...Nia Newton Professor Wilson English 112 31 October 2015 Cultural Appropriation As the United States population continues to increase so does the number of ethnic minorities. With an increase of ethnic minorities comes an increase of different cultures brought into our society. Some people of different ethnicities attempt to adopt the cultures of others incorrectly causing cultural appropriation. As defined by the Washington Post cultural appropriation is, “a dominant group adopting/trivializing elements of [an oppressed groups] culture without acknowledging the existence of its original source” (Blagrove). This has become a yet another serious, but overlooked problem in America. Cultural appropriation normally involves “members of a dominant group exploiting the culture of less privileged groups” (Nittle), and is also included as another form of racism. When one participates in appropriation of culture, it is as if the person is robbing another minority group of their heritage and credit. As a result, “the dominant group is deemed innovative and edgy, while the disadvantaged groups… continue to face negative stereotypes about minority groups” (Nittle). However, many feel as if cultural appropriation is good, for others are complementing the culture by trying to replicate it, “white gay men imitate black women out of admiration, much of it out of a sense of black women as fellow sufferers of oppression” (McWhorter). Many also commonly believe cultures should take it as...
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...The Benefits of Appropriation. In a world of increasingly rampant globalization aided by advancements in transportation and technology, cultural exchange has become a daily event that spans across continents in less than a second. A product of this exchange, however, has been increasingly on the receiving end of criticism during recent years. A specific term has been commonly adopted and used to summarize this wave of disapproval: Cultural appropriation. Seen by some as a sort of cultural, exploitive crime, I believe cultural appropriation to be just another part of the process of interaction in our modernized world. Since the early development of civilizations, cultures have borrowed and adopted ideas from each other. As an example, it is well known that Egyptian culture influenced the Greeks, which in turn influenced the Romans who spread their empire towards Europe, Asia and Africa influencing countless others who in turn influenced them. Since its beginning, this form of culture exchange has been a driving force of humanity’s development. All cultures have appropriate from other cultures; it is a necessary action for the survival of a society. Recently a wave of backlash has given this exchange a negative connotation by criticizing it as being a form of disrespect; where a culture will “steal” another culture’s intellectual property or tradition for their own personal gain. Should we rush to discredit a culture’s actions or accomplishments if they’re based on something...
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...Kaitlyn Greenidge wrote the article “Who gets to write what?” on September 24, 2016, in which she argues that people have the right to represent and portray other cultures as long as they are presented correctly. Greenidge tends to develop her thesis first by using personal experiences that she considers to be necessary to help the reader understand her purpose of writing the paper, then she goes on explaining the difficulty of Cultural appropriation and how it is defined, she then goes back to speaking of her other personal experience to reach conclusion about how you have to “love” a character into existence and thus using her personal experience as evidence for her audience. She finally goes on explaining the difficulties of writers in america...
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...of their culture. Some, like Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post, believe that designers who only search for potential looks deserve criticism and should search for a deeper meaning behind the fashions. Simple accusations of cultural appropriation stop further questions about its causes and the effects that it has on the cultures in question (Rosenberg). Rosenberg believes it is better to delve deeper into the reasons why designers find these cultures so intriguing and captivating instead of simply blaming. Older generations tend to view the mixing of cultures as normal while...
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...Making money off of cultural appropriation- * adopting twerking as her “thing” * “#twerkteam” something like that on a picture * talking about it in interviews, explaining it like it’s her own * viral videos * took a dance from another culture, performed it and claimed ownership of it, gained popularity through it…. Using people from that culture * minstrelsy * black women being used as props in the video/performance Trey suggests, "twerking is one ofthose things you know when you see it, rather than necessarily being able to write a definition ofit." History of twerking- heavily quote from Baskerville thesis * “Most interviewees resisted this notion that twerking is inherently sexual and instead argued that it is hypersexualized in its current representations.” Pg 24 * The name is relatively new but the concept has been around for much longer * Page 24- tanisha scott talking about history of twerking- comes from traditional African dances. * Popularized in black America- 1990s and 2000s * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HT7-yFYXyk Cultural appropriation in pop music * selena gomez wearing a bindi on her head during a music video * lady gaga wearing a burqa * katy perry - geisha * while these are examples of cultural appropriation, like miley’s, the question of if they are problematic depends on how the “culture” is used. * Katy perry dressed as a geisha- less offensive than miley...
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...Heidi Klum, Justin Timberlake, and Lena Dunham also have received criticism for donning cornrows. This controversy surrounding hairstyles such as cornrows and dreadlocks, often associated with modern African American culture, raises many questions. Is it cultural appropriation to adopt hairstyles often associated with people of another culture? Who possesses the authority to denote it as cultural appreciation or appropriation? Does fighting against cross culture adoption hinder or promote racial progress? According to The Atlantic writer Chris Weller, “we define who we are by the elements that stick with us---people, stories, places, memories---- and we measure ourselves in relation to them;” for many African Americans, these hairstyles represent a vital part of their cultural identity (Weller). Historical implications, double standards, and societal trends continue...
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...the United States history and growth. The experiences that this group of Americans has be blight in their eyes or prosperous in others view. In their eyes they have seen, genocide, slavery, and robbery of their people from Europeans that found this native land. From the beginning when Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492. He made several trips to and from Europe and Hispaniola. By the time European settlers had started to arrive around 1500-1600, all the Native Americans living in the east of the Mississippi River part of the United States had been killed off by introducing them to new diseases from decades of exploration of European countries. Since around the end of the 1500s, the European travelers that migrated to America led to hundreds of years of adjustment and fighting Native Americans and American Colonies. As settlers started to expand west; Pilgrims and settlers began to come into disagreements with the Plains, Basin and Western Tribes. They carried out resistance against American way of life for many years after the Civil War. Indian Wars was vast in numbers until the 1900 but it still continued into throughout the 20th century. After some time more the government pushed a set of treaties and land allotments by the tribes and to established reservations for them in many areas that the government did not see fit for them. The U.S. Encouraged Native Americans to adopt to European ways of living to make a more unified country but the technology...
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...The Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Braves are all professional sports teams in America that use Native American culture to represent them through the means of tribe names, logos, and mascots. These teams have received a lot of media attention around the debate as to whether the representation of Native Americans is offensive or not. Controversy surrounding Native American mascots first came into the public eye during the 1960s Native American Civil Rights movement, where the use of these mascots was criticized for being insulting. However, the people who conceived these teams, knowingly or not, created an atmosphere of prejudice and discrimination growing the brands into multi-million...
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...Geertz was interested in the cultural aspects of religion. He offers a very clear cut format for studying a culture. He believed that it was very important for an intense and detailed study of both the culture itself, as well as the environment from which it arose. This idea can help to explain the origins of Barstool’s current culture. The world of the internet, especially in the last 6-8 years, has become a place of division. Political fights run rampant throughout social media and blogs like Barstool. The culture of Barstool arose from this environment. The founders of Barstool want to avoid heavy hitting news stories. They want their readers to enjoy themselves with a laugh, not being barraged with political news and conflict. The first part of Geertz’s definition of religion...
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...Cultural Appropriation in Hip-Hop Hip-Hop is more than a musical genre. It is a transcending culture with its own rules and context. It’s a lifestyle that has reached beyond the inner-cities of the United States, and today, its power influences the entire world. Its message is unfiltered, at times angry, controversial, misunderstood, inspiring, and thought-provoking, and in many ways, hip-hop is the deafening voice of the minority. To many people who follow hip-hop almost religiously, the Mecca of hip-hop is the Bronx, New York City. The phenomenon started In 1975 when a local Jamaican immigrant and DJ named Kool Herc burst on to the scene with a new style of music in which he employed break-beats over samples of James Brown records. According to the writers of Old School Hip Hop.com “Kool Herc is the father of [the] underground sound from New York that found its way to becoming a worldwide phenomenon” (n.p). However, many other hip-hop historians credit James Brown much more than Herc, and even Kool Herc himself is quoted in a New Black Magazine. Com article crediting Brown with the words, “if it weren’t for James Brown, there would be no such thing as hip-hop” (n.p.) In short, if the Bronx is the Mecca of hip-hop, then James Brown is Allah, and DJ Kool Herc is the Prophet Mohammed. In the early years, hip-hop’s first emcees were DJ’s. It was their job to entertain the crowd, keep the party alive, and introduce the records that they were playing. Kool Herc was the first...
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...financial times. We hope that this document will help bring those benefits to the foreground and help your state answer common questions about government’s role in arts support. Designed for public arts leaders and advocates to excerpt and adapt, this material can be used to support your state’s case for the arts. Select the points that are most relevant in your situation. Quote the research. Add your own examples, and consider the tips and ideas included at the end of the document. For more information on promoting the arts in state policy, explore the Research and Advocacy sections of the NASAA Web site or contact the NASAA office at 202-347-6352. 1. Does every state fund the arts? Yes. Like most areas of state spending, public appropriations to the arts have seen periods of growth and decline tied to state budget conditions....
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...SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION SCIENCES NOVEMBER, 2013 INTRODUCTION This paper aims to describe and analyze the main theoretical currents of communication in Latin America from two main aspects: first, the current state of research and production on the subject exists in some Latin American countries and on the other, the sense that scores from the beginning of the last decade, the curriculum reform in schools of communication in Latin America and, consequently, in the definition of the subject matter of the communication. Since the nineties, academic and research application of the theory of communication in Latin America has experienced a renewal, healthy and necessary overcoming change. This change starts mainly from overcoming the tendency to ascribe the declining communication studies to a single discipline and go creating a growing awareness of their status and disciplinary forms revolutionize approaches to the analysis and production, dissemination and reception the message. These changes, in fact, the main underlying theoretical and communication research in Latin America current. ANTONIO PASQUALI Arnaldo Antonio Pasquali Greco, born in Rovato, Italy; on June 20, 1929, is a Venezuelan social communicator. He is considered one of the introducers of thought in Latin America Communication underlying theoretical sources of the Frankfurt School. To Pasquali, humans develop the ability to communicate in the highest degree, as a means of interaction...
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...It is 2016 and race is still an issue. America has changed over the years, but race relations are not improving. This country has tried everything and it is still not working. In order to fix race relations in this country, we must find out where the problem is coming from. Okay, people need to wake up and stop dreaming. If you are a human being, it is your job to fight against racism. We cannot end the discussion of racism. White people do not understand why people of color are upset because they are white. I do not expect white people to automatically understand how I feel as a black woman, but there are many white people who do not want to listen to what I have to say. In order for America to improve race relations, we need to learn...
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...and mentality surrounding the creation of this complex hairstyle. Rather they are wearing it as an impetuous way to stay in trend. Cornrow braids are not only another hairstyle to wear in America’s evolving beauty system, they are also an added layer of cultural meaning that shows African history and cultural expression. During the 1970’s, braids close to the scalp, or cornrow braids, were used as a way to show black power...
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...Michelle Todd 12 Years a Slave November 3, 2015 SOCI-1010-N06 Introduction to Sociology 83300.201580 12 Years a Slave In 2013, director Steve McQueen released 12 Years a Slave, his film adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 19th century slave narrative of the same name. Interpreting McQueen’s film within analytic frameworks including comparative slavery studies, trauma studies, feminist theory, film theory, and the rhetoric of visual cultures, the authors create a wide range of analyses that address several critical questions. The critical conversations surrounding Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave revolves around the film’s realism, specifically its realistic portrayal of the violence and trauma of slavery and the image of the tortured slave body. McQueen creates prolonged, unflinching images of slave torture and suffering, lingering on graphic scenes of brutality, including whipping, hanging, beatings, and rape. In fact, in the very act of attempting to resolve the ambiguity of McQueen’s images, this competing discourse strangely repeats and performs the very paradox of realism itself. In this way, the discourse surrounding McQueen’s realist images of the trauma and violence of slavery perform a fundamental split that continuously reflects and implicates the images themselves. This analysis contextualizes the paradoxical instability of McQueen’s realist images of the trauma and violence of slavery and the discourse that surrounds them within a larger lineage of the history...
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