#sof!speaks

hi, anon! i hope you’re well and sorry for the late-isa reply. as someone who’s never really had their culture appropriated, i’ll do my best to explain it based on what i’ve witnessed in the past and from recent events.

if i’m wrong, point it out to me!

i had a read of this article (http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/06/cultural-appropriation-wrong/) before answering, so if you wanna have a look at that, go for it!

cultural appropriation is essentially the borrowing of another’s culture that isn’t their own, but to explain why it doesn’t apply to white people is because cultural appropriation applies to the stealing of elements from a culture that was systematically oppressed to fit their own standards of beauty. i don’t really know if i’m making sense here, but here are a couple of examples.

black people, for many years and even in this present time, have been shamed for having “messy” and “sloppy” hair despite being in its natural state, hence why they use cornrows in an attempt to tame their hair and keep it in place for their convenience. but when they do, cornrows are considered ghetto when black people do it. but when a white person uses cornrows, they do it and they get the praise for it because it’s a fashion statement and because it’s trendy. because it’s on a white person, it’s depicted as “better” and strips away the meaning culture’s origins.

(this also applies to various other cultures obviously, and just because you’re a poc, it doesn’t give you a ‘pass-and-go’ card at cultural appropriation!)

i think the best way to explain it to your sister is that whatever is the white standard of beauty is deemed “okay”, but when its on a  person from the culture’s origin, it’s either shamed, mocked, or any other negative aspect that could be linked with cultural appropriation. to summarize: poc - punk/ghetto. white people - trendy/fashionable.

society, more often than not, succumbs to the white standard of beauty and we’re somehow expected to look like them to fit in, etc.

in conclusion, using someone else’s culture to suit your fashion interests while mocking theirs is not okay, so that’s the tea, kids!