Cultural Appropriation -Good, Bad, or Neutral?

wwkirk

Divine
This has become a controversial topic in recent years. But I have difficulty viewing it as a legitimate problem, for the most part. In fact, I tend to see objecting to it as practically opposite to the direction the human race should be going. Here’s the lead from Wikipedia:

“Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures.”

Against this, I argue that throughout history, groups of human beings have been copying or adopting things that other groups of humans have done. This is one of the ways people learn and progress. Take writing for example. A number of peoples developed it, while others, recognizing it as a good thing, adopted it. The same goes for technological developments, such as the smelting of iron way back when, and the production of gunpowder somewhat later, and, a really big one, industrialization.

Okay, the preceding are not necessarily cases of dominant cultures copying from dominated ones. So, copying or adopting is only good in one direction? If the non-dominant culture has practices, arts, or techniques that are admired or seen to be beneficial by the dominant culture, they should decline to embrace or incorporate it? So, no non-black Jazz, Blues, or Rap musicians?

What about clothing and hairstyles, the examples that seem to draw the most media and social media attention? I don’t think it’s a good thing to insist that people only dress or groom themselves within their own culture.

The ability to appreciate and learn from other cultures, including copying, or more likely, adapting, good things from them, is one of the positive features of humanity in contrast to its many, many negative features!

I have a personal interest in this because while born and raised in America, my spiritual interests and orientation derives from India. I definitely wouldn’t consider anyone justified in criticizing me for that.

To me, the cultural appropriation taboo seems like a trend towards cultural apartheid.
 

HAL9000

Honorable
..What about clothing and hairstyles, the examples that seem to draw the most media and social media attention? I don’t think it’s a good thing to insist that people only dress or groom themselves within their own culture...

How about hard line Muslims who insist upon women dressing as they say, regardless of the host country norm ?
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Would it be considered cultural appropriation to use and speak with British or Scottish phrases while not being British or Scottish born?...Not talking about an accent but word usage...

As far as accents are concerned, I was born and raised in the South but I have no southern accent to speak of...That's due to my extensive traveling and influences of the regions I traveled to and lived in outside of the southern states in the US...

...
 

nivek

As Above So Below
 
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