I want to preface this (probably extremely flameworthy) comment with the note that I am not talking about you, ckd, the individual, nor am I making any sort of a value judgment on any cultural borrowing/trading/whatnot.
(also, I am thinking out loud)
I seem to be coming to the conclusion that cultural appropriation consists of any time a dominant culture uses the culture of a minority culture. And I'm not going to say that "appropriation" is a neutral term, because it isn't. Obviously, there is lots of discussion in what counts as dominant and what counts as minority, and how much is using a culture and how long the minority culture remains a minority culture before assimilation and etc. And that I come to this definition because of assorted historical events that have current bearing on the social class and economic privileges (or lack of) that different ethnicities/races/cultures have.
And here's the part where it sucks: maybe no matter what you do, you may be culturally appropriating. But! What you do with it, the choices you make from it, that's open, and your intentions are your own. Unfortunately, that's probably not going to change what other people think, but you never know.
(man, I'm sorry, I hate putting you on the spot like this and I honestly do not mean it as a finger-wagging exercise because it's not like you chose to be any particular sex or race any more than I did)
For me, personally, cultural appropriation comes in when I geek out about Korean manhwa or wear Indian clothes (I'm not saying Chinese is dominant to Indian or Korean culture, but that because I spent a large portion of life in America, I have adopted the white paradigm in that respect). I worry about assimilation when I realize my Chinese gets worse every month, when I read manga, when I decided to focus on Japan instead of China in college. Unfortunately, what I do isn't going to change how other people think of me either.
And these issues, they're just not going to go away =(. And I'm not saying this as a "Look! Mine sucks more than yours!" but as a way of saying, anything that fights the current racial paradigm sucks rocks and that no one is free of difficult choices. Also, I want to say that the right choice is engagement, but I don't know if it is for you, and I am so far from the Stamp of Racial Approval figure that it's not funny. What I personally think is that thinking about these issues while appropriation goes on, questioning things, it's a good thing. (but then, see above re: Stamp of Racial Approval)
Sorry, this isn't just a response to you, but to many of the people who've been asking, "So what to do now that there's this damned if you do, damned if you don't thing?" And I guess what I keep wanting to say is, welcome to the life of the damned! I am here too, and even though it sucks to be here, I'm glad you're standing here with me and trying to talk about it.
Woe, I'm sorry, I hope that made some bit of sense?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Sat, Jun. 3rd, 2006 05:53 am (UTC)(also, I am thinking out loud)
I seem to be coming to the conclusion that cultural appropriation consists of any time a dominant culture uses the culture of a minority culture. And I'm not going to say that "appropriation" is a neutral term, because it isn't. Obviously, there is lots of discussion in what counts as dominant and what counts as minority, and how much is using a culture and how long the minority culture remains a minority culture before assimilation and etc. And that I come to this definition because of assorted historical events that have current bearing on the social class and economic privileges (or lack of) that different ethnicities/races/cultures have.
And here's the part where it sucks: maybe no matter what you do, you may be culturally appropriating. But! What you do with it, the choices you make from it, that's open, and your intentions are your own. Unfortunately, that's probably not going to change what other people think, but you never know.
(man, I'm sorry, I hate putting you on the spot like this and I honestly do not mean it as a finger-wagging exercise because it's not like you chose to be any particular sex or race any more than I did)
For me, personally, cultural appropriation comes in when I geek out about Korean manhwa or wear Indian clothes (I'm not saying Chinese is dominant to Indian or Korean culture, but that because I spent a large portion of life in America, I have adopted the white paradigm in that respect). I worry about assimilation when I realize my Chinese gets worse every month, when I read manga, when I decided to focus on Japan instead of China in college. Unfortunately, what I do isn't going to change how other people think of me either.
And these issues, they're just not going to go away =(. And I'm not saying this as a "Look! Mine sucks more than yours!" but as a way of saying, anything that fights the current racial paradigm sucks rocks and that no one is free of difficult choices. Also, I want to say that the right choice is engagement, but I don't know if it is for you, and I am so far from the Stamp of Racial Approval figure that it's not funny. What I personally think is that thinking about these issues while appropriation goes on, questioning things, it's a good thing. (but then, see above re: Stamp of Racial Approval)
Sorry, this isn't just a response to you, but to many of the people who've been asking, "So what to do now that there's this damned if you do, damned if you don't thing?" And I guess what I keep wanting to say is, welcome to the life of the damned! I am here too, and even though it sucks to be here, I'm glad you're standing here with me and trying to talk about it.
Woe, I'm sorry, I hope that made some bit of sense?