So I’m going to be in Edinburgh next winter, and I thought I’d buy myself a nice wool kilt while I was there. Would I offend anyone if I wore it around the house?
Haven’t read the last 100 or so posts, but something that came to my mind this morning:
To me, there is a big difference depending on who, why and how are they doing it.
An Ukraininan amateur folk-dance troupe coming to my little Spanish town, trying to reproduce our local dances from stills, and getting one of the moves very wrong? Not a problem, the theater laughed but we all understood where the mistake came from, and I understand some of the theater’s workers explained that move after the show was over. I’m sure that the same people would have been able to do it perfectly if they’d had access to video - because they actually cared. They actually tried their best with the means they had available, the “fail” was on the means and not on the intent.
A movie studio with more money than God? Someone who when someone points out “uh, actually, that move happened to be all wrong” responds “fuck you, I do it however I want”? No. Just no.
Why don’t you use the information given in this thread to figure that out? Cultural appropriation requires that
- A cultural aspect is used without permission.
- The culture has stated a desire for you not to use it.
Seems it doesn’t qualify on either one. If they are selling something, it clearly isn’t something they don’t expect people to use. And the sale itself is permission.
It’s not like these concepts are complicated. The lack of understanding starts to seem willful after a while.
How does ‘a culture’ state a desire? Cultures don’t have governments nor spokesmen to speak for them.
You said they “should not find it offensive.” That is you telling them to change their culture. That is you telling them that they are wrong. Are you now taking that back?
Yes, everyone has the legal right to be racist. But that’s just the 4chan argument. It’s literally their argument for why think they have a “right” to use the word “nigger.” I presume you believe racism is wrong. And the same exact principles that say that “nigger” is wrong say that appropriating cultures is wrong. They’ve told you that your use of the artifact is offensive, and that using it has a history of their culture being discriminated against.
There just is no consistent set of principles that makes one okay and the other not. If the result is “I don’t give a shit about how <insert minority here> feels,” it is some sort of bigotry. It is saying “My culture’s feelings are more important than yours.”
And, again, bringing up items that are not culturally appropriated do not prove your point. They only make it look like you are avoiding the topic. The American flag is sold as clothing by Americans. And I believe you are an American, and thus the flag belongs to you, meaning you can do what you want with it. Racism isn’t in play.
I mean, you even admitted that at least some cultural appropriation is bad. Why in the world would you pick the Indian headdress, which has been used in a racist way against Indians for centuries, as not being appropriated? That costume of yours is the same as little kids going around playing Cowboys and Injuns–that thing we stopped doing long ago.
Face it. There is no consistent moral system that says that all other forms of racism are wrong but cultural appropriation is okay. Just as you have no moral right to be racist, you have no moral right to culturally appropriate.
Not quite the same thing.
As noted above, a “culture” doesn’t have a mind, and can’t think. It’s the individual people who take offense…and who should not.
The problem with using the standard of “someone finds that offensive” is that, taken to it’s logical extreme, you eliminate nearly every form of free speech that can possibly be found offensive by anyone. That includes most forms of comedy, satire, debate or discourse. What you end up with is the overly PC environment of “safe zones” and “trigger words” being described in many college campuses.
I find that phrase offensive. 
Oh, of course, until you sound like a hypersensitive, pretentious jackass telling me that I can’t eat sushi unless I’m Japanese or do yoga unless I am Indian.
See how far down the rabbit hole of dumb-fuckery that logic goes?
Well that’s the end game isn’t it? Restrict and punish language in order to control thought. It’s left wing authoritarianism.
Please don’t start pinning all of this on the left. Most of us are seriously embarassed by this crap.
Your world where everything is black and white with no room for nuance must be a much easier one to live in.
Are we even talking about Disney selling tribal tattoos as kids dress up anymore? How many people have actually read the articles published by Maori on the topic?
What you are saying is as silly as me describing your position as longing for the good old days when a man could go enjoy a nice minstrel show and then going home to legally rape his wife.
Not everything in the world is all of nothing.
A world where everything is black and white and conservatives are misrepresented as troglodytes? Sounds like you are looking for the Elections forum.
…and please don’t go pinning that ridiculous video you posted as an example of anything other than 46 seconds of a stupid college staff member doing something stupid. Don’t pin that stuff on us.
I don’t think anyone is saying that. Calm down. We acknowledge that there are “troglodytes” on both sides, okay? I hate “trigger words” and “safe spaces”
I would agree only if the tattoos used are accurate. If Disney made them up and they only look genuine to the uninformed, there should be no problem. Same with military ribbons and medals. Its probably an affront to many who earned an honor, but if I make up something that looks like a medal but isn’t a true depiction of a real one, then I am not stealing valor.
There used to be a store in Los Angeles, “Warbaby’s,” that specialized in pseudo militaria. Medals that looked real, but weren’t. Ribbons and hats and uniforms. Fun place, but gone now. (At least I can’t find it on any internet searches.)
So do I have permission to tell any lone Plains Indian to get bent if he (/ she / ze) is offended by my Halloween costume? Or at least “get bent unless you can show me a survey / poll that shows that my Halloween costume offends 51+% of Plains Indians”?
…Women are minorities???