In high school I took various social studies classes that harped on cultural appropriation and it’s effects on our perspective of other cultures/countries. But like almost anything else in India, cultural appropriation is a complex topic that requires analyzing a lot of confusing stuff and, honestly, leaves me wondering if this really matters.
Cultural appropriation is hard to pinpoint and assign a clear definition to. It can typically be applied to a situation where a dominant culture takes a practice, fashion, tradition, etc. of another, typically a minority, culture and applies it within the norms of the dominant society. The more official definition is, "taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission.” Basically I like to think of cultural appropriation as the process of taking a very specific fragment of a culture and bringing it out of context to be assimilated into another, more dominant, culture or cultural exploitation.
Recently Coldplay and Beyonce released a music video together for their song, “Hymn For The Weekend” which was filmed in India. This was pretty amusing for me and my Indian classmates to watch in the common room of our boarding house. I have embedded the music video below, and before you read any further please stop and at least watch for a few seconds so you can better understand what I’m talking about.
Cultural appropriation is hard to pinpoint and assign a clear definition to. It can typically be applied to a situation where a dominant culture takes a practice, fashion, tradition, etc. of another, typically a minority, culture and applies it within the norms of the dominant society. The more official definition is, "taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission.” Basically I like to think of cultural appropriation as the process of taking a very specific fragment of a culture and bringing it out of context to be assimilated into another, more dominant, culture or cultural exploitation.
Recently Coldplay and Beyonce released a music video together for their song, “Hymn For The Weekend” which was filmed in India. This was pretty amusing for me and my Indian classmates to watch in the common room of our boarding house. I have embedded the music video below, and before you read any further please stop and at least watch for a few seconds so you can better understand what I’m talking about.
So in this video we have the band playing with the colors India is famous for from it’s Holi festival, Beyonce wearing a sari, several gurus/rishies profiled, and Chris Martin singing in front of a colorful temple and in a Bombay taxi. Let me say, from my experience and the experience other exchange students all over India, none of us have ever seen anything like what was portrayed in this music video. Those wonderful, fun colors are not brought out except for Holi festival, in March, to celebrate the coming of spring. Many women of lower class wear saris everyday but none as revealing as Beyonce’s Indian attire that was manipulated to fit the provocative fashion of the West. A traditional sari does show a woman’s stomach, but if you look at real a Indian woman they wrap the fabric in a way that covers their stomach (and sometimes even their head!) only revealing a small portion of their back. Indian fashion is very conservative, I can’t even leave Daly College campus in shorts or a sleeveless shirt, so Beyonce might want to rethink her outfit choice. Don’t get me wrong I love Queen B, but I do think she should’ve rethought this particular video considering the song had absolutely nothing to do with India. Chris Martin wrote this song with inspiration from a Flo Rida song after setting his sights on making Hymn for The Weekend a club hit, so again I see no connection to India or it’s culture in the lyrics or the band’s sound.
This is not the first time a high profile celebrity has used cultural appropriation in their career. Iggy Azalea, an Australian rapper, also released a video remarkably similar to the Hymn for The Weekend for her song “Bounce”, again nothing to do with Indian culture and honestly an uncomfortable pairing of visuals and lyrics. A song about “shaking it and making it bounce” in the backdrop of a conservative country makes me feel a little uneasy. Iggy is filmed dancing at one point in a white sari which is pretty funny because only widowed women wear white in India. I’m guessing she didn’t do her homework on that one.
This is not the first time a high profile celebrity has used cultural appropriation in their career. Iggy Azalea, an Australian rapper, also released a video remarkably similar to the Hymn for The Weekend for her song “Bounce”, again nothing to do with Indian culture and honestly an uncomfortable pairing of visuals and lyrics. A song about “shaking it and making it bounce” in the backdrop of a conservative country makes me feel a little uneasy. Iggy is filmed dancing at one point in a white sari which is pretty funny because only widowed women wear white in India. I’m guessing she didn’t do her homework on that one.
MØ, Major Lazer, and DJ Snake joined the India fad in 2015 making Lean On the most streamed song on Spotify in 2015. I can attest that Indians love Lean On just as much as they love any of their favorite Bollywood songs. I have seen way more hand and hip thrusting in the past 7 months than I had ever hoped to see in my life. The funny part about this whole obsession with this song/music video is that like all the previous videos I mentioned it shows only specific, heavily modified aspects of Indian culture and Indians enjoy this video for the foreign aspects it presents. MØ is not wearing traditional dress and not doing traditional dance moves (trust me no one moves their hips like that). I don't think Indians look at this video and think to themselves, Wow, what a wonderful and accurate depiction of India and the Desi culture! If anything this goes to show that people 7,000 miles away from us are more like us than ever, interested in something foreign and magical.
Vanessa Hudgens along with thousands of others in the fashion industry of the Coachella season of 2014 are also right along side Iggy, MØ, Beyonce, and Coldplay when the bindi joined the list of cultural symbols torn away from its context. Bindis were traditionally a religious symbol in Hinduism that marked wisdom and spiritual development that then moved to signify the marriage of a woman, but are now worn as a part of Indian fashion with various sizes, shapes, and rhinestones. Although the bindi’s meaning has changed and continues to evolve within Hindu culture itself, I don’t necessarily think that makes it okay for it to be pulled out of it’s environment and sold for the masses at Topshop and Claire’s without appreciation or at least some basic knowledge of its origin. This is a piece from an article written by Isha Aran from her article on jezebel.com that I really like and I think helps put cultural appropriation into a more understandable and relatable issue.
“While I can certainly recognize the celebration of a cultural symbol, this is the exact fine line that separates appreciation and appropriation. The issue that so many people have with the recent bindi summer festival trend is that it doesn't take from Hindu culture on Hindu culture's terms. It takes from Hindu culture on American terms and negates the Hindu aspect through ignorance and exoticism of an "alluring foreign culture." Bindi trend-sporters aren't celebrating a cultural symbol. They're celebrating themselves and the thought-of-it-first appeal of disposable fashion.”
India is a pretty good hotspot for this type of work. Tourists return from their adventures wearing poorly wrapped saris, tinkling bangles on their wrists, and a sense that “India is like no other place on the planet”. It’s a country that’s portrayed as mysterious and a land of never ending celebration with religious enlightenment. I mean absolutely there are truths to these stereotypes but no. India is a country with the world’s largest growing population. It should not be a mystery to anyone. Indians sure like to party but festival season is only 4-5 months out of the year and their festivals are spread out within that time period. Yes, there are a lot of things to learn about religion here but there’s no magical path to enlightenment here more than there is right where you are sitting. Ultimately, cultural appropriation is what pop culture does while walking on thin ice with cultural appreciation.
Recognizing the difference between negatively impacting or representing a culture and artfully and appropriately recognizing it is what separates cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. This fine line we walk between appropriation and appreciation is often criticized and picked apart by the press and those looking for a political correctness fight. This type of scandal we often see in the news in the US with Black culture, something maybe a little more identifiable. Slang terms such as “nigga”, “rachet”, “weave”, “twerk”, and “trill” have exploded in our society and this “obsession" with Black culture has joined the world of foggy boundaries between appreciation and appropriation.
In 2014 when Taylor Swift released “Shake it off” Earl Sweatshirt openly criticized her for culturally appropriating black culture with the insane amounts of twerking and exaggerated Black fashion in her video.
“While I can certainly recognize the celebration of a cultural symbol, this is the exact fine line that separates appreciation and appropriation. The issue that so many people have with the recent bindi summer festival trend is that it doesn't take from Hindu culture on Hindu culture's terms. It takes from Hindu culture on American terms and negates the Hindu aspect through ignorance and exoticism of an "alluring foreign culture." Bindi trend-sporters aren't celebrating a cultural symbol. They're celebrating themselves and the thought-of-it-first appeal of disposable fashion.”
India is a pretty good hotspot for this type of work. Tourists return from their adventures wearing poorly wrapped saris, tinkling bangles on their wrists, and a sense that “India is like no other place on the planet”. It’s a country that’s portrayed as mysterious and a land of never ending celebration with religious enlightenment. I mean absolutely there are truths to these stereotypes but no. India is a country with the world’s largest growing population. It should not be a mystery to anyone. Indians sure like to party but festival season is only 4-5 months out of the year and their festivals are spread out within that time period. Yes, there are a lot of things to learn about religion here but there’s no magical path to enlightenment here more than there is right where you are sitting. Ultimately, cultural appropriation is what pop culture does while walking on thin ice with cultural appreciation.
Recognizing the difference between negatively impacting or representing a culture and artfully and appropriately recognizing it is what separates cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. This fine line we walk between appropriation and appreciation is often criticized and picked apart by the press and those looking for a political correctness fight. This type of scandal we often see in the news in the US with Black culture, something maybe a little more identifiable. Slang terms such as “nigga”, “rachet”, “weave”, “twerk”, and “trill” have exploded in our society and this “obsession" with Black culture has joined the world of foggy boundaries between appreciation and appropriation.
In 2014 when Taylor Swift released “Shake it off” Earl Sweatshirt openly criticized her for culturally appropriating black culture with the insane amounts of twerking and exaggerated Black fashion in her video.
If you want to rewind 3 years ago and remember the release of Miley Cyrus’s music video for “We Can’t Stop” with several party scenes with lots of clips of her and her black friends twerking we see a similar foreground for an argument of appropriation.
Videos like these which seem to be admiring Black culture in reality both are promoting the idea of having Black friends as an accessory, which they are portrayed as in the videos, and using Black culture as a disposable fashion statement (similar to the bindi fad in 2014). Miley Cyrus was quoted saying that she wanted her “We Can’t Stop” music video to “feel black” and Taylor Swift’s video is, as said best by Earl Sweatshirt on Twitter, “perpetuating Black stereotypes to the same demographic of white girls who hide prejudice by proclaiming their love of the culture”.
Videos like these which seem to be admiring Black culture in reality both are promoting the idea of having Black friends as an accessory, which they are portrayed as in the videos, and using Black culture as a disposable fashion statement (similar to the bindi fad in 2014). Miley Cyrus was quoted saying that she wanted her “We Can’t Stop” music video to “feel black” and Taylor Swift’s video is, as said best by Earl Sweatshirt on Twitter, “perpetuating Black stereotypes to the same demographic of white girls who hide prejudice by proclaiming their love of the culture”.
The issues with cultural appropriation is not new news in the US. Appropriation of Black culture dates back to the 1920s-30s when white artists such as Bix Beiderbeck ripped off Black artists by appropriating their African-American musical styles. The Native American Indians have had the longest relationship of appropriation with an NFL team named the Washington Redskins and the ever so popular feather headdress (yes wearing an feather headdress and dressing up as an Native American Indian is absolutely cultural appropriation, if you want some more shocking facts about why and how read this article about Edward Curtis, the photographer who gave most Americans a false image of Native Americans). Cultural appropriation is everywhere and our society has been appropriating and stereotyping cultures all over the world for decades, at least we aren't playing favorites.
America: the salad bowl, the melting pot. Taking from a culture and mixing it with another culture isn’t always an Entertainment Tonight scandal but can, and more than not does, have positive results the most prevalent being my wonderful country, The United States of America. In fear of cultural appropriation should artists only be permitted to express themselves within the limits of their cultural identity and past? No, dabbling in a different culture and history other than your own is incredible and offers much needed perspective. Hello that’s why I’m here on the other side of the world, living in India, writing a blog right now. Adopting new things from different cultures is what brings success and prosperity into the world. We shouldn’t remain stuck in grid lock in fear of offending someone else. That attitude only encourages segregation and exclusivism. Mixing and matching new ideas and old practices can be great but there is a fine line that all need to be aware of. Before trying something new from a culture one is unfamiliar with (which is probably why that individual was attracted to it in the first place) one needs to do their research and make sure they are implying they are a widow or a warrior in a sacred culture somewhere far away. Because even if that culture you are borrowing from is far away you live in a twenty first century world where nothing is confined to a community, to a country, to you.
In all the articles I have read about this issue few have asked actual Indians how they feel about cultural appropriation of the Desi culture, and honestly it’s shocking but not in a way you would think. No one is up in a fuss over here about any music video ever it’s actually pretty comical when you compare it to how sensitive everyone is being in the US. When I first came everyone loved when I wore saris and wore traditional dresses. They loved when I went to temple, my host family even joked about converting me to Hinduism so I could practice when I returned home. Indians, at least the ones I have interacted with, don’t get up in arms about this they just seem delighted that you are expressing interest in their culture and they have someone to share it with. I plan to wear my kurtis and rock my nose piercing, but only because I’ve done my research about both of those things and I know the culture from which I am borrowing from is happy that I’m taking interest in their fashion and concept of beauty.
America: the salad bowl, the melting pot. Taking from a culture and mixing it with another culture isn’t always an Entertainment Tonight scandal but can, and more than not does, have positive results the most prevalent being my wonderful country, The United States of America. In fear of cultural appropriation should artists only be permitted to express themselves within the limits of their cultural identity and past? No, dabbling in a different culture and history other than your own is incredible and offers much needed perspective. Hello that’s why I’m here on the other side of the world, living in India, writing a blog right now. Adopting new things from different cultures is what brings success and prosperity into the world. We shouldn’t remain stuck in grid lock in fear of offending someone else. That attitude only encourages segregation and exclusivism. Mixing and matching new ideas and old practices can be great but there is a fine line that all need to be aware of. Before trying something new from a culture one is unfamiliar with (which is probably why that individual was attracted to it in the first place) one needs to do their research and make sure they are implying they are a widow or a warrior in a sacred culture somewhere far away. Because even if that culture you are borrowing from is far away you live in a twenty first century world where nothing is confined to a community, to a country, to you.
In all the articles I have read about this issue few have asked actual Indians how they feel about cultural appropriation of the Desi culture, and honestly it’s shocking but not in a way you would think. No one is up in a fuss over here about any music video ever it’s actually pretty comical when you compare it to how sensitive everyone is being in the US. When I first came everyone loved when I wore saris and wore traditional dresses. They loved when I went to temple, my host family even joked about converting me to Hinduism so I could practice when I returned home. Indians, at least the ones I have interacted with, don’t get up in arms about this they just seem delighted that you are expressing interest in their culture and they have someone to share it with. I plan to wear my kurtis and rock my nose piercing, but only because I’ve done my research about both of those things and I know the culture from which I am borrowing from is happy that I’m taking interest in their fashion and concept of beauty.