I’m starting this thread because of a few different things.
Keffiyehs are considered a “symbol of Palestinian nationalism” according to this Wikipedia article, and the Western Hemisphere trend of wearing them as fashion accessories is sometimes seen as offensive to Jews due to Palestine’s aggression against Israel. Does it make sense to associate the keffiyeh with Palestinian nationalism regardless of who’s wearing it; like the swastika (though in a far less extreme manner) does intent not matter in this situation?
Christian items such as rosaries, cross/crucifix necklaces, and saints bracelets seem to be viewed as neutral jewelry items when worn by non-Christians, but I’m not sure whether Christians (especially Catholics, to whom these items have specific significance) are that comfortable with people casually wearing them as jewelry. Can any Christians chime in on how they feel about wearing these items as jewelry? Non-Christians, would you feel comfortable wearing any of these items?
Lastly – and I’m trying to ask this question without seeming shallow, but I suppose it’s shallow by nature – I love the way I look with a scarf tied around my head. Would wearing a shawl seem to be appropriating the hijab? What if (and I’m not saying I would) I wore a hijab as a fashion accessory – is this inherently offensive to Muslims?
Rosaries are not jewelry to Catholics. This is something that has been drilled into my head and those of the students at my schools since I was tiny. I’ve seen people wearing them as necklaces and while I’m not exactly offended, I have that “THAT IS WRONG” alarm go off in my head anytime I see it. I think it is supposed to be offensive to Catholics who are inclined to be offended by that sort of thing, though, judging by my mother’s reaction the one time I put one around my neck.
Cross necklaces and saint medals and such, I think are not as big a deal. They’re supposed to be jewelry and whether they have some meaning (either as an heirloom or as a symbol of faith) or don’t (as just a pretty bauble)… I’ve never seen anyone get offended over that, though I suppose someone probably does.
To me, there’s an element of majority vs. minority culture.
It’s harmless to appropriate an element of majority culture (crosses). And how does anyone know that you’ve appropriated it as opposed to wearing it because it is an element of your culture? (Either by heritage or by conversion).
It’s harmless to appropriate an element of culture that everyone will assume is appropriated. I’m not sure I’m phrasing that right, but I’m thinking of “Kiss me, I’m Irish” or eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s iffy to appropriate an element of culture that everyone assumes belongs to a specific group–Stars of David, etc.
On the other hand, I think it is worth pondering whether you will come into contact with people from the minority culture. The more likely you are to encounter someone who will find it offensive, the more objectionable it is to appropriate part of their culture.
But. . . it’s not like all people from a particular culture view certain symbols the same way. As a Christian, I’d be profoundly uncomfortable wearing a Star of David, but I bet there exist people who could wear them as a symbol of a visit to Israel without shame.
And my uncle the wood carver has made menorahs for Channukah, and I suspect he’d sell them to anyone who thinks they are cool. (Uncle is not Jewish).
I like hijabs too and fantasize about wearing one but I would feel silly. I think you could wear a shawl, a lot of cultures wear shawls. I suppose it depends on how you wrap it and the fabric or weave of it. (just fyi, there’s a bunch of ‘how to put on a hijab’ videos on youtube) I have heard that Indians (I’m not saying ALL Indians but I did hear this comment once) think it’s weird to wear henna outside of a wedding ceremony, it’s as if girls were walking around with say, a bridal veil on.
I like cultural ambiguity, makes life harder for the haters.
On one of the other message boards I spend time on, there was a discussion about keffiyehs, and a majority of the people who wore them had no idea what they meant. A small minority wore them in support of Palestine. People who didn’t wear it were split between “it looks tacky,” “I don’t want to be a trendy even though it’s comfy,” and “I don’t wear it because I don’t like the political implications.”
I don’t think you should worry about wearing a shawl or scarf wrapped around your head: Muslim women don’t have a monopoly on head coverings. Until recently hats and head coverings were standard accessories for the fashionable lady, so you can always say you’re being retro. Anecdotally, I wear my scarfs wrapped around my head all winter, and only once has someone openly mistaken me for Muslim- one of the other girls on my dorm floor saw me wearing a new scarf and newish clothes, and thought maybe I was a new floormate/international student. Several female friends of mine wear head coverings regularly, and most of those women are not Muslim.
If you wore the al-amira it would seem like appropriation. But if you had a scarf that happened to look like a shayla it wouldn’t be. The hijab is sort of the dividing point- if you kept it on all day, I might wonder, but if you were just wearing your scarf like that while outside, it would be fine.
Women in Western/Christian nations have been wearing scarves and shawls for centuries, and it wasn’t by appropriating anything from Muslims (whom most probably barely knew existed) or imitating a hijab (whom the overwhelming majority never saw or heard of). I would hope that Muslims would know better than to take offense at something that has nothing to do with their culture or religion.
Hm, one of my best friends is Indian and she likes to wear henna patterns on her hands for no particular reason. She’s decorated my hands, too, just for fun. OTOH, I’ve yet to see anyone here in India wearing henna designs.
I also like hijabs and when I’m wearing a shawl, I will sometimes wrap it around my head like a headscarf. I’ve had people comment negatively towards to - not like “that looks bad” but “Kyla! What are you DOING?” - but I like the way it looks, and, well, I just like covering my head. I often wear my hoods up when I’m wearing a sweatshirt, too.
I also used to have a pendant of a smiting angel (which I LOVED and foolishly lost) that I wore a lot. It was pretty obviously Orthodox iconography - I got it in Macedonia - and I am definitely not Orthodox. I HOPE no one took offense that I was wearing it.
I am a fallen-away Catholic and I still twitch whenever I see someone wearing a rosary as a necklace. You’d think it wouldn’t matter anymore but apparently it still bothers me.
Yeah, I don’t see why it would be a big deal to wear a scarf. Yes, nowadays in the West it’s mainly seen as something a muslim would wear, but historically, people all over have worn them. My grandma still uses her scarves when she goes out anytime other than summer (she’s Slovak).
That being said, while I don’t see why it’s a big deal, I know some people bizarrely make it one. I have some scarves that I wear on my head in winter when I want some warmth but don’t want to flatten my hair. Plus, I like the damn look. But people will crack jokes or ask me why I’m wearing it.
I’m a bit baffled why a non-Christian would want to wear a cross as jewelry. It’s a well-known symbol of the Christian religion (not to mention an implement of execution—when’s the last time you saw someone wearing a little silver guillotine or electric chair around their neck?).
Supposedly guillotine jewelry was popular for a time in revolutionary France.
I’m a non-Christian, emphatically so, but I’ve inherited several pieces of cross jewelry from dear family members. I resist the urge to wear them in memory, as I’m a capital-A Atheist, but I would certainly understand someone who wasn’t Christian doing so under similar circumstances.
There are a fair number of “cultural Christians” (celebrate the holidays but haven’t been to church in forever, more-or-less shrug when pressed on matters of faith) who wear cross jewelry 'cause it looks cool to them, not unlike goth kids wearing mismatched occult frippery just for the aura of “cool” it gives them.
I also knew an Atheist who identified strongly his Irish heritage. Celtic cross jewelry, for him, symbolized a culture he was very attached to even if he didn’t agree with the supernatural elements of it. I’ve known deliberately-lapsed Catholics who still wore Saint’s medals that had sentimental value despite being elements of a religion they chose to leave. I’m personally a huge fan of a certain Saint in art and his non-Catholic symbolic use, and would love to own jewelry symbolizing him, despite (again) being an Atheist and skeptic, but would not personally wear an obviously Catholic medal.
As a Jew, I certainly assume that anyone wearing a Star of David necklace is Jewish and would be very surprised to find out I was mistaken.
Anyone with a Star of David/Hebrew writing/other Jewish symbol tattoo, I would assume they were not Jewish and would be very surprised and a bit dismayed to find out they were.
I would be horribly uncomfortable wearing a cross/crucifix/saint’s medal or the like, even if it was for a costume. Irrational, perhaps, but it’s a visceral thing.
I always thought that rosaries were accessories that one drapes from their belt or wraps and hangs from the wrist. Jewelry with a purpose, but not a necklace.
I would like an Iron Cross pin, ring, or pendant. I’m neither a Nazi nor a Biker (nor Christian) just love the bold iconography, and think they look cool. Maybe it just makes me a bit of a Goth, since it has also been co-opted by the Goths to some degree.
The Iron Cross way predates the Third Reich. It still doesn’t have nearly as much baggage as the swastika, but still some. There are many more neutral variants on it.
One way to take power from “sacred” imagery is to incorporate it into mundane or decorative items. If you like the look of something, co-opt it. Who cares what people think?
After I posted yesterday, I remembered something. I’m in India for the summer, and I decided that it would be better to buy clothes here rather than bring over a bunch of stuff that might be weather and/or culturally inappropriate. So on my second weekend in country, three of my coworkers and I headed to the mall and I got four kurtas (that’s the store I got mine from, even). I’m wearing one now. And you know what? I like my kurtas. I think I want to keep wearing them, even when I get back to the US. But I am a little concerned that I will come off as some kind of…cultural appropriator/Orientalist.
