How cultural appropriation is a flawed term

Cultural appropriation has become an incredibly hot-button issue for many people, appearing on social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

One very popular introduction to the ongoing debate around cultural appropriation was the famous Twitter exchange, prompted by the tweet “my culture is NOT your prom dress,” where an Asian man, Jeremy Lam, criticized a white teen, Keziah Daum, for posting a photo of herself wearing a traditional Chinese dress, known as a cheongsam or qipao, to her prom.

This incident caused the teen to receive many online accusations of cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is seen as the act of taking or using things from a culture that are not your own, usually disregarding and/or disrespecting the culture of origin.

Cultural appropriation, as a term, has a few fatal flaws. And it is these flaws that can cause miscommunication or a kind of short-sightedness involving certain situations.

With this term there is a lack of acknowledging the individual. When accusing someone of cultural appropriation, the person assumes that the individual is acting disrespectfully towards a culture that is not their own.

The accuser is assuming that the “appropriator” doesn’t have any experience with the culture they are supposedly disrespecting.

No one takes into account the individual’s possible connection to or admiration for that specific culture.

In some cases, people simply borrow from other cultures out of respect and admiration for the culture. This was the case with Daum and her prom dress, shown from her own tweet about how “gorgeous” the dress was.

The United States is becoming more culturally diverse every day. This means that cultural traditions are mixing. And when these cultures mix, they will borrow from one another and make brand new things to experiences and enjoy. It is very much like a melting pot.

Eventually, these borrowed aspects from a culture can begin to integrate themselves so deeply into society that they become a part of a person’s individuality.

This integration is not instant and can take generations to fully be a key component to the culture.

In my view, cultural appropriation’s worst offense is that it is guilty of taking away opportunities to educate and grow closer with one another.

If we were able to breach these barriers, doors would open for us to ask questions and learn about why different cultures wear certain colors, jewelry, patterns, or clothing.

Thus by learning, we could appreciate those cultures and use certain aspects of them to teach others about different cultures.

With cultural appropriation constantly being claimed, this learning and growth becomes impossible.

If an individual tries to take part in a different culture, they are punished for it and this punishment usually manifests itself through online targeting.

They are seen as not belonging or lacking the right cultural background “credentials.” This excessive exclusion only acts as a catalyst to further perpetuate and augment the racial divide in the United States.

What is the solution? In my opinion, we need to stop assuming the worst in others and educate others about the culture they are taking part in.

We need to explain why the colors are the way they are or why certain jewelry is only worn on certain occasions.

Someone’s lack of knowledge on a foreign culture doesn’t justify public humiliation, but it does warrant a quick educational lesson and an opportunity to bond and share experiences about each other and each other’s backgrounds.