Define Cultural Appropriation And Why This Might Be Considered Controversial 2020

March 12, 2022

ESSAY QUESTION/TOPIC: Define cultural appropriation and why this might be considered controversial. Also, how might one avoid unintentional cultural appropriation?

Define cultural appropriation and why this might be considered controversial

ESSAY QUESTION/TOPIC: Define cultural appropriation and why this might be considered controversial. Also, how might one avoid unintentional cultural appropriation?

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What Is Cultural Appropriation?

Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that doesn’t respect their original meaning, give credit to their source, or reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) without permission.1

It may be natural to merge and blend cultures as people from different backgrounds come together and interact. In fact, many wonderful inventions and creations have been born from the merging of such cultures (such as country music).

However, the line is drawn when a dominant cultural group makes use of elements of a non-dominant group in a way that the non-dominant group views as exploitative.

Cultural appropriation can be most easily recognized by asking this question of the non-dominant group: Does the use of this element of your culture in this way bother you?

Elements of Cultural Appropriation

Taking a step backward, how do we define cultural appropriation? It helps to consider what is meant by each of the terms in the phrase, as well as some related terms that are important to understand.

Culture

Culture refers to anything associated with a group of people based on their ethnicity, religion, geography, or social environment. This might include beliefs, traditions, language, objects, ideas, behaviors, customs, values, or institutions.2 It’s not uncommon for culture to be thought of as belonging to particular ethnic groups.

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