Just a few of my aseasonal (for the Northern Hemisphere) cultural hats: Arsenal (adopted from husband), Switzerland (current denizen), Parisian beret (forever Francophile), Maine/Minnesota moose (extended family, university home & winter lover)
Hello readers,
We talk a lot about internationalism and intersections of cultures in this publication. Do you consider yourself to have a dominant culture? What cultures are you a part of? Have you always been?
This summer, I’m bringing you a Summer Travel series. It’s travel writing, yes, but also questioning or noticing the way we encounter culture as we travel. Sometimes a culture I know very little about feels in harmony with my inner being; other times completely perplexed or at odds. I don’t mean this in a negative way. Likely with more understanding and time spent, I would feel more in harmony, or maybe I wouldn’t and that’s ok. I can still appreciate its positive qualities that just aren’t me.
I’m interested in the ways culture can enhance one’s identity, perhaps allowing one to access their authenticity rather than necessarily performing (although this is possible, too). Living in other countries has made me greatly aware of this; there’s no way to keep from picking up other cultures as a part of yourself (not that I’d want to reject them anyway). My son is decidedly a ‘third culture kid’, which has many benefits but perhaps also difficulty later when thinking about home and identity. I know that some of you also live in places you didn’t grow up, immersed in different cultures. Additionally, there are of course many cultures at play within any place and many other ‘subcultures’ that often transcend place.
I’m interested this week if you think you borrow from other cultures and in what ways? Is this something you have picked up through travel, reading, friendships…? How is it not cultural appropriation (or is it)? When does it become harmful or inappropriate? I’ve included some examples and opinions below, including Kim Kardashian’s grill and wearing Kimonos in honor of Monet at Boston’s MFA. Last month, we went back to the 80s to look at Voguing in this context.
I welcome any related thoughts, questions, or links here!
The concept of cultural appropriation perplexes me. Engaging with other cultures is surely a good thing. We already have words for exploitation of other people and theft - exploitation and theft - so I think those will suffice. I have a friend who is of the Muslim faith and she once told me I would suit a salwar kameez, and that she would take me to a store in her local area to buy one. We never got around to it but clearly she would not have considered it cultural appropriation for me to wear an outfit pertaining to her culture. (Should have found the time - I love them!). I prefer to call it cultural appreciation. I love the hats, Kate. My favourite is the moose one. I can't say the Gunners one as my husband is a West Ham fan.
Haven't made it through all of the links yet but I did an internal facepalm when I thought Kim's "grill" meant she had splashed out $18k on an opal-encrusted bbq!! 🤦♂️🤦♂️😅
Enjoying reading the comments here. I like the term "cultural appreciation".
Part of the joy of travel is being immersed in other cultures. Never have I felt that so strongly as in Japan and it's always left me wondering what I would feel if I lived there as a non-native. Would I always feel like being in another world there?
Having lived in Aus since 2009, I do feel that sense of shifted identity. I've lost some of my connection to the UK whilst gaining a lot with Australia. Am I still British? Yes. Do I also feel Australian? Yes. Did my life shift to appreciating coffee and fine wine more and more and desiring a constant level of vitamin D induction? Yes. 😆
Unless someone lives under a rock or in a physically huge cultural milieu, it's difficult to live in our world today and not be affected by other cultures. Everywhere we look, the food available in our communities, fusion music, films, THE NEWS for pete's sake, is always blasting us with other cultures to the point where the term "mainstream" takes on an expanded meaning. As for appropriation, that's baloney. The concept is ludicrous and reminds me of a man who ran a Burlington store in old town Santa Fe. He sold lovely shawls, rugs, and other merchandise made at Burlington. He told us a wonderful story about when Burlington first entered the indigenous communities. The traders wanted to buy and sell Native arts, etc. When they showed the women the floral designs that Burlington made during that era, they had to have them. Up to that time, Native women wore the traditional abstract designs of their tribes. These brilliantly colored flowers on shawls stole their hearts and they bought them for their own use. Was that cultural appropriation?
You bring up a point I have been thinking about a lot: Home and Identity, especially for kids who grow up in a multicultural home/environment. A German/Indonesian child, growing up in France, with English as first language, where does that leave the "mother tongue"? Which one is it? German? Indonesian? English? French? Home after all is defined in part by language. Not speaking the language of one's "home country," does that lead to loss of identity? What does "country" mean?
Loved this. As a teacher I have children from different countries and cultures in my class and I try to let everyone explain a little about this (this might only be food etc). Children are always interested in how a culture, different to theirs looks which is always interesting as children widen their cultural horizons.
Great topic, Kate! As a person who is a third culture kid, raising a third culture kid, half-'black half' 'white', from a multi-lingual, multi-passport, multi-national family of origin and family I've created through marriage...the idea of cultural appropriation and the conversation around it generally makes my blood boil ;-D, particularly the American versions of the conversation which seems to be the origin of much of the conversation. Basically I wholeheartedly agree with John McWhorter's viewpoint - your second link - "Borrowing From Other Cultures Is Human Nature".
Yes, sometimes practices that have grown within one group of people are exploited in what feels like distasteful ways and sometimes this lays bare the different positions of power one "culture" has vs another. But being inspired from the world around us is what we do as humans - it is an expression of our common humanity. To say that one "culture" gets to hold the patent on a practice that has evolved over time and has no doubt been inspired by interaction with cultures over time...to me just increases a false boundary between groups of people. And the definition of who belongs to one "culture" and how one becomes part of a "culture" is nebulous and will be increasingly nebulous as more people mix and travel and move to new places.
Yes, certain groups of people have less power and rights and protection than others. But othering different groups of people makes the problem worse, not better. Borrowing from other "cultures" is how progress happens - we build on the good ideas we see around us, and that's how we move forward as a species. It seems to me that the fundamental assumption of cultural appropriation is based on otherness - that different groups of humans are different from each other in irrevocable ways, that those boundaries should remain, and that there are certain ways in which these groups should not mix. - From my humble but blood-boiled perspective, that assumption of otherness is repugnant and false.
Thanks for sharing all the links and bringing up the topic! 👍🏾
The concept of cultural appropriation perplexes me. Engaging with other cultures is surely a good thing. We already have words for exploitation of other people and theft - exploitation and theft - so I think those will suffice. I have a friend who is of the Muslim faith and she once told me I would suit a salwar kameez, and that she would take me to a store in her local area to buy one. We never got around to it but clearly she would not have considered it cultural appropriation for me to wear an outfit pertaining to her culture. (Should have found the time - I love them!). I prefer to call it cultural appreciation. I love the hats, Kate. My favourite is the moose one. I can't say the Gunners one as my husband is a West Ham fan.
Good read and thought provoking as always, Kate.
Haven't made it through all of the links yet but I did an internal facepalm when I thought Kim's "grill" meant she had splashed out $18k on an opal-encrusted bbq!! 🤦♂️🤦♂️😅
Enjoying reading the comments here. I like the term "cultural appreciation".
Part of the joy of travel is being immersed in other cultures. Never have I felt that so strongly as in Japan and it's always left me wondering what I would feel if I lived there as a non-native. Would I always feel like being in another world there?
Having lived in Aus since 2009, I do feel that sense of shifted identity. I've lost some of my connection to the UK whilst gaining a lot with Australia. Am I still British? Yes. Do I also feel Australian? Yes. Did my life shift to appreciating coffee and fine wine more and more and desiring a constant level of vitamin D induction? Yes. 😆
Unless someone lives under a rock or in a physically huge cultural milieu, it's difficult to live in our world today and not be affected by other cultures. Everywhere we look, the food available in our communities, fusion music, films, THE NEWS for pete's sake, is always blasting us with other cultures to the point where the term "mainstream" takes on an expanded meaning. As for appropriation, that's baloney. The concept is ludicrous and reminds me of a man who ran a Burlington store in old town Santa Fe. He sold lovely shawls, rugs, and other merchandise made at Burlington. He told us a wonderful story about when Burlington first entered the indigenous communities. The traders wanted to buy and sell Native arts, etc. When they showed the women the floral designs that Burlington made during that era, they had to have them. Up to that time, Native women wore the traditional abstract designs of their tribes. These brilliantly colored flowers on shawls stole their hearts and they bought them for their own use. Was that cultural appropriation?
You bring up a point I have been thinking about a lot: Home and Identity, especially for kids who grow up in a multicultural home/environment. A German/Indonesian child, growing up in France, with English as first language, where does that leave the "mother tongue"? Which one is it? German? Indonesian? English? French? Home after all is defined in part by language. Not speaking the language of one's "home country," does that lead to loss of identity? What does "country" mean?
Fantastic 💕👌🏽☺️
Loved this. As a teacher I have children from different countries and cultures in my class and I try to let everyone explain a little about this (this might only be food etc). Children are always interested in how a culture, different to theirs looks which is always interesting as children widen their cultural horizons.
Great topic, Kate! As a person who is a third culture kid, raising a third culture kid, half-'black half' 'white', from a multi-lingual, multi-passport, multi-national family of origin and family I've created through marriage...the idea of cultural appropriation and the conversation around it generally makes my blood boil ;-D, particularly the American versions of the conversation which seems to be the origin of much of the conversation. Basically I wholeheartedly agree with John McWhorter's viewpoint - your second link - "Borrowing From Other Cultures Is Human Nature".
Yes, sometimes practices that have grown within one group of people are exploited in what feels like distasteful ways and sometimes this lays bare the different positions of power one "culture" has vs another. But being inspired from the world around us is what we do as humans - it is an expression of our common humanity. To say that one "culture" gets to hold the patent on a practice that has evolved over time and has no doubt been inspired by interaction with cultures over time...to me just increases a false boundary between groups of people. And the definition of who belongs to one "culture" and how one becomes part of a "culture" is nebulous and will be increasingly nebulous as more people mix and travel and move to new places.
Yes, certain groups of people have less power and rights and protection than others. But othering different groups of people makes the problem worse, not better. Borrowing from other "cultures" is how progress happens - we build on the good ideas we see around us, and that's how we move forward as a species. It seems to me that the fundamental assumption of cultural appropriation is based on otherness - that different groups of humans are different from each other in irrevocable ways, that those boundaries should remain, and that there are certain ways in which these groups should not mix. - From my humble but blood-boiled perspective, that assumption of otherness is repugnant and false.
Thanks for sharing all the links and bringing up the topic! 👍🏾