Photo credit: Henna Decoration by Sarah/Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia
Groomsmen in turbans, women in saris, the happy gay couple in sherwanis. The stage was set for a vibrant, colourful civil partnership that looked straight out of a Bollywood movie. However, those featured in the photograph don’t appear to come from the culture the clothes represent.
In fact, on Tumblr, this alleged cultural mismatch was called out by one of my friends, accompanied by profanity, as a clear example of cultural appropriation. This call was responded to with a similar hot headedness from others, both agreeing and disagreeing with the view presented. What was most interesting to me, though, was that I wasn’t sure who my personal view aligned with, and if there was a right and wrong choice.
While intense arguments are commonplace online today, one thing Tumblr prides itself on is a hyper-awareness of social issues. Being an avid Tumblr user, I often turn to the platform to educate myself, reading first person accounts of societal problems, including cultural appropriation.
While I have always dreamed of my own wedding, fully embracing my South Asian heritage, I also dream of my white friends embracing the theme and dressing in shalwaarkameez and bindis. This approach is something that was encouraged on ‘International Day’ at my secondary school, so I really wanted to figure out where the line was drawn and why a cut-off point existed.
The heatedness around cultural appropriation began to make more sense with Khloe Kardashian being called out for her apparent adoption of a face veil, or niqab, for an Instagram photo. A Tumblr post of the photo with a definition of cultural appropriation gained 42,000 notes within the first three days.
Khloe wasn’t attending a themed event or converting to Islam, but the caption of ‘Habibi love’ points towards an Arab influence as opposed to other cultures which also adopt a veil.
Amandla Stenberg on cultural appropriation. Photo credit: Hype Hair Magazine / Via youtube.com
Luckily, I have never had any negativity directed towards me for the hijab I adopt. But I still recognised the author’s inclusion of clear examples of Muslim women being berated for covering up in a way, although Khloe Kardashian still received a zillion ‘likes’, as usual.
It quickly became apparent that cultural appropriation is not confined to clothes. Kylie Jenner’s Instagram cornrow incident, called out by 16 year old Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg, is one examle. Then there’s the side of appropriation linked to language and the use of vernaculars has also gained ground on Tumblr. Iggy Azalea’s use of African American slang during performances, despite being a white, Australian woman, is a common example given to illustrate what is not acceptable.
However, the counter argument for her case transcends cultures and has even found a voice from within the African American and Black British communities. Not only does the popular YouTuber known as the1janitor defend Azalea, he also blames Tumblr for feeling the need to do so.
As a student of linguistics, I was delighted to see a university talk by a gay, white friend of mine tackle the cultural appropriation of language with examples from Ru Paul’s Drag Race. He pointed me towards a popular article written for Time Magazine’s website in 2014 by Sierra Mannie.
In it she stated that it was aggravating to have white, gay men enjoying the “sweet” aspects of her African American culture “without ever having to taste its sour” because of the white privilege they continue to retain.
The examples offered seem to highlight an inherent authority that lies with the affected culture on what is deemed as appropriation. Unfortunately, an entire culture of people is not homogenous and views will vary.
I am still not sure what aspects of my culture I would deprive people of other cultures from accessing, but for appropriators, Mannie offers the rule of “check your privilege”. Therein possibly lies the answer.
Nylah Khan is Words of Colour Productions’ social media support.