The real problem with cultural appropriation
And it’s not that we’re selfish
After the long bejewelled nails, the slim-thick body, the “clean girl” aesthetic and now the “brownie glazed lips[1]”, a new wave of cultural fighters has risen. Some advocates of black[2] culture are now saying that culture is meant to be shared and is owned by everyone. There is nothing wrong with someone wearing this or that.
I won’t turn around the pot, as I have previously explained in The Difference between Race and Culture. Culture is meant to be shared, that is how it stays alive. However, it does not belong to everyone; only those who make it.
I will repeat it. Culture is meant to be shared, that is how it stays alive. However, it does not belong to everyone.
Now, I will make a comparison. My wedding and the joys of it are meant to be shared, that is part of the fun, it does not make it your wedding. Period.
I assume that I do not have to justify the premise of why culture is meant to be shared, but I will because you never know. In a nutshell: culture lives and exists through people, living and breathing persons, if there are no people, it dies. To keep existing, you have to keep it alive by “adding” birthing or enrolling “new members”.[3]
The second premise is more arduous. Culture does not belong to everyone. Culture cannot belong to everyone, especially black culture, since it has been used as a way to diminish, separate and humiliate people of colour. Culture has first been a way to destroy us, where you burn books, you burn men. Then as a way to segregate us, through appropriateness, they banned hairstyles and jewellery, making it impossible to work in certain places or hold certain positions. Finally, culture is now used to profit from us. You need to ask yourself if something were really to be yours, would you harm or insult it?
The premises are clear, yet it might not be explicit as to why the conclusion would be as extreme as not wearing this or that. In fact, the conclusion has nothing to do with the trends themselves, the problem is that it has become a trend. The safety response of a population, who has been made fun of because of it, becomes the choice of someone else.
How come on you it’s trendy and on me ghetto?
If you want the style allow me to offer the burdens.
Still, many wish it were not so. At the end of the day, we talk make-up, hair and clothes. If you like it, you should be able to wear it. And I understand but what you might see as cute might be sacred, what you see as sexy might get me assaulted, and what is natural get chemically altered.
Culture is meant to be shared. You can learn, respect, acknowledge, and I promise you that anything done with respect will not be blamed, more so if you are invited. But then again, even that is not possible, bygone is reconnaissance, dismissed is recognition, forgotten are names. And that is why there is “gatekeeping” happening. We are not selfish, we are hurt.
PS: I think it’s just crazy having to debate with people when a few years ago I would not have been able to drink from the same coffee machine. But sure Karen, I can share.
[1] For those who don’t know “the brownie glazed” lip started as a way to have lip products with a more accurate/nude tint than what was on the market. Back then there were not even lip liners that dark so people were using eye pencils.
[2] By black, I mean people of colour.
[3] Sorry if it sounds really sect-like, but it really be like that.
