Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA / AFP via Getty Images
(CNN Spanish) -
In recent years, several artists and
influencers
have been accused of cultural appropriation, and although the term has a very clear definition, the line between appropriation and appreciation sometimes seems to be very narrow.
Whether with a Barbie alluding to the Day of the Dead or tourists dressed in kimonos in Japan, the debate between the tribute and the disrespectful use of traditions is often present in various cultural and economic manifestations of a globalized world.
A case that is commonly referred to as cultural appropriation is the use of garments originating from a country other than one's own, such as typical Mexican costumes, Chinese qipaos or Japanese geisha clothing.
And while for some the idea of a tourist dressing in regional garments is cultural appropriation, many others see it as a way of sharing their culture.
"Context is the key to thinking about appropriation allegations," says Erich Hatala Matthes, professor of cultural ethics at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
Matthes says that the most important thing for visitors to culture is to listen: "Try to be respectful to those who have cultural knowledge and experience, and listen to what they tell you about how to wear clothes or how to act respectfully within that context. ".
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However, when we talk about a very narrow line between cultural appropriation and appreciation, we can mention countless cases.
For example, the Mexican government recently accused fashion brands Zara, Antropologie and Patowl for "making use" of designs created by the country's indigenous populations.
The Mexican Ministry of Culture said it was acting in order to "prevent plagiarism ... by national and transnational companies" and added that it was "protecting the rights of indigenous peoples that have historically been neglected."
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In an emailed statement to CNN, Zara's parent company, Inditex, said it had "the utmost respect" for "the Secretariat (of Culture) and the communities of Mexico," but added that "the design in question in no form intentionally borrowed or influenced by the art of the Mixtec people of Mexico. "
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This event is just one example of a series of similar incidents, such as the controversial launch of Kendall Jenner's 818 tequila, Rihanna's "offensive" use of a pendant depicting the Hindu god Ganesha or the "callous" launch of a $ 790 turban from Gucci.
These events have a similar pattern: someone borrows something, becomes the target of criticism online, and in most cases, offers an apology and a promise to do better.
However, where is the line drawn between appropriation and appreciation?
Next we try to solve it.
Appropriation or appreciation
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, cultural appropriation is "the act of taking or using things from a culture other than your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture."
So the adoption —often unacknowledged or inappropriate— of the ideas, practices, customs and indicators of cultural identity belonging to one group by members of another group who have greater privilege or power is known as cultural appropriation, he said. University of Kansas Sociology Professor Kelly H. Chong told CNN via email.
"The dominant group's cultural influencers legitimize it as a cool-style 'trend,' and in the process exoticize and eroticize it," Chong added.
For her part, Nancy Wang Yuen, a sociologist and author who writes about race and representation, explained to CNN that when a culture is inspired by another culture it is one thing, "but if they claim to improve and disrespect the original culture, or if there's an air of superiority over the original content, so that becomes appropriation. "
However, Yuen points out that this is most damaging when there is a difference in power between the appropriators and the group from which they are borrowing, as a dominant group "denigrates" the minority culture while benefiting from it or misrepresenting it.
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A very notorious case at the beginning of 2021 was that of The Mahjong Line company.
Founded by three white Dallas women, The Mahjong Line released a modern "respectful update" on the Chinese-sourced board game: mahjong.
Following its launch, social media users, including the Asian-American community, accused the founders of cultural appropriation, disrespectful language, and ignorance of the cultural meaning of the game.
While the company was quick to apologize that its "intention is to inspire and engage a new generation of American mahjong players, we acknowledge our failure to pay adequate tribute to the game's Chinese heritage."
However, the company did not stop production and continued to sell its products.
"We stand behind our products and are proud to be one of many different companies offering a wide range of mosaics and accessories for the American mahjong game," said co-founder Kate LaGere in a statement to CNN.
"With that said, we take full responsibility that, in our quest to introduce new mosaics, we inadvertently recreated an experience shared by many Asian Americans of cultural erasure and are working to correct this error."
Controversial trends
The complexity linked to cultural appropriation is not in its definition, but in its layers, since it can be applied in various spheres of life, such as clothing, food, makeup, speech and even skin tone.
An example is the makeup trend that went viral in 2020, the so-called "fox eyes", a term that could be translated as "fox eyes".
This trend was accompanied by tutorials and photographs on social networks showing how using makeup and tactics such as the "migraine posture" –– using one or two hands to raise the eyes from the temples in order to exaggerate the result–– to achieve emulation the elongated, "almond-shaped" eyes of celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Megan Fox.
However, this stance is very similar to the action that was used to demean the Asian community in the past.
In an Instagram post by Dear Asian Youth, a California-based organization that encourages Asian activism, titled "The Problem with the #FoxEye Trend," the organization wrote: "The fact is: our eyes just became a trend when the whites decided it would be a good fit for their aesthetic. "
The organization indicated that although the trend may not have originated with bad intentions "it appropriates our eyes and ignores past racism."
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Along the same lines, there is
blackfishing,
which although it is not the same as cultural appropriation, they are terms that are interconnected, since you cannot have one without the other, according to journalist Wanna Thompson told CNN.
"
Blackfishing
is when white public figures, influencers, and the like do everything in their power to appear black," Thompson explained, while critics have described it as a form of
blackface
(an expression used to refer to when someone he paints his face black to look like someone of another race, something considered offensive), saying that this creates a dangerous paradox as it celebrates black beauty and aesthetics, but only when it is highlighted by whites.
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"Instead of appreciating black culture from the outside, there is a need to own it, to inadvertently participate in the full experience of blackness and the systemic discrimination that goes with it," Thompson said.
Feminist writer and speaker Jones has described cultural appropriation as when people with power and privilege take customs and traditions for which oppressed people have long been marginalized and reuse them as hot new.
"People have no respect for black culture; they think it is available, and they will take it and participate in it and exploit it because it has been commodified," Thompson said.
Rebecca Cairns, Faith Karimi, Alicia Lee, Amir Vera, Megan C. Hills, and Jessie Yeung contributed to this report.