Cultural Appropriation

[Aegon]

EDIT: FUCK this website hates me. This is freaking out. Now the eighth page "does not exist" and it threw off my formatting...not to mention I've had to resubmit this five times for it to work.

What? Do you not understand what cultural appropriation is? It certainly exists. I disagree with those "SJWs" 99 percent of the time but cultural appropriation is a very real thing. At its core, the concept refers to perpetuating a cultural stereotype that is offensive to the members of that culture and is harmful to the overall image of the culture today. The idea gains steam every October, when white people decide to go out dressed in stereotypical American Indian garb or go so far as to wear blackface and wear stereotypical black gangsta clothing. Is that okay in your eyes? Another user mentioned that cultural appropriation is a joke. How is this a joke to you? Is it because you are far removed from the reality of it? How about if you're German or of German descent, and somebody came to your Halloween party in a Nazi outfit and said that they were dressed as a German. Is that not both offensive to Germans and harmful to the image that Germans (or at least the country of Germany and its culture) is trying to convey to the world today? Cultural appropriation isn't some far, far left concept that only Tumblr users get butthurt about. It's a very real thing.

Some other users in this thread are arguing that people can enjoy what they want. Yeah, they can. But at the expense of others. Fine, adopt the "they can get offended I don't give a fuck" attitude. But you also should admit that you're an asshole. If you can't see the examples I gave as the blatant racism that they are, then I have no reason to argue with you.

Another user mentioned that they play jazz and eat Italian food. That is not cultural appropriation. If this is the general understanding of the concept, no wonder you all seem completely against it even existing. We can debate the semantics, but you must realize that it exists.

They why do they need you to stand and take offense on their behalf? Isn't that belittling in and of it self? You know I have seen a few people speak against native Halloween costumes, but I don't recall any of those speaking being native? Is it cultural appropriation if I dress up as the pope? Why is it offensive that I enjoy aspects of other cultures? How do we determine what is and is not cultural appropriation?

Why should I have to be black to point out something racist against blacks (as an example)? As for the natives: white people will listen to other white people before they listen to minority groups. Mostly because a person wearing blackface probably knows it's offensive to a black person, but it would be other white people who would not only condone the blackface but possible approve of it and find humor in it. Having the people you look to "impress" say that it isn't okay would be the more powerful message in the end. But it's not like native peoples today are silent on the subject. Hell, this isn't even a recent thing. Well-known native scholars like Charles Eastman and Arthur C. Parker spoke on the issue and the idea that society needs to move away from the stereotypical image of American Indians as early as the beginning of the 20th century. And what do you mean "why is it offensive that I enjoy aspects of other cultures"? Are we still talking about the examples I used? Reread the post you quoted and tell me how you could construed that as a person innocently enjoying another culture. It's one thing to listen to jazz music made by black artists in the earlier part of the 20th century. It's another to dress up in a racist costume. Why do I have to explain that?

How do we determine what is and is not cultural appropriation? How is it different than any other offensive form of discrimination? Look at something you think might be cultural appropriation. Does it follow the definition of "perpetuating a cultural stereotype that is offensive to the members of that culture and is harmful to the overall image of the culture today"? Then congrats, you spotted it! It's no different than determining what is or is not racist. This is not a problem with the concept.