I have personally taken part in Cultural appropriation. Have you?
From wearing Henna on my hands to tight braids in my hair. My friends have also taken part in Cultural appropriation, from getting symbols in other languages tattooed on themselves to wearing a bindi to festival. We all think it's just a fashion trend and move on, but it's not it's a part of someone's culture, they have been brought up with.
I can never
decide if it is right or wrong.
I love
finding out other peoples views on the subject. I have asked people from
different ethnic background what their views are it is surprising what other
people think. Some people think that is completely expectable within reason,
for example a tattoo of a Buddha may be offensive to Buddhists. I had
never thought about any of this before doing this project. We completely take
it all for granted.
When wearing a
garment that is on trend we need to think where did this concept come from,
does it have history, is it disrespectful to wear it? From speaking to people
from different culture backgrounds they do believe that it is nice to have
people getting involved in other peoples cultures and wanting to learn more
about them. It just depends how far they take it and if they are respectable,
it would not be right to dress as a Muslim if you are not supporting the religion.
It is so open and everyone has a different opinion that is why it is so
difficult to find the line that people cross to make it offensive.
We all idolise
celebrities from the likes of Kylie Jenner to Rita Ora who have both taken part
in cultural appropriation and not batted an eye lid. I may be defensive when
writing this blog post but I have learnt a lot and will take into consideration
what I wear before I wear it.
The big
question is where do you draw the line??
I could go on
forever about what I think is right and what I think is wrong and then
contradict myself a few weeks later.
Here is a link
to a you tube video by Amanda Stenburg, telling us her views on cultural
appropriation.
Link to YouTube Video for more information from Amanda Stenburg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1KJRRSB_XA
