Off Topic Cultural Appropriation

[Warmir Pouchov]

Basically what are your thoughts on this? It came to my attention because my partner mentioned something about a lass out of Little Mix getting abuse on line because she wore dreadlocks, which in the abusers mind, was cultural appropriation.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...ultural-appropriation-pop-music-a8219911.html

I looked into this a little more and it is actually quite common place. Now granted I'm not an avid follower of mainstream music, celebrities or what is going on in their lives, so maybe this is how I've missed this. I also saw this video of a lad in America who had dreads being confronted by an african american lass.

http://www.independent.co.uk/studen...e-of-his-dreadlocks-in-cultural-a6959181.html

What the **** has the world come to, we are now trying to actively segregate?

I have read the counter arguments too but none of them stack up. "No no this is about protecting the heritage of your culture"; "You wouldn't understand because you're white and the dominant party in the dynamic"

Sorry but this whole thing to me is bullshit. In my day these were called Culture Vultures and nobody of any race gave a ****. I get how it can be deemed racist/offensive to dress up like someone from another race stereotypically to mock or mimic that race. I don't get cultural appropriation at all, I think its something created by morons. Since the beginning of time man has borrowed or stolen from other cultures for either benefit or enhancement. When I was younger and rap was getting big, you'd get young lads who got into it and would dress like their favourite rap stars. Sometimes with hilarious consequences. They weren't doing it to mock that culture though, they just didn't have a clue how to pull it off. This would now be deemed cultural appropriation under what seems to be the current trend.

Can someone give a better explanation of what this is? Am I missing something?

 

[KazakhToon]

I'd say any white person with dreadlocks should be ashamed of themselves, purely for looking like a dickhead.

 

[Warmir Pouchov]

I'd say any white person with dreadlocks should be ashamed of themselves, purely for looking like a dickhead.

This is true in the main. But then the vikings had dreadlocks. They probably managed to rock it fairly well.

My young daughter often gets braids when she is abroad. The racist little bugger.

 

[KazakhToon]

I can kind of see where they are coming from, but it does seem to be overly touchy at a time where there's genuine injustice and violence against ethnic minorities. If anything it's a distraction. It's like taking issue with Elvis for appropriating black music in the 50s, when actually the issue was that black Americans couldn't vote, couldn't go to school or college, got redlined out of affluent neighbourhoods, and got lynched on a fairly regular basis. Elvis isn't the problem with this picture!

 

[RobEllious]

Nope it's absolute bollocks and part of this stupid era where prejudice just has a nice face on it.
Now you just accuse others of racism whilst ignoring the fact you're basically saying "only blacks are allowed this haircut"

 

[Mowgli311080]

It's beyond a joke now. Can we claim it if we see a black guy in a nice three piece suit? Cant recall seeing many of those in history books about Africa.

 

[Judge Death]

and only seems to work one way....

Current production of Amadeus at the National Theatre

You must log in or register to see images

Role of Salieri is played by Lucian Msamati (the guy in the poster above) and I'm pretty damn sure that Antonio Salieri was a white Italian - cultural appropriation???

Personally, I couldn't care less, but imagine the outcry if it was decided to get a white male actor to play the part of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela etc

 

[Mowgli311080]

and only seems to work one way....

Current production of Amadeus at the National Theatre

You must log in or register to see images

Role of Salieri is played by Lucian Msamati (the guy in the poster above) and I'm pretty damn sure that Antonio Salieri was a white Italian - cultural appropriation???

Personally, I couldn't care less, but imagine the outcry if it was decided to get a white male actor to play the part of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela etc

There would be some of the worst rioting in the last decade. Most people are pretty cool about it, you only hear from the ones that shout loudest and longest unfortunately.

 

[KazakhToon]

Most of what we call British culture today is originally 'appropriated' from somewhere else. Yes it does have its roots in empire, gunboat diplomacy and the slave trade, but we've internalised it so much that it's as much ours as it is anyone else's. Often when someone borrows a style or a type of music from another culture it's in an attempt to individualise your own style and set yourself apart from the people around you, and if enough people do that it gets internalised.

I don't see it as a problem any more than someone from Singapore 'appropriating' 'my' language and doing what they want with it. If I was African I'd have more of an problem with European nations and companies extracting oil and minerals from my homeland at a fraction of their market value, and bribing local police to act as their private security forces.

 

[haslam]

and only seems to work one way....

Current production of Amadeus at the National Theatre

You must log in or register to see images

Role of Salieri is played by Lucian Msamati (the guy in the poster above) and I'm pretty damn sure that Antonio Salieri was a white Italian - cultural appropriation???

Personally, I couldn't care less, but imagine the outcry if it was decided to get a white male actor to play the part of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela etc

Or Othello? Sir Patrick Stewart played the part ot 'the Moor' recently and Sir Lawrence Olivier 'blacked up' for the film of it in the 60's. The older and less mainstream the character the less it matters really but yes if you had a black man playing Tony Blair or a white man playing Obama it would probably get commented on a touch!

 

[Warmir Pouchov]

I think the people who believe this is a thing would say that its not cultural appropriation if a black person adopts something from say white british culture, as they are not the dominant party in the dynamic.

It all sounds like an excuse to be racist to me

It appears this all stems from this "white guilt" white people are meant to feel because our ancestors did what they did. Frankly I don't any ****ing guilt about it at all, I'm responsible for my own actions only. Perhaps that of my children by extension of my parental responsibilities. I would certainly say its unfortunate and disappointing that my ancestors behaved as they did, but I'll be ****ed if I'm carrying the can for them.

What about the ancestors of other areas of the world, like the Ottomans or Genghis Khan - those chaps had some fairly racist behaviours in their past. How far do we go with all this?

If somebody wants to dress and adopt the mannerisms of another culture, I say they are entitled to. If they end up looking like a ****wit for doing so, then that is their cross to bear.

 

[QWOP]

If a black woman straightens her hair is that cultural appropriation too?

 

[Warmir Pouchov]

Maybe the only people who would be all for this though would be the british national front. Afterall they are obsessed with British culture not being any further altered by the adoption and mixing of other cultures. So this seemingly racist notion is probably right up their street.

The more I read on it the more I am bewildered by it to be honest. A mutual exchange of cultures is ok. i.e. its ok if we say you can adopt it, but we want certain things out of reach. Maybe I'm not quite grasping this right.

 

[Blacker-than-Knight]

Just a load of bollocks for the professionally offended and safe spacers.

 

[Judge Death]

Just a load of bollocks for the professionally offended and safe spacers.

^^^^^ This

 

[G4rdToonArmy]

I'd say any white person with dreadlocks should be ashamed of themselves, purely for looking like a dickhead.

I loved my dreads and were a big part of my life when I was younger, being a bit different made me happy and I made a lot of life long friends who I probably wouldn't have made if I hadn't had my dreads so why should anyone else care?

Tbh I'd lynch ANYONE moaning about ANYONE else's life choices be it a hair cut, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed etc etc.

 

[Freddd]

I think I am the screaming lefty touchy-feely bitch of this board, but this is bollocks. Would a West African woman be guilty of cultural appropriation by wearing dreads, given that they are a black carribean creation ? Or is "black" now a culture ?. Can a South Asian safely make sushi, study karate, watch anime or is he appropriating Japanese culture ? Who get's to listen to rock ? To jazz ? The blues ? MOBO ?

Rationally, complete crap.

Emotionally, entirely understandable. Remember how pissed off you were when you found your parents listening to and liking "your" music when you were a teenager ? Its value was immediately diminished when it was not something shared by just you and your mates but was also liked by the people you were trying to rebel against. It would be kind of cool if there was something only Toon fans did, punching horses for example. If all the top 6 clubs suddenly started punching horses too, you'd be narked. I totally get the emotional response but as a ideology it is terminally stupid.

 

[Warmir Pouchov]

I think I am the screaming lefty touchy-feely bitch of this board, but this is bollocks. Would a West African woman be guilty of cultural appropriation by wearing dreads, given that they are a black carribean creation ? Or is "black" now a culture ?. Can a South Asian safely make sushi, study karate, watch anime or is he appropriating Japanese culture ? Who get's to listen to rock ? To jazz ? The blues ? MOBO ?

Rationally, complete crap.

Emotionally, entirely understandable. Remember how pissed off you were when you found your parents listening to and liking "your" music when you were a teenager ? Its value was immediately diminished when it was not something shared by just you and your mates but was also liked by the people you were trying to rebel against. It would be kind of cool if there was something only Toon fans did, punching horses for example. If all the top 6 clubs suddenly started punching horses too, you'd be narked. I totally get the emotional response but as a ideology it is terminally stupid.

Well that is that thread trashed. If Freddd is not down with this movement, its doomed anyway.

 

[KazakhToon]

I loved my dreads and were a big part of my life when I was younger, being a bit different made me happy and I made a lot of life long friends who I probably wouldn't have made if I hadn't had my dreads so why should anyone else care?

Tbh I'd lynch ANYONE moaning about ANYONE else's life choices be it a hair cut, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed etc etc.

Yeah it was kind of tongue in cheek

 

[Lord Jonjomort]

****ing people. Everything that’s wrong in the world starts with the feckless ****ers who live in it.

Who gives a ****ing toss about some bints hair?!?!? Holy ****. It’s hair. ****ing hair. It’s not a symbol of culture, it’s a symbol of how **** and unmanageable her hair is that she got it plaited.

Cultural appropriation. Who makes this **** up? Honestly, these uber liberal cretins should be packed off to an island somewhere. They can take ****ing fbook and Twitter with them.