Are you guilty of cultural appropriation?

Let's appreciate...not appropriate. How you can avoid cultural appropriation in a cosmopolitan city like Dubai.

We are living in 'politically correct' times. No doubt you've noticed that every other minute someone is being offended by something someone said, did, wore or assumed.

People are even offended by the assumption of offense itself. It's exhausting to say the least. And the expectation that one must remember all the nuances of offence to everyone who ever existed all at once is, to me, offensive.
Cultural appropriation is one of those issues that many of us are on the fence about or simply don't understand. It's more than a buzzword, popular phrase or a hot topic. The term cultural appropriation continues to show up on headlines accusing people of misrepresenting and misinterpreting culture to cause offense.
OK, let's take a minute here to think this one through. It's confusing we know, it's complicated, messy and sometimes hard to get our head around it but it's important to understand what culture appropriation is and to recognise that it can cause offense.
So, what is cultural appropriation? Simply put it is the adoption of the elements of one culture by members of another culture. This "adoption" is often conducted in a "colonial" manner meaning that these elements are copied or taken from a minority or oppressed culture from members of a more dominant culture and used outside of their acceptable context.
In a place like Dubai, where there is a multitude of cultures intermingling with each other, this idea of cultural appropriation might seem inevitable. But it's important to note here that there is a huge difference between cultural appropriation and fusion. Most notably we've seen that when it comes to fashion, style and performance, cultural appropriation seems to be a major issue.

So in an attempt to make everyone's life a little bit easier, we've listed recent examples of alleged cultural appropriation and how you can avoid getting caught making the same mistakes.
Marc Jacobs
Case: Marc Jacobs was criticised for using a cast of mostly white models wearing dreadlocks in New York last year. Historically dreadlocks is a hairstyle that is usually linked to black and brown culture. It has also been seen in white counterculture from the 70s. Marc Jacobs has since said that he doesn't believe that we should be so narrow minded adding that icon Boy George and rave culture also inspired this work.

Verdict: Although we understand why offense may have been taken we see where Marc is coming from. For art to develop, different cultural aesthetics are bound to influence artists. Always cite those references and influences.
Katy Perry
Case: During her 2013 AMAs performance Katy Perry dressed as a geisha. Although Katy claimed that she was trying to celebrate Japanese culture, many people weren't pleased. It was only after she was called out for this that Katy apologised saying that she will never understand some of these things because of "who she is" and that she does have a lot of "white privilege".

Verdict: We find it really shocking that no one from Katy's team thought to tell her that this was a bad idea. We find it equally surprising that Katy can claim ignorance - Google isn't broken. Research. If you want to look a bit different think about your intention. Google it first.
Kylie & Miley
Case: OK, we don't even know where to start with these two. Miley twerking on stage and being praised for it, Kylie with her corn rows; Miley using hip-hop as a source of inspiration for her music in an ignorant manner, Kylie along with Kendall selling those t-shirts with black icons and superimposing their images on them - the whole thing is just yuck.

Verdict: They aren't the first. Madonna was also a big appropriator of culture using whatever she wanted from black and Arabian culture to make her music videos more "interesting". Don't ever think that what these girls do is original. Ever. In fact before you praise creativity make sure you research the inspiration.
Victoria's Secret
Case: Isn't it funny how controversial the catwalk can be? Victoria's Secret sent Karlie Kloss down the runway in a full on Native American headdress. But you know, more sexy. (Eye roll) Insensitive to Native Americans? We think so. The Native American headdress has spiritual and ceremonial significance, which only certain members of the tribe are allowed to wear. We've seen this trend seep into music festivals like Coachella where headdresses, bindis and other culturally significant items are used like fashion accessories.

Verdict: It's insensitive and wrong. Don't do it. There are other ways to look fashionable. End of discussion.
 

• Dubai