The term cultural appropriation involves the use of one culture’s characteristics by a group or individual who does not belong to that specific culture.

 

Racism is more widely talked about than cultural appropriation, but cultural appropriation can be considered a part of racism. For example, the most widely talked about case of cultural appropriation in this past year was with Kylie Jenner and Zendaya. Kylie Jenner had dreads, and because she is white, Zendaya called her out on cultural appropriation saying Kylie is simply just stealing black culture and trying to make it work.

 

The idea of cultural appropriation is widely looked down upon in our society because many people do not understand why copying the style of another culture is a problem. People don’t see it as an issue because they are showing their appreciation for the initial culture with the idea. Black culture has a problem with it because in our society the media tells everyone that white people steal other’s cultures and that they look better than those who originally obtained whatever characteristic it was.

 

 

I chose this video because not only did it happen recently, but it is a type of cultural appropriation that we can all understand. I actually found it on YouTube after reading about this incident in The New York Times when it occurred.  Was Marc Jacob in the wrong? Should he have just used black models instead of white?

 

I also chose this video because I think it really worked well with Andrew McGill’s article, “Why White People Don’t Use White Emoji.” However, in this instance, instead of talking about different shades of emojis, we are talking about different hairstyles. In the article, McGill talks about how Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow “debated whether white people can use darker skin tones when sending emoji, or if that amounts to cultural appropriation” (7). To sum up their debate, Sow stated, “I don’t think it should be weird. It’s like, who cares?” (10)

 

So…Is it appropriate for other cultures to adopt black hairstyles for fashion? And do you agree with Sow about emojis? Is it okay for white people to use an emoji that doesn’t represent their own specific shade? Why and why not?