Cultural Appropriation vs. Appreciation

By Pahel Srivastava

Edited by Harvi Karatha & Elizabeth Wu, Layout by Tristan Castro

Cultural appropriation is rampant, whether it is done on social media for “aesthetics” or in the way someone presents themselves in the real world. Aspects of certain cultures or religions are often fetishized, which creates an immense amount of disrespect for the struggles of different cultural, ethnic, or religious groups. However, what about those of you who genuinely want to try things from different cultures? The rest of this article will highlight how you can appreciate a culture without appropriating it.

Cultural appropriation is when someone “cherry picks” or selects only certain aspects of a culture to adopt, and glazes over other aspects. Cultural appropriation also occurs when one blatantly ignores the meaning behind a specific aspect of one culture.

For Example, the popular “Ohm” yoga mat. When people do yoga on this mat, they are putting their feet on top of our sacred religious symbol, which is considered extremely disrespectful in Hinduism. This happened yet again when many famous people began wearing Indian garments. Kim Kardashian thought it was okay to call Indian food disgusting; however, she cherry picked Indian clothing, and only chose to appreciate that part of Indian culture. Cultural appropriators are able to ignore the struggle of their “culture of choice,”, due to the fact that they are praised for doing the same things which certain cultures, religions, or races were shamed for doing.

This can easily be shown in the “fox-eye trend,” in which individuals stretch their eyes to appear smaller. Sure, fox-eyes look good; however, Asian people were and still are mocked for their eyes. Gestures done to achieve the “fox-eye” are also gestures used to mock Asian people. So it is no longer okay to make that specific hand gesture. Cultural appropriation is shown yet again with box braids and cornrows. Cornrows and box braids have started to become fetishized, yet many black people are denied jobs and made fun of for wearing them. By wearing these certain types of hairstyles, one is able to ignore the struggle that comes to black people for wearing box braids.

So, what should you do if you really like a certain aspect of someone’s culture? Simple. Learn about it! Learn the meaning behind manifestation or yoga before doing it. Learn the history behind cornrows, and then you’ll also understand why you should not wear them. While things from different cultures may be trending, resist the urge to “cherry pick” from certain cultures, and get educated!

Citations: Phillips, Amerique, and Alexis Baker. Cultural Appropriation or Appreciation?: @TheU. 30 Oct. 2017, attheu.utah.edu/facultystaff/cultur al-appropriation-or-appreciation/.