Thinking Thoughts

[chasingtides]

So theoretically I'm reading Jorge Luis Borges at the moment, but I still have my Mongolian and Sami research bouncing around my skull and trying to find a monster of the week to put in my lgbtfest entry. My brain's all over the place.

When does something become cultural appropriation? When is something culturally yours to begin with? Where are the lines?

(To note, I have a vague idea of what is culturally "mine." It's a fairly limited group, but I've been told by others that there are things that are culturally mine that I don't think are - and vice versa. I'm also interested in seeing where people think the line is - when are you stealing someone else's culture and when are you drawing on it?)

I suppose this could be in any life aspect - religiously (I know this comes up in the pagan community), in art or writing, in lifestyle (with the stereotypical weeabo coming up). Thoughts?


As an unrelated addendum: It's snowing like anything here. It was 60F yesterday. I'd better not have my classes called off because of snow.

Comments

[maccaj.livejournal.com]

When does something become cultural appropriation? When is something culturally yours to begin with? Where are the lines?

These are questions I struggle with a lot. Disabled is my culture - I was born disabled, that's mine to claim. Midwestern is my culture, too... same thing.

But Irish is my culture too - I am legitimately Irish by blood, and if my family had emigrated literally one generation later, I could claim Irish citizenship. But they didn't, so I'm Famine Irish, and, largely as a result of being Famine Irish, I've never set foot there - can't afford it.

Irish-American doesn't fit... say Irish-American and people instantly think green beer and leprechauns.

But on the same hand, I would never claim to be Irish-born.

The closest term I have to put to *that* aspect of my culture is to call myself "ex-pat raised", which is true, and ex-pat is a culture of its own... I'm more "ex-pat" than American, due to how and where and by whom I've been raised. But I'm not an *actual* expat, so that's a whole other conundrum.

I still don't know the answer to any of this, obviously.

[subordinate.livejournal.com]

I think cultural appropriation is something that really should be paid more attention to in general.

Honestly, and this may be an unpopular opinion outside the social activist circles that I'm accustomed to, but I think most Americans can only safely claim general American culture as theirs 100% of the time. Individuals can, of course, claim religion and cultural heritage, but it's always a good idea to respect people who are currently members of that heritage themselves in ways that you specifically aren't as having more cultural clout, if you will. I'm thinking of the white ethnic heritages on this one. Being ethnically Irish or Italian or Polish or Russian or what have you is obviously not the same thing as being currently a person who was born/raised in Ireland, Italy, etc. I'm thinking of Irish cultural appropriation specifically, because I know plenty of raised-in-Ireland Irish who get pissed about 2nd/3rd generation Irish-Americans who get very involved with St. Patrick's Day, for instance, but I know this applies to many other ethnic white identities.

I think appropriation is very interesting but obviously very problematic. People should definitely feel free to explore cultures, learn other languages, visit different countries and demographics, etc. People should do this as much as they can, actually. But there's a huge difference between a white person from the suburbs who decides to emulate hip hop culture vs. a white person from the suburbs who decides to read up on race theory, for instance, you know?

I think some people get annoyed at appropriation when it's obvious it's only a skin deep faddish interest. People's cultures, races, religions, etc. should not be mere fodder for fandom or that kind of exotic other-ing.

[altersonality.livejournal.com]

Hope you don't mind if I jump in.

I'm culturally disabled, though some who were born disabled may think otherwise. I became disabled at four and a half, yet disability is all I really know.

Being from California is also my culture. I will always, always, be a "California girl" no matter how long I've lived in the Northwest.

But there are other cultures with which I feel a strong pull. Jewish culture, Scottish culture, and everything Canadian. The latter is where my maternal grandmother was born and my ancestors lived for generations.

It's all very blurred once a person identifies the culture(s) that contributed to their formative years. Beyond that, I just...don't know. Some cultures pull at me more than others, regardless of whether a personal history exists. But that in no way means I can claim it as "my" culture.

[altersonality.livejournal.com]

I hear family stories about how I was before

Same here. I've heard stories of trees climbed and what they think I would've been. I do have one memory of playing soccer, but it's just a snippet of a movie in my head. I have no physical memory of walking.

What do you mean by "California culture," if I might ask?

Kind of difficult to put into words. Now that I think about it, California culture is different throughout the state, but for me it's warm days, swimming, and, this may sound amusing, being accustomed and expecting earthquakes.

For example, my brother went college in Santa Barbara for a bit and was there when the Northridge quake hit. The quake didn't even wake him up - we often slept through quakes when we were kids. That is part of our culture, part of our experience growing up.