Tuesday, 1 September 2020

Cultural Appropriation and Cultural Segregation


Can anyone tell me if the following are examples of cultural appropriation?

Chicken Tikka Masala.
The Hello Kitty video by Avril Lavigne.
Stuffed crust pizza’s.
People who appear not to be black wearing dreadlocks & Bantu knots.
The use of henna by those with no visible ancestry from the Arabian Peninsula, Indian subcontinent.
Near and Middle East, Carthage, other parts of North Africa or the Horn of Africa.
The Jai Ho music video by The Pussycat dolls.
Eating Haggis on Burns night if you have no Scottish heritage.
Wearing a Kimono if you have no Japanese heritage.
Eminem, Vanilla Ice, Iggy Azalea, UB40 & Madness.
The use of Tartan by those without significant Scottish ancestry.
The video for Romeo by Basement Jaxx.
Dressing as another ethnicity for a fancy dress party.
Drinking Guinness if you have no Irish heritage.
Someone with no South Asian heritage wearing a bindi (or anything like it).
Having an opinion on liking a dish if you are not from the ethnic group it is from.




I do think that trying to trademark certain names, such as Kimono is unacceptable.  Issues like Jamie Oliver using a name for food that has been inspired by dishes like paella are a grey area along with food inspired by a nation.  But he is not wrong to use such foods in the creation of new dishes.    

It may be best to prevent offence if we segregate different communities to prevent cultures mixing.  But that is what people like the BNP want, and I like how the society I live in has been, and continues to be influenced it’s multicultural history.

But, I would like to know what is and what is not cultural appropriation and I welcome comments about what people think on this matter.

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