POST4 : MYTHS & HEROES: THE AMERICAN DREAM

For several years, the debate on “cultural appropriation” has been recurring. In the fashion industry, music, cinema, cuisine and the arts, the use of an object or motif from elsewhere, an ornament, a melody, an instrument, an ingredient, is denounced by some as an abusive loan to a culture dominated by the dominant culture (western culture).
The balance of power between the two cultures distinguishes cultural appropriation from assimilation or interbreeding. The minority has no choice but to accept the appropriation by the majority, so it is not an exchange of equals.

Cultural appropriation perpetuates a form of oppression that has its origins in conquest or colonization. The term appeared in the United States in the 1980s, with the rise of post-colonial studies, a field of university research at the intersection of sociology, anthropology and history. One of the most regularly raised cases of cultural appropriation is that of the elements of Amerindian culture, this population having been the victim of oppression and extermination by European settlers in the United States.
During the process of cultural appropriation, the sense of the element borrowed is lost. At a second level, ownership can therefore be perceived as disrespectful or insulting by members of the home community. The element is reduced to its aesthetic and folkloric value, for the sole purpose of signifying exoticism. And potentially making money, because it’s also the continuation of “exploitation” from one to the other – one getting richer at the expense of the other – that is the problem.

The most emblematic cases are found in the fashion industry, which borrows aesthetic codes, patterns and know-how from traditional cultures. A recurring object of discord is the Amerindian “headdress”. This element of traditional costume is obviously not only an outfit, it has a spiritual and social sense, often reserved for elders or tribal chiefs. In 2012, a scandal broke after a fashion show at the Victoria’s Secret lingerie house, where one of the models wore a headdress. Singer Pharell Williams also had to make a public apology after wearing a Native American headdress on the cover of Elle magazine.

But other more recent polemics have stirred again those who militate against cultural appropriation, from the Valentino collection in the fall of 2015 to the dreadlocks affair in the fashion show of the latest Marc Jacobs collection at New York Fashion Week.
Walt Disney’s new animated film, which will be released in November at the cinema, also sparked a debate in a very different part of the world. The story of Vaiana, the legend of the end of the world, is located in the Polynesian islands and borrows from them the legend of the demigod Maui. In mid-September, a half-god costume sold in Disney shops caused a scandal.The costume is no longer on sale on the site but screenshots broadcast by Anglo-Saxon media make it possible to quickly understand the problem: to «resemble» Maui, who is dressed only with a loincloth and a necklace, The suit is a simple fabric printed many tattoos.

Critics of this concept may argue that modern cultures are the result of intermixing, and that it is becoming a “cultural appropriation” of just about everything and its opposite. In an "egalitarian" world, cultural appropriation would not be a problem, but in today’s world with a heavy history of colonization, cultural appropriation would not be a remnant of this dark period?