Oh cultural appropriation; I thought I had seen the last of writing essays about you back in college. So excuse me if you're expecting to get a term paper type of an essay here. This is a little thing called an opinion blog post
.My informal definition of this two worded elephant in the room is the act of taking a piece of one's culture and recycling it (again, this is meant to be informal so please don't spread hate comments below based on my approach to it. Also, there is a lot more that goes into the conversation. I'm just trying to cover the basics).
You should pay attention to my use of the word recycle though. The action of recycling is referred to as ''converting something into reusable material'' (#Google). Soda cans are recyclable. Newspapers are recyclable. Culture is not recyclable.
''But recycling is good?"
Recycling is great! But by wearing a sombrero just because its a photo booth item at a ''Mexican themed party'' doesn't make it appropriate. Culture is not something you can use. Culture is not something you can buy. Culture is something in your heritage. Culture is something based off heritage. Culture is acquired as a member of a society but not meant to be the representation of said society. And the term of the word society is meant to emphasize that its just not a race conversation. Things like hip-hop also fall inside this conversation.
So let's look at what Marc Jacobs did recently.
Every model in his runway show had dreadlocks on top of their head. Most of them were white. Dreadlocks are most closely associated with black culture (most closely). What did the models do after the show? Take out their ''fashion accessory.'' What will the ETSY store he brought them from do now? Keep on selling them. Don't get me wrong. I do understand the belief that maybe Marc Jacob was ''celebrating'' said culture. But that's the thing! You can't take a piece of what someone is and make it into something that can be used again (aka recycling). The conversation isn't about not being able to wear a certain item or using certain terms. Its about understanding the history of them. Its about understanding the good and the bad people who have grown up around them or have been raised around them have experienced and realizing that its a part of them - a part of their history.
It's ok to want to learn about a different culture just like its okay to want to recycle. Both things are great and things we should do more of. But there's a clear difference between learning and taking ownership.
#itsnotrecycling