Cultural Appreciation vs Cultural Appropriation: Understanding The Difference and The Harm in Cultural Appropriation

Today’s blog post will focus on cultural appropriation.  Cultural appropriation is the act of one cultural group seizing control of the symbols, traditions, customs, concepts, or items of another cultural group (for a refresher on culture please go here).  Cultural appropriation should not be confused with cultural exchange or assimilation.  Cultural exchange is when cultures equally share elements of each others culture with the other in order to mutually learn and benefit from the exchange.  Cultural assimilation occurs when individuals from one culture either voluntarily or involuntarily (typically out of forced need) adopt the cultural elements of another culture.   Cultural appropriation is about the differences in power and control among different groups within a culture in which one group is the dominator or oppressor and the other group is the exploited or oppressed, leading to the trivialization of and loss of cultural identity of the exploited and oppressed group.

This description most likely sounds incredibly damaging (because it is) and scary (as it should be), but how does one identify cultural appropriation?  We have all most likely seen an element of another culture, found it appealing, and adopted it without meaning to cause harm or insult.  There are differences between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation.  One can identify cultural appropriation in many different ways.  The first way is by examining how specific cultural elements (e.g. symbols, traditions, customs, concepts, and items) are identified and labeled among various groups, particularly between majority (those with power) and minority (those with little to no power) groups.  When both groups practice the same cultural tradition or utilize the same cultural symbol but one is praised while the other is censured cultural appropriation is occurring.  For example, as Amandla Stenberg points out in her video about cultural appropriation of African American culture braids (aka cornrows or dreadlocks) are an integral part of African American identity as they are used to maintain the health and vitality of African American hair but are often identified and labeled very negatively among African Americans who style their hair that way.  Caucasian individuals, on the other hand, such as Kendall Jenner (Figure 1), are praised as being fashion forward for styling their hair in braids.  This difference in labeling the same act between groups, in this case African Americans (who are a minority group in the United States) and Caucasians (who are the majority group), is an example of cultural appropriation and not cultural appreciation.  One can also identify cultural appropriation in this scenario by the labeling of the hairstyles between Caucasians, who have braids, versus African Americans, who typically have dread locks, cornrows, etc.  These terms refer to the same hairstyle but bring forth different emotional responses and images.

Figure 1: Kendall Jenner being praised for "cornrow" fashion statement

Cultural appropriation can also be identified based on the harm caused to a minority group through the misrepresentation of a group’s culture.  Recent examples of this type of cultural appropriation occurred at the 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion show where model Karlie Kloss wore a Native American headdress with her bra and underwear ensemble (Figure 2) and in 2014 when Pharrell Williams wore a war bonnet on the cover of Elle Magazine (Figure 3).  These symbols of Native American culture were misappropriated in their use in the fashion show and magazine cover as they misrepresented the purpose of symbols.  These symbols are sacred to many Native Americans and represent the completion of specific rites of passage and represent specific earned statuses.  The true purposes and values of these Native American symbols were not taken into consideration when they were utilized in the fashion show and magazine cover, and Native Americans were justified in their criticisms of their misappropriated use.  More on this topic can be found In this video.

Figure 2: Karlie Kloss demonstrating cultural appropriation of Native American culture at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

Cultural appropriation also often leads to profiteering by members of the dominant groups who are the perpetuators of cultural appropriation and the continued exploitation of the oppressed groups.  This occurs when members of the dominant group utilize or take cultural elements from the oppressed groups and earn income from those cultural elements, while the exploited cultural group members do not receive the same if any profits either when they complete the same task or as royalties from the profiting dominant group members.  For example, among many Americans yoga is identified as a trendy fitness routine that also nurtures the mind and spirit.  Yoga has become quite the commercialized enterprise across the USA as a result.  What many people do not realize, however, is that yoga has a spiritual meaning and cultural connection among Indians (of India).  It was banned in the 18^th century by the colonial British government, and it was practiced as a means of rebellion against the colonial British rule and as a form of cultural pride by many Indian yogis thereafter, which is how it exists today despite efforts to abolish it.  For many the commercialization of yoga is seen as offensive, particularly as it now represents young, trendy, and white culture, not Indian culture, identity, and resilience and yoga’s original spiritual and cultural meanings have been lost.  White yoga instructors gain praise, popularity, and profits by claiming they were trained by traditional yogis either in or outside of India, but Indians who practice yoga themselves are not as valued as whites when they practice yoga and/or try to teach it to others, leading to monetary exploitation of an element of Indian culture.

Figure 3: Pharrell Williams & Cultural Appropriation of Native American Culture on the Elle Magazine Cover

Last but not least, cultural appropriation also continues and spreads racist stereotypes of cultural groups.  This is manifested primarily around Halloween when individuals are encouraged and in many ways expected to don costumes of identities that run counter to their daily or regular identity.  A popular Halloween costume is the “sexy Geisha” costume (Figure 4), which spreads ideas of Asian women being sexually provocative and available.  Many individuals who don this costume do not realize the harm they are causing Asian women who report that they are often sexually harassed by men who buy into this stereotype.  This is just one of many racist stereotypes that occur on Halloween, which has further negative effects on minority groups who report further discrimination and prejudice against them throughout the remaining 364 days of the year.  

Figure 4: One of many examples of a "sexy geisha" costume that is popular at Halloween

So how does one practice cultural appreciation and not cultural appropriation?  Should we not ever adopt elements of another culture so as to not offend or continue to oppress members of the minority groups?  No.  To say that is to take an extreme view point that does not solve the problem of cultural appropriation and instead directs attention away from the problem and toward reassuring majority groups who are-intentionally or unintentionally-practicing cultural appropriation.  What one can do, however, is learn about the culture(s) and the meanings associated with the cultural elements that one would like to utilize.  Upon learning about the cultural elements one can make an informed decision as to whether or not the cultural element should be adopted and how it would be most appropriate to do so.  If you meet a member of that culture and he or she takes offense to your adoption of that cultural element do not get defensive.  Instead, first apologize and if possible engage in a respectful dialogue about why he or she is offended and what specifically you may have done to offend them.  You may feel that your research into the cultural element you just adopted was thorough but it may not have been and it may not have been entirely accurate, particularly if you utilized improper sources.  Consider the situation a learning experience and act appropriately from the lesson(s) learned from that experience.  Expect to make mistakes (because no one is perfect) but be open to learning and changing as necessary.  There is nothing wrong with cultural appreciation, but that is because it is very different from cultural appropriation.

Learn more about being a solution rather than a problem here by following this example by Jessica Sanchez and her company.

Bibliography:

Johnson, M.  2015.  “What’s Wrong with Cultural Appropriation?  These 9 Answers Reveal Its Harm”  Everyday Feminism

 

Michaels, S.  2014.  “Pharrell Apologizes for Wearing Native American War Bonnet”  The Guardian

Miller, A.  2014.  “The Origins of Yoga: Part III”  All Things Yoga Blog

sMash, L.  2013.  “Yellow Fever: Dating as an Asian Woman”  Persephone

Stewart, D.  2012.  “Karlie Kloss as Half Naked ‘Indian’ and Other Absurdities from the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show”  Jezebel

Welsch, R. and L. Vivanco.  2015.  Cultural Anthropology: Asking Questions About Humanity.  Oxford University Press.