Communities that are home to individuals of various ethnicities, races, and cultural backgrounds are opportunities for people to share their traditions and celebrations with one another, allowing them to both educate others and appreciate the various cultures around them. However, there is a fine line between appreciating another culture and disrespecting the history behind certain traditions or customs.
Senior Edith Chang, co-president of the Asian American Association (AAA), defines cultural appropriation as using cultural customs or clothes without considering the historical context behind them, she said.
“I think cultural appropriation is when a culture is disrespectfully used as a way to garner attention or seen as something to be made fun of,” Chang said.
Cultural appropriation occurs when someone intentionally uses visual or physical representations to disrespect the culture as a whole, senior Dylan Mua and co-president of AAA said.
“I think the biggest example I can think of would be Halloween costumes, where most cultures are not represented properly,” Mua said.
“Chinese qipaos can come across as cheap, and people can attempt to look oriental by putting chopsticks in their hair,” Chang said.
Cultural appropriation has become more common as a result of severe misrepresentation, Chang said.
“Especially with social media and people of color, we see a lot of it, and most of it has been normalized over the last few years,” Chang said.
Many famous artists have either intentionally or unknowingly fed into these stereotypes, according to Mua.
“In Hmong culture, we have these necklaces that are super intricate, and I believe that Summer Walker used this design as a type of bikini,” Mua said.
The best way to properly experience events and customs from other cultures that differ from one’s own is to participate in holiday celebrations, such as New Year’s celebrations, Mua said.
“When you attend those and you’re not part of the culture, it gives you a greater understanding of what their beliefs are and what they like to celebrate,” Mua said.
Cultures should be appreciated among people of different backgrounds if all parties are willing to educate each other and be respectful towards those traditions, Chang said.
“I would definitely be happy to see some of my friends in cultural wear because they’re appreciating the culture and enjoying it with me, as opposed to someone wearing a cultural outfit to ridicule the culture in any way,” Chang said.
People should consider asking others before wearing any form of cultural clothing out of respect for the culture, Mua said.
“Wearing things like cultural clothing, genuinely asking about how to wear it and how to make it look nice, is always better than just taking it and using it in your own way,” Mua said.