Cultural appropriation

The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation by James Young, is a detailed exposé of cultural appropriation through research and real life accounts all ranging from things like religion, to archaeological studies and everything in between. This book seemed fitting to my topic as it takes cultural appropriation one step farther, and discusses the ethics behind it from a number of different viewpoints. Each chapter in the book is a separate idea than the last, being discussed in detail, edited numerous times, and then finally added in the book. One of the more interesting chapters, titled “Genetic Research And Culture: Where does the offense lie?”, writes about the issue of using genetic material in research and how that may be considered cultural appropriation…

“In some Caribbean islands, braids were used as a way to escape slavery by forming intricate braid patterns that signified a map. These customs have been passed down to us which is why we take pride in the care of our hair and the art forms we can create through braiding." This quote shows the background of braids. They are not just used for style and appearance. Cultural appropriation is a concept dealing with the adoption of the elements of a minority culture by members of the dominant…

Not only does art and music become hindered when cultural appropriation is shunned, but so does personal expression. For instance, it is a human right in the United States to express oneself freely, whether that expression be of religion, language, or even as simple as hairstyles. In March of 2016, a video taken at San Francisco State University went viral when an African American student confronted a white student with dreadlocks, accusing him of cultural appropriation. The black girl, Bonita…

Dolce Gabbana are the critiques of cultural appropriation. Accusations of cultural appropriation are prevalent at almost every Fashion Week, Vogue, or…

Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another culture. For centuries, many groups of people are guilty of this act, especially the white race. Because the U.S population is made up of people from hundreds of different ethnicities and over 13.3 percent of immigrants, it is not surprised that cultures will rub off on you. Even making the culture greater. But wearing a culture and disrespecting a culture are two different things. For example,…

Racism and Cultural Appropriation are two recurrent themes throughout The Alchemist. Discrimination and prejudice of the Romani population, Antiziganism (Antizigansim), can easily be found just by looking at Santiago’s thoughts while being around the Roma. Cultural Appropriation, defined by the Oxford encyclopedia, is when a major race adopts or uses ideas that were originally from minority culture (“Cultural Appropriation”). The problem with using parts of minorities’ culture is that they are…

Cultural and traditions that people follow are being added to throughout many generations. There are many ways that people incorporate parts of other cultures in their own. Cultural appropriation is when the culture of one group of people is adopted by another, due to stereotypes of the culture. An example of this is in black culture when their “style” is taken by many white rappers. The article “Preforming Blackness,” by Mary Bucholtz and Qiuana Lopez, explains this example saying, “a new…

This is the overall concept of the cultural appropriation vs. cultural appreciation controversy. To begin with, cultural appropriation is the adoption of elements of a culture by members of a different culture (Estrada). Although this does not seem offensive, the implication in which this term has in political and social communities is that “cultural appropriation highlights the power [of] imbalance that remains between those in power and those who've been historically marginalized” (Estrada),…

According to the Cambridge dictionary, cultural appropriation is the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture. Andy Pratt’s “Cultural appropriation: theft or fair exchange?”published on April 10, 2017, in the Conversation shows that the multinational company Nike inappropriately designs the burkini a religious dress of Islamic religions as swimwear. Pratt explains that burkini is not simply a piece…

Cultural appropriation has been defined by Susan Scafidi as, “taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc.” In an article written by Brittany Enoghayin, she talks on the recent trend on African print clothing that has become conspicuous in prom attire.…