"Cultural Appropriation"

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm just saying that the use of two different understandings of the term makes the discussion that much more difficult. I think it's okay to simply address the OP's conception on its own terms (which in my mind is not appropriation at all). It's not that your points are wrong so far as I see, but rather that they address the issue of cultural genocide more aptly than appropriation -- after all, exterminating the natives here in America to the 90th percentile is much more serious than dressing up like them, it seems to me.

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@Thump and Khemical

Let me say that for me, the term cultural appropriation is pretty new.  I've only ever really heard the words used over the past year or so in the context I was complaining about.  It seems to be one of those pop-culture terms that just take off suddenly, and whatever it meant when nobody was really using it that much doesn't matter.

It seems to me that the term is a battleground word-- i.e. that people are pushing to redefine it to strengthen their own positions.  Type "cultural appropriation" into Youtube, for example, and you'll get a huge range of uses, rants, and moderate discussion.  Interestingly, the division does NOT seem to be along race.  There seem to be as many black posters who think crying about cultural appropriation is dumb as white people.

The term has been in play in America here for a few years -- I remember reading about it three or four years ago.

You're probably right in saying that it's a battleground term wherein each side is struggling to frame the issue definitionally.

I can say that as a middle-aged white man with a pretty tough background, I haven't taken anything from anyone, and I don't associate enough with any aspect of Canadian or American culture to feel guilty about what has happened before me.  However, I recognize the problem in all of us just shaking the dust off our hands and saying "That was in the past, and we're a whole new generation of people now, living whole new lives."  But the truth is that there are a million issues, and the top of the list for me is feeding the kids and relaxing after work.

I love absorbing stuff from other cultures. I'm a musician. I'm a white American musician. Loves me some heavy metal, but it just ain't enough to soothe the savage beast, dig? So I play blues and jazz, and infiltrate some Middle Eastern and Indian music in there, take a swipe at flamenco every so often, and work to import stuff like koto and shamisen approaches into my playing. And to all the Spaniards, Arabs, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indians, and black Americans who might be bothered by my personal melting pot, I can only say, "Take a listen and I hope you like it."

I know that whenever anyone else, wherever they live and whatever culture is their base -- I'll give it a listen and go with how it works musically, without worrying about "they're stealin' mah myoosik!" Because it never was mine to begin with. It was created by my culture, and given to the world, too -- just like theirs.

And I guess that's why the idea of cultural appropriation bugs me ... it seems like a great way to slow down human interchanges, to stifle communication -- when that's what we need more of.

There's a beauty in this that would not be exposed by American musical sensibilities. I'm glad she appropriated it:





I do wish she'd lose the little ice-cream bowl on her head, though.

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Another example of cultural cross-pollination that commands my appreciation -- Vishna Mohwan Bhatt is playing Indian classical music, with a slide made for blues, on an arch-top kinda-guitar custom-built based on designs made to play American jazz. I'm thinking the music is more important than the guitar, or the player: