This is most definitely a topic that I've seen on this forum (and other places) plenty of times, but it's a topic that I'm always going to retread because it's so complicated
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India has become a world power and is nowadays a major cultural exporter.
IMO the main concern when it comes to cultural misappropriation is whether or not voices of the original culture, especially voices of dissent, are being silenced in the process. Or, is a business owned by citizens of a colonialist nation profiting at the expense of the people whose culture is being misappropriated? Are the religious rites, texts, vestments or divine images being trivialized as decoration or entertainment?
I don't know that any of those are happening in a case like this. My caveat would be that it is always possible that someone of the upper class of a nation could be misappropriating some cultural aspect of her or his home nation's lower classes.
First, those are really beautiful pieces, in that show.
Secondly, I've thought a lot about cultural appropriation in fashion, and nothing in my experience says "don't do it!" is even possible. Somewhere along the way, some garment is going to mean something to another person that I won't be able to see, from my own experience, just as symbols that have significance and meaning to me are going to be interpreted differently by those with a different background. Inevitably, melding cultures will always bring some level of "appropriation", and the best we can do is consider it thoughtfully, take others' experiences into consideration, talk about it, be aware, and be ready to be made more aware.
One question I ask, personally, when considering pieces to make or wear, is whether or not a particular symbol or style is used to marginalize or torment another group--by wearing it while white, am I mocking (or merely overlooking) the suffering someone else has endured in the past or endures even now, donning the same item? That's my own
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I think that trying to avoid cultural appropriation taken to an extreme is just silly. Respecting a culture by imposing your values about respecting the culture when members of the culture want you to dress up and celebrate it? Um? What respect is this?
Yeah, it gets complicated quickly. Think about what you're doing. Listen to people. Try not to be an asshole. I don't know if it really gets better than that.
I find tend to really tie myself into mental knots over cultural appropriation. On the one hand I believe that familiarity with, acceptance of and enthusiasm for cultures outside my own is good thing, on the other hand I think it is bad to cherry pick aspects of another culture because I think they are pretty, or that I can twist their meaning to fill some perceived void in my own experience/culture.
In the end I mostly ask myself the question, "if I pay money for this thing who will receive that money?" with a complicated side order of "to what extent do I distort the market towards white/western tastes by paying for this thing." Those questions rule out buying, for instance, cookbooks on indian cookery that are written by white western authors for a white western market but beyond that it often involves having some kind of understanding of the extent to which something is important and the way in which it is important to most people in the culture.
Without falling into the "intent is magic" shenanigans, I want to try and mention that if it's done with appreciation and respect, that can go a long way in some folks books.
For example, there's a new hipster trend (especially white female hipsters) that involves wearing a war bonnet. This is problematic because they're extremely sacred and usually only worn by men. I won't say more than that, because I'm not native and it's not my place to speak on their behalf.
My points remains that the gorgeous clothes you linked to are amazing and I <3 them. I'd even wear most of them. But some things are just probably left alone for their specific cultures and people/s.
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IMO the main concern when it comes to cultural misappropriation is whether or not voices of the original culture, especially voices of dissent, are being silenced in the process. Or, is a business owned by citizens of a colonialist nation profiting at the expense of the people whose culture is being misappropriated? Are the religious rites, texts, vestments or divine images being trivialized as decoration or entertainment?
I don't know that any of those are happening in a case like this. My caveat would be that it is always possible that someone of the upper class of a nation could be misappropriating some cultural aspect of her or his home nation's lower classes.
(Edited to tighten up some of my wording.)
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Secondly, I've thought a lot about cultural appropriation in fashion, and nothing in my experience says "don't do it!" is even possible. Somewhere along the way, some garment is going to mean something to another person that I won't be able to see, from my own experience, just as symbols that have significance and meaning to me are going to be interpreted differently by those with a different background. Inevitably, melding cultures will always bring some level of "appropriation", and the best we can do is consider it thoughtfully, take others' experiences into consideration, talk about it, be aware, and be ready to be made more aware.
One question I ask, personally, when considering pieces to make or wear, is whether or not a particular symbol or style is used to marginalize or torment another group--by wearing it while white, am I mocking (or merely overlooking) the suffering someone else has endured in the past or endures even now, donning the same item? That's my own ( ... )
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Yeah, it gets complicated quickly. Think about what you're doing. Listen to people. Try not to be an asshole. I don't know if it really gets better than that.
Reply
In the end I mostly ask myself the question, "if I pay money for this thing who will receive that money?" with a complicated side order of "to what extent do I distort the market towards white/western tastes by paying for this thing." Those questions rule out buying, for instance, cookbooks on indian cookery that are written by white western authors for a white western market but beyond that it often involves having some kind of understanding of the extent to which something is important and the way in which it is important to most people in the culture.
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For example, there's a new hipster trend (especially white female hipsters) that involves wearing a war bonnet. This is problematic because they're extremely sacred and usually only worn by men. I won't say more than that, because I'm not native and it's not my place to speak on their behalf.
My points remains that the gorgeous clothes you linked to are amazing and I <3 them. I'd even wear most of them. But some things are just probably left alone for their specific cultures and people/s.
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