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DefinitelyNotALeak t1_ja51tid wrote

Reply to comment by Typical_Humanoid in The movie “A Nightmare before Christmas” is about cultural appropriation by newtoIT-

Sure, but not every instance is the same. If there is some white girl wanting to wear a kimono because she thinks it is beautiful, where is the harm? I don't really see it.
If there is some white celebrity who thinks they really should wear cornrows for their hip hop music video, then it becomes a little more interesting.
I tend to think in general there needs to be real harm being done, now the problem ofc arises when we think that someone being offended is already enough, which i generally do not agree with (i think it can be a good reason, but mostly when it correlates with other harm).
In any case, i think this is a highly nuanced topic and a lot depends on the specific case imo, which doesn't really seem to be the general opinion on it though, it feels more dogmatic than that and supposes some form of 'ownership' i just cannot agree with.

Sorry for this tangent, it was just one small part of your comment haha.

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Typical_Humanoid t1_ja534ba wrote

I appreciate that first bit because I very much fall into that camp lol, but I never would because I don't want to step on any toes. Even if I don't think anyone's saying I can't, I just would fold in on myself nevertheless if it hurt someone in ways people borrowing something from my culture would never hurt me.

I think making it black and white is just easier because making exceptions for this and that means deciding what is or isn't okay will take over people's lives more than it already does when it's already pretty black and white as it is. Like the cornrows example may be more egregious because the tensions that exist across those communities are more extant than anything between white girls and Japanese girls lol (We've buried the hatchet since WWII I think it's safe to say), but isn't it just easier to say, just avoid as much as you possibly can? I think most feel it is on both sides, even if one side remains in longing to still adopt neat parts of other cultures secretly.

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DefinitelyNotALeak t1_ja54vrq wrote

That wasn't on purpose :D I mean, i think having personal doubt there is totally fine, though imo it speaks to the current climate mostly, i am just wondering if it should be like it is i guess.

Black and white is always easier, but i am not a fan of binary thinking or dogmatism, i think nuance is ultimately a lot more healthy. Power differences, unequality, all the things we'd ideally would not like to have in our world are important to keep in mind, but i also think we overcorrect a little much here and there at times, and for something like cultural ideas i find that to be the case too. The difference between appropriation and appreciation (these are the two ideas broadly speaking right) can be rather slim, and as i said before, i think fundamentally we exchange culture all the time anyway, gatekeeping it too much seems just not that useful to me.
There are exceptions and reasons to do so at times, but as i said, i think this has to be linked to harm (for example if people's 'appropriation' leads to clichés which harm the initial group).
I appreciate the conversation though, thanks for the little exchange here haha. (gonna have to emphasize once more, i agree with your death of the author idea for sure).

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Typical_Humanoid t1_ja57uj6 wrote

I enjoyed it too and being an idealist I responded well to your ideas, I just don't want to force how I agree things should be with what people perceive is the fairer course. I notice something like overcorrection in society constantly though....I may be a self-proclaimed feminist but this has people thinking I have opinions I don't have about how we should repair ties with each other.

Take care. :D

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