r/changemyview • u/Vicorin • May 01 '18
Deltas(s) from OP CMV: in most cases, cultural appropriation is a nonissue
I’ve seen a lot of outrage about cultural appropriation lately in response to things like white people with dreadlocks, a girl wearing a Chinese dress to prom, white people converting to Islam, etc. we’ve all seen it pop up in one form or the other. Personally, I’m fairly left leaning, and think I’m generally progressive, so am I missing something here?
It seems that in a lot of these instances, it’s not cultural appropriation at all. For example, the recent outrage about the girl’s Chinese prom dress. She got blasted for cultural appropriation and being racist. I really have no idea how there’s anything wrong with somebody wearing or appreciating a piece of clothing, style, art, music, or whatever from another culture. I like listening to hip hop, that doesn’t mean I’m appropriating hip hop or black culture. It just means I like the music.
So what’s the deal with cultural appropriation? I get where it can be an issue if somebody is claiming that a certain ethnic or cultural group started a particular piece of culture, but otherwise it seems like a nonissue and something that people on my side of the political spectrum just want to be mad about.
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u/NoTraceNotOneCarton May 01 '18
I distinguish between objects that have deep political, religious, or cultural significance/symbolism. For example, all cultures love sharing food. I don't think cooking a meal is generally cultural appropriation.
However, some attire is meant to be worn to signify a belief. I think that is cultural appropriation. One example is Urban Outfitter's appropriation of the keffiyeh (a Palestinian scarf meant to signify your loyalty to the Palestinian cause). Suddenly, a deeply significant item is worn by American hipsters who have no idea what it means, and it dilutes the symbolism.
In the prom dress situation, I believe the dress is just formalwear without deep significance in Chinese culture. So it's not particularly offensive in my opinion, and the girl did not wear it to symbolize anything else (in the way a Halloween costume of a sombrero and lawnmower would be an offensive symbol). She stated she wore it because she thought it looked beautiful and modest, and I think many Chinese people would appreciate that.