Explain to me why "cultural appropriation" is so bad

[kneehidude]

Cultural appropriation is stupid. Especially since most people don't even know what their background is. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be apart of a culture other than your own. It's when you start being a dick about it, that's when it becomes a problem.

[Techno-Druid]

So like when White people eat Ramen, or rap like Eminem? What about when black people eat pizza, or have sex with white women, or play basketball (invented by a white guy). Or how about when asians learn calculus, or physics, or become doctors (thank those lazy greeks for the last 2).

Math and science aren't really tied to any culture/ethnic group...that's like saying you invented shapes or lines...

[kneehidude]

While I admit people tend to get offended over everything these days, in a lot of cases it's justified. People get offended at cultural appropriation because in most cases you're reducing an entire way of life, culture, and often religious beliefs to a fashion statement, often based on stereotypes that are inaccurate at best and flat out offensive at worst. Dressing up as a native american with a big headdress and spouting gibberish is pretty much the equivalent of dressing up like the Pope and speaking fake latin. In both cases you're showing zero respect for people's beliefs and basically mocking them. If you need something more real life, look at the Irish reaction to a lot of American St. Patrick's day celebrations. I can tell you firsthand they're none too pleased at their country being reduced to a drunk leprechaun-obsessed caricature, especially with the number of "Irish carbombs" that get downed in the name of the holiday.

True. But there are people out there who get upset and cry "appropriation" when they see a white person with dreadlocks, or a white person enjoying rap music. Not being offensive or anything. Just enjoying something they saw somewhere and decided they would take it on. I see nothing wrong with that.

[May90]

Ah, all these Internet terms... I'm not catching up with them any more.

Saying that "cultural appropriation" is bad is like saying that "speech" is bad. Just because some kinds of speech are bad, doesn't mean speech in itself is bad. Just because some examples of cultural appropriation are bad, doesn't mean it is bad.

Example when it is good: you buying tacos in a nearby Mexican store.
Example when it is bad: you wearing native American outfit while walking on plains on which battlefield with thousands native Americans took place in the past, with a few native Americans walking on the same battlefield.

[madethisfor1post]

Know what's great? People of other cultures usually appreciate it when others take the time to learn about it and take part in traditions. And cultures change over time. No culture today is the same as it was 50 years ago or 100 years ago or 500 years ago.

[einaschern]

Ah, all these Internet terms... I'm not catching up with them any more.

Saying that "cultural appropriation" is bad is like saying that "speech" is bad. Just because some kinds of speech are bad, doesn't mean speech in itself is bad. Just because some examples of cultural appropriation are bad, doesn't mean it is bad.

Example when it is good: you buying tacos in a nearby Mexican store.
Example when it is bad: you wearing native American outfit while walking on plains on which battlefield with thousands native Americans took place in the past, with a few native Americans walking on the same battlefield.

Currently, according to the Social Justice, eating tacos is bad if you're not from a taco-creating culture.

[OperationFerret]

I think that one key aspect of cultural appropriation that people often forget in these kinds of discussions is how there has to be a power dynamic involved for actual appropriation to take place, in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.

That’s why cultural appropriation is not the same as cultural exchange, when people share mutually with each other – because cultural exchange lacks that systemic power dynamic. Marginalized groups don’t have the power to decide if they’d prefer to stick with their customs or try on the dominant culture’s traditions "just for fun".

When the last living survivors of massacred Indigenous tribes are fighting to save their language before it dies when they do, and Native students are suspended for speaking in their own Indigenous languages (mirroring the abusive US boarding schools that tried to wipe out Native American cultures up until the 1980s) it’s clear that not every person who speaks English does so by choice and it's understandable why they might not be too keen about exchanging customs and traditions.

In short, it's bad when the culture being appropriated has no say in the transaction.

[May90]

Currently, according to the Social Justice, eating tacos is bad if you're not from a taco-creating culture.

Literally no one has ever said that seriously... *sighs* This is why this kind of discussions is pointless: people just make a strawman contest out of something that could be an interesting conversation.

[Noxx79]

Literally no one has ever said that seriously... *sighs* This is why this kind of discussions is pointless: people just make a strawman contest out of something that could be an interesting conversation.

They may have fallen for this article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...095bd896a0076?

Which fooled a lot of gullible people who couldn't even read who wrote the article.

[Damajin]

On the surface it means to be yourself. Eagles be eagle and crows crows. Do not waste your time trying to be what you are not. Accept who you are and be proud of it.
The actual use of Eagle and Crow can be interpreted to mean something about their nature as well. We think of Eagles as majestic and proud. They are at the top of the Avian hierarchy. Crows are near the bottom, feasting on the sorrows of others (scavenging corpses). Why would a majestic able creature like the eagle wish to learn to feast on sorrow like the crow does?

If you are good, continue to be so, and do not waste your worrying about those who are negative, and view life through such a lens. You are not bettered by catering to the lowest common denominator.

Returning the comment you made earlier, wish we could upvote. Perfect explanation, really great.

[BannedForViews]

Math and science aren't really tied to any culture/ethnic group...that's like saying you invented shapes or lines...

Actually this isn't false. Newton/Liebniz "invented" calculus. The Greeks "invented" Geometry, Medicine, Physics. The purpose of cultural appropriation is taking something that isn't yours and using it for your own benefit. The civil engineering of the Romans has benefited the world over. Jerk chicken also tastes pretty damn good.

[einaschern]

Literally no one has ever said that seriously... *sighs* This is why this kind of discussions is pointless: people just make a strawman contest out of something that could be an interesting conversation.

"literally no one"
"strawman"

You're culturally appropriating the English language incorrectly.


http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/11/...appropriation/
https://spoonuniversity.com/news/why...-is-offensive/
http://people.com/food/lena-dunham-o...appropriation/
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/...-cultures-food

[The One Percent]

It's not bad, and humans have been doing it since culture was a thing. People who treat it as though it is negative are ignorant dumbasses who don't understand how culture works. They deserve to be ridiculed and their ideas attacked every time they attempt to bring it up.

[Techno-Druid]

Actually this isn't false. Newton/Liebniz "invented" calculus. The Greeks "invented" Geometry, Medicine, Physics.

You mean they discovered it

[BannedForViews]

You mean they discovered it

That is why I put invented in quotations. Try to keep up. Did you "invent" ramen, or did you "discover" it. These semantic games are so banal.

[Coombs]

Some people need purpose in their life. A cause to rally behind and fight for. A place to put all of their focus and energy. When someone's life is as good as it can get, cultural appropriation is the mysticism that they create because the days of actually having something to fight for are long gone. Unless they want to start battling the actual slavery, sex trafficking, and other abhorrent situations in the world, they can shut the fuck up.

[Deleted]

The Eagle never lost so much time as when it submitted to learn of the Crow.

And what about the coyote finding its prey under a fullmoon in a hot midsummer evening? Have you ever considered that fate?

[BannedForViews]

And what about the coyote finding its prey under a fullmoon in a hot midsummer evening? Have you ever considered that fate?

You really are just about whoring your post count huh.

[Deleted]

You really are just about whoring your post count huh.

Why don't you... you know... mind your fucking business

[Techno-Druid]

That is why I put invented in quotations. Try to keep up. Did you "invent" ramen, or did you "discover" it. These semantic games are so banal.

Except mathematics is supposedly a universal concept, ramen is not.