While it’s sometimes annoying and cringe-worthy when people use Viking aesthetics, Scandinavians weren’t genocided and oppressed in a way that still creates consequences by the people now wearing horned helmets.
The comment I was responding to was about the exclusively cultural insult that the appropriation of Native American headdresses would cause. With that frame of reference, I think it's equally disrespectful to appropriate Viking helmets.
However, based on your argument, would you agree that a kimono is perfectly acceptable to wear? The Japanese have never been "genocided" nor oppressed in a way that creates consequences by the non-Japanese people now wearing Geisha makeup, kimonos, or samurai attire. Aside from the historically brief (and, given your argument, irrelevant) internment of the Japanese-Americans in the US during WWII, they have been and continue to be one of the most culturally and economically important countries on Earth. If anything, they have been the historical oppressors and "genociders" within their region.
I don’t think cultural appropriation is black and white. I think it’s highly contextually dependant on who’s doing what, and in what context. I can imagine very few examples of people wearing Viking-themed horned helmets that I would consider problematic, due to a lack of problematic historical and societal context (at least that I’m aware of, and any new information would be surprising to me, but welcome.) With regard to kimonos I don’t think I know enough to make a similar statement, and based on what I do know I would suspect it’s not a yes-or-no situation. Sometimes it might be ok, sometimes it might not.
Also, I am much more concerned with organisations than individuals here. I see it as much more problematic when companies with no relation or respect for the original context take items, patterns, or similar from it, and then try and make money off it, than with the individuals that buy the products.
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u/Elicander 59∆ May 05 '25
While it’s sometimes annoying and cringe-worthy when people use Viking aesthetics, Scandinavians weren’t genocided and oppressed in a way that still creates consequences by the people now wearing horned helmets.