I think I have said before that today’s world is a little confusing, so much has changed in the last decade, never mind half-century or so, and I sometimes wonder exactly what people want from certain situations. So I am going back to cultural appropriation, and I would like someone who knows more about this subject to advise me on what is right and what is wrong. Did you read this post I wrote a few months back?
Because I can’t understand why a man who is so outspoken about racism, equality and black lives matter feels that it is okay to wear a kilt (described by others, not me). This is from my original post – ‘According to thesun.co.uk, ‘LEW-KING GOOD Lewis Hamilton wears ‘daring’ Burberry kilt ahead of Turkish GP and hopes to inspire others to ‘be who they want to be.’
Fine, because I have said before in my original post on this subject, if people want to wear Scottish attire, I see that as more of a compliment than anything else. People want to be like my race and copy my culture; well, that’s okay by me. But it’s not okay with others; you only need to do an internet search on ‘celebrity accused of cultural appropriation,’ and you will find quite a few stories, and again from the previous post, I wrote this:
Kim Kardashian was called out on one occasion for wearing hair braids; since then, I found out she has been called out for wearing Hindu jewellery. She seemingly can’t do either as people become offended by this.
Since then, we have heard of Adele being accused of cultural appropriation for wearing the Jamaican flag bikini. We have actor/singer Zac Efron, singers Katy Perry and Selena Gomez, fashion designer Marc Jacobs, model Karlie Klos and author JK Rowling, also guilty of the same. I found these examples after a ten-minute online search, and there were more. Imagine the list if I had searched for an hour?
So, where do we draw the line, and when does the madness stop? I am on holiday
in Fuerteventura as I write this piece and I decided to mention the subject again because of what we see nearly every time we come away on holiday to these islands, but also mainland Europe, and that is the photo to the right, showing a young white girl having braids fitted. And something else I have mentioned:
So Kim Kardashian cannot wear braids because it is not allowed and it is cultural appropriation, so let’s go back to Lewis Hamilton again, why is it okay for him to wear a kilt, but as important why is it okay for this lady of African origin to be putting braids in a young white girl’s hair? Is it because she is earning money? Please tell me why it is okay because I can’t see why her actions or Lewis Hamilton’s actions are okay when it’s not okay for Adele, Kim Kardashian and all the others. Because if someone is going to write a book of rules for cultural appropriation, they’ve got some thinking and writing to do.
But it can’t be okay for Lewis Hamilton to do this because he is a world-famous F1 driver and a leading voice in anti-racism, but Kim and Adele can’t do it, but then they are world-famous in their own rights. So if Lewis can do it, they must be able to do it as well. I have said there are things we can’t do, like blackening faces, but we can’t have one rule for one and one for another. He is wearing the kilt to encourage people ‘to be who they want to be.’ So if wearing a kilt allows you to be who you want to be, surely wearing hair braids or a Jamaican flag bikini is the same for Kim Kardashian and Adele, and they are ‘being who they want to be?’
So can you see why people may get confused because I certainly am, and I genuinely don’t know what is right and what is wrong, I’m not the cleverest person in the world, I occasionally only get three points on ‘Popmaster’ the Radio 2 quiz at 10.30 weekday mornings, but occasionally I am into the twenty-something points? I get lost on the chase at times, and I wouldn’t go on Mastermind if you paid me, but I’m not thick either; I live in a very logical world, and this isn’t logical to me, not in the slightest.
A few people have read my posts, and no one has contacted me to say I am right, wrong, or a complete idiot (or worse), and I wonder why? Well, maybe it’s because I am right, and the likes of Lewis Hamilton shouldn’t be doing this, but he gets away with it because of who he is! Is he a law unto himself, and where are all the people who called out Kim Kardashian, Adele and the others? Why aren’t they complaining about Lewis when he does this? Will they stop and berate the African lady when they see her on the main strip in Corralejo or any other holiday resort they go to, and she’s putting braids into a young white girls hair? I doubt it? So will someone on this occasion please tell me the difference?
And searching our online media, we can easily find this, courtesy of thesun.co.uk –
Tia Mowry came under fire in 2013 for dressing up as a geisha for a Halloween party, as reported by living.alot.com.
One user commented: ‘My race and the races of others are not a costume for a cheesy holiday.’ (Can I say the same about a kilt wearer?)
Another wrote: ‘Please do some research on cultural appropriation. Geisha costumes are not cool, girl.’
So, where do we stop? When does a line have to be drawn when it comes to wearing costumes and cultural appropriation. And again, I am asking for help here. Can someone please let me know? But if you want to read more, please use this link?
According to the report, Tia Mowry came under fire in 2013, not recently, but for what she did in 2013. Still, on that note, I have seen in the papers recently that former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan faced a Twitter row last night for posting: ‘Not many English people live in London. I need to learn a new language.’ Vaughan, 47, made the comment in October 2010, and there is also this one:
James Anderson, his ex-teammate, has deleted a historical tweet telling Stuart Broad he has a ‘lesbian haircut’ amid the fallout from Ollie Robinson’s previous posts – as cricketers are now forced to undergo ‘racism workshops’.
The fast bowler removed the message from February 20, 2010, which saw him mock his Test match teammate. It came after the 38-year-old said today he has ‘changed as a person from a decade ago.
Anderson also revealed the squad had been forced to continue ‘racism workshops’ by bosses ‘to try and help improve ourselves as people.
And yes, these are wrong, but why do we have to dig up a tweet from eleven years ago to make people look bad? What is wrong with people standing up and apologising and promising they will not do it again, and if they do similar again, they deserve everything they get?
It would be different if these people were doing this on a regular basis, even years ago. But it seems people are determined to dig up dirt on others from years ago when these people didn’t know any better, and we only have to read the part about James Anderson to know that this might often be the case (the not knowing any better.) People are allowed to learn tha they did wrong!
I am fifty-eight, and people could dig dirt upon me; well, they could if I had grown up in an age of cameras and social media. I haven’t been perfect; I know I haven’t, but I am not a racist; in fact, other than being an old fart, I don’t think I can be accused of being an ‘ist’ of any sort. I accept people for who they are, not because of sexuality, gender, age, race, religion, creed or colour. I dislike someone because of the person inside the skin, but I will have called people names in the past that are unacceptable these days, and I have learned without awareness training or seminars. I have learned through the news, social media, common sense and general discussions.
I now know what is right and wrong, and yes, I know it goes on. I know people who don’t care and who will say what they want. I know there is ‘banter’ that goes on that would be considered some form of ‘ist’ it is there, and getting it out of our society will certainly take a long time. But for people like Vaughn, from eleven years ago, can he please be allowed to apologise and move on with life? If in fact, he has done anything wrong – please read the statistics in this post?
Cultural Appropriation, Racism, Rafiq, Vaughan & Questions?
Thanks for reading, and stay safe
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