That makes a lot of sense, and I'm glad you cleared that up (and so respectfully too!) I guess I've spent too much time on Tumblr listening to 'feminists' rant and rave about minute non-issues ;v; But yeah I definitely agree with what you said. I suppose a rephrase would be good. I believe that you should be able to participate in any culture so long as you're respectful of its origins, and not just making fun of it or something else discreditingIntempestivity wrote:I don't think anyone's saying don't take any part of a culture and share it. There's also a great difference between sharing food between cultures and taking something that's of intense significance to a culture and turning it in to something trite. To hark back to the LGBT Pride example--Pride week and the celebrations within the LGBT community are representative of that community standing up to centuries of discrimination, hate and violence. Of course they're happy to have allies partake in the festivities, but if someone is like "lol it's pride guys, let's wear rainbows and party" without actually recognising what it stands for, it becomes trite and a mockery. If someone in the LGBT community raised concerns that people should be educated about LGBT history and current hardships in order to fully understand the meaning of Pride, then the people who are partaking in the culture should listen to those concerns and ensure they're addressed.
Basically, what people, myself included, are saying is check with the group you're taking from first if they're happy to have you join in, and if so, do so respectfully. Don't simply assume that you have a right to someone else's culture, symbolism and belief systems, because you don't unless you are a part of that culture and belief systems. There's a respect and understanding that needs to happen Wanting to own a piece of someone else's culture because it's pretty or fun what have you and to have absolutely no understanding of what the symbolism/historical significance of it is is taking something important to a group of people--sometimes even sacred to them--and turning it in to a trinket. That's incredibly disrespectful, and that's what cultural appropriation actually is.
If you're partaking in someone else's culture with full knowledge of the importance of it and a respect for that aspect of their culture and what it represents to those people, that's not appropriation. People who respect other people's cultures don't use it for "a bit of fun", because they acknowledge that there's often historical and religious significance behind certain aspects of said culture, and they know that to use those aspects in a flippant manner is to be disrespectful of an entire group of people.
