The keffiyeh is one of the most iconic symbols of Palestine. If you are not of Palestinian decent, it is very important to note the difference of wearing a keffiyeh in solidarity vs. a culturally appropriative fashion statement. Stores like Urban Outfitters are selling this as an “anti-war”scarf with no thought on how it might actually affect Palestinians. A fashion student at Parsons in the US described it as a “hip accessory.” The keffiyeh has become mainstream, not to promote peace or solidarity in Palestine but to add to the wardrobe of young colonizers in the West. This perpetuates colonial ideals with the Columbus mindset of taking something from another culture and calling it “new.” There is no regard for the war happening in Palestine or the trademark of Yasir Arafat who first made the headwear popular. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/fashion/shows/11KAFFIYEH.html?_r=0 http://bennorton.com/white-people-wearing-the-keffiyeh-solidarity-vs-cultural-appropriation/
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo
Most people don’t even know what this holiday historically means, they just think it’s a day to eat Mexican food and drink Mexican products, known as “culturally appropriative merrymaking.” They are not celebrating Mexico’s unlikely victory against the French. They are limiting its culture to just one of profit and consumption for colonizers. It is perpetuating micro aggressions of “they” and “others." The holiday has become commercialized and stereotyped in the US. It is the hypocritical colonial mindset to consume and enjoy the goods of a particular culture while still refusing the same rights to them. An ABC newscaster has had to apologize twice for "celebrating" Cinco de Mayo by shaking maracas and taking tequila shots on air during the holiday. Acts like these create a general misrepresentation of Mexican culture and its people in America. Since most people that “celebrate” Cinco de Mayo have lost the meaning or do not celebrate Mexicans in areas other than the goods or services they provide, they diminish the culture. Mexican restaurant owner and chef, Dominica Rice-Cisneros, suggests skipping the sombreros and margaritas and paying tribute to Mexican-American history in a more authentic way. She is having an intimate dinner paying tribute to Pio-Pico, the last Mexican Governor of California. https://www.romper.com/p/why-you-shouldnt-celebrate-cinco-de-mayo-at-least-not-the-way-you-may-have-planned-9763 http://www.eastbayexpress.com/WhatTheFork/archives/2016/05/03/an-oakland-chef-wants-to-decolonize-cinco-de-mayo
Selling Expensive "Fusion Kimchi"
“The dishes of America’s recent immigrants have become check marks on a cultural scavenger hunt for society’s elite.” --Ruth Tam
In the US, white chefs can create “Asian fusion” type meals and serve it to white customers and call it new. These colonizers can enjoy and consume this Asian fusion without ever experiencing its oppression but still being able to profit off of it. Cultures are being reduced to the food mainstream media identifies it with. It is ok to like ingredients or dishes from another culture, but to fetishize it as "exotic" and make it mainstream is something entirely different. The problem is not liking these foods, it is trying to seek "authentic" foods. Ignoring the history or struggles that come with the people of this culture but stereotyping them into their authentic foods. We tend to think of many cultures in association with one or two food dishes. When chefs make "Asian fusion" dishes, they are not creating something widely new to which they should be awarded. They are appropriating something from another culture and fashioning it in a way that now gives them full credit over it. This is the colonial mentality in which they dominate another culture and then continue to reap the benefits and take credit for the singular things they enjoy in that culture. http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/11/foodie-without-appropriation/
Portraying an Asian Character in Film
By “portraying” we mean conducting a stereotype of an Asian in a film. This is highly racist and perpetuates prejudicial ideals. In a highly controversial Hollywood take, Emma Stone, a white actress was cast to play the part of a character of Hawaiian and Asian heritage. This mistake allowed for the issue of white washing to be discussed in modern media. Creating a stereotypical asian character in film provokes the “perpetual foreigner” stereotype of Orientalism. This perpetuates their “otherness,” encouraging micro aggressions and overall racism. Orientalism is often dismissed from the white majority compared to race issues of black and indigenous people. Stereotypes of asian women are often hyper sexualized or portrayed as the model minority, like Dr. Christina Yang on Grey's Anatomy. Intersectionality shows us that sexism and racism are not different but can happen in unison. Asian women are not just being racially minimized but sexually as well. Often being portrayed as geishas or fetishized. Asian men and women alike are often both portrayed in film as the model minor minority. They are expected to be smart, law abiding citizens who don't cause trouble. These stereotypes then permeate outside of films to create a limited space for Asians to break free from, becoming an "other" to be dominated by the West. This perpetuates micro aggressions of "they" are always smart or always law abiding citizens. This groups Asians into a constricting category that the colonizer won't let them escape from, forcing them to be the perpetual foreigner, never to fit into western society.
The bindi, a red enoramental dot placed in the center of a women’s forehead, comes from Hindu tradition in India. It’s extremely important and used in traditional wedding ceremonies for married women as well as a sign of social class. If you are not apart of the Hindu religion or Indian culture, wearing a bindi perpetuates the colonial ideals.As the bindi is an enorment of such importance in the Hindu religion, it would be considered a micro aggression to wear it while not also adopting and respect the other ideals of the religion. You can't reap the benefits of white privilege while also wearing a traditional bindi and not be considered culturally appropriative. Many times we see young girls in America wearing the bindi as a fashion statement, like at a music festival, without respecting the origin in which it comes form. South Asians continue to be the target of racism and prejudice yet aspect of their culture can be seen plastered in music videos and on magazine covers. One Hindu women said of this, "They want the flavor but not the smell. They want the culture but not you." This western mentality of white privilege wants to appropriate the trends that your culture provides but does not want to give you equal rights or respect. This is why many people that move to a colonizing country feel "disaporic identities." They experience such racialization that they hold onto symbolic or material ties of their homeland. To not only colonize a culture of people, but then appropriate and take away their last ties to the homeland that felt sacred, is extremely racist and aggressive. Wearing a bindi isn't taking it from Hindu's terms, its taking it from America's terms, which seems to often be the theme. It's the perpetual "exoticness" or "foreignness" that western colonizers then neutralize and think that they just created something new, or the newest trend, giving themselves undeserved credit. It is offensive to the Hindi religion who takes the bindi as a serious cultural symbol and perpetuates colonialist ideologies.