somebody does something for some form of personal gain instead of supporting the original cause or not having a well developed understanding of why you're doing it. However, if you are doing something because you like it, feel comfortable doing it, or because you're passionate about it then I don't see why that's deemed as appropriation. My thoughts might be a little misinformed but that's how I feel about it right now. I think people try to overcomplicate cultural appropriation a lot of the time.
Dec 6, 2015 I think a lot of people confuse cultural appropriation and cultural misappropriation. With cultural,"appropriation" one is using elements from another culture in the correct context. So if the woman who wrote the article grew her dreads as part of her journey to finding God through Rastafarianism. Then she would be using that aspect of the culture appropriately. However many people get dread locks for the look and don't understand the meaning behind growing dread locks....which leads to cultural misappropriation. With cultural "misappropriation" , one is using those elements negatively or in a way that the original culture did not intend. .......... i.e the use of the Indian chief as the mascot for the Cleveland Indians......Native Americans have fought hard to remove this image of the Indian chief, because it promotes an idea of the Indian chief that their culture never intended. = Cultural misappropriation.
Dec 6, 2015 Read the article and it seems as if she was just an ignorant fucktwad who thought she was doing black people justice by cutting her dread locks.... "The Harmful Messages I Was Sending to the World as a White Woman with Dreadlocks It finally became clear to me that by wearing my hair in dreadlocks as a white person, the nonverbal statements I was making to folks of color were: “Look! I can reject all of mainstream society’s expectations of me andstill be treated with more respect than you!” this part was stupid.... Here she summed up white privilege and cutural misappropriation in one.... When white people in the US wear dreadlocks, the power of this symbolic resistance is reduced to an “exotic” fashion trend wherein the oppressor is able to “play,” temporarily, an “exotic other” without acknowledging or experiencing any of the daily discriminations black folks have to face." She should have used a better word other than "exotic".
Dec 6, 2015 I appreciate you breaking that down. It makes things much clearer. That's kind of how I felt about it, I just didn't have the words to fully express it.
Dec 6, 2015 like I honestly don't get the mentality behind this s--- it makes no sense when you actually think about it. it's a stupid knee jerk reaction and people acting like they own part of or all of a culture, and telling everyone else to sit and spin if they think they can use it for any reason other than one they approve and some even acting like unless they're part of a certain race then they can't use it at all for any reason ever. It's honestly REALLY f---ing racist as a concept and it unintentionally perpetrates stereotypes, which you would think the same people would be trying to defeat, and it won't do anything but keep everyone even more divided.
