Cultural Appropriation
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In the age of social media, the term cultural appropriation seems to be thrown around quite a lot. Much too often there is a new viral image or video of a poorly judged fashion line or college-themed party. But what actually constitutes cultural appropriation? When does cultural borrowing cross the line into culture appropriation and when does appropriation cross into blatant bigotry or mocking? A white girl at Coachella could defend her Henna and Bindi for her “love of the culture�. How does that compare to Marc Jacobs putting runway models in dreadlocks or Nikki S. Lee 20
appropriating herself as a chola in her photography series, The Hispanic Project? For starters, context matters and religious or sacred symbols to the respective culture are not a fashion trend. When the history and sacredness of these symbols are replaced with monetary value and easy accessibility, it is no longer a celebration of that culture but an exploitation of it. Examples of this would be Gucci putting Sikh Turbans on their runway models or Victoria's Secret using Native American headdresses for a lingerie collection.
