Is it culturally appropriate to culturally appropriate? (2)

Problems with problems with CA

      I previously overviewed why I was discussing cultural appropriation. To reiterate, I'm not trying to destroy the concept, nor do I think I can. Rather, I want to carefully examine the aspects of the issue to try and find a logical middle ground that appeals to all people. 

      There are a number of arguments available pertaining to why appropriation is bad; I'm going to try and address all of the most persuasive that I have found. It's completely possible that I've missed some; if you're concerned that they undermine my argument, send me a message and I'll try to edit this post to include them. 

Theft

     

      First and foremost is the argument that cultural appropriation constitutes theft from a culture. (Uwujaren, swanblood, Scafadi). After all, an individual using cultural elements is using them without permission and never pay for their usage, something most people construe as theft. 

      The first problem with this is with their conception of ownership. The argument acts as if there are owners for various cultural attributes, when in reality there are not. There's no one person you can ask for permission from or pay a fee to; there is a group that is somewhat cohesive in certain areas and divided in others. Maybe the act of appropriation is theft...but there's no way to truly ever tell if the group is opposed to it or not. 
      
      The second problem is that nothing is, strictly speaking, "stolen." There is no loss to the group, no physical theft, no one is harmed and may ever know that something was taken from them. Culture is not a "thing," but an idea, and ideas can be copied ad infinitum with no repercussions. On Philosophy makes a fascinating argument that ownership must be predicated in both the belief that one owns something and their ability to protect it; if a group cannot protect their ideas, they do not truly "own" them. 
     
      The third problem is that there is no logical endpoint for appropriation; cultures intermingle all the time and thousands of everyday objects, beliefs, and practices are from different regions of the world. Eating and enjoying hummus might be appropriation, as might be using a base 10 number system. Uwujaren admits this problem, noting there is a significant problem separating legitimate exchange from appropriation. If you can't even define the problem, then the likelihood theft is occurring is fairly low. 

Misrepresentation

      
      Second is the argument that cultural appropriation misrepresents other cultures, showing only partial representations of who they are and embodying stereotypes. Berlatsky notes that Miley Cyrus' VMA performance embodied this problem: "because of racist stereotypes, black women are seen as embodying sex [and] Cyrus wants to revamp her image so she appears more sexy and knowledgeable; therefore she has black female dancers on stage and indifferently imitates a style associated with black performers." Swanblood argues that the solution is to spend time learning about other cultures thoroughly when you want to use their imagery or rituals and study only original sources.       
      

      The first problem is that the problem is nonunique. Saying that Miley Cyrus is embodying stereotypes only logically makes sense if the stereotypes were there to begin with. Any representation of the culture using said imagery will perpetuate the problem; it is not uniquely non-natives that are doing the harm. The response to this would be that they're doing harm anyway and should stop that; my problem with that is that the culture then can't be represented at all and slowly ceases to exist outside of itself. Cultural survival, after all, is predicated on spread.      

      The second problem is that singular characteristics rarely make stereotypes. Twerking alone does not give people bad impressions about Africans; I doubt most people understand where it came from to begin with and thus aren't even stereotyping at all when they see someone use that dance style. It is numerous conceptions of a people's identity that combine to create images, good and bad, of who they are (I'm not saying that these images are accurate, just that they exist). Calling out use of one as stereotypical...only serves to build a stereotypical image.       
      

      The third problem is that cultural appropriation could equally serve to better a person's view of a given culture, making it a good thing. The Chinese and Japanese governments have been deeply opposed for centuries due to various stereotypes about each other and memories of historical atrocities. A Chinese person learning about the historical Japanese practice of seppuku might think of them as a honorable people, or learning about their similar tea ceremonies might think of them as common brethren. There's no reason to presume that "theft" of culture is necessarily bad.     
      

      The final problem is with the solution, one that is both impossible to achieve and potentially damaging. Again, since there is no logical endpoint for appropriation, people  trying to do this will spend impossible amounts of time judging each action. There doesn't seem to be a unique qualifier that would allow a separation between exchange and appropriation. But even if there was, research might be far worse for the people than whatever stereotypes people have now. If I'm exploring African tribal culture to see if twerking has some sort of deeper meaning and importance, I might stumble across a discussion of the Rwandan genocide, something I haven't been exposed to before. Even if I closely examine the event and find that it may have been rooted in white imperialism, my thoughts about African civility could be greatly affected by such a revelation, and my stereotypes radically worsened, only increasing the problem's scope.

Respect

      Third is the argument that cultural appropriation is occasionally disrespectful to other groups; materials like religious imagery can not be understood as significant by outsiders, taken, and used disrespectfully, undermining tolerance. Julious notes that part of the issue with Miley Cyrus' VMA performance was exactly this; black women were used as accessories to complement Cyrus's image as rebellious and angsty, rather than actual people. Mannie follows this by noting that black women face an assortment of social problems that thieves will never understand or experience. Taking from the group only the "best" elements undermines their problems by depicting their lives as relatively banal to outsiders, preventing effective social change. 

      While I really like this argument and think it bears a great deal of relevance, I also feel it isn't perfect. I think disrespect and intolerance are remarkably different things; borrowing a verse for clothing is far different than burning a Koran. One can be genuine admiration at the beauty of such words, the other, genuine hate. 

      It also seems that there are really two issues being discussed here; appropriation and issue ignorance. The assumption seems to be that anyone who does the research will suddenly realize that groups have been wrongfully denied rights. There's no reason that they suddenly will lobby for social change and ally themselves with the marginalized; after all, what they wanted to do in the first place was something like twerking or wearing dreadlocks. Real social change is achieved in part by breaking down stereotypes and raising awareness of issues, but there doesn't seem to be a clear link between that and prohibiting cultural use. Marginalized groups need representation by people who actually care about the issue, rather than those obligated under their schemata to learn about varying social issues they face. 

Exchange

      
      Fourth is the argument that cultural appropriation is inherently racist as it lacks any sort of exchange element; it allows white groups (receivers of privilege), to use other culture's materials, but prevents those cultures from giving anything back in return. Uwujaren argues that having Indians wear business suits to operate in a professional setting is wrong when other cultures aren't required (or similarly incentivized) to wear bindis and saris; the analogy extends elsewhere as well. 

      First, I think this argument ignores that society usually pushes for things that it deems "best" or "most suitable" for an action. A suit has been deemed proper attire for business as it places nearly everyone on equal footing, dress-wise. The counter to this is that a sari or bindi might be just as suitable to wear for business, and that suits were only chosen for their origins in privileged culture. This again brings up the problem of scope; how does one know that their clothing choice won't offend people? Where is one to learn that they can wear a bindi to the office without offending people, especially considering that it has such religious significance?

      Second, the previous problem of people inside of groups disagreeing about cultural iconography access occurs again; some might be perfectly willing to share their culture while others aren't. Who owns culture? I already discussed that it seems that if one can't defend their claim of ownership, their claim over a thing lacks validity; if someone gives me "permission" to wear dreadlocks or say the "N-word," do they have any less legitimacy than someone from the same group then banning me from use? Actor Samuel L Jackson asked an interviewer to use the "N-word" when discussing his involvement in Django Unchained; did the interviewer (who refused the opportunity) have the right to do so? If a single person voices discontent and discomfort with the extension of a cultural norm, should all stop doing it? In both instances, I don't know if there is a right answer.

      Third, outside of the French debate over the burqa, I have difficulty finding actual suppression of culture occurring anywhere. Moreover, the reason the French banned the burqa was for communal bond growth, with the government hoping middle eastern French would now commingle with people outside of their social circle. This wasn't an issue of them saying that the culture was "wrong," nor was it a religious restriction. I wonder if Uwujaren's argument that certain hairstyles and clothing are deemed "unprofessional" is even applicable here; things like business focus on reducing distractions and focusing on a company above the individual; brightly colored clothing serves to undermine both of those goals. I'm not saying this applies to all situations, but I think it's worth questioning if the use of certain "white-oriented" things is done to be demeaning or to promote some aspect of use that the other culture's objects can't offer. 

Closing Notes


      I think reasonable objections to cultural appropriation boil down to a few main categories. There's the objections that nothing is stolen, that there's no logical way to get permission for use, that there's no endpoint to determine what's racist or not, and that there are other reasons certain problems associated with appropriation are actually arising. I've spent far too long pointing out flaws in the logic of cultural appropriation; now I want to see if there's a valid solution to the issue. 

      From a cosmopolitan standpoint, sharing is crucial for the survival of the planet; relations are built on interactivity and dialogue. Misconceptions about a people serve to limit tolerance, while spreading as much of their culture as possible does the opposite. Cultural appropriation attempts to limit misconceptions, but as I've noted, I don't think it achieves that goal.

      The same problem again arises; what is offensive? Rephrased, where do offensiveness and appropriation lie on a continuum between something like hummus and the "N-word?" Do you need to acquiesce to the demands of some or the many? It seems silly to force guilt into discourse and force people to second-guess everything that they do, especially when quantifying. But I can also see the importance of a culture wanting to protect things that they consider important, at least until people recognize them as only the better aspects of their marginalization.

      My proposal is this. Every complaint about cultural appropriation should be evaluated upon a case by case basis, where the burden is on the "afflicted culture" to prove that they're being maligned. I think substantiating claims of abuse should be mandatory; proof that this is their culture (from a historical standpoint) being abused. Numerous individuals should voice their dissent on the use of said culture; it should never be done by a single disaffected person. If no one is willing to do those things, clearly the issue isn't that important to begin with.  

      The objection I can see to this is that white people have a burden to educate themselves on the privilege they're using. I've already argued why this is arguable, so I won't reiterate that; what I will say is that pushing the burden of proof to the affected culture gives them the ability to control the discourse and bring light to serious issues. Miley Cyrus' use of black imagery was controversial because blacks were offended, and it gave them the chance to comment on how this marginalized them. Letting privileged groups find that they've "transgressed," keeps the power of discourse in their hands; letting other groups point out the problems with abuse begins a gradual power shift and removes stereotypical representations. I anticipate that this will draw attention to the broader, more wide reaching issues rather than the small scale and unimportant ones.

      I think that it's also important for the "privileged" to think about how their actions impact others, but I pushing this to the side for the reasons listed above. I think Uwujaren agrees with me here; the real problem of cultural appropriation is power structure imbalance; consideration of that is really the first step to removing inequalities. 

      I've rambled for far too long on this, so it's time to wrap things up. If I haven't completely de-legitimized where I stand, I hope that I've at least promoted some thought about how people misuse the issue and how their can be improvements in the discussion of it. I'm sure I'm wrong about something that I've said and I'd love for the issue to continue to be considered, so please leave a comment and further the discussion.

Citations

Berlatsky, N. If Miley Cyrus's Twerking Is Racist, Isn't Janis Joplin's Singing Also Racist? Atlantic Magazine. 29 Aug, 2013. Digital. Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/08/if-miley-cyruss-twerking-is-racist-isnt-janis-joplins-singing-also-racist/279162/

freshfeminism. Is it Cultural Appropriation? Tumblr.com. Photo. Retrieved from http://i.imgur.com/DrgKWSl.jpg

Julious, B. How Miley Cyrus’ Image Evolved Into Calculated Racism. Thought Catalog. 26 Jun, 2013. Digital. Retrievd from  http://thoughtcatalog.com/brittany-julious/2013/06/how-miley-cyrus-image-evolved-into-calculated-racism/

Makarechi, K. Miley Cyrus Brings Her Race Problem to the VMAs. Huffington Post. 26 Aug. 2013. Digital. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kia-makarechi/miley-cyrus-race-vmas_b_3817286.html

McWhorter, J. You Can't Steal a Culture: In Defense of Cultural Appropriation. The Daily Beast. 15 July, 2014. Digital.  Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/15/you-can-t-steal-a-culture-in-defense-of-cultural-appropriation.html

Minnesota Historical Society. Dr. Martin Luther King speaking against war in Vietnam, St. Paul Campus, University of Minnesota. Flickr.com. 14 Jan, 2011. Photo. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1xmALWq

On Philosophy. Ownership and Its Paradoxes. Wordpress.com. 21 Jan, 2009. Digital. Retrieved from http://onphilosophy.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/ownership-and-its-paradoxes. 

Scafadi, S. Who Owns Culture?: Appropriation and Authenticity in American Law. Rutgers University Press. 8 Jun, 2005. Print. 

swanblood. What is Cultural Appropriation and How to Avoid It. Tumblr.com. 21 Jan, 2014. Retrieved from http://swanblood.tumblr.com/post/16222547334/what-is-cultural-appropriation-and-how-to-avoid-it

stavos. Hold the thief! Flickr.com. 12 Jan, 2014. Photo. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1tfpwl3

stutler. Anonymous Question Answer. Tumblr.com. Photo. Retrieved from http://i.imgur.com/A5w9egC.png

transgenderpresident. TwerkingDave Follow Comment. Tumblr.com. 20 Feb, 2014. Photo. Retrieved from http://i.imgur.com/7roUgSQ.jpg

Uwujaren, J. The difference between cultural exchange and cultural appropriation. Everyday Feminism. 30 Sep, 2013. Print. Retrieved from http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/09/cultural-exchange-and-cultural-appropriation