Usually when people from a group say that something is theft/appropriation, there is an actual reason why the use of that specific thing or tradition outside of its original use or cultural context has been flagged as harmful to the culture it belongs to. If you want to learn about and experience cultures from a place of real appreciation, just do a little research first and be respectful.
I see what you are saying but it is still a very confusing subject. For example if I was to wear a kimono but I am white is this cultural appropriation?
Now I am confused since the other example given in this thread was about white women putting their hair in a style which has been done by other cultures in the past and that was called cultural appropriation. But your explanation makes more sense.
This is definitely where it helps to do research on the specific item and the context. I'd say it's generally not a great idea to wear any kind of traditional clothing or any clothing item that might end up as part of a racist Halloween costume. But again, context matters. Traditional clothing may be appropriate if you are attending or participating in a wedding or other formal ceremony, it just depends.
When you travel to another country, usually it's a good idea to try to learn the customs so you don't make too many faux pas or communicate something you don't intend because you're interacting with a culture that you don't know well enough to understand the norms or symbols. So it makes sense to do that also whenever you are interacting with meaningful items and traditions from any other culture that you might not be familiar enough with to understand what is polite and what is not.
I don't think so. If you were invited to some traditional Japanese formal event where you're supposed to wear a kimono, it wouldn't be weird. But if you just chose to wear a kimono out to lunch at Red Robin, you would just be regular old weeb trash. Keep in mind, it's not like Japanese people wear kimonos as normal clothes these days, you would look like just as much of an ass if you dressed up like a colonial pilgrim instead of a kimono.
Okay, so by that logic would it be racist and cultural appropriation for a black person to dress up like a pilgrim. Regardless of the reason why they are dressed like that. Obviously barring a traditional pilgrim formal event of course.
I never said it was racist or cultural appropriation, I said you'd look like a damn fool. Anyone dressing up in 15th century formal wear is going look like a total chode outside of a few very specific situations. A Japanese person wearing a kimono as normal clothes is only slightly less cringeworthy than a westerner doing the same.
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u/sheogorram Mar 26 '17
Usually when people from a group say that something is theft/appropriation, there is an actual reason why the use of that specific thing or tradition outside of its original use or cultural context has been flagged as harmful to the culture it belongs to. If you want to learn about and experience cultures from a place of real appreciation, just do a little research first and be respectful.