# Cultural appropriation gone humorously wrong. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 6, 2019, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809 "2019-09-06T18:13:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/81 "2019-09-11T16:10:49Z")
This probably doesn’t count: in, “A Christmas Story,” the family goes out to eat when the hillbilly neighbor dogs destroy their turkey. They go to a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant is in a defunct bowling alley. The neon sign out front has the “ **W** ” burnt out; it says **BO LING**. Is that the name of the owner? It was several years before I really caught on. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/82 "2019-09-12T17:05:34Z")
Does this go here? Not sure if it’s humorous. I have my doubts about this, although the doll is gorgeous. [ **Día de Muertos Barbie: Respectful Tribute, or ‘Obviously Cultural Appropriation’?** _The newly released doll, adorned with motifs associated with the Mexican holiday, has raised concerns about the watering down of a 3,000-year-old tradition._](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/us/dia-de-muertos-barbie-mattel.html?emc=rss&partner=rss) [Here she is.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/09/11/multimedia/11xp-barbie/11xp-barbie-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp) > [@](#): > > In Mexican culture, the Día de Muertos — or Day of the Dead — is when the gateway between the living and the dead is said to open, a holiday during which the living honor and pay respects to loved ones who have died. > > A new Día de Muertos Barbie, released on Thursday, was intended less as a portal into the realm of the dead and more as a gateway into Mexican culture. At least that is what Mattel is hoping for. > > “We often look at different ways to continue to engage girls and families to gain knowledge and celebrate other cultures and other parts of the world,” Michelle Chidoni, a spokeswoman for the company, said. “Our hope is for this Día de Muertos Barbie to honor the holiday for the millions that celebrate and to introduce people not familiar with the tradition to the rich meaning.” > > The doll, which will retail at $75, has a black mermaid-style dress decorated with monarch butterflies, marigolds and roses. Her face is adorned with Calavera Catrina makeup and her head is embellished with a crown of marigolds. > > Many have expressed worries about cultural appropriation and the use of a 3,000-year-old tradition for profit. > > “With ‘Coco’ and other movies, I think it has become very popular,” José Higuera López, deputy director of the Jamie Lucero Mexican Studies Institute at Lehman College in the Bronx, said of the holiday. “I think we have to be careful in the way that we portray our celebrations as Mexicans. It’s important that it is not a parody of the celebration, and more of a representation of Latinos.” > … Why not Pietà Barbie with a weeping, blue and white-draped Barbie holding the bloody loincloth-clad Ken across her lap? Or maybe a modestly crucified Barbie? I’m probably overreacting… ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/83 "2019-09-12T20:01:02Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Does this go here? Not sure if it’s humorous. I have my doubts about this, although the doll is gorgeous. > > [ **Día de Muertos Barbie: Respectful Tribute, or ‘Obviously Cultural Appropriation’?** > _The newly released doll, adorned with motifs associated with the Mexican holiday, has raised concerns about the watering down of a 3,000-year-old tradition._](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/11/us/dia-de-muertos-barbie-mattel.html?emc=rss&partner=rss) > > [Here she is.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/09/11/multimedia/11xp-barbie/11xp-barbie-superJumbo.jpg?quality=90&auto=webp) > > Why not Pietà Barbie with a weeping, blue and white-draped Barbie holding the bloody loincloth-clad Ken across her lap? Or maybe a modestly crucified Barbie? > > I’m probably overreacting… What’s humorous is the people complaining about this. First it was “Why does Barbie have to be White & blonde! Racist!” Now it’s “Why is Barbie celebrating a different culture? Cultural appropriation!” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/84 "2019-09-12T20:49:02Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I saw an “American restaurant” in Spain once. Some of the highlights of the menu, which was written in a delightfully random mixture of Spanish and English, included nachos, pasta carbonara, pasta arrabiata, quesadillas, teriyaki burgers, “daily Mediterranean salad,” crepes, and profiteroles. Sort of a Spanish-appropriation-of-American-appropriation-of-everyone-else, I guess? Supposedly the style of Americanized “Chinese” food you find any every Chinese restaurant in the US is becoming popular in China. Except over there it’s marketed as “American” food. > [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > A lightweight baseball cap, blue. Instead of a logo,company name or team name, it’s simply emblazoned with the word SPORTS. I once bought a pair of swim trunks at a touristy store in Costa Rica after my other pair got torn. They were emblazoned with the words “1952 SPORTS”. I have no idea what, if anything, was significant about the year 1952 in the world of sports. Actually your SPORTS had reminds me of a shirt The Onion used to sell in their online store. It read “The sports team from my area is superior to the sports team from your area.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/85 "2019-09-12T21:37:25Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > You can have my Americano when you pry it from my cold dead hands! The problem with an espresso is that there isn’t very much of it and it is so concentrated that it needs sugar to take the edge of[f]. My first employer\* told me that that’s why the Greeks invented baklava. \*As far as YOU know ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/86 "2019-09-12T21:43:09Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > While I was an American tourist in Italy, I saw a cheerful Asian-looking tourist wearing a T-shirt boldly emblazoned, “TEXT GOES HERE.” > [@Ludovic](#): > > A couple years ago there was someone repeatedly asking in a Facebook group if any of the bands who were members wanted to buy his shirt designs and he had examples: one was an amazing growling tiger on a black background but the sample text on it was “BAND NAME” and I wanted to ask if I could just buy a copy of that shirt as is, literally saying “BAND NAME”, because I could wear it ironically and the design was actually cool. You’ve probably been sniped on that by now… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2019, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/87 "2019-09-12T23:23:40Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > What’s humorous is the people complaining about this. First it was “Why does Barbie have to be White & blonde! Racist!” Now it’s “Why is Barbie celebrating a different culture? Cultural appropriation!” Hmmm… I guess you aren’t getting my point. Nothing to do with “different culture.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/88 "2019-09-13T00:05:32Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > Most ethnic restaurants can be a hoot, especially if they dress up in original ethnic clothing - or some version of it. One of my favorite Indian restaurants in Duesseldorf sometimes kitted out its waiters in what looked like Rajputi (west Indian) garb. For quite a while there was a Spanish waiter there … dressed up like a Rajputi. [_Le Palace_](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmtM_UsW7dCvhoS5xDH_a4vmg2XwGf2gHLx7r3RD7l7PH1_JtC), the most upscale strip club in Panama City, which is a few blocks from my house, outfits its doormen as Canadian Mounties. It’s certainly incongruous to see them standing next to the palm trees by the door. They evidently do it [in imitation of _Crazy Horse_](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-e8Oh7Gw_ULI/VUpBKXigTkI/AAAAAAAAQJQ/d2Y_29y6ZtA/s1600/Crazy_Horse_Paris%2B(3).JPG), the famous cabaret in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/89 "2019-09-13T01:47:36Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Something smacks of stereotyping rather than honest appreciation, like “hey, the Japanese wear kimonos, look at me, I’m wearing a kimono, now I’m like a Japanese person!” - when it could have easily been done right with a little interest in authenticity, but instead it is carelessly done wrong. Yeah, do you know who thinks that there is a “wrong” way for a Westerner to wear a kimono? (The answer: [not the Japanese](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/08/04/commentary/japan-commentary/kimono-cultural-appropriation/).) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/90 "2019-09-13T02:13:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Día de Muertos Barbie: Respectful Tribute, or ‘Obviously Cultural Appropriation’? > The newly released doll, adorned with motifs associated with the Mexican holiday, has raised concerns about the watering down of a 3,000-year-old tradition. I’m wondering where the idiotic “3,000-year-old tradition” comes from. I found [this article](https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/holidays/day-of-the-dead/2014/09/24/day-of-the-dead-history/16174911/) saying that it was started by the Aztecs 3,000 years ago (the Aztec’s known history [goes back around 800 years](https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/aztecs).) could that be the source the NYT used for the date, or is someone else claiming to know about North American cultural celebrations continuing unbroken for 3,000 years? Because to me that sound a lot more offensive than a Barbie doll. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/91 "2019-09-13T02:37:57Z")
Much of the discussion is about food viewed through the prism of another culture. But it reminded me how universities are becoming more politically correct. One example was when yoga classes were cancelled at the University of Ottawa because they were complaints that this was “cultural appropriation”. Seems more like cultural diffusion to me. You probably don’t want to get into academic discussions of Hallowe’en costumes. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2019, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809/92 "2019-09-14T22:28:38Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hmmm… I guess you aren’t getting my point. Nothing to do with “different culture.” Then if the problem is perceived commercialization, they should go shopping in New Mexico. Shops have been making money off Day of the Dead stuff for ages. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cultural-appropriation-gone-humorously-wrong/839809.md?page=4)