Cultural Culprit: Appreciation or Exploitation?

Cultural Culprit: Appreciation or Exploitation?

Kendall, Kylie, Kim, and Khloe. What do all of these women have in common? Besides the fact that they are all related, the media has accused them of being culturally insensitive. From cornrow wearing Khloe to Coachella Kylie wearing a bindi, these women are not the only ones that the media has found guilty of appropriating culture, more specifically African/black culture. Celebrities, who are often the most visible representatives of Western culture, are often the most guilty for skewing Western views of African culture.

Cathy Young argues that nothing is too petty for culture cops and that people are reaching too far when accusing someone of ‘stealing’ African culture because the line between appropriation and appreciating culture is blurred (Young). Others such as Journalist Nadra Kareem Nittle believe that there is an incredible amount of insensitivity in the media when it comes to respecting a culture (Nittle).  So what is the truth? Is society being too petty, or are we just that culturally insensitive. In order to understand what is happening right now, we have to go back and look at how European colonialism affected African culture in terms of beauty and money.  

Dating back to the late nineteenth century, Africa was invaded by countries such as Spain, Great Britain, France, and Italy. They imposed their teachings and established control over the African tribes. Hundreds of years later, the effects of European colonization can be seen by what many refer to as Eurocentric beauty standards. Maisha Johnson writes that valuing whiteness as beauty comes down to more than just skin color, it is also about the anglicized features that we associate with white women such as smaller noses, thinner lips, and less prominent curves. Our society bases the idea of beauty on things like the “golden ratio,” which traits traits like eye size, nose width, lip fullness, and hairstyle and says that the ideal proportions of so-called “universal beauty” never rank on- European features as most beautiful (Johnson). This creates a double standard when it comes to beauty with both white and black women. We have African women bleaching their skin and pressing their hair to get more European features, white women darkening their skin and getting ‘boxer braids’. It’s not the hairstyle that’s offensive, it’s the fact that white women are praised and called beautiful for the same thing that black women get called ghetto for.

It’s not just about hairstyles and clothing, it’s also about money. In the case of Solomon Linda, the writer of the widely popular “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, was not given credit or compensation for his song. He grew up in Zulu, South Africa and had a knack for songwriting, when he moved to Johannesburg in the late 20’s, the original version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” or “Mbube” was written (Olufunmilayo). The song began to gain popularity in Europe in the 40’s and was produced in the U.S. This is just one of many cases where borrowing from African culture is considered insensitive because of the lack of knowledge of the history between Africa and the rest of the world (Olufunmilayo). Many see this as a problem because this lack of giving credit because there were many financial consequences that black musicians faced when they are often times seen as the ones who paved the way for rock ‘n roll success (Nittle).

There are many different interpretations of this term Cultural Appropriation. Some don’t think it’s a big deal while others believe that the topic deserves more awareness. Whatever the case may be, it is important to realize that around the world cultures are all one big melting pot.

Works Cited

Africa, The Conversation. "Cultural Appropriation: When 'Borrowing' Becomes Exploitation." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 21 June 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Johnson, About Maisha Z. "10 Ways the Beauty Industry Tells You Being Beautiful Means Being White." Everyday Feminism. N.p., 02 Dec. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Nittle, Nadra Kareem. "What Is Cultural Appropriation and Why Is It Wrong?" ThoughtCo. N.p., 7 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.

Young, Cathy. "To the New Culture Cops, Everything Is Appropriation." The Washington Post. WP Company, 21 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.